Day Fifty-Nine

This is a fallow deer man out for a sprint...one of my Animal People for Art-o-mat®.

Day Fifty-Eight

Animal People.

Art-o-mat®.

Two of my favorite things.

Day Fifty-Seven

This morning I watched a whole bunch of tutorials about basic embroidery stitches. It was much more helpful than trying to figure out diagrams (which I am horrible at doing).

I felt somewhat less frustrated as compared to yesterday. The construction still took about the same amount of time, but I pretended that I knew what I was doing...heh heh.

I think part of the "problem" (besides my non-sewy self) is the material I am trying to embroider. The tutorials showed a nice, taut piece of fabric with a more closed weave. Still, I'm happy with these finger puppets for Art-o-mat®...I would be happy to get one out of the machine if I were an Arto-customer.

Nine down, forty-one to go before I pack 'em up and send 'em in!


The long shot of this guy puts me in mind of teenage boys leaning on their lockers in the hallway in high school, watching the parade of girls going by.

Detroit Derby Girls mentioned on the Today Show

The Detroit Derby Girls were mentioned on the Today Show today by Shanon Thomas, who will be trying out to skate with DDG. Shanon was a contestant on The Biggest Loser: Couples.

(There may be a commercial first)

Day Fifty-Six

Okay...I have been putting off making more finger puppets, I admit it. I LOVE them, but I really dislike sewing. Geez.





Today's finger puppet for my Art-o-mat® series called "All Ears" is a very no-frills guy with that super soft, wonderful feeling yarn at the bottom edge and florescent yellow/green stitching on the side.

This is the second puppet I made today, the first one went horribly wrong -- it looked like it had some sort of alien growing off the side of it. Man. I really need to take sewing lessons.

Day Fifty-Five (for real)(and just in time)

It is cracking me up that the color of this cat girl's eyes match the color of the pickle guy.

Block #11 in the Kettle + Took collaboration series "KT Goodlove" for Art-o-mat®.

You can't see it too well in the scan, but the cat girl is licking the tip of her nose..."Mmmm, pickle!"

Day Fifty-Four (belatedly)

Okay...here is what happened -- I don't know. Honestly.

I will take a guess. I've been really stressing about a couple of things over the last few days. Nothing earth shattering, just stressful. I got home last night at 8:30. I fed the cats, sat in my comfy chair in front of the tv with the block, started cutting out the cat head and the next thing I knew I was startled and the clock said 1:50.

WTF???

What I have come up with is this: you know how when you are really emotion-ed out (stress, joy, depression, dread, fear, you name it) and you are all tense for days and then the thing(s) you have been emotional about are over and you finally sit and relax and then -- BAM -- you are totally relaxed all of a sudden, and you sleeeeeeeeep like a log? Well, I think that is what happened yesterday. All of the tension was gone and I was totally relaxed and cutting the pictures and I just nodded off...well, passed out...LOL. I have no real memory of it...couldn't tell you what I was watching on tv...none of it.

OR maybe this relaxed looking cat HYP-MO-TIZED me!

Yeah, that's it...block #10 in the "KT Goodlove" series hypnotized me and knocked me out.

and while you're at it...

...have a look at the fabulous Detroit Derby Girls newsletter!

Go back OFTEN -- great stuff!!!

Quick Peek: Detroit Derby Girls

Here, take a quick peek at The Detroit Derby Girls in action. It will give you a teensy taste of what it's about.

The team in green and silver is D-Funk All Stars and the team in maroon and pink is The Pistol Whippers.

Day Fifty-Three

Block #9 in the Kettle + Took collaboration "KT Goodlove" for Art-o-mat®.

Siamese, skull, side view, salmon (9 background color)...okay, the letter means something today.

I like how the cat girl's eyes match the color of the skully guy. Didn't plan that.

Day Fifty-Two

At home today, the smokin' bear with his wife and kid.















This is block number 8 in the Art-o-mat® series called "KT Goodlove"... a Kettle + Took collaboration.

Day Fifty-One

These are the end of the "Penciled In" pieces that I made in December.

Cat and Cat Coffee.

Day Fifty

What it looks like...Day 50 already.

Yow.

Where does the time go?

Wanna Dance?

Care to join me?

The Kitty Cat Dance

Day Forty-Nine

perceive [per-seev]

1. to become aware of, know, or identify by means of the senses


Example: I perceived an object looming through through the mist.




2. to recognize, discern, envision, or understand
Example: I perceive a note of sarcasm in your voice. This is a nice idea but I perceive difficulties in putting it into practice.

source: dictionary.com


Today's entry is another in the Kettle + Took collaboration "KT Goodlove" series for Art-o-mat®

I snatched the quote from the vanity page thing at the end of an episode of "Big Bang Theory".

