tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2454349901460257472024-02-07T13:04:01.739-05:00Art by Loreen LeedyCombining colors, lines, shapes, and textures to inspire a new perspectiveAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02783236322334230920noreply@blogger.comBlogger138125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-245434990146025747.post-15675997735880890002015-08-17T10:52:00.000-04:002015-08-17T10:52:10.562-04:00Testing, testing...to further one's art<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
It's tempting to dive into art supplies and just start creating willy-nilly. And if that works for you, by all means do it. For me, it has often led to frustration and an awful feeling of utter failure...not to be melodramatic or anything. The sage advice to make value plans, color studies, technique samples, and so on has not been my usual procedure. Now that I'm back in art school (the home school variety) for the last few months, my studio contains a growing pile of test pieces. </div>
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The general goal is to figure out a way to combine drawing, painting, and fabric to make artwork using reality as a jumping off point for improvisation.</div>
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Making color charts has been very useful. This one is for my stash of Neocolor 2 water-soluble wax crayons. Other media that can work with fabric with varying results include Inktense pencils, water soluble colored pencils, acrylic paints and inks, pastels, and so on.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgP66VbGN-ujvWi0Ws8sPQ7R6VveKiHQR5gfmLXI5Lzfnht-PI9zGkh9H3I-3RgMrVPp-FZbnuBN1lxssgvP8u3eHD9UYqgG9SgMiSMX5rdaQ7LsJDQAgsk9gB726O2S9ayM48jKm0JGh9y/s640/blogger-image-1927689089.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgP66VbGN-ujvWi0Ws8sPQ7R6VveKiHQR5gfmLXI5Lzfnht-PI9zGkh9H3I-3RgMrVPp-FZbnuBN1lxssgvP8u3eHD9UYqgG9SgMiSMX5rdaQ7LsJDQAgsk9gB726O2S9ayM48jKm0JGh9y/s640/blogger-image-1927689089.jpg" /></a></div>
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Here are a bunch of samples...don't like most of these except the close up of the jaguar eye. One of the criteria beside my liking how something looks is was it fun to do? There's no point in coming up with an approach that is totally tedious, for example, given my attention span. Yet, I'm also not interested in something that looks like it took five minutes and demonstrates little skill.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfZXUFJdYzA6ktPuJXlCg1HCoGdtEWkm-1xO0NrRG-ehCuuelyqTWpP7loo-AzQl34sM1NPF2sWR5vQnhQ-fg72GAYWebIDfw1q5LMk0Ip_Kun6li8qDW33IqaX96m9Azw7pqi-OdpsQLv/s640/blogger-image--38094325.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfZXUFJdYzA6ktPuJXlCg1HCoGdtEWkm-1xO0NrRG-ehCuuelyqTWpP7loo-AzQl34sM1NPF2sWR5vQnhQ-fg72GAYWebIDfw1q5LMk0Ip_Kun6li8qDW33IqaX96m9Azw7pqi-OdpsQLv/s640/blogger-image--38094325.jpg" /></a></div>
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Another batch, am liking these better. In general some samples utilize Lutradur (non-woven polyester), some are typical quilting cottons, also have experimented with paper laminated onto fabric. Some are collaged with acrylic gel onto panel, others are sewn together like a quilt. Re the quilted ones, I've decided the "puffy" look is not working so instead of cotton batting have tried felt, interfacing, and (my current favorite) flannel.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwbdrW_T3HRepa58hv45LwQYWZA_ihnK2ieDenedtFW0KBJIErxN5YqG3gXcGEvPaYcgXWe9OLugH_jTqEwzhnl0xB8Lii_NnZUVg-mvxFvsHynuPz54bvbjUONCU-TIkw2b5xquMdk3lG/s640/blogger-image--1321766899.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwbdrW_T3HRepa58hv45LwQYWZA_ihnK2ieDenedtFW0KBJIErxN5YqG3gXcGEvPaYcgXWe9OLugH_jTqEwzhnl0xB8Lii_NnZUVg-mvxFvsHynuPz54bvbjUONCU-TIkw2b5xquMdk3lG/s640/blogger-image--1321766899.jpg" /></a></div>
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An important factor has been to be as open-minded as possible and question every assumption about what my art can/should be, what materials to use, and what form will it take. I've made a lot of progress but as always am impatient to get on with it and just make art. </div>
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There does happen to be a piece in progress that I'm excited about, so if it doesn't get permanently mired in the proverbial ugly phase, it will appear in this blog soon. Happy creating!</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02783236322334230920noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-245434990146025747.post-1029956535992073632014-11-09T09:47:00.002-05:002014-11-10T05:48:51.311-05:00Pumpkin Art Quilt Demo<div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">© 2014 Loreen Leedy</td></tr>
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While browsing for produce in my favorite store in early October, I rounded a corner and found heaps of bright orange pumpkins. It was a striking display and later I couldn't resist making one with fabric. In addition to using paint, the idea was to render the pumpkin without laboriously cutting fabric shapes to create the image...but how?</div>
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A orangy yellowy batik with leaves seemed like a good starting point. This is actually the reverse with some of the paint showing through but it gives the general idea. Some reference photos helped with making a same-size sketch on tracing paper. I lightly drew it on the fabric with a white chalk pencil (or possibly regular school chalk, can't recall.)<br />
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The scribbly pencil lines on the the right side of the sketch are where the darker values will go. </div>
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Rectangular chunks of fabric were arranged either randomly or with some values placed with the light source from the upper left. The rectangles were glue-basted in place. Then the lines were painted with black acrylic using a pointed round brush. The acrylic bled a bit on some of the fabrics but it was in keeping with the casual look. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_rA5aJsx39s_nOnVFCnULZa3r9ocbqsJH_ndARqmPM8-iYs8jBnUochkHEBBNZGZQx1E45096RA73D9uD5P0kjNdu5YOCrdPM8WbFwu3zLoHOl7E43hHuKV2D1GCsmnarNDAkkd23Nse0/s640/blogger-image--28363305.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_rA5aJsx39s_nOnVFCnULZa3r9ocbqsJH_ndARqmPM8-iYs8jBnUochkHEBBNZGZQx1E45096RA73D9uD5P0kjNdu5YOCrdPM8WbFwu3zLoHOl7E43hHuKV2D1GCsmnarNDAkkd23Nse0/s640/blogger-image--28363305.jpg" /></a></div>
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In order to separate the pumpkin from the background, acrylic paint was applied. First the black lines were masked off with torn-edged paper tape. It's a low-tack white paper tape, no idea if it's still being sold (this stuff has been rattling around in my studio for YEARS.) In any case, it worked well to protect the line work. The paint was applied with a scrunched up piece of waxed paper, which gives a nice random texture. <span style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969);">The pumpkin gained a cream-colored "glow" and a plum shadow.</span><span style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969);"> It looks good but another time I may skip that step.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHRoiW8HtmorEkSpqpDWqNd7SFPvIin9CtMxE94VMQcCbqWeczSrTGLYPU2LxMRohUCe1-IlWsCNzDSbTYl3ScrYpBz1rLs7ygh4hsxhC5kzxDkQq3blRptInWCIn92wIC-ktp5XLRCM4T/s640/blogger-image-1743097845.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHRoiW8HtmorEkSpqpDWqNd7SFPvIin9CtMxE94VMQcCbqWeczSrTGLYPU2LxMRohUCe1-IlWsCNzDSbTYl3ScrYpBz1rLs7ygh4hsxhC5kzxDkQq3blRptInWCIn92wIC-ktp5XLRCM4T/s640/blogger-image-1743097845.jpg" /></a></div>
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With the mask removed, the emerging pumpkin requested a few more chunks of fabric. The edge of striped fabric at the bottom was tinted orange and the stem got some brown lines. Love the stripes. Stripes make me happy!</div>
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It's always helpful to desaturate a photo to look at the art in grayscale to determine if there is enough contrast. Looked good to me.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwigwCkSrIWj8Dha3OwEoPSV5UuCw97D5-MaSglZEAiDkyZ4VKD57pC7QbIrGpoCjO8ja9CDBDdOuJi2NGvrlczO7NLn7x8YbfMZNYr4waaRa9MUge4t1t6gio3u-83jiO2vqiXGAgmwb3/s640/blogger-image--1776446658.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwigwCkSrIWj8Dha3OwEoPSV5UuCw97D5-MaSglZEAiDkyZ4VKD57pC7QbIrGpoCjO8ja9CDBDdOuJi2NGvrlczO7NLn7x8YbfMZNYr4waaRa9MUge4t1t6gio3u-83jiO2vqiXGAgmwb3/s640/blogger-image--1776446658.jpg" /></a></div>
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Batting and a backing were pinned to the top for the quilting stage. In order to preserve the irregular blocky edges, the stitches stop about a half inch from the edges. The stitching consists of free-motion straight and zigzag stitches, mostly. I haven't decided how to mount this yet...on a stretched canvas? On a plain quilted support?<br />
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The balance of realism and abstraction works as I had hoped in this piece, which is nice. One minor complaint is that the style of the line work is somewhat old-fashioned...perhaps "retro" is a more positive way to look at it. Being hypercritical of lines is an occupational hazard of being an illustrator, alas. Also, the bluish chunks look a little out of place. There are some blue tones in the thread but from a distance that doesn't show. Then again, maybe it would be boring without the blue. If I really wanted to it would be fairly easy to cover up the blue with different fabric, but it's not bothering me enough at this point.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4cGalcYm1bjkK841EI2XqPQxeYlqKfWImsAKtaqtMTpi0oyxiorL0blCo88K8wM535_52wJ4lyi5ajCsPNtMxMnuOyJauqPNhf7ANG5q6bqmGPBGY-_zHmzEaebzHPWYAyI_FwfqdFKT6/s640/blogger-image-1679305042.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4cGalcYm1bjkK841EI2XqPQxeYlqKfWImsAKtaqtMTpi0oyxiorL0blCo88K8wM535_52wJ4lyi5ajCsPNtMxMnuOyJauqPNhf7ANG5q6bqmGPBGY-_zHmzEaebzHPWYAyI_FwfqdFKT6/s640/blogger-image-1679305042.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">© 2014 Loreen Leedy</td></tr>
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So that's the story of this pumpkin, hope you enjoyed it!<br />
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Loreen</div>
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<a href="http://www.loreenleedy.com/index.html" target="_blank">my web site</a></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02783236322334230920noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-245434990146025747.post-82797728267786001292014-10-27T13:43:00.001-04:002014-10-27T15:22:52.864-04:00Fruit Frieze Art Quilt, Step-by-StepThis space above the kitchen windows has been calling for artwork ever since we moved here...has it really been almost 11 years?!?<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3UrMR485jqfgdPn6fVx1DGYlun19_9t2NZnOKDTfWBCVhymYv7TwbTH7ECUinoZ2XAoDX85B2Hwl60hs6O0qp7A-cCKrtNIZ4eLkuURiBjOtRlb-m6_oFijlnfKsmj7JSAF84DO6NZKcn/s640/blogger-image-239364815.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3UrMR485jqfgdPn6fVx1DGYlun19_9t2NZnOKDTfWBCVhymYv7TwbTH7ECUinoZ2XAoDX85B2Hwl60hs6O0qp7A-cCKrtNIZ4eLkuURiBjOtRlb-m6_oFijlnfKsmj7JSAF84DO6NZKcn/s640/blogger-image-239364815.jpg" /></a></div>
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The vintage 70s-era stained glass chandelier provided the fruit theme so next I made a sketch </div>
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The fruit is big and cropped along the top and bottom to fill the art with a variety of colors. The original concept was to make several individual pieces mounted on canvas. After thinking about it, one wide, continuous banner made more sense. I taped together pieces of tracing paper along a long hallway and drew the fruit freehand.</div>
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Next the background pieces in medium and light tones of cyan blues were overlapped about a 1/4 inch and sewed onto the batting and backing. All of the fabric except the binding is left raw-edged, by the way. I transferred the tracing paper sketch using white Saral paper and blue removable pen, then painted the black outlines with acrylic paint. Painting directly is a tad nerve-wracking, as you can imagine. Then I washed on the basic colors of the fruit, often thin enough to allow some of the blue background fabrics to come through.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUvnoRppe92Nk3YBtoQVCdmufQ46Q4sGfUa0-DFC1R9Z7AuRMQPmv7Om_LtpO0BAR1FINNhrTkBuy7vvGa0noVUmc67hRGYUdhNt1CBB7Gls5IZWKZwfIlDz5_-iRsGdpbQdBhBEnLem8I/s640/blogger-image--152409062.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUvnoRppe92Nk3YBtoQVCdmufQ46Q4sGfUa0-DFC1R9Z7AuRMQPmv7Om_LtpO0BAR1FINNhrTkBuy7vvGa0noVUmc67hRGYUdhNt1CBB7Gls5IZWKZwfIlDz5_-iRsGdpbQdBhBEnLem8I/s640/blogger-image--152409062.jpg" /></a></div>
