Butterflies!

Just some sketches for the ATC swap we're doing in Suzi's Fairy class...

This guy is a little bewildered, like "Um...what just happened?"

This one is the most bug-like:

And this one is supposed to be sniffing the flower, but it doesn't really look like he is:

I'm bringing some blank ATCs to school tonight to sketch them out on, I think I'm going to make one of each for my swap partners. That way if they hate them, they can pick the one they hate the least and keep it.

Ink test

Did you know that you're not supposed to use Stazon ink with Copic markers? My friend and Copic marker expert, Kelly, told me this - a YEAR after I've been using Stazon for ALL my Copic stuff!!  I just figured permanent was permanent, and that meant Copic-proof. It never even occurred to me that permanent doesn't actually mean permanent. So, I've been using Stazon Timber Brown and it's always worked totally fine, but I really wanted gray and when I told Kelly what it was for, she told me I can't use Stazon with Copics. Then I had to confess that I have been...

Anyway, I couldn't find gray, so I got black and even though I wasn't supposed to, I decided to put it to the test. Here are my results:

The Stazon smeared - for the first time EVER. I've used the brown a zillion times with no problem.

So, the memento made the darkest, cleanest impression and made me the happiest. I let them sit for a couple of days, so it's not like the Stazon wasn't dry. And the paper is Neenah Classic Crest Solar White - my favorite for Copics. Not the best coloring jobs ever, but I was really just trying to see if the inks smudged. The black Stazon does, maybe only with certain colors, since different chemicals are used to create different colors. 

Angry-Pillar ATCs

All finished and ready to be mailed! 

Yesterday someone asked me "Why is he angry?" and I felt silly because I thought it was sort of obvious and I was clearly wrong. We're doing a caterpillar swap because in the Fairies class, we're talking about cocooning and transforming. Right now we're caterpillars, crawling along and munching on leaves. We don't see anything wrong with the caterpillar life. But if we want to become butterflies, we have to let go of EVERYTHING we know. Everything. We won't walk any more, we'll fly. We'll eat different foods in a completely new way. Sure, sure, sure, there are exciting things, too. But in order to have the exciting things, we have to go through the scary and unusual things. ALL caterpillars turn into butterflies. They don't have the "comfort zone" problem that humans do. They're not afraid. But this guy? He's resisting change with all his might! He's angry because he doesn't WANT to change. He doesn't NEED to change. He's living his life just fine, thank you very much, and he doesn't want to hear about wonderful new adventures. He just wants to live his little caterpillar life exactly the way he is. Of course, it's a ridiculous concept because caterpillars don't think. They don't resist change. But what if they did? What if they were too scared to change?

Zombie bunnies!

And their human zombie, pretending to be a bunny! Look out world, the zombie bunnies are going out in an ATC swap for Easter.

Check these out!

How sweet is this?!? Misty Frederick-Ritz sent me four ATCs! I can already see them in a frame, hanging together! AND, even cooler - I think they're prints. I don't know why, but I find prints fascinating!

Just think - if you have a piece that you know is amazing and you don't want to sell the real thing, it could be prints, or notecards, or even ATCs! I'm going to email Misty right now and thank her for these. 

ATC Swap!

I can't believe I never showed you these! We did a swap over at Suzi's Academy and these are the ones my partners sent me! Aren't they fantastic?? We had so much fun we're gonna swap again. 

This one has very shimmery eyes - you know how I like that - but it's SO hard to get a picture of!!

It's hard to tell...

I have trouble making something that I see as "just" a background. I don't like to have things "unfinished", which is really silly because I mostly just paint and doodle in my journals, which no one sees! The Mixed Media Police are NOT going to knock on my door and tell me I have to finish my journal pages or ATCs.

So, here are some ATCs. There are four that look similar. Not identical, but close. Maybe they're finished and maybe they're not. If I get a ticket from the MMPs, I know it's you guys who told on me!!

