The Matchbook

Recipe: Pumpkin Pie Oatmeal

2009-11-23T22:30:00.001-08:00

Oatmeal is my favorite winter breakfast food and pumpkin pie is one of my all-time favorite desserts. This recipe brings them both together in a completely yummy and wonderful way, with a texture almost like really good bread pudding. I love it warm from the oven and topped with baked apples. And it's low on the sugar and the butter, and high in fiber, so I like to pretend it's super healthy, too!

Ingredients

Dry:
2 cups regular, not quick, oats
5 tablespoons brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
Pumpkin pie spice

Wet:
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 can pumpkin puree
1 and 1/2 cups milk or soy milk
4 teaspoons butter, melted

Topping:
1/2 cup pecans
4 teaspoons butter
2 tablespoons brown sugar

To Make

Preheat oven to 375 degrees
Mix dry ingredients
Mix wet ingredients
Pour wet ingredients into dry and mix
Pour into greased 9 x 12 pan. Bake for 10 minutes.
While it's baking, mix the topping together ingredients together and melt in the microwave. After the 10 minutes is up, add the topping. (You can also just leave it on the side)
Bake another 7 minutes with the topping.

For an extra treat, slice up 4 or 5 granny smith apples, mix them with some brown sugar and cinnamon, top with a little butter and pop them them in the oven at 375 until they're tender. Served on top of the pumpkin pie oatmeal, it's amazing!

Credit where credit is due: This recipe is my reinterpretation of a recipe I found over here at Katie Goodman's site Goodlife Eats . . . http://www.goodlifeeats.com/2009/09/pumpkin-pie-oatmeal.html . . . If you like it be sure to pop over and give Katie Goodman some love!

The Last Free Knittn' Kitten Project: It's all about the Doilies

2009-11-11T11:58:00.000-08:00

I wish I could crochet.

But I can't. I've tried to learn, and someday, I will, but it's just not happening right now.

I did get this amazing book by Linda Permann called Crochet Adorned - which is just chock full of the most amazing ways to incorporate crochet into pre-made garments as embellishments - and by following her instructions - which are very good - I managed to do a chain stitch. And I started trying to crochet into it. That pitiful little chain has sat ignored now for at least two months.

What happened next is that I picked up Generation T: Beyond Fashion by Megan Nicolay after a trip to the Knittn' Kitten (Portland's own crafty thrift store - I go on about it in depth here) and had an incredible brainstorm - a way to make myself a scarf that incorporated crochet - totally recycled, and without crocheting a stitch myself!

Doilies my friend, the answer is doilies.

And the result is this nifty doily scarf made from crocheted doilies from the Knittn' Kitten and a bunch of old t-shirts.

And yes, you can learn how to make it by dropping by the Knittn' Kitten and picking up the free project sheet - and while you're there, you can buy a few doilies or other other lacy tidbits and maybe some knit fabric at incredibly low prices. Ethel, one of the owners, showed me some knit velvet and velours that I think would work very nicely for this project . . .

Of course, the project sheet has a few bonuses - 'cause, well, doilies are just utterly inspirational. See, you can use them as stencils. . .

How could I resist?

And, if you missed the other free project sheets available at your favorite local crafty thrift store, it's not too late! I was in the other day picking up a few things . . . and found project sheets for all the projects to date (I picked up Sister Diane's tea towel pattern) - as well as some nifty beads and baubles:

For those of you who are just dying for all seven of the amazing Knittn' Kitten tutorials from such local luminaries as Heather Mann of DollarStoreCrafts, Teresa Sullivan, Diane Gilleland of CraftyPod, Joey Groendes, Christine Blystone, Susan Beal, Lee Meredith, and well, me, but don't live in town - you're in luck! Towards the end of November, all of these projects will be available as an e-Book from Sister Diane.

Or, if you're in a hurry for the crafty goodness, check out the e-Book Crafty Tree Trimmings - it's another collaborative of crafty instructions benefiting a good cause - 15% of sales go to Project Linus!

More fun with Plastic . . .

2009-11-05T22:20:00.000-08:00

Once again, I'm throwing myself out there and making more stuff out of reclaimed plastic. I joined up with the latest episode of Leave No Plastic Behind's art challenge, and have been saving large swathes of the plastics I consume . . . plastic bags, plastic bottle caps, bags from frozen foods, straws, lids, clamshells, candy wrappers, tub lids . . . fact is, I produce a lot more plastic than I ever thought I did.

The challenge, of course, is two-fold: one, to make art from the plastics and two, to change your habits so you don't use as much plastic. Let's just say I'm doing really well on the first, and struggling with the second . . .

I found this great tutorial on Etsy for fusing plastic bags. I had plastic bags from my trip to Mexico last year, from frozen veggies, from the Food Day newspaper that gets delivered whether I want it or not . . . So I fused them (with good ventilation, of course) and created squares . . . which I stitched up into this cool quilt square!

