A Rainy Sunset

It was raining as I was driving home from the cottage tonight, which caused the sky to turn a beautiful mauve shade.  I took a few photos as I drove.  (I know, I know, bad idea. But I did wait until there was no traffic around me, if that's any consolation.)  But it was just too beautiful to ignore! 

Blurry but beautiful!

There was even a rainbow behind me which I glimpsed briefly but it disappeared quickly. Still, it was nice to know if was there, if only for a moment.

Making Fabric Cloth With Diana Trout

In my post yesterday, I told you about a video I watched yesterday that inspired me to make a journal page.  I also watched Diana Trout's new video tutorial about how to make fabric cloth.  Diana showed us this technique this past June when we were in Italy but at that time, we only made small pieces to use on the spines of the journals we made.

In this video, she makes a much larger and prettier piece of fabric cloth and I absolutely love the result.  I'm anxious to get started making some, except that I don't have any muslin on hand.  Rest assured, I will be remedying that ASAP.  In fact, I might have to stop at the fabric store on the way to the cottage this morning.  (I was going to go out last night and buy some but was already in my pyjamas when I watched the video!)

The kittens enjoyed watching the video too!

 

Thanks Diana, for sharing this technique!

P.S. If you click the link above, her blog post also contains written instructions for how to make the cloth - always good to have something written down for future reference, I say! 

Watch Video, Make Journal Page

My friend Lorraine sent me a link for this video posted by Pam Thorburn on YouTube.  I watched it today and then got busy making my own journal page using Pam's easy to follow, simple and very effective techniques. 

I watched the video all the way through first, then played it again as I made my journal page.  It took me a little longer than the 11 minute video to make my page, probably about 20 minutes altogether, as I first had to grab my supplies (which I did quickly and without too much thought - thinking about which paper or stamp to use just slowed me down, so I had to tell myself to stop thinking and just do!).  Then as I played the video, I would stop it from time to time while I did the various steps.  It probably would have been quicker and easier if I had everything on the table in front of me while I played the video but this is what happened when I tried that:

Yup, all four kittens wanted to help out!  So I would watch the video in the dining room where my laptop is, then step in to the kitchen to do the page while standing at the counter.  Where there's a will, there's a way!

First I glued down bits of paper.

Then I added a strip of striped wrapping paper with circles punched out (I love that part! Great idea, Pam!!)

After I stamped over the paper, I was sure I had ruined my page.  I used a stamp that looks like a sheet of music and it seemed wayyy too busy. 

But I persevered.  As Pam says on her video, just keep going. She also suggests that you could gesso over if you don't like the way something looks but I didn't bother.  As she says, it doesn't matter if it's not perfect, you learn from your mistakes for future reference. Almost every teacher of every class I have ever taken has said this and it is so true!

I added a picture stamp from a group of Artistic Outpost stamps that I had bought ages ago and had yet to use (so glad to finally put one of them in action!) as well as a tree and birds stamp in the bottom corner. Used my Inktense pencils to add some colour, finished off with a quote that Dina Wakley gave us in class last weekend and voila, here is the finished page:

Click on picture to enlarge

As you can see, for this first page, I followed Pam's video pretty closely, even using similar stamps, mostly because I loved the look of her little page but also, when you're learning something new, it helps to have a guide to follow - thank you, Pam!  I also love her idea about using paint sample strips - must get me some of those.  Next time, of course, I'll be just a little braver and more experimental with my page.  I already know there will be many next times.  I love these techniques and the quickness of getting a finished page. I also like the idea of using (mostly) dry mediums to do a journal page, sometimes you just don't have the time or the inclination to get out the paints and wait for them to dry, etc.  Plus I used a brand new, 6 x 9 inch journal to make this page, so I'll need to get busy filling up the rest of the pages! :)

Now if I could just find where the kittens put the lid to the glue stick...

Thursday's 15

There were actually two 15 minute art making sessions today.

In the morning (before breakfast seems to work well for me), I added some circles I had doodled on the subway the other night and some other bits and pieces to the journal page I started on Monday:

and painted in a tree.

Tonight I added some leaves to that tree:

and started a new background with the leftover paint.

Can you tell I'm in an autumnal frame of mind? :)

Artober

Fellow journaling artist Traci Bunkers suggested that October should be a "30 Days of Get Your Art On".  (I haven't had the heart to tell her that October has 31 days!)  Such a great idea, Tracy, thanks for suggesting it!  I decided I wanted to commit to play along.  I will post about what I've made every Wednesday this month (since October has 5 of them!).

The rules are similar (and spelled out in more detail in her post, just click on the link above): commit to spending a designated amount of time making art every day this month and post the results.  I've chosen a 15 minute time period as my minimum commitment, as I know some days, it will be a challenge just to squeeze in that much time.  On the plus side, I can always spend more than the allotted time and no doubt often will.  For example, here we are on day 3 and so far, it has ended up being 3 hours, half an hour and one hour, so the actual time period will no doubt be flexible.

Monday Oct 1st, I attended the 3rd week of my drawing class and here is one of the drawings I made:

Tues 2nd, I spent time (before breakfast!) starting this journal page:

Wed 3rd, I finished a book I was making for a friend at work who is being married in Italy later this month (more details in a later post):

Stay tuned every Wednesday to see what other art I make this month!

A Sad Sight

It made me sad when I saw this sight in the dumpster area behind my apartment building yesterday:

Imagine someone leaving behind this cute little fellow when they moved!

And behind this furniture, another casualty.

On the plus side, apparently we have a bunch of new books for our building's library!

The Cabinet of Many Drawers

I am enthralled by cabinets that have many drawers. I would like to have one but I have yet to find one that I can afford, or that hasn't already been bought.  Of course, I don't know where I would put it and I'm sure I'd lose things in the drawers but still, I am drawn to them for some reason.

There were many examples at the outdoor antique show the other day, like this pretty blue one from the Maritimes ($250).

Sometimes they are portable, like this wooden tool box.

As the sign says, I was too late for this solid oak beauty but wouldn't have been able to afford it anyway - it had just been sold for a whopping $1200!  The drawers had those little holes in the bottom for poking your finger underneath to lift up the papers inside, the young dealer who had sold it didn't know what the holes were for and was grateful to me for explaining them to him.

This industrial version was still available but was heavy as could be and had a price tag of $650.

This is the one that belongs to the tag posted above.

Alas, although I coveted them all, I came home with none.