Silhouettes

CHristmas ATCs :)

I LOVE how these came out. I got the idea from Christy Tomlinson. She did a canvas with all her toys and stuff while mine is just leftover paper scraps, but they make me happy and several of them are in the mail, on their way to surprise friends right now! 

This is what I used for the background. Remember this page? It's from YSM Brain Dead Journaling. I loved the page, but I always want to DO something with my backgrounds. I'm trying to not have that need - to just be able to fling paint around and say it's done, but I can't. A background needs a foreground. So I cut it all up and used it and now it has a purpose!

I also made this little canvas for Kelly:

Dont' worry, I already showed her :) I'm not good at those kinds of secrets!!

ATCs!

The Funk

Been stuck there for WEEKS but I'm forcing myself to get over it. Art is the key, I know that, and sometimes I still don't do it. Silly Goog. So, here are some ATCs I was playing with yesterday with my copics. I'm still determined to learn how to use those silly markers!!

ATV ATCs

I'm totally amused by that. AND the fact that I sent over 2800 texts ast month. Unlimited texting, it's not only necessary for teenagers, it's also for people like me. But, on to my ATV ATC. I was at Kelly's and we were talking about getting off our butts (we were sitting on the porch and it was really nice out) to go inside and make ATCs. Her hubby (Paul) said he was going to do laundry. I said "You don't wanna make ATCs?" and he said "ATVs, maybe." So we made ATV ATCs.

Remedy

I keep trying to convince Kelly we need to do the Illustration Friday prompts, but we mostly just talk about them and pretend like we're going to do something. She's cracking down on me, though. Last Friday's word was "remedy" and I have to admit - the first thing that came to mind was booze and pills, but when I started sketching them, I realized they're not a remedy for anything. My friends are. They always make me laugh and that's the remedy for almost anything. It's supposed to be Suzi and Kelly, but after I took the picture I realized I made Suzi's eyes blue. I'm recoloring them now!!

Oh, it's an ATC on paper that's WAY more textured than I like so the colored pencils don't blend very well. But I made it, it's finished, and finished is better than perfect.

"Mommy, how do you spell bee?"

I don't know why I don't take better pictures for you. I just like the convenience of the phone for picture-taking, I guess!

Anyway, we had Parent/Teacher Conferences a couple of weeks ago - now remember that my son is in a class called "school readiness" for three-year-old (he just turned four). At the conference his teacher told us things like the letters he recognizes and how they'll start teaching him to read and stuff that sort of goes in one ear and out the other. But one thing stuck with me - she said the word "drilling". Like I'm sitting around drilling this kid on his numbers and letters. Not happening. He knows the alphabet and he can count to one hundred. I had very little to do with that. I am not going to drill the kid. Sorry. Some people do, I get that (I got that when his teacher asked me what my "academic goals" were for him at our first conference in September). We play. We color. We paint. We go to the park and slide and swing. In the winter we sled and watch Dora.

But lately he's obsessed with reading. "How do you spell this? What does this start with?" etc. The other day I found him in my bed, hunched over with his back to the door like he was hiding something trying to sound out words in one of his SpongeBob books. So when he asked me how to spell bee, this ATC popped into my head. This could help, right? Maybe? A little? OK, maybe not but it's cute.

Mermaids

Blogging from hubby's computer. I'm sort of getting used to it. I may have explained this before, but his is a laptop with a badly cracked screen (my son is a maniac) and so it's plugged in to the TV. The screen too high to sit on the floor and use so I usually sit very awkwardly on the coffee table where my feet don't quite touch the floor all the way so I'm on my tiptoes trying to not drop the computer and cause any more damage. Right now I'm sitting cross-legged (did you know it's not PC to say "Indian-style"? They say "criss-cross applesauce" in school these days) with the enormous computer (it's one of those REALLY big laptops) on my lap. It's so big that it covers my entire lap and is still hanging off, so it puts a lot of pressure on my forearms.

