Prayer doodle

I made a table. I made a table. I made a table, hey hey hey.

All I needed was to wait for glue to dry and I got bored and impatient. So, I made a table out of 2x4s. I mean the mitre saw was all talking to me and making sweet noises. What were my idle hands to do?! I had my choice of non-treated wood or I could use the treated wood that was spray painted hot pink. Um, hot pink, por favor.

                                                      come to me, Lauren. I'm waiting...

So I cut out all my little blocks on the saw and then glued them to a piece of plywood in a brick pattern. If you look closely, some of them are a little wonky because the 2x4 was warped towards the end. Whatevs, I dig it just the same.

                             "That looks weird," says someone in the shop. "Just wait," said I.

Then I cut it down to size on the vertical Optisaw. And by "size" I really mean that I just cut it down so it actually had 90degree corners. I'm not really one for measuring things. Then I hit it a bunch with a belt sander so that I could smooth out all the pieces. After that I went down in sandpapers on a hand sander until it was super smooth. And hot. Remember: friction makes things hot (rrrwwwarrrr raawwrr). Finally I capped the ends off with some luan and attached that. You know, for that finished look. I got some shine on it with lacquer and brought it home to bring it all together.

 

On my way home I remembered that I wasn't really bringing home a table, I was bringing home something like a cutting board. I needed legs. I went to the hardware store and found no legs that I liked. Then I put it on Euro2012 highlights and found legs that I liked (mmm soccer boy legs...). Just kidding. So while there and being fussy because I couldn't find anything, I had an ah-ha moment! I have a weird plant thingy outside my door that would be perfect. I hurried home with my table-to-be and tried it out. Then I slapped some of my favorite lime green paint on the edges. Brought her upstairs and put some crap on it to stage this photo:

                                oooooooooooooooooooo! Right? I know. What? Humble brag!

I am so in love with this table that it's not even funny. I love the pink poking through. I love the pattern made with the wood grain. I love my favorite color green. I do not love the fact that in my ah-ha moment at the store I forgot that the plant thingy is unfinished on the top. Meaning that my glorious wood top is just resting on four prongs doo-dahs. So now I just need to figure out a better way to attach it. Otherwise, one big kid 24oz Miller High Life might knock it over. And we don't want that: broken tables and High Life everywhere. Let's look at that wood grain again, eh?

So tomorrow, well tomorrow I have some acrylic stuff to work on. We'll see how that works.

I'm back at my challenges!

Art things:

1. Safari-zetti cards. What!? Safari animals! What?! Make them all kooky and shit? I'm in like Flynn, my friend.

So since these were my first cards I made from a loooooooong art swap break, dare I say: I was excited. I busted out all my paper and my paints and my photos. I must say that I got a little carried away on some of the neon paints that I bought. But hey! The 90's are back and it was all about neon and remembering one important fact: My anaconda don't want none unless you got buns, hon. Wiser words were never uttered, Sir Mix-a-Lot.

2. My old pal, Nan, on AFA hit me up with a challenge: Princess Bride. Say whaaa? To that challenge I said , "Of course!" I set about thinking on mornings in my sheet fort, eating some Lucky Charms, and watching The Princess Bride. I decided for my cards that I wanted to do random characters. Yeah, I could've done Buttercup or Wesley, but why? I love Christopher Guest. BTDubs - someone pointed this out to me:

Ugh, yeah, consider my mind: blown. Anyways. I decided on hand-drawn cards for my favorites characters. Again, that neon paint just sort of came out of nowhere and worked it's way all into my stuff.

I've got some owls to make and a house to build still. Also, I was challenged into some Virgin de Guadalupe cards. Everyone was making me blush on the site so I told them that I was going to get drunk and make some all with my left hand. This is what that kind of art looks like:

Inspiring, I know.

little pieces of paris

i was looking up pin-up girls for the altered pin-up girls swap on AM. i came across this picture of betty page and i think it's hysterical!



these are for an inchie swap with theme of Paris. i made the houses/buildings out of paper from a french textbook. the background are from some paper i got that looks like wallpaper. then i added layers of pastels and watercolors for the buildings and edges. then i painted on the Eiffel towers with acrylic paints. i wanted them to look like film slides from some dreamy movie about Paris.



on AFA, were doing a pick-a-theme postcard swap and one of my swap buddies chose "monochromatic nudes" i came up with this skewed-boob chick based on a painting by Michael Parkes. the nude portion is done in all aquas and lime pastels and some acrylic.

