Well, here we are – my daughter and I. We finally ditched our crutches. DH took this photo of us before our expedition to hit (or in our case, hobble around) the mall. I played with photoshop elements to “cartoon” ourselves, with less than stellar results. I recently had a conversation with my friend Lisa about botox – I think I am in dire need of one to fix the “marionette” lines on my face!
I really liked this challenge for some reason – drawing star tangles:
I was not sure what this title really meant. Is it “the bridge too far” from operation market garden, the act of overreaching? Well, I decided to do it on what came to mind when I first read the words to the theme:
When I was a child, there was a story that went with the Tanabata Festival about two lovers who were only allowed to come together once a year. The girl was the daughter of the sky king, and the boy a farmer. A great river separated the two, and on the 7th day of the 7th month, a boatman (the moon) would ferry them across to meet. If it rained, magpies would come together to form a bridge over which the two lovers could cross and meet. If you are interested, you can go to Tanabata for more on the festival and story.
Here are the credits:
Background: Irene Alexeeva Designs
Star Overlay: Mariscrap
Magpies & River: Google Images
Challenge #3 was to start the tangle by closing your eyes, and drawing the initial string:
Our dear dog Hiro’s favorite outside toy are empty water bottles. He helps himself to the recyclables outside, and runs like the wind (or flies on “wings”) around the yard with a bottle in mouth, the happiest guy in the world:
His light hearted personality, and contentment in the simplest things make him the best dog ever :-). Here are the credits:
Hiro Photo: Photo Art By Marie
Background & Elements: Irene Alexeeva Designs
Textured overlay: Fall3nAngel
Challenge #2 was to start the tangle with a two pencil string – putting two pencils together and drawing a scribble. Here is my tangle:
My initial strings ended up looking like a cursive “S”.
My grandparents were here in the U.S. during the turn of the century, but in early 1900’s they returned to their homeland. This is the journey my mother, sisters, and I made to join our father here in the 60’s:
I was literally a FOB back then :-). We sailed the Pacific on the Sakura Maru. An officer of the ship was assigned to dine with every family/group. I was only 7 then, but I remember thinking we had the most handsome officer at our table :-). For the first few days, the poor man had to dine with me alone, since my mother and sisters were seasick. Our Port Of Entry into the U.S. was Honolulu Hawaii. We arrived there on my birthday – what wonderful happenstance was that!
The digital graphics for this theme leaves a lot to be desired, but I really love the feeling it evokes. Here are the credits:
Mount. Fuji, Diamond Head, Sakura Maru, Hula Girl, Flags: All Google images
Polaroid overlay: Shadowhouse Creations
Here is challenge #1 in my effort to “catch up” – the theme was “Simplicity”. I just went and started drawing and this is the result:
When I showed DH my efforts, I got the same look I got over 20 years ago when I showed him my cross stiching projects. He just doesn’t get it :-).
April’s art show theme at the RAA is “In The Garden”. Since I like to make flowers and things, it was pretty easy to go along with this theme. Here are some of the things I will be displaying:
I mostly made floral themed beads and buttons, with the exception of the pretty encased silver leaf button, and the frog bead. The mother/daughter pendants came out really nice. I had not made a frog in a while, so it was a bit of a challenge. I need to find a class on stringer control. I seem to get the glass too close to the flame, and all the fine detailing just melts away…
What? not another challenge! I came across Zentangle at a couple of my fellow Drawing Lab student’s blogs. I saw what wonderful Zentangles they were creating, and had to investigate. Here is a brief description of Zentangle (taken from Zentangle):
Zentangle is an easy to learn method of creating beautiful images from repetitive patterns. It is a fascinating new art form that is fun and relaxing. It increases focus and creativity. Zentangle provides artistic satisfaction and an increased sense of personal well being. Zentangle is enjoyed by a wide range of skills and ages and is used in many fields of interest.
The coordinator of this particular challenge is Laura Harms of I am the diva – Certified Zentangle Teacher (CZT). Challenge #15 was to use only curved lines. And here is my very first Zentangle:
Not sure if I did it right, but it was fun! As always, I am late to the challenge, so I will have Challenges 1 -14 to make up. And, I’m finding this as a great pastime while I wait for things – it’s very portable. I have exhausted all the levels of Sudoku, Hidato, Ken Ken, and am finishing up the black belt level Kakuro. And, I am not ready to tackle Easy Breezy Crosswords – I am better with numbers than words. They have been my constant companions through all the ice hockey practices, volleyball practices, and waiting for kids in general. Now I can do Zentangle while I wait for my daughter at guitar lessons and physical therapy :-). So, if you are interested and up to the challenge, check it out!
I made another lampwork bird bead this week. It’s supposed to be a little yellow bird, but it turned out to look more like a fish with stick legs:
I feel a bit in the doldrums in terms of birds, I will have to get a bit more creative for the coming weeks. Any ideas?
As I do not have anything new today, and for some reason, I feel the need to post daily (for now, at least), here is a show and tell bracelet and earrings in the Eni Oken style that I made a few years ago. There are only certain types of wire wrap techniques I like, and this is one of them:
The bracelet is made of quartz nuggets, Bali sterling beads, and vintage mother of pearl beads wire wrapped in sterling silver. It is a bit time consuming, but the results are worth it. Eni also has very informative tutorials if you want to give it a try, on her site as well as at Jewelry Lessons.
Lutka And Co.
Cutiepie Misfits
lutkaandco.com 