05.17.13
Art Journal #50
More watercolor, white acrylic and ink
05.09.13
Art Journal #47
Stepping out of my comfort zone… which is, you know, pastels. Although, the watercolors I have don’t lend themselves to hyper-vivid colors.
Easy breezy and fast art journal… progression…
05.06.13
Mermaid Paper Crown
For my final project as an Art Glitter Design team member, I am going to make a Mermaid Paper Crown, similar to the Spring Queen crown I made for my very first project a year ago. Wow, how time flies!!
Here is what I used:
- #358 – Jungle Green – Ultrafine Opaque Glitter
- #232 – Michigan Moss Green – Ultrafine Opaque Glitter
- #46 – Summertree Blue/Green – Ultrafine Opaque Glitter
- #113 – Sky Blue – Ultrafine Opaque Glitter
- #89 – Martini – Ultrafine Transparent Glitter
- #71 – White Gold – Ultrafine Opaque Glitter
- Faux Snow Glitter
- Fantasy Fiber – Mint Sparkle
- Want 2 Scrap – Nestabling pearl frames #4059
- Assorted seashells – all sizes – including 2 small sand dollars and two small starfish – Michael’s sells little boxes of random colored seashells in various sizes and shapes
- Fresh water pearls and loose pearls
- Hot glue gun
- Assorted thick paper
- A few acrylic paint colors – you pick!
- 2 different colors of crepe paper
- Ribbon – I used May Arts BM66 – 3/8″ Blue/Green Reversible Ribbon
- 2 rivets
And I used 3D Embossit Art Glitter Adhesive to give the areas I glittered a little bit of a lift.
The beauty of this “under the sea” themed crown is that it doesn’t have to be perfect or symmetrical. It should have imperfections, have an organic feel to it and don’t plan it out too much. Have fun, make a mess and let loose!
I started with my paper elements first. I traced a crown onto a thick white construction paper and cut that out, and then I quickly free-handed some seaweed “s” shapes and curves and cut those out. All these pieces got a super quick coat of acrylic paint. I used a deep turquoise green and a more avacado green on the seaweed. Use whatever colors you like! Pink, purple… have fun! I then added a crepe paper fringe to the bottom of the crown in green and blue.
I then added the Want2Scrap pearl self-adhesive bling frame to the center of the crown and cut up another frame to use on the sides of the crown. These are so easy to use and will really give this crown a finished look.
More glitter on the seaweed! I used all the green colors on the seaweed to give it lots of color, shimmer, sparkle and texture.
I then glued down the seaweed to the crown and added the fantasy fiber on the base of the crown using a hot glue gun.
Next, I took my seashells and glittered about half of them in random blue and green glitter colors. After these dried, I hot glued them to the bottom of the crown in a loosey-goosey sort of way. I also glued down some fresh water pearls I had laying around and wound them around the shells. I had two sand dollars and those each got a covering of the clear Martini glitter and the starfish got the complimentary white gold glitter. I think that’s my favorite part!
After the shells went down, I added more pearls, some faux snow, the rivets on the ends of the crown and laced through some ribbon. The finished crown was quite heavy, but it looks so fun!
Meg wanted to be a little mer-dog for the afternoon ;)
05.02.13
Hello Bay Area…
It’s kind of like Los Angeles… but… the weather is cooler, there are bridges, trains and trees everywhere, and not just of the palm variety. You can drive to several big cities, distinctive beaches and get any kind of food you want. The produce… is amazing. It feels like the California I grew up in… only… something’s different. So, I’ve been calling it “Bizarro LA”.
We’ve been working on getting all settled… the last 2 months have been a blur. So much driving, so much to do.
Here are some pics from our 6th cross country trip in the last five years and what we found when we got to the end of the line…
My (former) office back in Cary, NC. Meg was hiding out in here on the last day. It was sort of sad since she rarely wants to be away from us. Seeing the house all empty was so strange… handing over the keys to the new owner was even stranger!
Tennessee. Near Knoxville. We got to experience lots of interesting hotel smells on this trip.
