Twenty-eight Days of Art

Well, here we are.  Day 28.  

Did not think I was going to make it through all twenty-eight days.  Trying to come up with twenty eight ideas really pushed me, but I think that was a good thing.  

But, how apropo that the last day should fall on my Wedding Anniversary.  

So, for the grand finale, my Anniversary card to my husband, for sharing so many wonderful years together.

I found this cute little saying on the internet and printed it out on cardstock.

This quote by Cassandra Clare fit us perfectly.  When we met, he did come walking towards me, 

with a great big smile.

Twenty-eight Days of Art

Today I have been all over the place with my art work.  I worked on several projects throughout the day.  First I started with one of the bookmarks I had left over from the Mini Book I did yesterday.

Added some pen work by letting the design of the colors tell me what they wanted.

Then I worked on my printmaking plate.  I will be adding four different colors to this before printing.  However, before I can add any more colors I need to let this dry completely.

While my paint was drying, I worked on a drawing for a collagraph I want to print.

Still have some tweaking to do on this.

Next, I took Yupo paper, Ranger Inks, Pinata Inks and a straw to create this piece.  You drop some ink onto the paper and blow through the straw to create different patterns on the paper.

Here's a close-up.

I am going to add some pen and ink to the piece also.  I can really see the patterns on this close-up.

Now that my plate is dried, I can add a second layer of paint as shown here.  You can see that the paint is very wet.  Will have to wait until tomorrow to add my third layer.

Here we are at 27 days of Twenty-eight Days of Art.  One more day left.

Twenty-eight Days of Art

"Day 26"

Mini Book

On February 21st, my art of the day was printmaking. I was not too crazy about my prints nor was I sure what I was going to do with them.  I had some printmaking paper left over from last year, and at the time did not know what to do with it either because the piece was too small to use for anything.

But today, I took last year's left over printmaking paper to use with this year's print and Viola!  

A Mimi Book.  

Here is what I did to get started.  First the supplies:  the print, printmaking paper and a left over Eggo Box.  As you can see here, I accordion fold the printmaking paper.

I cut up the Eggo box the same size as the printmaking paper to use for the front and back covers.  Now I have two cardboard pieces for my book covers.

I cut the print the same size as the book covers to decorate the front and back covers as shown here.  The front of the book cover is on the left and the back of the book cover is on the right.  After cutting everything out, I has enough for two bookmarks and two ATCs.

Once the covers had dried, I then glue them to the printmaking paper, front and back, as you can see here.

All done!  

Now I can use by Mini Book for whatever inspires me.

It was fast, it was quick, it was easy, it was recycled.

Taking two items that may have been tossed out, became a work of art. 

Twenty-eight Days of Art

"Zendala"

This morning I worked on a Zen Mandala, hence, Zendala.  It took me about 2-1/2 hours to complete from start to finish.  I used a white pen on black cardstock.

My Zendalas are usually more organic and have a bit of whimsy to them, but this one seems to me to be a bit more rigid.  Towards the end, however, it started to flow more naturally for me.

Twenty-eight Days of Art

Atlas, Day 24 and counting.  Only four days left of my "Twenty-eight Days of Art".  

Today I made a scarf out of an old T-Shirt, which was hard to find.  All my old T-shirts I had I already gave to Goodwill, so finding one I could use, took some rummaging through my clothes.

Here's the T-shirt I ended up using.

Smoothed out all the wrinkles and folded in half.

Cut just below the arms and you have a tube.

Cut the ends with scissors all the way around.

Now pull.

Viola!  A scarf made from a T-shirt.  Best of all, it took less than fifteen minutes to make.

Twenty-eight Days of Art

Knit one, Purl two

Day 23

This is a knitted afghan I have been working on and finally finished it today.

I knitted the afghan on the diagonal.

Here I've started crocheting the first two rows of edging.

I've started crocheting the first row of loops and then I will add a second row of loops to give the edging a more lacy look.

Here is close-up of the edging

Finished Afghan

Close-up

Twenty-eight Days of Art

"Zentangle Day 22"

I am a Certified Zentangle Teacher, but still took a refresher course.  It's good to keep up with what is new out there, or just brushing up on things we tend forget sometimes.  It's always fun spending a day Tangling.

Tile #1 - Squid

A variation of Squid.  Those of us who already new how to do some of the Tangles learned today, were suppose to come up with a variation on what we already knew.  Here's mine.

Tile #2 - Verdigogh

Here is my version of Verdigogh on a Tan Tile using a brown Sakura Micron Pen.

Tile #3 - Finery

My version of Finery used in a leaf shape on a Gray Tile.  Added some berry branches and highlighted the leaves with a gold pen.

Tile #4 - Ynix

Ynix on a Tan Tile using a blue Sakura Micron Pen.  Some highlights in white.

Tile #5 - Mooka

My version of Mooka.

Tile 6 - Mooka Variation

Forming a Mooka into a flower.  Brown Sakura Micron Pen on a white tile.

Twenty-eight Days of Art

Printmaking is the art of the for Day 21 of Twenty-eight Days of Art.

I am taking a "Printmaking for Fun" class this spring and today was the first day of class.

I did three prints, but they did not turn out what I envision for my prints.

Print #1

I randomly put down color first, then laid down the bird stencil on the right and went over it with white paint and added a feather.  I think my paper was too wet.

Print #2

I randomly put down color on this one too, but I was trying to make hills and valleys and sky.  I also laid down a fence stencil I had, but it did not come out as clearly as I was hoping.

Print #3

With the color left on the plate, I went over it with white and laid down a couple of stencils and printed on black paper.  I was hoping the color would come through more.

I guess I was just not in the mood to do printmaking today ;-(

Twenty-eight Days of Art

Day 20 was a very, very hectic day for me.  I did not fell like cooking dinner tonight, but what did I do?  I cooked dinner.  I did not have anything artful for today, but some say, "cooking is an art".

For dinner we had Portobello Mushrooms, stuffed with Spinach, topped with Mozzarella cheese.

Chicken Stir Fry with Sesame Seeds and some Veggies.

Topped with a glass of wine.

Delicioso!

Twenty-eight Days of Art

"Day 19"
Today I decorated a soup can with Burlap, Twine and a Fabric Flower.

I now have a decorative holder for my paint brushes,

my colored pens or just a cute Tin Can to hold just about anything I want.

It's backside.

Twenty-eight Days of Art

Well, today I was going to stay home and work on some art projects that I had planned for today, except a friend of my called and asked if I wanted to go out shopping.  You know the answer to that one.  Of course, YES!  So, when I got home, I really didn't feel like doing anything, but knew I had to post something artful for today, so here it is.

First, I went over to my friends house to meet-up and was telling her about wanting to do something with burlap, but didn't have any.  Like a true friend, she came through and gave me some.

Then we went to the hardware store, where I picked up a few things for another project I'm going to be working on, hopefully in the near future.

Then off to the craft store, to pick up something crafty.

The idea of Paper Flowers came to mind.  It's easy, it's quick and not a lot of supplies.  I could sit back, relax and still create.

So this is what I did for Day 18 of Twenty-eight Days of Art.

Twenty-eight Days of Art

Day 17

Here is the quilt top completed.  I added a very narrow white border and then a fun 4" outer border. 

Here are the strips I cut for the binding.  I cut them on a diagonal at 2-1/4" wide.  I will sew all the strips together and use the strip to bind the quilt.

A close-up of the binding strips next to the quilt (on the left), just to get an idea of what it will look like.