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Because the piece was so wide (over 8 feet), it had to be rolled up and worked on in segments, starting on the left edge. There actually is a countertop in the room that would have been long enough but for reasons that escape me now, I didn't use it. Too much clutter, no doubt.</div>
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This middle section shows the red apple, bananas, and a peek of the strawberries after being painted then additional fabric added. To keep the fabric pieces in place I use thin basting glue, not fusible. Fusible is good on occasion but can be overkill and kind of a pain, what with the accidental ironing on the wrong side, etc.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgafPG0jv_kbHxEzL3ONnvbWH2jn1DQ__DwJmXPgP7sf7P7usSno0o6zACAEgBAN3t9v4ysNHjGIFugIlnSza-cKRqAarqdfX8QsMJZ3enzkqJyn5LeSRxAbKJGQPp0fsVd9_mCo7G2skIV/s640/blogger-image--622713843.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgafPG0jv_kbHxEzL3ONnvbWH2jn1DQ__DwJmXPgP7sf7P7usSno0o6zACAEgBAN3t9v4ysNHjGIFugIlnSza-cKRqAarqdfX8QsMJZ3enzkqJyn5LeSRxAbKJGQPp0fsVd9_mCo7G2skIV/s640/blogger-image--622713843.jpg" /></a></div>
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Here is the apple close up. Hope these photos are okay...they were taken with my iPad, which is not very high-res. Some machine quilting is visible plus some hand-stitching with perle cotton.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiw2DhYo0pbfWzYTv_LNx1JmLIb-rIjO3MLP9qo2yVCJdUrXN-8gkARm_zEl2sTgrpStQjrXZ-WT38c5phxElNq_luD5JvbelORTonVIV1Z24903z2_9inSBeG9BmD3YGbTbljhehKCiWb6/s640/blogger-image-962800376.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiw2DhYo0pbfWzYTv_LNx1JmLIb-rIjO3MLP9qo2yVCJdUrXN-8gkARm_zEl2sTgrpStQjrXZ-WT38c5phxElNq_luD5JvbelORTonVIV1Z24903z2_9inSBeG9BmD3YGbTbljhehKCiWb6/s640/blogger-image-962800376.jpg" /></a></div>
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The binding is made with various black on black fabrics. It was tough to photograph the whole frieze in place because of the lighting but this should give a reasonable idea. The vivid colors are a big improvement for the decor. The quilt has two sleeves on back with a break in the middle to leave space for a third nail. I used a piece of wood molding for hanging but it's not quite thin enough and causes a minor bulge. The plan is to replace the wood with aluminum bars which have been sitting in the garage for a month or two or three...</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirfvz_zOeUdlinwXDjKXTXT6ZO06W38rLWBltqO3HKEPJLmX7fzUGuLGOgJtIU64XsFhTtVIN8W4Lvl9YCWokf0Pm7lPjf6MIlPqopfkLpuC6n-DJ6kHIoRfciSnCwT4D5v2FCVY8xiG0T/s640/blogger-image--1039286383.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirfvz_zOeUdlinwXDjKXTXT6ZO06W38rLWBltqO3HKEPJLmX7fzUGuLGOgJtIU64XsFhTtVIN8W4Lvl9YCWokf0Pm7lPjf6MIlPqopfkLpuC6n-DJ6kHIoRfciSnCwT4D5v2FCVY8xiG0T/s640/blogger-image--1039286383.jpg" /></a></div>
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Here's another, rather extreme angle.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEje3jgJjPsrC8ESyPnLIxDSraF-HkTiMjOorwhPjRnCgrzMKsF_y5f6B_yg5k6r74-2prDIKuUz0nIHO7B5pal3jSFAMSmgYeNLObq6y7tO1LTCyEGAw6JATLRrfdzM-6f34RSMeMKS1BXl/s640/blogger-image--979166008.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEje3jgJjPsrC8ESyPnLIxDSraF-HkTiMjOorwhPjRnCgrzMKsF_y5f6B_yg5k6r74-2prDIKuUz0nIHO7B5pal3jSFAMSmgYeNLObq6y7tO1LTCyEGAw6JATLRrfdzM-6f34RSMeMKS1BXl/s640/blogger-image--979166008.jpg" /></a></div>
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I'm happy with it and particularly like the plaid and checked fabrics. One thing that slipped my mind was the shrinkage caused by machine quilting. The width is about a half inch less on each end than I had planned, but nobody would know that. Except you, so please don't tell.</div>
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Some of my longtime readers may have wondered what happened to me since there have been no posts on this blog for three years. The main reason has been too many things to do and not enough time and energy to keep up with everything. So no worries, and I hope your artistic endeavors are going well. </div>
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If you have any fruit-themed art you'd like to share, please feel free to post a link in the comments.</div>
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Loreen</div>
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<a href="http://www.loreenleedy.com/index.html" target="_blank">My web site</a></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02783236322334230920noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-245434990146025747.post-59699175592950537272011-07-26T12:25:00.001-04:002011-07-26T12:27:14.266-04:00The 2012 Quilting Arts Calendars are in!<div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
They came in the mail recently and look wonderful. The animal theme inspired beautiful work...check out <i>Miss Isabella</i>, by Jill Packer:<img height="450" id="il_fi" src="http://www.quiltingdaily.com/resized-image.ashx/__size/550x0/__key/CommunityServer.Blogs.Components.WeblogFiles/ellen/0602.IM0018.jpg" style="padding-bottom: 8px; padding-right: 8px; padding-top: 8px;" width="450" /><br />My grey fox is the December image and can be seen <a href="http://studioloreen.blogspot.com/2011/02/what-is-my-2012-calendar-animal-you-ask.html">in this post</a>. The calendars are $14.95 and can be ordered from t<a href="http://www.interweavestore.com/More/Calendars/Quilting-Arts-2012-Calendar.html">he Interweave online store</a>. <br /><br /><span id="goog_1223262892"></span><span id="goog_1223262893"></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02783236322334230920noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-245434990146025747.post-5402578236385450972011-05-30T14:35:00.000-04:002011-05-30T14:35:35.664-04:00Uzu: an amazing art + mesmerization app<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdDzKQlLA85_nWe7xyUSyj1-8hzMoeUPzM7ZP37ucMNrNG8BSH86q6CF6pTJYXaBxtAHw_IXwVcHL0JtOuXk50j19f5Ikr3_c7Ej50XkNKPxX77eItCsJqxQJwOhDAkchJbNl-9vBoplHM/s1600/uzu-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdDzKQlLA85_nWe7xyUSyj1-8hzMoeUPzM7ZP37ucMNrNG8BSH86q6CF6pTJYXaBxtAHw_IXwVcHL0JtOuXk50j19f5Ikr3_c7Ej50XkNKPxX77eItCsJqxQJwOhDAkchJbNl-9vBoplHM/s400/uzu-1.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">What is this gorgeous image, you ask? It’s a screenshot from an app called Uzu, <a href="http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/uzu/id376551723?mt=8">available on the iTunes store</a>. It’s only $1.99 and has already provided hours of enjoyment for me and anyone else that wanders by. It’s hard to describe how it works, so check out this video:</span><br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="314" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/etEqfBrVp1w?rel=0" width="500"></iframe><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Here are a couple more images I’ve swirled into existence:</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgsXoGb15Chuto0VPY2U-0iF02A41EAbuXpqkgb9LULmUdt8-BGCB411hCFDFnvDB3yw5-_aSQZzvDe0ncAt8gsydVhRLQ3tzKUywq1jZdpe48W_VsNbKzt8EJ4eI_eS-Qqz8e8FK-lvFi/s1600/uzu-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgsXoGb15Chuto0VPY2U-0iF02A41EAbuXpqkgb9LULmUdt8-BGCB411hCFDFnvDB3yw5-_aSQZzvDe0ncAt8gsydVhRLQ3tzKUywq1jZdpe48W_VsNbKzt8EJ4eI_eS-Qqz8e8FK-lvFi/s320/uzu-2.jpg" width="313" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJ6_WNW_nE9jnuTFAhDeISAoBROREZ-qHltx7qhyphenhyphenidQn1x4p6SpTFgafUvBkPnVtqHpjvMVI7Y23E06Zhov_UAXn0cE_Z_qtooASzD1tkrfIJ2NXjlfUPN5XDINsmOqxMmFAKXWYHsNJv2/s1600/uzu-3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="293" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJ6_WNW_nE9jnuTFAhDeISAoBROREZ-qHltx7qhyphenhyphenidQn1x4p6SpTFgafUvBkPnVtqHpjvMVI7Y23E06Zhov_UAXn0cE_Z_qtooASzD1tkrfIJ2NXjlfUPN5XDINsmOqxMmFAKXWYHsNJv2/s320/uzu-3.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I’m almost finished with a picture book called SEEING SYMMETRY plus I bought an iPad 2 last month...that’s how I ended up with the Uzu app. By adjusting the controls, you can get the image to freeze when you take your fingers off the screen. It’s one of those apps you just have to get your hands on to see what it’s really like. <br />
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The images often have a textile-like quality... depending on the options you choose, they may consist of thin lines that look similar to thread. At other times there are little dots or wider strips that move, pulsate, explode, and otherwise dance along with your finger movements. Enjoy!</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02783236322334230920noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-245434990146025747.post-73115087188279819472011-04-01T15:59:00.000-04:002011-04-01T15:59:46.478-04:00A quick Adobe Illustrator Live Trace tutorial<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiR_frQX03mGZaVHwUv4DUe6yMSwFfJ5vVlCbw8BHosCgxUSgt7yCeMpB6dFCmBrxUNM2jqs4T3aWadK00QqtP4FAwFRp9mC7GF-lreM_eVNKgmvIcjbWYMgTr26GHmqzBx9wHMxcohl5U/s1600/joyce-ink.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiR_frQX03mGZaVHwUv4DUe6yMSwFfJ5vVlCbw8BHosCgxUSgt7yCeMpB6dFCmBrxUNM2jqs4T3aWadK00QqtP4FAwFRp9mC7GF-lreM_eVNKgmvIcjbWYMgTr26GHmqzBx9wHMxcohl5U/s400/joyce-ink.jpg" width="202" /></a></div><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">My uber-talented artist friend <a href="http://www.joyceshelton.typepad.com/">Joyce Shelton</a> asked me about using the Live Trace feature in Adobe Illustrator. Thought I knew how to do it... ummm... now I do! It allows you to convert a scanned drawing to vector lines. There are many advantages to vector art, one being that you can enlarge it basically infinitely without losing any resolution. So let’s use some of Joyce’s art to see how it’s done:<br />
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Her original was drawn with ink, but a pencil drawing is okay, too.<br />
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Scan art into Photoshop or similar program with 300 ppi resolution. The scan Joyce sent me was actually too low res, but it worked anyway.<br />
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If artwork is in pencil or otherwise lacking in contrast, use Levels to make it more black and white without losing too much detail. Save in psd, jpeg, or tiff format (others may work, but I haven’t checked them all.)<br />
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In Illustrator, open a new document and use File> Place to get the pixel artwork in there. If for some reason that doesn’t work, use Select All, then Copy (in Photoshop) and Paste into Illustrator.<br />
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Use the black arrow tool to select the artwork if it isn’t already. Go to Object> Live Trace > Options and a dialog box will open.<br />
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Put a check in the Preview box (on the right side in CS4, anyway). Tweak the various controls while looking at the image, which will update as you change the settings. Here are the settings I used:</span><br />
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Note that the Ignore White box is checked. This way you don't get all the white paper turned into shapes, which are a royal pain to get rid of.</span><br style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;" /><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
