Saturday, September 28, 2019

Art Elements: September 2019 Challenge

September Art Elements Challenge

Wow, it’s been a year since I last used the blog. I always liked using my blog instead of Facebook, I actually held out for quite a while and didn’t get a fb account until years after everyone was using it. Now it seems the lonely challenge left as a blog hop is this one at Art Elements. Don’t take it away from this format, ladies!! I think this is a truer representation of ourselves. Plus, I find people tend to actually comment with sincerity and meaning during a blog hop.

I don’t know why I fell behind with the AE Challenge, I always like seeing the different media that people use as well as jewelry. I need to keep up on these. I can’t wait to see everyones blog and see what they’ve been up to with their past entries. This is one reason I like the blog format... people post real content, not just forwarding memes and funny pictures. Plus, it is much simpler to see what people have been making by going back thru posts, where as fb Groups you can only see that project and to see individual fb posts, for the most part, we must be fb friends.

Do you miss the blog hops?

I am pleasantly surprised at the number of participants of this hop, it seems to me to be one of the larger AE Challenges. Wonder what the attraction was, was it the theme was it the time of year, was it that you too are tired of fb.

What was your motivation to join this month?

I can’t wait to see everyone’s creations! I stuck with my strength and made jewelry.

The first set is made from a kit from Allegory Gallery, the pendant is laser cut by Andrew Thornton and I embellished it with beads wrapped with wire. The earrings were also laser cuts by Andrew Thornton and I used sharpie paint pens to color them. This is my spring set, the colors are bright and green and fresh. I can smell spring when I look at this set!!

The second set has a pendant by Mystic Moon, it is a lovely glass leaf. The colors are hard to see, but it seemed more ‘fallish’ to me. So, for my fall set, I paired it with earrings that I embellished with fall colors from some metallic ink pens I have. There are also polymer clay rounds by Cynthia Thornton that have wonderful fall colors in them. The ceramic rounds are by Golem Studios and they pull together the browns and the greens nicely in the necklace.

The third set is my winter necklace. It represents the evergreens, the deeper richer colors of winter foliage of pines and firs. I don’t know if technically these winter pine and fir needles are considered foliage, but I thought this necklace was a good representation of them. The polymer pendant is by me and was made in a Christy Friesen class using gold leaf on polymer clay. I added the waxed linen to seem like pine needles. The square glass artisan beads right next to the pendant are a mystery to me, so if anyone can identify them, please let me know.


Have fun, hop around and give lots of love!

Here is the blog hop list:
AE Team

Lesley  
Marsha  
Claire  
Jenny  
Niky  

Guests

Dawn  
Hope  
Alison  
Laurie  
Kathy  
Sarajo  
Tammy  
Divya  
Karen  
Alysen  
Mary  
Cat  
Jill  


Tuesday, October 30, 2018

Art Elements: Monthly Challenge

Petroglyphs!

The Monthly Challenge from the lovely ladies at Art Elements Blog.
Check them out Here at their Blog.
About a month ago, I decided to start calligraphy again. I had an old pen and ink that I kept running across when I would clean my craft area. So of course, I had to go and buy more things and I started following You-tubers and bloggers and I generally OVER obsessed about it. What I found however, was a huge following for the new brush pen style writing. So, of course, I had to go and buy more things etc, you get my point. I now need to buy something to store all my pens and markers and tips and books (of course) and THREE different, oh wait, FOUR different pads of paper.  And paper practice sheets! I have already gone through a ream of paper printing practice sheets. My favorite sheets for calligraphy are from ThePostmansKnock  https://thepostmansknock.com/author/lindseybugbee. Lindsey has been blogging since 2012 and teaches online and in person. What I like about her, she puts together fun practice sheets that are more about the strokes and less about the alphabet. Below is some unfinished and finished Halloween practice sheets that she made. You can see, its all about the strokes. I also started using them for my Brush Pen practice as well.



When I signed up for the Art Elements Challenge, I never in a million years thought I would do a calligraphy project! But I found some coloring book papers on line of Petroglyphs
(I KNOW...RIGHT?!?!) and I found some information about Petroglyphs found here in Pennsylvania. Here is the story about the coloring books sheets.
Pat Preble, has been drawing and painting since two years old.
After working for a number of years with the encaustic medium, she decided to look into the images created in encaustic by our ancient ancestors and was fascinated by the highly sophisticated ancient cave art. She decided to try reproducing some of them.
Deborah Harmon, Archeologist, Grant Meister, and artist, sent her more than 100 petroglyph line drawings to use Pat's cave art paintings. The rock drawings started her on the quest to make a rock to paint on and eventually she created the modern cartonnage. She wanted a surface that looked and felt like a rock; a kind of 3-D sculpted canvas. She created a derivative form of Ptolomaic cartonage based on ideas from ancient Egyptian cast paper and sculpting media.
Visit the site she created titled AncientArtMaterials.com which explains these processes of discovery.
Here are the locations of the Petroglyph sites in PA.

