Crocheted Gifts

A random collection of crocheted gifts for nieces/nephews/babies I know:

Giraffe pattern: http://www.redheart.com/free-patterns/love-my-giraffe-toy?utm_source=pinterest&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=pinterest&crlt.pid=camp.h7IOCdOxUxM6
Converse pattern: http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/baby-converse-shoes

 Pattern from: http://www.craftsy.com/pattern/crocheting/toy/pammy-the-piglet-by-nvkatherine/180430?rceId=1453145806466~yadjymyg

 Pattern provided by: http://engsidrun.spire.ee/blogs/blog1.php/free-pattern-tiny-long-legged

 Pattern provided by: http://www.allfreecrochet.com/Miscellaneous-Crochet/3-Simple-Crochet-Designs-Using-One-Skein-of-Yarn

 This mermaid tail lapghan was created by experimenting based off of the shark pattern below:

This was loosely inspired by this pattern: http://offthehookforyou.co.uk/2015/05/eaten-by-a-shark-the-pattern-finally/

Advent Calendar

After looking everywhere for the best option for an Advent calendar, I decided that I needed to create my own.  I took various sizes of small boxes and added strong magnets to the back so that I could display the collection on the side of the refrigerator.  On the front of the boxes I took Christmas tags and cards from loved ones from years past, or just fun wrapping paper designs or scrapbook materials and added decorations along with the numbers.  On the inside I glued the bible verses leading up to Christmas Day:

I believe I found the link to the downloadable verses on Pinterest and will cite it here once I can locate it. The boxes are also large enough to hold small daily gifts or candy.  This first day/box features a portion of a card sent to us from my husband's grandmother; I added beads to the holly berries to add depth and sparkle. 
 

Been Busy Creating and Not Posting!

So, perhaps I was busy for a few [years] and got away from updating this blog.  Oooops.  I have been busier than ever with learning new techniques and new crafts; I just never got around to post them.  One of the crafts I took up was crocheting.  (Yes, this can be considered more of a "craft" than "art" but it is still creating something!) 
The way I happened across crocheting was inspired by a book/gift set titled Yummy Crochet. Since I had just created this Night Stand Into Kitchen:

I needed some food to go with it to give to my niece; and I'd always wanted to learn to crochet - so why not do both at once?   ;)
If you're new to reading crochet patterns, you realize how confusing they can appear.  Enter YouTube tutorials and a lot of practicing, and these adorable little foods were born:

And I know that it is a terrible pun, but I'm hooked!

Nightstand into Play Kitchen

I have seen these all over the Internet, and decided to give it a whirl. I honestly could not have made it this nice without my husband's help with the power tools! I had to buy the bowl, knobs, "faucet," material and piano hinge, but he had everything else on hand.

Art Washes Away

I cannot believe that after all this time I have not uploaded this picture of the Picasso quote that inspired the title of this blog!

Time for Laundry?

But not REALLY airing it. Not to worry. Just dug the cute little clothes on the clothesline!

Christmas Is Near!

Which among other things means free time to make art! (Or finish other art projects that have been sitting for months.) Looking to make this advent calendar, even though I won't be able to use it this year. I could also alter one and make it a countdown to summer or spring break; you get the idea. Hmmm...the possibilities seem endless now that I have a couple of weeks off from typing mass quantities of papers!

Short on Art...but Decorating?

I think decorating counts. Especially since it is fall and I've found some really neat-o pieces for my mantle. After all, interior design is a form of art - not to say that I am an interior designer in the slightest. Mostly my art of late has been either decorating, designing Smartboard activities, or creating covers for our class books. Oh - don't forget analyzing large amounts of data and legal briefs for school. I'm in need of art therapy...

Subway Art

These are all the characters that I have played in various theater performances. I was so excited to be able to not only record the names in this subway art fashion, but also to have finally found a way to save a word document as a jpeg file to upload!

Money & Marshmallows

Saw this sign in a catalog and loved the white lettering on black, similar to subway art. By the way, I have finished my first piece of subway art; I can't post it b/c it is a compilation of all of the addresses that we have had since we were married. So in the meantime, I'll have to come up with another theme that is post-friendly. =)

Delta Phi Epsilon

I saw an image similar to this the other day on Facebook and wanted to recreate it using Paint. The image I saw also had an iris drawn in by the E, but I decided not to try that at this time!

Imagination...

One of my favorite quotes from Einstein. Yes, I do love quotes. In fact, I have an entire art journal dedicated to them. I created this piece in the Paint program using different texts, sizes and placements. (I am also a huge fan of this style, too, as you can tell from some of my other Paint works.) My next Paint project will be experimenting with Subway sign type art. Coming soon...

Texture Rubbings

This is one of my favorite pieces from my art classes in college. We made texture rubbings then cut out shapes to create a picture. Over time the background has faded, revealing its (and my) age!

African Mask Crayon Resist

This piece was created in college for one of my art classes. It was a crayon resist technique where you paint over the wax image with black paint. As the title suggests, the paint "resists" the wax and creates the look of all of the black lines and dots.

Matisse's Goldfish

I drew this copy of Matisse's Goldfish with oil pastels. Since I drew this by just looking at the image and not projecting it, some of the perspective is a bit off. Nevertheless, I still adore it.