Once you get the settings the way you want them, you <i style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">can</i><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> save as a Preset to use it every time, if desired. Even so, you might have to tweak the settings for each drawing.</span><br style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;" /> </span><br style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;" /><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Click on Trace and dialog box will close. Go to Object> Expand and the artwork is now all converted to paths.</span><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> </span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">If desired, you can adjust the lines with the various tools in Illustrator.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpkxHs-jeRuyv3eJAJPjP_h0mL066sba2eOektbgIrN31k9lqUHWGWGfS0TEciNtABra5GZZ7ZdG5o5RQR4qr7IKbUCKhn1tO6dT_Ne0YGKa5xqumRDRCzSpEGFPZw1kq7IjVe5UYsj8hj/s1600/joyce-final+lines.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpkxHs-jeRuyv3eJAJPjP_h0mL066sba2eOektbgIrN31k9lqUHWGWGfS0TEciNtABra5GZZ7ZdG5o5RQR4qr7IKbUCKhn1tO6dT_Ne0YGKa5xqumRDRCzSpEGFPZw1kq7IjVe5UYsj8hj/s320/joyce-final+lines.jpg" width="303" /></a><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> </span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">By default, the black lines are all Grouped so when you select a part with the black arrow, the whole thing is selected.</span><br style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;" /> <span style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
Copy and Paste into Photoshop. Select Paste as Pixels then hit Return to complete the Paste. If desired, add color in Photoshop.</span><br style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;" /> <br style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;" /> <span style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The image shows a detail of the converted artwork, with yellow behind it so you can see the white is gone. It doesn’t give an exact copy of the original line work, but it looks pretty good, and is much, much faster than trying to draw similar artwork from scratch in Illustrator.<br />
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Hope this makes sense, let me know if you have any questions. Happy Live Tracing!</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02783236322334230920noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-245434990146025747.post-68497650604248265522011-03-18T13:10:00.002-04:002011-03-18T20:26:46.198-04:00Book reviews: art quilts, bead embroidery, making glass beads<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJefdxa4Q1m45D2Eu1E6gAtAJSL4VoqO8LBh94bRpsXge-5ELs94ebshiScPOw2-ctqHEnrm-Pyd8ebsxhbZbYZKcWMIVFZ3MTA-oknGPfrLPt58EGnEdJO8JdNZymJuJHvuCMu_pWamam/s1600/12X12.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJefdxa4Q1m45D2Eu1E6gAtAJSL4VoqO8LBh94bRpsXge-5ELs94ebshiScPOw2-ctqHEnrm-Pyd8ebsxhbZbYZKcWMIVFZ3MTA-oknGPfrLPt58EGnEdJO8JdNZymJuJHvuCMu_pWamam/s320/12X12.jpg" width="248" /></a></div><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">It’s long past time to catch up on some book reviews, so without further ado:</span><br />
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><i>Twelve by twelve</i> is a beautifully designed book that arose from a challenge group of a dozen artists who created one 12" X 12" art quilt every two months over a two year period (Thanks to Gerrie Congdon for straightening me out on the time factor). The themes varied from Water to Shelter to Mathematics.<br />
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There are comments from each artist, detailed photographs, works in progress, studios to see, discussions of techniques, and much more in this 176-page book. As you can see by the cover image, some of the quilts have non-objective imagery, many are abstract, some are more realistic.<br />
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I’ve made a few quilts this size for the Quilting Arts calendar contests and for auctions to benefit SAQA and it is a good size to work with. However, making the commitment to creating so many so consistently is way beyond me... hats off to these artists for getting it done!<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiO7hJv0EeGqjPDKBgW35dHt-BC9ofmUdzNYsRxRS_fCYBBgiERPqptFw8QUdXIZ_F7xWJ_H1g087fR-Mutg0aBlmnekOCMW_gE4JVv6jF5xMGwMMC1YmSkMlmzfJnxIbDtbCaPObnaW3vZ/s1600/Serafini.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiO7hJv0EeGqjPDKBgW35dHt-BC9ofmUdzNYsRxRS_fCYBBgiERPqptFw8QUdXIZ_F7xWJ_H1g087fR-Mutg0aBlmnekOCMW_gE4JVv6jF5xMGwMMC1YmSkMlmzfJnxIbDtbCaPObnaW3vZ/s1600/Serafini.jpg" /></a></div><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">My only complaint about <i>Sherry Serafini’s Sensational Bead Embroidery</i> is that the cover image doesn’t begin to do justice to this artist’s glorious work. It's an odd view of a bracelet and all that darkness looks gloomy, while her beaded pieces are a delight to the eye. Check out <a href="http://www.serafinibeadedjewelry.com/">her web site</a> to get an idea. And don't miss <a href="http://www.serafinibeadedjewelry.com/handbags.php">her handbags</a>, they are amazing.<br />
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I’ve been a fan of Sherry’s (along with a zillion other beaders) for years, mostly from seeing her work in <i>Bead & Button</i> magazine. Have only attempted some small pieces, but love the technique. It allows you to turn humble seed beads along with a few stones, jewels, or Scrabble tiles into gorgeous one-of-a-kind colorful, textured jewelry.<br />
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There are 25 projects in this book with clear directions and supply lists and good closeups of the beaded earrings, brooches, rings, bracelets, and necklaces that show the details. There are projects for all levels of experience.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgswTM5IHcC00cBvslBG33EXY7NM6FHBZbl0FMOBTAE6M_SNxbkc0lQVbYDLZuaYhyphenhyphenzLOgt15LFwIM-1ngQmi8SndkrZyKt5yI9FHcjt6YaqA-SgFdfBRRv7UEqcdQ2EyKV6IIE6nRaRUCM/s1600/CreatingGlassBeads.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgswTM5IHcC00cBvslBG33EXY7NM6FHBZbl0FMOBTAE6M_SNxbkc0lQVbYDLZuaYhyphenhyphenzLOgt15LFwIM-1ngQmi8SndkrZyKt5yI9FHcjt6YaqA-SgFdfBRRv7UEqcdQ2EyKV6IIE6nRaRUCM/s1600/CreatingGlassBeads.jpg" /></a></div><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><i>Creating Glass Beads</i> by Jeri L. Warhaftig is designed as an intermediate level workshop, so beginners should probably start elsewhere. However, the tools and materials for the craft are well covered. Each “session” takes the reader through the process of making a project such as a pendant with gold leaf, an eye bead, and an intriguing combo of glass and silver “clay.” At the end of each session are numerous examples made by students plus a gallery of other professional artists’ beads made with similar techniques. <br />
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Making glass beads is a craft I admire but have avoided due to the use of actual <span style="color: red;">*fire*</span>...but if I ever dare to try it this book will be an excellent guide to exploring different techniques. After learning the basics from a very patient teacher, first.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">It’s been fun being on Lark Crafts reviewer list, they publish some very inspiring books!</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02783236322334230920noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-245434990146025747.post-31089492832664477682011-02-15T12:02:00.002-05:002011-02-16T09:03:41.635-05:00What is my 2012 calendar animal, you ask?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaiN7c_ynXXPH_Orday4-lg9jvRaM4V_Tc7HrRbfo3mJ8yybbOzSPLOEqPDoDUjGyKqdtYGv5ct0J439roYkZ7gNxpg4SykBedJRDjWoQan3rFPmJg0OfgU_h2lFiT89Nmsho2o-RD5XlB/s1600/f-eye-left.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaiN7c_ynXXPH_Orday4-lg9jvRaM4V_Tc7HrRbfo3mJ8yybbOzSPLOEqPDoDUjGyKqdtYGv5ct0J439roYkZ7gNxpg4SykBedJRDjWoQan3rFPmJg0OfgU_h2lFiT89Nmsho2o-RD5XlB/s200/f-eye-left.jpg" width="140" /></a></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">My entry was accepted into the 2012 Quilting Arts calendar, so WOOHOO! There has been a hilarious debate on my Facebook page about what animal it is based on only a section of the face. It’s been a good example of the power of the human mind to extrapolate on available information. Guesses for the image shown at left have ranged from <i>lion</i> to <i>bloodhound</i> to <i>monkey</i> to <i>horse</i> to <i>bunny</i> to <i>goat</i> to <i>llama</i> to <i>emu</i> to <i>owl</i>, and even <i>pig</i> or <i>elephant</i>! Then there was <i>prairie dog</i>, but that was a joke (I think!)<br />
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The closest guess (without hints) was <i>wolf</i>. But it’s not a wolf.<br />
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Without any further ado, here is <i>Cautious</i>:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhajvEc1J1XRrIfqVJbiFV5jaaSljggW5KXMaYaSZgLiPBKL0V-sWZrN05Wyy0PtzAeV00zUDZFfXHKO12s87OfmSxYGWRmiwlBUKFWNiWiXUYWzPdaochT1ByXhx4ynFi6xY-ni_4UaGII/s1600/Fox-full.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="398" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhajvEc1J1XRrIfqVJbiFV5jaaSljggW5KXMaYaSZgLiPBKL0V-sWZrN05Wyy0PtzAeV00zUDZFfXHKO12s87OfmSxYGWRmiwlBUKFWNiWiXUYWzPdaochT1ByXhx4ynFi6xY-ni_4UaGII/s400/Fox-full.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">It’s an animal that I’ve never seen before in person, but one day this little gray fox was investigating our bird-feeding station, and by sheer chance I happened to look out the window. The fox’s coat was beautifully glossy, and it had a full, bushy tail. The neck and ears were reddish, the rest was silvery gray. After grabbing my camera and snapping a few photos, I tapped on the glass and got this view. One of the fun characteristics I found out while doing research about gray foxes (but not red foxes) is that they like to climb trees!</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Here is my <a href="http://studioloreen.blogspot.com/2011/01/watercolor-pencils-on-fabric.html">post about making this artwork</a>. And <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gray_fox">this Wikipedia page</a> has some nice photos of gray foxes and more info.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7m_6FOiY_yOwf502yToiu84gHno8-MTBCIFcf9iptT_u00MQRiz85cWPzxfQpyExkrywgww6WIBHDFiUshIndCs0SO403ISg944CDmaTr5jyIj7qFuShPiIYOsfBvmKp5RYatZfLcdqc6/s1600/fallsig.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7m_6FOiY_yOwf502yToiu84gHno8-MTBCIFcf9iptT_u00MQRiz85cWPzxfQpyExkrywgww6WIBHDFiUshIndCs0SO403ISg944CDmaTr5jyIj7qFuShPiIYOsfBvmKp5RYatZfLcdqc6/s1600/fallsig.jpg" /></a></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
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</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02783236322334230920noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-245434990146025747.post-44769343629440381162011-01-21T15:35:00.001-05:002011-02-15T07:49:58.466-05:002012 Calendar<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvELlNG2CPo0GSsr7Q5i84cUEqGsOpMGfJXjsRywXRjYv_XmE8J0QwscjoUwBASB40T4HsxY-DqAUnKE5APo-R6fQy6H2jB_AIncN92FkrC09g81e1hf4r722yfIkdNw0W4-elnJm45UcC/s1600/f-eye-left.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvELlNG2CPo0GSsr7Q5i84cUEqGsOpMGfJXjsRywXRjYv_XmE8J0QwscjoUwBASB40T4HsxY-DqAUnKE5APo-R6fQy6H2jB_AIncN92FkrC09g81e1hf4r722yfIkdNw0W4-elnJm45UcC/s320/f-eye-left.jpg" width="225" /></a></div><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Woohoo, I'm happy to say that my entry has made it to the finalist stage. Showed my critter’s right eye l<a href="http://studioloreen.blogspot.com/2011/01/watercolor-pencils-on-fabric.html">ast time</a>, so here’s the left. Guess I’d better sew that sleeve on now...<br />
