Jack-in-the-Pulpit

I’m currently working on a book swap, where each person contributes a page, then receives a whole book at the end of the process. The theme is flowers and color. 

The color theme I’ve got is green, so I had been trying to come up with flowers that are green. Bells of Ireland and Lady’s Mantle were rejected and I had pretty much decided on the green coneflower, “Green Envy” when a co-worker suggested the Jack-in-the-Pulpit. It was a perfect choice. It appealed to me on several levels: an interesting shape, attractive flower,  a woodland native that I grow and love, and a whimsical name.

I quickly came up with a clip-art illustration of the flower and was able to carve a large (6×10 inch) stamp in the basic shape. Last night I printed a test page and was very pleased with the results.

The stamp, still wet from the paint.

It still needs a little cleaning up, but I think it looks pretty good as is.

This came together so well, that I’d like try a whole series of flower prints.

Craftroom Makeover – Monday

I’ve been working towards getting my sewing room organized into more of a craft room for a month now and I still have a way to go. I decided to take the week off and try to take it easy for a few days.

So I’ve put the sign up that says: “Gone Fishin’!” and will start fresh again next week.

Steampunk goes Mainstream

A couple of months ago I went to see the Kalamazoo Civic Youth Theatre’s version of Alice in Wonderland. The set was so beautiful that I snapped a quick shot of it with my cell phone during intermission.

Not the best  photo, but I hope you can see well enough to check it out. Cogs, pipes, metal staircases and industrial looking platforms = steampunk.

Kalamazoo, though the largest city in Southwest Michigan is still pretty small in comparison with other cities; and is proud to say that they keep a small town atmosphere. So when the city’s main community theatre decides to produce a play using steampunk sets, costumes and props, you’ve just got to figure that the culture has gone main stream.

And let’s face it; Alice in Wonderland is the perfect story to present using this format. A mixture of Victoriana and fantasy makes it work beautifully.

Another view of the stage. The tall pipes represent a tree, which emerges from Alice’s Library. You can see the shelves and books in the foreground.

My favorite set piece/costume. The caterpillar as a cyborg? You can also see the ball part of the hookah, all lit up in a cool greenish glow, as well as the mushroom gills.

A backstage view of the mushroom and how the actor had to strap himself into the attached costume.

Here are more favorite costume and set pieces showing off the steampunk theme.

The Red Queen. Yes, sadly this script muddies things by combining Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass. I admit that I am a purist and dislike mixing the 2.

The talking flowers. Loved their characters and costumes. The bottoms of the pots were cut out and they shuffled in and out of several scenes in unison, their petals bouncing along. I wish their hair and makeup were more in unison as well.

The White Knight and his mechanical horse. Probably the most boring scene in the book and in the play as well.  Still, the horse was so cool.

The Mad Hatter’s Tea Party. Some of the costumes seemed a little drab but look at the Mad Hatter’s table in the background. I love the sharp angle, truly showing off his madness.

I took a closer photo of the table, backstage. It was too dark to come out very well but you can see that the table corners has a clock set into each leg. A very clever and lovely detail.

My biggest regret is not acquiring a photo of the Mock Turtle. The back of his shell is actually a beautifully painted clock. I’ve got to check with the costume designer and see if she got a photo of it for her portfolio.

Most of these photos came from the Kalamazoo Civic Theatre  itself. If you want to see more of what they do, just click on the link.

If you are wondering at my theatre theme for this posting, my mind is on costumes tonight. Friday I was offered a job costuming a local High School production of Bye Bye Birdie. Not as interesting as Alice in Wonderland but I’ve decided to take it on.

It’s been years since I’ve costumed anything and they are already in rehearsal so I’m starting out late – just like the White Rabbit. My time is tight and I’m worried that I may be taking on too much, along with my full-time job and outside activities.

Still, the money has lured me and I want to dip my toes back into the theatre community again so I thought it was an ideal opportunity. If I don’t get a nervous breakdown or fall apart from exhaustion.

Craft Room Makeover Monday and Stamp on it

Okay, I realize that it’s not Monday but actually Wednesday. I got a little behind with my blog and am trying to get this done before it becomes Makeover Thursday.

I’ve got pretty much all my fabric sorted, and I’m boxing up all my various craft supplies until I can get to it later and sort it all out and find a home for everything. I’m clearing up one area of the room at a time in preparation for moving the various heavy furniture pieces into their new spaces.

I really do own a lot of crap stuff. I’m  having a very difficult time letting go; not just of fabric, but papers, magazines, books, clothes, old Christmas cards and on and on….. I know that I’ll be glad I got rid of all this when the process is finished, but right now – it’s just really hard.

For example, I’ve kept these fabric pieces from old Sing Out Kalamazoo costumes (circa 1970′s) . There is not enough fabric to make anything, it’s just a sentimental attachment. I’m thinking that I may put them in a journal as a keepsake so they won’t clutter up my fabric bins.

