Inspired by this onesie I made my nephew and this striped shirt by stephaniecb I decided to make this shirt (above) for myself.
I’m pretty proud, as I did that completely free hand. No compass, no ruler, just my hand and eyes. Are you impressed? I’ve been working on it everyday after work for a handful of hours, as I am using fabric pens, so I am having to color it all in, bit by bit. I think I will do one or more stripes on the outside, reaching just under the collar.
Last week was my sister’s birthday. Happy Birthday Chris! I hope you had a great birthday and will have an AMAZING year ahead! She has always been a supporter of my artwork and is ALWAYS there for me when I need help, or an opinion and guidance.
For her birthday she wanted to go to the Museum of Science and Industry. It was an awesome day. I haven’t been there since I was in elementary school and could have spent a couple days there before reaching everything they have to offer.
Unexpectedly, I was also able to (semi) cross off two items on my To-Do-List for 2010. At the MSI now, your tickets to get in become a “sci-pass” where you can record the activities you participate in and then access them online later. They had a sound booth that was similar to the storycorp idea, where you could go in and interview other people. I went in and recorded a short interview with my sister, which was one part of number 23 on my list.
Number 12 on my to-do list was to get an old-timey picture done. In my mind, that meant REAL old photograph techniques, like daguerreotypes, as mentioned in a few posts ago, rather than some quick digital pics that have been converted to grayscale or sepia tone. That being said… MSI had a photo studio set up where you can take quick digital old-timey pics in an old car, so we played.
I’m the one in the back with the straw hat on, my sister is next to me and my brother in front of me, and his friend Chad next to him. The portrait woman was cracking up at Chad’s leg sticking out.
I have some art to share, as usual. This was the fourth grass painting in the series. I know I always say it, but it has to be said again. I LOVED this painting. It has a watercolor look to it, but it’s acrylic on canvas. It went to my sister for her birthday. I also made her the brooch in the above picture (orange and aqua at the top right).
I also made her a ring, and then made this one for myself. I used this tutorial from Makeitdo, that I found through the craft blog.
Today for Thing-A-Day I finished a mix CD I’ve been working on, tweaking and refining for a long time. I burned the first copy and listened to it to make sure there were no skips and the music all flowed properly from song to song. I am still brainstorming for ideas on the album artwork. I sat down at my drawing table to begin working on the artwork when I remembered a post I saw earlier today.
I saw this tutorial post on iHanna’s blog about making fabric paper and it seemed like fun.
The first one I made I really liked, but then I wanted to “tint” it and added some acrylic paints and I wasn’t thrilled with the outcome. That is more than a light tint, wouldn’t you say? I wanted it to be light yellow with “barely there” touches of green and orange, and instead it became red and green. Go figure.
I had fun though, so I decided to do another one. This one (all the more “white” images above) I left alone. I chose more neutral colored paper bits and I think I might come back over it later with a very watered down wash of white.
What will I end up doing with these? Who knows, but I thought I might scan them in and do some digital work over it for the album artwork.
Today, for Thing-A-Day, I spun for a couple hours. I’ve been working on this super thin yarn that will be plyed with another to make a crazy sock yarn. Normally I spin barefoot, but I just got home so I still had on my shoes. Normally I’ll just spin from a long roving, but because I want the colors to alternate a lot, I’ve been pulling bits the staple length and spinning from those. There are a total of 17 different colors and they are all a really nice merino wool.
I posted an animated gif file I made while spinning earlier this month, but you really can’t see much of a dent on the two hours more I’ve added. It’s so thin that it just doesn’t add up quickly.
The colors may not look that great right now, but once plyed, the finished product will look closer to this other yarn (below) that I spun, only all of that was dyed with kool-aid and it’s a much chunkier yarn.
Tonight my best friend and I went to go see Gaelic Storm (for the second time) at the Historic Egyptian Theatre. We had a really good time and now I’m in a St. Patrick’s Day mood. I always love going to concerts like that because the audiences are so energetic. Mostly, I think it’s the Irish crowd, because it’s the same vibe when I’ve gone to see Black 47 and Irish Festivals.
Here is a quick snapshot of what it looks like inside the theatre. We were sitting on the balcony.
The band performing. One thing that was REALLY cool was that the lead singer told the audience that he met his wife for the first time at Eduardo’s (a well known local restaurant). She was a grad student at NIU. How cool is that? Singer from Ireland, tours the world over and he met his wife in my own town.
And finally, the gratuitous shoe shot. I had to use the upstairs restroom and just loved the checkered flooring in there. Someday I will have black and white checkered floors in my home.
It’s Lost day again! This means I didn’t have much time to work on my Thing-a-day post, but I was able to make a special new someone to bring to the blog.
Today I’d like to introduce you to my little friend Frosty the snowman. He’s about six inches or so, about the same amount of snow we’ve received in the last 24 hours. I froze my little fingers and toes off to bring him here to you.
