Creative Dawn

Hello!  It's been a while since I last posted.  You know, work, life and everything gets in the way sometimes.  For the first time in a very long time I participated in a craft show.  It was so boring and very uneventful.  I made 15.00...BUMMER!  No one was busy unfortunately so we just chatted and checked out each others wares.  Christmas is once again upon us.  Many gifts have been created this season and here is the one for my smart and awesome niece Ashley.  She is a college freshman and still wants my artwork for gifts.  LOVE IT!  While I may not be monetarily blessed, I am blessed with wonderful people in my life which is so much more important.  

Kids are always challenging when it comes to gifts, but I'm lucky because my nieces and nephews like my creations.  About a month or so ago, I emailed one of my nieces and asked what she wanted for Christmas.  She replied that she loves my ink drawings of animals, so that is what I made for her.  By the way she is a senior in high school.  How many teenagers make requests like that? Instead of one drawing I made three for her.  My fave is the owl.  Sometimes as an artist/creative person I am amazed that these things are made by me.  It may sound strange, but there are times when the drawing is finished and I stand back to look at it and say to myself, WOW, did I really do that?  That was the owl for me.   

I am such a slacker!  Now that my posts aren't everyday, I tend to get sidetracked and forget to share my creativity.  So, here finally is the second calendar page, it is similar to a post of note cards from August 7, 2011.  So far the theme seems to be animals for the calendar.  We will have to see what other ideas come about and just follow the inspiration, you never know where it will end up. Since my posts have been few and far between this is a second fun project.  These necklaces were made from a kids knit kit.  (say that three times fast)  I bought three of these kits one for me and the others for two of my nieces.  At my work they were on clearance and cost 1.50 each!  The projects on the box are for cute little creatures so the girls will love them, but the critters are not really my taste.  After a while of 'playing' with the kit, creativity kicked in and these two fun necklaces were made.  T...

Wow!  What a day!  Worked over 10 hours, came home and my husband made dinner, yeah!  Then had to bake cupcakes for my stepson's grad party tomorrow and make a card and work on a few other things.  I am sooo tired now.  Tomorrow, I work at 6 am then come home pack up the truck and head to the party 45 minutes away.  What that means is a soon as we get home, it is bed time for me.  Right now my eyelids are getting heavy.  So, here are the pictures for today.  A card to go with the gift made yesterday and many cupcakes. Sleep tight y'all!

I decided early in the day that today's post would be cards with a new design.  My stockpile has been getting low lately.  Initially the idea was to do a flip flop drawing but it ended up being fish.  First a simple stencil was drawn out and then each one was given a unique pattern.  They turned out cute!  This is a great design because it can be used for men, women or kids and the butterflies and shoes are more feminine.

A few weeks ago at work we marked down some pictures.  They ended up being forty cents each, what a deal!  There were five and I bought all of them.  The frames are really pretty so they are going to stay as is, they will just get new artwork.  Here is the first piece. The design here is something that I've been thinking about for a week or so and finally put pen to paper and drew it out.  It is like a floral design but also reminds me of something from my childhood, a Spirograph.  I would sit for hours and make different 'doodles' with my Spirograph it was so fun!  Maybe that is were my preference for geometric designs started.  After the circular drawing was finished it needed something so it was cut out and put on a bright pink background.  It seems like a basic design but it is complex too.

My head is feeling much better today so here is a normal post.  A former coworker of mine just became a daddy for the first time, it's so exciting!  Of course the gift is a teddy bear but I need a card to go with it.  For two hours tonight I made various designs with baby themes until deciding that this was THE design. The card lent itself to a bib design, my drawing just enhanced it and the scalloped edge made the perfect 'lace.'  After drawing out the bib it seemed to be missing one thing so I cut out the middle and added pink behind it.  It was a definite improvement.  Now all that is left is a trip to the post office to mail it off to the new family.  Congrats G!

Today this is going to be quick.  My head is pounding!  YUCK!  Here is a cool drawing of hearts.  Have a great week. :)

This is a cool drawing of pencils, a design of writing utensils.  You know by now my love of patterns.  I think that there should be a name for the looping style that is in almost every design.  What do you think?  Any suggestions? Here are a few ideas:  Swirling swoops, looped curves, curling flourishes.  Too silly, I know but there needs to be a name for it.  Think about it, let me know.

Oh what a day!  Do you ever have those nights when you are extremely tired but don't end up getting any sleep?  That was last night for me.  I was a bit cranky today and just UGH!  Toss in a few aggravating customers at work and well you know, everyone has had one of those days.  I was so excited to get home and relax and of course I had to vent to my hubby.  It really does help to just let it all out.  Whew, I am so much better now!  So, we put in a funny movie and I started to doodle.  The result was this turtle.  They are fun to draw and paint because of the shell there are so many possibilities for the design.  You can add color and patterns and let your imagination run wild.  Concentrating on drawing all of the swirls helped to get me in a calmer mood and hopefully relax me enough to get some rest tonight.  

I have sewn numerous bears for friends and family so the teddy bear is not a new project, just different fabric.  It was from the bargain table at Hancock Fabrics.  The card, however, is a new design.  My friends are having a little boy and he is due to arrive any day now.  I thought a simple sail boat was the perfect drawing for this card.  The picture is small but I added on some great Beatles lyrics.  The song Golden Slumbers is so sweet and beautiful so I wrote an excerpt from that song on the card.  As you know if you read my blog, I love the Beatles so it is only natural that I added this.  I have also used a John Lennon lyric for cards in the past.  He wrote a song called Beautiful Boy, it is about his son Sean and it is a wonderful song.  I love to give gifts for weddings and new babies that are special and will be a cherished for years to come.  I love to give gifts for weddings and new babies that have a person...

