Altered Box - Count your life with smiles!

"Count the garden by the flowers, never by the leaves that fall. Count your life with smiles and not the tears that roll."



I altered this box that once held tubes of acrylic paint. I used a little reproduction of a painting that I did earlier this year. That was collaged with tissue paper, and the quote and acrylic paint were added.

Once I collaged and varnished it, the box wasn't fitting together like it originally did. So I glued thin rope around it to act as a stopper, to keep the lid from getting stuck.

It's a little funky, but the textures make it fun to hold. And the size is perfect for holding some special little trinkets, or would make a wonderful gift box. Approx 5 x 3.5 x 1.75 inches.

I've got 4 more of these little boxes, so I look forward to making more.

-SOLD-

100th Post!!

Cheers to my 100th! How fitting that my 100th post was to happen during an outrageously busy week!

Insanely busy schedule with end of the school year activities... field trips, plays, baseball playoffs, award ceremonies, other assorted duties - throw in a wedding reception and birthday parties, friends visiting from out of state, and a family crisis... well this makes for a stressed woman, and a suffering blog! Things are looking better now, and I'm thoroughly enjoying my first day of summer vacation. I'm so ready for my time of the year with no real schedule.

My Pick-O-The-Week will return next Wednesday. I just had to get a posting done before more time passed.

I did this painting a few years ago. It's a favorite of mine and shows up from time to time in prints of different sorts. The original is on a wood panel plaque. I'll be painting some more plaques soon.

HOORAY FOR SUMMER VACATION!!

Etsy Pick-O-The-Week - MrToastStore

Who DOESN'T like Mr. Toast?

My life's a little crazy now, so I chose to do an old favorite for my Pick-O-The-Week, MrToastStore!

I first came across Mr. Toast on MySpace, and how happy to later see him on Etsy. There's something so fun about Dan Goodsell and all of his little friends, you can't help but smile when you see the creatures! My 9 year old son was instantly hooked on all the characters, and he used his hard earned art money to buy one of Dan's books last year. Of course, the book was an instant success with all of his friends as well. They liked Mr. Toast so much that there were a few days of Mr. Toast and friends games at school. One friend went so far as claiming that HE had invented Mr. Toast a couple of years earlier. We of course knew that was just a tall tale!

Over in the MrToastStore you'll find original paintings, books, buttons, bookmarks, and plushies like this hilarious "Frankentoast" that you see here. I'm sure there's bound to be other stuff there sometime soon.

Find Dan's website at www.mistertoast.com From there you can find his ever-so-entertaining blog, animations and lots of other fun, happy stuff.

Just a little Purple

My garden is becoming so very lovely that I just had to share a little bit of purple!

Every year I get some lobelia and other colorful annuals to plant in my window boxes assorted pots. I was happy to also get some violas again. I just love those little flowers, and they really do self seed themselves and spread slightly around your garden.

But what fabulous shades of purples and blues these posies add to my yard, and my blog!

Buttons are Back

These are little buttons (or pins) that I have sculpted in polymer clay, then painted with acrylic paint. They are then coated with glossy acrylic varnish. On the back is a little safety pin that is sculpted into the clay. The look is more 3D than they appear in my photo. Little pieces of art that you can wear.

In the 90s I made a lot of these buttons, in many designs. Having not made any in nearly 10 years, it was fun to make these again. Back then peace signs didn't have a lot of significance, although I made them anyway. Now I'm enjoying making these buttons with messages even more!

Look for new designs very soon.

Etsy Pick-O-The-Week - TheFlyingEwe

What's one of the biggest sellers on Etsy? Well, in my opinion, ONE of the biggies is wool. Wool for spinning and wool for felting. Almost every time I look at the newly sold items in the Time Machine, I see some kind of wool that has recently sold.

So I thought this week I would find a shop that specializes in supplies for the fiber arts. There's a lot of shops that have wool, but I found TheFlyingEwe. I like this shop for the obvious... it has lots of wool roving for your spinning needs...Both in solid colors and these varigated beauties like the picture you see here. But they also have supplies for the fiber artist-gadgets, spindles, felting needles, kits and patterns. Go to their website at www.TheFlyingEwe.com.

