Elijah

Today I got to see the most amazing thing. . . a baby making his very first appearance on this planet. I knew my sister-in-law was going to give birth today, but I did not expect to be able to be in the room when it happened. Initially it was just going to be her and her husband, but in the craziness of it all she changed her mind and I got to stay! If she didn't mind, there was no way I was gonna pass this up!  It was the most precious experience. I have a kid myself, but it's so different to be on the other side of it all. Life is such an amazing thing. 

Welcome Elijah!

There is nothing more creative...

...did you ever have that feeling?

...did you ever have that feeling?

22x28" 

acryic

This painting is about, exactly what it looks like. When I was a kid, I used to be extremely afraid of the shadows on my wall. I always had a night light in my room, thinking that would help with the creepiness of night. Now that I'm older I realized, that might of made it worse with all the shadows it produced!

Here's the original sketch. 

When I drew this I was sick with a wicked cough. I think I had it for a month at that point and it was terrible! So at the time, I pretended the monster was the terrible cough that wouldn't leave me!

Don't you think it's strange that I've been reading?

"Don't you think it's strange that I've been reading?"

16x20

acrylic on canvas

This painting is directly inspired by the lyrics of a song called "Eating a Book" by the band He is Legend. The first verse goes:

There's a monster in my room, we discussed movies over coffee
And I think it's quite absurd
Well, he got hungry, licked his lips, he shook my hand, and tried to eat me.
And it's getting on my nerves

My son Dustin really loved this song, so for Christmas I decided to do a painting about the song that features him! The painting also includes a delicious coffee cake that Dustin makes from time to time, and our very own Iron Maiden coffee mug. 

Here's a video I found on youtube featuring the song I spoke of. The video itself is not by the actual band though...entertaining none the less!

Heheheeee!!

Heghege!, originally uploaded by asdfjesskl.

This was too funny not to share! My son Dustin and his girlfriend Jess were messing around with the webcam. Neko has turned into this mutant flying bunny dog...thing! HA HA!

Cheers!

Scrabble Pendant Tutorial!

Hi everyone! I've had a lot of people ask me how to make my scrabble pendants, so I thought I'd just make a little tutorial for you. It took me quite a while to figure it out myself, gathering bits and pieces of information here and there. This is my first tutorial ever, so I'll give it my best shot!

Here we go!

First I'll go through all the things you'll need.

Scrabble pieces of course! I got mine at the Salvation Army Thrift Store. Make sure the ones you are using are clean. If they have been used a lot, sometimes they have a layer of grime that just won't do!

Jewelry Bails

I got mine off of Ebay, from Art Glass Decor. I use the Large Silver Plated Jewelry Bails.

Diamond Glaze

I also got mine from ebay. I honestly can't remember the exact shop, but if you type in Diamond Glaze you'll find many places to choose from.

Mod Podge

You'll need this to coat your little pictures that go on the scrabble piece. You can get this at any craft store or even Walmart.

Gorilla Super Glue
This is what I've been using lately, but there are plenty of other adhesives that will work. This one dries SUPER quick, so if you need more than a couple seconds to place the bail on, then you might want to go with something that dries slower. Aleene's Platinum Bond 7800 Adhesive works well, but I would let it dry overnight before handeling.

Now that you know what you'll need, on with the actual process.

First you will need your image. I use an HP printer with Vivera ink that is water resistant. If you are not using water resistant ink then you may run into a problem with the next step. A magazine clipping works well too.

Now you're going to give your picture a protective coating of Mod Podge. Starting with the back of your little picture, brush on a thin coat of the Mod Podge and let dry. Repeat for a second coat. After that is completely dry, turn over and repeat!

Now attach your picture to the scrabble piece. Simply brush some Mod Podge on the wood and carefully place the picture on to the tile.

Center the picture and press down all edges. Sometimes I turn the whole thing over and press down onto a clean surface so that it's evenly pressed flat.

Now put one last of coat over the top to seal it onto the wood. Let it dry thoroughly.

Next, starting at any corner, gently squeeze a line of Diamond Glaze around the perimeter of the tile. You may want to get it started by squeezing a bit out on to a paper towel so any bubbles come out first.

Fill in the middle with Diamond Glaze. There will probably be bubbles. Sometimes you can avoid them if you are really careful, but usually there are some you'll just have to deal with.

There will most likely be a bunch of teeny-tiny bubbles. You'll need to be really picky and get them out! Once the glaze dries the bubbles will be way more noticable, so it's very important to get as many out as possible. Taking a tooth-pick, carefully round up the bubbles and pull to a corner. From there you can either pull them out or lift them off.

Let it dry overnight. I would cover it somehow to prevent dust from settling on it.

Now you can attach the bail. Just put a dab of glue on the bail itself and center it on the back of the tile. Let dry for several hours.

Voilà!

Let me know if you have any questions whatsoever!

Of course I have a bunch of these for sale in my Etsy shop featuring my art! They are all made by me and initialed on the back.

Enjoy!

1969

Going back through some of my old paintings, I asked my hubby to pick one for me to write about. Of course he chose probably one of the oldest ones I had in my flip book from 2005!

"1969"

Acrylic on Canvas

This painting I did specifically for the 1st annual Age of Aquarius show here in Butler. I honestly didn't know what to paint so I just surfed the net for some inspiration. I stumbled across this picture of a guy playing guitar labeled "1969." Originally my husband thought it was Bob Dylan but I'm relieved to say it's David Bowie. I'm a way bigger fan of Bowie than I am of Dylan anyway, so this is a good thing. I decided to go with a Warhol-pop art look. Unlike Warhol I did not use silk screening, but just painted it straight up in acrylic. This painting now belongs to my dear friends Dave and Lisa Krack.

Ouch!!

Well kids... I've hurt my back. Bad. I didn't really do anything specifically terrible, so I'm not sure why it is this way. Regardless, my disc is messed up again. I have had this before, and then had surgery. It's been good for the past 4 years, but somehow I've managed to mess it up. I've been unable to stand or sit for any length of time since Saturday. BORING let me tell you! My Chiropractor is working vigorously to fix me, and I have felt some improvement since yesterday. We'll see! Pray that I can get over this quickly and back to life!

I've managed to sketch a few doodles in the meantime. Hey, it's better than nothing! I just like to have /something/ to show for my time! :D

I LOVE cicada shells and woolly bear caterpillars! SO CUTE! This will definitely show up in a painting sometime soon.

The Decemberists

Yesterday I got to see The Decemberists at the Byhame Theater in Pittsburgh! It was amazing. They played their latest album "Hazards of Love" in its entirety, and then another full set of older stuff. Both of their sets were both beautiful and flawless. Worth every penny.

I have a lot to catch up on!

Wow!! I've been crazy busy this summer! There's no way I could write about it all, so I'll just do a little photo essay. ^_^

Hand Drawn Mountains at Cornerstone Festival 2009 - Texas Stage!

Hand Drawn Mountains at Club Cafe- Pittsburgh. We got to play with Those Darlins!

Reach WorkCamp @ Cuyahoga Falls, OH - Crew 8 baby!

And today is. . .

Neko's 1st Birthday! I made him a yummy doggie cake. He loved it!

Honestly, I haven't been able to do any art this summer. I've finally submitted to the fact that I usually take summers off. In years past I didn't mean to, but it just ended up that way. Either way, I'm having an amazing break. Hope you are too!

So, what are YOU doing this summer?