Right now even though there are many ideas in my head, I am having a bit of a block. There are currently seven things that are in the process of being painted and a few craft projects that are in the beginning stages. Maybe there is too much going on.  I know that it will all work out, but right now it is a bit frustrating.  My best bet may be to look through some art books, that always helps with the inspiration.  Big sigh... So, today I am posting my absolute favorite drawing of a butterfly that I have ever done!  It has a bit of Peter Maxx mixed in with my unique style.  I have been searching for a frame that is equally cool for this drawing but have not found it yet. 

I thought that it might be fun to draw nail polish bottles.  The shapes can vary and the possibilities are endless.  I created five different designs and think they are kind of fun.  The pictures are smaller so the addition of the blue mats was necessary.  They will look great displayed over my vanity table once they are framed.  At times when looking at my own work an idea comes to mind, these would be great in a large scale at a beauty salon.  That would be another career idea for me, custom art for businesses.  If anyone is out there, let me know!

I said this in my Easter post as well, for the first time in a long time I am off work today.  It was always a stressful day to work but I do miss the organizing and the creativity that was involved.  The bloody Mary bar was the funnest part to decorate.  Now I may actually see my mom on mother's day WOW!!!  This post was something that I made for my Mother in law.  She loved it so much I had to make one for her mom.  It was inspired by a bargain rack find at Hancock Fabrics.  It is really simple but sometimes it's the small things that mean the most. To all of the mom's and mom's to be out there hope you have a great day!  Kick back, relax and take time for yourselves.

What a dreary day, it's cold, rainy and grey, but the birds outside are chirping like crazy.  If the birds are singing then it makes you want to be cheerful!  Speaking of birds, here is a drawing that I made for my mother in law.  Some people are easy to make things for and she is one of those people.  She likes gardening, cardinals and bird houses.  As you saw in a Christmas post I painted a floral themed chair, here is a bird house drawing that I did for here.  The frame was a second hand store find for less than five dollars and it is one that probably originally cost about $25.00.  This was a fun picture to draw.  Each house has it's own personality.  On occasion there are some drawing that you don't have to redo a gazillion times to get it right, this was one of those times.  It just came together!  

Hooray for Saturday no work!  It's been one of those weeks, I couldn't wait for Friday when it was only Tuesday!  I don't know if I was just drained but my ideas were not springing forth today.  It was a typical day off, laundry, grocery store and the best part was a trip to the thrift store.  I do have a few finds from there so that is exciting.  Once I get the inspiration for those items you can be sure to see some creativity.  So, this is what happens when you can't think of anything else to do.  You trace your hand and then start to doodle.  It started out as I'm bored what can I do.  After trying out a few different ideas this seemed like the best.  

HELLO!!!!  Six months down and six to go!  Whew...I cannot believe what I've accomplished.  Don't worry there are still plenty of ideas bouncing around in my brain.  This weekend I finally get to do a tiny bit of shopping for supplies.  Nothing too crazy just the basics.  I'll probably crank out ten things in two days! Here goes with the second half of my blogging journey.  This card is for my sister in laws birthday this week.  She is such a great person, my brother is lucky to have her.  She is another crafty person and we receive wonderful homemade gifts from her every Christmas.  Our family doesn't do anything for adult birthdays.  It's mostly cards and phone calls, but that's all you really need.  Love from your family is the best gift of all.  So, I am sending this card with my warmest wishes to a terrific lady. 

Ah winter in Minnesota!  We have had a lot of snow this year and this design is snowflake based.  There is a contest that I am entering this week for snowflake design.  You can use any medium that you would like the only requirement is that it be no larger than 12 x 12 for display purposes.  I doodled until I came up with this 'snowflake.'  At this time I don't know if I want to submit the black design or the one that I did in the blue outline.  Both are very unique.  I have to admit after making the first design, I traced it for the second one, but as an artist sometimes you need to do that to get things just right.  If anyone is reading this a comment or two would be helpful in my decision.  The deadline is on Wednesday of this week.  It would be nice to get some kind of recognition for my art other than friends and family telling me how talented I am.  It keeps me going, but sometimes it would be nice to hear it from s...

Long day today and I am tired, so, just a quick entry.  Tomorrow is the baby shower for my wonderful cousin Tammy.  The whole family is excited for her because this has been something that she and her husband have wanted for quite some time.  I posted the bear that is going to be her gift and today I am posting the card that goes with it.  Growing up Tammy and I were very close and this shower is an important event for me.  Babies are such a blessing and I cannot wait to meet my new second cousin!

Who doesn't have empty CD cases laying around.  You lost or damaged the CD, but don't want to throw out the case.  Here is a cool idea.  I took 16 empty cases and duct taped them together.  I cut out yellow paper to fit in the cover of 12 of them and drew pictures for the other four.  Instant art with a unique frame.  I did my own drawings, but you could use photos or put in your kids artwork, anything that you can think of.  I used duct tape to add a hanger in the back for ease in putting it on the wall.  You could also do a smaller version by using only three or four cases and putting them in a straight row to hang vertically or horizontally.  In the future, I might put something to brace the Cd's a bit more, but in general the results are good.  The possibilities are endless with a bit of imagination.