i guess i don't sketch

You know, it's true- as much as I'd like to sketch my ideas out, I'm just too impatient. It's faster to dive in and figure it out and see it than it is to sketch, plot, think, make a plan and then do it right. I know the latter is the better way, but it jsut isn't as fun. Or as satisfying. Sometimes I go back to sketching, and I probably will for this little project.

I don't know what even got me on this brainwave, but something about the empty white cheddar cheezits box folded flat just screamed "cut out a shape over this fold here and stitch it almost closed and slap it on a key ring, dammit!"

And you know what, I love this key ring thing! And of course now I want to make 843 of them- leaves, more houses, some should be painted, some should have maps on them, others should be fabric! Some should just say home. Or maybe 'mine'.

Perhaps I should grab a piece of paper, now...

Does anyone else busy themselves with such silly things? Like cardboard key baubles that no one will ever use? Eva is right, of course- it is no matter what you are making, silly or not so pretty, so long as your hands are happy. And indeed, my hands are happy.

xoxo, Annie

something simple

Hi !
I remember my first crafty projects - at the age of 10 something...They were big and colorful and quite advanced...in my mind! They didn`t turn out not like I dreamed though. But the fantasy was flowing, so vivid and real that I just kept going.
When I started to create again as grown-up, my first projects were quite opposite - small, simple and in very modest color choice. Yet I found the same thrive as in childhood! I felt pure joy just sitting on the couch with my fabric scraps and pins. It really means a lot to me - being to make something out of nothing, creating beautiful things and my joy is even bigger when these things turn out to be practical too! It does n`t matter if they are most beautiful things that I have ever seen.. It`s enough to know - I made it!
I hope that you too find simple joy in creating something. May it be small or something totally useless, made just for having nice things around you, or made only because you love the feel at your fingertips when you touch interesting fabric or paper. These things carry a little piece of you in them and maybe, just maybe from the best part of YOU!

The picture above show the work from my "beginner" phase. I wanted to make my son`s shirt a bit more interesting , so I chose little birds. I did n`t want them to turn out too girlie though so I took gray fabric ( old t-shirt) and stitched it with blue and green thread.
It makes me smile when I see him wearing it - without question its my favorite shirt now!

You know what town I love? Salt Lake City. Just came back from a mini-trip, and I like it even more than I did the last time I was there. Oh- get this- they have an Ikea! Brand spanking new, happened to be the grand opening. I do love me a little Ikea...

Went here and bought a very cool old mirror (sans frame, with the silver chipping off) and some old flash cards (can't wait to show you what I'm doing with those!) for Miss Lovely's room. Also went to Liberty Park and checked out the aviary- I don't mean to be a bird dork, but I have to tell you... I loved that aviary. There were peacocks strutting all over the place, and they were tame enough that a little boy was stroking one's feathers. If I knew where my camera was (still not completely unpacked, eek), I'd be posting all 83 pics I took of the peacocks. It was ridiculous!

But here now is my sketchy item. I was planning on making an alpahbet quilt with sketchy patches for a friend's baby shower, but the ink is bleeding a bit more than I think is cool on the fabric. So now I regroup and figure out an alternate design for the quilt. Did I mention that the shower is on Sunday? Yup, just like me. So out the window go these fun letters... but I'm thinking about turning them into a book for Miss Lovely. We'll see.

Have a great holiday weekend!!! Get setchy and do a little posting, would ya? :)

xoxo

Annie

My next project

I have been wanting to try my hand at screen printing for a very long time and now that I am going to have some more free time this summer I am thinking it's about time to give it a go. It's seems hard and intimidating!

I am mainly inspired by Peach Berserk. Oh how I wish-o-wish I could go to Canada and take the silk screening class in person, but I am going to have to settle with the instructional DVD I purchased from them about two years ago and has just been sitting around gathering dust.

So! my first project is going to be a tablecloth for my dining room table. I sat down one day and sketched up an idea:

If you can read my chicken scratches is a picnic scene where a dog has stolen a turkey leg and is being chased by the picnickers. Some people are just standing around watching the mayhem. I also thought it would be cute to make some matching napkins.