When I see these natural fibers it makes me want to give spinning a try. But I know my time won't allow it. So instead I'll have to try out some needle felting.

Yes, I always see wool for sale, that and hand-spun yarn. It's funny how spinning your own yarn is making it's comeback. What use to be an ancient neccessity is now a novelty. Our society is so modern with it's high-tech communications, and gizmos. I'll take the hand-crafted unique item over the mass-produced, Wal Mart junk any day! And I do believe the trend is growing!

Snowplants in the Forest

A snowplant is one of the more unusual things to find in the forest. Many sprouted up down the road from my house. That's what they do, they just suddenly appear. Their color is so unusual for our forest. When you first see them, you're bound to think they are man-made. And I don't know why they're called "snowplants", it hasn't snowed for weeks now. Another short lived beauty, these are so fun to see, and fairly rare. So enjoy them if you're lucky enough to see one!

Art Lesson - Pointillism - Lilacs - 1st Grade

This is an art lesson on pointillism that I did with a class of first graders. The very first art lesson that I did with a class was on pointillism. Back then I let the kids basically do what they wanted, as long as it was "spring-like." This year I gave them more of a focus, and we painted lilacs.

I first gave a little talk about pointillism, keeping it simple and quick because these were first graders. I showed them the famous Georges Seurat painting, as well as some pointillism I'd done before, and other examples that I found in magazines. I also talked about the process a little bit. I gave them small straws with non-drying clay stuck in the end. I showed them how to make the dots with tempra paint. And I explained to not use it like a brush, rather to just "dot" with the straw.

It was lilac season when I did this lesson, so I had a bunch of freshly cut flowers for every table. I tried to help them notice that the flowers had different shades and colors, not just a solid purple. I did a little example with them while lightly drawing a simple shape then filling with the dots. I asked what shape that might be, and it was cute when a little girl called it ginger shaped (CS). I told them to look at the flowers and leaves on their desk and try to duplicate them.

There's always a few kids who want a solid-colored picture with no different shades of purple. And they also want no white showing - like they just could've used a paint brush and painted it much more quickly. But then there was quite a few who actually got it. And I like how they really did do their own version of the flower, as you can see in these examples I have here.

A fabulous quote of the day was "You can mess up in life, but you can't mess up in art" !! by another first grade girl. (AL) The kids are so smart when it comes to art!

Etsy Pick-O-The-Week - INTERIORGLASSDESIGNS

Well I'm getting my POW posted pretty late in the night. My Wednesday was a busy, hot one at a track meet/field trip with a bunch of 4th and 5th graders. Fun, but hard to find the time to search for my Etsy Pick-O-The-Week.

I was thinking that I wanted to find a talented stained glass artist on Etsy. So I did a little search and the work of Kathryn over at INTERIORGLASSDESIGNS kept jumping out at me. There are some very stunning and unique designs over in that shop. And a good variety of types of items, too... Business card holders, kaleidoscopes, night lights, sculptures, jewelry, suncatchers, and boxes. I thought this carousel nightlight was so cool, and I always love a merry-go-round! I just love these beautifully unusual designs! She also does a wonderful job of soldering her items in a decorative style, adding to their charm.

INTERIORGLASSDESIGNS is a pretty new shop on Etsy. I wish her luck, but I think the outstanding work will take her far!

NibbleFest-The Groovy 60s

It's NibbleFest time. This month's theme was "The Groovy 60's" - always a fun theme!

So I did a groovy little cat. She looks quite peaceful in her sunshine daydream.

I enjoyed using some tissue and colored inks so much, that I had to do another. The tissue gives the piece lots of texture. And the colors are oh-so-60s! Well at least to me.

-SOLD-

Bees and Manzanita Blossoms

A Manzanita becomes a little habitat when it blooms in May. Just walk by one in bloom and you can hear the friendly humming of many a flying creature. Hummingbirds and bees of every variety enjoy it's luscious nectar. They are subtly beautiful, only when you look real close can you truly enjoy the lovliness of the blooms. It's a very short lived joy and is the true beginning of the warm season here.

