Pink }{ The March Equinox Project

Finally I get to pink... Honestly, we have so much pink around this house due to a certain little miss that I was in no hurry to go off and find pink out in nature right now. 

Do you have girls in your house? Are your kids so very much into a favorite color? How do you deal with it?

But I'm running out of colors!

I started this project with the intent of taking/posting pictures for one color each week from March 20 to June 20. Now I'm realizing that it's actually not the best way to approach this. Instead of posting a collage every week, it might be best to take the pictures, but wait until the end to have a post with a compilation collage of all the colors. I might start posting the weekly collages in my flickr pool instead.

Have you ever done a series like this? How did you approach it?

Purple }{ The March Equinox Project

Purple is the color of royalty. It's a word with no match (can you think of a word that rhymes perfectly with purple?).

Before this year, I didn't think of purple as a spring color. But I'm finding it everywhere.

What do you think about when you think of purple?

Red }{ The March Equinox Project

Once during an interview I was asked what color crayon I was and why. Guess which color I chose?

I told them I had lots of energy and a vibrant personality. And red goes well with a lot of other colors. I'm not sure if they liked the answer, but I did get the job. (I know that doesn't sound humble, but you can't be too humble on interviews, right?)

What color crayon are you?

Yellow }{ The March Equinox Project

One more week has gone by, one more color I enjoyed out there. Yellow.

Daffodils and dandelions. I do love dandelions, and I don't care that they are considered weeds. Maybe that makes them even more... of an underdog.

One of the cool things about this project so far is it's teaching me which flowers come out in early spring versus later. I know. I should know that by now, considering that I like to add flowers to my garden every year and that I'm always buying indoor flowers as well. But, there you have it: I'm not sure what comes out when and how long they last. 

Even worse, I don't even know the name of lots of flowers I see and like. So I've been asking. Another good thing coming out of this project  - I'm realizing how friendly many people are around here. If I ask the name of their flowers and permission to take a photo, they open right up, smile, and give me all kinds of information about gardens. 

I really need to do things like this more often.

What's your favorite way to strike up a conversation with neighbors?

Green and White }{ The March Equinox Project

As promised last week, I'm back with the pictures I took for the colors green:

And white:

It turned out to be more challenging than I thought! We had hail, lots and lots of cold weather, and clouds up through the weekend. A lot of flowers and foliage that had begun to sprout and bloom then withered or suffered from this cold spell. Some beautiful cherry blossoms I had seen are now gone. The daffodils from my neighbors look so sad. But in any case, I found some greens and whites. But then somehow I forgot to include my favorite picture of something green in my collage! Oi... 

If you want to know more about the project I've started, check this post.

What has your beginning of spring been like? Warmer than usual, colder than usual, or just about average?

Dragon Lily }{ the sketchbook challenge

According to the Chinese lunar calendar, beginning on January 23, 2012 is a year of the dragon (see here for other years). According to their traditional zodiac, the dragon is energetic, fearless, warm-hearted, and charismatic as well as arrogant and impatient. Dragon babies are very popular in East Asia (also here and here). 

You can probably see where I'm going with all this - the growing dragon in my belly. To be honest, I'm not one to believe in zodiacs, but I find myself calling this little girl (yes, it's a girl!) my little dragon all the time. I even checked her compatibility, and it turns out they are most compatible with rats (N. is a rat). I hope it's true and they turn out to be the best of friends. 

Then, last week I stopped by a flower shop that I hadn't seen before just to check out their selection. They had these beautiful pink and orange flowers in one arrangement. I asked the shop keeper what kind they were and he said they were "dragon lilies." Boom. I had to get some.

March's sketchbook challenge's theme is "flowers" so I decided to draw a dragon lily in honor of my little dragon. It was quick work, nothing elaborate - just an outline filled in with copic markers.

Now let's just hope she doesn't breathe fire. 

Do you believe in zodiacs? What's your Chinese zodiac sign?

Intention }{ Illustration Fridays

"Perhaps not the best way to check his intentions after all..." 

Poor flower... And all for naught.

watercolor and gesso

Did you ever do this as a young girl? Did it ever work out?

Spring dreamin'

I'm not sure if it's the pregnancy or the teasers that we've had for the past weeks, but I'm craving a little spring sunshine. Really.

Everywhere I see reminders that it's coming too: tulips in the nursery nearby, seeds and gardening supplies at the seasonal aisle in the grocery store, and the tinsiest ray of sun peaking through the clouds.