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Update February 14: It’s in the calendar...so yay!</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoNeIjgz-2hGB_eLnkaSfOwFm-y-UiOJSCx1X7J9BytK6dRgdSmSVTJlXvEhOj7ouTo59W-ZC6Fhw5IlydbaXwspwZMRmgfIx0oDawxsynrIHWayoW_1yPT67dzQG0H-E6C2img8pJKnnV/s1600/fallsig.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoNeIjgz-2hGB_eLnkaSfOwFm-y-UiOJSCx1X7J9BytK6dRgdSmSVTJlXvEhOj7ouTo59W-ZC6Fhw5IlydbaXwspwZMRmgfIx0oDawxsynrIHWayoW_1yPT67dzQG0H-E6C2img8pJKnnV/s1600/fallsig.jpg" /></a></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02783236322334230920noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-245434990146025747.post-44373504723412161752011-01-08T10:28:00.002-05:002011-01-08T10:36:37.007-05:00Watercolor pencils on fabric<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-429EVn78hSzSn_dRyrv5nsF2cchyWfwH6XYVUjJ0PWuBPLVrd5d6LPLhSS_CvpgyNipJgqHI-L5Ec3i0hyphenhypheno6BM78stfav0KXYGgKN3_Zmm77wef2hVBSVCkafxmaxwWI0Rwgd3Kd7DJ1/s1600/f-eye.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="197" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-429EVn78hSzSn_dRyrv5nsF2cchyWfwH6XYVUjJ0PWuBPLVrd5d6LPLhSS_CvpgyNipJgqHI-L5Ec3i0hyphenhypheno6BM78stfav0KXYGgKN3_Zmm77wef2hVBSVCkafxmaxwWI0Rwgd3Kd7DJ1/s320/f-eye.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">My first completed project this year is for the 2012 Quilting Arts Calendar... might as well try for three years in a row! The theme is Feeling Pet-ty, in other words <b>animals</b>, a lifelong favorite subject of mine. The previous entries had fairly bright colors but the subject this time called for a much more subdued palette. I had not used watercolor pencils on fabric before, but because they are transparent and the idea was to allow the patterning on the fabric to show through, wc pencils had potential.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlfxkZAOL19VakYAK2LR9su63MjbpO0Ogty12XB6m0R80CbtXbQ4u4xibkkejOLPMpaG_dNSqWLERn2YqLHQFd3HQ24ebd7Zp8EhJKOdANUBtmFSUIX104zPRnK8UAEJES7hVhYNRPZ1jb/s1600/watercolor-pencils.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlfxkZAOL19VakYAK2LR9su63MjbpO0Ogty12XB6m0R80CbtXbQ4u4xibkkejOLPMpaG_dNSqWLERn2YqLHQFd3HQ24ebd7Zp8EhJKOdANUBtmFSUIX104zPRnK8UAEJES7hVhYNRPZ1jb/s320/watercolor-pencils.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizMN-66vmV3q1OeLXh5XOCPZFfyywSi9IC_wZxtOVhVuvziAGX5GvfwjMo9lrzDND2ktSbQLbfRI88UfljtBzyM4b4Vr8ozkumgOuS713MBsWyKvOMJAAQjVO92y0yTgOCaW101tsgk_rq/s1600/watercolor-pencil-detail.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizMN-66vmV3q1OeLXh5XOCPZFfyywSi9IC_wZxtOVhVuvziAGX5GvfwjMo9lrzDND2ktSbQLbfRI88UfljtBzyM4b4Vr8ozkumgOuS713MBsWyKvOMJAAQjVO92y0yTgOCaW101tsgk_rq/s320/watercolor-pencil-detail.jpg" width="169" /></a></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">First, a little organizing was in order. These pencils date from a book project eons ago and were scattered about in various nooks and crannies of my studio. After corraling them into a semblance of order, a coloring chart became essential because of the nature of wc pencils. It’s very hard to tell just looking at the pencil what color it really is.</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">As you can see on the left, the colors change drastically when water is added. </div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Because I was not going to use plain white fabric, the pencils would be interacting with the underlying color and/or pattern. The fabric needed to represent the fur of my critter, without getting literal, necessarily. Below are the four contenders:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjasxW6icSRZGpG4onc48WmueI6GlFFvBnmBsqq3egqygs8tkpAyrldGq_mYQFQ7VU6PMYHs3sROdSozLZ1mFl51sQj67J-Oc1SKA1aEkLZ3rTbKNUTkhG3xCO7phs6WrLgGx_FfFT4DeF0/s1600/f-fabrics.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="142" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjasxW6icSRZGpG4onc48WmueI6GlFFvBnmBsqq3egqygs8tkpAyrldGq_mYQFQ7VU6PMYHs3sROdSozLZ1mFl51sQj67J-Oc1SKA1aEkLZ3rTbKNUTkhG3xCO7phs6WrLgGx_FfFT4DeF0/s400/f-fabrics.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The one on the left was a possibility, the next one was too spotty, the next one too contrasty... the one on the right with it’s pattern of leafy, woodsy imagery seemed most promising. So, I scribbled on some colors (below) and brushed over them over with water. So good so far, time to jump right in.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDI8JhvCV-ryZ04tjmAbo0Sidd8UFN3A0fosLQQiWnUUdEneerhwY7m7-2QO45D360UOYKSmZNEqziNTEeRoZrF7Bp0H3CbsZpiRCXVudsC2ESO1_4yYCPi2XdIrdUfb1fnp8dzjCa6HEG/s1600/f-fabric-test.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="177" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDI8JhvCV-ryZ04tjmAbo0Sidd8UFN3A0fosLQQiWnUUdEneerhwY7m7-2QO45D360UOYKSmZNEqziNTEeRoZrF7Bp0H3CbsZpiRCXVudsC2ESO1_4yYCPi2XdIrdUfb1fnp8dzjCa6HEG/s400/f-fabric-test.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The sketch was done in Photoshop, won’t get into the details of that now. Once it was printed out, I redrew it onto tracing paper. Someone had asked me awhile ago about my unusual method of transferring sketches, so here are some photos. The tracing paper sketch is on top, and I just draw directly on the fabric underneath. The pencil point is visible through the tracing paper.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQwSoPaSJnMwZ_x-9PK6hJvXpEVKo-LW84yWovqRU53pN213_URnDk3DrWSDUDAqvaAbC-V1ePvegOzK0JeVtZilx5zBSoffx82JeF7XKSRNSKV22EO1MKFvHzHVgl_P9itio5f3w6zrSq/s1600/f-transfer.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQwSoPaSJnMwZ_x-9PK6hJvXpEVKo-LW84yWovqRU53pN213_URnDk3DrWSDUDAqvaAbC-V1ePvegOzK0JeVtZilx5zBSoffx82JeF7XKSRNSKV22EO1MKFvHzHVgl_P9itio5f3w6zrSq/s320/f-transfer.jpg" width="249" /></a></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I roll back the tracing paper often to see how it’s looking.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-f7pKRiB8rxkzNsqNAKKYz8bgvflcvtW6OZUAk0DhpB85T_fhHRdwF1ASIi9K79vYC_MqpRdS9LGbWRakeFG-pgtSPKf5EljVRVS_J9sFloAMQdEPegHqLdc3R6uBwNQ5_5VRuVqEYUWn/s1600/f-transfer-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-f7pKRiB8rxkzNsqNAKKYz8bgvflcvtW6OZUAk0DhpB85T_fhHRdwF1ASIi9K79vYC_MqpRdS9LGbWRakeFG-pgtSPKf5EljVRVS_J9sFloAMQdEPegHqLdc3R6uBwNQ5_5VRuVqEYUWn/s320/f-transfer-2.jpg" width="253" /></a></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Also, it’s easy to see through the tracing paper where the pencil is because it is darker.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEin9OgABYcnHkOnGztq1yyqaYU9rFYl2HcKLi-eaT2eeKMQF8OTs8VJx8fjPrIG-Czx-iqiQAKDE9SJTa0udYnnu2Kpx_Gho3oXDgsVsDV8_Bhq_oQNXFSZbMTQ00ErjDx1ISS7WIkBHknJ/s1600/f-transfer-3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="191" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEin9OgABYcnHkOnGztq1yyqaYU9rFYl2HcKLi-eaT2eeKMQF8OTs8VJx8fjPrIG-Czx-iqiQAKDE9SJTa0udYnnu2Kpx_Gho3oXDgsVsDV8_Bhq_oQNXFSZbMTQ00ErjDx1ISS7WIkBHknJ/s320/f-transfer-3.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">This method isn’t suitable in every situation, but because I was using a dark wc pencil and a thick line, it worked fine. Why not use transfer paper such as Saral? I do on many occasions, but this works just as well for me and there are no worries about a Saral line ending up in the wrong place and being tough to remove. How about a light box? That’s a good option if the base material is see-through enough. But, if you’re transferring a sketch to primed canvas (for example), a light box won’t work.</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Below is the colored line before and after being washed over with water. Quite a difference! You can always add additional layers of the pencil, if needed, after the fabric is dry. Or, you can use the pencil on wet fabric, which really lays down pigment but may be a tad less controlled. By the way, in this case the amount of water being added is just sufficient to melt the wc pencil, not saturate the surrounding area.</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2XKRNj2fpTdKTRddTGvDvUMC4o7E-bjosj58xUCXa9Fp9spln4X0XCFt14toRwjelLdVCKTMLNQihlXX-hNMRwQC9vzAB9TJfeHE-MPxYQZSljbklpshg5VEgN4JHxdwRmwicOsMWDw40/s1600/f-water.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2XKRNj2fpTdKTRddTGvDvUMC4o7E-bjosj58xUCXa9Fp9spln4X0XCFt14toRwjelLdVCKTMLNQihlXX-hNMRwQC9vzAB9TJfeHE-MPxYQZSljbklpshg5VEgN4JHxdwRmwicOsMWDw40/s320/f-water.jpg" width="145" /></a></div><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">How about setting the wc pencil? I tried ironing it, which didn't seem to do anything much. A wet tissue dabbed onto the pencil work is an easy test of whether the pigment is set or not. Painting on thinned acrylic gel, textile medium, or Jacquard colorless extender (</span><a href="http://sandraleichner.com/wordpress/colored-pencil-applique-tutorial/" style="color: blue; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">tutorial with wax pencils here</a><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">) probably would have worked but since quite a bit of the image was involved, there was too much territory to cover. Instead, it was sprayed with two coats of Claybord matte fixative. This is the main fixative I use, because it has a relatively low odor that dissipates quickly. As you can see from the eye detail at the top of this post, there was another whole layer of stitching to add, so I didn’t want pigment from the pencils to get all over the threads or have to keep smelling a noxious odor. The other advantage is that is doesn’t stiffen the fabric much, if at all.</span><br />
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</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The watercolor pencils gave me the soft look I wanted, so that was the main thing. Wondering what this animal is? If it doesn’t get into the calendar, I’ll reveal all in a couple of months. If it does get in, I’ll post more about this project closer to the calendar’s release date.</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Happy New Year, everyone!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoNeIjgz-2hGB_eLnkaSfOwFm-y-UiOJSCx1X7J9BytK6dRgdSmSVTJlXvEhOj7ouTo59W-ZC6Fhw5IlydbaXwspwZMRmgfIx0oDawxsynrIHWayoW_1yPT67dzQG0H-E6C2img8pJKnnV/s1600/fallsig.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoNeIjgz-2hGB_eLnkaSfOwFm-y-UiOJSCx1X7J9BytK6dRgdSmSVTJlXvEhOj7ouTo59W-ZC6Fhw5IlydbaXwspwZMRmgfIx0oDawxsynrIHWayoW_1yPT67dzQG0H-E6C2img8pJKnnV/s1600/fallsig.jpg" /></a></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
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</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02783236322334230920noreply@blogger.com17tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-245434990146025747.post-78084446533758712702010-12-01T09:21:00.000-05:002010-12-01T09:21:06.649-05:00Inspired Ideas: The Christmas Issue<div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><i>Inspired Ideas</i> is an online ezine I just found out about via <a href="http://dulemba.blogspot.com/2010/11/inspired-ideas-by-amy-powers.html">Elizabeth Dulemba’s blog</a>. It has 168 pages plus an appendix... <a href="http://inspireco.blogspot.com/2010/11/inspired-ideas-christmas-issue.html" style="color: blue;">click here to check it out</a><span style="color: blue;">:</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3IR3g_G81fjfaoBHFfvObdauDuEdvKAugvuqgMGWk5s8ISdhWpAuSkzA5wvGlBDCsUcL8P3OYf5ptEPdB0DmnbvcTJdKVZOhamT2uJa2tXixBM5aR8VDS6E38-iG_E3b3EHxvJc6T7zLj/s1600/christmascover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3IR3g_G81fjfaoBHFfvObdauDuEdvKAugvuqgMGWk5s8ISdhWpAuSkzA5wvGlBDCsUcL8P3OYf5ptEPdB0DmnbvcTJdKVZOhamT2uJa2tXixBM5aR8VDS6E38-iG_E3b3EHxvJc6T7zLj/s1600/christmascover.jpg" /></a></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">It’s full of creative and unusual craft projects such as a Christmas village made of recycled cereal boxes, a yarn ball wreath, cookie cutter jewelry designed by a gallery of crafters, artists, and bloggers including Mary Engelbreit. The brainchild of Amy Powers, it is an impressive example of innovative publishing... and it’s <span style="font-size: large;"><b style="color: red;">free!</b></span></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Happy browsing!</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheN9uylxSq5oTfJxfRavg495UaVd_kZQNfjMK7h1rtGyHPEvQ15S0ZA09PcCiz7LI9nWM2GGFHNKZmWA30XXhbsvgbXZlAdwO00jqq0R8vqvQO10ZxvCc7t-Ph-NEdDJvGb5FGnIDTRh_R/s1600/fallsig.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheN9uylxSq5oTfJxfRavg495UaVd_kZQNfjMK7h1rtGyHPEvQ15S0ZA09PcCiz7LI9nWM2GGFHNKZmWA30XXhbsvgbXZlAdwO00jqq0R8vqvQO10ZxvCc7t-Ph-NEdDJvGb5FGnIDTRh_R/s1600/fallsig.jpg" /></a></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02783236322334230920noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-245434990146025747.post-38085916434236120332010-11-27T09:56:00.000-05:002010-11-27T09:56:05.640-05:00Whimsical bird in progress<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg76sqd6BZseSgH5CYGu71tUROyoaTyrWc3zrcsCql_L3EuI4yDZzYA204fstuT0Kfkdjc0327w7ZZZ7CjPKkA25ouPK_5-fhktQ3WHqDgw2SnKLvh6LE5uMeDx_1AUl-_a1tGozEUq2sMQ/s1600/bird-sketch.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="318" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg76sqd6BZseSgH5CYGu71tUROyoaTyrWc3zrcsCql_L3EuI4yDZzYA204fstuT0Kfkdjc0327w7ZZZ7CjPKkA25ouPK_5-fhktQ3WHqDgw2SnKLvh6LE5uMeDx_1AUl-_a1tGozEUq2sMQ/s320/bird-sketch.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">It’s been awhile since I’ve posted about the <a href="http://studioloreen.blogspot.com/search/label/LIQ">LIQ project </a>but never fear, progress is being made ever so slowwwwly. Above is the rough sketch of the bird drawn in Photoshop for size and placement in the larger scene... the plan is to refine her when the bird is actually constructed. Sometimes I make a very precise sketch but in this case it seemed reasonable to wing it (pun intended.)</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijPSojR_XyA113fWdWKC1sKvtvftya2N9jEZEdxt-Dkm4S-kuPWh7x0uvRuy5iV065XEOSs9MRtBdd6CgqDNZ-2jjJyestr3_KKp_I8uW8vjTYv84B1VD4juFys2I8cAL1N5tuYq8pwNAU/s1600/bird-test.