Purple Pony Art by Christine Bennett

Time for Tea

2012-01-27T19:52:00.000-08:00

I missed class and work this week because cold germs finally caught up with me! Blah! I'm just not one to sit around lying on the couch, and neither is Muffin. The idea for a tea cozy made on the Knifty Knitter has been brewing in my mind for some time, so there was no better time to give it a try. Two tries actually. I was shocked when the first one ended up being too short. I guess there's no accounting for the shape of some things. Hopefully the pattern for it will be on my website when I get better. The dummy is sewn for my fibre homework project, but I don't trust my judgement right now to further cut up my husband's sweater :-)

Monday This and Monday That

2012-01-23T19:18:00.000-08:00

I'm finding the pace of this semester to be pretty leisurely. There are a lot of readings in my English class, but that's OK, because I love reading. It seems like I haven't had time to read in the past five or so months. We're reading mostly short stories, but have three novels to go through. The dummy for my stuffed animal is sewn and I'm going to take apart the sweater tonight. It's due February 9th and I'm just enjoying using my sewing machine to piece things together. I should haul it out more! One of my classmates was smart and is converting a pair of boy's lederhosen that she found at a garage sale into a purse, so she's practically done. It's surprising how heavy it was! I splurged on a $25 beef roast and we had it for dinner last night. Tonight I made a beef casserole with mushroom soup and spiral noodles for dinner. There's still lots of beef left, but it's in the freezer now lest we get tired of beef pretty fast. Ah! Cooking is another thing I sorely missed. It seems nice to just do normal people stuff! The Crafter's Devotional is coming along pretty good. I have been able to do most things, such as "Make something from old photos" (I finally got our wedding photos into an album), looked up Greek and Polish folklore and reflected on why I made art. This book is such a winner! Oh, and I also decorated a sketchbook with leftover cardstock:

First Fibre Project!

2012-01-19T20:46:00.001-08:00

Today was really fun. After a brief meeting, I headed to Fabricland to buy supplies for the first homework project in my fibre class.

We have to take a garment and transform it into something new. After much negotiating, my husband gave me one of his old sweaters. He looooves his sweaters and once he found out I would be cutting one up, my selection dwindled :) I'm going to be making a stuffed animal out of the sweater. Stay tuned!!

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Happy New Year!

2012-01-01T12:37:00.000-08:00

The first day of 2012 is a bright and sunny one here. Most people would probably not guess it, but Calgary is one of the sunniest places in Canada with an average of 333 sunny days a year. We spent New Year's Eve with friends watching movies and playing games, and a birthday dinner for my mom. Yup, she narrowly missed out being a New Year's baby! I imagine that many people are eagerly beginning new Painting/Drawing/Whatever A Day today. I tried to do this once and I don't think I got past February. I'm not sure how successful I'll be either as I go back to school next week. But I'm going to give it a good try with a book I bought a couple of years ago called The Crafter's Devotional by Barbara R. Call. It's a bumper book of 365 creative ideas that are coded in different ways such as Monday-Sunday, 1-365 and by category such as ideas, journalling and collaborating. In fact day #1 is journalling. I do keep a paper journal, but I often prefer the online ones. I buy cute little notebooks and then usually they get misplaced around the house :-D Maybe I'm just an idea squirrel at heart. Sometimes I find half-filled journals from when I was younger and it makes me glad the Internet wasn't around back then. We don't really get a feel for how we grow and change. Don't rely on your memory either, because even after five years things can get fuzzy. I was only laid off a year ago and have trouble remembering the name of some co-workers.

The activities are pretty free-form and a variety of genres and techniques are represented, which must have been hard to do. Beads, wire, collage, stamping and mark making are just some of the things to be explored. Sometimes it's easier to just have an "assignment" to try instead of thinking up something on your own. The inclusion of personal and family history was interesting to me because I took several unsuccessful stabs at genealogy a long time ago. This book will definitely keep crafty types busy all year long!

Craft Time with Muffin!

2011-12-30T13:58:00.001-08:00

At this rate, he needs his own craft box!

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Christmas is for silly gifts...