I've heard a lot lately about how the bees are dying. What a scarey thought. But I'm happy to see we still have lots here on the mountain! I had to get a pix of one of the busy bees. Have you ever tried to photograph one? It's not real easy. I was lucky to get this shot. I've also realized the bees don't mind when I'm going about my own business - gardening, sitting, or even just watching them at work. But when I went to the tops of the bush and tried to get some pictures, well they started to get angry and a couple swarmed me. I had to run to the house for a break! So you can see just how lucky I was to get this photo... and with NO bee stings!

Etsy Pick-O-The-Week - 1ofmykind

Wow! Is this some gorgeous jewelry, or what?! There's a lot of incredible jewelry on Etsy, and it can be overwhelming to find only one to pick! I was drawn to these beauties made by the very talented and unique Jody at 1ofmykind. These jewels are created with vintage filagree, made into mini masterpieces. They are very old-world, or nouveau and deco all in one. And the stones are just glowing with loveliness. Definitely a treat that I would love to give myself! And yes, she has mastered the fine art of photography, a must for any successful online seller. Find Jody's website here.

I'm also attracted to this jewelry not only because it is so beautiful, but it also reminds me of a special time in my life. I grew up going to the Laguna Beach Sawdust Festival every year since I was a wee kid, back when the Festivial was also new. It was a fun place to go as a kid, and I always enjoyed when my parents bought me something there. Well, more than once I chose some jewelry that was displayed in a cute little gypsy wagon. Wonderful little baubles that I could stare at forever. I'm not sure if that artist is still around, but now you can find some other remarkable beauties here on Etsy!

Illustration Friday - citrus

This week's Illustration Friday theme is "citrus." And here we have a lovely Goddess of the Citrus fruits.

I guess you would call this mixed media. It's a little bit of collage using tissue paper. I also enjoyed using my new Winsor & Newton colored inks, both with brush and a pen. I've wanted a set of these little colored inks for a long time. I finally splurged (using my 40% off coupon) and bought some at Michaels. They have the cutest labels and boxes, and the colors are so vibrant.

This is an ACEO (2.5x3.5), art card, mixed media on 140 lb. watercolor paper.
-SOLD-

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day to all of the Mama Bears out there! I hope your day was lovely!

Art Lesson - Mixed Media, Self Portraits

This is the example that I did for this lesson. I thought it was a very fun project to do.

I did this lesson a couple of weeks ago in my son's 4th grade class. It does take a lot of prep work, but since it was with my son's class I felt I had the extra energy to put into it. First, I had to take pictures of all of the kids. I tried to get real close-up views of them. This also gave the portraits a fish-bowl effect which I thought went with the project well. I thought they should be black and white and I also made them a higher contrast. I used card stock instead of flimsy regular paper. (Thanks to H. for all the help!! :) ) So you can see, for 29 kids, this whole process can take some extra time.

I provided the copies of their faces. Luckily, Michaels had a big sale on scrapbooking supplies, so I was able to have a good supply of neat paper. Plus, I had an old dictionary and some magazine images, and contruction paper for collage. As well as markers. I showed the kids my example. Then explained how I had put different things that I liked onto the design. I also mentioned that I was trying to make it look kind of funky, and abstract, not very realistic. I tried to have them think of the process in 3 steps... 1. First, do the background and try to keep it simple. Like strips of plain construction paper. 2. Add their head and make a body, either draw or use some sort of collage body. They were thrilled when they asked if they could make any kind of body, like an animal, and I said yes. 3. Add different things they like, or represent themselves. They could draw or collage shapes and images.





It's always so interesting and fun to see what the kids come up with!

Etsy Pick-O-The-Week - MarmeeCraft

Here it is Wednesday again, already... Time for my POW from the many choices of creativity over there on Etsy.

This week my Pick had to be MarmeeCraft. This young lady is a girl after my own heart! I discovered her while looking through the Etsy Forums, looking at all the Etsy blogs out there. At her shop you'll find her oh-so-adorable original paintings, prints of these wonderous originals, needle felted animals, stuffed creatures and dolls, and other little sculpted cuties. She is 100% whimsy, and with a historical costume thrown in. Just the sort of thing that I enjoy the most!! I truly can't choose my favorite. And even better, she has a most enjoyable blog - MarmeeCraft - Cozy Little Whimsy Nook! So go check her out!

I'm amazed at the amount of wonderfully talented people I am constantly finding in blogland. It's a fun place to go!