Now, I am going to go run some hot water in the bath and submerge my fingers and toes to bring back the feeling before we have to jet off to watch Lost. I kid you not.
Cross off one more item from my 2009 To-Do List. #28, I’ve decorated for Christmas. It might be pretty lacking in it’s lame, limp garland wrapped around the front porch, and the plastic tree my cat won’t stop eating, but everything is made better when you view the snowflake curtain I have been working on. I was inspired by this flickr picture and just wanted to make so many snowflakes that were all staggered and overlapping that it was more of a snow storm than anything :D It’s hanging between the kitchen and breakfast nook and makes me so happy that I just want to hang out in there all the time now.
Here’s another holiday picture, but not of my tree, but my friends’ Tom and Nikki. We went sledding last Friday. What a great evening. It was one of those nights, and I’ll quote Nikki “I was laughing so hard I thought my chest was going to explode”. Best.Feeling.In.The.World.
I still haven’t found my wallet BUT I sold another one of my handspun yarns this weekend. That makes me unbelievably happy. I also got a great message from the person who purchased this painting. “it’s absolutely beautiful. Even more stunning than in the photos!” Wow, made me feel like a million bucks.
And last but not least, I’m thrilled to present the following paintings I finished this weekend.
These paintings make me ridiculously happy.
They are all available in my Etsy shop right now. Clicking on the images will take you to their respective pages.
Welcome newcomers and old friends visiting from the SewMamaSew Giveaway Day. My name is Robyn and I’m an inspiration junkie. I always say I have my hands in all areas of the arts and crafts. For example, I work as a print designer, and just today, I came home and began working with my handspun yarn, and then did some painting on canvas, and finally this evening worked on binding a book.
Last spring I participated in my first SewMamaSew Giveaway Day and gave away 2 sets of my handmade Recycled Envelope and Stationery Sets. It was a huge success with 150 comments left on that one post. My stationery sets are a hit and so I’d like to continue with that, but shake it up somewhat. Please read below to find out how to qualify and win.
Here’s the scoop: One lucky winner will receive one of my Recycled Envelope and Stationery Sets AND one of my Reproduction Prints from my Etsy store. To enter, just leave a comment on this post (just say hi and let me know which reproduction you would choose if you won). Leave your comment before Sunday, December 6th 2009, at 8 p.m. (CST) at which point a winner will be drawn randomly from all the comments. This drawing is also available for those outside of the United States.
Each stationery set is compiled of 10 handmade self-sealing envelopes made from my personal (and constantly growing collection) of old papers, calendars, magazines, posters, massive vintage clipart books, maps, etc. Each set also comes with 20 pieces of stationery designed by myself, on a high quality recycled paper. Oooh, la la! I recently redesigned the stationery with a breath of fresh air. Finally, each set also has 10 labels so that you can easily mail them. Come on, who doesn’t love sending and receiving handwritten letters? It’s a welcome break from the bills and junk mail.
My reproduction prints are all printed professionally from my original artwork. You can click on each one to visit its own page or click on this link to browse all of them at once.
Thank you so much for stopping by and checking out what I have to offer. You can also find me on flickr, etsy and twitter. Please come by again, let’s be friends.
The “Roid Week 2009″ flickr group said to bring on the “seasonal Eye Candy” so I figured one fall leaves picture wouldn’t be bad.
I was wearing this gold scarf today and one of the last remaining bushes with leaves caught my eye so I took up the opportunity to sit in front of it and take this portrait. For some reason my eyes in this picture really remind me of pictures of myself from when I was little.
Look Ma, no cavities!
Once upon a time there was a pint sized pumpkin. It only grew to be pint sized, but it’s owner treasured it. That was until the fateful day when a squirrel decided to treasure it more.
Enter Evil Squirrel. He treasured the pumpkin all right, treasured it all over the front porch.
Then Cat spied the Evil Squirrel.
“It’s okay, I’d rather have squirrel pie, than pumpkin!”
I really wanted to play too, so today I contributed to the What I Wore Today (drawings only) group pool on flickr.
It’s no marvelous work of art, and I’m no fashionista. I’m actually the girl who was just in Macy’s recently, running around saying “wow, they have really nice clothes here” in a truly surprised fashion. My actual outfit was pulled together entirely from Old Navy (the skirt and the tank top) and Target (the cardigan and the purse). I really wouldn’t have bothered to draw the purse if I hadn’t just changed it out for another bag I’ve been carrying all summer. Once I slung it over my shoulder I was surprised to see that the exact same color of my cardigan was matched in the pattern of the bag. I’m not the type to try and attempt or even care about such things normally, but I was drawing a self portrait of myself today.
Check out the flickr group and if you contribute, send me a link!
www.flickr.com
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