dives

my aqueous media final project will be based on these lovelies 

i found in a library book on figure construction 

by alon bement published in the 1920's:

i am excited. stay tuned.

memory

for my aqueous media class (watercolor. but doesn't aqueous media sound fancy and distinguished?)

i was assigned a sketchbook project of 54 small works.

our teacher gave us lots of freedom. with basically one rule: the sketchbook had to have a cohesive concept.

mine is memories.  all of my sketches are blind contour drawings of memories throughout my life.

here are five of my favorites. some of the other ones didn't turn out so well. a lot of them are still unfinished.

they are distorted, funny, sloppy, and i like them.

pugly pixel

awesome free honeycomb pattern download here

lots of other great graphics from pugly pixel

the secret's out

sometimes i wonder if i'm not a better curator than creator.  

but i definitely enjoy creating things, so that is what i mostly do.  

in this case, the design for mine and my husband's 

double graduation announcement was heavily influenced by 3 sources.  

here is the finished product:

i couldn't decide if i wanted the photo in color or b+w. so i did half and half.

a close up of the text:

first of all, and most obviously, i totally copied this layout 

from seesaw's studio opening invite. 

seesaw is a really great "creative studio" complete with 

blog, letterpress, graphic design, vintage etsy shop...

you probably already know about them but if not, go check them out. now. 

 i cropped the corners of my photos with a rounded "corner chomper". 

i got the idea from this christmas card:

source unknown

and then i added a little "class of 2011" card, which was inspired by this:

source unknown

so now you can see what i mean about the curator thing.  i just pulled ideas from other people's creations....and made my own product.  (of course, this was just for personal use). 

but, i am happy with how it turned out.

in other news, i helped my friend design her wedding announcements 

recently as well.  i can't take any credit for the 

photo or the printing that make my work look nicer...

but i did do the announcement design:

(which was inspired by this)

mellowmint

i don't know if i'm just late in the game, or what...but i just discovered mellowmint in the last few months, and it is such an amazing source of free [with credit] graphics and textures.  i think her name is zeldona--whoever she is, she has got interesting, vintage style that i really appreciate.

where i got the stamps on my header.

there are so many things that i love, i just want to gather them together and hoard them.  ha ha.  i don't even know what to do with all the excitement and ideas i get when i look through her gallery.

go look at this very cool resource.  here are some examples from her site of her packages:

 

 

and here are a few quick collages i put together with her downloads, just to show the potential:

there are tons of great map textures....here, for example. i am considering getting one printed large scale to hang in my house.  

 maybe this one, the colors are amazing.

thank you zeldona for such amazing graphics!!

botanicals

i am loving botanical prints in homes these days.  they are the perfect mix of

vintage and current, scientific and feminine.. 

for inspiration, i searched "botanical print" in pinterest. here's some of my favorites:

katie's pinterest via

su's pinterest via

via dominomag

maggie's pinterest via

ellen's pinterest via
one of my favorites

michelle's pinterest via

                                                     

pansyeye's pinterest via -- another favorite of mine          

a while ago, i painted my own botanical print for our bedroom

using watercolor, gesso, and ink. i tea dyed the water color paper before painting for an aged look.

 i think that part was key.

i painted an old thrift store frame and sanded it a bit.  i backed my print just on some muslin.  

i quite like how it turned out.

i have some more botanical projects in mind for my bedroom.. 

so hopefully they show up here soon.

kissing cousins: art and sewing

of course, as a sew-er it's not surprising... 

i love embroidery and sewing in art.  

here are some of my favorite artists that use these techniques:

kate castelli

kate castelli

kate castelli

thomas campbell

jessica bell

merriweathercouncil's etsy shop

lauren dicioccio

mummysam-love her funny narrative labels

makes me want to do more art.

quickie

a quick invitation i made a few months ago...

i would love to do a series on paint can lids.

ps. i am so intrigued by this "happy mail" idea at giverslog

...a paint can lid is 13 oz. or less!