A Day at the Herb Extravaganza!

This weekend I went down to OC for the "Herb Extravaganza" at the Fullerton Arboretum. The grounds there are so beautiful, lots of blooming flowers and so many rare varieties! I use to go to the Herb Fair or The Green Scene almost every year, but I hadn't made it there in about 5 years. It was free this year, but much smaller than it use to be. Still a lot of different plants for sale, just no other vendors selling plants and arts and crafts. I also missed the Lavender Lemonade which I was so looking forward to.


The pond was as lovely as ever, with lots of turtles basking in the sun.


And the little baby ducks were there too! I just love ducks so much!!


A special moment was seeing this dazzling bird. I kept seeing 2 of these beauties across the pond. I even took some pix of them, but they were far away. So I was giving up and had run out of room on my camera. Then suddenly the pair flew over to me, and landed on the grass 2-3 feet away! They did a little chirp and dance with their feathers fluffed. I quickly made room on my camera, and miraculously got this beautiful shot of the one. I think they are Red Winged Blackbirds. I don't think I've ever seen them before in OC. Only at the beautiful Arboretum with it's natural, gorgeous setting!


I have a weakness. I love to buy plants, especially herbs!

I've Been Tagged!!

Yes, I have been tagged by the lovely Sandra Eileen - Artisan Jewelry. How nice that she thought of me!

I'm to do a little write up about myself. So tough to sit and contemplate yourself!

The Rules:

--List seven random facts/habits about yourself
--Choose another seven bloggers to tag and list their names in your blog
--Leave your seven tagged bloggers comments to notify them of their tagging and to direct them to your blog for tag instructions.



1. My favorite thing to do is go on a road trip and do some art in my Travel Journals. I love getting an ice mocha at an independent coffee house and sitting a bit to doodle. This pix is a journal entry from my last summer's trip.
2. I'm NOT a morning person.
3. I absolutely love swimming. I need more places to be able to do this.
4. Despite it's being overly commercialized, and is brain washing our children - I love Disneyland, and most all things Disney.
5. I'm a big fan of old music. All decades really, but especially 20's and 30's jazz or country.
6. I live in a funky old house but have one of the best yards around.
7. As a kid I usually had different interests than my friends. When my friends loved Leif Garrett, Andy Gibb, and Scott Baio, my hero was Grizzly Adams! This is the trash can I've had since then.



Now I must go and tag 7 more bloggers...

The oh so sweet SamIAm Creations
The ever so witty mrs. kwitty
The most gracious gardenpainterart
The very kooky handbag maker - cArried AwAy
The oh so rare and fun RetroAttic
The most charming fluffyflowers
The ever so talented redheadart

Thank you ladies!

Illustration Friday - Remember

The weekly theme for Illustration Friday is "Remember". It took me a while to think of an idea, and even longer to get the painting done. Life was just too busy this week. Well I'm getting it onto IF with just a few hours to spare.

I was thinking about how young women use to make a special message for their lovers who were going off to war. Then I wanted the overall look to be like the vintage needle packages. I've always liked those packages. I guess because I remember my mom having some in her old sewing machine drawer way back when I was quite young. They probably belonged to her mother before that.

It's an ACEO (2.5x3.5 inches) acrylic. Find it on Etsy.

Etsy Pick-O-The-Week - Stoneriverstudios

This week's POW is Stoneriverstudios. There is a lot of variety to be found in this shop. You'll find Limited Edition prints, fiber arts such as hats, scarves and java jackets, and hard and soft sculpture. The things that got me to her shop, and I bought, were the beautiful plant starts! Plants are more of a rare thing to find on Etsy. And I envy the people that are able to do it. That's one of my dreams to make money off of the land, from my own garden. I actually did a little bit of it years ago when I had a shop.

I bought 2 plants starts - Flowering Fringe Cups for a shady spot in my garden, and English Alba Climbing Rose. This rose has a great story...

"These are cuttings taken from my 35' ft tall mother plant! (WOW!) The Mother plant was made its way to our property by the father of the woman we purchased our home from. She was originally from London and moved here in 1973. Her father came to visit soon after, bringing with him 4 varieties of old english roses for the garden to remind her of "home." -Stoneriverstudios.

