Friday, June 19, 2015

Lacy Butterfly Card with Cutting Machine

I finally got a chance to really play with my new Silhouette Cameo Machine. I had purchased it about 2 months ago, and haven't had a chance to use it until recently.

I made this pretty butterfly lace card for my MIL's birthday. (She loved it, BTW.)

This was not a very difficult design, as I purchased the cut file from their online store. It was, however a very delicate cut. I had a problem with the paper ripping, especially at the very thin cuts where the blade had to change direction.

 I was using some pretty card stock that I had in my stash. It was off-white with some colored speckles woven through it. I am not sure of the weight, but it was about the thickness of a nice business card. 

I slowed down the cut, and adjusted the pressure to the blade. In the end, the blade setting was at 3 with a ratchet blade. The speed was set at 3 cm/s, and the thickness at 33.

I just used some scrap paper for the 3 small butterflies. about an inch and a half  sq. each.  and two larger pieces of 2 of the same scrap paper pieces for the larger center butterfly. I used a hot glue gun to attach them.

The "Happy Birthday" text was done with the sketch pens, and then cut out, and stuck onto the front of the card with foam squares.

For the inside, I used the print and cut feature. I measured the space from the butterfly cutout to the inside fold and made a rectangle that would fit in that space. I typed the saying using kissmekissme font, and using the print and cut, I printed it to my HP printer. Then loaded it into my Silhouette machine and cut out the words inside the rectangle.


I found a pretty velum envelope to put it in, to keep it protected in the mailing envelope.

This is the final result. Enjoy.

Wednesday, June 17, 2015

WVAL Summer Art Show

Just wanted to share a quick announcement. The Watauga Valley Art League is holding its 21st annual art show at the Sycamore Shoals Historical Site from June 28 to July 26, 2015. The People's Choice awards will be announced at 2:45 pm on June 28th during the Artist reception. (This means if you want to vote on your favorite artist or artwork, you must do so on June 28th between 1:00 pm and 2:30 pm.)

I don't understand the reason for not allowing more time for the public to view and vote on the entered pieces, but that is just the way of things.

There will be lots of beautiful works of art from local artists and WVAL members. (There will also be snacks, and refreshments) PLEASE COME BY DURING THE RECEPTION and VOTE!

 

Wednesday, May 6, 2015

Handpainted Decorative Mailbox

A friend of my husband asked if I would paint a mailbox for her. She wanted to use it as a focal point in her flower garden.





 I have 2 more sides to do.

This was a fairly easy project and hand painted mailboxes are a wonderful way to beautify your home or garden.  You, too, can make a beautiful, hand painted mailbox... even if you have never picked up a paint brush! I sketched this one freehand before painting it, but you can find some excellent stencils to make your design if you rather go that rout.

What you will need:
  • Mailbox (obviously) - This one was purchased by the person who asked me to paint it. A simple, metal white or black one works well.
  • Sandpaper or steel wool
  • Multi-Surface Indoor/outdoor acrylic paint (in whatever colors you like. I used FolkArt brand - Red, Blue, Yellow, Black and White. Mixing any  combo of these 5 colors, can make pretty much ANY color you need.)
  • A clear coat sealer spay paint. (I used Rust-Oleum American Accents 2x Ultra Cover Gloss Clear, because it is fast drying, non-yellowing and UV Resistant- so it will protect my "art" from fading too!)
  • Optional spray base coat - (The mailbox was white. I wanted a colored background. The easiest and fastest way to achieve that was with a spray paint. I used Rust-Oleum American Accents 2x Ultra cover for wood metal a plastic and more, in Satin Aqua)
  • Paint brushes - various sizes - you can get an inexpensive pack of 6 or so at Walmart.
  • Stencil and Blue Painters Tape (Optional)

Step One

Prepare the mailbox surface with the steel wool. Lightly sand the shiny gloss paint of the mailbox to make it dull and scratched enough to allow our art to adhere properly.  You don't have to remove the paint/finish, just scratch it and make it dull - not glossy.

When you feel you have sufficiently scuffed it, wipe the mailbox down with a damp cloth to remove any paint dust, and steel fibers. Allow to dry.

Step Two (Optional)

If you plan to paint the background a different color than what it originally came with, this is the time to do it. Take it outside and use the colored spay paint to cover all sides evenly.

REMEMBER: Spray paint tends to "drift in the wind" so, be sure you are far enough away form any surface that you do not want speckled with paint.

Let each side dry completely before touching it. I made the mistake of adding fingerprints! Which made extra work... had to sand them off, and re paint that spot!

Step Three

If using a stencil, lay out, position it on the mailbox and secure with tape. 
Or if freehand sketching use a light pencil to gently draw in your design. A #2 Pencil worked great on the satin finish of the base color spray paint I used. But on some surfaces, you could use a dry erase marker.

(By the way, you cam make some really beautiful stencils with adhesive vinyl and a craft cutting machine like a Silhouette Cameo. Its on my Art Project TO DO list.)

Step Four

Paint your design. Either paint in the stencil, and let dry before removing the stencil.
Or hand paint your design using the Acrylic Paints.