I couldn't resist and brought some spring into the house. Until real spring comes and they can fill my pots and garden, I'll just keep putting flowers on the table (along with the cupcakes).

How close are you to getting spring?

Vacation, had to get away

I've been away now for a while, visiting family. Where my mom lives, internet connections are very, very slow. But I figured I had to share at least some pictures of the trip so far. 

Can you guess where we are? If you know me fairly well, that's an easy answer. 

I hope everyone's having a wonderful new year so far.

N. at the beach with tio Erick (my big brother)

Relaxing in the pool after the beach 

My cousin's pet - a very talkative parrot 

The backyard at the beach house 

Some flowers my husband really liked

The beach

Crabs at the beach. We eat them like this, yikes.

N. and her cousin on a kid sized VW Beetle. They didn't actually drive it, but there was an 8-year old boy driving it before.

This is what a cashew fruit looks like for those who don't know it.  

My 18 month old nephew. He was eating some fruit, that's why his mouth is lopsided.

N.'s ice cream one night.

Monkey statue at the beach house

Creating a mood }{ Texture Tuesdays

Do you know one of the reasons I love playing with textures? Because a photo can end up with so many different looks or moods, just with a change of layer mode, opacity, or combination of textures.

Today's Texture Tuesdays challenge was wide open. I chose this recent picture of a flower and tried to create a soft, ethereal feeling.

Adjustments:

• levels, color curves, and unsharp mask
• layer 1: Kim Klassen's "beautiful" on lighter color @ 25%
• layer 2: Kim Klassen's "sweettart" on hue @ 30%
• layer 3: gradient fill on screen @ 20%

Here's the original for comparison:

I also wanted to try adding a grungier look with the textures, but flowers weren't working for me. So I dug up this photo from last year. It's just the side of a old service tractor I found at a park, but I liked the character of the old metal.

What types of looks do you like on your pictures - retro, vintage romantic, polaroid, grunge, soft, hazy?

Flower pounding + a card }{ Tutorial Thursdays

Last night as she was putting the little one to sleep, guess who else fell asleep right along?  Moi. My husband probably figured I was exhausted and let me sleep there until..... I woke up at midnight in a panic!  

What about grading student papers? What about studying for my last final this coming Monday? What about my blog post for today? 

I just simply don't have time to sleep early. Still, it gave a lot of energy this morning so now it's time to catch up on lost productivity time.

Today's tutorial is really a 2-for-1 deal, because I'm generous like that. I'm also not very modest, but you know that by now. 

All kidding aside, I *love* a lot of the techniques or steps involved in this project because you can easily take them and apply them somewhere else. There are two main parts: 1) Flower pounding to create a pattern on a scrap of fabric and 2) making a card with that fabric. I do love making cards, have you noticed? Ok, on to part 1.

1) Flower pounding: I came across this technique on a crafting book compiled from Family Fun magazine. It's one of my favorite go to books.

Materials

• fresh flowers
• unbleached white muslin
• a hammer
• a hard surface
• some junk mail (to keep your surface tidy)

Steps

1. Place some junk mail on a hard surface, then place the muslin over it.
2. Arrange one or more flowers on the top half of the muslin to form the pattern you want.
3. Fold the bottom half of the muslin over it.
4. Pound away with the hammer, making sure not to miss the corners.
5. Unfold it and scrape the flower residue. The book actually tells you to use a butter knife for this, but I just use my hands - I love getting down and dirty with my crafts.
6. You'll have two sides with mirror images of the flower. You can keep both sides or separate them and use each side separately depending on what you'll use it for.

step 2

step 3

step 5

And there you have it, a flowery pattern on a scrap of fabric that you can then use to do whatever you want - pillows, quilts, etc. And of course, cards.

2) Making the card: I decided to use the fabric on a card for two reasons. First, the more you wash the muslin, the more the flower pattern fades, and with a toddler at home I have to wash my fabrics constantly. Second, I love cards. :)

Materials

• white card stock
• spray ink, or watercolors (and brush)
• Scrap of fabric with flower pattern
• sewing machine with thread or embroidery needle with thread
• embellishments (I used dried flowers, ink and stencils)

Steps

1. Spray the card stock with ink in a color of your choice. Alternatively, paint the card stock with a solid but light watercolor. Let it dry.
2. Take/cut one half of the piece of muslin with the flower on it and reduce it to a size that fits on the card.
3. Fray the edges of the muslin until you're happy with the effect.
4. Sew the fabric on the card stock, either by machine (decorative stitch) or by hand (pretty embroidery stitch)
5. On the back, add a sentiment with the stencils and ink (or you can print something and glue it).
6. Add embellishments, like a dried flower or glitter or whatever you like. :)

step 1

step 3

step 4

step 5

I hope you decide to try flower pounding or sewing fabric on card sock to make a card. You can really do so much with either of these basic techniques. Just let your creativity take hold. 