She goes on to say... "The 35' ft Mother plant outgrew all of its arbors over the years, and was lucky enough to be befriended by an Ash tree, which doesnt mind supporting all its flowering canes. All summer long people stop to take pictures of our "Rose Tree"!"

It must be a beautiful sight to see!

What sold me the most on this seller was her excellent customer service! Only a couple of days after my purchase, I got a note explaining that the package was returned to her damaged. She then sent me a new package that I received in record time. And because I had to "wait" she included an extra plant and some mixed varieties of squash seeds. Very sweet and yet unnecessary because I still got the plants sooner than I've gotten a lot of packgages that I've bought! So check it out and maybe you'll find some little gems for your garden!

Sorry that my Pick-O-The-Week was not on Wednesday as it's suppose to be. Because of testing I couldn't help in the class yesterday. So instead I did some shopping off the hill. Then we had a baseball game that I co-coach. There was little time left for much else. I went to bed and right then realized I had totally skipped over my POW entry! Luckily I already knew who to write about, and instead of a late night Wednesday, you have a some-what early entry for Thursday.

The Tulips are blooming

I drive by these tulips on a daily basis, year after year. It's always such a lovely sight to see. Today we took a walk past them with camera in hand. I brought my camera especially for this shot. A beautiful combo for your spring garden is a patch of these yellow tulips and a neighboring group of muscari (Grape Hyacinth). You could also plant some daffodils with the purple flowers and would look just as nice. Tulips are one of those flowers that don't do that great for me. The main reason being that the moles and gophers love tulips. I literally saw one drop down into the earth like it was a cartoon! But I don't give up on any plant. I'll keep on trying (and sadly killing) a plant until I get it right! So every year I see this pairing of flowers and say to myself, "I must plant a container of these 2 flowers." Well, again another year, and I haven't done it. So I guess until next year I'll just have to enjoy my neighbors beauties while they last.

Etsy Pick-O-The-Week - AmeliaMakesArt

This week's Etsy Sellers Pick-O-The-Week is AmeliaMakesArt. This talented girl does a variety of things. This is such a fun shop to visit! She has original paintings (of a very fine quality I must say!) some of which are reversed painted on glass. She's also got prints of her paintings. The prints are also used to make some really nice jewel boxes with the print under glass, and mirrors and buttons. In addition to her imagination coming out on the canvas, Amelia also does some incredible things with felting - soaps, bags and scarves. ...AND the thing that caught my eye to begin with... these so fantabulous needle-felted dogs!! Not only are they the most precious things, but they can be customized and made to look like your own special friend!! How unique! They are made of Merino wool and range in size from 5-8". Amelia writes that she is in love with making these little needle-felted dogs. Well, Amelia, I am in love with the little needle-felted dogs that you make! What wonderful work this girl is producing!! Read her blog at www.ameliamakesart.typepad.com

Happy Earth Day

Finally the Earth is getting some real big-time media coverage. Earth Day's been going on since when? Like 1970 or something like that. It's only taken close to 40 years for more people to actually take it serious. Well I'm glad to hear it.

We live in a society of convenience, and I agree it can be hard to always do the best thing for the environment. We all can't afford a hybrid car, or have solar paneling for our power. Riding a bike to work just isn't possible! Here are 10 simple ways that can help to save the environment.

1. Paper or Plastic?...Neither. Reusable cloth bags are not that hard to use. Especially for just a few items. I can see that it would be harder for your major trips to the grocery store. A Trader Joe's near by had some for only $.99. I'll make sure to get a few next time I'm there. Of course, you can readily find more expensive canvas bags.

2. Buy Organic whenever possible. Not only are the pesticides bad for all species, they also use more energy to produce the final product. Non-organic cotton uses a whole lot of chemicals, so if possible buy an organic cotton t-shirt. A fabulous blog on the subject of organic is Vegetarian Organic Life. Even better than organic is biodynamic farming.

3. Plant a tree. My fave of all! We need more oxygen! Go to americanforests.org for more info. For each $1.00 spent there, 1 tree is planted. Pretty reasonable price, really.

4. Don't let your car idle while waiting to pick someone up. Turn the car off. Walk whenever possible for short trips.

5. Use Energy Star qualified compact fluorescent bulbs (CFL). Replacing 5 regular bulbs with these can save you $60 annually. That's so easy!