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="358" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijPSojR_XyA113fWdWKC1sKvtvftya2N9jEZEdxt-Dkm4S-kuPWh7x0uvRuy5iV065XEOSs9MRtBdd6CgqDNZ-2jjJyestr3_KKp_I8uW8vjTYv84B1VD4juFys2I8cAL1N5tuYq8pwNAU/s400/bird-test.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">My original theory was that the bird would be some shade of blue with a red belly, but a dotted violet, orange paisley, and black on black fabrics ended up working out best. You have to keep an open mind! I first tried matching orange and violet points on the wings and tail, but didn’t quite look right.</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZps27k_-8haqRLktPrq_uXGBinoQIsg0qASEG2TXxh2BLGUIRB2qrzBbtWeSXDZwvg_ODEkYCqNsKRdQgHWXokqt7IACqlyVJj43iu1EPJL9YfdS8_LY59YSAbGtPOKJpQfSIoHCdTAiu/s1600/bird-test2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="216" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZps27k_-8haqRLktPrq_uXGBinoQIsg0qASEG2TXxh2BLGUIRB2qrzBbtWeSXDZwvg_ODEkYCqNsKRdQgHWXokqt7IACqlyVJj43iu1EPJL9YfdS8_LY59YSAbGtPOKJpQfSIoHCdTAiu/s400/bird-test2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The striped fabric seen above right had the violet and orange in it plus some other colors that added interest. For the legs (below), I wrapped gold ribbon around black rickrack. The feet are made of interfacing painted with gold metallic acrylic paint. This photo shows more of a bronze color, but the gold ended up working better.</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9cPwWekXRyMoIeN9ggFllF8-UUuj7uM3Kv_V0_dnDSyxaf_hHiTUwjVVHPc-b5J_rOpaRqe9vbrO4lINhkQhIG6d4SqTUP8pqXeE58DWZqC75GqJ8xi5WoZZLJvJOGJ8Pvx6D32p0gicc/s1600/bird-legs.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9cPwWekXRyMoIeN9ggFllF8-UUuj7uM3Kv_V0_dnDSyxaf_hHiTUwjVVHPc-b5J_rOpaRqe9vbrO4lINhkQhIG6d4SqTUP8pqXeE58DWZqC75GqJ8xi5WoZZLJvJOGJ8Pvx6D32p0gicc/s400/bird-legs.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">After gluing on the points, I machine embroidered the wings and tail. They are attached at their bases, but left free on the tips to give more dimension. I had sewn the body to the quilted background with a machine zigzag stitch, then remembered there was supposed to be a “swish” behind the bird...oops! </span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXq1sp2Oi7Os5i9YKS2LcQPZL2dV6BcaW-3IQIEKggcWjBw7cVsCgrVjT2K2aMDww2kdf0Hs4O0HAKJXlZ8vaA0_rY2vMGp1DUEUYIZ4jicYmkKV1K2o4yxzHC8WPlvcM64JZahyphenhyphen7oIyz7/s1600/bird-fixing.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="353" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXq1sp2Oi7Os5i9YKS2LcQPZL2dV6BcaW-3IQIEKggcWjBw7cVsCgrVjT2K2aMDww2kdf0Hs4O0HAKJXlZ8vaA0_rY2vMGp1DUEUYIZ4jicYmkKV1K2o4yxzHC8WPlvcM64JZahyphenhyphen7oIyz7/s400/bird-fixing.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">So I ripped out part of the stitching, put the light blue swish under the body, then restitched it. Some simple free-motion-quilting was done on the body, a beak and bead eyeball was added, plus some beads along her belly.</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiR5e2J8GVC8nH2f2AR6FjFEoiL7o2tOcswPVMwd9jWo_EPnd3-pZWLtovIGNjH15lllvgwY6tvYQ8VuP9c7uv9WJqrjJWQC227o4deI5j_ctr0TxG-mGu5EKfbzQgkPZLWgLAWp0MBb0qN/s1600/bird-final.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="398" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiR5e2J8GVC8nH2f2AR6FjFEoiL7o2tOcswPVMwd9jWo_EPnd3-pZWLtovIGNjH15lllvgwY6tvYQ8VuP9c7uv9WJqrjJWQC227o4deI5j_ctr0TxG-mGu5EKfbzQgkPZLWgLAWp0MBb0qN/s400/bird-final.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">She’s carrying a piece of fabric back to her nest, in case anyone is wondering.</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiylUtRFnmZYg8zJ_ASYc_uV_SQlNmLj5BjBxi8EYyaXBLBiSyAPxfYEHQ0L_rl4CiEFrOMIosq3AHXqP1ES9WrY338wLlbFUZpego-gDuQLNYERGz5KY6duiD7Ro2oCy6i2VdCOgVNqY4U/s1600/fallsig.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiylUtRFnmZYg8zJ_ASYc_uV_SQlNmLj5BjBxi8EYyaXBLBiSyAPxfYEHQ0L_rl4CiEFrOMIosq3AHXqP1ES9WrY338wLlbFUZpego-gDuQLNYERGz5KY6duiD7Ro2oCy6i2VdCOgVNqY4U/s1600/fallsig.jpg" /></a></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02783236322334230920noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-245434990146025747.post-4906056273748573062010-10-26T11:36:00.001-04:002010-10-26T11:37:23.848-04:00Home at last<div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Here is how <i>A Free Spirit</i> (on the right) looks in his new home in New Zealand:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEik18atUGcLv8eDciD0nZ_uPNtrX2sTDs25FF8upmUe5RqG5C481loHozzN6m7t418C6fm9itgVHjwZsKupsqTsKM59u2X6GTMF7nh9xBmkhi5aFQSimsMZhHN024xfoqeDSuXYGxSLHRYj/s1600/wolf-wall.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="210" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEik18atUGcLv8eDciD0nZ_uPNtrX2sTDs25FF8upmUe5RqG5C481loHozzN6m7t418C6fm9itgVHjwZsKupsqTsKM59u2X6GTMF7nh9xBmkhi5aFQSimsMZhHN024xfoqeDSuXYGxSLHRYj/s400/wolf-wall.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Love the two images together...many thanks to Julia Arden for sending this photo!</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The previous posts about how this mini-quilt was made are <a href="http://studioloreen.blogspot.com/2010/05/wild-times-in-studio.html">here</a> and <a href="http://studioloreen.blogspot.com/2010/05/ta-dahthe-finished-wolf.html">here</a>.</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoNeIjgz-2hGB_eLnkaSfOwFm-y-UiOJSCx1X7J9BytK6dRgdSmSVTJlXvEhOj7ouTo59W-ZC6Fhw5IlydbaXwspwZMRmgfIx0oDawxsynrIHWayoW_1yPT67dzQG0H-E6C2img8pJKnnV/s1600/fallsig.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoNeIjgz-2hGB_eLnkaSfOwFm-y-UiOJSCx1X7J9BytK6dRgdSmSVTJlXvEhOj7ouTo59W-ZC6Fhw5IlydbaXwspwZMRmgfIx0oDawxsynrIHWayoW_1yPT67dzQG0H-E6C2img8pJKnnV/s1600/fallsig.jpg" /></a></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02783236322334230920noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-245434990146025747.post-71081765861259589092010-10-13T11:00:00.000-04:002010-10-13T11:00:00.767-04:00Pine in progress<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiT-DqMf2ramJfP8lbdeehif8EHnuPkmI9Cy5qNtUTyvOBrijCDipZmUwm0kwP8TEKU2CFhzno2PgJzrzwpWNphoP-YQAznvxzQ_V3IDj7UcWp_y_ZEnMRJbkciWk4C7kZvk19AHLVEGpUd/s1600/pine-photo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiT-DqMf2ramJfP8lbdeehif8EHnuPkmI9Cy5qNtUTyvOBrijCDipZmUwm0kwP8TEKU2CFhzno2PgJzrzwpWNphoP-YQAznvxzQ_V3IDj7UcWp_y_ZEnMRJbkciWk4C7kZvk19AHLVEGpUd/s320/pine-photo.jpg" width="245" /></a></div><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I’ve been wanting to depict this pine tree on our street for a long time, so it’s nice to finally get going on it. The photo is a nice start but I’m going to leave out the distracting trees behind it and tweak the colors. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Here is the sketch on tracing paper, not too detailed but gets the idea across:</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEYEKuQ4OZ-Rd9AdCunBPoLdQugqksQvUrOrDuzL0sFrecfLH3aNs94EV8FQTKQqBy8_-fXEHkLZJnmDVnXD0mXmTiDPp82cULi5iZgQj8ouxnMwfaaYcUWyCt59kifv7ooZkwkEdRluzm/s1600/pine-sketch.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEYEKuQ4OZ-Rd9AdCunBPoLdQugqksQvUrOrDuzL0sFrecfLH3aNs94EV8FQTKQqBy8_-fXEHkLZJnmDVnXD0mXmTiDPp82cULi5iZgQj8ouxnMwfaaYcUWyCt59kifv7ooZkwkEdRluzm/s320/pine-sketch.jpg" width="256" /></a></div><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> </span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I started with a plain piece of some generic white cotton fabric, then globbed a lot of acrylic paint onto a silicone-treated sheet, one of the ones made for </span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">ironing </span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">appliqué. I folded over the sheet a few times, added more paint, etc. then laid the white fabric on it and pressed down.</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9olhoOGqmhl0IrJJsdtEoR-p0jcpHtOm6InNr-8c8Mmzb2IQ-4y388aUvMD76JvzXOOVZ4hvbMazYDj1mVLE3f60CrxGWmQ0Bqjz1ov281lncxEiDDxV4LTPNyP5jYKGJQq8SypEYzC57/s1600/pine-background-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9olhoOGqmhl0IrJJsdtEoR-p0jcpHtOm6InNr-8c8Mmzb2IQ-4y388aUvMD76JvzXOOVZ4hvbMazYDj1mVLE3f60CrxGWmQ0Bqjz1ov281lncxEiDDxV4LTPNyP5jYKGJQq8SypEYzC57/s320/pine-background-1.jpg" width="249" /></a></div><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">This is interesting, but is too dark and contrasty, so the next step (after letting it dry thoroughly) was to brush over some lighter, semi-opaque paint. I also added some metallic copper paint. This is more like it:</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiug9tv7yN-5gzGhQrbRTnKlLRfrRP4Pxmj5BcQdFj8YL1EzKLzCm7R52wPkdwJ1CprTt4Y4tqo9dpfpJ2ePzZx1t7MOpj-f-sDDjry7Z76sjDBuuczMDMAPgV_z21bNofMdNAhbHi6oTn4/s1600/pine-background-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiug9tv7yN-5gzGhQrbRTnKlLRfrRP4Pxmj5BcQdFj8YL1EzKLzCm7R52wPkdwJ1CprTt4Y4tqo9dpfpJ2ePzZx1t7MOpj-f-sDDjry7Z76sjDBuuczMDMAPgV_z21bNofMdNAhbHi6oTn4/s320/pine-background-2.jpg" width="252" /></a></div><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Here is a close-up of the painted background:</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyEmXXOJ1B6qO1sfgUzeOBQRim33uZif6XmuOdakIv-dKsRlTC4sdsBI83sU69kvkhNTCq0rmA72i4LP1dSQe3uslmZVNhcV3g8wgYrN8YzESJmIM3SI_o3CdNx8dQpXvKPKfMW3bKJHYJ/s1600/pine-background-detail.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="145" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyEmXXOJ1B6qO1sfgUzeOBQRim33uZif6XmuOdakIv-dKsRlTC4sdsBI83sU69kvkhNTCq0rmA72i4LP1dSQe3uslmZVNhcV3g8wgYrN8YzESJmIM3SI_o3CdNx8dQpXvKPKfMW3bKJHYJ/s320/pine-background-detail.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Acrylic gel was used to adhere the fabric to a stretched canvas, then it was allowed to dry.</span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> (Note: if I was going to go in a more quilty direction, I would skip that step.) </span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Next I transferred the sketch by using my weird method of taping the sketch over the canvas and drawing underneath it onto the canvas with a watercolor pencil. Next, the outlines of the tree were painted on:</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjb341RLsDVSnZGYRUTDnUrNDAnnyV3q04TGMPz-sNBU56QeWxO7EJTxu-2mRXnJO6elSbg2JFTFpuS2uHC918657gQC9f7ECoRg-_zARy5hlNIOpD6t9C8Hgbr7mw1sajICcj0iR8hajah/s1600/pine-sketched.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjb341RLsDVSnZGYRUTDnUrNDAnnyV3q04TGMPz-sNBU56QeWxO7EJTxu-2mRXnJO6elSbg2JFTFpuS2uHC918657gQC9f7ECoRg-_zARy5hlNIOpD6t9C8Hgbr7mw1sajICcj0iR8hajah/s320/pine-sketched.jpg" width="252" /></a></div><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I plan to paint in some color then use a few if the collage papers <a href="http://studioloreen.blogspot.com/2010/09/goodies-in-mail-and-made-in-studio.html">shown in this post</a> to complete the tree. But, we’ll see what actually happens!</span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheN9uylxSq5oTfJxfRavg495UaVd_kZQNfjMK7h1rtGyHPEvQ15S0ZA09PcCiz7LI9nWM2GGFHNKZmWA30XXhbsvgbXZlAdwO00jqq0R8vqvQO10ZxvCc7t-Ph-NEdDJvGb5FGnIDTRh_R/s1600/fallsig.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheN9uylxSq5oTfJxfRavg495UaVd_kZQNfjMK7h1rtGyHPEvQ15S0ZA09PcCiz7LI9nWM2GGFHNKZmWA30XXhbsvgbXZlAdwO00jqq0R8vqvQO10ZxvCc7t-Ph-NEdDJvGb5FGnIDTRh_R/s1600/fallsig.jpg" /></a></div><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02783236322334230920noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-245434990146025747.post-38956005412206250362010-09-30T10:24:00.001-04:002010-09-30T10:32:41.182-04:00Tag Galaxy... a fabulous way to find images<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Do you need reference photos and/or inspiration? The <a href="http://taggalaxy.de/">Tag Galaxy</a> image search system has been around for a year or two, but I just heard about it. You enter a <b>tag</b> (i.e. search term) such as <b>quilts</b> and a solar system appears:</span></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNhkSHQeTj0q87UjlSWmTte_daDOQw46In7exgIW3kQH9SbzbeatG2AoBs3_FxWe9HRJJVLeJNQGi2cGaFxq0BX35uvnlxfnd3KCyIBxn2oigf0WvcDWolcdQlXs1aDv2OvH3bdaZRG7pO/s1600/tag1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="268" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNhkSHQeTj0q87UjlSWmTte_daDOQw46In7exgIW3kQH9SbzbeatG2AoBs3_FxWe9HRJJVLeJNQGi2cGaFxq0BX35uvnlxfnd3KCyIBxn2oigf0WvcDWolcdQlXs1aDv2OvH3bdaZRG7pO/s400/tag1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The main term <b>quilt</b> is on the Sun, while related terms such as <b>fabric</b>, <b>sewing</b>, and <b>patchwork</b> orbit around it. When you click on the Sun, images start flying in from all sides:</span></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDAb8SHkC5_DyjylmrnM-G59w0OQ7e0DdWyAjdy1idFEnjD6nU9s6UHwHYE7ZUcYTHWkOAYodkRzOk_8uVTkhOvOrQch1U9O09bJ6HAmgJitwaaUMwujdmNhOMKJzRFPcf6q34tsLcFAX3/s1600/tag2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="356" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDAb8SHkC5_DyjylmrnM-G59w0OQ7e0DdWyAjdy1idFEnjD6nU9s6UHwHYE7ZUcYTHWkOAYodkRzOk_8uVTkhOvOrQch1U9O09bJ6HAmgJitwaaUMwujdmNhOMKJzRFPcf6q34tsLcFAX3/s400/tag2.jpg" width="400" /> </a> </div><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> The images are photographs coming from Flicker that have been tagged with the word <b>quilt</b>, apparently. Once they have arranged themselves into a sphere...