LOVE: Index-Card-A-Day 2012: 6/28/12

For so long I have been blown away by some scrapbook pages - the kind with the sort of minimalist use of space with a lot of design and embellishment in one area around the photo. Particularly the work of Finnabair makes my brain pop. It's amazing, and I would love to speak to this artist about her work. 

After several attempts at this type of collage, I had kind of given up on getting it how I wanted. But I am not one to give up that easily. So I studied her work and the work of her peers. I studied the composition, layers, and colors. I deconstructed the pieces in my head and put them back together.

Of course this made for a good Index-Card-A-Day 2012 challenge. I'm trying NEW things for #icad2 and using up supplies I haven't even touched or have been saving forever. Time to open the scrap box...

... and pull everything out but the kitchen sink! Here we have random book pages, tickets, a cardboard coffee sleeve, tags, baker's twine, staples, stars, old paper from books and ledgers, sheet music, a paper clip, envelopes, a money band, washi tape, canvas, embroidery trim, a star brad, hangtag packaging, and stitching. 

I literally spent hours and hours fiddling, and that turned into about three days of pushing bits and bobs around to get this done. I simply had to walk away from it several times to clear my head. At one point, all of it finally "clicked into place" - the layers, the arrangement, colors, and textures. 

A lot of this was experimentation. Not knowing where I'm going with something can be very freeing to me. I asked things of my paper punches that only a mad scientist would try. I added some collage. Then went to the sewing machine. Then to the paint, and on and on until basically I made a tour of my studio in supplies and paper ephemera. 

My goal was to use these things in an "as is" condition as much as possible. I love how the ledger paper holes look as a design element. The letters for "LOVE" are stamped on the edge of a vintage dictionary page; I wanted to preserve the red edges as well as take advantage of the natural patina of the old paper.  

I'm happy with the result. Even more though, I am happy that I TRIED this. Even if it had turned out to be a total FAIL, I still faced the edges of my comfort zone with courage and smashed those barriers to smithereens. I cannot recommend anything more highly than getting off your duff and doing that thing which scares you most in your art. 

Just. Do. It.

It's just paper, after all. Right? 

Right.  

- Vickie

Collage Paper Prepping

Lately I have been creating my own papers for collaging. I’ve needed a couple specific colors for some new ideas that I could not find in my scrapbook paper stash. Gasp! How could that even be possible? I know! But it is indeed true!

My process starts with a generous coat of gesso on regular white cardstock. Nothing fancy… just a pack of white cardstock from the craft store. I kind of lay the gesso on thick creating a great deal of texture. This step is best done in batches so I do between four to six pieces of paper at a time. I bought some of those giant plastic carpet protectors so my chairs could scoot on the carpet in the studio. They have turned into great carpet protectors from painty projects (not that we are really attempting to save the carpet in the studio anymore at this point)!

I don’t know if it’s a throwback from childhood or what but I prefer to sit on the floor when I work. My body is displeased with this however and only lets me do it every so often. But painty gesso on paper calls for the floor! Huzzah! Also, there is not enough room on my worktable to accommodate the drying of four to six pages of paper.

The gesso dries quite quickly and I get to paint them soon. I think today I need more yellow and orange. Maybe some red and green for domino Christmas ornaments. Pink for cupcakes. I will also play around with some glazing and layering for visual interest.

This is a page I painted for a project a few weeks ago.

So what becomes of all this painted paper? It gets cut up into ridiculously small pieces for decorating dominoes. I’m talking about pieces smaller than half an inch, mostly much much smaller. Often I wade into dealing with one millimeter by one millimeter pieces. Yep. I do. Why? I’m still looking for the answer to that question.

- Vickie

Attention To Detail?

Attention To Detail?
Originally uploaded by In My Head Studios

Or maybe "How To Know You Are Getting A Quality Product From Me".

Also known as "How Anal Retentive Am I?"

Gimme a break! There's like 50 years of yuck all crusty in there! This is a very old domino with great relief carved out dot dimples.

