Crafty Blogger

As I mentioned yesterday, I’ve been out shooting photos instead of in the studio, but what’s happening in the rest of the art world? Here’s a glimpse:

Auntie’s Beads supplied some wonderful faux sea glass beads for Cyndi to use in a new design!

CreativeDreamer says, “Oops… I forgot to include the wrap up next week, so here it is… the Boo Pumpkin wrap up…”

Eileen, The Artful Crafter, says, “Don’t let the rotten egg smell or safety concerns keep you from discovering the wonderful burnished effects you can create on a thin metal sheet with liver of sulfur.”

Halloween is coming up, so this post on drawing a troll from a picture and then doodling the background using markers is very timely.

I was playing around with digital mixed media pieces and trying to learn how to take better photos to get the images I wanted. The more time I spent with my camera, the more I got hooked on photography. So, I have a few pieces in progress as I work on getting just the right shots, but the majority of my stuff right now is photography related. I thought I’d start sharing things here instead of letting my poor little blog stagnate.

I’m taking classes through Cecil College and am lucky enough to have started at the same time as Andy Bloxham, who is teaching the class this year. I am learning a lot and hopefully will be able to get what I see in my head out of the camera and onto the canvases I’m working on sometime soon.

A few weeks before the class, I decided to go Pentax and bought a K10D. The great thing about these cameras is that I can use all my Pentax film camera lenses on them, too. I wrote a few things about my new camera – a Top Five Reasons to Buy a Pentax Digital SLR Camera list and a Loving the Pentax K10D Camera lens.

I also have been taking a bit of my photography experience to Suite 101. I wrote an article on renting photography equipment for small businesses doing a DIY marketing campaign.

Well, enough about where I’ve been and what I’ve been writing. Here are a few of my favorite assignment shots:

These chicks crack me up. This is part of a minimal focus assignment.

The shells are under water and not quite as sharp as I wanted, but I still like this one.

So, what are you up to in your art studio?

Hope you are enjoying your Mother’s Day weekend and that you have some time to do some art in between all the hustle and bustle of cleaning up after your breakfast in bed and handmade Mother’s Day cards. (Why is it that cleaning up after those particular kid activities feels like opening another present? I guess because they are messes made with love?)

Cyndi from Beading Arts has launched the first installment of her brand new e-book on bead embroidery…and it’s free! Hurry over for your copy!

Creative Dreamer says, “June is setting up a monthly creativity prompt, and would LOVE having you play along…come see how it works and join in the fun!”

Kidsfunreviewed.com has a review of the awesome new Cricut Cake – “Have you seen the latest machine from Cricut? It’s not for scrapbooking, it’s for cake decorating!”

The Gadabout Media DIY wedding series continues with tips and tricks for making your own wedding favors.

Hmmm… the tooth fairy takes teeth and leaves money, so what does the Menopause fairy take and what does she leave behind? Well… hopefully a sense of humour and delight. Noreen has designed a fun homage to the Menopause Fairy, and has also uploaded a very neat new video tutorial on how to adapt a 4 peg spool knitter into a 5 peg spool knitter. So cool!

The Artful Crafter tells you how to make your own puzzles.

Want some tips for making an inexpensive comforter? Then you won’t want to miss frugal ways to make a quick and easy bed quilt.

I am spending a lot of time in the garden and doing less in the art studio just like I do every spring, so I haven’t been doing much. Not all artists are slacking in the craft room, though. Here is what the artsy bloggers have been up to:

Tottie Talks Crafts has a giveaway. 60 Quick Knits is just wonderful, and, you can win a copy of it! Just leave a comment.

Beading Arts has a quick little tutorial on how to create a barnacle texture with seed beads!

Creative Dreamer says, “Yummies…my version of strawberry tiramisu…come see!”

Kidsfunreviewd.com has step by step instructions and photos for making a cross cake for a First Communion, Easter, or Baptism.

It’s wedding season, so to celebrate Chloe is writing a series of articles on creating your own special DIY wedding!

Love scrapbooking? Here are some homemade gift ideas to make using scrapbook supplies and techniques.

The Artful Crafter asks, “Do companies offer free craft products to the general public for testing?”

Once, long ago, I used to think digital collages weren’t “real” art. Then I started to make them myself and realized they were absolutely real and, often, tougher to pull off than a collage on canvas. To show you what I mean, I’ll walk you through Patriotic to the Core, which is my newest digital collage.

I actually had the idea for this collage awhile ago, but it took quite some time to get the first part right. I found a ton of flags to photograph. Some were too still. Some were too pristine. Maybe I needed a war memorial instead. Nope. Definitely a flag. I finally found the right flag. I went back a few times to photograph it and finally got just the right exposure, flag angle and mood.

On to the next part. Easy. I knew what I wanted. An apple. But I didn’t like a single whole apple, groupings of apples, apples piled in bowls. Maybe a core? I started handing apples to people to eat for me. After a whole lot of apple cores, I finally realized I had a specific vision for the core in mind and no one else’s core would do. It only took me a few tries more to get just the right core. And then shooting a few hundred photos to get the right angle. A few hours of editing to get the right effect.