6. Instead of bottled water, use a reusable "good" plastic bottle with filtered water. Naglene, and SIGG make some nice reusable bottles. There's also a cool corn resin bottle with built in filter that you can refill up to 90 times and biodegrades in 80 days. It's at New Wave Enviro. I want one of those!

7. Eat less red meat. Even just one less meal a week can help. For every pound of meat it takes 840 gallons of water to produce. This is easy for me since I've been a vegetarian for 20 years. Now a days it's so much easier to go vegetarian with all the mock meat available. Most are very tasty and make a wonderful substitute.

8. RECYCLE. So much more easy to do than it use to be. You can find ways to reduce your junk mail at ftc.gov. Pangea Organics makes skin care products with packaging that uses 100% post consumer paper. On top of that you can simply bury the box and grow a plant. There's seeds in there! Also, you can find a lot of hand made items made with recycled products on Etsy!

9. Get a powerstrip that stops the electric flow to your appliances. This is just a waste of energy. I need one of these, because really now, it is just sometimes impossible to unplug your appliances constantly. One I've learned of is a BITS Ltds Smart Powerstrip.

10. Use more environmentally-friendly cleaning products. You can even use baking soda and lemon juice for a lot of it. Some good products are Method, Mrs. Meyers, and Seventh Generation. I found Method products at the Target nearby. They have some great scents too!

For more information on saving OUR EARTH go to :
www.earth911.org
www.greendimes.org
www.treehugger.com
www.earthday.net
Nature Conservancy

Now as for the little froggie!! While we were driving the lonely Hwy 395 this summer up in Oregon, we luckily found a place to stay the night! It was pretty slim pickins up there for any kind of business. Well, at this Mom-and-Pop RV Park, there were a large group of these little frogs all around the restrooms. Don't you want to do what ever you possibly can to try to save these fragile guys? I know I do.

Spring Snow

We had a much needed snow yesterday. Making today one of those warm, drippy mid-spring thaw outs. My pictures can't caputure the scent of the wet forest, or the millions of drips of melting snow falling from the trees. I also couldn't capture the sight of the warm ground steaming in the sunshine. You can see my spring buds unharmed by the snowfall.

This bloom is from a Vinca Minor - (Periwinkle. Myrtle, Creeping Mrytle, Vinca) A very easy to grow ground cover that blooms purple flowers in the spring. They are pretty drought tolerant and can cover a hillside if left to go. They do well in a pretty shaded spot. I have fond memories of these plants growing profusely in the Canyons of Orange County. My only complaint about them is they can be hard to clean of pine needles. You have to pick them out almost one at a time.

Etsy Sellers - Pick-O-The-Week - corsetfactory

Here you have my first Etsy Sellers Pick-O-The-Week, as I mentioned yesterday! I've decided to make Wednesday the day I share a seller that I've found on Etsy. I'm usually volunteering in the classroom on this day so it seems easier for me just to browse etsy and find cool stuff. Being around the kids all day, and not enough sleep, makes me a bit non-productive. This will give me a focus rather than trying to dream up something new.

The first Pick-O-The-Week is corsetfactory. I found this shop from browsing the Time Machine 2. This girl makes some very adorable corsets, and they look to be so beautifully made. And some very cute fabric and I love the little details. I can truly see my skinny, little sister in one of these pieces. She's a little pin-up girl herself and these corsets look to be made just for her! I know there are many girls out there that would be just as comfortable in one of these as she would be. I think these would make a great gift for that special girl in your life. There's also a website you can check out for this girl's fabulous corsets. It's www.thecorsetfactory.com

Look for another Pick-O-The-Week (also known as POW) next Wednesday!!

Plum Wine - fingerless gloves

The colors of these arm warmers/fingerless gloves scream to be called "Plum Wine". They are crocheted with 3 types of yarn - a dark plumish soft chenille-like yarn, a wine colored yarn that has a bit of bumpy texture to it, and a mixed fluffy, fuzzy yarn in the colors of green, brown, and small amount of teal. These are funky and chunky and fun and oh-so-soft and warm! I just couldn't think of an idea for a painting so I did some crocheting last night. It can be very theraputic to me and it's nice to do something productive while watching TV. Especially when it's something so mind numbing as "Dancing with the Stars" and "The Bachelor". Did I just announce that I watch those shows? Yes, I'll admit it, but at least I was working at the same time!

