I'VE BEEN GETTING MY CRAFT ON

When I saw the Ryan Innes t-shirts, I was inspired. I knew I had to put Larry's face on a shirt for his birthday.
I sent a photo of Larry's face to my sister and she whipped up an image for me.  I pulled out my fancy schmancy screen printing supplies and went to work last night.

Seriously, can you believe how high tech I am?  Hahaha!

I made one for the man clan and me.  Although Larry's birthday isn't until Thursday, we're celebrating with the family this weekend.  Our little clan are going to be sporting these beauties of the birthday boy.

I'm loving how they turned out.  It was a fun surprise for Larry to wake up to!

25 DAYS OF CHRISTMAS - DAY 14

We made glittery deer images.

I took black cardstock and traced different images of deer.  Elmers clear liquid glue was used like a pen and the images were quickly "color with glue".  Once the glue was in place, glitter was sprinkled all over.

One piece of advice is to let the paper sit for about 30 minutes before you shake off the excess glitter.  We had an image that we thought was dry but when it was hung, glittery glue started to run.

I used silver and white glitter.  I like the silver images the best.  The bottom one is white glitter and it has an ice look to it, which is cool, but the silver ones really pop against the black paper.

We've hung them on the back of our front door with all the Christmas cards we're receiving.  I love it!

MOTHER, DAUGHTER, SISTER DATE

We went to Mor Art to make fused glass coasters today.

It was a Mother's Day gift that was being redeemed and it was so much fun being creative and giggly with these gals.  We had the best afternoon.

PAINTING OF GRANDMA BETTY

My sister, Stephanie, gave me a belated birthday present. She painted a picture of our Grandma Betty.

This photo was her inspiration.  Grandma Betty is on the right.

And here is the painting.  I love it!

BEACH BREAK

This screen print is for my semester final on Wednesday. It is a 9 color separation.My inspiration was this photo from our trip to San Clemente, California.
I'm really pleased with this project and am hoping for an "A".

GUMMY TREES

My current screen print project.

FOR STEPHANIE'S BIRTHDAY, WE WENT TO THE BEACH

As soon as we got into town, we went to MorArt to take a fused glass class. The owners, Dan and Maurice, are amazing and so much fun. They were encouraging, positive, helpful and dedicated to making our experience successful.

I made a Tree of Life and Stephanie made a panda. Here they are in the kiln, ready to be fired. We'll get our finished product next week, so stay tuned for the final reveal!

Me, Maurice, Dan and the birthday girl. What an incredibly fun way to spend the afternoon. There is no doubt that we will definitely be back for another class.

THE THREE AMIGOS

This is my lastest project that was seven color separations.

I chose to keep it simple, sweet and embrace a project without a lot of fine detail. That being said, I did have more detail on Lily but it didn't wash out in the screen and I didn't have time to redo that section. Not my favorite project but I learned a lot.This photo was my inspiration.

MY FIRST SCREEN PRINT PROJECT THIS TERM

I was so excited about this project. I took my favorite photo I've taken of Larry to use as inspiration. I wanted to do something different and really cool for him. I kept it a surprise and wanted to wow him with something amazing.

I decided to do shades of grey and have it be a little abstract. Seven colors and two and a half weeks of work, I completed it. It's not as I had envisioned. I'm SO disappointed.

He looks like a smiling zombie!

THE BOYS LOVED THEIR ART COMMISSIONS

Do remember the ones I showed you for the wee ones and Lily? Click here for a looksee. I couldn't show you the older boys' before Christmas because they check out the blog. Now that Christmas has past, here are the final two.Laird being a survivalist with knife, fire and of course, bugs for a snackity snack.
Larry J with a dreamy sports car.

All five are framed and in the hanging in the boys' rooms. They are so fun and look magnifique!

THE LADY OF THE LAIR

Lily was my five color project.This snapshot was my inspiration.
I'm an extra credit type of gal, so I did two backgrounds. This has definitely been my favorite screen print of the term.

I COMMISSIONED ARTWORK FROM MY SISTER

and am so excited! Three of the five are done. I won't post the other two until after Christmas because my older boys check this bloggity blog.Landon loves all things Luigi.
Lach wanted to be Superman with laser eyes.
And of course, our cute pup with her heart shaped nose. I'm so excited to get them framed for Christmas.

If you want some original art work for a present, especially for the people on your list who have everything, you should contact my sister and have her create something wonderful.

UNDERWATER ZEN

My second project is done. It was my first time using registration pins and four colors. It was stressful, but I like how it turned out.My inspiration was this photo of my brother, Derek, scuba diving in Fiji.

My next assignment is transparency colors. It will be a fun assignment, now to find some inspiration....

ENTERING BOND

I'm taking a screen printing class and just got finished with my first assignment, which was to use one color. My classmates thought it had a James Bond feel, so I named it Entering Bond.This photo of Lach getting ready to go through a tube slide was my inspiration.I did a few copies in blue also; I thought blue made it looked more playful.

My next assignment is really hard, but I'm looking forward to it. I hope I can transport what I see in my mind's eye to the screen and paper.

WANT SOME PERSONALIZED, REALLY COOL ART AND AT A GREAT PRICE?

My sister, Stephanie, is an awesome artist. She is doing a fundraiser to earn money to go to Oaxaca, Mexico to help build a school in November.

Her fundraiser is art commissions and they start at only $25!
Christmas is only 114 days away and these would make great gifts for the TV/movie buffs, your children, nieces/nephews, other family members and the people on your list who have everything.

My wee ones are going to be transformed into Ironman and Superman with laser eyes and Lily is going to be a pop art pup.

She is only doing 30 art commissions, so go to her blog to check out the details and place your order.

PAINTING NIGHT

with my sister was a fun event.I repainted my Fiji inspired painting and am much happier with the outcome this time.

And I painted a farmhouse inspired by Maurice Utrillo.

I'm glad she's back!

ART CLASSES - WEEK 4

I had a really hard time with this week in painting class. We were supposed to bring a photo that means something to us. I brought one of my favorite photos I took when we were in Fiji.I'm not happy with it at all and will be definitely be painting over this canvas. I'm not pleased with how I have him standing and I feel with me trying to add "texture" to the background, I made it look like it was somewhere cold. It was a really hard photograph to paint. This one is actually my third try. Maybe fourth time will be the charm.

In drawing class we learned about drawing perspective and used a lot of examples by Raphael.

My art classes are over and I'm sad. I have really enjoyed tapping into that part of my brain. I will be definitely signing up for more classes.

ART CLASSES - WEEK 3

This week, the art classes were on landscapes and the technique of layering.
The first painting we did, our teacher had us use a plastic spoon, knife and fork, a sponge and 2 brushes to paint with.
The second one was a sea scape again, but she had us layer differently than we did the first time.
And an animal - yes, I know Lily is a little cartoony. I was going to start over and use a some different techniques, but my teacher recommended that I keep this one for the wee ones. I have a feeling there might be quite a few Lily paintings before I get it right. She's going to be a tough one to paint with me being a newbie.

In drawing class we had to sketch a landscape super quick. This one we had to use pen and a water color pencil to enhance.
This one, we had to be uber quick. She was teaching us the sketching technique of getting the idea down fast so we could draw or paint it later. I need to work on being looser with my pencil.
And, here is my first animal.