Head colds stink

I stayed home from work today because the yucky stuff I've been fighting all week has taken over my head. Luckily, I'm just missing a Professional Development day instead of a school day, so I didn't have to write substitute plans (which is a big deterrent for me from staying home sick). So, I'm lounging in front of the morning shows with my laptop and surfing blogs. I found this flicker site on a blog. Hilarious?

I had my Artists' Books class tonight and I turned in my first big assignment. It was to create a "stiff leaf" structure, and I used 2-ply mat board as the pages. I took this opportunity to create a book to house the 20 prints that I received from Nicci's Fine Art Valentine swap. I'm happy with how it turned out. The pages when open (of course I forgot to take any pictures) look like mini gallery spaces for each print. The construction isn't perfect - I didn't leave enough room in the binding and it splays open because of the combined thickness of all the prints. But, overall I'm happy with it and it was well-received at class. It was hard to relinquish it to my professor for grading because I've been working on it for a couple weeks and carrying it around for the past few days.

One cool thing is that our professor is going to put our books on display at a gallery walk downtown March 3rd. Apparently work from this class is part of the display at one of my favorite stationary stores every year.

Oh, and I have a cold & sore throat. Shoot. I thought I was going to make it until spring...

Screen printing fun

Last Friday I did some screen printing with Wendy. It was so much fun! The goat was hers - a valentine gift for the hubby.We enjoyed experimenting with colors and overlapping and background pages.

New ATCs

Where does the week go? Anyway, these are some new artist trading cards that I made for swaps on Quality Decos.

DD Feb. 9-10

My journal is really too bulky to scan well, but it is easier than holding it open to take a picture, so there ya go.

Seasons Book Sketch

The other book sketch assignment was to write 4 stanzas of poetry - one for each season, and then use those stanzas to create a book, using whatever imagery we wanted to. This was kinda scary for me, since I never write poetry, but I guess they turned out alright.
The concept is basically that there is a symbol to represent each season, and you get a little peek of the colors of the next season through the cutout. Also, there are no front or back covers, so you can continue the process over and over (just like the seasons!).
The pages are made with 2 ply matboard. I cut out a shape from each page with an x-acto knife. The poetry parts are writtten with watercolor pencils on watercolor paper and watercolor backgrounds.
Whoops! I guess I scanned that one wrong. I'll fix it tomorrow - but you get the idea. I haven't bound them together yet, but I'm planning to punch holes and use metal jump rings along the left edge, to make it easy to flip.

Book Sketches

So, I actually have lots to blog about lately, but haven't had a chance to do it. I taught my first scrapbooking class on Tuesday, which was a fun adventure. And I've been working on assignments for my book arts class and swaps for this month's mail art projects. Friday afternoon Wendy taught me how to screen print and I'm addicted! Last night Bill took me to a hockey game for a Valentine's gift, and we had a blast - and took some fun pictures. Plus, I still have to share the painting that I'm giving him on Tuesday! Anyway, I'll have to stick to one topic for tonight since I have to get to bed soon!

For my class, we have to make "book sketches" that are supposed to be quick little books in response to a theme she gives us. I made two today since I had to miss class last Tuesday (to teach the aforementioned scrapbooking class).

For this one, we were supposed to take something large and cut it into pieces to be reconstructed into a book. I choose a Van Gogh print from last year's Impressionist calendar. The pages are all different heights, and at the end of the book is a small but complete version of the painting (from the back of the calendar). I'm too tired to go into detail about how I put it together, but if anyone wants to know, I could at another time. Each page has one line from a 6 line Van Gogh quote.

Another Valentine

Here's an accordian-style card for a secret Valentine swap. I used mulberry papers, red machine stiching, and floral stamps. Aren't those fibers gorgeous, too? I stamped "Everyone should receive flowers" across it, but you can't see the letters at all in the scan... I guess because I used pink ink and it didn't contrast enough. Anyway, she'll be able to see it in person.

opened

D.D. Feb. 2nd and 3rd

A couple of my favorite drawings from my Daily Devotions art journal.

Sorry that one is upside down. It seems like on those really busy nights I find myself drawing any random object that is within reach of our couch. (For example the scissors) I'm happy with alot of the observational drawing that I've been doing but I think it is time to get into more painting, layering, collage, multimedia stuff. The thing about that is that I need to devote more that 5-10 minutes a day for it!

Yea for Altered Mail!

So, I sent out this wooden bowl to Nici for an "Alter This" swap via the Embellished Circus...
... And this amazing piece of artwork came back to me today. WOW! It's much more sparkly and impressive in person. I'm ever so delighted.
Cleo wanted to check it out, too. Actually, she was checking out those strawberry tops. What a weird-o. Last night she wouldn't even go near a piece of chicken, but, strawberry leaves? mmm!

Updated Journal

I've updated the blog for Beth's journal with new scans. Sending it back to her on Tuesday.

Secret Valentines

Now that Bonnie has received her valentine card, I can reveal my identity! This card actually started as an ATC - I found the photo in a magazine and started to trace with the gel pens. Then the flower bouquet found it's way into his hands and I thought it just had to be a Valentine.
I also received a wonderful valentine from Chantale today. I've been admiring it on her blog and now it is m-i-n-e!

ATCs with a Secret

I made these ATCs for a swap over at the Embellished Circus. They're a couple days late because I have been procrastinating making them (and then I had a couple really crazy weeks at work when it felt like I didn't have a moment to work on any art). I wanted to come up with something really clever. So, last night I finally got them made, and I think they're pretty fun. Hope that Miss Fish enjoys them!
In other news, I just finished an online newsletter for my Art classroom - If you'd like to see what my students have been making, you can check it out here.