2011-12-22T19:07:00.000-08:00

My husband is the King of Small Appliances. Honest. From juicers to panini presses, small appliances fill up my kitchen. Every time he brings home a new one I try to find room for it. Usually the appeal of the new toy wears off pretty fast, but sometimes not. Last year I received a Breville Milk Frother as a belated gift. A milk frother, eh? This is a product photo:

I didn't think much of the frother at first, but then he made me the most delicious hot chocolate ever! It heats up milk to your desired temperature and once it gets going, you can add hot chocolate or other ingredients to it. Plus the lid is designed to give your nice hot drink a frothy foamy layer. I was impressed! No more nuking milk in the microwave and trying to guess when it's done! For a one trick pony appliance it sure has a permanent place on the counter!

School's Out

2011-12-18T10:49:00.000-08:00

And boy, am I glad! I have not really enjoyed this past semester at all. One of the dangers of art school is that it can beat the creativity out of you, and I really feel that way. Last night I was organized some of my lovely patterned papers and just couldn't seem to find that spark. In the the box of paper I found a colour copy of an illustration that I did for a friend years ago and it made me smile. Part of the wonder of it was that I was making it for a friend, and that the idea came so easily.

I'm suffering from a strange sort of confusion. I'm not sure what I really learned in the last four months. The last two projects in drawing did not go well. Same with the final weaving project. I was happy with the piece, which I will share in another post, but that my teacher wasn't bothered me. I was trying a new technique out and instead of a finished piece, the weaving was more like a sampler or a sketch for another project. The potential in it that I saw kind of died away. Building skill is one thing, but retaining the thing that you want to use that skill for is quite another.

My Colour Wheel

2011-12-09T15:34:00.001-08:00

Weaving is not quite over yet, although drawing is thankfully. In mid-November we spent a day dying wool with acid dyes. Each student had to make enough samples of one colour series for the whole class. I ended up getting black, which turned out more purple gray! At least I could tell that there was light, medium and dark!

We could organize our samples any way we liked. Mackenzie jokingly said he would be disappointed if anyone made theirs into a unicorn. How could I not? :)

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Oh, Twilight!

2011-11-22T05:41:00.000-08:00

I saw the first part of Breaking Dawn last night with some friends and I must say, I have never laughed so hard in a movie before. I absolutely couldn't help myself. You know that one person that spoils a movie for serious fans with all their laughter? Unfortunately that person was me!

I am not a huge Twilight fan. I read the books because my friends had done so, and even those I found hilariously bad. It's kind of sad, because there were lots of good ideas there, and even a great story, but it was consistently buried by long romantic stares and constant whinging between Edward and Jacob. In the books I loved Edward, but in the movies I'm squarely in the Jacob camp. Taylor Lautner brings a real sensitivity to the character, whereas I don't think Robert Pattison does much for Edward at all.

Sure, there were intentionally funny parts, such as the wedding speeches, but others that were so unintentionally funny I'm amazed that the actors could play them with a straight face. The birth scene was not as bad as I expected and I'm glad a lot of the book filler was left right out. Can't wait for part 2!

Whew, winner!

2011-11-13T18:38:00.000-08:00

Oh man, it has been forever since I could sit down and blog. School has been c-r-a-z-y with several projects due at the same time. I also had to put in extra time for the second weaving project. Oh, how it went badly! I had to re-thread the loom four times!

I used the always nifty Random.org to pick Ayala Art. She is also a Libra and an ACEtsy team member :-)

Congrats! I indeed went to Las Vegas back in September. It seems like so long ago! I'm hoping that I will have a chance to take some photos of all the Art O Mat pieces. Maybe I'll get done that by Christmas :-D

Speaking of Christmas, I have already done two Christmas craft sales. I was at the Fort Calgary Artisan Fair with Bubblegum Sass and then Mom and I were at a community craft sale as well. I love November because it's the only time I get to meet and greet with customers in person. Unfortunately I have had to cut back because of school and work, so I just have two more left to do!

September/October Blog Contest

2011-10-15T07:03:00.000-07:00

Hi guys! I miss blogging. I actually miss having free time as well. Even though I'm taking two classes this semester, they proved to be the most time consuming. I have been spending just about every weekend at the college.

But I have also been taking the time out to have fun - I went to a fabulous mystery destination. Guess where I went in the comments and I will pick a winner from the correct entries on October 31 at 6pm MTN. The prize? A fun piece of miniature art from an Art O Mat. Here are some clues:

1. It's very warm
2. The only American Droog store is there
3. I saw the giant Claes Oldenberg sculpture pictured below
4. I also saw a very famous glass ceiling in a hotel pictured below

Happy birthday to meee!

