Painting Faces

The last two Saturdays I spent some time painting faces at two parties I went to. I thought it would be fun to show a few of the designs. Even though it isn't art, it's me being creative and having fun with my favorite humans, little kids!

It was pretty humid and hot when I did some of these faces.

I'm packing for a art get away right after I post this blog. Sunday evening I'll be back to share some of the art work that I hope to complete. I'm going to take pictures as I go along to share as a tutorial.

Then I think my summer travels are over.

Beautiful Blogs

I purchased the magazine "Artful Blogging" yesterday and was inspired and awed by the many wonderful blogs that they featured. I thought it would be nice to actually visit them online, so, with the magazine by my side, I typed in the addresses of some of the more interesting blogs and thought I would feature them here.

Sweet Eye Candy Creations is filled with retro and shabby chic artwork, fu fu designs and lovely photographs. I like the way the artist, Jennifer Hayslip, uses old cards, feathers and flowers to embellish her work. I love vintage graphics and she incorporates them nicely into her creations.

Tangled Sky Studio is also featured in the magazine. The artist combines paint and wax to make interesting, whimsical artwork. Her blog features works in progress.

I really like the art work of Jennifer Maroney . She does a lot of doodling and journaling, her style is colorful and fun, full of hearts, swirls, flowers and stars.

A Fanciful Twist is a blog written by Vanessa Valencia. This artist expresses herself through mixed media, art dolls, paper dresses, jewelry and illustrations. I like this because I've been told that I sometimes am chasing too many rabbits, because I have so many art forms I'm interested in. Sometimes I feel like I should put it all away and concentrate on one form, but after visiting A Fanciful Twist that's not going to happen! After you visit Vanessa's website, you'll understand what I'm talking about.

If you like retro, vintage and shabby chic, you will love Cherry's Jubilee at blogspot. Here is another artist who uses old cards, books, ribbons and buttons to make interesting home decor. I especially love her photographs (Look for the picture of the two suitcases). Here's a link to her Cherry's etsy shop.

Artful Blogging features many more wonderful blogs; the above are just a few of my favorites. Once again, it is so inspiring to see what other bloggers are writing about. I love the peacefulness or whimsy of these blogs. There are no harsh words or angry rants, but a beautiful look at the simple things that inspire the artists and their work.

It makes me want to be a better artist, blogger, photographer and writer.

Michael's Clay and Makin's Pasta Machine Reviews

While shopping at Michael's the other day, I was surprised to see that they are now carrying their own brand of polymer clay.

I was impressed with the cost of their clay; at $1.29 for 2 ounces, it's half the price of Fimo and Sculpey. I purchased 9 different colors and thought I would give it a try.

The clay is very pliable and soft, making it easy to create little figurines. The colors are nice but I felt they are not as vibrant and rich as Premo, Fimo and Sculpey III. I didn't care for the deep ridges left in the clay (probably from the cutting tools they use to manufacture it).


I made a simple cane with the clay, but, since I don't do complicated canes, I'm not sure if this soft clay would be a good choice.


After the clay was baked it was fairly durable, similar to sculpey III, but not nearly as strong as Premo.


In my opinion, this would be a great clay for beginners and children. If I were in a bind, I would use it. But as long as Michaels and Joanns continue to have Sculpey and Fimo at 50% off, those are the brands I will buy.


Kudos to Michaels for trying!




Pasta Machine

Last year I purchased a Makins Pasta Machine. Within a few minutes of rolling out my piece of clay, it jammed inside the machine. A metal strip on the underside of the rollers fell off also.

I contacted Makins and they sent me another machine. I was pleased with their customer service. However, it hasn't been a year yet and my machine is falling apart. The metal screws on the bottom platform have fallen out. The knob that controls the thickness of the "pasta" is starting to malfunction. It's time for me to start looking for another pasta machine.

I've tried the Amaco Pasta machine in the past, and it was very poorly made, jamming up and causing ripples in the clay. I went to a teaching seminar two years ago and several of the brand new Amaco pasta machines jammed up or wouldn't turn after only a few minutes of using them.

The best pasta machine I ever used was an Italian made machine that cost me around $60.00. I used it for 5 years before it gave me any problems. I guess I need to go to my local Italian market and check out their machines, because the Makins and Amaco machines, in my opinion, are poorly made. (Makins does suggest that you only use their brand of air drying clay in their machines, so heed their advice.)

If you have any suggestions for durable pasta machines that you would recommend, please drop me an email or leave a comment.

Back to business!

That sound you hear is me tap dancing around my house as I've got my computer back! Unfortunately, everything was lost (thousands of pictures and music), but I'm not going to mourn over it. (Just another dumb learning experience!!)

I've been busy making clay and tomorrow will be taking pictures. Then it's back on track blogging and creating.