Of course, I'm still working with my first love in the world of reclaimed plastics, plastic bottle caps. I made another chandelier, this one for Tribute Gallery in NW Portland:

And, thanks to some friends, I've discovered more artists and creative folks out there making great stuff out of reclaimed plastics . . .

This amazing image of a curtain made of plastic bottlecaps was sent to me by Alea over at Bonewerx - to see more, check out the Dutch wiki the images came from!

And then there's this installation at Rice University by Aurora Robson (photo by Nash Baker) called "The Great Indoors" made entirely of reclaimed plastics . . .those dark curly lines? All bottlecaps!!

Dia de los Muertos: Eye Candy and Sugar Skulls

2009-11-02T22:48:00.000-08:00

A little eye candy from my Day of the Dead art making adventures . . .

A couple of ATC's I made for a Day of the Dead themed
swap on Swap Bot . . . with pictures that I took in Oaxaca last year.

The ofrenda or altar I made for my home . . . a place to honor
my late father and grandparents, and the late loved ones of my guests.

and here's me dressed as a Frida Kahlo calavera . . .

for the Day of the Dead procession and last Thursday
art opening on NE Alberta.

Friends came over on Dia de los Muertos to decorate sugar skulls . . .

Here are some of the results of our efforts . . .

I'm lovin' the creativity . . .

Check out the rose gripped in her teeth!

And this one still in process . . .

It's a wonderful holiday that allows us to honor our loved ones who have
passed and be so creative all at the same time!

DEMO: Sugar Skulls for Day of the Dead

2009-10-31T22:24:00.000-07:00

DEMO: Sugar Skulls

Sugar skulls are one traditional and crafty part of the traditional Mexican celebration, Dias de los Muertos, or Days of the Dead. During this time - usually celebrated from October 31 to November 2nd (depending on the part of Mexico) and adapted from ancient Aztec rituals and the Catholic celebrations of All Saints' Day and All Souls' Day - families and communities put up "ofrendas" or altars to honor and celebrate the dearly departed who come and visit. The sugar skulls are decorated, and often inscribed on the forehead with the name of the recipient - who can be either living or dead! They might be placed on the ofrenda, or given as a gift.

I learned how to make sugar skulls last year from Cathy of Bossa Nova Baby - and you can check out my post about it here! She didn't teach it this year, and I've been getting ready for a Sugar Skull Decorating party this weekend, so I thought I'd share the recipes and directions with you! It might be a bit late to prepare for this year, but you can get all the supplies you need for next year on this website, www.mexicansugarskull.com. If you're local to Portland, OR, you can get the supplies at The Decorette Shop and at Global Exchange (they carry the molds!). Global Exchange also has stores in San Francisco and Berkeley.

Materials

To cast the skulls:

Sugar skull molds, like those from MexicanSugarSkull.com Trim the molds so each piece is individual and has a 1" plastic border. Skulls come in small one-part molds, as well as medium and large two-part molds.
5 lbs granulated sugar
1/4 cup meringue powder (available from cake decorating stores)
10 teaspoons water
Cardboard squares slightly larger than the size of the trimmed molds you're using

To decorate the skulls:

Royal Icing

2 lbs powdered sugar
1/2 cup meringue powder
2/3 cup water

Concentrated food coloring paste (like that found at cake decorating shops)

Additional Decorating Materials

Sequins, Tiny Paper Flowers, Metallic Leaves, Googly Eyes, Acrylic Gems, Thin Paper Foil, other small sparkly bits - again, many available at craft supply stores or cake decorating stores
Cake decorating tips and icing bags

Instructions

1. Mix the ingredients together for the sugar skulls - water, granulated sugar, meringue powder as listed above. Use your hands to evenly distribute the water throughout
the sugar. The sugar should feel like beach sand, and if you press your fingers into it, it should leave a clear impression. It won't feel wet.

2. Press the sugar into the trimmed mold. Press firmly. Fill it over the top.

3. Scrape off the excess - leave the back flat.

4. Lay the cardboard over the back of the mold, and flip it over. Gently lift the mold off.
If it cracks, you may not have enough water - dump it back in and lightly mist the sugar mixture.
If it sticks to the mold, you have too much water in the sugar. Try mixing it more.

5. Let the skull dry on the cardboard for 5-12 hours, or until it's hard to the touch.
Drying time will vary depending on the size of the mold and the ambient humidity.

6. Even after 12 hours, medium and large skulls will not be dry all the way
through. You will want to hollow them out, but leave at least a 1/2 inch wall thickness
and don't scoop into the neck area. Scoop out the moist sugar - it can be reused.
Now let them finish drying - another 5-12 hours.

7. Once both parts of the two-part skulls are dry, they will need to be "glued" together. Now it's time to mix up your Royal Icing! Blend the ingredients together and use an electric mixer at high speed to mix them together thoroughly. You will want to mix the icing until the icing holds firm peaks - 5 to 10 minutes.

