Wine Charms

I shared this post on my wine blog, winebellies but thought I would share it here too, as it's sort of a crossover wine and creative thing...

Libby's Charmers

And mine

Love the little wineglass

We had a beach-y thing going

 These charms were super easy to make-my kind of craft.  The girls even got in on the action.

I believe this is Teagan's

The girls can never resist when we bust out the art supplies, even though they were supposed to be frosting cookies in the kitchen...the call of the wine charms drew them in like a siren-song (or maybe it was the 80's music we were playing?  Who can resist 80's music???)

Libby and I had ourselves a Michael's shopping spree (followed closely by Mohitos at Cantina Laredo).   

Supply list:
wire earrings (They come in a box of tangled wire.  We didn't realize until later that the sizes actually vary)
beads in a variety of colors
spacers 
charms (you may want to go with a theme)
Needle nosed tool to cut and twist wire

Directions:
Slide the beads on the wire, arranging the charm so it's in the middle. (Best to lay out your pattern ahead of time, which we had no patience for so we just kept putting beads on and taking them off and then drinking more wine to ease our frustration...) 

The wire earrings already have a loop on one end, that stays as is.

When you have your beads on as you like them, use the needle-nosed/wire cutting tool to turn the non-loop end of the wire up at a 90 degree angle so that it holds the beads on and will lock in with the loop. (You may have to turn the loop slightly to align it.)  And Voila!  You are done. 

We made sets of 4, as you can see above in Libby's beach charm photo.  (My wine glass charm was the first one I made and we hadn't perfected how to bend the ends yet, so that one looks different.) 

New Age Art

The Sunset Before Time on Drawcast App

My 11-year old daughter creates amazing artwork on her I-pad.  This one she made on an app called "Drawcast" which also creates a video of the lines and fillers you used in the process so you can watch what you did after the fact.  Every line, shape, circle.  It's a little replay that I haven't figured out how to share here yet, but you can view it if you have the app and search by the title.

I love the explosion of art and technology. My daughter and her friends make videos, design new fashions, invent new hairstyles.  It's a creative child's heaven to have access to so many ways of expressing yourself.
Here are some of my daughter's faves:

Glow Doodle-Draw a picture and press the glow button to see what happens!

 

Pencil Pad-Drawing pad where you use different colors

 

Paper 53-Blend colors and use a bunch of different tools

 

Doodle Buddy-Draw and use stamps and stickers.  Upload a photo from your library and draw on it.

 

Falling Stars-You draw a picture and then activate the stars that bounce against your drawing and make music.  Different sounds depending on what tools you used.

 

Forge of Neon-Create neon colored symmetrical patterns

 

Magic Painter-Create colorful, textured words and images

Created with Magic Painter using "Rejoice" tool

Mask making

Early stages below, finished product on top

We are knee deep in paper mache. I'm making a mask and my daughter is working on a school project.

I love mother-daughter art projects. 

Good, quality time together.  

Recipe:  Flour, water and newspaper.

Secret ingredient: As my daughter put it, "small people really like making a mess."

And we haven't even busted out the paints yet.  

Quiet Inspiration

"The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation"
-Henry David Thoreau

Art Journal, Summer 2012

I'm living a life of quiet inspiration and I intend to ignite a whole lot of other women to do the same.  Let the men keep their desperation.

Here are some major shifts I've made lately:

I'm looking for greatness in myself and others.  
It hasn't always been this way. 
It's a practice.  
I don't always succeed.  

I'm listening for greatness. 
I'm looking.  

It's different than looking for how you're better than others.
It's different than listing your self-destructive behaviors as greatness.  Like I only screwed up 10 times instead of 11, so that's my greatness.  It's really looking deeper.  Like I screwed up 10 times but I still tried an 11th time and THAT time, I got it right.  Look at how persistent and how tenacious I am!

Part of what I'm noticing in actively looking for in stating the greatness of others is that I'm noticing how damaging comparison can be. 

Holding up this ideal image of what you think should be is damaging to you and those around you.  
Whether it's how much you weigh, how strong your relationship is, how good of an artist you are.  