(I never want to go this long without being on line again! This was a punishment I don't want to repeat!)

Computerless

Due to a problem with my computer (possibly a bad hard drive) I have been unable to blog for the past two weeks. Hopefully I'll be writing again soon.

Sunsets, fishing and an ambulance.

I arrived home from my trip yesterday and am anxious to get back to work in my house and on my art.

Here's a quick synopsis of my time away.





Took a lot of pictures of old houses...

Kids fished a lot

We painted wooden fish...

Saw a lot of sunsets..



Worked on projects with grandkids..




Did I mention fishing?





More sunsets...





Paper crafts..





Fun with family..



Drank a little wine..(actually brought two of these bottles home..so it wasn't that much!!)






Went to the beach at Lake Michigan...but didn't swim.





Sleeping Bear Dunes..




Traverse City Cherries.

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The cottage


I had a really nice week with my family. Never made it to Ludington because of the weather. Didn't get to swim either, which was disappointing to me, since that is my favorite thing to do on vacation, but the summer isn't over with yet!

Most of the week went smoothly except for Tuesday evening when my granddaughter Kara, had an allergic reaction to something, (we think nuts) and started to itch and swell. Her little eyes looked like slits and she had hives all over her body. My sister called 911 to ask where the nearest hospital was and they informed us that it would take at least a 1/2 hour for us to get there, so they sent an ambulance. The operator told us to watch her breathing.

Since we were back along the lake, and the directions were confusing, I drove to the main entrance and waited for the ambulance. My granddaughter had gone from itching and crying wildly to being very quite. As we sat on the dark road (it was 1:30 a.m.) my mind started to go over the CPR training I receive once a year. Is it 3o compressions to two breaths or 15 to one? They keep changing the cycles and I didn't remember. Luckily, the ambulance got there in about 15 minutes.

Even though she was breathing well and the worst was over, the paramedics and my daughter decided to take her to the hospital. My daughter rode in the ambulance and I followed. My nephew was with me and he proved to be a big help. Kara seemed fine by the time the Dr. looked at her and she announced, "I"m ready."

My daughter asked her what she was ready for and she sighed, "to go home."

After receiving medication and instructions, we headed back to the cabin. It was 4:45 a.m.

All is well that ends well. However, it made me realize that the next vacation I take will be a little closer to a big city, just in case!

I've yearned for my clay all week, so I'll be back to blog about that later on!

Time for a little vacation..

I just wanted to announce that I'm leaving on vacation tomorrow and will be gone for a week.

My family and I have rented a cabin an hour east of Ludington. I'm very excited to be going, however, that means I won't be able to blog while I'm there. The cabin does not have internet or phone access so you won't be hearing from me for a week.

I plan on doing a lot of creative things while I'm there though, so I hope to have a lot to blog about when I get back.

See you then!

Coffee, Birds and Art

This morning, a few minutes after my alarm woke me, my boss called me to give me an option of coming in to work or staying home. Since I'm going on vacation Saturday and I have orders to fill, a house to clean and clothes to pack, I decided to stay home.

I made some coffee and got dressed (hate staying in my pjs). Since it was so pleasant this morning, I thought I would drink my coffee outside and work on a journal project I've been wanting to do.

I have tried to keep a journal in the past, but am not really committed to the idea and my blog kind of serves that purpose in a way. Lately I've found the urge to write down the really deep feelings and thoughts, the kind I don't want to share on my blog. I've been writing everything in a cheap college binder that I scribbled on. It's really not very pretty, so I've been meaning to decorate it.

This morning was the perfect chance, so I gathered up my coffee, papers, glue, scissors and camera and sat in my little garden out back.

I applied glue to the cover and tore strips of purple and green scrapbook papers in assorted colors and shapes and placed them randomly on the cover. I love nature and chose some papers with leaves and flowers. I'm trying to be more patient and found a perfect quote from Ralph Waldo Emerson about patience.

In essence, I collaged the front of the journal. I never have a plan when I do collage, I just apply papers and embellishments where it feels "right". I may move things around several times before I get that "feeling".

When I was happy with the results, I stopped. I then took two stands of fuzzy yarn, tied them to the end of a shish kabob stick and pushed it through the wire spring of the journal. I tied the ends to the wire, making a big knot. Voila! A ragged old note binder becomes a pretty journal.

I'm going to take my papers and glue, etc. on my vacation. I think Target has their binders on sale now for .15 or 20 cents each. I think I'll let anyone who'd like to make one have that opportunity at the cabin. I know my granddaughter will want to!

This little project only took about a half hour. As I worked on it, birds serenaded me and a perfect breeze kept the mosquitoes at bay.

Other than the occasion back ground noise of a siren or airplane, it was a peaceful, beautiful way to start my day!