ced: wedding bliss + tutorial

This month's creative every day theme is bliss. I made this picture frame gift for my sister's 1 year wedding anniversary - ahhh wedding bliss! My sister and her husband were married on the beach in Jamacia.  I wanted to incorporate that somehow so, I decided to take a photo of Jamaica's beach and made a clipping mask in photoshop with their initials along with their wedding photo inside of a heart and their wedding date. To see what others have been working on this week for the bliss theme, click here. 

Want to know how I created the initials with a clipping mask in Photoshop?  It's really easy!

Photoshop Clipping Mask Tutorial

Step 1: Create your new file.  File > New.  I sized mine to fit my picture frame size (3.5 in x 5 in). If you will be printing the image set your resolution to 300 pixels/inch and color mode CMYK. Choose a color for the Background layer and fill it in using the Paint Bucket tool.

Step 2: Select the Type Tool and type the letter and size it to your needs. This should appear above your Background layer. I choose a lowercase j in the font Elephant and sized it to 275 pt.

Step 3: File > Place > Browse your computer for the file you want to appear within the letter and click Place. You can size the photo if desired.  Then click the Move Tool, you will asked if you want to place the file.  Click yes.  This image should appear above the letter layer.  Click on the photo layer to highlight it as shown in the picture above.

Step 4: Now you can right click on the photo layer and select Clipping Mask or you can go to Layer > Create Clipping Mask.  That's it!

kids art as gift wrap

My kids love to create and I am always looking for new ways to use their artwork instead of tossing it.  Our painting sessions on the easel create some pretty large masterpieces so, I started saving them to use for gift wrap!  I think its a fun way to show off their creativity while being resourceful. Family members, teachers, artists or just about anyone would enjoy this twist on traditional gift wrapping.

roasted veggie pasta salad

I haven't done a Meatless Monday blog in awhile and a friend recently asked me if we still have meatless meals.  We certainly do!  I think we just got a little lazy, we weren't doing it every Monday and many of the dishes were simple or dishes I have already blogged about so, I stopped writing about it.  It may be the warmer weather but, I have been craving veggie meals lately!

I made this roasted veggie pasta salad for a play date picnic recently and it was good so, I made it again for dinner.  I found this on the Taste of Home website.  This dish has all my favorite veggies: eggplant, zucchini, red and yellow peppers and onions. I omitted the squash and substituted the spiral pasta for penne since that is what I had in the house.  However, I prefer the spiral pasta, that is what I used for the picnic and it does a great job of holding onto the dressing.

See Roasted Veggie Pasta Salad Recipe

Learn about the Meatless Mondays Campaign

gypsy earrings + guest blogging

Bohemian gypsy chandelier earrings now for sale in my Etsy shop!

I'll be guest blogging over at the East Valley Artisans Blog this month.
I hope you'll join me!

monthly goal meetup

JUNE?! I can't beleive it's June, school is out, summer is here and it's a new month which means it's time for the monthly goal Meet Up with Athena Dreams. 

Here were my May goals ...

1. create & add copper necklaces to etsy shop - added 3 copper necklaces and 2 new earrings!
2. blog about magnet favors & add option to etsy shop - done
3. blog about wedding invitation designs & add samples to etsy shop - still have to do
4. get started with quickbooks! - i started but, am unsure if this program is right for me.  I think it is way more then I need right now.  will check into more this month.
   
5. continue web site freelance project - in progress
6. continue scooby painting - in progress
7. get to the gym at least 3x a week! - okay went 2 times, better then April but really need 3 for June!
8. gift packaging idea & photo for etsy shop - done
9. Oh and I redesigned my blog!  I am still working out the kinks but, I really love the new look.

And here we go into June ...

1. add new rain drop, starfish and believe earrings made to etsy shop
2. blog about wedding invitation designs & add samples to etsy shop
3. guest blog at East Valley Artisans for the month
4. Favor cards for Laraine's wedding
5. Baby Shower Invitations for Jenny
6. joined LinkedIn and now need to work with it a bit.
7. continue with quick books
8. continue web site freelance project
9. complete scooby painting
10. gym: monday, wednesday, thursday and saturday

Wishing everyone a creative and productive month! If you would like to join in the Meetup fun, head on over to Athena Dreams to read more about what we do and how to join in.

dreams and transformation

 Snake Skin Butterfly

A couple of weeks ago I dreamed of a snake shedding it's skin. In my dream, I never saw the snake but, I did see his old skin lying around. I searched for the snake out of fear it would creep up but, I never found it and I was at peace not finding it - thinking it simply moved on. I don't remember dreams often but, this one was vivid and stuck around even after I woke up so, I had to check into it.

Before I get into the meaning, here is a little back story ... I had this dream a few days after I applied to a drawing teacher position and was offered an interview.  So, I has all these feelings of excitement and opportunity with a heavy dose of fear.  I haven't been on a interview in about 10 years.  So, I was a little anxious about it.

Okay, back to the dream meaning.  This is what I found ...

