I have been glued to my laptop this week learning photoshop elements, and pursuing my latest obsession – digital graphics/scrapbooking. Here are some layouts I played around with. I used a photo of my daughter when she was young and dressed up as an angel for Halloween. She found the Halloween layout a bit creepy, so I made a fluffy pink one to please her :-). I used Irene Alexeeva’s kits, she is a very talented designer/artist:
I have always wanted to try Punch Needle Work. So for this week, I did a brown on green punch needle owl. The instructions say “Tres facile”; which it is, but I found it to be a bit tedious, and as can be seen, my results were less than perfect. I was tempted to tweak it in Photoshop, but decided against it. So, here it is in all it’s glory, my first (and possibly last) punch needle owl:
For the blog hop list of artists, or if you want to join the challenge:
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This year, I have decided to make an effort to live an “artful” life. As I get older, I realize that I want to do things that make me happy – Art! Not that I’m old mind you. Well, my children would beg to differ – anyone over 30 is over the hill to them. Nevertheless, with this being said, I joined Jeannie Dukic’s Drawing Lab 2011. This weeks assignment was blind contour drawing. Here are my “best” efforts. A self portrait, and a drawing of my toaster (I gave them fancy frames to make them appear nicer :-)):
Here are some Valentines themed jewelry – you can find them in my Etsy Store. I just love the combination of red on pink. The Digital community is sooo generous. You can find this template at MJ-AJ Designs, and the background paper at NeareStore:
The other day, I went to our local hardware store to get a refill on my propane tank in preparation for doing some torch work. On my way out, I took the scenic route through the garden center and had the pleasure of seeing some very nice flowers. It’s not spring yet, but this is Southern California after all, so I whipped out my iPhone and took some pictures. Well, my torch session was inspired by the flowers I saw. For some reason, I managed to burn/scum half the flowers I made, but some survived, and I made them into a bracelet and hair pin set. I listed them in my Etsy Store. I also really liked the Harvest moon and White Moon Kale, so I made some hair pins for my daughter out of felt. Also, I found this very nice template at JoeyLynn Designs:
Well, blogging has opened up a whole new world to me. I stumbled onto Ruth Baillie of Birdland Creations, Bird A Week Challenge. It sounded fun, so I joined. Since I missed the first two weeks, I did a quick “catch up” and made two origami cranes, a boy (the svelte green one) and the girl (voluptuously pink :-)). I made them from memory. It’s something that was taught to me as a little girl by my mother or grandmother. A crane “tsuru” in Japanese culture symbolizes good fortune, longevity, and fidelity. Nowadays, the tradition of folding 1,000 cranes represents a form of healing and hope during challenging times. What better birds to start the new year and challenge with. Thank you Ruth for the challenge!
Here is a link to see what other artists are doing: Bird A Week
For the blog hop list of artists, or if you want to join the challenge:
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Ok, this is not creative stuff, but I am a proud UCSD Triton mom today! My younger son’s ice hockey team beat the UCLA Bruins last night! Yaaayyyy!!! Yes, I am a Bruin alumna, but when it comes to my children, I root for their teams!
Well, I already blogged today, but I wanted to share what I have at the RAA. The show theme is “Music”, but with the holidays and all, I wasn’t able to get on the torch to make anything musical. So, I opted for earrings – very pretty and quick to make. I also wanted to try out this wonderful template I found on one of my “browsing moments” on the web. You can find it at Angelica’s scrap blog. She is a talented and generous artist – Thank you Angelica! Also, from my new found obsession (digital scrapbooking), I surrounded the center cell with a pretty butterfly overlay from Vera Lim Design:
Yaaayyy!!! It’s finally here!!! One of the main reasons I started my blog was so that I could participate in Lori Anderson’s (Pretty Things) Bead Soup Blog Party. For more information on the party, click on the picture below:
Here is a seed bead necklace and bracelet I made. I really like the look of seed bead jewelry, but the older I get the harder it is on my eyes. Nevertheless, it is still worth the effort:
Happy 2011!!! ***Best Wishes for a Wonderful New Year!!!***
I also want to share my daughters “paint by numbers” art work. I loved doing them as a child, and now that she is injured with a torn ACL and out for the season, she is finding more sedentary activities to occupy her until rehab/surgery. She knocked it out in two days – I think it looks great 🙂
As long as I have been playing with polymer clay, I decided to make some faux antique jewelry. I have a wonderful book in my collection called “Creating Your Own Antique Jewelry” by cRis Dupouy that I used for inspiration. Infact, I took photos of the pendant and brooch with the pages from the book as backdrop. They were fun to make:
Lutka And Co.
Cutiepie Misfits
lutkaandco.com 