</span></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCudtf4gU8nmEFRe6u4aVMU7pF5jMPqatVxB71gcsvNNlCLvoINXGyhOfv39ON630dhI8ub8Tpl6B7o8H0J3tW5a1hDmUEvKjs78xm7VZTV-zy1WlE34KJHr15uqcL-RQEPwHgvfKgDHE7/s1600/tag3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="397" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCudtf4gU8nmEFRe6u4aVMU7pF5jMPqatVxB71gcsvNNlCLvoINXGyhOfv39ON630dhI8ub8Tpl6B7o8H0J3tW5a1hDmUEvKjs78xm7VZTV-zy1WlE34KJHr15uqcL-RQEPwHgvfKgDHE7/s400/tag3.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> you can rotate it up, down, and around to see the images on all sides. If you want to zoom in on one photo, just click on it...</span></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaOz2CrzANBHLoAtHOG3zi0CFKNIZ11bD3UTDhQqr5QYE3DShvYEBdnXGFaVJEJL_lq9zYhGsZ_OR0v9i-QqWOsG1Qx564YIHVeDx7E7zLRt0Hv6775gvwtcoYIUxwHiBtcEVJ69y0wrkp/s1600/tag4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="391" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaOz2CrzANBHLoAtHOG3zi0CFKNIZ11bD3UTDhQqr5QYE3DShvYEBdnXGFaVJEJL_lq9zYhGsZ_OR0v9i-QqWOsG1Qx564YIHVeDx7E7zLRt0Hv6775gvwtcoYIUxwHiBtcEVJ69y0wrkp/s400/tag4.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> ...and it enlarges. The web site is animated with Flash, so this post gives just a hint of how cool it is. Try it and be mesmerized!</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I almost forgot to mention where I heard about this, on the <i>Teach Science and Math</i> blog...many thanks to David Wetzel. There are several other image search engines mentioned in <a href="http://www.teachscienceandmath.com/2010/09/06/tips-and-tricks-for-finding-science-and-math-images-on-the-web/">his post</a>, so you may want to check those out, too. </span></span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheN9uylxSq5oTfJxfRavg495UaVd_kZQNfjMK7h1rtGyHPEvQ15S0ZA09PcCiz7LI9nWM2GGFHNKZmWA30XXhbsvgbXZlAdwO00jqq0R8vqvQO10ZxvCc7t-Ph-NEdDJvGb5FGnIDTRh_R/s1600/fallsig.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheN9uylxSq5oTfJxfRavg495UaVd_kZQNfjMK7h1rtGyHPEvQ15S0ZA09PcCiz7LI9nWM2GGFHNKZmWA30XXhbsvgbXZlAdwO00jqq0R8vqvQO10ZxvCc7t-Ph-NEdDJvGb5FGnIDTRh_R/s1600/fallsig.jpg" /></a></div><br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></span></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02783236322334230920noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-245434990146025747.post-88908162300385723752010-09-20T13:41:00.000-04:002010-09-20T13:41:22.649-04:00SAQA auction starts today (Monday) at 2 p.m.!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHC7Q914-xWEWG8gdM9Yo00HXbpijC5x0JSIeDFN4eG1ILkWi7hYQN1xaj7wl84i9Plv7fqrKDhdYiZvIHxwJ0eW1YemXy6HDYPLlTI-gbuWT5ySoKiS9qTkOC3RMyB77E3Yl64s-ZGlBC/s1600/wolf-final.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="199" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHC7Q914-xWEWG8gdM9Yo00HXbpijC5x0JSIeDFN4eG1ILkWi7hYQN1xaj7wl84i9Plv7fqrKDhdYiZvIHxwJ0eW1YemXy6HDYPLlTI-gbuWT5ySoKiS9qTkOC3RMyB77E3Yl64s-ZGlBC/s200/wolf-final.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Just a quick reminder that the Studio Art Quilt Associates benefit auction starts today. My wolf quilt is on the first page, <a href="http://www.saqa.com/news.php?ID=1423">click here</a> to see thumbnails of <span style="color: #444444;">the available artwork.</span></span></span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> There is a link on that page to get to the bidding form. Everything is $750 today, then the price is reduced each day until Friday, when everything costs $75.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Happy browsing and (perhaps) bidding, everyone!</span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoNeIjgz-2hGB_eLnkaSfOwFm-y-UiOJSCx1X7J9BytK6dRgdSmSVTJlXvEhOj7ouTo59W-ZC6Fhw5IlydbaXwspwZMRmgfIx0oDawxsynrIHWayoW_1yPT67dzQG0H-E6C2img8pJKnnV/s1600/fallsig.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoNeIjgz-2hGB_eLnkaSfOwFm-y-UiOJSCx1X7J9BytK6dRgdSmSVTJlXvEhOj7ouTo59W-ZC6Fhw5IlydbaXwspwZMRmgfIx0oDawxsynrIHWayoW_1yPT67dzQG0H-E6C2img8pJKnnV/s1600/fallsig.jpg" /></a></div><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> </span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02783236322334230920noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-245434990146025747.post-69683223044048725392010-09-16T19:44:00.000-04:002010-09-16T19:44:41.076-04:00Great source for vintage graphics<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgo-HTDKDFvPOi0gWGA0_K0O5gE6RkkAHy_A7_JzV3DdphQ9gsX1ateGyh2U51uycIvKxKWYWvs2Z2Zv4nawvZm04WL3izt88NmRVd5vGNxC4-PUiLoOdN5wps9aWQ0ar0e3PxrnlVvfsVU/s1600/doilyrose-graphicsfairy003c.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgo-HTDKDFvPOi0gWGA0_K0O5gE6RkkAHy_A7_JzV3DdphQ9gsX1ateGyh2U51uycIvKxKWYWvs2Z2Zv4nawvZm04WL3izt88NmRVd5vGNxC4-PUiLoOdN5wps9aWQ0ar0e3PxrnlVvfsVU/s320/doilyrose-graphicsfairy003c.jpg" width="296" /></a></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I was looking for an image of a doily, and stumbled over <a href="http://www.graphicsfairy.blogspot.com/">The Graphics Fairy blog</a>. If you need pre-1923 images, here are thousands of copyright-free engravings, playing cards, postcards, advertisements, etc. It’s well-organized with categories, plus a search box. Speaking of ads, there are plenty, but it’s worth it for these goodies.</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
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Check out this wonderfully bizzarre pair of scissors:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh55aLxiYv2ZZGlFZFpR8hvxiwx34fZo7YH5F4Z3zOwVFwgC8Q8TUZ_dIhoaiXXjSFkCdU6xWaZa43reXTAi47fWAzdZtAPO-ryx96HpeyIasBfmv7YZ4mOS4wkjDfQWrW0BxdVK2clNqJR/s1600/scissorsgfairy002d.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="110" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh55aLxiYv2ZZGlFZFpR8hvxiwx34fZo7YH5F4Z3zOwVFwgC8Q8TUZ_dIhoaiXXjSFkCdU6xWaZa43reXTAi47fWAzdZtAPO-ryx96HpeyIasBfmv7YZ4mOS4wkjDfQWrW0BxdVK2clNqJR/s320/scissorsgfairy002d.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Enjoy!</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheN9uylxSq5oTfJxfRavg495UaVd_kZQNfjMK7h1rtGyHPEvQ15S0ZA09PcCiz7LI9nWM2GGFHNKZmWA30XXhbsvgbXZlAdwO00jqq0R8vqvQO10ZxvCc7t-Ph-NEdDJvGb5FGnIDTRh_R/s1600/fallsig.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheN9uylxSq5oTfJxfRavg495UaVd_kZQNfjMK7h1rtGyHPEvQ15S0ZA09PcCiz7LI9nWM2GGFHNKZmWA30XXhbsvgbXZlAdwO00jqq0R8vqvQO10ZxvCc7t-Ph-NEdDJvGb5FGnIDTRh_R/s1600/fallsig.jpg" /></a></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02783236322334230920noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-245434990146025747.post-74857584032395730312010-09-07T13:38:00.000-04:002010-09-07T13:38:05.222-04:00Goodies... in the mail and made in the studio<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgh3_00PQVq-nO8LA23PNYiQsK6oYW49I594i1BIDnhPsL4DxcXMDT644ZQRT-Y3n7BnDnqu8qGzT3vLMYi1-sgWPLMpiua6QjllZKytg9WjifGEnKi0nZ3pYVL08FD-N84ye04s0-Dbkmx/s1600/papers-closeup.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="202" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgh3_00PQVq-nO8LA23PNYiQsK6oYW49I594i1BIDnhPsL4DxcXMDT644ZQRT-Y3n7BnDnqu8qGzT3vLMYi1-sgWPLMpiua6QjllZKytg9WjifGEnKi0nZ3pYVL08FD-N84ye04s0-Dbkmx/s400/papers-closeup.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">One of the perks of being accepted into the Quilting Arts calendar is that they send you stuff. Last year, they gave a gift certificate to be used in the Interweave store, which made for some happy online browsing (and buying!) This year, along with the printed calendars came this pile of DVDs, two magazines, some Angelina fiber, a fat quarter, some batting, and what appears to be a very nice book about surface design on fabric, <i>Art Cloth</i> by Jane Dunnewold.</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6F1sv0k4kTHiyvhQEengzitFRCyyJ_EDMW70IKdsh62kpmIVhQgfL8I5MU1KFzd8XsL7j8PFC0P_MwlJ_OIGrR3Y9fEcNeOvFnRfqEjfv2VypaA5oXgI0kbvYVrRNmRV9A5h1sGQ2Ve5o/s1600/qarts-goodies.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="256" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6F1sv0k4kTHiyvhQEengzitFRCyyJ_EDMW70IKdsh62kpmIVhQgfL8I5MU1KFzd8XsL7j8PFC0P_MwlJ_OIGrR3Y9fEcNeOvFnRfqEjfv2VypaA5oXgI0kbvYVrRNmRV9A5h1sGQ2Ve5o/s320/qarts-goodies.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">At first I was thinking I’d rather have made the choices, but though I haven’t looked at anything other than the mags yet, these all look great to me. When I get a chance to read/watch/use these goodies, I’ll pass along my 2¢ worth of opinion. The <i>Cloth Paper Scissors</i> Studios issue is very nice, full of inspirational photos of fab studios. If anyone wants to buy the 2011 “Flavor of the Month” Quilting Arts Calendar or any of these other goodies, <a href="http://store.quiltingdaily.com/Quilting/Merchandise/Quilting-Arts-2011-Calendar.html?a=qp100816A">click here</a>.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">What is that image at the top of this post, you may be wondering? It’s a close-up of the paper in the bottom row, second from the left (below). In a couple of different sessions, I cranked out loads of collage papers with the help of my artist friend Joyce and my 2 nieces. These were plain white cardstock, layered with regular and metallic acrylic paint and iridescent/metallic watercolors (from Daniel Smith.) Hmmm...except the one on the top right, which was painted on a restaurant napkin that was similar to interfacing, more substantial than the usual paper napkin.</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwMghMfoJf7h4uiuLilj5HLTmVv7fBX30pnxe9clyxem4kU606gkO64kgouWp93CZTL3aJ52gYFc8pDksn0ahfUjz8g3B5pQejOzox6-NCoTmitI2eOMJVPRI-UqzVqE-8sjEZwgimn-YA/s1600/papers.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwMghMfoJf7h4uiuLilj5HLTmVv7fBX30pnxe9clyxem4kU606gkO64kgouWp93CZTL3aJ52gYFc8pDksn0ahfUjz8g3B5pQejOzox6-NCoTmitI2eOMJVPRI-UqzVqE-8sjEZwgimn-YA/s400/papers.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The paper on the lower right was scribbled on with crayons, then painted with black paint, others were pressed together, stamped on, etc. It’s such fun to splash away without worrying about anything. One thing to remember when building up a stash of papers is to make plenty of light toned papers for contrast, and not just stick to the bright and dramatic colors. The plan is to use these in some upcoming collage work, along the line of these <a href="http://studioloreen.blogspot.com/search/label/collage">previous pieces</a>. I also want to try these techniques on fabric, just am pressed for time at the moment.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Have a creative week! </span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheN9uylxSq5oTfJxfRavg495UaVd_kZQNfjMK7h1rtGyHPEvQ15S0ZA09PcCiz7LI9nWM2GGFHNKZmWA30XXhbsvgbXZlAdwO00jqq0R8vqvQO10ZxvCc7t-Ph-NEdDJvGb5FGnIDTRh_R/s1600/fallsig.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheN9uylxSq5oTfJxfRavg495UaVd_kZQNfjMK7h1rtGyHPEvQ15S0ZA09PcCiz7LI9nWM2GGFHNKZmWA30XXhbsvgbXZlAdwO00jqq0R8vqvQO10ZxvCc7t-Ph-NEdDJvGb5FGnIDTRh_R/s1600/fallsig.jpg" /></a></div><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02783236322334230920noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-245434990146025747.post-31168308582056198862010-09-01T09:41:00.000-04:002010-09-01T09:41:44.178-04:00Free Spirit will be auctioned for SAQA<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHC7Q914-xWEWG8gdM9Yo00HXbpijC5x0JSIeDFN4eG1ILkWi7hYQN1xaj7wl84i9Plv7fqrKDhdYiZvIHxwJ0eW1YemXy6HDYPLlTI-gbuWT5ySoKiS9qTkOC3RMyB77E3Yl64s-ZGlBC/s1600/wolf-final.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="319" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHC7Q914-xWEWG8gdM9Yo00HXbpijC5x0JSIeDFN4eG1ILkWi7hYQN1xaj7wl84i9Plv7fqrKDhdYiZvIHxwJ0eW1YemXy6HDYPLlTI-gbuWT5ySoKiS9qTkOC3RMyB77E3Yl64s-ZGlBC/s320/wolf-final.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;">Do you remember this wolf? I decided to donate him to Studio Art Quilt Associates (SAQA) for their <a href="http://www.saqa.com/news.php?ID=1423">annual auction</a> to benefit the group’s activities to increase awareness of art quilting. Almost 300 quilts are available, so there’s something for everyone. It starts on Monday, September 20, and is a reverse auction where the prices decrease every day until the works are sold. More details about how the auction works can be found <a href="http://www.saqa.com/news.php?ID=1186">here</a>.</span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A large image of <i>Free Spirit</i> can be seen <a href="http://www.saqa.com/media/image/Auction%2010/Leedy.jpg">here</a>. Two previous posts that show how he was made can be found <a href="http://studioloreen.blogspot.com/2010/05/wild-times-in-studio.html">here</a> and <a href="http://studioloreen.blogspot.com/2010/05/ta-dahthe-finished-wolf.html">here</a>.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Have fun looking at all the artwork... it’s amazing to see what artists are doing with fabric, thread, and whatever else they can stitch on. : )</span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheN9uylxSq5oTfJxfRavg495UaVd_kZQNfjMK7h1rtGyHPEvQ15S0ZA09PcCiz7LI9nWM2GGFHNKZmWA30XXhbsvgbXZlAdwO00jqq0R8vqvQO10ZxvCc7t-Ph-NEdDJvGb5FGnIDTRh_R/s1600/fallsig.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheN9uylxSq5oTfJxfRavg495UaVd_kZQNfjMK7h1rtGyHPEvQ15S0ZA09PcCiz7LI9nWM2GGFHNKZmWA30XXhbsvgbXZlAdwO00jqq0R8vqvQO10ZxvCc7t-Ph-NEdDJvGb5FGnIDTRh_R/s1600/fallsig.jpg" /></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;"><br />
