Sunday Drawings/Flannel Board Fever

It's the year of the flannel board.  Between Pete's Christmas gift (a flannel board with nativity pieces) and Cass' piece in the 9th International Art Competition, I have flannel board fever.  So, General Conference had me drawing our first flannel board story.  We just finished reading the Book of Mormon as a family (whoop whoop) and are about to start again, so we are telling the story of Moroni, then leading into the first vision.

  

Process: I took a big piece of flannel, fused it (wonder under) with a pice of muslin, gessoed, drew with pencil, colored with colored pencils, cut out the pieces, and it's story time.  Next time I should let the kids help... 

I'm thinking of starting a flannel story exchange.  Any takers?  

Spring Break is over.  I sent my sweet babies back to school after 17 days of togetherness.  It was hard to let them go, but we had lots of fun while they were home.  Here is what we have to show for it. 

This used to be a CD shelf in Gavin's office. I spray painted it turquoise.  Then, together, we drew and painted on the back panel.  Now it resides in the studio and holds art supplies, of course!  

We also mod podged these little clip boards for the car.  One must not be too far from drawing supplies at any given moment.

In the Studio: Baby Shoes

I heart felt!

And, I heart baker's twine!

 I made these super cute felt shoes for a baby shower gift.  I also gave my friend an Olivia book as an accessory to match the booties.  I used this template, with a few variations.  There are a lot of patterns, like this one and this one which is more simple, I'm trying it next. 

This was the first pair I made for baby boy.  They are soft and scrumptious and perfect till he crawls.  And sometimes they stay on for more than a minute.

Speaking of crawling, he is very close.  I set up the pack-n-play for bug-a-boo in the studio.  He loves it now, but any second I'm afraid he will want to bust out of there!  Oh boy, hide the polly pockets... and turpentine.

     

In the Studio

Valentines!

A multi-tasking stroke of brilliance: Combine Valentine cards with thank you notes for Christmas joy!  These are for my family.  I'm still feeling the love from all the beautiful, handmade, heartfelt Christmas gifts.  I was secretly crying whilst unwrapping.  Here are some of the highlights:

Sister-in-law Lisa made me a soup in a jar, lentil with dried apples and curry powder, but we ate it before I took a picture.  Really yum, must get recipe.  Soup in a jar, brilliant.

As if I'm not sentimental enough!  The bottom layers of these Valentines are the labels off the jars my sisters and I canned together.  I can't seem to throw them away.

I make baby food.

Happy Valentine month.

In the Studio

I am working on a commissioned painting.  Four kids + party hats = super cool.  It's for Christmas... hopefully I'll finish it next week.  This is conditional on whether or not I can put a hold on Valentines and other super cool projects and buckle down!  In the mean time, other painting deadlines are creeping up and nipping at my heals.  

So here is yesterday's creative distraction:

 I saw this idea here.  She used pictures of castles out of books, I thought I could ink/watercolor on parchment paper and come up with something lovely.  Indeed I did.  The drawing is an illustration of a Brothers Grimm tale called The Glass Mountain.  I like things that glow.  (Note the battery powered candle.) Now, back to work.

P.S.  Did you know that my right side bar has pages with all my paintings from 2010 and 2011?

I let my website lapse while I work on a redesign, so I put archives up here for now.

Spookey!

I love Halloween!!!

We have been out of school for fall break and working hard on making Ewan's first Halloween really spooky.  I made these signs:

This one is for my front door.

 I'm sending this to my new friend, Jefra, who lent me her socks.

I'm giving this one to my sister-in-law who gave me a blank stare when I asked if she had decorated for Halloween yet?!??!!!

And this is to give away!  Leave a "boo" in my comments and I will draw a lucky winner!

(Don't get too excited, it's a piece of cardboard, and try not to get too scared.)

Baby

We've got baby on the brain!  Nine weeks on the countdown, single digits.  I'm anxious to get the baby's room done.  Loving the turquoise, aqua, and brown.  After Ezra's Tangled birthday party, it's on - all baby, all boy, ...and lots of naps.  (I have had a hard time with productivity as of the last seven months, it drives me crazy!) 

Sari and I made a few onesies for baby boy to wear to church.

I crocheted these rattles, but gave them away to a friend having twin boys.  I'm working on more crocheted love.

And, the girls are busy embroidering darling pillows for their brother.

Be Mine

I love Valentine's Day!  I made these pins for my little sweethearts.  And, one for my true love to wear on his lapel, lest he forget who loves him most.  Hope you had a lovely day!

My Pirates

My girls pirate costumes for Halloween were too cute, we had to do something with them.  I had some Heritagemakers credits that were expiring (don't get me started on credits that expire), so we made a book.  The Pirates McPhie and the Indian Treasure..  And yes, I let out a big yelp of completion when I finally finished this one.
The key clue on their treasure map was chewed away by a rat.  It says India....  So they go to the Indian Sea to visit a princess, they go to Indian Jones who is occupied, and the Indian Reservation where the Chief laughs at them.  Finally they go to Indiana-comma- Gary where they find the treasure:  Raisins from Fresno (Music Man reference).  
We had a lot of fun making this book.  The girls love it.

Paper-dolls

OCPD:  Obsessive Compulsive Paper-doll Disorder

I am absolutely obsessed with paper-dolls.  I have lost all self control and I can't stop.  Here is my latest creation, hanging in my entry.  I'm hoping I can use Christmas as an excuse to feed my addiction.    

Projects (Summer Part Deux)

We crafted up a storm this summer. I already posted about making little books with Sari. A group of us made paper flowers one steamy afternoon. Boy did we make us mess. They'll be picking up wads of tissue paper out of the nooks and crannies of the patio for years to come. (Sorry mom) Cass has become obsessed with paper flowers - from funeral decorations to a spring sprinkling throughout her house. They make a lovely garland. We also made some goofy little dolls and animals using black fabric, bleach pens, a little ric-rac and embroidery floss. We had big aspirations, but only came out with a handful - that is a super funky handful. I love bouncing off both of my sisters' creativity. I love crafternoonin'! Projects just aren't as much fun when you are alone... ping goes the tear drop.

Wee Little Books

My sister, Sari, our friend, Laura, and I had a craft night. We make these cute little books.Sari let us dig into her exquisite paper supply, some of which she brought back from Italy.We used a simple figure eight stitch with waxed linen and tied it off in the middle of the signature (that's book speak for the paper folded in half that makes the pages of the book).Cute, eh?

Craftin' Time

My list of baby presents has been growing and a few are long over due. Sounds like it's craftin' time. I saw this fun idea online, unfortunately I cannot find the link to share with you. I'll just show you how I did it.
First, I used an exacto to cut out a little picture/image/word on a piece of freezer paper.
Then I used spray adhesive to tack the stencil down to a onesie and blotted it with fabric paint.
And voila, I have some goofy, personalized baby presents.