Good story, right? I know. Anyway, here are some mermaid ATCs. More copic marker playing, I'm still pretty terrible at it, but practice is supposed to help, right? Kelly? Will practice help me?

Mini Me wants to know what happens when you mix juice and water...

PS Next time please remind me that I hate Stonehenge paper before I cut it up to use for ATC with the copic markers that hate ME, ok? Thanks.

The Mess!

I was talking to my friend Wendy today and I mentioned that I like to leave the back of my artwork MESSY. I know this is a no-no, you're supposed to pretty up the back of things, ESPECIALLY if the things are leaving your hands and going to someone else. But I don't wanna. It's the biggest thing that makes me hesitate to join "real" ATC swaps. A message was actually sent out to the Yahoo group that I'm in about it, making sure the back is nice and has all this info on it that I don't want to spend time writing. Once I'm done with a piece, I just want to fling it aside and work on something else. Wendy said it's like a tapestry - the front is bright and beautiful, and the back is dark and messy. She also said that life is the same way. She's right. Totally right. And I often spend a lot of time focusing on the mess instead of the beauty. Silly, right? Because the mess is necessary for the beautiful part to happen. With out the BACK of the tapestry, there is no FRONT.

Here is the back of an ATC that I'm sending to Wendy. Will she care about this mess? I don't think so. She will focus on the front, and on having a friend who made her a (tiny) piece of art. Here is what my painting desk looks like right now (yes, it's small, I put whatever piece I'm working on in my lap):
And here is what I painted today. I'm a lot more likely to show this to you. But why? Would you like me less because of my mess? People WANT to say "No, of course not, I would like you anyway!" but it's so rarely true. People want to see perfectly dressed, washed, polished OTHER people. I don't know why that is. I'd much rather see the tattooed, blue-haired people with paint on their hands.
The other day I was painting and I found myself TOTALLY amused by the fact that I had paint on both hands, all over my pants, and one of my feet. I was like "I'm totally blogging this!" because it was really funny in my head. But every time I look at the picture I took, I decide not to post it. It's not what people want to see. The just want to see the painting. The pretty side, not the back. It's taken me 30 years to figure out that this is the reason why I have so few friends, so few people who want to spend time with me. I'm too low-maintenance. No need to vacuum before I come over, I'm not going to notice the crumbs. But by the same token, when I wash my hands after I pee, I'm just trying to get the germs off - I don't even notice the paint. Right now my hands smell like a lovely combination of Tilex and Clorox Anywhere spray but there is teal paint on one thumbnail and pink paint on the other. My hoodie is at LEAST eight years old, and it and my pants are both streaked with paint (and soggy Oreo - a little piece broke off after I dunked it in my coffee and I wiped it and it squished...). I know the people reading this are going to immediately think (and type) things like "Oh, I would totally be friends with you! I wouldn't care about the paint on your hands/shirt, etc." But it's really VERY seldom to find someone who doesn't NOTICE. Who just looks at me and sees ME - not my outfit, not my shoes, not the paint. Just Goog, plain and simple. I don't know how to learn to care about the paint on my hands.

On a sillier note (sorry, didn't mean to get onto my soapbox there) - I took this picture of the screen of my iPhone WITH my iPhone. For reals. WHAT is the purpose of this feature? For reals, people. What the F? A picture of my phone taken WITH my phone.
PS If you find this fascinating and HAVE to know how to do it, just press the home button and the power button at the same time. I don't know why it's useful, but hubby claims to do it all the time.

"You Suck Monday"

It's the second Monday in a row when I've had a sucky art day. I know what a lot of people are thinking - Mondays suck. But, see, there's nothing about Monday that's any different than any other day for me. I'm a stay-at-home-mom. Mini doesn't have school on Mondays and hubby isn't off on the weekend. My days mostly run together. I didn't even realize it was Monday until Kelly pointed it out. I've been trying to make mermaid ATCs but I have to just stop. Every single one looks bad in a different way. Poop on Monday.

Uninspired days...

