Sunday 25 October 2009

The magazine:A goldmine for artjournaling



So youve finished reading your magazine.What do you do with it?

a) You throw it away
b)You recycle it
c)You give it tô a friend
d) You keep it and read in a few months again
e)You use it in arty ways

What did you pick?
I always do e) (okay sometimes i do d) first but then i do e))


So you may ask How can i use it in an Artsy way?
Well you have many options, Im sure I dont know them all , so if you wish to ad to the collection leave a comment.

1.Cut out pictures and use them in your art journal, create gluebooks, decorate furniture and whatever else you can think of

2.Think of a theme for example Autum.Now collect all the info and pictures you can out of lots of magazines and create a collage.

3. Cut out words and use them in art

So thats what i do, but now you can use these simple ideas in any way you want.Why not decorate a canvas or piece of furniture?

Some artjournal prompts

These are things iv done and now im sharing with you:

1.Is there a film you wanna see? Yes then create an artjournal page around it and add a pocket for tickets and newspaper reviews

2.Practise mixing coloured pencils and then artjournal it up a bit

3.Write down you feelings

4.experiment with new art supplies

5.paint people and draw their face as practice

6.draw spme still life in colour

7.Try to use your art journal as a way of learing for school, by using info you have to learn in your art.

8.Make a page about things you like

9.Use cartoons out of newspapers in you art

10.PLan partys inside in a creative layout.

11.Rip up magazines and use thwm in diffrent ways

12.Create a page around a quote

13. write lists

14.Doodle

15. write about art gallery visits

Thursday 22 October 2009

Cool pumpkin ideas

Check out this fab video

Monday 19 October 2009

Getting through Hell

This video really inspired me to just not give a shit, after a BAD day.Even if you dont do any art it will cheer you up.Im not saving i agree with everything shes saying, but i love how much passion she puts into art and not caring about what people think about her.Yes it sounds like Suzi went through SHIT and i dont want to do that and im not saying its good .But now she is great!!!!

"If you're going through HELL keep going" Cant remeber how said this quote but its damm good.
Mini creative challenge:
Take this quote and this video and use it to inspire what ever you do creativly.Your artjournal,your art, your photos, your blog , your knitting, your sewing -WHATEVER just go and DO IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Saturday 17 October 2009

Cozy yarn season:Links

At this time of year I always love to turn to knitting and crocheting as a craft, as it is so warm and cuddly.Im knitting a cute pink and blue beanie and will share the tutorial soon.I will also review a few knitty and crochety books, give you loads of great links, a peak at my stash and much much more.
So to get started here are a few links:

1.Craft had a few articles about yarny buissness:http://blog.craftzine.com/archive/cozy_up_to_yarn/

2.Wanna go travln?http://blog.craftzine.com/archive/2009/07/simple_yarn_project_travel_cas.html

3.Make some cute logcabin washcloths:http://www.purlbee.com/log-cabin-washcloths/

4.Q:How can i use up all my scrap yarn in a project?
A: Make mixnmatch yarn:http://blog.craftzine.com/archive/2008/09/how_to_crazy_yarn.html

5.Make an Owl yarn oganizer:http://www.girlontherocks.com/knit/blog/2009/01/12/crewel-for-christmas/

6.Acorn storage:http://www.girlontherocks.com/knit/blog/2009/01/12/crewel-for-christmas/

So there`s a small taster.More coming soon!!!

Thursday 15 October 2009

A link


1.
Download a cool coaster pattern here(free):http://www.leethal.net/quickknits/patterns.html

Sunday 11 October 2009

Nature (art)Journal ideas part 2

More ideas:

Observations of weather, seasonal changes, animal behavior, animal tracks, birds at the feeder, the shapes of leaves or twigs, insects on the windowsill, flowers, grasses, mosses, bark, even soil. Be sure to include the date and time, and if you don’t know the name of an animal or plant, try looking it up in a field guide when you get home.

Drawings of landscapes, wildlife, items collected on a walk, your children or other people, plants, insects, mushrooms. These can be simple pencil or pen sketches, or full-color drawings or watercolors. Don’t worry about your artistic skill—no one else has to see your work; the point is to have fun and sharpen your observation skills.

