January

This month has not allowed me to do much other than finally tackle my Dad's Christmas gift. Since I was going home for my Birthday weekend, it motivated me to finish the darn project!
I had this grand idea to make a paper cut topography map of Lake Powell. An artist on Etsy (Crafterall) makes some amazing pieces using this method, which is what gave me the idea.
I found an adequate image of the area I wanted and traced all the templates in Illustrator. Then I printed them out and used them as guides for each color. I had to pull a few classic ghetto strategies but in the end, it turned out beautifully.


This is a part of the Lake we have been visiting more and more. I think my Dad liked it. :)

And more back ordered Christmas gifts... I wanted to make some small pouch/bag/purses (?) for a few of my friends and never had time to do it, so a month late is okay, right??
One of my friends recently had her purse stolen so hers contained some purse essentials inside.


Obviously it's the color play with zippers that I'm enjoying most.

Real Andrew Wyeth

We went to the museum while we were in Palm Springs recently and the exhibition on Andrew Wyeth blew me away. It inspired me more than I expected it to. His subject matter isn't something I would have a desire to capture, so I found that interesting, especially how he made some simple settings so beautiful. And his use of technique was the best part. I want so badly to practice painting more now after seeing how crisp and simple some things are.
Great work to look into if you need some inspiration.

More Screening

Check it, check it!
I made a cool custom Drums T for my awesome BFF for Christmas (and printed one for meself a'course).
Actually, I made him two and he loved them both. I think I may print a few more to sell on Etsy someday.
Maybe.
I'm so glad they worked.

Shiny Deco's

We usually get together with some friends on New Years Eve and I was asked again this year to help with the decorations. We had a fiesta theme so I decided to put a spin on traditional papel picado. Since NYE celebrations usually involve sparkle, I wanted to use Mylar and thanks to Target holiday clearance, I scored sheets of silver "tissue paper" for a dollar per bag. This decoration cost less than $10 and looked awesome.
There were five or six sheets in a package, so I left them stacked together and cut them in half. Then I accordion folded those rectangles and cut snowflake like designs in the folded edges (don't forget your scalloped/zig zag bottom edge).

Open and gently pull apart. Lay out some string (I used neon yellow from Home Depot) along the top edge of one and fold over. Tape into place. I used packing tape that I would tear into narrow strips. I wanted the flags to be able to slide so I could have flexibility on the design when I hung it up. Repeat as necessary for the length of garland you need. And you're done!
*Note- When you hang, have a stapler handy. They will all slide to the center if you don't anchor them somehow. Once hung, I spaced them how I wanted and then I just stapled them into place with one staple in the center.
Hopefully it's a cool idea that perhaps someone else may find useful. Enjoy!

And keep your scraps! They make really cool looking confetti that we spread all over the table & around the food. Happy New Year!

Book Smart

Check out these carved book landscapes by Guy Laramee. So fantastic!!