IF - Unbalanced

When I saw the word for Illustration Friday "Unbalanced" I thought of how my life is right now... all I do is work it seems. Which is both good and I am very thankful, however I get so into my work that I forget to make time for my favorite things in life, like drawing, painting, crafting, cooking, and singing in the shower!

I am going to try to get my scale a little more balanced so I am not forgetting that much needed time for myself.

Happy Creative week! :)

IF - Skinny

When I first thought of the word skinny, I right away thought of Skinny Dipping! So Fun and Freeing!
And what a coincidence the following day on Oprah they were talking about pushing yourself and taking risks, one of the things the ladies on the show had to do was strip down at a beach and go skinny dipping in the ocean :) Some of them loved it, and a few other were a bit reserved about it. To each their own I say.

Then I thought about "skinny" some more and got hungry! Ha! And let me tell you when I get hungry, my stomach growls and I need to eat soon before I get delirious. Or simply shaky if I had too much coffee in the morning. So here is another funny doodle I came up with for my silly thoughts on the hungry side of the topic...

Bird Masquerade

I am in love with the victorian Masquerade masks, especially those that look like birds. I have been wanting a bird mask for years, but have not just seen one when I am out and about shopping.

It started off with a sketch... So this year since I didn't have a darn clue what to be for Halloween, (being busy with work and all) I decided to head to Hobby Lobby to grab all of the things I would need to just try and make a bird mask. Well needless to say I got all that I could and let my creative mind run & it was a blast!

I used a pre-made face mask, cut it down to size and reshaped the eye holes (why do they always make them so tiny?).
Then for the beak I used paper mache and molded it just how I wanted it. The paper mache took a couple of days to dry before I could start decorating. This part of the process was a little annoying to me - because I wanted to decorate it right away. I managed to be patient, and once it was dry... I went wild on it!
Well now it is complete and I wanted to share!

KB

Luminous Fall Lantern

Since the season turned to Fall here we have the house full of warmly scented flickering candles. Today I was feeling a bit crafty as usual and I wanted to make a paper lantern to go over a candle.
I originally saw the idea for a paper lantern in a Martha Stewart magazine. If you want to make a lantern for yourself, I am sure you could visit her site to find a template or
just make your own like I did.
I had to improvise a little bit, because I only have so many materials on hand. Here is what I used:
8.5 x 11 black card stock, 8.5 x 11 white vellum sheet, sharpies, tape runner, flower punches, scissors and some puffy black paint.
First I designed my template for the lantern onto a regular sheet of paper. Then I cut the template out and traced it onto my black card stock sheet twice and cut them out. Then I taped the two black lanterns together on one side.
Next, I drew some silhouettes onto my vellum sheet (I originally tried to print my images onto the vellum using my printer... this did NOT work, oopsie).
I then cut out my windows to fit the windows in the lantern. I then taped the vellum windows into place on the black lantern pieces.

Finally I taped the final lantern side edges together. I also decided to embellish it with flowers and some pretty puffy ans shiny black paint.

For the candle: I used a glass jar and dropped a votive candle in it to protect the fragile lantern from catching fire. This also allows the color of the candle to flicker through the windows of your lantern.

This was a fairly simple project and fun to do! If you decide to create one of your own, please do share!

Happy Creating!
KB

Delphian Moon

Here sits Delphia, she will tell you all that you want or wish to know. And everything you may not want to know. She is beautiful and bewitching but be careful not to stare at her too long or you may get lost into her trance... and float away high towards the moon forever!

Cowboy Skully is here!

I am trying my hands at sculpting. I love all of the cool little art dolls I see all over and really wanted to give it a go to try and create my own little character. And so I kneaded the clay (I used Sculpey) and rolled it into a working ball of clay and started to pinch, mold, and sculpt and before I knew it Cowboy Skully was here! I have already started to create more... just need to stick them in the oven next. Sculpey is a great clay to use because it  is so easy. You mold your creation and then stick it in the oven for 15 minutes and Voila! Its done ready to paint or piece together.

Now my cowboy needs a paint job, so that is my fun project for today!

Crafty little Gloves

I crafted up some hip little gloves for my crafting projects. My hands always are so cold, and yet I wasn't going to wear full on gloves because my fingers wouldn't be free to create. That would be just plain silly! Therefore I improvised and thought why not snip off the fingers of some cheapo gloves (you can purchase these cheapies for as little as 50cents to $1.50). We have all seen fingerless gloves before, they come in all shapes, sizes, and different thickness. But these are my special gloves since I embellished them with embroidery threads and tiny jewels, buttons and a little bit of lace!
I absolutely love them and want to make more for friends and family... I know I am not the only crafty lady out there with cold hands!

Do a Little Pumpkin Dance!

Do a little dance - make a little pumpkin pie? I don't know, but I started drawing this as a past Halloween memory of my guy. He has worn his beloved pumpkin head for years in a row... and broke the mask last year... bummer. (as much as I loved the pumpkin head, I was not too bummed because I secretly wanted him to be a little more creative for Halloween and come up with another costume this year!)

We'll see what he ends up doing this year!?
I don't even know what I am going to be quite yet still stirring up some ideas!