Challenge 263 and The Sunny Window

Challenge #263

It's been quite a while since I have posted and participated in the challenge.  Life gets so busy at times that when you need it the most you don't even get a chance to relax and create.

This week's challenge (here) was quite fun... even though I just saw it today, I just had to do it :).  I'm not thrilled with it, but since it is the first I have created in weeks, it will have to do.  I still had fun, so that's what's important.

The Sunny Window

In our bedroom we have a wall of windows; I absolutely love them as I love light.  The only problem is that the semi-circular window lets in a lot of light as it does not have a shade. 

So, I have been thinking about what I could do to block some of the light, but not too much.  Here is my solution - window art made with used tea bags, and lightly painted with Inktense.  We will see if it will last :)  If not, then at least I loved using recycled materials.

2 layers of tea bags (one horizontal, another vertical) on top of freezer paper.  I used about 1/2 of Mod Podge mixed with 1/2 of water.

While the tea bags were drying, I drew the design on a large piece of paper.

Added the design to the tea bags.

Went over the design with 3-D paint.

And this is what it looks like at this point when you turn it towards the light.

Then I painted the different shapes in yellow, green, and blue tones of Inktense.

This is what it looks like against the dark floor...

... and here held up against the light.

Here is the window now with the sun hitting it.  The colors sort of disappear in the sun, but at night they are quite visible.  I will leave them as is for now; can always add more color later if I want :)

Of course, now I want to try small pieces, and experiment with other materials sandwiched between the teabags.  Lots of ideas, just need to find the time :)

Update and Junk Mail Journal

Update

The last few months have been hectic:

• Took on further responsibilities at work and so it has been pretty crazy!  Hopefully it will settle down in a couple of weeks :)
• Sold our condo, bought and moved to a new house.  It will take a while longer to get it in shape and organized, but at least I have most of my art stuff now :)
• Finally went to the doctor and found out why I have been feeling so crappy for so long - need iron!  OK!!  That explains it!  So I should be feeling a bit better in a month and back to normal in 9 to 12 months.  Back to normal is good :)

I hope to start back on the Diva Weekly Challenge soon, and posting more regularly.

Junk Mail Journal

New video of my art journal made with junk mail and other recycled papers (including used tea bags for the covers).  I wrote about it in this post here, but it took me this long to finally create the video :).  I can finally play with it now that the video is done :).

I'm not sure what I'm going to do with all those small pieces in the pockets, but I certainly have a lot of them!  I do love to play with hand-carved block prints, using different materials and techniques.

I hope you enjoy it.

Challenge #176 and Stamp Carving: Quarter repeat

Challenge #176

This weeks' challenge was to Bring Your Own Beverage to your tangling session :).  So, spill your drink on your tile, or paint with it, or do whatever you want, then tangle over it.  Fun, fun!!  You can see the directions here.

 

I started with my morning tea and with the stirrer, made a few marks (the lighter ones.  Then once the tea had steeped, I made a few more marks with a corner of the teabag (the darker ones in the middle).  Then added some drops around with my afternoon tea :).

This tile was spilled on the same way (at the same time) as the one above.  I ironed both tiles today, and then chose the second one to tangle on.  Here is what I came up with.

 I decided to tangle only on the "tea painted" parts, and used the tea stains as my string.  It turned out really weird, but I really enjoyed the process.

Stamp Carving: Quarter Repeat

This is the next to the last lesson based on Julie Fei-Fan Balzer's book Carve Stamp Play. :(  I enjoyed it too much!!

Here are the stamps I created for the quarter repeat.  Actually, these were just tests with a cheap eraser I got (that carved like butter!), but since our condo is up for sale all my art stuff was put away (even the little box I had separated to stay) and I have not had time or patience to go to the basement and look for it... these will have to do for now :).

I started out with a very simple one, all it has is a "leaf" shape from one corner to the opposing corner, with 2 squiggly things at each of the other corners.  When you stamp it several times, this is what you get:

Left: just the pattern printed over 5 times across and down
Right: the same piece, after being painted with H2Os and outlined in pen and ink

This pattern is also very simple: a squiggle at opposing corners joining at the center around a circle, and a V at each of the other 2 corners.

Left: stamped 5 times across and 5 times down
Right: after I played with it with H2O's and pen and ink

Earth Day and Cloth Paper Scissors Challenges

Earth Day Challenge - Diva's weekly challenge #164

I'm really enjoying participating in these weekly challenges; it forces me to do something every week, and also post consistently on the blog :).  You can see this week's challenge and all the wonderful submissions from other participants here.

Because the challenge was for Earth Day, I decided to use recycled paper - used tea bags - and because the Earth is round, I went with the round tea bags.  I used Sakura gel pens, Inktense, and colored pencils.

The challenge for me was then to create nature inspired art with tangles.  Some are very obviously organic in nature, but I enjoyed using others which may not be so obvious.  I definitely could keep going, it was so much fun!!!

Top:

• Left - Sedgling Forest
• Center - Angel Fish Tree
• Right - Isochor Flowering Trees

Center:

• Left - 'Nzeppel Flowers
• Center - Rain trees
• Right - Tipple, Printemps, Amaze, and Flux Mountains 

Bottom:

• Left - Aura-Leah Plant
• Center - Flux Plant
• Right - Eke Plant

Cloth Paper Scissors Magazine Reader Challenge

Cloth Paper Scissors is one of my favorite magazines; I absolutely love it.  Last year they had a challenge to create a mixed-media stitched square (6" x 6" - around 15 x 15 cm).  I decided to enter and submitted my piece below, which was then published in the January/February 2014 issue.

So, here is the finished piece and some of the in-progress pictures.  I hope you enjoy them.

Finished Piece

Finished Piece - close-up

Background - started with a piece of my husband's old jeans
and layered old book pages, stamped and drawn-on tea bags, gesso, and inks. 

Drew and stitched a tree, and then started adding flowers

Close up of the tree branches and flowers

In the end I added more color with Inktense as you can see in the finished piece and stitched it to a piece of felt.

It was so much fun to open up the magazine and see my art in it :)