8. Put a 1/2 cup or so of royal icing in a pastry tube and squeeze a bead of icing onto
both halves of the two-part skull. Put the rest in an airtight container, but do not refrigerate it.

9. Squeeze both halves of the skull together. Wipe away any excess
icing that oozes out. Let it dry another few hours. This kind of icing dries like cement -
it's the same kind that is used to put together gingerbread houses.

10. Now, you're ready to decorate! You can mix icing together
with concentrated food coloring to color it. Put each color in its own icing bag. I like to use #2 round tips to get a clean precise line for decorating. Again, this stuff will dry really hard!

11. And you can use the icing almost like glue to attach googly eyes, sequins,
foil, or little paper flowers as part of your decoration.

You can save these from year to year - though they last better in dry climates than in humid ones. And, if you stick to using only edible ornaments - just icing and cake decorating gems - they are edible! Enjoy!

Edited to add: You can also use this same process to make and decorate things like easter eggs or holiday trees! All you need is the right 3-D candy mold! Locally, check out the Decorette Shop for molds you like or just google "candy molds 3D" and you'll get more results - and ideas - than you'll know what to do with!

Where these things lead . . .

2009-10-15T10:11:00.000-07:00

I posted a while back about the classes I took at Art & Soul here in Portland this year, including one with Katie Kendrick. I did a bunch of little spontaneous paintings, and some of them have turned into other things . . .

LIke these two Bee ATC's for a swap on Swap-Bot. I also did a bunch of ATC's for Portland Open Studios Valentine's day cards, to be delivered to our friends at the press in February of 2010. And I forgot to scan them first.

And I just made a few collages, cutting pieces apart and recombining them. Here, I used a bit of a piece that had involved strategic use of a plastic doily dipped in liquid acrylic as a highlight (hence my search for my own plastic doilies. none at the dollar store, so after repeated trolling on-line, I am victorious! After several tries, I finally won an eBay auction for some this week!).

Here, more plastic doily goodness, and a tiny punched out bird that was in our class goody bag. Apparently, it's a Martha Stewart paper punch. I love the design, did an on-line search, and yes - won another eBay auction!

So - in answer to the implied question in the title, taking art classes leads to buying things on eBay.

Chakra Collage, Week One: The Root Chakra

2009-10-14T16:06:00.000-07:00

Last night was week one of my new Chakra Collage class - we were working with the first chakra, or energy center, the root chakra. Its element is earth, its color red. Check out the delicious mess we made!

There are a total of five folks in the class -

here's Patricia, Marta, and Alanna all hard at work in my home studio.

And now for some bad photos of the group's wonderful collages!

DEMO! Easy Glass Etching

2009-10-08T18:48:00.000-07:00

It's finally time for another step-by-step DEMO! Just in time for holiday gift making, we've got Easy Glass Etching - this is a great way to personalize or ornament glassware from Goodwill or the dollar store, make the glass pebbles you use for memory magnets even cooler, or even decorate plain glass ornaments from the craft store! I'll go over the supplies you'll want to have at hand, then give basic instructions and a few variations.

Materials

I get most of these things locally at Collage (the same folks who provide the on-site store for Art & Soul), but most craft stores will carry these basics:

Armour Etch glass etching cream
Sticker back paper (the kind you put through your home printer works great, though you can also use contact paper, to make your stencils)
Stickers with simple shapes (you can use the basic shape, either the positive or negative as a stencil - lines, circles, and letters work great)
Rubber gloves (to protect your hands from the etching cream)
A cheap paint brush or two (to apply the etching cream)
Paper Punches (to make shapes in the sticker paper)
Rubbing alcohol or Glass cleaner (to clean fingerprints off the glass)
Painter's masking tape
Glassware! (Glasses from Goodwill or the Dollar Store, glass pebbles or slides from the craft store, glass ornaments from the craft store - smoother and flatter surfaces are easier to work on that rough or curvy shapes)

Easy Glass Etching Basics

The designs are limited only by your imagination! Keep in mind, though, that you are basically making a stencil: the etching cream eats away at the surface of the glass, making it whiter or more opaque, and wherever the stencil is, the etching cream can't go.

1. First, take a clean glass, and begin applying stickers to create a pattern. I'm being careful not to get too many fingerprints on the glass as I apply the stickers - even the oils from your skin can act as a resist to the etching cream! You can use any kind of stickers or sticker paper to create your stencil.

2. Next, take some blue tape and block off any additional areas that you don't want to get the etching cream on. It's thick, but it's still a liquid and it drips. And anywhere it drips it will leave a mark! I've learned the hard way to make sure I have a good 1" border around my stencil.

3. Then, use your fingernail or a burnishing tool (like a bone folder or the back of a spoon) to burnish the tape and the stickers down. You really want to be sure that they're stuck down well, or the etching cream will ooze under the edge and make the edges of the design uneven. Sometimes, you can look at the sticker from the back and see where it's not adhering well.