Snakes shedding their skin is a symbol for ridding oneself of what one no longer needs in favor of accepting something new. The process of shedding skin is not simple for a snake, nor is it so in our waking lives. Snakes speak to transformation, death and rebirth, the taking on of a new skin, new roles, responsibilities and even attitudes...snake sheds its skin and grows new skin; shedding the old, new growth. A snake appearing in your dream may very well be telling you that despite the temporary discomfort you must go through, it may be time to release old relationships, careers, or habits in order to renew and reclaim your life. Lastly, when you dream about snake skin it could represent that you are identifying differently with your process of creativity.

How spot on is that?!  I had my interview, was happy to learn more about what the program was all about and was offered a job with the Young Rembrandt's program.  I will be teaching drawing to elementary aged children after school starting in August - woo hoo! The idea of trying something entirely new in my art career is exhilarating and I am up for the challenge.  I am not sure exactly where this opportunity will lead but, I do know that it will be a wonderful experience and will answer questions I have about the possibility of continuing my education to teach art in the future.

art masterpiece: seurat and ruebens

With the school year coming to an end so, is the art masterpiece volunteer program. I am sad for it to end. It has been a really great experience this year and has even lead to a new opportunity that I will talk more about soon. Here are the two works of art we talked about in May.

Seine at La Grande Jatte by George Seurat

1. About the Artist
   George Seurat (SuRah) was born in Paris in 1859. He died when he was only 31 years old. He had 1 brother and 1 sister. He went to art school and got interested in scientific color theory.
   
   
2. What do you see in the painting? boats, person, tree, grass. What is on the opposite bank? building or mansion. How many people and boats do you see?
   
   
3. What does it look like close-up? Far away? Explained how close up you can see all the texture and individual colors and you move further away the colors blend to show the full picture.
   
   
4. Do you see any dots on this painting? This painting style is called Pointillism. Dot-to-dot painting is called pointillism. Creating tiny dots of specifics colors next to each other allowed the viewer to blend the color with their eyes. Imagine you were a painter and you create your paintings only with dots, At first it may be fun but after awhile you may get bored … drive you crazy …
   
   
5. How long do you think it took to make a painting using only dots? Just 1 painting took 1-2 years to finish. This one took 23 drawings and 38 painting sessions. He would study very carefully and spend months doing sketches to figure out how many dots it would take to fill the canvas before he started painting.
   
   
6. Let’s talk about the texture in this painting. First he would paint the canvas white and then squeezed dots straight from the paint tube. That would leave little raised areas on the canvas.
   
   
7. How does this painting make you feel? Many said relaxed, calm, want to be there.

Helene Fourment with Her Children by Peter Paul Ruebens

1. About the Artist
   Peter Paul Ruebens was born in Germany in 1577. Very popular artist. He was rich and famous. He painted Kings & Queens but he also painted children. He loved children.
   
   
2. What do you see in the painting? Do you think he knew the people in the painting? Who are they? The painting is of Helene, his second wife and 2 of their children. Daughter Clara and son Frans. They had 5 children together. He also had 3 children from his first marriage.
   
   
3. How many children did the artist have? 8 - My first math related question to the kids and they enjoyed this.
   
   
4. How old does his wife look? Helene was 21 years old when this was painted. She married Peter Paul when she was 16 years old.
   
   
5. Do you think this painting is finished? Why not? Something’s are detailed (faces, hands) and others have no details (background, chair).
   
   
6. Let’s talk about the texture and shadows in this painting. This painting was made on wood with oil paints. This painting style is called Baroque. Baroque is a religious paintings that are realistic, easy to understand and show emotional reactions. Baroque shows contrast of light and shadows.
   
   
7. How do you think the artist felt when he painted this picture? Do you think the artist loved the people in this painting? The looks on their faces, the emotion, natural looks of love.
   
   
8. This artist painted more than 1,000 paintings! He was able to do this because he had hired artists to help him finish his paintings. He was very popular and having help was the only way he could finish them all.

Both kindergarten classes thanked me and showed me their appreciation in their own heart warming ways.

Mrs. O's class made a book of drawings with their favorite work of art we saw this year. I couldn't beleieve some of the kids remebered one that they saw early in the year. So cool.

Mrs. B's class (Ethan's class) had an ice cream social at school for all the parent volunteers and gifted us ice cream scoops. It was really cute and the kids were super excited.

My son's class had 9 parent volunteers this year that helped out with various classroom needs. Isn't that great? I don't know what a typical class has since this is my eldest son's first year but, to me, it seems pretty wonderful and I am so grateful for it.

new copper necklaces

I have some new necklaces for sale in my etsy shop! These "deep dish" pendants are my favorite style of pendants I have worked with so far.

Vines Copper Art Necklace

Sunflowers Copper Art Necklace

Leaves Copper Art Necklace

guest blogging

Hi! I'm guest blogging on Soft Flex Company's blog today. Today's post is a little about me and my background in design. I will be posting there monthly about small business tips for design, marketing and motivation. Hope you will join me!

painting in progress: scooby

Scooby 5-9-2010

I ended up removing his front legs during this session. I was having a hard time getting them right so, I decided it was best to clear the canvas and start fresh. I think I may need to position them back a bit further then I did originally. Hopefully it comes together.

Here is my little artist who joined me during this painting session.