Hello snow, we didn’t expect to see you here! Before this blizzard hit, we got to hob-nob with the truckers and discuss alternate snow-routes while at a Flying J truck stop in Amarillo, Texas. I thought these seasoned drivers would use their years of experience, navigational tools, someone’s bum knee that could predict precipitation and guide us through the storm safely. None of that. We were told to “go with our gut”. That’s the big secret. Drive ’til you can’t drive no more, which actually did happen. White out conditions… the road actually “disappeared” as the snow accumulated, and it accumulated very quickly. We landed in Tucumcari, New Mexico. We grabbed some delicious truck-stop Indian food and hunkered down for an early evening while listening to the wind howling outside.
The next day, lucky for us, the only stretch of highway they didn’t close was the 30 miles we needed to be on. But, it was closed in every other direction.
We got up to the Bay Area and rented the first place we saw, which was surreal. We stayed at a hotel in Half Moon Bay and waited to get our keys.
I think that’s Alcatraz off in the distance?
She can smell the hustle and bustle
The bay bridge currently has a light show attached to it
Golden Gate Park
Golden Gate Bridge, take 1
Golden Gate Bridge, take 2
Golden Gate Bridge, take 3
Thought those clouds were curiously nifty
More Half Moon Bay
More Half Moon Bay
We also explored San Francisco, drove up and down some steep-hilled neighborhoods with Meg’s head out the window, poked our nose into Golden Gate Park, approached the Golden Gate Bridge from every angle imaginable and found a few more beaches…
And this… we stopped here. They recently repainted the sign with their new address of “1 Hacker Way”. How fancy.
Down the street from our new home is a silent movie and train museum.
And here is our stuff. If I never see the inside of another Pod again, I’d be a-ok with that!
So… here we are! (Where is that exactly?)
04.29.13
Goodbye North Carolina…
After exactly five years in the Tar Heel state, we decided to move back to California. We’re currently dwelling in the Bay Area, near San Jose, which is pretty fantastic… but boy, do I miss our little cul-de-sac in Cary!
We put our house up for sale last September and after 42 (!!) showings, we found ourselves in a whirlwind of packing, saying goodbye to our amazing friends and driving across the country. Again. This was our 6th time driving across this vast nation of ours and our 4th time moving in five years. Meg the explorer has proven to be the best little travel dog. She has adapted to everything quite smoothly. I, on the other hand, not so good with change apparently.
So, here’s a tribute to NC, in no particular order and mostly featuring Meg…
Meg enjoying the warm Atlantic water at Oak Island
Some beach house sketching at Oak Island & my toes, too
Southport Salt Marsh (NC has a LOT of really cool and looong decks! Something you don’t really see in California)
Southport Victorian home
Our house in Cary being built – this was such an exciting time!
Meg helping me paint the basement after purchasing 14 gallons of paint in 14 different colors
Moving day into our new place! We’ve gotten to know Pods quite well
Manhole covers… quite charming in Cary!
The Elvis Booth at one of our favorite late-night restaurants, Jack Astor’s. (Which went out of business before we left.)
A huge slide at the NC state fair
One of my first attempts at making a Thanksgiving meal
Meg at Wilmington Beach
Meg discovers the joys of chewing on a pine cone at Jordan Lake
Meg then discovers snow and decides that she really likes that, too
Our next door neighbor got 2 puppies… and Meg was smitten
Currituck Beach
A quick day trip to Charlotte
We had a real pumpkin patch less than 10 minutes from our house!
A day trip to Charleston, SC
A few driving trips to Florida to go to Walt Disney World, too! Once during Halloween, which was awesome!
Experiencing our first cicada season
Our first hurricane (this is the flashlight isle at Target 24 hours prior to the hurricane reaching us)
Oh, the sunsets! They were absolutely gorgeous on a regular basis (but especially beautiful before and after a storm!)
Crabtree Lake in the springtime
We fried our first dough… the south inspires you to fry things
Meg in downtown Raleigh with one of those painted cows… it has the state on it!
Meg on the beach in the outer banks, Roanoke Sound
Lots of old churches that are sometimes really spooky. And this one is for sale, you could live in it!
Chapel Hill botanical gardens
We’ll miss you, North Carolina. Thanks for five great years!