Truth Project Progresses

Tonight I'm on my own as DH has left on work/family trip to England for three weeks. We're all tired and missing him, but I thought I didn't want to give in and not doing anything creative after the kids' bedtime, and I'm so glad I did something!

I have been waiting to decide how to adhere my truth quotes to the frames I made, and tonight it was so obvious that I should just use Matte Accents on the back of the frame and then lay it down on top of the quote. Voila! Worked beautifully and I did all twelve in probably twenty minutes.

Of course, after I'd done three, I realized it would have looked pretty slick to first adhere a square of acetate or clear transparency sheet first and then the quote, so it would look like glass, but that's all right. I am still pleased with what I've got, and now I'm on the last step--deciding how exactly to mount/present the darn things. If I am patient, the answer will announce itself, just as it did with attaching the paper to the frame.

I love love love having my workspace set up. I think it's only because I finally have my things out, accessible, and arranged in a logical fashion for how I work that the Matte Accents answer presented itself to me. Having my computer here is also just as wonderful as I thought it would be. For one thing, it makes it easier to do posts for this blog!

Thoughts on Making my First Pendant

I have learned two important things: you can't reheat Glossy Accents with a heat gun in the hopes that it will smooth out, but you can remove the entire contents of a pendant blank and start again! I poked around the edges with the sharp pin I use to clean out the tips of glue bottles, and it all just lifted out and peeled away, even the paper I'd put on the bottom, and it was as though I'd never put anything in it.

So, what did I like and not like about my first effort? I liked the paper, but it needed something dimensional, I felt, so I sprinkled clear microbeads on the Glossy Accents when it was still wet. That didn't turn out too well. The detail of the picture disappeared, of course, so instead of seeing three red flowers one just saw three red blobs. If I'd had one of those lovely glass red roses from Alpha Stamps or something like that to add, it might have been okay, but I didn't have anything suitable. Also I think I simply put too many microbeads in.

Whether that contributed to how the Glossy Accents dried, I don't know, but it had a lumpy surface on it that was displeasing to me. (That prompted the experiment with reheating it to smooth it out. Works with beeswax--not with GA! It bubbled and probably gave off some horrible noxious gas too.)

When I started over with the newly blank pendant, this time I began with the dimensional accent rather than the paper backing. I found that one of the little armadillo charms I had fit perfectly in the bottom of the pendant, so then I just needed an appropriate background for it. Couldn't find any Texas-style paper (with all the papers I have, I couldn't believe I didn't have the right one) with bluebonnets or cacti on it, but I did eventually find the border to a punch-out card that I got in England last year looked quite nice behind it. I cut it down and adhered it to the blank with a few dots of Diamond Glaze, then I put DG all around the edges and bottom. The armadillo went in next, and out of frustration (couldn't get the tip of the DG unblocked for more than a few seconds at a time) I removed the tip and just poured DG in straight from the bottle. I had to do this carefully and slowly at first so I could prick some bubbles I saw coming out, but I think that may have worked out better than doing it from the tip since it was such a large quantity I needed. It's still drying, but it looks very smooth on top, and I think I'm going to be very satisfied with it.

Note to self: add picture once finished.

More Thoughts on Moving Back In

Even after doing this for some time now (a couple of years), I still find the beginning almost paralyzes me. I have read so many magazines, looked at so many sites, thought so much about things I want to make, and yet when it comes time to actually BEGIN, I find I remember nothing about how I should start. It is one of the most courageous things I do, every time, to pick up something--a blank canvas, a piece of paper, a wood panel--and start to change it by painting, sanding, gluing, etc. Some of it is process--should I gesso first? should I use gel medium to adhere background papers? what color should I start with? It can be so overwhelming.

And part of that is in my mind about moving back in to a space somewhere in the house now that it's off the market until next spring. When I get my stuff, or at least most of it, back in and around me, will I know how to begin?

Getting my Space Back!

