"Your Vintage Gluebook"

Craft day at Karla's is always fun and we usually get some good crafting in too. It must be the creative surroundings of her studio and the creative energy of everyone there! On Tuesday, it was Karla, Beth, Mary and me.

I worked on a lesson from Mary's Your Vintage Gluebook Online Class.


It was lesson 8 and one I've been struggling with for weeks. The challenge was to use a photo that was less than perfect in a collage and "make it work". Thanks to that creative energy flowing and bouncing around the studio, I completed the lesson and I think it does work!

I've enjoyed the class immensely! It's self-paced and I learned a lot in nine lessons.

Lesson 1: Color in composition...



Lesson 2: Size in composition/3 piece collage...




Lesson 3: Image and pattern/2 page spread...


Lesson 4: Position in composition...


Lesson 5: Pieces in composition...


Lesson 6: Visual weight in composition...


Lesson 7: Collage with original paper only...


Lesson 8: Making it work...


Lesson 9: Making patterned papers...


This lesson was especially fun--the possibilities are incredible! If you would like to use this background I made in your own collage work, please feel free to do so.

And if you would like to see the work from others in the class, check out Your Vintage Gluebook flickr group.

Marilyn

Here a Swap, There a Swap...

Oh my, two weeks since my last post! Where does the time go?!

Most likely fun times spent with these two cuties...




And I've also enjoyed some time in the craft room. I made a couple of potholders for the KC Modern Quilt Guild potholder swap...

(fronts)

(backs)

We swapped them at last week's meeting and I came home with two amazing potholders!!

This one is from Jaime--isn't the fabric adorable?!


And this one is from Alex--I love the purple and gray, and the grommet!


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An ATC Swap in Mary's Your Vintage Gluebook Online Class is soon and I finished my six cards this afternoon...


This has been the best online class--Mary is an excellent instructor and shares so much information and beautiful images too! I need to show you my lesson pages, and will do that soon, but for now you can see some lovely work in the class Flickr group.

Marilyn

Mixed Media Landscapes - Finis !

I finished my Day and Night canvases from the online Mixed Media Landscapes workshop and I'm pretty pleased with them. I wasn't sure I had it in me, but Karyn Gartel makes it so easy with her step-by-step instructions!



It's been a real show-and-tell kinda week for me, huh? I'll have one more for you when I receive my Mermaid Swap package from Terisa, Running With Scissors. I'm getting excited for Ms Mermaid to arrive. Poor little gal may be tired when she gets here, it's not an easy swim from California to Missouri. However, we'll be gone for a couple of days visiting second daughter--maybe that will give her time to rest up before her photo shoot.

Enjoy your holiday weekend!

Marilyn

Show and Tell

Thought I'd give you a peek at what I've been up to the past couple of weeks.

Karla's Great-Aunt Caroline will celebrate her 100th birthday next month. When Karla goes to the party, she will be taking 100 birthday cards to give to Caroline. The cards are from readers of Karla's blog. Each card is created by the reader to honor the crafting that Caroline has done all these years. Here's the one I sent:

These are the panels I made for Karla & Beth's Birds & Bonnets Vintage Workshop Swap. In early June, I will receive panels from four different artists that Beth and Karla will have assembled into a one of a kind screen. An interesting part of the swap is that everyone was to use at least one image or background from The Vintage Workshop collections that were provided--a bonus in itself!





The canvases that I'm painting in my online Mixed Media Landscapes workshop are making progress. I finished painting my trees--here's a look at three of them.Last week's assignment was to paint houses on the hills. I'm almost finished with those and I'll be ready for our final assignment this week, where we add some finishing touches to our canvases.


I also finished my project for Bella-Enchanted's Mermaid Swap and sent 'er off Friday to my swap partner, Terisa (Running With Scissors). After Terisa receives her package, I'll post pictures. Now, Terisa posted sneak-peek photos of her creation for me on her blog and after seeing them, I am more excited than ever to get it! I have seen some of Terisa's other works and I am very confident that it will be gorgeous!!! She mailed my package on Friday also so I'll be sharing with you again, soon.


Marilyn

I did it!

I finished Assignment 3 (painting the hills) with a day and a half to spare! It feels good to be caught up with my online workshop assignments. When we get our new assignment on Monday, I'll be able to start on it right away. I think we're going to start painting trees!