I have had to collage the words lately when I add a quote to these arto-pieces. Man...you wouldn't think it would be as time consuming as it actually is to go through magazines looking for the words. I lucked out today with "perceived" and I had to construct "perceiver". I was amused (at first) at how long it took to find the word "does"...I was hoping for "does not" and then decided to settle for the single "does" -- I was even willing to go for "doesn't" after about an hour...cripes! My eyes were crossing...and my fingers got all gluey from those teeeeeeensy words...waaaah. I am a major crybaby today, sorry.

I am going to go reward myself by watching/singing along with The Kitty Cat Dance...man, I cannot get enough of it!

Day Forty-Eight

This is a monster.

He is a new character for my "All Ears" series -- teensy colored pencil portraits -- for Art-o-mat®.

Gotta run...Detroit Derby Girls Travel Team Fundraiser tonight...I'm helping with it.

Day Forty-Seven

I know I've said this before, but I love making Animal People.

caracara (car-a-car-a): any of several large, carrion-eating or predatory hawks of the subfamily Caracarinae, native to South and Central America and the southern United States.

origin: 1830-40; Spanish or Portuguese, Tupi; imitation of its cry

(dictionary.com)

Day Forty-Six

Well, I feel quite a bit more awake and rested today...awake enough to tackle another "KT Goodlove" piece for the collaboration series Kettle and I are making for Art-o-mat®.

This one required a couple of pieces for the "reverse mask" step. So far in the series I have been able to cut them as a single, whole piece that sits around Kettle's painting. The larger section was giving me some trouble because when I would trace the outline onto the tissue, the paper slipped just ever so slightly and I had to do it over about four times. Finally, I thought "geez...this is like when you make an eraser carving and cut away the negative space and leave the raised part...I can do this!" That was the only way I could catch on...I can carve erasers.

This collaboration series with Kettle is helping/forcing me to do many things in ways I don't normally work. The box FULL of Kettle-y goodness is still daunting when I look at it as a whole, but individually...it is a challenge I am really enjoying.

Day Forty-Five

Just got home from the bout...I am very tired tonight, and I don't even skate!

Here is a goat drinking coffee. I wish I had some coffee right now.

Day Forty-Four

Wow...where did the day (and night) go??? Paperwork...that's where. I do it to myself, being as obsessively organized as I am...LOL. My volunteer work for Detroit Derby Girls...man, I love it!

Today I need to fall back on my "Penciled In" series for Art-o-mat® once again. I am almost out of all of the teensy portraits that I made at Christmastime...so I will have to start making new ones pretty soon. (I will probably have to rely on my stash tomorrow as well...it's bout day!)

Day Forty-Three

This be Stripey...the girly piratey finger puppet for my Art-o-mat® series "All Ears".

It was amusing doing the photos for this entry...it felt like "we" were doing a photo shoot..."work it, Stripey!"

The "up against the wall, Stripey" shot is funny to me...and it shows off her beaded eyepatch strap.

And the long shot looks like a Mary Tyler Moore or That Girl kinda shot where they might be swinging around with a "Hey!" look.



Silly stuff abounds today. I think it is due to me taking a very slight break before cracking down on the lists/paperwork waiting for me later tonight and tomorrow...day before a derby bout. Have I ever mentioned how much I love the Detroit Derby Girls?

LOL...man, I managed to drag pirates, finger puppets, Mary Tyler Moore, That Girl, Detroit Derby Girls and Art-o-mat® into one post...I'm exhausted.

Day Forty-Two

A pair of bear portraits is what you get for today. One with coffee, one without.






They are for my Art-o-mat® series called "Penciled In".

Day Forty-One

Ahhhh...back to my favorite collage-y thing to make for Art-o-mat® (or for any reason) -- my Animal People.

Not all Animal People are human-sized. This bunny girl is "you probably wouldn't see her in your garden among the flowers" small.







(note to Casey: This is another example of that line I walk with the "rabbits thing". Because I have been owned by cats for most of my adult life, I could happily make Cat People all day and night...but sometimes I think it is good to make other animals, too. And if a rabbit's neck is stretched enough, it makes a pretty good Animal Person.) (and now that I re-read this, the "kids thing" goes in here, too -- LOL!)

Day Forty

Wow...Day Forty. That sounds like a long time, and yet it has gone by very quickly!

Here is a trio of "Penciled In" portraits. I'm not sure exactly what this little guy is. He started out more hamster-y, then went kinda dormouse-y on me. I'm just calling him a non-specific little creature.

He looks pretty docile for the most part. But who knows once he gets tanked up on whatever it is he's drinking?