I know little about silk screening, but I know that I am not going to want to get too detailed and intricate with thin lined and colors so I am thinking it will be an ivory linen fabric with red lines. If I am feeling super fancy I may add another color like a mustard yellow or something. At any rate, I decided to get sketching the players of my picnic scene. Here is the dog:
This is my first mother, I am not sure if I like her or not. Next to her is an innocent bystander:
Here is the Mother version 2. I am thinking I am liking a younger looking mom, not so dowdy.

Once I get everyone sketched, I am going to take them into Illustrator and redraw them to get thicker lines that will (hopefully) print well.

I think I am going to start with this screen printing kit from Dharma Trading, and I will probably get my linen there as well. I am pretty excited to start. And a little scared. Anyone ever tried screen printing before? Got any advice?

"- Where is Estonia? - Who cares?! "

(That was a line in some advertising spot in early 90`s.)

Well, I do and probably there are more people who are interested now.
I´m pretty bad in "official" text, meaning - lots of facts about given issue.
Therefore I´m going to "loan" someone else`s words.

With an area of 45 000 sq. km, Estonia is larger for example than Holland, Denmark
or Switzerland; a little smaller, in other words, than New Hampshire and Massachusetts combined. Estonia stretches 350 km from east to west and 240 km from north to south.
Conversely, Estonia's population ranks amongst the smallest in the world:
an estimated 1 361 242 people live in Estonia — a density of only 30.2 people per sq. km.

Estonia, on the coast of the Baltic Sea, is at the same latitude in Europe as central Sweden
and the northern tip of Scotland. In North America, the middle latitude of Estonia
passes through the Labrador peninsula and southern coast of Alaska. However, due to the influence of the Atlantic Ocean and Gulf Stream, the weather in Estonia is considerably milder.

Some useless funny stuff, just to help you to figure out who is Estonian :)

What do the Estonian names mean?

Eha Kaja Laine Leelo Tuuli Õie Kalju Koit Lembit Meelis

- dusk - echo - wave - folk song refrain, singsong - wind - blossom - rock - dawn - beloved - agreeable, pleasant

Some Estonian proverbs:

- Beauty does not fill your tummy.
- Make fun of the man, not of his hat.
- You shall have as good as you bring.
- Man is after money, but money is after his soul.
- Don't put off today's work till tomorrow.
- The mouth is the interpreter for the heart.
- Where there's work, there's bread.

What Estonians compare things with:

- As moody as the April weather.
- As big as a horse.
- As cold as a wolf's stable.
- As fierce as the juniper's flames.
- As unexpected as a bang from the broom handle.
- As fitting as a saddle on a pig.
- To sleep like a sack.

The Cunning Keeper of a Threshing Barn

The nature of a nation is revealed in its fairy tales. They document truths and store them in crystallized form for centuries. Let us have a look at Estonian fairy tales, which nearly always have a barn-keeper and a shrewd man called Ants. We do not find brave noble heroes fighting dragons and liberating imprisoned princesses from castle towers. There are no kings and powerful wizards, beautiful elves, or legends about everlasting love. The heroes are neither rich nor famous, and will never become king. Nor are they knights swinging their battle-axes on a battlefield. In fact, they never commit heroic deeds. Moreover, they hardly bother to leave their homes! They sit by the fire, puffing at their pipe or lie down somewhere with their toes pointing towards the sunshine. They can be chums with both the Creator and Satan. Sometimes they meet Old Nick or some other evil spirit, but they do not reach for their sword or cross. Instead, they have a nice little chat together, but there's always an ulterior motive. They may even enter the service of Lucifer himself, to do nothing particularly useful. Quietly, however, they'll pinch their master's things, and rip off their superior at the first opportunity. They are also familiar with all kinds of witchcraft, and use it for the sole purpose of amassing wealth and fortune for themselves. To that end, they may conjure forth treasure-bringing goblins, or turn into a whirlwind in the shape of a fly that crawls out of someone's nose; or charge off in a trough to a neighbor's barn for grain. After walking around a grey stone they may turn into werewolves. Once in a while, an enraged neighbor or landlord appears as a whirlwind, to claim the hero's treasure instead! But not to worry - the barn-keeper knows a remedy for that too - he hits the greedy intruder with a mountain ash branch and cripples him. And life goes on. Finally, the Prince of Darkness or the Grim Reaper comes to claim his soul. He asks the visitor to take a seat on a tar-covered bench, or pours some hot pitch down his throat. The enemy flees while the barn-keeper or Ants sit in front of the fire and puffing on a pipe as if nothing had happened. For ever after. These fairy tales portray Estonians as a cunning thicket of alders under the high and mighty timber forest. They're not afraid of either storms or an ax; they are here to stay.