It looks as though no one is going to buy our lovely house, so this week we will take it off the market. It will be so nice to have our house back to ourselves and not have to always be putting things away all the time! My job now is to figure out a more tasteful way to bring my supplies in from the garage and create a workspace that isn't as overwhelming as it was before we moved everything out. That space was like that famous house in California (I think) where the owner just kept on adding rooms, wings, staircases that went nowhere--I just kept getting things and having to stuff them somewhere. Of course, my husband won't want to spend any money on anything, but it's either that or I take over the dining table again, which I would really prefer not to do.

Good thing I've been spending some time thinking about how to set up a new area. I think the most important thing for me right now is to have a large, flat workspace. I think just getting a 6-ft. table and putting it in front of the dining room window, then putting the paper caddy next to it (which I may clean out a bit), the coffee table underneath the main table to stack things on again, and maybe one bookcase for magazines, books, and things I'd like to see out. The utility cart that I got from Costco will need a home, but I think I can do without the round sidetable and just put the stamps on the 6-ft. table and the bookcase. I'd love to get a rug for underneath it but suppose that can wait.

Thoughts on Christmas 2009 Gifts

[coming]

Lessons Learned from Stamp Zia workshops

[coming]

Laid Low by a Cough

The day after my last post, I came down with a 102-degree fever that lasted only about 12 hours, but I was left with a debilitating cough. I finally went to the doctor a couple of days ago and got loaded down with medicines (he proposed I might have a mild case of whooping cough!), and things are finally improving. It's been tough, though, as I haven't had the mental energy to do anything over these last couple of weeks. Also it was the beginning of summer, and it's very challenging to do anything when both kids are home. One, yes, but not two.

Anyway, tonight I finally started the final gluing stages for my truth project. It's definitely labor-intensive, and next time I'd use slide mounts for something like this, but there is something to be said for having done everything by hand. I didn't realize what I was going to do until I was in too deep to pull back and go an easier route. I do think it will look neat when done. My quotations are already selected, and I'm going to write them on onionskin to be seen on one side, and back them with vellums for the other side. Then I will add color accents to the black-and-white paper that I'm covering all 26 frames with, and finally I will figure out how I'm going to attach them. I would still like to figure out how to do it so that it will fold up into a book, since that was my original intention, but I can't see how to do that until I have them finished in front of me ready to go. Since I got so slowed down by this illness, I won't be able to complete it before leaving for my parents' house in Kansas, which is disappointing and frustrating, but ah well.

I have also nearly finished the first project in Kelly Rae Roberts' Taking Flight book, and I'm very pleased with it. All I need are fibers for the binding, and I can't find mine in the garage (all my stuff is in boxes as our house is on the market). I may have to give in and buy more, because I want it to be done! It was hugely fun playing with oil paints (although they took nearly a week to dry in our humid climate, and I may have layered them on too thick also), and it was very rewarding to draw something for the first time. I didn't think it turned out half bad.

Questions from Pam Carriker's blog, 14 May 2009

I love this lady's blog and her artwork and have really enjoyed reading her thoughts and musings. It has opened up new pathways for me and encouraged me to think about things in ways that I'm not sure would have ever occurred to me if left on my own.

In her 14 May 2009 blog entry, she lists these questions and challenges her readers to answer them for themselves (which is why I feel it's okay to list the questions and post my answers in this blog). Here goes!

Developing Your Own Voice

What are your 3 favorite colors?
Blue. Purple. Green.

What kind of architecture do you like?
This is tough--much easier to say what I don't like, which is the classic Greek style with the symmetry. Ugh. But otherwise I like everything from English cottages with thatched roofs to urban brownstones to ranch-style houses to castles. I also don't care much for things that look too modern in terms of building materials; I like the houses with limestone exteriors, an organic warm feeling. I very much like buildings that let in lots of natural light.

What 3 words describe your personality?
Self-restricted. Nurturing. Accommodating.

What is your favorite animal?
Cat.

What do you collect?
Blank books. Kitchen items, especially serving. Miniatures. Books with nice covers.