Here is a little color tip...
Red+Blue=Purple
Red+Yellow=Orange
Blue+Yellow=Green
Blue+Red+Yellow=Brown
Add black or white to make these colors lighter or darker.
Play with the amounts of each color in the mixture to get variations of all these colors... i.e. add more blue than yellow to get a bluer green etc.

Have fun with it!

Step Five

Let the acrylic paint dry completely - I know it dries pretty quick, but I would let it stand overnight, just to be sure.

Take your masterpiece outside and seal it with the clear coat spray. I did two even coats all over (even though the Rust-Oleum label said that it covered 2x better!)

NOTES:
I painted the flag too. If you do not want to paint that, be sure to cover it with painters tape before painting to keep it "drip free".

Two Major Updates

I know it's been a while since my last post, but I have some exciting news to share today.

First, my painting "Chasing Moonbeams", that was entered into the show at the Johnson City Community Theatre during the run of the play "Like Kissing Moonlight", sold during the theatre's silent action. The auction was a charity event to raise money for the much needed renovations to the building. I am so very excited that I was able to sell one of my paintings and help a great cause in the process.

Prints and note cards of this painting are available at Fine Art By Kimberly.
Or by clicking here....http://bit.ly/1E9mmRi
Please take a stroll on over. You will find tons of great products showcasing my artwork.

Second, I got my Silhouette Cameo a few weeks ago. It has been on my wish list for a few years, but at the time, I didn't have an art room, or any place that I could use it without disrupting the entire house. Since moving South in 2013, I have been pecking away at getting rid of art supplies and craft items that I don't need or want anymore, to make way for new toys! (It is horrifyingly amazing how much STUFF two people can accumulate in 10 years!)

We are finally settled into our new home, (for the most part) and, we converted the extra bedroom into a home office/art room that my husband and I both share. So, after two years of collecting cutting projects and Silhouette tutorials on Pinterest including Scrappbooking projects, and paper-craft (cards mostly,  I can now start making them! So, keep an eye out for some really cool papercutting posts.

Tuesday, February 24, 2015

Dog Days Album

I just ordered an 8x8 dog themed album to start a book for our new member of the family. Saphira is a 3 month old  Aussiedoodle. We took her home at 9 weeks old, and she has doubled in size since then. I figured it is about time I start putting some of these pictures into a scrapbook for her.

Tuesday, November 11, 2014

High School Prom Memories

The Watauga Valley Art League asked me to help them digitize their yearbooks. Little did I know how HUGE this project was going to be. I just finished their first one...1984. Scanning 12" x 12" pages on a personal document flatbed scanner (edge to edge 8.5" by just under 12")... not easy.

I was ready for the next book, now that I got it down to a system (sort of). Like any large project, I broke it down into manageable chunks. The plan is to scan 10 pages a day - that is about 4 scans per page - top, bottom, front and back. The next step is to piece the top and bottoms back together in an InDesign document. Anyway, today, as I finished scanning in the first 10 pages into the computer I remembered my own personal scanning project I have been trying to find the time to work on.

I have two large boxes of old photos and mementos that I have wanted to digitize for a while now. And I thought that it would be the perfect opportunity to at least get this started since I had the scanner hooked up to the laptop, and the software was working properly. (Sometimes I have issues with HP Scanning Solution Center software - I still never got it to work properly for high resolution 600dpi scans.) But that is a blog for another time. 

I had organized the original box-o-photos into "piles" according to either an event, or lump of time when the picture was taken. i.e. Trip to NYC 1989, or High School Years, College Years etc. I picked up the first rubber-banded stack  in the box. Prom 1987!

I scanned them in, and filed them on my external hard drive - just in case of computer crashes, I want them all backed up. But, as I went through them, trying to label them as something I would recognize, I realized that I had no idea who some of these people were.

Almost 30 years ago, these kids were my life, my support group, my peers. To an emotionally sensitive, introverted, teenage kid with a dysfunctional family life, they were everything.

Some of them I have kept in touch with over the years, some I have lost touch with, but through the "magic of Facebook" have reconnected, some I think about often, and others I don't remember much at all.

When these photos were taken, I thought that these people, my friends, would ALWAYS be a part of my life. No need to write their names on the back of the picture. Sadly, I wish I had.

I was planning to put these in a scrapbook, but, now I feel obligated to research yearbook photos for names before I can put my pages together.

Let this be a reminder. when you take photographs label who is in them with the date. Yes this goes for digital photos too. Today, most digital cameras will embed the date, time and sometimes the GPS coordinates (place), but that doesn't tell you who is in the picture. Also remember that sometimes this information can be removed when it is "fixed" in any editing software such as Photoshop or Elements.

For actual physical prints, just take a minute to jot the people's names down on the back. For digital photos, be sure to include them in the file name when coping them from your camera to your storage.

BTW if you would like to see all the pictures from today's Prom Pictures Scann...
Click here.

Thursday, May 29, 2014

How To Price Your Original Art

Even though my blog is in the category of "Scrapbooking", many of you are, not only scrapbookers, but artists who use various mediums. So, I feel I should share...

Have you ever had your artwork displayed? or entered anything you created into an art show?

