Confusion

I'm very confused by SO many online art classes I see. They say things like "I'll teach you how to make THIS EXACT PROJECT for only $100 for four lessons" and I think to myself "what are you, nuts?" (that's a very NY think to say when someone's acting crazy). Why would you want to learn how to make ONE SPECIFIC THING? Exactly what the teacher made? If I'm taking a class, I want a technique. YES, I want to know exactly what products/colors/papers the teacher is using. But I don't want to know how to paint a tree. I can figure that out once you teach me how to use paints. Suzi hasn't just taught me how to make ONE face. She's taught me how to line up the features of a face and make a MILLION faces if I want. Classes are not "make this exact project" they're "we're going to have THIS as our theme and learn THESE techniques" and a hundred people using the same techniques will produce three hundred different things within the theme and a thousand things using the techniques OUTSIDE of the theme. I just don't understand a class that teaches you how to simply paint a rose.

Mini me at his first 3D movie...Uncle Sean took him and they had a wonderful time!

First Design Project

Stan (my VC100 teacher) said this project should be "portfolio ready" AND that I had to buy a portfolio. The project was to create a sports poster with implied motion (something blurry that conveys movement).

I'm EXTREMELY paranoid, so if you hate it, don't tell me, OK? I'm completely stressed about getting a good grade on my first project. Stan is very knowledgeable but he doesn't really "teach" us. He even saw this tonight when I was printing it on the plotter (that's a printer that can print enormous things like blueprints) and he didn't say it was terrible, so I have to assume it doesn't suck horribly. Oh, and I made twelve versions before deciding on this one!! Some of the rejects:

Things that should be on the ITT Tech commercials

This class is called Strategies for the Technical Professional and that is my group, about to see how far we can make a ping pong fall fly using popsicle sticks, rubber bands, pipe cleaners, a paperclip, a sandwich bag, and a mousetrap. (Five feet four inches, then it bounced off Andy's head.) I would love to know what the practical application of this would be in my role as a technical professional.

This class is called Survey of the Sciences and we're learning whether or not Andy can strip a wire with his teeth. (Yes, we had snips. Apparently this was supposed to be faster. And yes, this is the same Andy we clobbered with a ping pong ball the day before.)

Here we are trying to see how quickly an electromagnet can melt the rubber coating of a wire. The man in the glasses leaning away from the table is our teacher, Drew. He claims he's twenty-four.

And here are my detailed notes on the Doppler Effect:

You Suck Monday - Cheap Thoughts Journal

Cheap Thoughts Journal. I'm in love with this way of journaling (which some of you won't think is  "real" journaling. I have mostly cheap thoughts. I don't spend my time worrying about who I am or who I want to become or where I want to be in the future. I'm an "in the moment" kind of chick, mostly, so this kind of journal is perfect for me.

I'm particularly in love with this "home page" (that's what we call the one where we write our appointments, etc). If you look closely, you'll see Zombie Bunny (he was the original and inspired all others), a teeny calendar of the entire month, and a shiny bit of a Cadbury Cream Egg wrapper. I heart it.

Please notice the tabs - they are randomly placed on pages that have NO special meaning and contain bar codes, pieces of chicken McNugget containers, and bits of music. Oh, and one is made from a piece of tape.

This is my cousins at Stirling castle in Scotland three years ago...

This is an envelope...

Holding a picture of my son snuggled up on the couch in a quilt I made for him before he was born when I didn't know if he was going to be Liam or Lorelai:

This is a drawing I made with one of those pens that had the four colors of ink in it:

This is a cake:

This is my iPhone:

This is just random ugliness:

I dislike the word "junk" (even when you spell it "junque"). To me, junk is trash. I don't keep trash. Ever. No junk mail, no receipts, no "scraps" of paper. I love throwing things out. So this is NOT my junk journal. Yours can be your junk journal if you want, but mine is not because it isn't trash. It's not filled with trash, my thoughts and feelings are not trash, my pictures are not trash, my art is not trash. This is a collection of the ridiculous things people say and the even more ridiculous thoughts in my head and the random colors I want to splash around and the things I keep for absolutely no reason. It's unique and it's me and it's not beautiful. I don't need it to be. Doodle. Make ugly stuff. Write ugly thoughts. Stick in pictures you took on your phone that have no where else to live. Smile.

In the Dark

I'm so tired of being SICK! It's been over a month now and it's wearing on me. I'm tired of the grumpy indigo-ness that comes with being sick for so long. So when Kelly called and tried to get me to art, I did even though I didn't wanna! This is my "In the Dark" journal, the perfect place to work when I'm feeling like this.