The dots on the regular black wood dominoes don't need much cleaning. The plastic dominoes do need a little TLC having the dimples cleaned out.

[I posted this straight from the flickr/blog interface. Not sure I dig the layout.]

Happy Friday!

~ Vickie

What Is Black, White, and Red All Over?

Just had to share this stunning Etsy Twitter Team Treasury with you! Happy to be in such good company!

Click the image below to visit the Treasury and pass out some clicks and leave a comment.

Created by MostFavoriteAunt.etsy.com
Follow Her on Twitter: @MostFavorite

I've Been Examined by The Examiner

You can’t make art in a vacuum. I firmly believe it takes community. Rochester, NY has one of the finest art communities in the nation. Having made the foray into doing local art and craft shows, I have had the opportunity to meet many fellow local artists. I find this group of people to be excellent networkers, sharers, and cheerleaders. I can’t believe some of the opportunities that have come up for me as a result of all this art love here.

Today I am especially grateful for a local connection I made with a reporter named Kathleen Landers from The Examiner at the MayDay Underground Arts + Crafts show in May. Kathleen has written a deeply humbling story about my artwork and me. She really took the time through phone calls and many emails to get to know me and what fuels my artistic passions. I could not be happier with how her article turned out. Click the screenshot of the article above to go read it.

“Kathleen is a Rochester native who owns her own decorative painting business and displays her work in local shops and art shows. Inspiration is fostered when seeking out area talent and she loves sharing concepts she's learned.” - Kathleen’s Bio on The Examiner

The Examiner consists of local news, events and attractions, real estate, shopping, and more where you can find local top breaking news and perspectives by trusted local experts. The Examiner serves 240 markets in the United States and Canada. The site is broken down into local pages, such as the Rochester, NY Examiner. There is probably a local Examiner for your area.

To keep the celebration going the Rochester NY Etsy Street Team (RNEST) is holding a giveaway on their blog for one of my new domino pendants (pictured below). Check out the post on Wednesday, June 16th for details and a chance to win! Many thanks go out to Michelle of The Quilted House for organizing the RNEST giveaway and blog post!

"Sophisticated Squares" Altered Domino Pendant you could win. The contest starts on Wednesday, June 16th on the RNEST blog.

This domino pendant was created from a larger original work of art I made especially for my line of domino pendants. It is printed on high quality photo paper and ink. This process allows me to create stunning detail on a small scale.

So hop on over to The Examiner post and get to know me better! And don't forget to enter the RNEST giveaway on Wednesday! I'll post about that again so you don't miss it!

Have a happy day!

Postcard Swap 2010 Postcards

Long time no see, folks! I’ve been really ill with the migraines and we’re in the middle of trying something new for them. So far so good, I’m happy to report!

I finally got my 10 handmade postcards done for iHanna’s swap! Whew! So they are going out in the mail ASAP. But before I send them I made sure to scan and photograph them for you to enjoy! Here’s a peek:

The bases for the postcards are heavy watercolor papers. I cut them down to 4" x 6". Then I glued down random paper scraps with matte gel medium. After that dried I painted each card differently with craft acrylic paint. They still just needed something, you know? So I stamped the birds in black Archival Ink by Ranger. Great ink for stamping on things that are not porous. The little birdie above got her own crown as I added details with fine tip Sharpies markers.

I signed and dated the back of each card and wrote a special note to the mystery recipients. Some cards are going to Australia and Sweden! I've never sent mail there!

Click image above to go to flickr where you can see each postcard scanned individually. Tell me which is your favorite in the comments!

The postcard swap project was conceived at the Twitter party called #craftsocial. They have a website at CraftSocial.net. Read more about this Twitter party on their "About" page. It's a bunch of crafty tweeple chatting up artsy craftsy things on Twitter!

The next Craft Social will be on Saturday, February 20, 2010 from 3 – 5 PM, EST. The first hour of the event will be dedicated to craft #fails – they dare you to show your worst! See you on Twitter!