4. Now, pull on your rubber gloves and open up that etching cream! Using your cheap brush, apply a thick and fairly even coat of Armour Etch to your glass where you want it to etch. The etching cream doesn't work as well over large surfaces (it tends to look uneven). It does better in small areas, as an accent.

5. Wait 1-2 minutes. (Wait 1 minute minimum, but know that I've let things sit as long as 5 minutes and had them still turn out ok.) You may start to see bubbles form, and that's ok - it's just a sign that the cream is working it's magic! It's a chemical reaction that eats into the surface of the glass.

6. After 1 or 2 minutes rinse the cream off in warm water. I use my utility sink for things like this; if you're using your kitchen or bathroom sink, make sure to clean it out well. You really don't want this mixing with stuff you eat or things you eat off of. The sticker paper and the tape will come off easily from the glass with a little tearing and rubbing, and won't leave any residue. This is part of why I use sticker paper instead of contact paper - contact paper is much more difficult to remove, and leaves more residue.

7. Clean with detergent and dry. The design may be tough to see when it's wet, but it will show up more as it dries. Lovely! Forget wine glass charms - decorate each glass with a different pattern! Or try one of these many variations . . .

Variation 1: Sticker Paper and Hole Punch

1. Grab a sheet of blank sticker paper, the kind you put through your own personal home printer. Punch a design out of the sticker paper using a regular paper punch. (You can also cut a design out using an exacto knife - or you can use the knife to clean up edges that don't quite punch out.)

2. Again, make sure your glass is clean! In this example, I've got a blank glass holiday ornament from a craft store. It's nice because it's kind of a cube shape, and has nice flat surfaces for etching! Then, cut out the stencil, leaving a generous border.

3. Peeling the paper off the back of the sticker, position the stencil and stick it to the surface of the glass. Burnish it down with a fingernail or a burnishing tool like I'm using here. Then, follow steps 4 - 7 from the Easy Glass Etching Basics tutorial above to apply the etching cream.

Here, I've used two different star punches to punch a larger stencil pattern out of sticker paper and apply it to the glass all at once.

Variation 2: Multiple Stencils and The Round Surface

Because of the distortion that happens when you apply sticker stencil to a round surface, and the difficulty in finding a place to hang or set it while it dries, round and really curvy surfaces present a special challenge.

Here, I'm decorating the surface of this glass ball ornament in stages. I've already put a few snowflakes on it, as you can see, and now that it's dry I'm going back and adding more in.

Start applying your stencil from the center, and work your way out with your thumbs. There will be wrinkles in the stencil, but this way you can distribute the wrinkles evenly and keep the design from getting too distorted.

Here, you can see the wrinkles as I keep working to burnish the stencil to the surface with my thumbs and thumbnails.

Then, when you go to apply the etching cream, create a little nest of aluminum foil for it to sit in. This will keep the ball from rolling off the table, or dripping etching cream all over the floor.

The Results!

Etching is subtle - not something I'm exactly known for - but it also adds an extra layer and dimension to mixed media work. Imagine etching the glass you use to frame a piece, or etching the surface of a collaged and soldered slide glass necklace. Then, of course, there is colored glass, and paints that can be poured inside those glass ornament globes . . .

Have fun!

Art & Soul 2009: The Eye Candy Edition

2009-10-05T22:36:00.000-07:00

I didn't get to teach at Art & Soul in Portland this year, and considering the amazing classes I got to take and the marvelous teachers I met, I think it may have been a blessing in disguise!

Check out this amazing scarf I made under the tutelage of Lorri Scott . . . hand-dyed silk ribbons and other miscellaneous fibers stitched together into a glorious wrapping of yumminess!

I was a little nervous at first about the colors I chose, but then I just went with it, and I love the way the scarf turned out.

I also took a MacGyver Silkscreening Class with Traci Bunkers . . . I won't reveal any of her secrets here . . . but we made some shortcut silkscreen stencils and it was oodles of fun - though I don't think I got my fabric stretched tight enough! I made a few prints of scissors and tape on old book pages . . .

I had so much fun in Katie Kendrick's class . . . her spontaneous painting techniques are very liberating. Here's my painting station . . . it's a wonderful mess, isn't it?

And here are some of the painting starts I made . . .

And here's what they began to turn into. Katie encouraged us to look for images in the spontaneous pools, drips, and squiggles. Here, I saw a pregnant goddess figure:

And a little house on a hill:

And finally, the amazing hippo-dog, Harold:

I also got to take yet another resin molding class, this time with Jane and Tom Wynn. You learn something new with each teacher, and I'm getting a bit better at molding and casting each time. I'm loving the teeth (yup, the originals were mine) and the seashells. The hands are getting better, but still need a little work.

Art Unraveled: Part 2

2009-10-01T21:33:00.000-07:00

Art Unraveled was awesome . . . and it's just taken me a very long time to get it together enough to post about the classes I taught! I taught two classes, Washed Up and Worn recycled rubber jewelry, and a Wax and Fiber encaustic class.