Poetry or Essays about the things you observe in nature, the memories your outdoor experiences evoke, and reflections on how these details fit into the bigger picture of your life and the world. As with drawing, the finished product is less important than your experience of fashioning words from the natural world.

Tools for Nature Watching:
Binoculars
Magnifier of 5X or 8X
Field Bags
Field Guides
Trail Guides and Maps
Good Hiking Shoes
Water to Drink
Neutral colored, cotton clothing
Insect Repellent
Snack of Trail Mix
Plastic Freezer Bags (For collecting treasures)

Nature Journal Supplies:
A good sketch pad, journal, or notebook
Mechanical pencils (They keep a sharp point)
Soft, cushy finger grips for pencils
Black ink pen - ball point or felt tip
Prismacolor Pencils if you wish to color your sketches

Things to Include in Journal Entries:
Date
Time (Be specific)
Weather (You can include temperature, wind, humidity, and sky conditions)
Habitat or Location
Draw and label details of your specimen
Compare sizes (Size of thumbnail, thumb, finger, palm, etc.)
List Textures or patterns (fuzzy, thorns, freckles, spots, smooth, etc)
How are the leaves and veins on the leaves arranged?
A simple sketch will do. You may wish to try and trace items like leaves.
Might wish to press leaves and flowers and tape into journal and cover with clear contact paper.
Make note on what's going on: What is the animal doing or what period of growth is the plant.
Make note of landmarks of your adventures. Wild animals make note of landmarks and often keep coming back to their same spots. If you mention that it is on the blackberry trail near the old fallen Oak, you can later retrace your steps.
Make note of items like owl pellets, ants, dropped feathers, cocoons, or insect wings on your nature adventure. All of them have a story to tell.

What to Look For:

On Mammals:
Stripes, spots, or streaks
Bands or rings around the tail
Mask or dark band across the face or around the eyes
Claws

On Birds:
Bars or bands across the tail
Narrow bar of white across the wing (wingbars)
Eye-ring or ring around the eye
Eyebrow or streak of contrasting color above the eye
Bib or dark area under the throat
White throat
Neck bands, rings, or a broken band
Spots, either large or freckles
Crest or long head feathers
Make note of the sound the bird makes.
On Butterflies, Moths, Beetles, and Other Insects:
Shape or length of antennae
Wing patterns of either borders, bands, or stripes
Camouflage patterns or colors
Eye spots or false eyes - large round spots that may serve to frighten away enemies.

On Plants:
The height of the plant - ground or knee high?
Number of petals of a flower
Shape of flower - trumpet or separate petals?
Colors and patterns - stripes, spots, or dots?
Center of flowers - different colors and shape?
Sepals (green petals) - shorter or longer than the petals?
Leaves of flowers - rosette design at base of stem or along the stem in arrangements of either opposite or alternative?
What is the size of the leaf - thumb or thumbnail?
Edges of leaves - smooth, wavy, or toothed?
What is the leaf texture - waxy, leathery, thick, fuzzy, smooth, or rough?

On trees, notice the same leaf observations.
Shape, size, and texture of tree.
Notice the fruits and nuts of trees.
Bark of trees - smooth, flaky, stringy, rough, etc.

Seasonal Nature Sites:

Spring:
Now is the time to go and enjoy bird watching. The males have on their colorful coats and are singing to attract the females. Nests are also being built.
Frogs are beginning the choruses. Find a pond and watch the frog cycle in process.
Plant some seeds. Draw what the different plant seeds look like.
Investigate some spring flowers. How soon did the first flower pop its head out of the snow and what was it?
Go on a hike and enjoy the first bursts of life coming out everywhere.

Summer:
Insects are starting to get noisy. Listen! What insects are you hearing? Make some notes of what they sound like and study how they make their noises.
Explore some wetlands. Dragonflies, turtles, and wetland wildflowers are sure to be admired.
Those beach trips offer investigations into shells and sea birds.
Grow a garden and note the changes you find there from week to week.
Plant a butterfly garden and enjoy watching and drawing all the different types and their behavior.