And now it`s time for you to come visit Tallinn right here!

Rubio's

Ok, again- not at all sketchy- but it is FINALLY feeling like spring, practically summer even! And you know what that puts me in the mood for? Fish tacos from Rubio's- I was addicted when I lived in San Diego- I am jonesing bad!

Remember all those cute bright fabrics I posted a while back? Yeah- I need a kick in the pants on that project. Miss Lovely is still without curtains and a bumper for the crib-ola.

Does this happen to any of you? Start, stop & languish, I mean, with projects?

At least the fabrics look pretty on my table!

Happy Mothers Day weekend everyone!

Today was my weekly art task for our church, I have told you before that I volunteered to do cover art for my church's weekly bulletin, so today, I was inspired by "Mother", rather than the normal route I take. (which is read the coming Sunday's scriptures and do something accordingly) I love Native American Storytellers. http://www.collectorsguide.com/fa/fa014.shtml

Tom gave me one for a special day, along with a book about their history, recent - started in the 50's, but the image is just engaging, and resonates with my feelings about motherhood, (I am not one, except to our bunny girl, but know many mothers intimately!) Mother Earth, the universe and God. So I did an illustration that was my interpretation of these potteries.

Isn't she cute and happy?

I also met my girlfriend's and our blog's challenge and painted today. I painted the trillium flower from my wooded hill right up behind my studio, in a watercolor, and e-mailed it to Annie for her to use as the banner. For a 30 minute nature study intensive, I think it turned out pretty good, though (if you must know) I intentionally ignored the stamen and pistol parts!

Have a great weekend all

how 'bout a little help?

i've been goofing around with a little lino cutting, and... well, see how its not going so well? i bought little cutters, the blocks, and some very permanent black ink, which i am too afraid to try. cause its, you know, permanent.

i've been thinning out acrylic & swiping it onto the blocks, and i really like how you can see brush strokes with this 'technique'... but any suggestions for me for getting more even color? and of course i decided it would be really fantastic to try and figure all this out for the mothers day cards i'm making that have to go in the mail tomorrow.

i don't think i've ever done any printing at all in any form in school- am realizing, though, that specifics of classes 10 years ago (egads) are... gone. *sigh*

i love this lino thing- i loved carving when i used to be a furniture girl (though i sure hated carving for a long time). this is bringing back memories of when i used to be cool and listened to soul coughing and the squirrel nut zippers over and over and over in the studio...

Hi, my name is Eva

I´m new here and I consider myself as an amateur amongst you guys... Ahh, a rookie!
But I try to give my very best.

I guess, when you meet someone first time, you will ask - where do you come from? And we answer - from there and there or even from there!
So I`m gonna answer you politely - I come from my parents. And my grandparents. And grandgrandparents.... I have history, I belong to somewhere! My love to create, my preferences, my memories to what I turn back now and then - these all have beginning. I do have roots. Roots, that give me the feel of belonging somewhere. I know, where I begun. There is a source of ME. Geographically, mentally and culturally. It`s comforting to feel that your soul has a home :)
My grandmother has been crafter for all her life. She is 82 years old now and still crocheting and knitting. She used to do lot more - sew, embroider etc, but her eyes are too weak now. And she says that she doesn`t need any new dresses - she has a whole closet full of them! (I have seen it, it`s true! :) ).
The pictures above show details of a plaid, what my grandmother crocheted 2 years ago.When I look at these squares I´m surprised about her great sense of color. I would never come up to put those together, but she did and the result is amazing! Those subtle, soft colors, even boring, but together here, they create harmony.
I like to think that there is something in me from her. A corner of my heart that comes from her, a gift that will last as long as I . . . Thank You!