Weeping Woman (work in progress)

So here is my take on Picasso's Weeping Woman - obviously still in progress. Her hair still needs the black lines and outlines, and the background still needs to be added. In the foreground you can see the cover of the Picasso book that I am using to copy the details and colors.

Black and White Flowers

I saw a design on a tissue box that I fell in love with - and guess where I got my inspiration for this painting? You guessed it. I would love to paint this on a giant canvas, but I did not have one available. This size is perhaps 11 x 14 or so. Maybe that will be a project for another day...

Bubbles

So I copied this pattern from some material that I have, which is now sewed into pillows and curtains. This painting does not accurately show the distance between the bubbles in the fabric, but it's kinda cute anyway.

Art Bench

My wonderful husband built this bench for me shortly after we moved into our house. He locked me out of the basement as he was building, wanting the final product to be a surprise! The top utilized a piece of laminate counter top that my parents had from when they built their house. I believe they didn't use it because the sink hole was cut in the wrong place - you can see where we found the sink insert at a wholesale store. Since you can replace this piece easily and cheaply, I can use it as a cutting board or just not worry about marring it too badly.

I absolutely LOVE this bench, and it not only holds all of my art supplies but also acts as a display for projects. (He also built the bookshelf next to it for all of my books.) Over the years I have added curtains, added metal sheeting to the back for magnetic holders and displays, and painted the front detail. My husband has also added an additional outlet in the middle of the bench behind the curtains and took me to pick out a bar stool. Needless to say, this is where the bulk of my artwork takes place. It is located next to a porcelain sink in the basement which comes in VERY handy, especially when you are painting.

None of this would be possible if it weren't for my loving husband Paul. A huge thank you to him as he understands my need for creating art and various crafty things. Thanks, babe - love you oodles of noodles. =)

Knitting!

So my very first knitting project ever was in college. It started as a joke at our sorority's rock-a-thon, a fund raiser for one of our philanthropies. What did I decide to start with? An afghan. Yup. Hardest project ever - and I didn't do the greatest job with it...oh, I finished, that's not it. It somehow turned out to be around (I kid you not) 12 feet long. I tend to double it up on the bed; it is certainly cozy! After that project, I turned to scarves. I have them in almost every color now. Here is an image I created using Paint a few years ago - I believe I saw greeting cards that had a similar picture - probably invitations to a knitting night. I had actually taken this image, changed the background color and glass colors and printed out a set of four to place in the picture holders on the front of my knitting bag. It was very Warhol-like.

Playin' with Paint

The computer program, that is. Here are a couple more items I've created using Paint on my laptop. This could have been so much quicker if I'd actually used my mouse rather than the touch pad, but it was fun nonetheless.

Altered Book

This was one of the very first altered books I created; this particular one is based on all of the memories I have of my family's annual vacations to a fishing resort. I saw in a book that you could not only cut niches into the book, but also cut drawers into the side. The two drawers are crafted out of small jewelry boxes and stay in place with Velcro attached to the back.

Circles, Circles

These are two paintings that I made for a narrow wall in our dining room. I was flipping through a magazine when I spied a series of three of these paintings in the background of a room. The third one, which I did not paint, looked closer to a heart shape so I decided to skip it. What is interesting is that it took some work to make the lines look "wobbly" instead of smooth.

What is Bottled Up?

This was an idea for an art journal from the book, Art Journals and Creative Healing by Sharon Soneff. I loved how you could take a beverage carrier with the empty bottles and use the vessels as a container for journal entries. In this case, each of the bottles specify something that you keep "bottled up" inside, such as anxiety, unforgiveness, depression, and frustration. You can then journal on a note, roll it up, and place it inside the corresponding bottle. The book suggested using a four pack of coffee drinks; these bottles worked just as well - but the necks are slimmer...making it difficult to retrieve any notes that may be placed inside.

The Story of Us Booklet

I found this booklet idea in a scrapbooking magazine years ago...

You make little fold-out sections that detail your favorites - everything from random foods, to things you love about the other person, to three things you would take with you if you were stranded on a desert island. One of the greatest things about it is that the questions are answered in each other's own handwriting.

I not only had pictures from our wedding, but also school pictures of each of us from our years of teaching! It is funny how even after a few years of making this, the answers to some of the questions have changed.

Prayer Board

So I've been reading this book, Faith Books and Spiritual Journaling: Expressions of Faith through Art by Sharon Soneff. I have become totally inspired by some of the projects! One is a canvas prayer board, which I decided to try out. The idea is that you take a canvas and post your prayer requests onto it (in this case, I made tags and fastened them to a canvas with corsage pins). Sewing pattern tissue paper completes the background for the prayer tags.

Summer is Here

Finding time during the busy school year is difficult to create art. That being said, summer is here, so I'd better hop to it! Lately my only art has been underlining and highlighting large portions of text in my School Law textbook. Any doodles in the margins at least? No. However, I did create a digital book tonight for my dad for Father's Day. The photos were mostly taken by my husband, and the layouts of the pages are pretty much configured for you, but hey - I think it still counts. Above is one of the photos that I included in the book for him.

Bizarre is Easy

I was reminded of this piece today as my husband and I were discussing certain musical acts of late. Are they necessarily a creative genius or just using the bizarre shock value? Where is the fine line? Do you need to be a little bizarre to be creative? And here come the questions.