Art 101 Challenge – Week 2

Day 8 & 9 – 4 new fabric journals (3 hummingbird and 1 nest)

I did all the sewing on day 8 and put the paper and bindings together on day 9.  I had taken a break from making journals (and journal necklaces) for a while since I have plenty “in stock” and available on etsy and locally.  It was good to play with the sewing machine again.  🙂  I made a few with hummingbird covers because it was the most popular when I did a give-away from my Loving Rd facebook site for Mother’s Day.  My cousin specifically requested a hummingbird journal and thanks to her, this week was celebration time!  Her purchase was the very first Loving Rd etsy shop sale!  [https://www.etsy.com/listing/192460219/fabric-journal-with-decorative-paper]

Did a little happy dance. 🙂 This is a great video to dance along with: Happy by Pharrell

Day 10

Thanks go to Wendy High (another art 101 participant) for the inspiration for this one.  I have been planning to make something similar for a long time and seeing Wendy’s wooden house, along with the timing of my cousin’s purchase of her first home, gave me the final kick I needed to actually make this.  I tried so hard not to make it too “girly” since it’s for my cousin and her husband (that’s why it’s blue), but I just couldn’t help adding a little lace!  Oops!  I forgot the hooks I intended to put on the bottom for keys in such a rush to get it to the post office as a housewarming gift so I might have to upgrade it next time I see her! 😉  I kind of prayed while making it for them.  I chose specific words from a dictionary such as joy, nourish, bless, kindred and more that I hope will be the case in their first family home.

Glad for recent conversations with other artists about pushing through in spite of perceived issues…. and chose to embrace imperfections on this one (like the crooked door) and let go.  One friend said it gave it character.  I’ll go with that. 🙂

Day 11

I finally couldn’t resist trying some neon paint after a bright envelope I received in the mail this week from Lisa Kumcur, another member of the DLP (Documented Life Project) group.  I asked my kids if they’d use it if I bought it so that was my excuse!  I hadn’t ever painted a girl before… only recently tried a few quick doodles/sketches.  I suppose living with three guys may impact my choices some.  I decided my cousin’s daughter’s 8th birthday was a good occasion to attempt painting a girl and I wanted to use the neon paint to make a birthday card for her.  Only…. I forgot I intended to use the new paint and started with other supplies instead.  When I saw the neon paint and remembered my plan, my stubbornness took over and I started painting over the whole thing.  What I thought was going to be a quick little project turned into a bit of an obsession.  Does that ever happen to you?  The OCD (that my husband doesn’t even really believe exists within me due to the state of our house most of time) kicked in.  I painted her skin so many times that I lost count.  My boys got a laugh out of it though when I informed them that her face did NOT look good the same color as a firefly’s butt!  That neon green/yellow color had to go!  Thankfully, some old acrylic paint I had was able to improve it.  My scanner could not handle the colors at all… the bright neon orange came out dull grey.  The camera did a bit better, but the colors are a bit different in the original.  I also used glitter markers all over the girl’s hair and clothes, but it didn’t show up well in the picture.

Day 12

Misty mornings in the mountains lately. I took this picture this week of the roses by our back porch, and I have loved this quote since I discovered it 20 years ago!  Maybe simple, but I love it and it’s something I’ve been wanting to print and frame for a long time. 🙂

Day 13

The boys wanted to go to the lake near our home for the afternoon to build a sand village so instead of making something else, I made memories with them.  We got rained out before we could add any rocks, shells, or sticks for embellishments, but we had a great time creatively playing together!  When the first big bucket turned over and didn’t come out just right, the boys said it was okay because it could be an old village in ruins.  Love that!  🙂

Day 14 –

We were out most of the day so I took some beautiful yarn (the picture doesn’t adequately capture the vibrant green and pink) and a crochet hook with me.  I finished the baby hat that I started the night before and made a matching one for the baby-on-the-way’s big sister.  🙂  I call them hope hats and I think well wishes for the wearers while making them (such as thriving, good health, wisdom, mutual love, harmony, friendship, joy, enlightenment, laughter, and on and on as it takes a while to finish them).

Thanks for reading.  May you have a lovely day!