365 Day 31

finger puppet series unveiled!
That is my friend Andi modeling some finger puppets. Andi is always a willing accomplice and she is a big Arto-fan. Today is Andi's birthday.


Here it is -- I am calling the series "Tookies". An individual puppet would be a "Tooky". This is my latest series for Art-o-mat.














I was planning on using a small MDF block as the box weight (the same ones I use for the "Penciled In" series) but the bottom edge of the puppets makes the box bulge with the block. So, plan B -- four pennies taped to the inside flaps. The boxes have to have an evenly distributed weight in order to vend well in the machines -- especially in the older antique machines like mine.














This is a Tooky unwrapped, with its tissue paper and information insert. The info includes the address to this blog.














A Tooky -- ready for fun!

365 Day 30

I finished them!

Here are the final 19 -- all done.
















This is the puppet that will be on the label...may not be this exact photo, but it will be this puppet.














I came up with a name for the series. I will share that tomorrow when I show you the label.

I am keeping one puppet -- its name is Keepy.

Here is Keepy looking at the refrigerator magnets and posing for a picture.




















And here are ALL of the completed finger puppets!




















NOW I need to write the box insert, make the labels, put the labels on the boxes, add in something for weight in the box so it will vend well, wrap cellophane/acetate around the boxes (securing the wrapper with strong shipping tape, not frosted Scotch tape like for gift wrapping), box up the boxes and ship them to Artists in Cellophane! I will show you that tomorrow.

365 Day 29

Yeah!

I started up Fantastic Mr. Fox and got cracking on the side seams for the last 19 finger puppets. Most of these puppets have two seams instead of one, so they took twice as long.

I am going to the Detroit Derby Girls roller derby bout tonight so I wanted to get my work done and posted to the blog early enough to not need to rush around this afternoon.

YEAH -- DEVIL'S NIGHT DAMES -- FIRE UP!

365 Day 28

Mad Assembly Line

I have 19 finger puppets to go in this set of 50 for Art-o-mat.

Today -- in assembly line fashion -- I did the side seams.

















The bottom edges.













Closed up the ears/heads.














And then put the super soft edge yarn on 14 of the 19. I will finish the edges on the other 5 tonight, but I needed to come in and post this before my midnight deadline.


















Today I also changed the art in the Art-o-mat machine at Solid Grounds in Northville. And I made posts in this blog showing what is IN the machine in both locations (LIFT in Royal Oak + Solid Grounds Coffeehouse in Northville.)

Whew!

Currently IN the machine at Solid Grounds Coffeehouse

Currently IN the Art-o-mat machine at Solid Grounds Coffeehouse in Northville, MI.

• Mike Filippello -- enchanting american folk paintings
• Gerry Klein -- fused glass bobby pins
  
• Jeff Knight -- carved wood wishbones
  
• Matt Larson -- photography
• Linda Edkins Wyatt -- textile collages bursting with color
  
• Cap & Leo: colored pencil drawings -- a collaboration series by Michigan artists
• Woodie Anderson -- incredible linocut block prints
• Brenda Marks -- whimsical animal drawings presented in lots of forms
• Francine Rossi: raku tiles with leaf impressions by Michigan artist

Click the photos for more info

LIFT -- Currently IN the Art-o-mat machine

Currently IN the Art-o-mat machine at LIFT in Royal Oak, MI.

Quick overview...
NEW to LIFT: Weener Ware, Charlie Cook, Carrie Price, Leticia Miller
Re-stocked: Kill Taupe, Juana Moore, Lil' Woodies
Held Over: Scribe O' Rice, Jodi Hoover, Patrick Harris, Julie Armbruster

• Patrick Harris -- celebrity zombies
  
• Leticia Miller -- inanimate pet in a hand made sweater
  
• Carrie Price -- cats? monkeys? monsters? you tell me!
  
• Weener Ware -- arty bottle cap pins
  
• Kill Taupe -- Bunnies!
• Julie Armbruster -- beasties/really cool characters
  
• Lil' Woodies -- 2-sided lucky coins
• Charlie Cook -- whimsical mountainous landscapes
• Scribe O' Rice -- microcalligraphy on rice
  
• Juana Moore -- Queens O' Scream
• Jodi Hoover -- monsters

Click the photos for more info

365 Day 27

no pictures, not much to report...

Today I changed the art in the Art-o-mat machine at LIFT in Royal Oak. (I will post the changes tomorrow...I am drifting too much right now to make all the links and photos.)

And Juana and I had a delicious light lunch at the Thai restaurant by LIFT.

Then we went to Utrecht and got some markers and foam core and went back to her house to make two 2-sided signs to cheer on the Devil's Night Dames at the Detroit Derby Girls bout on Saturday.