First, check out the extremely cool cuff bracelets my students made from recycled bicycle inner tubes! Wonder Twin Powers Activate!

I never got to take any pictures from the Wax and Fiber class because I didn't pack enough encaustic medium. I went by how much I use, and how much Linda Womack and I had used during her class in 2008. Yup. This was a learning experience. We ran out of medium. Twice. I had to beg and borrow from the infinitely kind Judy Wise. Twice. The next day, I rented a car, and drove all over Scottsdale, Tempe, and Phoenix buying up all the medium in town so that Judy could teach her class the next day. That was after I realized that no one in town carried damar resin crystals, so I spent three times as much buying pre-made medium. Yup. Lesson learned! Next year, I'll be prepared!

People do the coolest things . . .

2009-09-27T23:13:00.000-07:00

I recently facilitated a creativity retreat for a local organization. We talked a little bit about what creativity is, and then everyone started in on collages. Only a few of the people in the room had made a collage in the past ten years - but look at what they did!

People are so creative . . . the people in this organization are constantly solving problems, but many of them don't see what they do as creative. Hopefully, this gave them another way of thinking about what they do.

There were close to 30 people in the workshop, and this is only a fraction of what they did! They got together in groups after making their collages, and then built stories using the images like pictures in a storyboard.

"You like me! Right now, you like me!"

2009-09-27T21:36:00.000-07:00

Ok, I'm not Sally Field and this is not the Academy Awards, but it still feels pretty darn awesome! Dawn over at WordsoGold just nominated me for the Kreativ Blogger award! Awesomeness! Thank you, Dawn.

So, I'm supposed to tell you seven things about me and then nominate seven more blogs . . .

Seven things about me:

I am the same height as Ani DiFranco, 5'2"
I really enjoy movies that feature animated rodents.
I started sewing when I was 5, and I learned to knit in my teens. Now, I'm almost 40, and I haven't figured out crochet yet. It's like a mystery.
I have never been able to make jell-o successfully gel, perhaps because I put too much fruit in it.
I lived in Germany from the time I was seven until I was eleven.
I love to travel - I've been to Germany (see item 5), England, Scotland, Ireland, Italy, Mexico, Canada, Thailand, Cambodia, Indonesia, and Nepal, as well as all over the U.S. including Hawaii. Other places I want to go include Alaska, Turkey, Greece, Egypt, Morocco, Spain, France, and Belize.
I love bridges. When I was little, I used to ask my grandparents to drive to the mall in such a way that we got to cross at least one bridge over the little river that ran through their Texas town. Now, I live in Portland, a town with ooodles of bridges!

Seven Creative Blogs I'd like to nominate for the Kreativ Blogger Award:

Alley Art Studio
The Last Bedroom
The Scarlet Letters
Sweet Sassafras
Rebel's Work in Progress
Judy Wise
Geek Crafts

Here are the rules:
1. Thank the person who nominated you for this award.
2. Copy the logo and place it on your blog.
3. Link to the person who nominated you for this award.
4. Name 7 things about yourself that people might find interesting.
5. Nominate 7 Kreativ Bloggers.
6. Post links to the 7 blogs you nominate.
7. Leave a comment on each of the blogs letting them know they have been nominated.

Art Squirrel Goes Back to School Shopping . . .

2009-09-24T19:44:00.001-07:00

Something about the shift in the weather makes me want to shop. I tell myself it's because of lovely memories of back-to-school shopping as a wee one, but I suspect it's really because I'm part squirrel and am feeling the need to store things up for the winter . . . you know, Just In Case.

Of course, squirrels aren't generally tucking mustard yellow corduroy pants or really cute layering tees or beautiful collage papers next to the acorns in their hoards. Squirrels stick to the basics - food. Me? I tend to stockpile clothes. And art supplies. You know, Just In Case. I might get invited to a gala art opening or need to cast plaster at 2 a.m. You Never Know.

Thank heavens, Portland is an amazing place for out-of-the-big-box art and craft supplies. There's Collage, in both Southeast and Northeast Portland, the only art store in town that really gets mixed media artists and what they need. Of course, there's also Muse over on Hawthorne, which has been going all out to beef up their encaustic art supplies - amazing selection and prices as good as what you can get online! Art Media and Columbia Art Supply carry the basics, I've Been Framed covers the discounted bits and the odd ends. SCRAP is home to all kinds of discarded crafty goodness just looking to be creatively re-purposed.

Last, but not least, there is Knittn' Kitten. Portland has more cool indie yarn, bead and fabric stores than I can throw a walnut at (you notice I didn't even try to list them here), and random fabrics and yarns do find their way to the bins at SCRAP . . . but no place in Portland has the beautifully curated and cleaned selection of super-cheap second-hand craft supplies that the Kitten has. Imagine if someone hit every good yard sale and got all the really good crafty stuff and then cleaned it up and packaged it and put it all for sale in one place. Yup. WOW.

