Momtastic's Whimsey #5: Nevermore....Poor Lenore

Day 295:  Have you received your box of craftiness of want to know more?  Click here to check out Whimseybox's website.

I am a member of the Whimseybox Design Team and will be putting together weekly crafts and projects based on the items that come in the monthly boxes.  I try to use only what I receive in my boxes.  I am proud to be a part of this group of extraordinarily crafty people.  If you want more ideas go to Whimseybox's Portfolio of Projects.

Hands down this was THE BEST WHIMSEYBOX I have EVER received.  Why?  because the DecoArt Ink Effects were new to me and I did not have to use anything else for this project but what I received in the box~HAPPY DANCE!

You can read more about Decoart's Ink Effects HERE.

Supplies from the September Whimseybox:

Thin paintbrushes

Red Decoart InkEffects Paint

Cotton/Poly Scarf

Other supplies:

Iron

Computer paper

Imagination!

Pencil

It was so easy literally a caveman can do it.  You just start painting.  You can lightly sketch with a pencil your design, print a design or even finger paint it on.  Remember if you write words reverse them so they will show up the right way when ironed on.

I randomly drew out a raven and sort of a skeletal hand.  In the ironed on pictures you can see where the prints were lighter in the ligher painted areas and darker in others, this could produce some really interesting effects.

Then you let the paint dry for 30 minutes and iron it onto your cloth.  Apparently you can get 3 transfers per painting piece but I only did one for these.

The colors paint darker than they print but that doesn't really bother me too much.  There is a free guide you can look at to see the colors before and after, check in the aisle where you buy your paints.

Once they dried completely the fabric was not stiff nor did it crack when moved.

I have never been this excited about a new craft/paint product as I am with these.  I foresee lots of possibilities and plan on purchasing a bunch of new colors soon.

Apparently they work best on their own with a more synthetic than natural fabric BUT there are sprays you can purchase to prep the natural fabrics to hold the paint AND you can wash these!!

You can see lots of other projects at the Decoart Gallery page.

This is how much I am in love with these paints.....I hope they spark something in you too!

What will you create today?

Scenes from My Sketchbook # 14: Women & Creativity ATC

Day 279  This month I have been participating in the Women & Creativity 2012 Sponsored by the National Hispanic Cultural Center here in Albuquerque.  One of the activities was an ATC (Artist Trading Card) swap that anyone could sign up for and apparently they have artists of all ages from all these places
AZ, AK, CA, CO, GA, LA, IN, MA, MD, MI, MN, NE, NM, NY, OR, PA, TX, VA, WI and British Columbia
seriously how amazing is that?  We were given 11 cards, 10 to trade and 1 to keep, and basically just allowed to create.  I mailed them this week, it will be so much fun to see which ones I got back!

Since it was 'Women & Creativity' I decided that I wanted my daughters to also participate.  I sketched out the design and discussed what I wanted in the basic design.  My oldest loves to paint so I asked her to mix or choose a blue for the background which are representing the blue cloudless skies common to New Mexico.  Yes we do paint in our living room, in fact we do all our crafting in there or the kitchen and no I don't cover up furniture~it might get a little messy sometimes but we clean up real nice and I would love to see the kids creating.

Then I worked on the gold, brown, red acrylic mix for the background to represent the Sandia Mountains here in Albuquerque.  Over the top of the acrylic I used oil pastel crayons in reds and browns.

Whether moon or sun over the mountains they always stand stark contrast against the bright blue skies.  Using a yellow oil pastel crayon I colored a circle to represent either of those celestial bodies.  

Next I took an old large metal sewing needle and punched holes around the orb.

Last I gave my youngest daughter a ball of leftover threads from various sewing projects and asked her to sew them into the orb.  Since the threads were scraps there were long and short lengths, she just kept on sewing swapping in new colors chosen at random.

They turned out very simple but they do represent the women in our family, the place where we live, the sky and mountains that we see every day and the sewing that I do.