charms, skulls, and windmills

my friend amy on AM and AFA is hosting a "found poetry" swap. the idea is to pick out words from something written and transform them into poetry. about 4 months ago i came across a rural yearbook at the thrift store from 1979. i have cut most of the pictures out of it and was excited to actually use the words. so the "poems" i wrote still sort of have that western, rural feel to them.




this is my promised second set of Day of the Dead cards. these are all down in pastels and acrylics on bright blue and orange card stock. they're a little muted in this scan, but oh well.




i woke up on saturday and wanted to work on something. as i was perusing the AFA threads in search of things i needed to work on or would want to, i came across a charm swap. i've got a box of beads and bangles that i need to go through, so i figured "what the hell?". i made these charms by layering large sequins on a jump ring and then adding a bead and charm that said "inspire" on another. i really liked how they turned out and i'm looking forward to making more in future swaps!

yaaaaawwwwnnn

on AM, my friend Wanda is heading up a new monthly challenge series where we have to either copy, imitate, or tweak a master artist's work. this month is Andy Warhol and i decided to do one of his famous people prints. i was going to copy is "john wayne" but instead i ended up tweaking it because it looks nothing like john wayne.

mine:


warhol's:


uncanny, right?

also, i finally finished my page for the Steampunk Round Robin journal swap i'm in! nick and i were in new orleans on friday for a friend's birthday and needed to kill some time. we went into their barnes and noble and found lots of old books on sale. it seems like a lot of their libraries donate books to them, but whatever happens i was able to score a wonderful book about the 1910s and 1920s and it had loads of photos. i love cheap books with lots of black and whites! so this page is for LandOfNOd's journal:



another monthly challenge on AM is the birds challenge. this month it's an ATC sized piece featuring a peacock. i did a watercolor background and drew the peacock and tree in pencil and pen. it's pretty simple, but i might add some more oompf to it when i get home today.

stuff i've been working on

this is basically going to be a post for me to place pictures of everything i've been working on.

3 zentangles made for the August challenge. i'm not really sure if i follow the rules to zentangles because i make a design/pattern instead of just doodling. oh well!




on AFA, we're working on making an inspirational tag book - basically, everyone submits 13 tags and the hostess is going to make a flag book from them. this is the process she's following i do not envy her having to make so many books! bellow is part of my sets of flags. i'll post pictures of my book when it comes in!




on AM i'm a part of circle journal with a nature theme. this is my first journal swap ever and i'm really excited. this is the first page i've made for it and it's going to my friend Corrie. she requested her pages be 4" x 4" with some chunky things on the right side. i used a couple of things i received in the prize package i received for winning the july art contest. on the back side, i drew some stylized waves and added a hint of color to them.




my friend kati on AFA is doing a part II chunky bird swap, the original swap was held over on AM. i think i made 4 or 5 birds for that swap and i've made 8 for this swap. i can't wait to see the returns i get and then turn my entire set into a garland or a mobile.




Bird Set 2




Day of the Dead ATCs for A.M. - be on the look out for another set for AFA. i can't resist a Day of the Dead swap!




Butterfly Inchies for A.M.

it's an alien! it's a slug! it's my niece/nephew!

my brother and his wife are expecting a baby. he sent me the first sonogram yesterday!!! nick's sister had her second girl last wednesday, making him an uncle twice over. nick is hoping to have a nephew at some point in time. my brother wants boys for now. so here's hoping this little one comes with the right set of parts. :)

postcards postcards postcards

over on amusing muses we had a postcard-a-thon. so from July 31st to Aug 2 we had to make as many postcards as we could with the theme of wings. i made 3 total:







lately, i've been creating basis for my work. normally, i'll draw what i want to do and then paint from there. but i've been experimenting with just drop dots of paint on the paper and smearing it with a piece of cardstock. then i base my image around this. it's a little more organic and adds some depth.

here's some more postcards i made over this past weekend:

k is for koala.


august challenge using the word "map".


thursday trade off using the word "snail"

Matroyshka Doll

so over on amusing muses, i'm hosting my very first swap. i really like the swaps with shapes so i've been racking my brain trying to think of one. then i thought of russian nesting dolls, Matroyshka Dolls. so i decided to do a chunky book with this idea. each artist will make five dolls in different sizes. then when i receive them, i'll swap them back out and everyone will receive a different doll for the 5 different sizes. in order to get people that were on the fence to come on over, i made the largest of my 5. she's made with 140lb water color paper, banana tissue paper, text from a floral book, prisma colors, chalk, pastels, ink, and some brass metallic paint. i'm thrilled with how she turned out!