</span></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02783236322334230920noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-245434990146025747.post-88752647148293691142010-08-29T21:58:00.000-04:002010-08-29T21:58:35.992-04:00Painting faux granite<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;">Why would anyone want to do that, you ask? The photos below should make it clear...feast your eyes upon the hideous green formica countertop that we lived with for seven long years. Before anyone gets too excited about the prospect of transforming laminate countertops, let me make it clear that we ripped out that green monstrosity.</span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">However, note the strange bulge behind this backsplash, and the feeble attempt to cover up the top of it with a random strip of green trim. Apparently the first builder made a half-wall, then later someone added the rest of the wall but since the lower part was not plumb, they decided to fudge it this way, leaving a bizarre wedge of drywall behind the backsplash. Basically, the wall is a mess and a professional contractor friend of ours had never seen anything quite like it.</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifyTC-hZwLeja5sYcM2xWrgVI9xiZTC1hwcZ01XYvYBiu4lu2YieD27Ah9BIlwCtftosgsWiOsCcgDpz0rQ5otOnPvpNYI7Q3yY5nFzyAlq_6HAgNi9laBEh9cXyNs6K3MGu9uvM00qHrF/s1600/faux-green.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifyTC-hZwLeja5sYcM2xWrgVI9xiZTC1hwcZ01XYvYBiu4lu2YieD27Ah9BIlwCtftosgsWiOsCcgDpz0rQ5otOnPvpNYI7Q3yY5nFzyAlq_6HAgNi9laBEh9cXyNs6K3MGu9uvM00qHrF/s320/faux-green.jpg" /></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Anyway, after our gorgeous shivakashi granite counters were installed, I had to figure out how to cover up this little glitch. First I used drywall compound to fill in the gap to make it as level as possible with the granite. You can really see how off kilter the wall is here, because the granite top is actually level to the floor while the green monster wasn’t.</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMQcix4fs530Poynx48whdGuEOsoc5mMj0gmf7IEJpAc_pssiEHY7ifHVQeS6kSlKlfwZ2qbrKwy7lyqTH_mGJkv0GrVp3Lis1o6OrwENZA5B5fsvCyLsiH4PLIHIWE5QwHQSPlh8uHHzO/s1600/faux-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMQcix4fs530Poynx48whdGuEOsoc5mMj0gmf7IEJpAc_pssiEHY7ifHVQeS6kSlKlfwZ2qbrKwy7lyqTH_mGJkv0GrVp3Lis1o6OrwENZA5B5fsvCyLsiH4PLIHIWE5QwHQSPlh8uHHzO/s320/faux-1.jpg" /></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The drywall compound was sealed with latex paint. Then the fun began. I used Golden OPEN acrylics to paint with because they don’t dry nearly as quickly as regular acrylics, which leaves more time for blending. I mostly used the stiff stencil brush on the left because I didn’t need fussy details, just needed to smear some paint around.</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEis45OrcAA7QM92QM9I7Q_jihXCe4T2oA567LXeY_UANOApOEUt7WhRST2Wfzv01BLsOtxteFvT44vF3pncRumxAOSw1GvxQV_Reih4xdH0YOQLhmO7dcPDw9boKOJF7iXf7xIcTUNA8oXX/s1600/faux-paints.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEis45OrcAA7QM92QM9I7Q_jihXCe4T2oA567LXeY_UANOApOEUt7WhRST2Wfzv01BLsOtxteFvT44vF3pncRumxAOSw1GvxQV_Reih4xdH0YOQLhmO7dcPDw9boKOJF7iXf7xIcTUNA8oXX/s320/faux-paints.jpg" /></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I applied a base coat of sort of a pinkish gray.</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLCdTdelhRudkbHoInkgi_zIYYMo4gb_DG6Dm2y3iLW0niVC4_oK-QXXGfHx7yGjpwwDvzKR4yBK4uVlqnvbdEjrp_7cpVqMiiWpMgXGOplaP1pHuO3BG9KuiZr1pESyD8Y09X7MXEqje2/s1600/faux-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLCdTdelhRudkbHoInkgi_zIYYMo4gb_DG6Dm2y3iLW0niVC4_oK-QXXGfHx7yGjpwwDvzKR4yBK4uVlqnvbdEjrp_7cpVqMiiWpMgXGOplaP1pHuO3BG9KuiZr1pESyD8Y09X7MXEqje2/s320/faux-2.jpg" /></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Next came some patches of the various colors from the granite. These acrylics dry a little darker, but don’t shift as much as regular acrylics. If you click on the photos, you can really see what’s going on. It doesn’t matter if the colors aren’t exactly right at first, they’ll be blended into each other.</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixhQ0w9qzQ2EpjTmAXcBv9w0B0BwaRwB8gHLU851j__0k_PpsHSjYXOZ20q7JhI5kR4aN9zzsWQakCdI0gNkUxVLJXAuSsxQjLHKeRy7wfJsG3Q3ijeEjw-nascwPAlyp5B6p3Aqv-bb-A/s1600/faux-3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixhQ0w9qzQ2EpjTmAXcBv9w0B0BwaRwB8gHLU851j__0k_PpsHSjYXOZ20q7JhI5kR4aN9zzsWQakCdI0gNkUxVLJXAuSsxQjLHKeRy7wfJsG3Q3ijeEjw-nascwPAlyp5B6p3Aqv-bb-A/s320/faux-3.jpg" /></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The darker streaks that follow the flow of the granite really make it happen. The painted area isn't as smooth as the granite, of course, but I put some glossy sealer over it and it's very hard to tell it isn’t the real thing with a casual glance. My husband was flabbergasted at how well this turned out...so was I, frankly. I asked several people who came over to see if they could spot anything that looked faux painted to match something else, and no one could figure out what it was.</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEcPUTgHbfB7iS1yT8-w2fr5Kez1G-4LnlXBmr3WQ-JzuRK_wKtYui0a0P3AjXFxOlyALrXLMDygNT6FmCUW4hWgGcbPWYI0afvfriGBWNjJtfIAfn2ViKemNwlw9nzAnyrE0mUKx8OyeN/s1600/faux-5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEcPUTgHbfB7iS1yT8-w2fr5Kez1G-4LnlXBmr3WQ-JzuRK_wKtYui0a0P3AjXFxOlyALrXLMDygNT6FmCUW4hWgGcbPWYI0afvfriGBWNjJtfIAfn2ViKemNwlw9nzAnyrE0mUKx8OyeN/s320/faux-5.jpg" /></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Here’s the other end. The wall wasn’t as crooked, but there was still about 3/8" that had to be faked. The actual width of the granite is the same on both the backsplash and the counter, three centimeters, I think.</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXIcv64347qDb_PBSvgfBHyx2LUw8f-zRwFeGP8jW-1VI-2n0BqZqP1E9PUUXCN5CDJhoGWNWvfHgRm04We5322zI92Zdy3OxyxHW8gOngjCmtXnOto1bvn7QIIFXuVsqH1x14kqNqxaYR/s1600/faux-6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXIcv64347qDb_PBSvgfBHyx2LUw8f-zRwFeGP8jW-1VI-2n0BqZqP1E9PUUXCN5CDJhoGWNWvfHgRm04We5322zI92Zdy3OxyxHW8gOngjCmtXnOto1bvn7QIIFXuVsqH1x14kqNqxaYR/s320/faux-6.jpg" /></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In case anyone is wondering about the gap along the top edge, well there was no way I was going to paint all that, plus it would get too much wear to hold up over the long term. We’re still looking for the right trim piece of tile to cover it up, or possible wood molding. And we still have the lighting, some cabinets, and a few other things to do. No worries, I have my new faucet, undermount sink, and much lighter, glam countertops, so who cares about a few little details?</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Hope you enjoyed this little detour from my usual artistic pursuits. You just never know when mixing some colors may come in handy!</span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheN9uylxSq5oTfJxfRavg495UaVd_kZQNfjMK7h1rtGyHPEvQ15S0ZA09PcCiz7LI9nWM2GGFHNKZmWA30XXhbsvgbXZlAdwO00jqq0R8vqvQO10ZxvCc7t-Ph-NEdDJvGb5FGnIDTRh_R/s1600/fallsig.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheN9uylxSq5oTfJxfRavg495UaVd_kZQNfjMK7h1rtGyHPEvQ15S0ZA09PcCiz7LI9nWM2GGFHNKZmWA30XXhbsvgbXZlAdwO00jqq0R8vqvQO10ZxvCc7t-Ph-NEdDJvGb5FGnIDTRh_R/s320/fallsig.jpg" /></a></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02783236322334230920noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-245434990146025747.post-27655234025523524522010-08-26T11:13:00.000-04:002010-08-29T22:04:35.592-04:00Uploading your custom background image in Blogger<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;">It’s a little tricky but worth the effort to use your own image to give your blog a unique identity, rather than the prefab ones anyone can use. I created a new blog for my children’s books yesterday, and wanted to use them for the background image. </span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">First you need to prepare an image. Mine is a photo of a stack of my books, laid as horizontal as possible so there won't be awkward visual jags when the image is “tiling,” that is, when the image repeats horizontally and vertically to fill the space. If you’re feeling ambitious, you can create a seamless image in Photoshop using the Offset filter (here is an <a href="http://www.cadtutor.net/dd/photo/seamless/seamless.html">online tutorial</a>). The image is supposed to be less than 200K...more details about size are on the <i>Use Your Own Photo </i>etc. article linked below. Anyway, here’s the book stack image:</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpDnZMC38BOfUn1fjYpTqdzUPYtE_tKTcQekWxKbkS7q3c6nHu_9y9TBwH79PwT8EJvSFJnDh75pwYZ1Xqn5suUVAr-PM5baTOtxiH4XrGcfQ8_XaiDpl5WkRREBfRw_PMwjzP6OLEjSQf/s1600/bookstack.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpDnZMC38BOfUn1fjYpTqdzUPYtE_tKTcQekWxKbkS7q3c6nHu_9y9TBwH79PwT8EJvSFJnDh75pwYZ1Xqn5suUVAr-PM5baTOtxiH4XrGcfQ8_XaiDpl5WkRREBfRw_PMwjzP6OLEjSQf/s320/bookstack.jpg" /></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;">The template is Ethereal, with a 3-column layout as shown. (Not all templates have a background image.) </span></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjX_7QDfLMtJikwToQr58GkElFZUFf3xHJb49Aja-uOnZe8oL3H-_PvBcUVWTqf5cCeoa21WR-5beOR8IYUXsAwnjYBLR6UZjxf4sxFtt6eqxU0NEt3WWPwRV0GWKQsrTicV818d5VZifpU/s1600/booksblog2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="365" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjX_7QDfLMtJikwToQr58GkElFZUFf3xHJb49Aja-uOnZe8oL3H-_PvBcUVWTqf5cCeoa21WR-5beOR8IYUXsAwnjYBLR6UZjxf4sxFtt6eqxU0NEt3WWPwRV0GWKQsrTicV818d5VZifpU/s400/booksblog2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I customized most of the colors, type, etc. in the new Template Designer, which is found under the Design tab. The Template Designer is great, it gives you a preview of your changes as you test them. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;">However, if you click on Background in the Template Designer, there is no option to upload your own image, you can only choose from what is there. The answer is to go to <a href="http://draft.blogger.com/home">Blogger in Draft</a> to do it rather than the usual Blogger Dashboard. It looks the same, except there are a few additional options. Here are the steps:</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Make sure you’re “signed in” to your Blogger Account and are in Blogger in Draft.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Click on Design, then on the Template Designer (right under the Design tab.)</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Click on Background (upper left), then click ON the Image box itself.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">You should see a button for Upload Image, so go ahead and upload your image.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Click Done, then choose Tile and check Scroll with page.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Click on the orange Apply to Blog button on upper right.