Autumn:
What an excellent time to do leaf studies of trees. Enjoy their color, their fragrance, and all the different types.
Harvest time provides a look into different fruits and vegetables.
Note the flowers that bloom only during this time of the year.
Certain farms open up for tours during this season. Take advantage of them if you don't live on a farm and draw the different farm animals you find. Ask some questions and make note of what the animals were doing.
Pumpkins are always fun to measure, check if they float, cut apart, estimate seeds, and then count them.
How many different types of apples can you find?

Winter:
Learn some about animal tracks and go tracking. The snow makes an excellent blanket for tracks to show up clearly.
Keep your bird feeder filled and watch which birds come visiting each day.
Mark small holes in the snow. A burrowing animal lives there. Check the site out come spring.
Search out some snowfleas. These are not actually fleas, but they are very tiny insects that can be found abundantly on the surface of the snow around trees.
Note the shape and size of snowflakes on your mittens. Draw a few and dry to make copies of them as an art project.
This is a great time to really make some detailed notes of different tree barks.
Evergreens can provide some interesting plant studies.

Saturday 10 October 2009

Nature (Art)journal

I got inspired to do some research into this after reading an artical about it.So here I am sharing what iv found on the net:



Some SUGGESTIONS for what you can do with this journal:



-Include pressed flowers and leaves you find. You may also record time and location where you found them and identify them using a flora. Maybe describe it with botanical terms.Since this is an ART journal, you may do this on a watercolored background, or whatever else.



-Journal about your favourite spot. For example, if you have a favourite tree to sit under, try to share this experience with us. Take a photo of your tree, write how you feel about this tree, what it means to you. Share memories connected to this tree. Include leaves from the tree, do leaf printing, do a sketch of the tree, or a watercolour painting, this can be abstract if you are not a good figurative painter, just express the colors of the tree. Include photos taken in the morning and at night.



-Take a walk in nature, document your trip, write about flowers and animals you see, the mood you have, share your photos taken on that trip, include a pressed flower you find beautiful, make an abstract painting with acrylic or watercolour in the colors you saw on your trip, or figurative if you have the skills.



-You can make leaf and flowers pressing by just stamping them on the page with paint. Or you can use them as a negative.



-You can also use magazine images, pages from books, or other images/rubberstamps etc to show what you have seen. But it should be image of something you have seen in nature, not just any nature picture. It should be personal pages



.-Recreate a flower you saw, making a paper flower of scraps…then you can paint the stem, and include real leaves from the flower. That is really mixed media, which I encourage in this journal.



Ad by me: Tip

Get a Moleskin or something as your natureart journal and when youre out and about note stuff on a notepad.When you get home you can sort your info into a cool pages and use big heavy books to identify the birds and trees youve seen.Take photos so you can do some drawing at home or bring a drawing pad, but leave you acctual journal at home, so it stays pretty with all the end results:).

http://www.5min.com/Video/How-to-Start-a-Nature-Journal-25542806



This website has a few good tips to: http://homemade.truepath.com/nature2.htm

Monday 5 October 2009

Tutorial: Felt smelly Lavender sachet


You will need:
Scissors
Felt
Felt scraps
Dried Lavender
Needle
Thread
Smelly socks
Funnel
1. Pick a basic shape like a square, circle, heart ... and cut it out twice.
2.Now cut out coloured circles or squares and handsew using a whipstich them onto one of your main shapes.
3.Now whipstick up 3 of the 4 sides( of your two basic shapes)
4. Using your funnel fill it with lavender and sew closed
5.Now tie the threads and pop it into your basket of smelly socks and voila the smell fresh!!

News from me














Yes i am still here even though it has been a while i know.But thats cause if been up to a lot.
For a start i made some cute soap(sry forgott to take pics) and started my halloween costume(post some pics when im done).
Now for some stuff you can see on the photos.I gessod an old book and am starting to write down the peter rabbit tale in a creative way.So fun:..
Then Iv decorated my third art journal and I took a look at my new found felt craze, by making some spotty lavender smelly pillows for underwear and socks.
And last but not least I wnet to a craftfair and bought loads of goodies, including shrinky dinks plastic, xxl thick wool, hat pattern, fat square of fabric and a cute unicorn stamp.
I found this great tut for shrinky dinks on the threadbanger forums http://forum.threadbanger.com/showthread.php?t=724&highlight=shrinky+dinks