Blah. AND today is You Suck Monday and I won't be there because I have class tonight. I know they don't need me there, but it's a little bit sad to know that you can be the co-founder of something and it can carry on completely without you. You are totally expendable. It makes me sad. Nine more weeks and maybe I'll have class on different nights. I think I'd like more of a MWF kind of thing. Or, even better, I'd like to have ALL the classes in ONE day. 13.5 hours of school all at once, then just studying and reading and homework for the rest of the week. I'm already frazzled because I still have three assignments to do for this week - and I've already done two that are due this week and started on one that's due next week. School is stressful!

Lollipop Designs Autumn Splendor

Evolution of a Dream Girl...

You saw this already:

Here is her little companion:

Birds sit on your head to dominate you :)

The spread:

A little watercolor (I'm not comfortable with watercolor so forgive me if the technique is horrible!):

A little drippy acrylic and some speckles:

Where to next?? I'm staying away from the face because Suzi says I need some workable fixative because she doesn't want me to smear the girl and I can't find any yet...

AWESOME digiscrapping kit - Nine Long Months

Sometimes even looking at a kit, I don't realize how much fun I'm going to have with it until I get started. I mean, I only have three pictures of myself pregnant and I already have five layouts done with this kit! I'm only going to show you four because one of the template sets I used isn't released yet, but I'm sure there will be more to come.  

This one is made with a template that is part of the kit:

This one is made with a template from Kat's Scrapping Made Easy: Photoless

Also made with SME: Photoless:

And that's me :) (and Mini Me, but you can't see him yet!!)

The kit is called Nine Long Months and is a collaboration between Kat's Creations and Marie H. Designs. I really, really love it!

A Lovely Dream

This is the first thing I've done in a really long time that I'm SUPER excited about. It's a part of a new class at Suzi Skool and I'm having a TON of fun. There are so many amazing girls, and we're really having a nice time. Isn't she fun and funky?? I love her!! The next step is supposed to be spray fixative so she doesn't smear, so I need to hit Michael's. I'll probably wait for a coupon, you know I'm super cheap...

Oh! If you wanna join the class, it's called A Lovely Dream and it's awesome.

Class blog...

OK, I CTJed a little in class, but we were on a break, I swear!

Goog's class notes

Despite what you might think, I'm actually not flaky at all. I'm a very diligent student. But I'm also ME and here are some things I obviously felt were VERY important to my education.

(He did say sex appeal twice, I swear)

I was overcome by deja vu - like SERIOUS deja vu. For reals.

You think those will be on the test? He was adding sex appeal with drop shadows - that might be on the test.

TAPE IS FUN!

OK, you know me. I am NOT a saver. I'm a purger. I love to throw things away. I don't keep little bits of stuff. BUT - often when I'm covering a journal I use 12x12 scrapbook paper and cut off long strips. These, I keep.

Here are some: 

This is a sticker-maker:

Here are strips of paper that are now TAPE! (Or long stickers!)

Rolled up!

This is a chunk of contact paper I'm spraying with alcohol inks:

After I was finished, I cut it into strips:

And here is something I "taped" with it!! 

Good times!!

Confession...

I started school last week at ITT Technical Institute...

Are you surprised I kept it from you? I do have a tendency to blurt stuff out on here, but I was a little apprehensive about the whole school thing. I've gone to college before, after all, and it didn't exactly work out. I mean, my grades were fine, I get a little obsessed with studying, but I was never happy in school. I don't really like school, I don't like having to be somewhere at a certain time and sit with other people too close to my personal bubble, always interrupting my focus by unwrapping candy and clearing their throats and the buzzing of florescent lights...BUT I want more than the life I have now where we struggle to make ends meet, skip paying a bill if an emergency comes up and Liam needs to go to the doctor (which is really a PA at Target), only have one car so me and Liam are basically homebound...I want more for me AND for Liam. So, school it is. I'm good at graphic design stuff. I'm good at any computer program I've ever tried and understand basic coding. So my major is Visual Communication and I'll be done in two years. At the end of those two years I'll be able to work as a graphic designer AND I can continue at ITT for a Bachelor's Degree if I want to. If I DO continue, I'm aiming at a degree in Game Design. That's right, people, the next Halo could be designed by yours truly. Oh - and the above picture was taken for my friend Kelly. This way when I'm in class, she can picture me right there in that room and I'm not in limbo. I swear I'm not crazy, that all makes sense to both of us!! Well, I have a LOT of reading to get done for my science class before Tuesday, so I'm off. Hopefully I'll see you all at YSM if I can figure out the WiFi at school!

Tape experiments for YSM...

Using contact paper and alcohol inks to make "tape"...

Using my mini Xyron and paper scraps...

This is really a LOT more amusing that it should be for a 31-year-old!! I can't help it, I'm having fun!!