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A yellow alert that says Template Applied should flash, then it will go away.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Click Back to Blogger (upper right) and your image should be on your blog.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If not try again, or check the article <i><a href="http://bloggerindraft.blogspot.com/2010/07/use-your-own-photo-for-your-blogs.html">Use Your Own Photo for Your Blog’s Background</a> </i>and the Comments for clues, .</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">To see the actual blog we’re talking about, <a href="http://www.loreenleedybooks.blogspot.com/">click here</a>.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Good luck!</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiylUtRFnmZYg8zJ_ASYc_uV_SQlNmLj5BjBxi8EYyaXBLBiSyAPxfYEHQ0L_rl4CiEFrOMIosq3AHXqP1ES9WrY338wLlbFUZpego-gDuQLNYERGz5KY6duiD7Ro2oCy6i2VdCOgVNqY4U/s1600/fallsig.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiylUtRFnmZYg8zJ_ASYc_uV_SQlNmLj5BjBxi8EYyaXBLBiSyAPxfYEHQ0L_rl4CiEFrOMIosq3AHXqP1ES9WrY338wLlbFUZpego-gDuQLNYERGz5KY6duiD7Ro2oCy6i2VdCOgVNqY4U/s320/fallsig.jpg" /></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02783236322334230920noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-245434990146025747.post-23915961508534522232010-08-25T17:47:00.001-04:002010-08-25T17:49:35.509-04:00New blog for my books<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;">For a number of reasons I’ve decided to set up a separate blog for my children’s books. I’ll still talk about creating the illustrations on this studio blog from time to time, but the books blog will have activities for kids, publishing info, lesson plans, and that kind of thing. A little more focus is always a good thing, doncha know.</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I wanted to mention a couple of things about designing the new blog...here is a screenshot:</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2S1f4WImdlfOWC5uSR358LLdHh2DnV_QLaL0Yi6555rbfTlsvyotXe6JRGzCll5IduO6c7Zpx6iraNs7W_3itiRx3vsSbFm7FKczoKQppFi4s5kwJo9IOZIPcX_bt6-dXV3eQX6a95xQr/s1600/booksblog.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2S1f4WImdlfOWC5uSR358LLdHh2DnV_QLaL0Yi6555rbfTlsvyotXe6JRGzCll5IduO6c7Zpx6iraNs7W_3itiRx3vsSbFm7FKczoKQppFi4s5kwJo9IOZIPcX_bt6-dXV3eQX6a95xQr/s320/booksblog.jpg" /></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I used a template called Ethereal which is quite a bit wider and has three columns, (I think there were several options.) Blogger has a Template Designer feature that is apparently pretty new that makes it very easy to get the colors, type, and so on the way you want them. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The tricky thing was to change the background image. I took a photo of a stack of my books and after struggling quite a while got it to show up. You have to use “blogger in draft” to get your own image in there, and it’s very tricky to do... <a href="http://bloggerindraft.blogspot.com/2010/07/use-your-own-photo-for-your-blogs.html">this article</a> sort of tells you how, but not clearly enough. I couldn’t tell you exactly how I did it, but after trying several times the Upload button appeared and after that I selected “tile” and it worked.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So, check it out and let me know what you think! Here is <a href="http://loreenleedybooks.blogspot.com/">the link</a>, or click on the button on the right.</span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoNeIjgz-2hGB_eLnkaSfOwFm-y-UiOJSCx1X7J9BytK6dRgdSmSVTJlXvEhOj7ouTo59W-ZC6Fhw5IlydbaXwspwZMRmgfIx0oDawxsynrIHWayoW_1yPT67dzQG0H-E6C2img8pJKnnV/s1600/fallsig.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoNeIjgz-2hGB_eLnkaSfOwFm-y-UiOJSCx1X7J9BytK6dRgdSmSVTJlXvEhOj7ouTo59W-ZC6Fhw5IlydbaXwspwZMRmgfIx0oDawxsynrIHWayoW_1yPT67dzQG0H-E6C2img8pJKnnV/s320/fallsig.jpg" /></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02783236322334230920noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-245434990146025747.post-68021491965620216852010-08-23T19:17:00.000-04:002010-08-23T19:17:10.251-04:00My Teacher Is a Dinosaur free coloring page<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgddsQvzrtOPafhe8FGtlMhCFSDAJztWlP38MJPTzSjgsqeXvW8qK8NKwqwe0aLhxUIMyyhc4GzZvje0-KjzwV8fYrHQe-rYFSf4zDkopUJXM20OTKO7OtzmVDRBk3Q_W-KEn3YMEs5jMiv/s1600/Jacket.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgddsQvzrtOPafhe8FGtlMhCFSDAJztWlP38MJPTzSjgsqeXvW8qK8NKwqwe0aLhxUIMyyhc4GzZvje0-KjzwV8fYrHQe-rYFSf4zDkopUJXM20OTKO7OtzmVDRBk3Q_W-KEn3YMEs5jMiv/s320/Jacket.jpg" /></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Yesterday I received copies of my fall picture book and they look great. The full title is <i>My Teacher Is a Dinosaur and Other Prehistoric Poems, Jokes, Riddles, & Amazing Facts.</i> It takes readers on a whirlwind tour of the history of life on Earth starting 4 1/2 billion years ago... not bad for only 48 pages, right? For more info including reviews, please check out <a href="http://www.loreenleedy.com/books/myteacher.html">this page</a>.</span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">These <a href="http://studioloreen.blogspot.com/search/label/dinosaurs">previous blog posts</a> tell a little about the behind-the-scenes activity. I also wrote about doing the research for this book on I.N.K. (Interesting Nonfiction for Kids) <a href="http://inkrethink.blogspot.com/2009/12/prehistoric-notes.html">here</a> and <a href="http://inkrethink.blogspot.com/2008/06/digging-up-prehistoric-reference.html">here</a>. Last but not least, here is my I.N.K. post about how to write <a href="http://inkrethink.blogspot.com/2008/10/this-post-is-joke.html">jokes and riddles</a>.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I haven’t forgotten about the coloring page... here it is!</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7T-8oMN9oTM9My8LNHKlKXGNlsEIhoajfCi3id1vzbFNveud8sLmsyU2R2tawM6Jyb750cRpz3-kQ7VQucbYcG4HS-nRqd-gueZzHeIHhXp-HqRbjdHGopdSV5tLUPUFIYtmc1YTQtMhR/s1600/allosaurus.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="305" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7T-8oMN9oTM9My8LNHKlKXGNlsEIhoajfCi3id1vzbFNveud8sLmsyU2R2tawM6Jyb750cRpz3-kQ7VQucbYcG4HS-nRqd-gueZzHeIHhXp-HqRbjdHGopdSV5tLUPUFIYtmc1YTQtMhR/s400/allosaurus.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Click on the image to enlarge it then print it out with a horizontal orientation and get out your crayons. (Did you know there is a Crayola set with 96 colors!?!) Or drag it off the web page to your desktop. Feel free to send it to any kids you know that love dinosaurs. If anyone sends me a photo of a colored-in page, I’ll post it here. Or, post it on my <a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/Loreen-Leedy/37260464703?ref=ts">author page</a> on Facebook!</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Thanks, y’all!</span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi87bDQ7NZ5crCncZii1s3XNydESnK7gNEnbrgQsIv9avoLSHHpI2szsyTX-qPTeamGOMeK_-5TRhp5ErF1r_NzH7JTdldWz79FF40DEMv0UHvgoS3e7jfL_otuzbXJKxJyvmFlY1xtCtxV/s1600/Sig+spring.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi87bDQ7NZ5crCncZii1s3XNydESnK7gNEnbrgQsIv9avoLSHHpI2szsyTX-qPTeamGOMeK_-5TRhp5ErF1r_NzH7JTdldWz79FF40DEMv0UHvgoS3e7jfL_otuzbXJKxJyvmFlY1xtCtxV/s320/Sig+spring.jpg" /></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02783236322334230920noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-245434990146025747.post-59700046479716432172010-08-20T06:00:00.013-04:002010-08-20T06:00:04.311-04:00The 2011 Quilting Arts calendar is now available<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My quilted artwork made it (again!) into next year’s calendar which can be <a href="http://store.quiltingdaily.com/Quilting/Merchandise/Quilting-Arts-2011-Calendar.html?a=qp100816A">ordered from Interweave</a>. Below are teensy images of all the winning artwork for the 2011 theme, “Flavor of the Month":</span></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEyU2jZSScXxnPEwdbtgU2oVKKIV9vH8hVKeDGqAj2IZumrdfasqxgnROC4JcupxLAllHy3MKtOCRg7Vi80-g8csasteJKqpLHn0UfP-29XrpJSuaJKCFooHufesB0-OwasyetZUzmF7yg/s1600/QArts+2011+Calendar.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEyU2jZSScXxnPEwdbtgU2oVKKIV9vH8hVKeDGqAj2IZumrdfasqxgnROC4JcupxLAllHy3MKtOCRg7Vi80-g8csasteJKqpLHn0UfP-29XrpJSuaJKCFooHufesB0-OwasyetZUzmF7yg/s400/QArts+2011+Calendar.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Mine is on the left in the 2nd row down, the garden veggies floating on a light background. Not sure which month it represents, seems to be April. You can see a much bigger image <a href="http://www.quiltingarts.com/media/p/18591.aspx">here</a>. If anyone would like more info, here are the previous posts about my <a href="http://studioloreen.blogspot.com/search?q=calendar">calendar entries</a>. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Next year the theme will be “Feeling Pet-ty,” which will feature one of my favorite subjects, <b>animals</b>. The info about it is on page 70 of the August/September issue of Quilting Arts. I suspect there will be a lot of competition for this one and the entry date is earlier this year, January 7, 2011. Guess I’d better get busy!</span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVuzICf6ZIgoqOOI81VLRsHYtd7LL_dObvLupV4jWLcNf8MdeYUXOEvdfd6i-r3YBzb1ksEQ4IidsE2J3uQVCYxeMazK_hZUWSaGPpX7gERR-yvIFsoUhByiQv6md5u9iNgV3aPg5wQY8-/s1600/Sig+spring.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVuzICf6ZIgoqOOI81VLRsHYtd7LL_dObvLupV4jWLcNf8MdeYUXOEvdfd6i-r3YBzb1ksEQ4IidsE2J3uQVCYxeMazK_hZUWSaGPpX7gERR-yvIFsoUhByiQv6md5u9iNgV3aPg5wQY8-/s320/Sig+spring.jpg" /></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02783236322334230920noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-245434990146025747.post-81059876430627856492010-08-18T19:57:00.000-04:002010-08-18T19:57:05.057-04:00My apple collage is finished... yay!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgg3dLHNLTjLa456lt-vxFkwFKxaHZHhW0zEHLuv-2nKw-OTjdsk-Qnnr9TbL9nCApDN8-oyVdVrIy0fxucoj90RjZ0tbVYLn_P91nB_7DDE6bW90r5dq4E7FBMlGj1FlDPTu6ZmFu8NN8r/s1600/apple-detail.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="170" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgg3dLHNLTjLa456lt-vxFkwFKxaHZHhW0zEHLuv-2nKw-OTjdsk-Qnnr9TbL9nCApDN8-oyVdVrIy0fxucoj90RjZ0tbVYLn_P91nB_7DDE6bW90r5dq4E7FBMlGj1FlDPTu6ZmFu8NN8r/s400/apple-detail.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;">I’ve been busy finishing up the apple from the workshop (see <a href="http://studioloreen.blogspot.com/2010/07/apple-today-for-artists-at-play.html">previous post</a>.) My friend Joyce and I took a day to paint a bunch of papers, including some disintegrating sheet music. It’s great fun to splash paint, rubber stamps, metallic paints, etc. on papers without the usual worries (is it the right color/shape/value?) </span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This photo doesn’t seem to show all the colors... oh well. Without further ado, here it is:</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj108n6w2GnEZYm2ZHe3Fyf3mq-GHxtpZYE6lqx2hBUOypHDpSqQ4IlCX5AuT37D8IsQxq_wY5semLOjb2oheWp7YNj38j7YTeIi4zwM48fTJ4ipYB9AWSOAP78oeOE_evWsVGk3xg1atRC/s1600/apple-final.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj108n6w2GnEZYm2ZHe3Fyf3mq-GHxtpZYE6lqx2hBUOypHDpSqQ4IlCX5AuT37D8IsQxq_wY5semLOjb2oheWp7YNj38j7YTeIi4zwM48fTJ4ipYB9AWSOAP78oeOE_evWsVGk3xg1atRC/s400/apple-final.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I was a little worried about how to make the transition from the greens to the reds, so I painted some papers with blue-green lightly brushed over red, then used them along the color shift. It helped to connect those disparate colors into one form, don’t you think? Here it is in black and white:</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPdmzcnA6VxVY-KmfgNzMnyd2Rc97ZTH_a-M0c-zq65pzmXSuKOlNsxPxZ1FkUka2ZSKAHisLn_5Bvd4Ytv-ctUoCF1DMYP2v_On3VJS8ma6wZpy3muXKRb22OCpY05EGnoEInPFSHccld/s1600/apple-final-b+w.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPdmzcnA6VxVY-KmfgNzMnyd2Rc97ZTH_a-M0c-zq65pzmXSuKOlNsxPxZ1FkUka2ZSKAHisLn_5Bvd4Ytv-ctUoCF1DMYP2v_On3VJS8ma6wZpy3muXKRb22OCpY05EGnoEInPFSHccld/s400/apple-final-b+w.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I've been reorganizing my studio to accommodate the collage papers so it's easier to find them. Previously they were in file folders, but now they’re in those plastic drawers from the office supply store in spectrum order. Hope this works, I can’t have layers of painted papers added into my usual piles in the studio!</span><br />
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