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Digital Scrapbooking

I have been a bit artsy lately and today I'm going to show you my newest endeaver; I created a digital scrapbook page! I recently purchased a Bamboo Pen & Touch tablet and with it came Photoshop Elements and Corel Painter. I was extremly excited but didn't have much of a clue on how to create advanced work, so I put the tutorial to work. It took me three days but the end result is wonderful!

The page features one of the newest additions to our family, Teddy, a 6 month old Siamese-mix kitten. He's a tough guy but also a big mama's boy. LOL So without further ado I present to you my digital scrapbook page!

Homemade Stationary

I love Sumi ink. I was introduced to it in a Fashion Illustration a couple of years ago and just fell head over heels in love with it. Since I wanted to start creating my own handmade stationary I decided to put my creative mind to use and get busy.

First off, I searched out some Japanese and Chinese illustrations, took some cues from them and painted little scenes on the paper. At first I made two different ones, but then my creativity took hold later in the day and I sketched out a few more ideas.

For coloring them I had originally wanted to use watercolors, but this paper would ripple with a single drop of water so I thought, hey, how about chalk pastels? But no, I didn't want it to smudge when the letter was being held and read. So I chose colored pencils and the results were very satisfactory. My artwork wasn't limited to the paper but also put on the envelope as well.

(Not bad for being a couple years out of practice, huh?)

This type of artwork isn't very difficult at all, so I believe anyone can do it. You just have to believe in yourself and go for it!

Organizing IS an art form!

Ok, so some people may argue that organizing your life and your possessions is not a form of art. I disagree. You have to use a lot of creativity to organize things properly. When I started this quest of all things creative and artistic and found myself in another definition of creativity.

In order to plan for new projects I must first know what supplies I will need. In order to that, I first have to see what supplies I have, so I set about gathering my arts and crafts stashes. You know, a simple day job.Turns out I'm now going into Day 9 in organzing everything. Yes, you read it right. 9 days!

I had no idea how many different things I had. This ranges from all my art books to fabric and down to several types of erasers. I have a lot of stuff! Seeing it all together was mind-blowing so I made myself a promise to try and keep everything together, you know, like-with-like. AND in plastic tubs I already possess. NO EXTRAS!

(Fabrics and trims...this pile was large, then raided by a friend and has grown again after another bout of purging)

So I am posting a picture of all the tubs that I have sitting in the living room. Some filled to the brim, others have some space left and others....bursting out of the box. But, it is all together now and a lot easier to find. Next up...SHOPPING!!

Beginning Cake Decorating

For as long as I can recall, I have always wanted to learn how to decorate cakes. Sure, sure, I've done the standard frosting, sprinkles and even delved into some carving but I have always wanted to make roses, and stars and those little frilly borders.

Well for Christmas this year, my wonderful husband gave me a Wilton Cake Decorating class through Michael's. He even bought me the professional kit! Woohoo!

This post is actually about the 2nd class because that's when we taught to make the little stars and got a sample of rose making. My sister-in-law, Karen, joined in on the fun too. Let me tell you though, I followed Wilton's instructions on making a cake using their 8" diameter, 2" deep pans...oy.....took forever for the cakes to bake. And frosting the darn things?! LOL It was hilarious because we were only told to make the frosting in certain types of thickness without actually having seen samples of each. Nevertheless, through all the mistakes and laughter, I had my cake ready for class.

We first practiced making the little star, and I'm sorry, I was so caught up in it I forgot to take pictures! LOL But Karen and I took a few snaps of us decorating and so, I give you .....pictures!

The Beginnings of a Rose

If I had more hands, I could have taken pictures of the actual process.

Ta-Da! These are my first two roses. Pretty good even if I do say so myself.

Karen is mixing color into the icing mix so we can make our stars for the cake.

Karen was very quick in getting her rainbow done...I took a while but only because I tend to be too much of a perfectionist. LOL

This is me applying the stars onto the cake....

I wish I'd of taken a closer picture but you can see how it is starting to turn out.

And VIOLA! We have a rainbow cake! I put my youngest sons name on it because his birthday is this week. I do need to practice with actual writing because the letters were pretty squiggly.

Doodle Art

Today's creative endeavor is just a simple project, Doodle Art. Nothing fancy or time consuming, just quick fun. The instructions are pretty straight forward:

Take a piece of paper, a pen or pencil, place the tip on the paper, close your eyes and swirl your drawing instrument up, down, around and sideways on that paper. Don't be afraid to turn the paper around at different angles and keep on squiggling until you just can't squiggle no more!

I actually did two different doodles on two separate pieces of paper.

Take a look at what you got then, start looking for familiar shapes. When you find them trace over them with another piece of paper to make for easier identification.

Next take a few of these images, transfer them to another piece of paper to make a complete picture and color them in!

As you can see...EASY artwork that ANYONE can do! Are you up to the challenge?! I'd love to see what types of doodle images you can create too!

" The Rented Christmas"

It's almost Christmas and things have finally slowed down a bit for me. I spent the last few months sewing, designing, sewing some more and then building things for various clients. The biggest project was the CLC Christmas production, "The Rented Christmas".

This year was a complete challenge for me; very small budget, no time and little help, but thankfully my hubby and kids helped out when I was ready to pull my hair out. I also had help from Pam, who put up with my gripes and helped me laugh when I needed it.