-SOLD-

Soon I'm going to start an Etsy-Pick-Of-The-Week. This will be focusing on one seller each week. I'll try to do it weekly, on a certain day of the week, which is to be determined. I love so much stuff I see for sale there, and I love the site, so I wanted to do some promotion for it. Stay tuned.

Illustration Friday - fortune

Madam Mew The Fortune Teller is very talented at seeing the future. But she only seems to the see the mice in your life. I guess she has a one track mind.

This week's theme for Illustration Friday is "fortune." Pretty easy for me to come up with an idea this week. Amazing! If you've never checked out Illustration Friday, you should do it! It's got incredible art and so fun to participate in.

This is ACEO size (2.5x3.5 inches), watercolor and pen and ink.

-SOLD-

Art Lesson - Child-friendly Batik

I'm finally catching up a bit... I did this lesson with 46 sixth graders a week or so ago. I'm able to do this lesson with the middle-school sixth graders because we can fit it into their curriculum. They are learning about India, so I steer them in the way of Indian-type of designs. They also get a little bit of history on batik, which could also be incorportated into lessons on Indonesia, or even China. Actually if you researched, you could probably find some more countries where batik is a big art form.

This is pretty child proof, at least for responsible, or older children. It takes two sessions. I first have them draw their design onto paper, then trace it on to a cotton fabric. We usually just buy some white bandanas at Michaels. Then they draw over their pencil markings with white glue (instead of the usual hot wax). I add a tiny bit of water to the glue so that it flows into the fibers of the fabric easier. It's a fine line of too much water and not enough. Not enough will give a less white contrast once rinsed. You must stress to make sure to almost over-do the glue, and to keep the design simple, and bold. This first session takes the most time and I have to really push the kids so that they get done in the 50 or so minutes. I learned about that the first year I did this project. A lot of kids didn't get done, and my helper and I had to finish the glueing for a bunch of the kids! A lot of work!!

The next day is the painting process. Because it's water soluable glue, you must paint over it, not submerge into a dye bath. And you must not scrub too much over the glue once it's wet. At the school I use a watered down acrylic paint instead of dye. The cheaper "craft"-type of acrylic works better than the "artist" type - it just mixes in with the water better. Dye seems to be very irritating to the eyes, and I didn't want to chance a problem. If you were doing this at home, you could use dye with eye protection. I also have to emphasize wearing bad clothes, because of the permanence of acrylic. They have the option to wear a smock, but it's good to tell the kids this. There is also a fine line with the acrylic. Too much water will give a pretty weak product. Not enough and the fabric is kind of stiff. You have to really mix the paint up and get the pigments mixed in. I remind the kids to mix once and a while (I do the same with the glue). They just paint over the fabric, and they can use more than one color. So many kids overdo it and add too much color on top of each other, which really muddies it up. And next year I'll just have a brush per container of paint, rather than rinsing the brushes between colors. When they do this too much, it causes the paint to get too watered down. We hang them to dry. Then I take them home and hand wash them. I just worry that the washing machince will fade them too much. It's a lot of home-work for me, but when it's one of the few art projects our sixth graders get, I find the extra work much worth it. And they turn out just gorgeous!

Illustration Friday - Green

This week's IF Challenge is "green." A somewhat easy challenge in that a lot of ideas come to my head. But not so easy to narrow down. I decided to just do a doodle in my little journal (6.5x4.5 inches). When I think of green the main thing that screams at me is a message about saving the planet. Yes, I am, and always have been, a tree hugger. I can't stand the idea of the loss of a species on account of human foolishness. I hate the thought of nature being paved over and no longer available for future generations to enjoy. Let alone the fact of the weather patterns changing and having no water on account of massive drought -which is very likely to happen out here in California. All these things terrify me and I wish for a new administration to help move our country in a better direction toward a more Green way of living.