What will you create today?

Sun Rising from the Rubble Collaborative Project

Day 148

This past week has just been full of images from Japan following their multiple disasters and while I have been drawn to donate to other recent tragedies this one got me sketching and creating....I showed the sketch to my arty Studio Miche buddy to see what she thought and it got her thinking too sooooo we planned to meet up today and work...and I wanted to start you watching the process cause honestly it is pretty cool to see something from idea to final product...

....original very rough idea sketch....

my sketching of the design on white muslin...

2nd sketch...

fleshing out a lone house and Mt Fuji ideas....I know its pencil on white and you can barely see it but trust me it's there.....my creation will be from fabric scraps of raw edge applique and sewn down

M pulls out her batiking paints-oh I just love watching her work-its so soothing to hear her talk about depth and tying this with that and the colors she puts in their places...

so she painted this and then she will do some wax resist and dyeing over the top...

can you see the rice paper walls in this?

We watched some videos and talked about the tragedy and clicked through lots of pictures of rubble to get the perspectives we wanted on our pieces. Doesn't this one just really look like the rubble floating in the water? I think so.... but the rising sun represents how the country will prevail and come back stronger than they were before.

When we are finished with these we will be auctioning them off and the proceeds to go to this tragedy<--in the process of researching who, what, when and how so we can make sure it goes to the right organization or one we both like.

OK off to stay up way late cause I work all tomorrow night so I try to stay up late the night before....lots of scraps to cut up and collage hmmmm wonder if my DVR taped the Glee episode last night? or if there is a Law & Order or NCIS marathon on those are some of my top 10 sewing days lol lol

and lest you think our little darlings were having their Spring Break ruined because their moms were working think again....they spent all those hours coming down to snack on salads, homemade applesauce, baked sliced sweet potatoes, fresh italian bread, playing video games, watching movies and generally having a good time in the new tweenie hangout--SEE having fun lol aren't they gorgeous lol lol

What are you creating today?

Juicing and Painting....Spring Break rocks on

Day 147

Thoroughly enjoying my break of not driving the kids ANYWHERE just lots of cooking, cleaning and crafting....this IS the life!

It all started yesterday with some homemade applesauce--per my usual MO I don't really follow a recipe....cut some apples up, put water in the bottom of the pot, throw some smell good spices on top (cinnamon and cloves in this case) and cook until mushy then mush them up with a spoon strong enough to fend of the kids from taste testing while you are mushing and listening to them say 'ooo thats hot it burned my tongue, let me have another taste' lol lol its that good

While this was going on we juiced up some grapefruit and oranges for fresh squeezed goodness--this is my favorite vintage blender which I know probably needs a tuneup since it is older than me lol

Doesn't everyone have their own personal juicer? It was so good tasting we even had minimal work complaints from the staff about the 'work' of juicing

Quick sketch of my fabric collage project to help the beautiful country of Japan--they are an amazing in their strength--more on this later!

Then it was over to my art friend's house for some self portrait painting and art therapy--man did it work I was so relaxed when I got home I just wanted to sleep--just the act of painting makes me feel better

Here is mine I really didn't have a plan I just kept adding to it and it just turned out fun which is what I was really going for...colorful and fun!

Here is my youngest's.....

And my oldest daughter has yet to finish hers because she wants to do some details....we have done these portraits for about 5 years now and my only rules are fill up the whole canvas, paint yourself whether it is just a face or the whole body, paint how you see yourself at the moment....it just fascinates me how the girls grow and see themselves..

Here is my arty friend's (<-check her stuff out) but I will let her post it on her blog when she is ready to discuss the details I swear I couldn't stop watching her work-- I am surprised I even got mine done...she is certainly beautiful and amazing, seriously amazing

And here is her youngest daughter's-serious chip off the block that one is.....love that kid

I decided to post these instead of the felt creatures the girls are finished/working on so will post that one tomorrow...no sewing done yesterday but painting is the next best thing!

What will you create today?