The following pictures are from the journey in re-using, up-dating, and new construction of all things sets and costumes.

First Up: STAGE SETS

We reused all the canvas and tradtional flats from the play two years ago. But first we had to fire retard them. Yep, our favorite chore. NOT.

And amazingly enough, Jeremy decided to give mural painting a try and helped out with the sky and water. He did pretty good for his first time too!

The finished sets. Terry built the fireplace all by himself and man, it was beautiful! Great job Bud!

The Rental Shop was just a quickie, had a very short stage life during the play. And of course, the final products in midst of all the action.

Next: ANGEL COSTUMES

Although every year we'd like to design new costumes, we just up-dated the costumes from the previous years. Some trim here, some rhinestones and appliques there... they looked great in the blue lights during the production.

Angel Dancer Maggie

New Angel Costume

Last but Not Least: SANTA'S ELVES

This one is just for fun. Pam and I were goofing around and got Santa to join in the fun.

While the journey was often times stressfull, in the end we all had a blast!

Yes, the two backstage managers take their jobs VERY seriously.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

When Theatrical Interests First Took Root

When you're working your job or running your business, do you ever wonder to yourself when the starting point of your career or your favorite hobbies/interests began? I have. A lot. As an artist, I can recall many of the first drawings and paintings I did. I still have a few of them, though they are in storage at the moment. I'll post them at another date.



My family and friends always knew I'd be involved in the arts; but when did the interests of theatrical design enter the fray? Why costuming? Why set and prop design? Why drama?



Well, on reflection I remembered a few outstanding moments in my childhood, one of which was dressing my youngest brother up as Santa Claus with what little materials I had. I don't remember how old I was though...maybe 10 years old? I knew we had a picture of the outfit in my parents photo box, so I went on a hunt and began digging away. (BTW - Looking through old photos can cause you to post them on facebook, LOL)



So without further ado I give you my little brother, Adam, sporting his Santa Claus outfit. Adam is wearing a red courderouy jacket and pants, a red cotton t-shirt, a white and red knitted hat and a fluffy beard of cotton balls. His bag is of the always fashionable white cotton pillowcase. As you can tell by the smile on his face and the gleam in his eyes he was very pleased with this look!






When it comes to props, the first thing I recall was building a rolling horse for us and our next door neighbors to ride. My dad had a great collection of tools, wood and a multitude of miscellaneous knick-knacks in the garage, so I just helped myself and went to work!



What I came up with was a magnificent steed that would make McGyver proud! The body of the horse consisted of a saw horse on wheels, on of those stringy mops, a rope, a paper bag and a large old blanket.

Again, I may have been around the age of 10 - 12.




Scott Wilson, my brother Mark, and Chris Wilson going for a trail ride


As for drama, I fondly remember the times when my cousins would come down for a visit and Jacki and I would write and perform some short plays for us, and our siblings, to perform for our parents. Ahhh - Those were the good old days! No pictures though. So sad.


There were however, a multitude of times that my brothers and I would play army or cowboys and indians with the neighbors. Mostly it was army. My dad was the company commander for the National Guard unit in our town so we had a plethera of outfits and supplies to make the playtime more realistic.





I don't know who's thumb that is, but the back row is me, the middle row is Scott and my little bro, Adam and up front is Chris.


I bet if you take the time to reflect and look at old photos of your childhood, you'll find yourself saying "Ahah! So that's when it happened!" So the challenge for today is to give reflection a shot and let me know if you connect the dots.

Icicles

For some strange reason I woke up this morning with snow and icicles on my mind. I don't know why---I just did. (Of course if anybody actually knows me they wouldn't really be surprised by this sudden interest.)

Perhaps its because of Christmas. Christmas is my favorite time of the year and is closing in fast. I have always envisioned having a white Christmas, complete with icicles hanging from the eaves of houses and snow covering trees and fences...

What ever the case, I decided to post these pictures I took in Yosemite back in April. There were plenty of icicles there, especially hanging off branches that bridged the creeks.

Artwork in Progess

Although I've been having a fantastic time playing with race cars, I have been slowly working on a couple of art projects.

The first is of a Squirrel Monkey from the Phoenix Zoo. I really wanted to draw this little guy and thought it would be another quicky, but I have been painstakingly working on this for days and days but it is still a long way from being completed.

Why did I pick a critter with hair?! Because I like to do things the hard way, that's why. I'm so meticulous it seems I am drawing every single strand the little guy has on his body. And the leaves? sheesh. So much shading! Sometimes I can be too accurate for my own good. LOL But there is a good reason for it. I'm drawing this guy on smooth Bristol board, not just sketch paper (like my Iguana), so I want to make sure it gets done right.

Now the other artwork is mainly just practice, and it involves squirrels. Cartoony squirrels. I can draw realistic looking animals but cartoons? For some reason this now boggles my mind. When I was a kid, I could draw cartoons with no problem, but now? Problems. Luckily I kept an old animation drawing book by Preston Blair to help me out. Practice makes perfect, right?

These are my rough drawing exercises:

This next picture is of a quick sketch I did of a real squirrel and then a cartoon.

But why would I want to put myself through this torture? Because I plan on creating an animated movie involving said cartoony squirrels in the next couple of years. Of course, at the rate I'm going, it may take like 5 years. But it's good to have a goal, right?