Moving several times in less than 4 years, I didn't have much time to unleash my creative spirit. But, last year, after we settled in to our new home, with no plans to move anytime soon, I finally put paint to canvas again. I have only done a handful of paintings so far this year, but it feels wonderfully liberating to be creating again.

Recently, I joined the local Art League in hopes of meeting like-minded creative people in our new town. Suddenly I am swept into this whirlwind of their annual summer art show. When I was told that one of the eligibility requirements was that art work submitted must have been completed in the last 2 years, I was actually relieved. It narrowed my choices to a small few.


I have no experience in any of this. It is all new and very exciting to me. I never "showed" my works. I have several dozen drawings and paintings but none of them were ever on display, other than in my home. (I am still a little nervous about what people will think of them, but I am really excited as well.) So, last week, I chose my two best pieces, and I submitted my entry paperwork for those two paintings into the show and into the judging contest.

Yesterday, I received a voice mail from Linda, the person in charge of the entry form paperwork. She said that she needed a selling price for my paintings! I am a graphic designer by day. I get paid by the hour or by the difficulty of the project. Painting (and scrapbooking) are hobbies. I do it because I love it. How do you put a price on that?

I had to give her a number. So, I did some research. I found that there are many ways that artists price their work and it also depends on a number of factors. How popular is that artist, or that style, or medium, or subject matter? The easiest way I found was pricing paintings by square inch. Here is Maria Brophy's formula.

I figured in the cost of the new frames and the size (14 x 18), and they were oil paintings (oil paints and supplies are more expensive than other mediums). The final result for my two paintings were $550 each. I called Linda back and gave her my price. I also confirmed with her that I was in the price range of the other paintings that size. So, there you have it!

I have no experience in any of this. It is all new and very exciting to me. I never "showed" my works. I have several dozen drawings and paintings but none of them were ever on display, other than in my home. (I am still a little nervous about what people will think of them, but I am really excited as well.) So, last week, I chose my two best pieces, and I submitted my entry paperwork for those two paintings into the show and into the judging contest.

Yesterday, I received a voice mail from Linda, the person in charge of the entry form paperwork. She said that she needed a selling price for my paintings! I am a graphic designer by day. I get paid by the hour or by the difficulty of the project. Painting (and scrapbooking) are hobbies. I do it because I love it. How do you put a price on that?

I had to give her a number. So, I did some research. I found that there are many ways that artists price their work and it also depends on a number of factors. How popular is that artist, or that style, or medium, or subject matter? The easiest way I found was pricing paintings by square inch. Here is Maria Brophy's formula.

I figured in the cost of the new frames and the size (14 x 18), and they were oil paintings (oil paints and supplies are more expensive than other mediums). The final result for my two paintings were $550 each. I called Linda back and gave her my price. I also confirmed with her that I was in the price range of the other paintings that size. So, there you have it!


 (These images were taken before the frames. I will take a photo of the finished framed paintings once they come back from the frame shop.)

Thursday, April 17, 2014

4 Handmade Cards

My latest project was not a scrapbook exactly, but some handmade cards. With the help of my Stampin' Up! rep Debra Foster-Brunst, I made these 4 cards. (Her card making group usually does 6, but, I only finished 4. So there are 2 more to come - eventually.)
Hand Made Any Occasion card with lace and ribbon
Just Because made with ribbon and lace

This is a general, any occasion card.

I Lava You Valentine's Day card or Anniversary card
I Lava You
Love You To The Moon Card
Love You To The Moon
These are Valentine's Day cards, or an Anniversary cards.

Oh Happy Day

This one could be a masculine birthday card or a general happy occasion card.

All of them are blank inside, except for the "I lava you" which has a red word stamp inside that reads I love you.

If you would like to know how to make any of these, (or any of my projects for that matter) please let me know. I'd be happy to share.

Monday, March 10, 2014

Looking for a Dog Themed Album

Oh, no. I just received an e-mail from scrapbook-creations.com telling me that the dog scrap book I ordered is out of stock and discontinued. Heavy sigh!

I am having an awful time trying to find an 8"x 8" dog themed scrapbook album. (or 8.5"x8.5")

I don't really want a 12x12 or a 6x6. The 8x8 was just right. Not too big, and not too small. Big enough for larger photos, but small enough that I could print on my own Photojet printer at home on 8.5x11 photo paper instead of having to order 12x12 prints.

A long while ago, I had bought and started putting together 8x8 albums for my two cats, and our dog at the time. Since then, my oldest cat, a 16 year old diabetic fur ball, passed away. And 3 years after him, our sweet, Ariel followed. She was a Golden Retriever-Australian Shepard mix.

Keeping my albums of my animals all together, I really need to find an album for our new pup, Sephira, who is filling our home back up with love, and joy.

The old album's have long since lost their wrapping and the only identifying marks on them simply say "Made in China". I shopped at Michael's, Hobby-Lobby and Jo-Anne's. and searched all of Google. If you know where I can find something similar for our Sephira's album, please leave a comment. I'd love to hear from you.


PLEASE DROP A LINE IF YOU KNOW WHERE I CAN GET AN ALBUM SIMILAR TO THESE!!!!

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