PS I will show you my geographical home some other time, yes?

fair trade fashion

how cool is this?! fair trade apparel. i think i need a pair of no sweat sneeks.... and probably an organic tee or two. not sketchy, but so worthwile i just have to share!

http://www.nosweatapparel.com/index.html

via carlene.

-annie

annie who?

Ahem, yes, well then. I'm back.

Sorry for the long silence- a bit ridiculous, I know. We were gone for several weeks, came home sick... and Miss Lovely has her first tooth!

Here is a pattern I picked up while on our trip, along with 2 fabrics and Chicken Boy's paws. He isn't feeling so hot (a little surgery is coming up on Monday, poor baby), so he is shadowing me all over the place. Tripping over 95 pounds isn't fun... silly old boy. I love him.

The dress will be whipped up for the wedding season- plan on doing the sleeveless/long length version. Haven't followed a pattern in years, so this oughtta be interesting. Went with a creamy butter but not quite yellow linen- 5 yards is h-e-a-v-y! The numbers are for something for Miss Lovely, don't know what yet. Maybe a smock of some kind? Oh, am hoping that there will be enough linen left over to make a little dress for her too, since she will also be attending nuptials this season. I cannot BELIEVE I am dorking out like this, thinking of making her a dress out of the same fabric as mine to be worn to the same parties. I have grown old and sappy! Next thing you know I'll be insisting on having mother daughter portaits done every year at Olan Mills. (nooooooo!)

Nothing sketchy on my mind today.

Kelli? Anything you would like to chat about? Hmmmmmmmm??? How 'bout that needle sketch? Pretty please put a picture of it up, even if it is unfinished! And what is happening with Book? Did I tell you I got an email from Mr. Oliver Jeffers himself?!?!

Erica- re:sketchbooks, I use 8.5x11 paper and cardstock exclusively now. Can't bring myself to mess up a perfect new sketchbook, and I have too many 1/2 finished books- they make me sick to my stomach with guilt. Instead of binding my pages at the Kink, I just have a bunch of black 3-ring binders that they get 'filed' in. Note that I use the term file veeerry, very loosely.

Nic- I am so jealous of your friend. I wish it was the old days when you & I were taking tea at Burdick's. And you have some packages heading your way, my dear, with prizes inside...

Leslie- Loved seeing your first post- want to see what you've been looking at lately. Tell us about the new digs, too!

Jill?! I see in your new blog on your revamped site that you are off to NY- lucky girl! Please pop in when you have a chance and share the highlights of the stationery show. And hooray that Joy is joining you! I'm a faithful lurker of her blog. Tell her congrats from sketchy :)

Well, Spring must have sprung, this Blog is quiet! My digital camera is in a funk, so not very reliable but I still have my scanner and I HAVE PLANS!

Two days ago I went to coffee at Burdick's with my girl friend. Annie you know Burdick's very well. She is a studying painter and getting very good. She is in a group, 6 women large, and they exhibited their art at the restaurant. The walls were full of their art. I wanted to have coffee there with her and see her pieces and then, inspire each other. Well, she was very good at inspiring me! She has been challenging me to get my easel out of my closet for months. (It is actually Tom's that Igave him for Christmas or something years ago, that he never even set up) So I brought it to the loft in my studio and it is partially set up. The back leg is confusing me...can't quite figure it out.

As we were sharing ideas...You know Annie this is just why you started Sketchy Artists...she said something that shook the cobwebs in my brain to remember something I had previously thought about and pushed aside. I had thought a couple of years ago that I would paint, small pieces of art, postcard to 8"x10" pieces, and sell them on my web site $75.00-$200.00 prices, unframed. Heck I have a web site already set up and a mailing list of over 2000 admirers, and an in-stock page for my fiber art, but why not add an art gallery page where I can create small paintings and mixed media pieces and post them there to sell! So I am going to begin by painting a Trillium growing on my hill. The Pulminaria, Myrtle and Daffodils are blooming, and the tulips are next. So I will take out my water colors and acrylics and paint small "Snap Shots" from my garden. I will scan and post them as I start getting a few.

I have also asked her to ask me to join her doing plein air painting when she goes out.

Wish me luck girls!