Witness my most recent haul. Bamboo crochet hooks (I really do want to learn how to crochet), beautiful yarn (ditto), polyester eyelet perfect for creating patterns in encaustic, cotton faux batik fabric, and doilies! I also picked up some gorgeous Czech glass seed beads . . . other past finds have included vintage buttons, dress patterns, zippers, and more . . . Treasure! Happy Art Squirrel!

Of course, like a lot of the local indie shops I mentioned, Knittn' Kitten has been struggling. So, some local crafters are getting together to show the love - and give away free crafty patterns in the process! Just in time for serious holiday gift making. Yes - I did say "free." My pattern won't come out until November - but - Big Hint - it involves doilies.

Heather of Croqzine and DollarStoreCrafts fame developed the first pattern for this awesome Anthropologie-inspired necklace! Learn more about it here.

How do you get the pattern? Just go to Knittn' Kitten and ask at the front desk! Be sure to share your version of the project, as well as any spoils from your own Knittn’ Kitten trip at the Knittn’ Kitten Flickr Group!

Stay tuned for more free projects, every Tuesday through November 10 from the following designers:

September 29 – Teresa Sullivan

October 6 – Diane Gilleland

October 13 – Joey Groendes

October 20 – Christine Blystone

October 27 – Susan Beal

November 3 – Lee Meredith

November 10 – Bridget Benton

Matchbox Book: The Cabinet of Curiosities

2009-09-12T21:06:00.000-07:00

I've been working on Matchbox Books, books with matchbox drawers inside. Here's the one I've been playing with this past week, using a Portland map that had seen better days. (When it rips while I'm trying to use it, it becomes collage fodder!)

The inside cover in process . . .

And the drawers in process.

Here's the outside of the finished product . . . I love how the
drawers really make it feel like a little Cabinet of Curiosities.

And here's the view of the completed interior.

Here's the first one I ever made - my test run of the idea.

And here's one a student, Robyn, started during Artmaking as Playful Prayer
last year, and finished up at home! I love seeing how
the ideas get translated by other people . . .
and check out that closure!

If you're feeling tempted, there's still time to sign up for the class this week, Matchbox Book at DIY Lounge here in Portland on Wednesday, September 16th. I'd love to see what you'd do with this idea!

My New Red Door

2009-09-12T20:40:00.001-07:00

Back in June, I posted about my front door getting vandalized, and how it led me to the decision to finally get the red door I always wanted. Well, here's the red door!

I finally just gave up on trying to sand it myself, and hired my friend Michael to come over and do it for me before the weather got really nasty. I love the way it turned out . . . the color is called "Red Pepper." Of course, then I decided to paint the bricks!

You see, once I really saw the color of the door, I realized that the bricks were just too dull - look at how faded they are on the right "before" section of the wall. And those white bricks always did look funny. So, I did some dry brush highlighting on the bricks with the Red Pepper paint. Then I painted the back door and the door to the shed. Now, I think it may be time to paint the garage door . . . and anything else that holds still.

Portland Open Studios Tour Guide Give Away

2009-09-10T12:38:00.000-07:00

Portland Open Studios opens in one month, and I am very excited to be participating this year! I'll be opening up my studio, giving demonstrations, and selling art along with 99 other artists in the Portland area October 10-11 and October 17-18. Your passport to participate in all the excitement is a $15 Tour Guide (available at New Seasons, Art Media, or from me) that doubles as a 16-month calendar.

To celebrate the occasion, I'm giving away one of these Tour Guides! If you live in the Portland Metro area, and think seeing artists at work in their studios sounds like a pretty nifty idea, leave a comment! On Monday, September 14th, I'll randomly select one commenter and mail them off their Tour Guide, complete with maps to all the studios and cool art images. Of course, you'll need to leave your contact info in the e-mail, or check back to see if you're selected (unless your Blogger profile includes an e-mail, I can't locate your e-mail just from your comment!).

Curious about the artists? Check out the Portland Open Studios Blog, or look at the slide show here.

Edited later to add:

And the winner is . . .

Sonia of Trauma Healed!

Swap Time!

2009-09-09T09:09:00.000-07:00

About eight months ago, fresh from the joy of the Holiday Ornament Swap, I signed up for a 9-9-09 postcard swap!

I got my list of swap partners via Swap-bot about a week ago. When I go to the post office today, I'll be mailing cards to Serbia, Canada, Sweden, and all over the U.S.! How cool is that?

So, I wanted a postcard that was original, but still said, well, "Portland." Using my newly honed Photoshop skills, I took a scanned image of a Portland map and a photo I took of the St. Johns Bridge, and overlaid them. After all, what's more Portland than the river and its bridges? I printed the digital collages out, and then attached them to some self-adhesive postcard backs called PhotoPostos that I found in my stash. Presto Posto! Swap accomplished. Now off to the post office.