Then I cleaned the snow off my car in Juana's driveway -- apparently reached too far with a few stretches, pulled a muscle in my back and drove home in the long slow crawl along 8 Mile from Ferndale to Northville. Sloppy roads, not terribly dangerous...but people were going really slow.

I think the combination of lifting the front of the machine, sitting in the booth at the restaurant, walking carefully on the snowy sidewalks, sitting at her table trying to use very dry markers on foam core, cleaning snow off the car (not a usual activity for me), then the slow prolonged drive sitting in the car ALL contributed to my super bad back pain.

When I got home I took a muscle relaxer and grabbed a cold pack from the freezer and sat with Twink for 20 minutes. Now that muscle relaxer is kicking my butt...ahhhhhh.

I was planning on working on puppets tonight, but I think I will be involuntarily dozing in front of the tv soon, and in the likelihood that I will nod off and sleep past my midnight deadline I thought I better post this now.

Tomorrow is a new day.

365 Day 26

frustration, minor triumph(s)...then shopping

Here's the thing. I am fairly old. I have no technical training and very little practical experience with computers. I basically have no clue about the things that most kids learn everyday in elementary school now. The simple fact is that I just don't care enough about digital things to take classes that are going to be very difficult for me. I have no interest in this whatsoever. I can make my way around super simple things like this blog or Facebook...but when it comes to word processing or tweaking photographs, forget it. It takes me forever and then trying to retain anything I finally got right after hours of reading "help" pages (ha!) -- testing and trying and retrying and finally stumbling on to a minor success -- then trying to understand what I just did so I could repeat it to make a second item -- well...this makes for a very frustrating morning...then afternoon. (sorry for that awkward sentence)

But I am happy to say that I did not allow Pages (iWork '09) to completely overwhelm me and I actually think I could sit back down and make another page that has columns on it...even after having spent time away from the computer. yay, me.

I needed to make new labels for the finger puppet series. These will go on the edges of the box. I still need to make the main label with photograph and title, but this was enough for today...plus I haven't settled on a name for the series yet...and I need to take some photographs.


After making those labels I found that I was out of Xyron adhesive. Yay -- this meant I needed to take a trip to Michaels! While I was there I also got some new buttons/eyes and very colorful yarn and a few new floss colors. Now I can make more puppets after this series.


I planned on doing more work on the last twenty puppets today, but it took me all day to do the labels...did I mention I am fairly old? I get worn out easy...LOL. I will probably work on the puppets tonight while watching tv, but I wanted to file this progress report...such as it is.

365 Day 25

Today the fingers with button eyes got mouths and eyelashes. It may not seem like a lot to do, but it is incredibly time consuming.

I'm still trying to come up with a name for the series.

365 Day 24

I'm over half-way done with this set of 50 finger puppets for Art-o-mat. Only 20 to go!

Today I chose the fingers for the remaining puppets and put their button eyes on.





The fingers with two open sides -- the ones that need two seams -- curl up when you sew the eyes on.












I am going to keep working on these tonight while I am catching up on my television shows. Maybe I will get another 10 completed for tomorrow's check-in. Maybe I will also come up with a name for the series...any suggestions?

KT Goodlove 179

She called it a room so it must be a room.

Again (like with #177) my scanner does not pick up the extreme beyond-Barbie pinkness or its metallic effect in this collage. The paint nearly matches the darker flowers of the cat girl's dress.

This is also another block that Kettle added a piece of a children's book illustration to instead of a painted character. I like how the bird and the cat girl seem to be looking at the same thing.

KT Goodlove is the collaborative collage series that Kettle and I make for Art-o-mat. Kettle paints on the block and then I add my paper bits. This is #179.

KT Goodlove 178

you can be happy

I love the flying collages. I can't always find images that simulate flying but when I do, I really really like them.

Looking at the painted block in its "before" state, I preferred it the way I scanned it. The collage made me turn it the other way.

KT Goodlove is the collaborative collage series that Kettle and I make for Art-o-mat. Kettle paints on the block and then I add my paper bits. This is #178.

KT Goodlove 177

don't give me no backtalk

Another "who-is-speaking?" collage. Actually I try to make ALL of them that way but it doesn't always work. Also, this is another example of my scanner not picking up the actual color of the paint. This is a really wonderful beyond-Barbie extreme pink with a hint of metallic effect (not glitter). The detail photo is closer to the real color but still not quite it.



KT Goodlove is the collaborative collage series that Kettle and I make for Art-o-mat. Kettle paints on the block and then I add my paper bits. This is #177.

KT Goodlove 176

we think we can grow radishes on the moon

Another one of the "who-is-speaking?" collages. I can't remember exactly where the phrase comes from, but I'm pretty sure it was from one of those quasi-science shows on television.

KT Goodlove is the collaborative collage series that Kettle and I make for Art-o-mat. Kettle paints on the block and then I add my paper bits. This is #176.