Sometimes I've just got to doodle, and not try to make some kind of "masterpiece" - not that my art is any thing nearly close to a masterpiece! When I'm not creating something to try to sell, I usually do some kind of doodling. All in the hopes of a new brilliant idea to be born that will one day make it into a creation that is saleable. This is the first I've shared a journal entry with the web viewer. This is a little flashback to my younger days -just a hodgepodge of ideas thrown onto a page. It was very fun, and it's nice to not be pressured and to just doodle.

Happy Easter!

We spent part of our Easter out in nature. We usually go on a hike on Easter, and most any holiday when we're in town. I find being out in the beautiful woods is the best place to feel closer to God.



This is an ancient manzanita. One of the largest I've seen. Such beauty, even after it's death.



The marine layer was thick today. You could still see the mountaintops through the clouds. Clouds, yet still a lovely Easter Day. Hope yours was wonderful, too!

Jenny's Vintage Kitchen Swap - 2007

I participated in the lovely Jenny's Vintage Kitchen Swap last month. I love anything vintage, and my entire house is basically filled with old stuff, except for my electronics. But vintage kitchen has got to be my favorite. I like my kitchen to look very cheerful. Maybe it's a way to try to make myself seem like I'm an old fashioned housewife who makes lots of homemade bread and other goodies, and always has an extensive, healthy meal at hand. Which I'm not! But it's nice to dream! So I decided to join in on the fun with the other wonderful girls and get myself a swap partner, and hopefully be able to send something her way that she would enjoy.


This is the package sent from Melissa out on the Jersey Shore all the way out here to California. Very Spring-like in it's packaging!


This is the oh, so fun, collection of goodies sent to me from my swap partner. How much fun to open and find the surprises! There's an old tin box, vintage inspired yellow bowls (so very cheery and always needed!), a muffin tray that I can always use for sorting my supplies, a very old pie tin, very quaint recipe cards with an adorable crochet flower, three vintage inspired cookie cutters (some that I don't have-amazingly!), and my son's favorite - a goody bag of yummy Easter chocolates (those didn't last long). What fabulous stuff! Thanks so much Melissa! It was so wonderful meeting you!


I love this sweet tin box the most! I have an extensive tin box collection. I'd rather store all of my supplies in an adorably-old tin box, than a new plastic box with no personality. No matter how many I get, I can always find something to put inside of them. So I put my collection of tiny boxes inside this cute one from Melissa!


Phoebus really liked the leftover tissue in the box from Melissa! What a cozy bed!


These are the goodies that I sent to Melissa. She collects Mexican floral batea trays and I wanted to get her one. I know I have one floating around in my shed or somewhere lost in my house. I looked, but no luck. Just couldn't find it. I was bummed about that. Instead, I decided to paint my own batea-inspired little plaque. I like how it turned out. I hope she had as much fun in this swap as I did! And thank you, Jenny, for organizing the fun event. Hope to do it again!

Illustration Friday - Snap

The IF theme this week is "snap". So here you have a bunch of "snap dragons."

The brightly colored flowers are so named because of the way you can snap the flower heads and make the little dragons open and close their mouths. I've never actually done this to one of these flowers, even as a kid, but I guess many kids enjoy doing this. I remember these flowers growing in my mom's garden when I was young. I've always loved their bold splash of color, but I personally have never really had good luck with them. I've tried growing them from seed before and they took 2 years to finally bloom. The ones I planted from the nursery never seemed to live long. I think they needed more organic matter in the soil. Something that mountain dirt lacks sometimes - too much decomposed granite. I'm sure I'll try again some day, and I'll be sure to add something to the soil. Then I may get to see these little dragons snap!

Here it is on ebay.

It's an ACEO (2.5x3.5 inches), watercolor and pen and ink.

Bloomin Daffodils

Look at how cheerful this guy (or gal) is! I've got a few daffodils here and there in my yard. If any flower has a true personality, it's the daffodil. They are one of the plants that can survive the many moles and gophers I've got. They don't eat daffodils! I don't know if my bulbs are lacking nutrients, but only a small percentage bloom each year.
I'm starting the annual chore of cleaning out the garden of it's fallen pine needles and cones, acorns, branches, and dead growth. It takes me a long time because I do a pretty small amount at a time. It is still a little early, so I can take my time.



This is a more rare variety of daffodil. I missed it's prime. I think it got snowed on last Tuesday.