Now, I just had to combine the two pieces to get a digital collage. Mere seconds, right? Not hardly. I used one on top. Then the other. Made one opaque. Maybe not. Went back to the raw files. Cropped, softened, sharpened and everything else. Finally, I ended up with this:

So, what do you think? Is digital collage really art? I sure think so!

Cyndi from Beading Arts has just finished up a floral necklace that features fabric!

Creative Dreamer says “Violets are everywhere! Let’s sugar some for sweet goodie decorations!”

Gadabout Media shows you how to make bandanas for your favorite fur kid.

Kids Fun Reviewed has Gone Fishing Cupcakes that are super quick and easy. Perfect for dad on Father’s Day.

Cherie is sharing Mirrors and Poetry. She uses lines from her poetry to create one-of-a-kind mirrors.

The Artful Crafter shares a tutorial on how to make an envelope book for little treasures or clutter.

This week, Noreen from Tottie Talks Crafts made 3 new video tutorials showing different techniques for spool knitting with 2 pegs – great for jewelry making and lots of other things, too!

I started well. Really, I did. Carefully bringing items down from the bedroom I was converting for one of the little guys to the new, bigger space that is my art studio and office suite. Then, I ran out of time and ended up with a jumble of stuff that never got sorted. Add the mixed media artist’s, “Ooohhh, that piece of cardboard/tea bag packet/scrap of metal mesh would be perfect for something!” way of thinking, stir in five or six kids dropping in to make art journals and crafts on a regular basis and the result is one big, “Yikes!” So, I’m sorting out one category at a time. I’ve got a pitch bag, a donate bag and an organizational system.

First up, since there are a lot of people asking about scrapping and some of them want to do a summer class, is the scrapbooking stickers and rub-on category. I’ve tried organizing them a lot of different ways over the years and I think I finally have a method that works. I got a portable hanging file box and put the hanging files in it. Then, I got some folders and glued envelopes to one side of them to create little pockets for those little stickers and bits that always seem to be left over from big sheets. I labeled each folder with a category, put the sheets of stickers for that category in the folder, stuck any little bits in the envelope in the folder and put the folder into a hanging file.

Then, I switched folders around til they made sense. I have the holiday stickers in order by months of the year and then other stickers, like sports and school, set up behind those folders in ABC order. Finding the perfect sticker to complete a page will be really simple for anyone scrapping and I can find the rub-ons (which I tend to use a lot more for mixed media than stickers) really fast, too.

One down, a zillion to go.

Cyndi from Beading Arts has found a *lot* of seed bead tutorials lurking in her blog’s archives!

Gadabout Media DIY asks, “Do you have a beloved piece of fabric, but can’t decide what to make out of it? How about making a piece of jewelry? It’s quick, easy and very pretty!”

Home and Garden Cafe says, “For Earth Day try making a toad house by recycling an old clay pot.” Oh, that sounds like fun. We love our little toads and salamanders and the kids will get a kick out of making a special home for the toads.

The Frugal Home shows us ways to make an old desk come to life.

The Artful Crafter asks, “Does your craft space need some decluttering? Here are some ways to donate your excess projects and supplies.”

Noreen from Tottie Talks Crafts has figured out several different ways of weaving triangles on the pothholder loom, using yarn. Here’s a video tutorial for the bias or continuous weaving technique.

Have you done something artsy this week? I’d love to hear about your projects!

Did another week really pass? I feel like I somehow missed it! I have been working on my Gut Art class book and doing a bit of doodling, so I don’t really have much to share. Makes me feel downright slackerish compared to all these talented artsy bloggers!

As artsy as I got this week! (I am suffering from a teensy chicken obsession.)

Cyndi from Beading Arts shares how she constructs her bead embroidered cuff bracelets for the Bead Journal Project.

Creative Dreamer says, “With spring springing up all over, and I want to share my favorite cake recipe for spring. It goes PERFECTLY with fresh fruit…or, candied violets….”

Chloe from Gadabout Media has posted a tutorial on how to make your own stamped scrapbooking ribbons. (And they are lovely. I almost got sidetracked and started making some, but then I remembered I was in the middle of a blog post!)

Cherie is sharing her lovely poetry mirrors – Lines from poems, craft paper, and paint create one-of-a-kind mirrors.

The Artful Crafter has some glass etching tips from master etcher Eric Robert to share with us.

The Kid’s Fun Review has a Sweet Pea Cupcake Topper and Scrapbook Page to share.

Tottie Talks Crafts says “Nostepinnes are an ancient way of winding flat, stackable, center pull balls of yarn. There is a knack to learning the skill of winding yarn on the nostie, and Noreen has made a video tutorial to show how it’s done.”

The kids and I are doing some art therapy and we decided the Gut Art class would be perfect for us because it starts with making an art book. So far, we have made it partway through the first lesson and have our covers partly done. I think doing art with your kids is a great way to have quality family time and just de-stress together.

It is fun to see the kids approach something you have done before with complete awe and excitement and has you looking at it all in a new way. I’ve made books before, but this is probably the most enjoyable book I’ve ever worked on!

If you’ve been feeling stale and blah and in a rut, I totally recommend taking an online class. Hey, if you aren’t feeling stale and are feeling ready to get creating, I still recommend it. We wanted to have the accountability of a class to keep us working on art a few times a week together.