Canvas Rescue

Finally finished this small canvas.   Like many of my projects, this one ended up far from my original plan.    I started out full of hope - glued down some wooden arrows, including a stir- stick from our stay at the Bellagio, and covered it all with a coat of gesso.

Then things veered off track quickly.  I sprayed on some Dylusions ink , then some Distress inks.  The color wasn't right, so sprayed on some water.   Lesson - all those water-based sprays react with water and the color washes away.   After several spray, blot, spray cycles, I wasn't  happy with the colors/ coverage and the canvas went into Witness Protection.

Last week I brought it out and learned an important lesson - sometimes you just have to plow through the bad stuff.   I dabbed on some acrylic paint, added some white stenciled text  and black paint splatters.  

I glued down some torn pieces of Ideology Melange tissue paper by Tim Holtz .   This paper has a smoother finish than regular tissue paper and doesn't tear easily.   I love the graphic and the transparency that allows base colors to show through.

I tried a new to me technique  using Distress Crayons to make the blue splatters  around the butterfly.     Load a paintbrush with water , and while holding the crayon close to the canvas, flick the brush across the crayon.  This makes finer specks than paint and a fan brush and also allows better control.   I was able to go all around the butterfly , making an outline of blue splatters.  There is the added benefit of some waxy texture along with deep color.

Of course, some projects that go off the rail end up in the trash.  Sometimes nothing can save a disaster, but I'm glad this canvas was a rescue success.

The Year of the Doodle Finale

This book by Dawn deVries Sokul may just be the best $12.00 I've ever spent.    I met my goal - do something for every day - doodle,  collage, lettering .   Is every one a masterpiece?   Hardly.   Some were so bad I had to totally cover the mess and start over, others rated only a "meh", and a few that turned out better than expected.  I stretched my doodling skills, and realized I need lots more work on lettering.

The binding on this book is nothing short of amazing:

My Year of the Doodle is on the right and started out the same size as Art Doodle Love.  I have collaged, painted, added button edges and generally stressed the binding which is still holding together despite unspeakable odds.

This  over-stuffed book makes me happy whenever I look at its wavy pages, tabs, threads and buttons.

A few last pages to share:

This is an amazing mandala stamp.  The stamp has straight edges, so I continued the design to soften the edges.

I was surprised how many ruler tapes and stickers I found in my stash ! The bird and most of the background on the right is a napkin.

I love using old envelopes.

I've been decluttering my stamp stash and found this cute house stamp I'd forgotten I had.

This was fun - I used a little green tomato to stamp these apples.

December was easy  - used up lots of Christmas bits and pieces from my stash.   I drew the tree with different color Distress Stickles.

The festive birds were salvaged from a card stamped by my friend, Shiela.

Background is from Doodle in French by Anna Corbin - drew on the dress form and added fabric stickers and some rub-ons.  Audrey is the crowning touch!

I'll miss my daily challenge , but luckily I have a brandie-new, pristine Art Doodle Love to start.

Making Art in the Kitchen and the Studio

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I haven't been making much art lately, but I have  been busy in a fall-frenzy of Suzy Homemaker domesticity.  Actually think there's art in this - making something beautiful is art, right?

Tomato sauce - frozen because I'm not a big fan of canning.  Recipe from A Way to Garden.

And apple butter from here.

The Captain has a grape arbor and this year was our first (small)  harvest.  Jelly recipe straight from the pectin box:

Then there was some play time with the Texas daughter and the grand boys - so much fun! Being a Yaya is the best gig ever.

  

Back to art -  I have been making a planner for next year (more on that later), and then there's this quick stitched card.   I used the tapestry ribbon as a base for sewing on the other scraps, then glued it to the text paper that was glued to the card front so no stitching shows through the back side.

I found the butterfly fabric label in those value bins at Michael's.   I love all the vintage-y goodness so I  bought them out.

Art is where you find it - kitchen goodies or mixed media fun.

Another Canvas : An Homage to Good Men

Here's to Good Men.

May we know them

May we be them.

May we raise them.

{paraphrasing "Here's to Good Women"]

Another canvas for another son's birthday.  This is one of DC son's favorite family pictures - his Papa and his favorite uncle.   

I used some Core'dinations paper that I sanded to highlight the clocks and scuffed up the edges.  I used the same train station schedule as this canvas.  The bits and pieces have special meaning;  Uncle Pete loved woodwork, hence the ruler and  Papa's barn was a favorite place for exploring.

These are real gas ration tickets from another family member.    Normally I'd use copies, but DC son is a history buff, so he gets the originals.  

A scrap of map is an old-time a geo tag and  a nod to DC son's love of maps.

I used a 7 Gypsies piece as a mat for the photo.  The stars are stamped with Christine Adolf's Shore Trim  stamp - one of my favorite go-to stamps for all kinds of projects.

These canvases are the first I've made using my pictures .  I like how family pictures makes the artwork so personal.   DC son gave me the best review on this canvas - "It made me happy".   And that makes me happy.

Falling Leaves Collage and The Great Bittersweet Harvest

"October gave a party -

the leaves by hundreds came."



~  George Cooper

 

 

I learned this George Cooper poem in third grade.  Not sure why I'm still using valuable brain storage space on this when I can't remember what I had for lunch yesterday!  But I digress; I want to share a fall-inspired collage.

 

 

I found this little (about 6 inch square) piece of wood on the beach and knew it had potential.  This is the first time I've ever done any art work on wood and it was fun - banging nails is so therapeutic!

 



 

I washed on some diluted acrylic paint and added some extra color with oil pastels around the edges.  The stenciled tree was done with acrylic paint.  I cut out leaves from various fall-colored papers.  The fun part was banging in small nails on the leaves and adding some curled wire .  A small piece of torn book binding along the bottom adds some grounding.

 

I kept coming back to work on this, thanks to the advice from Claudine Hellmuth's class.  The leaves seemed too bright, so I went over them with a Tumbled Sage Distress Ink pen.  The tree was too dark and all one shade of brown, so I scratched over it with a raw sienna watercolor pencil. 

 

On to bittersweet -  I know that bittersweet is considered an invasive species, but I can't resist those red berries with their orange cases and all those twirly vines. 

 



 

My car, filled with a haul of bittersweet.

 

 

The Captain - bittersweet whacker in chief.  It's hard to see in this picture, but the branch he's holding has a bonus - an empty bird nest ! 

 

 

Now some people might call this crazy, but I told you I love bittersweet.  Here's that branch, sporting its birdie nest and announcing that fall has come to the dining room.

 

Bittersweet in the cloche.  Don't you love this little white pumpkin all blinged -out?