Part of intuitive painting is that you have permission to suck.  And that permission strips the comparison right away, so that you can see things like how much of your life you spend holding up these ideals that really aren't true.  
Like love should look and be and act a certain way.  
Like if you gain those 7 pounds back you are a failure as a human being.  
Like what you look like is the only thing you have to give to the world.  

It saddens me to watch women do this to themselves. And I see it ALL THE TIME.  Like the kid in "The Sixth Sense" sees dead people.  

Before I would give the advice that you should just STOP.  But it doesn't work that way.  Your mind needs a substitute, a replacement.  I offer it gratitude and greatness, which are really one in the same.  Every day.  

What are you grateful for?

What is your true greatness today?  

A Reliquary

For my Ignite Class, our first project was to create a reliquary as a vessel for the spirit of our journey in the class. (Typically reliquaries hold the spirit and possibly parts of loved ones who have passed on.)

My reliquary actually has 3 parts: a container, a book and inspirational cards.
The container is a box that formerly housed one of my daughter's toys.  I broke it apart and covered it with fabric.  I chose the fabric because I love the colors and the flowers look like hearts joined together in circle to me. Our Ignite group is a circle of 12 amazing women, and Connie our teacher.




The book, which to me is the main feature of my reliquary (the relic) is a book that I originally made in a journal making class.  One of those classes where you feel like you want to hand over what you're doing over to the teacher because you just can't get it right.  Well, I have put my own special twist on this book now. I've filled it with pages collaged with thoughts from my journals and photos of my painting that capture the spirit of Ignite and the true, deep, keeping-me-up-at-night excitement that I feel for this journey.


The book contains envelopes to hold things I want to keep.  I made little inspiration cards that I put in one of the pockets.  On the front of the cards are photos of my paintings and on the back are little nuggets that I've gleaned from the sessions so far, or quotes that have influenced me on my journey. Symbols that I included: Mirrors-to reflect the truth back to me so I may see who I really am.  A Bundle-To represent our group.  A picture of my daughter-To remind me that one of the main reasons I'm doing this is to keep her little creative heart alive and thriving.  For her to know and own her own creative spirit.  Pieces of lace from my grandmother's sewing kit.  Grandmother has always been close to my heart, encouraged and supported me in many ways.



I love these cards because I can carry them with me.  I have pictures of my artwork on my phone already, but having the messages on the back will encourage, inspire and/or cause me to think throughout my day. Everyone in the group had their own interpretation of the project and this was mine.  It was an incredible learning experience for me and I'm happy with how it turned out.  It has room to grow and expand with my journey as well.

Finished!

I started this painting over the summer at my friend Bev's.  Her sister, the amazing Martha Perkins of  My Sketch Experiment gave us an impromptu lesson in Bev's driveway.  We set up easels and tables and put the kids at their own table and went to town.  At one point a neighborhood dog came over and christened one of the girls' paintings that was drying in the sun.  I suspect it was making it's own mark on the work.

This painting has been through many changes, many layers. I think it has a car payment worth of paint on it. It was all white with just the background poking through in flower shapes.  Then it became giant, vibrant blue leaves with red and orange flowers. 

I hung it on my wall in my bedroom so it was the first thing I saw when I woke up every morning.  I stared at it.  I squinted.  I imagined what direction it might go.  And then I totally transformed it.  More than once.  More than twice.

Then I started the Flora Bowley e-course and this became my practice canvas.  I've been recording the progress of the big mama canvases here already but this was my cautious place where I could "safely" try out what I've been learning.  The class is about being BOLD.  This is dipping my toe in first before I try on my real bold.  I seem to have developed that hesitancy in all areas of my life.  Putting my own parentheses in wherever things feel too strong for my comfort.  But it's coming. 

I do believe I'm finished now.  Now to tackle those biggies....

Art Journal

The art journal is my place to experiment.  Some of these elements I then carry over into my painting.  Stamping, blending, adding unusual elements.  It's wickedly fun!  

This page includes oil pastels, acrylic paint, colored paper, scrapbook paper, smash tape and vintage lace that I found in my grandmother's attic.

I love exploring how the materials and colors work together.  Very addictive!