Marilyn

Sky Painting

Thought I'd share what I've done so far in my Mixed Media Landscapes online workshop. The assignment for Week 2 (last week) was to paint the skies on our canvases, which I just finished last night. I'm a little behind, but that's the beauty of an online workshop--you can work at your own pace and even delay an assignment if needed.



This week, our assignment is to paint the hills--that's those collaged and gessoed humps on the bottom two thirds of the canvases. I'm looking forward to it. We get to use some great colors and blend them to add depth to the hills. I'm pretty sure I'll have plenty of time to finish this one, so I'll be all caught up and ready for Assignment 4 on Monday.

And ready I'll be 'cause I'm having a ball!

Marilyn

checklist...?

How often, especially around this time of the month, do I wonder "where did the month go and what did I do with it?" As a crafter, it is difficult for me to hold back such thoughts and question if I've done one single creative thing this month?!

I don't care to measure my days by the number of crafty items I've produced, but I do like to hope that I am being attentive to the creative side of life. My head is constantly spinning with ideas...so if I don't "do", will I lose those ideas or will they get tangled up with each other and turn into lousy ideas? Or worse yet, will I go crazy because the creative outlet door is closed? OK, a bit dramatic but just where did this month go and what did I do with it?

Immediately, I can tell you that our family celebrated two birthdays, #26 for both second-oldest-daughter and daughter-in-law. And, if I say so myself, we have the best birthday parties around, lol! Not because of anything we do, but because of who we are and how much we enjoy one another!

We also attended the wedding of a special young couple this month. We've known the bride since her middle school years and we adore her. Her new husband is delightful and we couldn't be happier for the two of them. The wedding was lovely and the reception was great fun. I didn't have to do a thing except enjoy the specialness of the evening!

You know, I'm already starting to feel like it's been a full and fruitful month--that's good!



As for creativity, how about other possibilities? Like baking...











Rick does all of the cooking at our house (yes, I am very lucky!) but every now and then I feel like baking something.










Or decorating...I framed and hung this poster of a Santa Fe Village--I love the colors!














Oh! I made a bracelet for the first time!

It was a kit that I purchased from French General--gotta love trying something new.








And I changed the look of my blog and I started my online workshop and I'm sewing a garment for a friend and I'm reading a novel!











I think I'm on a roll. But it's not a checklist. It's life and not all of it is tangible--in fact, the best parts aren't!

Well, alrighty, so much for my lament of April...there's a whole week left!

Marilyn

Online Workshops

For the last six weeks I have been taking a mixed media collage class with Karyn Gartel at Altered Diva Online Workshops. I've had a ton of FUN! I've also learned a lot of great techniques that I hope to use in future projects.

Karyn is an excellent instructor and I was already beginning to miss her class before it was even over. Easy remedy, however...I signed up for a new class--Mixed Media Landscapes. It starts Monday, April 14th and I'm pretty sure I know how much fun it's going to be!

Here are the completed pieces that I did in the Mixed Media Collage class:





I hope to be sharing some landscapes with you in another 6 weeks!

Marilyn

You've Come a Long Way, Baby

Isn't the internet a wonderful thing?! And hasn't it come a LONG way?!

There were my first days of using our computer for only email. Then I discovered websites that helped us plan vacations. Oh, and eBay! At some point the internet had grown enough that it became my go-to for just about any question I had. And there was that first year that I did all of my Christmas shopping online.

But the most satisfying internet developments for me have been the ones where there is connection to other people. It was only a couple of years ago that I found myself invited to an eBay artists/sellers group. I really wasn't sure what it was all about but quickly experienced interaction with others who had many of the same interests as me. And they were all over the country!

Before too long, I stumbled onto, and joined, variaZioNE (or ZNE), a mixed media art group whose members are all over the WORLD! Imagine how many pieces of incredible art one can see without ever leaving home, not to mention the opportunities to meet new friends...ZNE members are a very caring, encouraging and generous bunch!

So then, last summer, I started reading artists' blogs, enjoyed them, and by the first of this year I decided I would jump in and give it a try too. Talk about connection, interaction, community...it's HUGE! In fact, it was in reading somebody's blog that I discovered another exciting internet development--the online workshop! Oh my gosh, who knew?!



I started a six week workshop with Karyn on Monday and I'm loving it already. There are 19 in our class and it has been a hoot! In addition to conversations about supplies, techniques, etc., this group also chats about the important issues of sitting on the back row, teacher's pet, detention, to name just a few. Education AND entertainment, all for one low price...right here on the internet!

Yes, a wonderful thing indeed!

Marilyn