Bring on the MONKEYS!!

2009-09-02T11:14:00.000-07:00

The 100th Monkey Studio is celebrating its 3rd Anniversary, and the opening of their 3rd Annual Jurried Show & the 50/50 show is this Friday from 6-9 pm. I made a piece for the 50/50 show - all the pieces are only $50, and 50% of the proceeds benefits 100th Monkey's Artist Scholarship Fund.

100th Monkey invited artists to create an 8" x 8" piece that celebrated the story of the studio's namesake - you can read the story of the 100th Monkey here. I went for a pretty literal interpretation . . . my 100th monkey has discovered the joy of the paintbrush and is having more than a barrel of . . . well, you get the idea. You can see my original monkey drawing here.

Here it is in process, as I'm building up layers of monkeys and wax . . . and playing with the positioning of my 100th monkey and his/her paintbrush (it didn't seem polite to inquire as to gender).

Here's some detail of the 100th monkey before I nailed him/her down to the board.

And here's the final piece. I nailed the brush holding monkey to the board, and then used another copy of the drawing to cover up the nailhead in the tummy. I kind of like how the tummy is now a slightly different color and seems more dimensional . . . the background is all layers of paper and encaustic, while the monkey is paper, colored pencil, and acrylic mounted on wood. And the paintbrush? Well, it's just an old paintbrush!

I dropped my piece off yesterday, and got to peak at some of the others! I have my eye on a few - sales are all first-come, first-served! Is it silly to be at the door at 5:45?

Wanna Trade?

2009-08-30T22:53:00.000-07:00

I just sent off a batch of nine Artist's Trading Cards for an ATC show at the Richmond Art Gallery in British Columbia. Like the nine you see above, they were all done by collaging prints I made with heat moldable foam stamps. (Check out the tutorial here!)

I've got a ton of these ATC's, and I'm finally ready to send them out into the world! If you have some original ATC's, and are up for a trade, drop one in the mail to me at PO Box 4076, Portland, OR, 97208, and I'll send you one back (as long as you include your address, that is!).

And . . . if you're not sure what an ATC is, check out what Wikipedia has to say on the topic.

Product Test: Refillable Alcohol Ink Pen and Oil-Based Sharpies

2009-08-29T18:48:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago, I bought one of the refillable Adirondack Alcohol Ink pens at Collage here in Portland so that I could try it out . . . you buy them empty, and can fill them with any color of alcohol inks you choose!

I love using alcohol inks, and I've been playing around with alcohol inks on metal washers and on plexiglass panels. Alcohol inks can be used on non-porous surfaces, and they leave a very thin film of color. One of the challenges working with them, though, is controlling the application of the ink. I was excited when I saw that Ranger had come out with refillable alcohol ink pens.

I filled this one with black alcohol ink and tested it out on this piece of plexiglass. The white part of the plexiglass background has been sanded with a fine sanding block. The pens have a wide brush nib and a narrow fine tip nib. The writing above is with the broad nib - I had a hard time photographing the writing with the fine nib on the plexiglass, and the black ink didn't show up too well on the metal washer, either.

I like the effect of alcohol inks best when you build up layers. The pen lets you apply thin, precise layers, but it doesn't have a very bold line. That said, it is visible on the plexiglass, and I think the lettering with the large brush nib is beautiful! If you're looking for a bold line on a non-porous surface, try one of the Sharpie opaque oil-based paint pens.

The regular Sharpie is a little grayed out on plexiglass, and (though it's hard to see it in this photo) the water-based Sharpie Paint pen tends to bead up a little bit on the non-porous surface. The water-based Sharpie Paint pen also bled when I coated the unsanded part of the plexiglass with Diamond Glaze as a protective coating.

Yup, it's a total product geek-out. But it's all for a good cause - I'm refining a class about painting on plexiglass panels - I love how you can layer them, and really see through the layers! I've sent in a proposal to Art and Soul for 2010 - we'll see how it goes!

Eeeek! Monkeys!

2009-08-25T18:57:00.001-07:00

I am already putting my newly acquired Photoshop skills to work . . . I did this drawing of a monkey based loosely on those Barrel of Monkeys toys from my childhood:

And, with the power of the scanner and Photoshop, I was able to make this nifty monkey pattern!

It's the start of my piece for the 100th Monkey Studio anniversary fundraiser coming up next month . . . Heh heh . . . look out world!

Art Unraveled: Part 1

2009-08-21T20:46:00.000-07:00

When you find the thing you want to keep learning about, the thing you feel like you could explore for the rest of your life, you've probably found your calling. For me, it's art.

About a week ago, I got back from Art Unraveled, a big mixed media art retreat down in Arizona. I was teaching classes, and I also got to take a few - part of the whole this-is-my-calling-and-I want-to-explore-more thing. I took a resin class from Susan Lenart-Kazmer and made resin papers and cast some objects in resin. I didn't walk away with any finished jewelry projects, but I made some cool components and got to play and experiment.