and some other stuff

some random bits for challenges:

a ring leader for the July ATC hand drawn challenge:
prismacolors and sumi ink



a postcard for the Edgar and Nevermore swap:
acrylics, pastels, and a salvaged Poe stamp from this year

1" x 1" pieces

so i've signed on for numerous inchies lately. why? i have no idea. i like making as much detail in as small of a space as a possible (did that sentence make sense?). i'm trying to get a large enough collection together that i can frame them. here's the ones i've been working on:

Day of the Dead:
made from gold paint, ink, and lots of glitter


Monochromatic Reds:
paints, inks, prismacolors, pink staples, and red light gels


Swamp Houses for the House Swap:
acrylics, silver paint, scrap paper


Monochromatic Greens:
vintage european stamps, acrylics, and glitter

July contest

for the amusing muses July contest, i felt like doing a little space-themed doll. the purple bead attached on the bottom represents the planet/not a planet Pluto. :) every month they put out a new challenge (see my cyclops bunny from May). for this challenge we were given a template with the goddess body shape, a pair of wings, and a mermaid tail. we could use any of the shapes however we felt. i cut out the main body and debated what to do. then i thought: blue. so i painted her as the star field and then cut out and painted all the planets. there's a small bit of craft foamy stuff in between the body and the planets, this way they stand out some. i went over everything and painted gold paint along the body and some detail on the planets. i hate that using a higher resolution on the scanner causes my computer to shut down. 300 just doesn't do it any justice. :(

Doll Babies

last night i finally got pictures of my art dolls. they are all crafted from random bits found around my house and work table. here we go:

Pill Baby


Swatch Baby


RAM Dancer


Stillwell Baby


and for good measure, a random Frida postcard i made today using pencil, ink, and crayons.

mmm... beef

last night, nick and i came up with our weekly menu. what we pretty much do is go online and research recipes on food network based on our favorites: ina garten, paula dean, and bobby flay. then we figure out what we have at the house and build a grocery list around what we don't have. pretty simple. it saves us money and we both really enjoy cooking.

lately, i've been making things that haven't been so great. nick's liked them, but not me. so last night i decided i wasn't going to make something crappy and i pulled out paula dean's beef stroganoff recipe. damn. it was really really good.

here it is:


Ingredients

* 1 1/2 pounds cubed round steak, cut into thin strips
* House Seasoning, recipe follows
* All-purpose flour
* 2 tablespoons olive oil
* 2 tablespoons butter
* 1 medium onion, sliced
* 8 ounces fresh mushrooms, sliced
* 1 (10 3/4-ounce) can beef broth
* 1 (10 3/4-ounce) can cream of mushroom soup
* Salt and black pepper
* 1 cup sour cream
* Cooked egg noodles

Directions

Season the steak strips with House Seasoning, then dust with flour. In a large skillet, quickly brown them on both sides in the olive oil and butter. Remove the steak from the pan. Add the onion slices and mushrooms to the pan drippings. Saute for a few minutes, until the onion is tender. Sprinkle with 1 teaspoon flour. Put the steak back into the pan with the onion and mushrooms. Add the mushroom soup and beef broth. Cook over low heat for about 30 minutes, covered. Adjust seasoning to taste, adding salt and pepper, as needed. Stir in the sour cream the last few minutes, right before you serve. Serve over cooked noodles.
House Seasoning:

* 1 cup salt
* 1/4 cup black pepper
* 1/4 cup garlic powder

Mix the ingredients together and store in an airtight container for up to 6 months.

Yields: 1 1/2 cups

blah monday

i spent my monday at work making this. now my hand hurts.

brain yoga

so today has become the unofficial Doodle Day! in celebration i drew up some Zentangles. now i think it's a bit taboo to refer to them as doodles, but i'm not sure. supposedly they're just supposed to help relax and refocus the brain (aka brain yoga). so here's what i made up today:



i am bit bummed about my scanner. the backgrounds are actually colored in with yellow highlighter - so in real life, these things are super bright and there's a lot of contrast. the bulb card actually looks like some sort of mod fabric. i wish it was because i'd make a skirt out of it.

orange!

today i felt like making 1" x 1" orange flowers. why? who knows these things.