Here is a simulation picture of the Little Indian Rock site and accompanying legend.

So, with out futher ado (and before I buy any more supplies) I present you with my 

Petroglyph Calligraphy Practice Sheets!




This is a Blog hop, so be sure to check out what everyone else made!
Art Elements Team:
Lesley Watt: http://www.lesleywatt.com
Jenny Davies-Reazor: https://jdaviesreazor.com
Cathy Spivey Mendola: http://cmendola.blogspot.com
Sue Kennedy: http://www.suebeads.blogspot.com
Caroline Dewison: http://www.blueberribeads.co.uk
Laney Mead: https://laney-mead.blogspot.com/
Marsha Neal Minutella: http://blog.marshanealstudio.com
Claire Fabian: https://saraccino.blogspot.com


Our Guest Artists:
Jill Egan: https://kilnfiredart.wordpress.com
Tammy Adams: http://www.paisleylizard.com/blog/
Alison Herrington: http://AlisonAdorns.blogspot.com
Alysen: http://chicchixnchampagne.blogspot.com
Sarajo Wentling: https://sjdesignsjewelry.blogspot.com
Jenny Kyrlach: http://anafiassa.blogspot.com
CraftyHope: http://CraftyHope.com
Kathy Lindemer: https://bay-moon-design.blogspot.com/


Friday, September 28, 2018


Art Elements Challenge

Fairies



Thanks to Art Elements for hosting this challenge. Here is what Caroline had to say about it "This month is the Fairy or Faerie, also known as Fae, Aos Si, Elves or Yakshas, Yōsei, and Mogwoi and many more. Around the world, each culture has it’s own version of wee folk, spirits connected to nature, some good, some bad and some indifferent. When you think of fairies, you imagine small human type creatures with wings and magical powers, but this is a romanticised version created during the Victorian age."
I wanted my design to be light and airy and etherial.
I wanted to use Green Girl Studio fairies, they make the BEST fairy designs.
That's when I remembered this necklace that Cynthia Thornton made....
See the source image
So I decided I would learn a new skill and learn to crochet. Only I don't own a crochet needle, so I learnt how to finger crochet! Very fun and easy to learn!


I also like to paint Kindness Rocks, so I made a fairy house rock and hid it for someone to find and hopefully love!

I did not make any special purchases for this challenge, I actually had these Green Girl Charms. One is a baby potato fairy (you can't see his wings), one is flying fairy and the dragon which I've been saving for the perfect design!

This is a blog hop, so hop around and spread some love! And join us next month!

Guest Artists
Vic
Divya
Alysen
Kathy 
Tammy 
Hope 
Alison 
Cat 
Sarah 
Art Elements Team
Jen 
Jenny  
Niky 
Laney 
Claire 
Cathy 
Marsha
Caroline 

Monday, August 27, 2018

Swirls

This month’s theme for Art Elements is Swirls!
Check out the Art Elements site for details about the challenge. 

I pulled all my swirly artisan beads out to admire while I decided what to make.  The pieces from my stash are: Andrew Thornton’s copper color polymer clay pendant, Heather Boardman’s two glass odisks, Cynthia Thornton’s metal snake pendant, Sally Sutherland’s etched glass-work tube bead, and the paisley donut bead with the metal swirl hanger is from Priscilla Maraben. The black and white heart bead and the star pendant are from De-stashes and I don’t know the artist. If anyone recognizes them, let me know!

I chose to work with Soul Silver’s etched glass tube bead and HMB’s glass disk. The swirls are so beautifuly subtle in the tube bead, and the swirl is so visible in the disk and I loved that contrast. Looking through my stash, I found this mermaid key from Green Girl, and realized it had ocean waves on it, which are the King Of Swirls! 

This is a blog hop!! Please take a tour of everyone else’s swirl designs for this month!
 Art Elements Team: 
Susan

Art Bead Scene 2018

I haven't been using blogger much this year, 
I've been revealing on Facebook and other blogs like Art Bead Scene Studio
So, I though I'd post all of 2018's ABS Challenges so far this year.

January 2018
February 2018
March 2018
April 2018
June 2018

July and August 2018
Inspired By Reading!

