More Little Treasures

One of the ATC swaps I am participating in is themed:  "Wake Up and Smell The Coffee".  Well, I ask you now, could I actually NOT do this one????  Hardly!!  It had my name all over it!  I had a ton of fun with these.  The back"grounds"  (lol....get it???....."grounds"....oh my) I made from used coffee filters which I tore, let dry and then cleaned off.  I was hoping for the coffee aroma to remain but alas....no such luck!  Bummer!  Some of them have pieces of Caribou Coffee bits on them. Caribou Coffee is like our regional coffee house. All I know is that they are closer than Starbucks....which on some days is a definite advantage!  The metal bits are from a coffee flavored energy drink can Wil came across when she was here this spring. That is drink is named Java Monster.  Sounds like me before I get my first cup in the mornings!  One has stamps on it that I made with an actual coffee bean....Italian Roast to be exact!  So...enjoy while I go grab a cup of coffee!!

"Java Monster"

(Savor every sip)

"Life Is Short"

(This is the tag line for Caribou Coffee)

"Caribou Coffee"

(Just a little "shout out" for the locals!)

"Coffee Java"

Little Treasures

I think ATCs are so wonderful when you just need a bit of something creative to do.  I'm in several swaps and am just under the wire on a couple of them due to circumstances.  But I have completed them and here they are!  These are for a Birthday ATC Swap.  There are about 30 people in the group so everyone on their birthday (or at least clost to it) receives about 30 little greetings from all over the world!  I so enjoyed savoring each one in March!  Here are the ones I did for the June, July and August birthdays.  Also, in case I mentioned it so long ago no one remembers......I have also set myself the additional challenge to theme each month.  I check out an online calendar that lists all the special themes for each month.  So...here goes.

June - Roses Month

"A Rose by Any Other Name"

July - Ice Cream Month

"We All Scream for Ice Cream"

August - Water Quality Month

"Cool Clear Water"

There is more to come...perhaps even later today!  So check back with me, OK?

Fun Stuff From The Past Month!

FINALLY!!! I am getting to post about all the fun stuff we did when Wil was here! Always a fun time of "playing" in the studio!

First is a pounded fabric piece. (Ahhh the patience needed for this one! Good character building actually I guess)

Then a couple of sunprints. On the purple one I used the plastic rings from milk containers and some river rocks. The picture is actually of the piece all ironed and smooth. The "wrinkles" were made when doing the sunprinting.

This one I used rice and salt. This one is also ironed.

I had never done any splatter painting so one day we took the paints and fabric outside to play. We had picked up a tile covered little breakfast type table for free on the side of the road just up the street. It was PERFECT for these projects because we didn't care if it got paint on it or got left out in the rain. These were lots of fun and I really like the results.

Next we did some ice cube dyeing. We used some dye that I had still in leftover from a previous project. All mixed with water but no soda ash. Thought it would be interesting to see how much "oomph" it still had. Not too bad really!! Especially considering some of it had been quite diluted for the original dyeing session. Another patience builder but this on is only overnight! The fun of it is that when the dye is frozen in the ice cube trays you can't tell what colors are in which cube! Always a surprise! I love that!

Then I wanted to do some more breakdown printing. (I must have a need to build patience come to think of it....this one requires waiting 3 days or so for the thickened dye to dry on the screen! No instant gratification there!) These started out as red and purple I think...but ended up a bit more on the red side actually. A bit too much on the red/pink side for my taste but they are so beautiful and textured I know they will be awesome either overdyed or as a background for some other technique! I just love the urban-ness of them. Totally different from my love of outdoors and nature. Funny how that works, huh? I am posting them below in order of the printings I did. The first one is the lightest because not that much of the dried thickened dye comes off in the first pass. They get progressively darker.

I've been busy this month getting some things ready to sell (at least hopefully sell!) So, now...back to the "grindstone"!!

Nurturing Creativity - Week 27

Didn't post this earlier because I got tired of posting just words! But just after this one I'll be posting those pictures of the fun stuff I did while Wil was here!

The card this week:

Live With It

The idea is to surround yourself with art...in your home, office, studio, car or anywhere! This one is not to difficult for me. My first adventure into the creative side (after a long stint working with the left brain) was in decorating our home. Come to think of it...that is also when I really got into reclaiming and recycling found objects. Found many things dumpster diving, garage sales and thrift stores. Even found a couch on the side of the road with a FREE sign on it once...won't be doing that again. It ended up that it smelled something awful! Ended up having to pay our garbage company to come pick it up! So much for FREE! Thankfully though, most of my "finds" were much more of a positive experience.

OK, now on to loading some pictures for the next post in just a few minutes!

Nurturing Creativity - Week 26

This week the card is to:

Name Your Demons

The inner (or sometimes outer) voices that hold us back from trying/completing/sharing our art. The fear of failure isn't that big a deal for me any more. At least not for the creative process. The selling process.....well.....that's a WHOLE different ballgame! Just venturing into that arena and hearing some of the old tapes running. But, I've gotten much better at telling them to shut up and I then drift along in my own little happy world....doing what I need to do.

My main demon now is feeling selfish spending so much time in my studio. I'm trying to overcome that and have limited success. I do OK until someone makes some "urgent" demand on my time. Usually that demand takes a big chunk out of the middle of my creative time. I'm working on saying no but I'll have to be honest and admit that it is difficult. Still, what is life without a challenge??? LOL!

Still haven't gotten to posting some of the fun stuff we did when Wil was here but I'll be getting to it hopefully this week.

Nurturing Creativity - Week 25 -- oops

Yeh, I know it has been a month...........

There are some pictures from that month that I want to post this week. Just got behind with company here and then regrouping after company left. Now.....I think....I'm back on SOME schedule in the studio again.

So, after a rather long hiatus....here is my nurturing creativity card for THIS week. (I thought about going back and catching up but.....not happening....)

Laugh At Yourself

OK, well.....this one shouldn't be difficult!!!! My life is one laugh riot most of the time. Either things are really funny or I just laugh to keep from crying. Either way....I get to laugh at myself. Now....let's see what the card says....

Ahhhhh seems to be the idea of keeping a balance (gotta love that word) between maintaining a sense of humor about your work and yet still taking your art seriously.....just not yourself too seriously. I think I can do this!!

HA HA HA HA HA...................(how's that????)

Quickly - Nurturing Creativity - Week 20

Not much time to write much today. Just wanted to finally get my weekly creativity card posted. BUT -- will have pictures probably tomorrow. Definitely by the weekend. Doing a lot of making stuff but busy shopping, lunching and watching paint dry....literally. We did some sun-printing yesterday and decided that it needed A LOT of supervision (lol) so we sat outside on a beautiful day, with iced tea and some chai chocolate from Gena and watched the sunprints dry! What a life!!!!!

Now for my card this week......

Fire Your Critic!!

OK, I fired mine years ago but have to admit he keeps popping up! (also, wonder why I always consider my critic a "he"......hmmmm.....) Anyway, I wish I didn't listen to him but sometimes I do. Every wonder why you can hear positive input all day and then receive one negative comment and the thing you remember at the end of the day is the one negative one. Why are we so ready to believe the negative and doubt the positive.

Here's to all of us firing our critics and clinging more to the many many positives that come our way!!!!