30 Day Art Challenge 2024 - Day 18: "Food"

 The word of the day is...

When I pulled this word my first thought was to make an art project with food somehow.  I thought of various things:  painting with Kool-Aid (think watercolor), finger painting with pudding, making Christmas ornaments with wrapped hard candy or plastic fruit.  None of those sparked any inspiration, plus I didn't want ants.  So, I thought "why not paint a picture of food?"  It's been several years since I've painted a still life of food, so why not?

Painting guide and instructional video from Paint With Lovejoy:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A7KabNzVQhw

30 Day Art Challenge 2024 - Day 17: "Pinterest"

What's the word for today?

Ah, Pinterest. The land of FOMO, uh-oh, and Honey Bunches of No.  In all honesty, my "Create" board (divided into MANY sections) has more projects than I'll ever complete.  On occasion, I do go through and pare down my boards.  I'll take away (or move) completed projects or those that no longer pique my interest.  The problem, however, is that in a fit of "Ooh, that's pretty," or "I can make that," I add more pins that I remove.

Today, I scratched the slimline card form off my list of pins (one of them anyway).  Unlike the standard A2 cards that are 4.25 x 5.50 inches when folded, slimline cards are cut and folded to fit in a standard #10 (what we commonly call a business-sized) envelope.  I made cards that were both horizontal and vertical orientation.  I also found a free SVG file so that I can use my Cricut to cut envelopes to match.

I had a fun time with these and plan to make many, many more.

30 Day Art Challenge 2024 - Day 16: "Fabric"

Today, we play with...

As many of you know, I've been focusing on quilting for the past year.  As with other crafts I make, quilting produces a lot of leftover scraps in various sizes.  Normally, I attempt to cut up the scraps as I go so that I don't get overwhelmed.  However, that doesn't always happen and I quickly end up with a basket, bag, or box full of fabric pieces. 

I've spent the last few weeks cutting my scraps into 9.5 inch, 5 inch, and 3.5 inch squares.  Some have been sewn into quilts.

Some are in the planning stages for other quilts.  I also wanted to find some small projects to make with scraps that don't take as long as a quilt.  Then I remembered a video that Diana sent me.  I really appreciated how simple the process looked, so I whipped up a few to see if they were that easy.

For me, there was a slight learning curve, but they were pretty easy once I got the hang of it.

30 Day Art Challenge 2024 - Day 15: "Pencils"

 Today's word is...

Yes, I know I used pencils yesterday, but these words really are pulled at random each day.  I decided to do a small practice piece in my sketchbook.  So fun.

30 Day Art Challenge 2024 - Day 14: "Paper"

Today, I'm playing with...

I recently spent the day with a couple of ladies in our church who are expert card makers.  One of them gave me her old manual embossing/die cutting machine.  After purchasing a few accessories and learning the easiest way to take the warp out of the cutting plate, I was ready to play.

Out of the five I made, the two on top were my favorites.  The card on the left uses a couple of the oval die cuts, my new stamps (that I need practice with), and some colored pencils.  The card on the right uses the circle embossing folder and my circle punches.  Just the few inexpensive tools have got my brain on overload with ideas.

So what did I learn?

• Depending on the type of cutting/embossing plate, you can flatten out a warped one with a cookie sheet and boiling water.  
• In tooling around with colored pencils, I learned that a colorless blender pencil will blend all types of colored pencils.  I've been learning to work with Prismacolor pencils, but I have a lot of Crayola and Rose Art pencils that I don't want to go to waste.
• The best cardstock paper is solid core.  I had no idea there was a difference.  I thought it was all the same, but some paper has a white core no matter what color it is.  Solid core is, as the name suggests, the same color all the way through even when cut.  Now, anyone who receives the cards isn't going to care about what kind of paper I used, but solid core paper will make my cards look more crisp.

On my other blog, I mentioned that one of my goals for the year is to send a box of cards to Cards for Kindness.  I'm up to 40 cards.  I want to make at least 10 more before sending them off.  I'll keep you posted.

30 Day Art Challenge 2024 - Day 13: "Miscellaneous Box"

 Today's draw...

Supplies, tools, and other detritus are stored in my miscellaneous boxes.  Boxes?  Yes, boxes.  I have my main box, my box that houses my stockpile of 8 x 10 stretch canvases, and my Christmas box.  This project was from the main box.  I thought I would work with the fall wood cutouts and button magnets I bought at the Dollar Tree three or four years ago (bottom right corner on the top of the pile).  

Yeah, I know it's too early for fall projects, but it's the first thing that came to mind when I saw the box.

30 Day Art Challenge 2024 - Days 11 & 12: "En Plein Air"

 For today...

En plein air is a French phrase which simply means "in the open air."  Most en plein air artists create art featuring the surrounding environment.  For example, impressionist painter Claude Monet spent 40 years painting landscapes and still life pieces of objects and nature around his home and gardens.  Though I dream of going to the botanical gardens and painting some of the flowers, I don't yet have the artistic skills or the wherewithal to do something like that.  So, my substitute is simply to sit outside and paint.

Because I don't have a patio (though I have a sliding glass door that should go to one--yes, I'm still a little salty about that, especially since they have been doing exterior renovations on our buildings), getting set up on my front stoop is a little involved.  I have to bring out a couple of tray tables and a chair, plus all the paraphernalia needed for painting. Would it be easier to purchase a little bistro set for the space that I don't have to bring in and out?  Yes, but for some doorknob-dumb reason, the leasing company for my apartment considers that space the "common area."  Do what now?  It's in front of MY apartment, doesn't block my door, my next door neighbor's door, or the stairwell, and is in nobody's way.  

No, I don't get it either.

Now do you see why I want my own house?

Anyway.

The idea for the painting came from a photo I saw on Pinterest.  Though I worked outside for a couple of hours, I didn't finish the painting.  The fresh air did me good, but the heat started making me tired.  So, this necessitated my finishing the painting the next day.

What would you name this painting?