Shrink Plastic Ornament

My five-year old grandson, Carl, loves to draw. He has a little tablet he carries everywhere. When they were here last weekend, he drew several snowmen for me. As I was adding it to the gallery on our fridge, I had a wonderful idea. I would make it into a keepsake ornament so he could remember his early drawings.

I took some shrink plastic (remember that?) and traced his drawing with a few Sharpie permanent pens. I even traced his "signature" and added the year. I die cut it into a large scalloped oval and punched a hole at the top. I used my heat gun to shrink it and added a piece of baker's twine for hanging.

I think it came out darling and I sent it to him to put it on his tree. Can't wait to find out his reaction!

I need to do this for all the boys and every year!

Documented Life Project - Weeks 35 and 36

Catching up on weeks 35 and 36 since I was in Albuquerque babysitting Drew and Grant most of this past week.

Week 35 - Aug. 29

August Theme - Faces, The Human Form and Characters

Art Challenge: Self Portrait

Journal Prompt: Mirror, Mirror

Yikes, this month is really challenging! I must admit I never, ever would have done something like this unless challenged! I took my inspiration from Rae Missigman again who altered a photograph with a sketch app and then traced and painted the drawing.

I imported a cropped photo into the app, Pencil Sketch, on my phone and then printed it on my computer.  I then traced this the good old-fashioned way by rubbing the back of the copy with a regular pencil and then tracing over the lines on the front side with a stylus. This transferred the graphite to my journal page so I didn't have to draw "from scratch!"

I used Neocolor II watercolor crayons for coloring the drawing. The more I retouched it, the worse it got, so decided to leave it as is! At least I did the challenge, it looks like a person and somewhat resembles me!

After all that work, I was "done," so just drew random lines in the background and filled in with oversized journaling about the challenge.

I am so ready to move on from August and drawing faces!

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September Theme - Journaling with Photos

Week 36 - Sept. 5
Art Challenge: Photo Transfer
Journaling Prompt: From Here to There

For this week, I used a photo from the Internet which was a Life Magazine cover from 1957. I highlights a model in a Christian Dior dress in from of the Louvre Metro stop in Paris.  Since I spent a year studying in Paris in college (1968-69) I decided to use this photo as my focal point of the spread about how much life has changed from that point to now.

I started with a background of collaged book text, random papers and napkin pieces, then created layers of white, blue and ivory - adding and removing many times until I was happy with the result.

For the photo transfer I used a new transfer paper (TAP - Transfer Artist Paper) where you print your image onto the paper and then iron onto your surface.  For whatever reason, the image did not transfer well - I suspect my paper was old as it was a sample from 2011 and the directions say it lasts about 3 years :(  

So, I moved on to Plan B, using the gel medium transfer method. First I repainted over the area where the partial transfer was, then spread gel medium generously but smoothly in the same area. I used an inkjet print and laid it face down on the journal page, burnishing it well.  Some directions say to dry well, preferably overnight, but I couldn't wait, so used my heat tool to dry it thoroughly.

I sprayed water on the back of the paper and let it sit for a minute to soak in. Then I gently rubbed until all the paper was removed, leaving a reasonably clear transfer. (Transfers are never perfect and that is their beauty. I love the sanded, grungy effect.)

I added more paint around the transfer to integrate it with the background and also used many Paris-themed stamps. I also stamped a Tim Holtz quote, "Life is what happens to us when we are busy making other plans," and cut it apart.

Now to work on this week's challenge and, hopefully, get caught up!

MIA and Documented Life Planner Week 31

Wow, I can't believe it's been so long since I stopped by here! Yes, I've been busy!

I have spent the last month or so trying to catch up on my oldest two grand boys' scrapbooks. I was going to do their first year, but the project took on a life of its own and has morphed into documenting their first two-plus years!

We went to Austin to visit Carl and Mitchell for our birthdays (mine, my husband's and my oldest daughter's are within 4 days of each other in August) and that was my deadline so I could give the scrapbook to Carl then. I think at last count I scrapped about 70 pages for him! Needless to say, the one album is now two! I've also almost finished Drew's to take to him when we go to Albuquerque next weekend - his is almost as big!

Back to Documented Life - with August came a new theme: Faces, The Human Form and Characters. Yikes! I've never drawn a face or body except stick figures! I was terrified and procrastinated big time.

Aug. 1
Art Challenge: Expressive Faces
Journal Prompt: "What I See Clearly Now"

So this was my face. I followed Dina Wakley's drawing instructions in her new book Art Courage.  I now wish I had stopped with the drawing instead of moving on to painting it! I'm not that happy with it but it is my first attempt so, hopefully, I'll get better! For the journal prompt, I wrote around her head saying that I can clearly see that I need lots of practice!

Since I wanted to focus on the drawing, I did a minimal background using a few spray inks and stencils. I used the entire left page for the calendar information because I didn't want to spread the face over two pages.

I am still two weeks behind, not including the current week, so I'd better get moving! The next challenge is Characters so hopefully that will be easier.(?)