Challenging Myself

Note to self: Find time to make stuff!

I constantly need to challenge myself to “make stuff”. Otherwise I’d end up vegging my weekends away and not getting any art or crafts done. Blame it on poor time management! I envy those artists who challenge themselves to produce one piece of art on a regular basis and actually stick to it — like Randel Plowman and his Collage a Day project.

One of these days I’m going to join Sunday Postcard Art, which shouldn’t be that demanding on my schedule (I hope) since the challenge is weekly.

But given my currently hectic lifestyle (yes, I’m blaming the Day Job!), I needed something that would still challenge me to actually make something based on certain criteria, but would not be too tough on my schedule. My solution? An online craft course!

Last month I signed up for My Creative Classroom’s free course called “Everyday Moodlings”. Every month you’re taught a fun craft or technique via video or PDF, and you have to upload a photo of your assignment to the site for grading. Since classes started last January, I’m like four assignments behind (argh!), and have lots of catching up to do! I’ve already submitted a few assignments, and I’ll post them here next time. For now, I’ve some homework to finish…

Tags: Artists, Collage, Musings, Online Courses, Postcards, Websites

Brian Dettmer

Dettmer's take on Webster's New International Dictionary, 2nd ed. Photo courtesy of Packer Schopf Gallery.

Brian Dettmer is brilliant! He’s the guy who carves old books into awesome works of art. And I mean AWESOME! Talk about altered books!

Frankly, I’ve never heard of Brian Dettmer before I read “The Cut-Up Artist” in the May/June 2008 issue of Fine Books & Collections, a copy of which I discovered in the bargain bin just last week. Oh, happy find!

Till that moment, my pathetically limited idea of altered books meant painting, tearing, and collaging pages until a book remotely resembled its former self. But to seal a book and dig out the illustrations one at a time — now that’s a real mind-blower!

Brian Dettmer’s official website is still under construction, but it links to other sites that feature his works, including Packer Schopf Gallery, Kinz + Tillou Fine Art, and Flickr. Check them out for more inspiration!

Tags: Altered Art, Altered Books, Artists, Book Arts, Brian Dettmer, Fine Books & Collections, Inspirations, Sculpture

ATCs: Mini-Scrapbook Pages

The scrapbook page

It just occurred to me that ATCs are an excellent way to test themes and layouts for scrapbook pages, and vice versa. Of course the “page” dimensions may be different, but you can pull together different elements related to your chosen theme (say, Autumn) and see how they turn out.

I’ve done this with the “Dream” ATC and “Piper’s Dream” digital scrapbook page. Both use the same photo (though it’s not the main picture on the scrapbook page), dream theme, and color scheme, and the background of falling leaves is common to both, although done in slightly different ways.

The ATC

So the next time you have a theme or color scheme for a scrapbook page (whether traditional or digital), try a mini version of it on an ATC.

Also, if you have scrapbook page that you’re particularly fond of, try making a mini version of it on an ATC. You can even use the ATC as an added attraction to  the scrapbook page by turning in into an embellishment!

Tags: Art Cards, Artist Trading Cards, ATCs, Autumn, Cats, Digital Scrapbooking, Scrapbooking

Dream

An ATC of my cat Piper sleeping on my computer monitor.

“Dream” is an ATC version of a scrapbook page I made titled “Piper’s Dream”. The leaves punched from vellum mirror the falling leaves used on the background paper, and emphasize the autumn scene in the picture.

A totally unplanned effect was the text. I used an inkjet to print on white vellum, and the edges of the text bled into the paper, adding further to the ethereal, dreamy effect. Talk about serendipity!

Tags: Art Cards, Artist Trading Cards, ATCs, Cats, Collage, Craft Punches, Digital Photography, Inkjet Printer, Vellum