I don't know why, but I've just been feeling "blah" the past couple of days. Not really indigo, just sort of "whatever". Usually when these days come, I sit on the couch in my pajamas with my computer and blog surf for hours. But I'm tired of these says, so I've been trying to fight it - today I got up and showered and put on real clothes, got Liam ready for school, put away some laundry, cleaned up the kitchen, skyped with Kelly. Showering, real clothes (and shoes), talking to friends - these are all things that usually help me snap out of the blahs but it's really sticking with me today. It's so funny because usually when I'm feeling "off" Liam starts acting weird, as if he can sense it. He hasn't slept well for the past couple of days and he's been kind of emotional, but not in the toddler tantrum kind of way. It's hard to explain. Anyway, I always think painting will help with the blahs, but I was feeling very uninspired so where did I turn? YouTube, of course. Megan's "Sing Your Life" video makes me smile and so I used her idea and made some ATCs.
What I really liked about her painting is the way she made her wings. A line at the top, but then she just sort of makes short strokes with the brush so the bottom doesn't have a defined edge.

I was worried about the stamp I used, and the ink pad being too juicy so I tried to just ink it a little and kiss the paper with it, not being really firm, but I actually like the "dirty" looking ones the best. Who knew? You can't tell from the pictures, but after I inked the edges, I dipped parts of them into embossing powder. The color is "enchanted gold" but it's just iridescent clear. I'm going to randomly send these to people whose addresses I have. Why not, right?

NaNoWriMo

OK, the above stands for National Novel Writing Month. Feel free to look it up if you've never heard of it, I don't make these things up. I have a HUGE pet peeve with what people change "NaNoWriMo" to. For example, I got a Facebook message talking about NaNoJouMo and how that meant we were supposed to journal everyday. I gotta tell ya - National Novel Journal Month just doesn't really seem correct. How about NaJouWriMo? Doesn't that make more sense? National Journal Writing Month. Seems better to me. I really hate when someone is supposed to be a leader of some kind - Hey, come join this group I've started, it's going to be wonderful! - can't get things grammatically correct. Now, I do realize that I have a spelling problem. I'm not a bad speller. In fact, I'm a really GOOD speller. But I have dyslexia. (That's a hard word for someone with dyslexia to spell, in case you were wondering.) So I mix things up and sometimes I post the blog before I realize it. But isn't this just common sense? It's like when an advertisement says "chip's only .59" and I want to say "Your second grade education was free, maybe you should head back there and discuss this with your teacher."

On a different note, I spent most of today organizing the den which now holds all of my art and sewing supplies (including my broken sewing machine). I didn't get to make a lot of art today, but I did work on these two ATCs that I have to show you. I'm playing with my stupid copics and they're just not easy for me. I need some lessons.

OK, and one quick one of Mini while we were waiting for the bus because I think he's a cutie pie.

Bee girls all finished!!

OK, so they're drawn on Strathmore Bristol (smooth) paper. Outlined in Sharpie pen (no, of COURSE I didn't draw them in pen, I drew them in pencil and then inked and erased the pencil lines) and colored with Copic markers. I say COE-pick, even in my head. Some people say COP-ick. Whatever.
Same pic - without flash and with. Two of them have blue eyes an done has green. I don't have a lot of copic colors yet, they're EXPENSIVE, but I actually kind of enjoyed coloring them. After I did the first one and got all the frustration out, anyway. They're for trade, the red one will be going to Tal in Australia and the green background one to Kelly in St. Paul. (OK, I probably won't mail that one...would be funny if I did, though!) The one going to Kelly has her blue eyes and she has a little brown part on her right eye (left as you're looking at it) because Kelly has that! And on top of the hive is a little queen bee. Kelly likes the tilted ones because she said you can almost FEEL her tipping over but I want Kelly to have the balanced one because I feel like Kelly balances everything in her life very well. She is calm and patient, even when she doesn't think she is. I might add some words to them, but I'm not sure...opinions?