2011-10-04T06:14:00.001-07:00

I got back from vacation just in time to do a drawing marathon for today's class. I went on a road trip with my friends and it was such an adventure! The one thing I love about shopping in the US is all the stores we don't have, and I found my birthday gift to myself at Jo-Ann's. Jo-Ann's makes Michael's look pretty small! I found this Martha Stewart make your own knitting loom kit and I can't wait to try making something on it!

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100 Drawings

2011-09-29T20:09:00.001-07:00

Here is roughly about 90 of my 100 drawings. Each had a three minute time limit and it was a challenge to go with the flow of the ink and brush.

The whole room was covered in drawings and it was really amazing to see!

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Second Drawing Project...

2011-09-27T20:59:00.001-07:00

So after making 100 drawings, we had to pick 10 and render them with fine pens. Muffin was a natural fave! I will upload the picture of all the drawings pinned to the wall soon. I'm actually on vacation but am getting some work done. Will be writing about that soon too!

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Off the loom!

2011-09-20T06:50:00.001-07:00

Now to wash and finish it.

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100!

2011-09-17T07:39:00.001-07:00

Whew! I finished my 100th drawing this morning. We had to use 12x12" paper so we wouldn't get hung up on portrait or landscape orientation. Ink and brush meant not worrying about perfection because they are so uncontrollable.

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More progress..

2011-09-15T19:03:00.001-07:00

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100 3 Minute Drawings

2011-09-13T10:11:00.001-07:00

That is what we are doing today. This is one of them inspired by Stacy

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Progress!

2011-09-12T14:00:00.001-07:00

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Summery September

2011-09-11T18:32:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was amazingly long and exhausting, but it was also a celebration of a new milestone in my life - I'm a driver!

In 2005, I finally took some driving lessons through AMA, bought an old station wagon and then sat on my learner's until this summer. I really didn't think I could master driving or enjoy driving, but my friends Lisa Redfern and Calgary Wolf put in the extra time to help me out. There were also a lot of other people who were committed to my success and I'm so thankful to them. I passed my road test on August 27 and have been hitting the road ever since. Now I don't need to rely on my husband or my dad for rides and I think they're a bit relieved. No more getting up early to be at craft sales!

Mom spent Friday night at our house and then it was off to the Harvest Hills Alliance Church to line up for a registration spot. Years ago, someone set a precedent for lining up around 4am, and at 5:30am, we were 35 and 36 in line. We got a spot that we liked and well, I just think the church ladies are so awesome and patient! Looking forward to this sale in December.

We loaded up my station wagon, Remington, the previous night and once we paid for our tables, boogied on over to the University of Calgary for ParkSale, which was a nice venue for live music and handmade goods. It has been unusually hot this September, and while sales weren't great, I hung out all day with Bubblegum Sass who I used to work with. Here's a picture of her side of the tent. Cards plus wind are not a good combination, so most of my stuff was bunched up and weighed down.

Still threading the loom...

2011-09-07T16:56:00.001-07:00

My drawing class got out early on Tuesday, so I went to finish dressing my loom. This is where I got 5 hours later. It's hard to thread because each one has to go through each heddle in the correct order. It's also physically demanding because of all the reaching and bending.

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An ACEO from Angelself

2011-09-04T08:00:00.000-07:00

Lucky blog contest winner Kathryn posted a cute photo of the magnet she won and I remembered that I had promised to blog about an ACEO I bought from her this past spring. It seems like forever ago, but I would not want to break a promise :-)

This was the fastest Etsy transaction ever made after I read about it on the ACETSY Yahoo!Group. Not only do I love it because it's purple, but the adorable girl and bird reminded me of myself and my dear budgie Moxie who passed away two years ago. As someone who is also owned by parrots, Kathryn really gets birds! Thank you Kathryn for creating this ACEO!

Dressing the Loom

2011-09-02T16:41:00.001-07:00

Don't ask me how long it took to thread 24 threads!!

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Back to school!

2011-09-01T15:50:00.001-07:00

This is the loom I will be using all semester :)

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August Contest!

2011-08-25T20:27:00.000-07:00

Oh my gosh, I can't believe it's almost time to go back to school! For me that happens September 1st.

August's contest is really quick and easy! The prize will be a copy of my 2012 printable mini calendar, which is for sale on Artfire as a PDF. All you need is a Marvy Uchida square punch or an X-acto knife and a steady hand, and you'll have mini calendars to stick on anything and everything.

All you have to do is leave a comment below and answer these question:

How likely are you to purchase digital downloads in the future? How much would you pay for one on average?

That's all!