A cast resin shell and resin papers sealed onto wire frames.

Resin papers, a cast key, and bezels filled with papers, objects and resin.

More papers, another filled bezel, and a cast key colored with acrylics and waxes.

I also got a chance to take a Photoshop class from my friend Mike Jennings. I haven't turned into a Photoshop guru overnight, but I did make a few interesting collages, and I finally understand masks, knocking out images and layer blending a little better than I did before!

I'm particularly fond of the brittle sea star in this one . . .
though the composition could use some work.

Encaustic Experimentation: DEMO lite

2009-07-25T10:31:00.000-07:00

I've been prepping extra samples for my Wax and Fiber class at Art Unraveled next month, and have been having a lot of fun with some lace I picked up at Knittn' Kitten. It's a huge pattern, machine-made synthetic lace, and looks like it was probably designed for curtains or something similar.

I laid down a few layers of encaustic medium (wax and resin) onto a birch plywood panel and some light colored encaustic paint (wax and resin and pigment), fusing each layer. I then burnished the lace into the surface with an old spoon. Next, I laid down some additional encaustic paint and fused it in.

Here's a close-up of what it looked like with the lace still on it:

I waited for the wax to cool a bit, then peeled the lace up. It left wonderful patterns in the wax, and I then filled those patterns in with contrasting wax. After building up more layers, fusing and scraping back, you can clearly see the bolder patterns of the lace!

I also embedded some thread in the surface for extra detail . . . . I am really loving combining wax with as many media as possible!

Drawing on the Walls: Roundup

2009-07-16T23:00:00.000-07:00

I've been working away on my book, Artmaking as Playful Prayer: A 12-Week Guide to Developing Your Creativity as a Spiritual Practice, and finally got a draft out to my marvelous test readers earlier today. Now, I'm waiting to hear what they have to say and working on the hands-on explorations that will appear in the book! And you know, I'm going to need some people to test out the art stuff (hint, hint).

One of the things I mention in passing in the book (and may need to explore in more depth - perhaps in my own basement) is the idea of drawing on the walls. It's basic, right? It's exactly how our ancestors got started, and it's a straight-forward form of artmaking. You have an object that makes marks, and something to make marks on, and the nearest, easiest thing to make marks on is . . . well, the walls. And then I remembered seeing something on-line about people doing just that . . .

A few hours of Googling later, and I have found some cool goodies to share with you. If you're a bit shy of messing up your walls, there is paint-by-numbers wallpaper (found via casasugar), like this from Jenny Wilkinson:

If you're ready to just dive in, but like a little structure, you might try something like this frames wallpaper by Taylor & Wood (found via the droolicious blog on babble.com) and available in the US via the Graham & Brown website. I really want this for my office, and it would be super fun in a bathroom or kid's room! It also has the advantage that you can steam it off and perhaps take it with you - avoiding the whole "I'm moving and I have to paint over my artwork" trauma.

Or, you can just grab your permanent marker and go to town! I found two brave souls who have done just that via compactbydesign.com. The first is Charlie Kratzer from Kentucky who grabbed a Sharpie and decorated his basement - you can even see a video of the whole thing on the Kentucky Sun website, but here's a taste:

Or, if you have a gold pen and steady hand, you can check out Kellie's blog and see what she got herself up to in the hallway:

Yup, I'm looking at the office in the basement in a whole new light . . .

Bottle Cap Art Round-Up!

2009-07-13T21:21:00.000-07:00

Installations

Last week, my dear friend Leslie pointed me to another Portland, OR artist who's working with plastic bottle caps - and doing installations to boot. His name is Steven Beatty and you should check out his and Laurel Kurtz's installation at PSU - here's the entire Flickr stream.

Of course, it got me thinking about all the other bottle cap coolness that must be out there. A Google search yielded all kinds of coolness!

LIke this guy, Bryant Holsenbeck, who does temporary, mandala-type installations with community help . . . all out of bottle caps and lids.
There's also cool sculptures from Janet Nolan, and Michelle Stitzlein has some great interactive work with kids. Then, there's this clear bottle cap installation planned by Christine Destrempes called "13,699" which, according to her web site, is the number of people who die every day from diseases related to a lack of clean water.

Jewelry

My explorations with bottle caps started out with jewelry making,
like this little skull and tassel pendant . . .

And this blue bead and feather necklace.

So, of course, I did a quick search on Etsy, and
found some other great folks doing bottle cap jewelry:

gjarvisjewelryetc on Etsy has alot of awesome jewelry made from bottlecaps
and old Barbie and doll parts.

StarsDreamsandJewels on Etsy also has some bottle cap pendants with doll parts.

And check out this lovely pin cushion ring made from a recycled bottle cap from BarbaraLousBoutique on Etsy.

With all of these cool ideas, how can you (or I) ever waste another bottlecap?!