What kinds of crafting techniques have you expanded on? What new uses have you found for them? I'd love to see your crafts sometime. 

Yes to yellow?

Remember how I mentioned I need a little color around here? 

I decided to be brave and go with some yellow. As the lovely Catherine Denton said in her latest post: yellow is not the color of cowards!  It's a hard color to match in my opinion, which is why I don't go for it. Besides it looks terrible with my skin tone.

So, to try it out in a small dose, I got out some yellow and some red tissue paper to make flowers, put them on a yellow bowl and plate I had around, and plopped them on top of my kitchen table. By the way, if you'd like to try and make these flowers, I found the tutorial (and all the other amazing tutorials) over at Creative Jewish Mom. Hers look so much more beautiful than mine, so you should definitely check them out!

Hmmm, still not sure if I can go for yellow. Maybe if I use a different color plate? Maybe this is too much yellow?

What colors are you skeptical of?

Quick tutorial

Of course I had to do something "quick" for the letter Q. It's my favorite type of craft - something I can whip up in just an hour or less.

It's Spring (in the northern hemisphere) and we should have lots of flowers, right? Well, we just had two days of snow. Spring snow just isn't as attractive as flowers, so I'm taking matters into my own hands and growing some colorful flowers. Out of felt and ribbon!

You can really do whatever you want with any of these felt flowers: create a bouquet or an arrangement, a headband, a garland, etc. But enough talking, let me show you how to do a couple of flowers.

Ribbon flower
I've been doing this one since I was a wee kid, and it's so easy! It sounds more complicated then it is, so I'm giving you some pictures to go along with the explanations.

1. Fold the ribbon in half.
2. Separate the ends so that they are at a 90 degree angle (or close)
3. Fold the bottom end over the top one, so that it's now on top.
4. Repeat until you have almost no ribbon left.
5. Let the ribbon go, holding only the ends that are left.
6. Holding both ends loosely, pull the one that's inside (not the one you folded last)
7. Secure ends with fabric glue or hand sew it.

step 2

step 3

step 4

step 5

step 6

step 7

Felt flower 
Another super easy flower.

1. Cut felt into petal shapes (use whatever colors/combinations you want). Use different sizes with outer petals  a bit bigger than the ones in the middle. You can play around with different sizes to see what you like best.
2. Glue each petal at a time on the stem forming a flower shape. You can use different things for stems - sticks, pipe cleaners, etc. I like to use these sticks that come with wire at the end because I use the wires to help me secure the flower in place while the glue dries. It's quicker.
3. Use watercolor paint/glue and glitter for embellishment (optional)

Put them all together and:

Thank you everyone for all the suggestions on adding color. I'll definitely share whatever I end up doing.

Feathered friends and flowers

I got my tombow pen in the mail last night, so today I decided to go back and try out Carla Sonheim's technique again. Last time I tried it, I ended up with some cute watercolor bunnies that N. and I made together. Still, I wanted to try out the real thing.

So I did it with my little feathered friend below.

I'm pretty happy with the results. I'll definitely be using this technique again.

Moving right along...

My copy of this month's Do It Yourself magazine came in the mail a couple of days ago. I always browse through it for inspiration, and this month I loved the article about making garlands with old book pages. Of course I got to work on it right away.

I painted them with a light watercolor wash to add some fun colors but still get the writing and page textures to come through.

Then I made the garland:

I liked this project, but it's not something I could do with the little one. She doesn't yet have the patience and the fine motor skills for folding the paper. But if you have older kids, this might be perfect.

Where have you found your inspiration lately?

Jumping right in...

My first post.

It's finals and I'm in desperate need to release some stress. So I started the blog.

And because I'm snap happy, what better way to start then to share some of my snappy snaps? Pretty raw, actually. SOOC, except for the last one which has very little done anyway.

This is going to be fun.

What soothes you when you are stressed?