This month's book was Dark Matter by Blake Crouch

One of the excerpts that inspired me regarding The Multi-Verse.
My Multiverse necklace!

My Multiverse is symbolized with the little Thornburg Bead Studio bird in her nest and the infinite number of outcomes which are represented by the Green Girl Studios connector and 
the multi-strands of multi-faceted crystals. 


This next photo is just because this little bird is SOO freaking beautiful, she needs her own photo.

Wednesday, April 25, 2018

Sarajo’s Honey Do Challenge

April 2018 Honey Do Challenge 

I always try to stay true to this challenge and use my stash up for it. Well, I have a bicycle pendant that I was going to use, but then I remembered this bike chain bracelet I had sitting around. I decided this would be the best chance to make a charm bracelet with it. I focused on the bicycle and summer memories. I wanted to evoke feelings of childhood summer fun. Carefree sunny summer days. 

A frog and A dog
A yellow rose and a yellow heart
A rocket ship!
A compass

When I was very young, we had a metal swing set with a sliding board and two swings. Typical swing set from the 70’s, it was fun, it did what it was made to do. But it wasn’t good enough for my dad’s little girls, they needed MORE. So my dad decided to build our very own wooden playset! The little metal toy paled in comparison to the Wooden Jungle Gym that dad build. Kids came from miles around to play on this new conceptual wooded playset (well actually only one kid, my cousin who was also my neighbor). It was a behemoth attraction, it had the obligatory swings, but it boasted a tire swing and a rope ladder and a fireman’s pole...  all the bells and whistles. It even had a look out deck! In order to reach the deck you had to climb up through a secret tunnel from the inside of the playset. That vertical tunnel was dark and cool and quiet. It soon became a rocketship! This rocketship was capable of taking us to the moon or the stars in outerspace or even into town for ice cream cones.

When I was a little older and had out grown sliding boards, I discovered the stream behind our property. This was more like a babbling brook less like a river. I could walk across it. I would walk upstream and down, balancing on rocks so as not to scare the fish and crayfish. I would hunt for tadpole pools and scoop them up into a cup to watch them swim. When it was time to head home, wet and covered in scratches and bug bites, I would sneak the tadpole filled cup in the house so I could raise a family of frogs. I don’t remember ever having to feed full grown frogs, so my plans were probably foiled by mom or dad while I was sleeping.

What are summer memories without the trusty dog in tow. My pal was a big beautiful Golden Retriever named Reno. Reno would follow along no matter the time of day or the weather outside. He was An Adventurer. True to his breed, he was loyal and loving. He was in charge of drying any tears that were shed from cuts or falls because we couldn’t get caught digging where we shouldn’t or climbing what we mustn’t! He was the ringleader and master planner in our foolish and silly games. I can’t wait to see him again at the Rainbow Bridge and we can catch up on all that he missed.

I love my parents with all my heart and soul. I repsect and admire them both in all they do and have done. They raised us right! We have standards and morals and are ethically sound. Their children are fully functioning adults and one is even raising another human! BUT for the life of me, I can’t BELIEVE they just let me wander over hill and dale in the summers of my pre-teen, pre-driving, pre-pubescent years! Did they even know where I was during the summers in the years before jobs and cars and boys? I would have to say, No. How do I know this, because when I inevitably called home and asked them to come get me, the unit on the other end of the line would question, ‘from where?’ I remember specifically these three times. 1) I walked the stream and woods trail for over a mile by myself and ended at our family restaurant. For some reason I thought that the parent that was at the restaurant would be overjoyed to see me and embrace me with loving arms. Nope. I had to call home for the other parent to come get me. 2) My friend and I were out riding bikes. We lived in the county, there wasn’t anywhere to ride except to a little gas station a half mile away. That was the norm, ride to get a candy bar and ride home. Piddling around both ways was also accepted and expected. But riding 3 miles into town by ourselves on a major highway was not. PS- I never owned a bike helmet until I was 20. We called for a ride home, no one knew where we had been. 3) We were, as a family, visiting my Aunt and cousin in town. I decided my cousin and I could walk to a friends house in town. She probably said we should ask permission, but I’m sure I had a good reason not to. Now, this trek was not as Far as the previous adventures nor as Dangerous, but apparently my gig was up and the rents were on to my ways. This time I didn’t have to call for a ride, because they sent the local police out to pick us up. 

Here’s the bracelet you’ve been waiting for...

Art Elements: September 2019 Challenge

September Art Elements Challenge Wow, it’s been a year since I last used the blog. I always liked using my blog instead of Facebook, I act...