Blurry Around the Edges

Hey everyone....sorry its been kinda of quiet but we returned from holidays and I have been cleaning out my studio room.


I have also started pulling together ideas for the new school year as we go back next Thursday.

So this is blurry around the edges....its a simple technique that gives you a really nice effect to your designs...I'm hoping to do this with the kids this year.

Please click on the picture to really appreciate the look.

Materials Required

watercolor paper (I used 90lb) or sketch paper

pencil and eraser

cake tempura or watercolors

fine tip washable marker

spray bottle

Take some watercolor paper or some good sketch paper and outline a simple drawing













With the kids I often use step by step directions that they can follow......you can find examples like these at your local library or bookstore in the kid section.....








Using watercolor or cake tempura add a bit of color to your design.....you want to use a light hand leaving some areas free of color.

This can be a difficult but very important concept to teach young artists...that less is more.







Add some plain water in sections to create wonderful blooms and backruns as well as to lighten your colors a bit...resist the urge to coat the entire image.









Add a bit of color to the background as well but you can leave it quite plain....maybe a few splatters.







Take your marker and sketch the outline of your design. I kept my lines quite broken and more like a sketch than a solid outline.








You now want to take your water spray bottle...I use small ones that I buy at the dollar store....this particular bottle is good for this project as it gives just a short spray/spurt of water.







Spray your design....use only a few shots because you don't want to turn the image into a runny mess.

Everywhere you spray on the marker lines will start to bleed and go blurry.





Let your work dry flat.

Give it a try.

see you soon

gail

Clay Lights

We needed some nice patio table lights for the cabin so we decided to make some instead...we had been thinking about going fishing hence the fish theme for our lights.

Materials Required:

air dry clay ( I like Prang Das, strong, less cracking and dries to a nice pale shade..great for painting....I used an alternate type here and I was not very pleased with it )

small container of water

acrylic craft paint

newspaper

wax paper

tea lights





Take a palm sized lump of clay and flatten out on a piece of wax paper.





Starting at one end mold a tail




Keep the front part flat as this will be the base for the tea light. Make sure it is large enough to hold a tea light..about 2 inches.


If the clay is getting dry wet your fingers in the water and smooth over the clay.










Scrunch up a small piece of newspaper and place in the space for the tea light...this will hold up the clay you put on top while it is drying.








Flatten another palm sized lump of clay to about 1/2 inch thick.








Place on top of the newspaper....join to the bottom with by wetting your fingers in water and smoothing both pieces together.








If there is some cracking in the clay like you can see here....dip your fingers in water again and smooth out.








At first we thought we might turn this into a whale but I was worried there might not be enough air for the tea light so we opened up the hole more








You can also use foil to help hold the shape while its drying in areas where you need a bit more support than the newspaper provides.

Cut out eye holes for your fish....

We added fins but had to use another color of clay as we ran out of the grey

Leave your clay fish to dry....you will know it is dry when you touch the clay and it is close to room temperature.

When dry use acrylic craft paint and paint as desired......

We didn't add a sealer as the paint stayed pretty glossy however you can add a sealant on the outside surface only if you wish.

Put your tea lights into the center.

That's it...some colorful fish for our patio table....

that add some light to our summer evenings.

take care and see you next time

gail

Pea Pod Buddies

Yesterday I made these Pea Pod Buddies.

The kids had been asking me to make them ever since I got this book. I absolutely love this book.....its all about making dolls using gloves. There are all kinds of animals although I especially love the cat...fairies, snowmen. kimono girls, etc.

It is in Japanese but it has so many pictures that it is easy to follow along. I get my Japanese craft books from Saucy Louise as I find the postage to Canada very reasonable.

My kids also love this book which has over 100 little felt characters for them to make all about 3 inches tall.

They have learned how to transfer the pattern, cut out the felt and sew them together...all the small parts are glued on.

Check out the frog my 6yr old made yesterday.

Back to the Pea Pods....in the book they call them beans.....which is probably botanically correct as they are white but we call them peas.

You need some cotton gloves.....I hit the jackpot at Wal Mart. In the hardware section they sell a pack of 12 pairs for $5.00.

I have also used the mini gloves from the dollar store....you know the one size fits all ones.

Cut off the finger tips......you need them to be about 2.5 inches long.

Thread a needle and make a running stitch around the cut edge.

Stuff with some wool or stuffing to make a nice sized pea.

Pull the thread tight....add some stitches to try and flatten the bunched end and knot off.

Make as many as you want....next you have to add the faces. Thread a needle with some embroidery thread. I'm using 3 strands. I choose green but you can do it in any color.

Coming in from the back of the pea make the nose with a few stitches.

Add the eyes and mouth and put in some eyebrows... the eyebrows help to add different expressions....happy, sleepy, mad.

Use a red crayon to add some blush to the cheeks....you need to circle around a few times before the color transfers.

Now you need to cut out the pods.

For the open pods I used 2 different fabrics. One for the inside and one for the outside.

I used cotton quilting fabric and wool felt.

Make a pod pattern....you can click on this picture to make larger. The pod is 4.5 inches long and 1.5 inches wide at the middle. You can also make smaller pods if you wish.

The stem end is in a star shape approx. 1.5 inches wide from one point to another.

Cut your pod shape out on the fold....they should look like this when you are done.

I used the wool felt for the stem end.




Put 2 pod shapes right sides together and stitch leaving about 2 inches open for turning. I'm at the cabin so I hand stitched all mine but I'm sure the machine would be much faster!!

Turn and hand stitch the opening closed.

You can press them if you wish at this point.

You then have to add a little seam down the back of the pod.

Insert a pea and sew a pocket with a few stitches. The first one I made I actually sewed the peas in place but the kids wanted to be able to take the peas out to play with them....so from then on I just sewed in the pocket.

If you are making one where some of the pod is closed you can add some stuffing to keep that pod shape.

Add a stem end with a few stitches and you are done.

I made some plain pods, stuffed and with only 1 piece of fabric. I think they make a nice addition to the pea buddies.

I also left one pea free....the kids used him as the buddy knocking on the door to ask if the other peas could come out and play.

They also came up with names for all the peas based on their expressions.


So give it a try and sew up some pea pod buddies for your kids or get them to give it a go.

see you next time

gail