What is your favorite season?
This one is also unanswerable. I like them all. Over the last few years I have come to really like winter because it's fun to wear warm clothes and snuggle up with blankets (I live in Central Texas, so this is a novelty). But I also love spring when everything leafs out, I love those fresh crisp breezes in the fall after the six-month-long baking summer here, and I love the summer and the sound of the crickets/locusts in the trees in the blazing afternoon heat--everything lazy, languid, and laid-back.

Name your favorite icons.
Now I know I've answered this, probably about a month ago. It will be fun to compare my answers later . . . I don't really have any icons.

What are your favorite mediums?
I am not sure I'm experienced enough to have an answer for this yet. Right now I'm at the point where I recognize that different mediums do different things, so I guess my favorite is whatever works for what I want to accomplish!

Having a Great Time

In my last post, I promised myself to do something creative every day, even if it just took five minutes. That has been a great thing to do! More time in my day has been spent thinking about what I'm going to do, and it is so rewarding and nourishing to grab the time to do it, whatever it is on a particular day. And on the crazy days leading up to the end of school for my son when I barely had time to breathe and remind myself of my name, let alone spend even a second not thinking about that day's task at hand, that was okay because I thought about the things I was working on and advanced them in my head. I am so glad that I have this wonderful outlet, and frankly I just feel like a kid in a candy store with wonderment at all I can do. Doesn't seem real . . .

More Introspection

I feel I'm embarking upon a journey--again. These last few months have been so frustrating with everything that has gone on to get the house ready to put on the market and keep it ready to show. I thought it would be a wonderful opportunity to do some experimenting that I wouldn't otherwise do, but instead it feels like I packed up my creativity along with all my supplies in the cardboard boxes that are sitting out in the garage. Turns out, I guess, that I'm one of those people who has to immerse oneself, surround myself, with items, supplies, pictures, to begin. Part of what I have been thinking about the last few weeks is being okay with that. It is simply the way I am--I need to physically see the things around me. Okay.

Here are my answers to the questions on page 18 of Taking Flight, by Kelly Rae Roberts. She definitely says things in this book that I need to hear right now, and I am grateful to her for the effort that went into the creation of it.

In the depths of my heart, creative dreams are calling me to take notice. They are:
Bookmaking. I always said that all the cards I made in the year 2007 were like a workshop, gathering techniques and trying stuff out, but I was never interested in cardmaking for its own sake--I wanted the techniques to use in other things, like book covers. My imagination has grown a bit since then, but I would still like to make some books. Even just blank books for others to use would be just fine with me.

Very interested in continuing to explore the 3D mixed media world. Not sure what it holds for me, but I'm curious. I like making things that people can touch, examine closely, hold up to the light and see what reveals itself. Also want to pursue more things made on glass--that has a strong pull for me.

The one thing I never thought I could do is:
This is very easy--anything at all artistic. Never ever ever.

Here's how I can make a plan to do it:
Pledge to myself to write something or draw something every day. Doesn't have to be original--might be taking ten minutes to trace a calligraphy alphabet to help my hand get accustomed to the movements. But something, anything.

Who in my life has passion? What questions could I ask her/him about her/his story?
I could ask my friend A. more than I have about how she thinks about what she does and why she does it. I know why she does arty things rather than writing, but that's a different question than why she does arty things, period.

Could ask a family friend who is a painter. What would I ask? I guess all my questions seem to come back to how did she, or anyone, have the courage to do it and put it out there. But I think I already know the answer there. You just do it.

I feel most inspired when:
I am surrounded by images or objects that speak to me. I need that physical presence to envelop me and support me. It also helps, of course, to not have a deadline looming (must leave to pick up kids from school) or other obligations that come before this wonderful indulgence. Yes, it is apparently a need, but I do know it's an indulgence. Plenty of women do not have the luxury of time to play or even think about this stuff, nor do they have the financial ability to gather supplies. I am lucky.