Day Thirty-Nine

Cabin fever is an idiomatic term for a claustrophobic reaction that takes place when a person or group is isolated and/or shut in for an extended period. Symptoms include restlessness, irritability, forgetfulness, laughter, and excessive sleeping.

The word is also used humorously to indicate simple boredom from being home alone.

The term was first recorded in 1918. (Wikipedia)

This is the fifth block in the Kettle+Took collaboration for Art-o-mat® called "KT Goodlove".

I include the "before" block for your amusement.

I'm starting to get more used to cutting anti-masks to fit around Kettle's painting.

Day Thirty-Eight

This is the fourth block in the Kettle+Took collaboration for Art-o-mat®. The series is called "KT Goodlove".

The "before" block is on the left, the "after" is on the right.

When I looked back at this series so far, I realized I have messed up the numbers on the blocks.
I called the prototype that I sent to AIC #1. Then I did 2, 3, 3 and 4. Sheesh...you'd think I could at least count.

I crack myself up.

Does anyone out there know what the toast guy is saying?

Day Thirty-Seven

A green cat for "Penciled In".

Day Thirty-Six

This is another finger puppet for my "All Ears" series from Art-o-mat®.



Off in the distance on the wall behind her is one of the bunny paintings from my Kill Taupe collection. Kill Taupe is local artist, Jason Driscoll.

The Original Wolfy

Here is the real, original Wolfy tile.

His nose is hidden by the cup.

Day Thirty-Five

I thought of a name for this series. I am calling it "Penciled In" because the little portraits done in Prismacolor pencils.

Here is Wolfy drinking coffee. Green Wolfy, orange background. The original Wolfy is green and was first done on a ceramic tile. This is close to the original Wolfy, but I've never been able to get him exactly "right" since the first time.


(I tried dulling down the color on the scanner, but the background is still a bit punched up...slightly more intense than the actual block. Wolfy's color and the mug are about right, though.)

Oh...this reminds me, too...I keep meaning to go see Underworld, Rise of the Lycans. Maybe tomorrow!

Day Thirty-Four

Here is the third piece for the Kettle & Took collaboration for Art-o-mat®.

Obviously, the "before" is on the left and the "after is on the right.

I used tracing paper and cut away the pieces of my cat lady to try to look as if she is behind Kettle's painting.

Not bad for a first try...I hope to get better at it...I like it.

Day Thirty-Three

I got home late again today, so I am putting up a single little portrait from the group I talked about yesterday.

Fluffy pink cat sans coffee.

See you tomorrow!

Day Thirty-Two

This is a sampling of a new Art-o-mat® series I am hoping to get approved.

They are little "portraits" in colored pencil on MDF. I made the little hanger on the back out of wire. Some of the designs are scaled down versions of ceramic tiles I made, others are new. Most of the animals will be either plain or drinking coffee.

I am having to shelve the "Tunnel Vision" series (for now) because I am having production problems with it. I am not abandoning that series, just setting it aside for a while. I am not really much of a paper "engineer" and it takes me ALL day/night to complete a tunnel. I keep messing up the alignment of the windows. I am not very skilled at measuring and although I enjoy repetition, I am finding it very difficult to get it right...but I will eventually.

In the meantime, I am hopeful to do the little portraits. I need to think of a name for the series. I am really wiped out tonight and perhaps not explaining things well, but here is a sampling nonetheless. (Oooh...there is that word again!)

I started this series at Christmastime, not intending them for Art-o-mat®, and I sold a number of them...they seemed pretty popular. Now, with the Tunnel Vision series on hold, I need something to fill its place for my blogging efforts (and to help replenish my stock at AIC).

Oh yay...Clark just emailed me back...he said "yes"! I apologize, but I am too sleepy to rewrite and update this post...so this version will just have to do. Nighty night!

Wow...a month has gone by already!

I am amazed at how easily working on this blog has become part of my daily "routine".

It is really helping to keep me focused on making little pieces of art everyday. It is helping to build up my pieces to send to Artists in Cellophane to rebuild my stash there. It is also helping me to turn off the tv and DO something...LOL.

The only thing I still have a slight dread of is the writing part. A lot of the time I just don't know what to say about something and it is still a bit intimidating knowing that there are people who are reading what I've written. I am slowly getting over it, though.

Yep...one month down, twelve to go. Here is a look at Elin Waterston's completed project. Elin's incredible blog was the inspiration for me to do this blog.

Oh...as a follow up to yesterday's block...it did help me to cool out yesterday night at the Detroit Derby Girls bout...everytime there was mad rush of people at Will Call, I'd think of that hippie lioness chick and say "cool" and re-focus. Silly...but it worked!