So far I’ve thrown out 3 garbage bags full of stuff, recycled 2 grocery bags of paper and cardboard and have 2 garbage bags full of fabric that will be going  – somewhere. Most of it is pretty ugly or polyester double-knit so even if I donate it to Goodwill are the they going to want it?

In the meantime, I’ve started making some stamps, using Julie Fei-Fan Balzer’s online stamp making course as a guide. I took a couple of workshops from her at the Create retreat last summer and really liked her style – as a person and her artistic style. Since I haven’t made an stamps since then, I am feeling pretty rusty. I was glad to see that we are starting small and are working toward larger, more complex stamps as we go along.

A small, 1 inch heart stamp to get us started by practicing with the points, dips and curves that make up the shape. Also to get used to working with a linoleum cutter.

Using the stamps with tags.

Another small 1 inch stamp using 2 different stamps to create a single but 2 color design.

I used this stamp to create little books on a “luv the liberry” bookmark. It looks as though I need to work on my lettering style. I like the idea but I don’t quite have the design down yet.

It looks like I didn’t make my Wednesday deadline. It’ll be easier to get more reliable blogging time once the room is complete – I also hope to be more creatively productive once everything is in order and I can find all my supplies without digging through 4 different bags.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Craftroom Makeover Monday – week 3

As this is the 3rd week in my craftroom makeover, I wish I had some photos to show: pictures of clean, tidy areas, organized shelves, an inviting workspace.

Sorry, I tend to work slowly, in bits and pieces, fits and starts. I’m currently in the middle of going through all my fabrics, throwing out the small scraps and bagging up the larger pieces, knowing I’ll never use them - usually very ugly material.

I tend to have a bin for each color; some colors have 2 bins. My job this week was to go through and cut the stash in half. So far, I’m only halfway there. I own lots and lots and lots of fabric. As I’ve been sorting, certain patterns have come to my attention. For instance,  I have a lot of red fabrics and a lot of green. Understandable, since I really like these colors and use them a lot. However, I also have overflowing bins of pink and blue – colors that I don’t really like very much. Oh, I like hot pink and turquoise blue and I did have some of those shades in my collection. But mostly, the container had a lot of pale, sickly pink and dull plain blue. I never use those colors, so many of them had to go.

Here are many of my bins filed away one of my shelving units. I have been slowly getting rid of the gray bins for clear ones. I use the clear ones for continuity and so I can see what I got. I don’t understand  quilters and artists who place their fabric in open shelving. I feel that though this practice may look pretty,  the fabric just collects dust and cats looking for a soft place to nap. 

I hope to be done with most of the fabric sorting by Wednesday. Then it will be time to move furniture around. This will be a lot more fun than organizing a fabric stash.

Here is an update of my organizational plans:

It may look spacious, but to me it looks like I only have about 5 by 7 feet of open space in the middle. I’m only adding a few pieces and rearranging what is already in there. I hope that my calculations are accurate either so everything will go exactly as planned.

My big concern is the closet door; it opens out - bang into the library table, which I will be using as a work table for my paper craft projects and will double as a fabric cutting table. I may have to take the door off the hinges but I hope I don’t have to. The door, window sashes and floorboards are painted this amazing peach color. I wonder how hard it would be to flip the door around and put the hinges on the other side so it opens the other way, towards the window.

My current furniture includes:

• the library table - in my new stamp-making and other craft-making area. It will have some table top storage plus my computer and printer. 
• sewing desk -  I see no reason to change its original purpose.
• drafting table – I use it as a painting table for my art journaling and other messy crafts.
• I have 2 tall shelves. the industrial gun-metal gray shelf that I will continue to use for fabric, and a heavy wooden shelf which will be used to hold supplies and unfinished projects that I use for that area. 
• Two smaller shelving units currently in the room are pretty much useless, so I will be trading them out and replacing them with an old baker’s rack – more supplies and current ongoing projects. Above the baker’s rack I have more hanging shelves. More storage as needed.
• I’d like to add a reading lamp, a comfortable chair and an old dresser for smaller storage. The closet is also available for storage, if I can get more shelving in there.

There is a lot that I haven’t worked out yet. I usually have to move the actual furniture around and see everything in place before I make a final decision. Drawing plans gives me an idea, but I always have to make adjustments when I am working with them in real life.

I hope that by next week, I’ll be able to provide more pictures and a lot more progress.

Doodling a Winter Wonderland

So far, winter has been very disappointing.

I seem to be in the minority I like snowy, cold winters, but we’ve had very little snow so far and the temperatures keep popping up into the 40′s and 50′s (F) during the daytime hours.

I had an ATC swap with the theme of Winter Wonderland and decided to do a little doodling for the card and try out some of my pens.

Trying to decide how to draw Mr. Snowman

The doodle that I finally came up with. Now I need to put in some kind of background and I’ll be able to use this for my art journal.

My final snowman on an ATC.

and the backside…still need to work on the lettering and the glitter got a little out of control…

Craftroom – Makeover Monday

a replica of my poor old pole lamp.

I’m working toward making my sewing room into a mixed media craft room. Last week I made the declaration; this week I’ve begun making some plans.

It’s a small, only 12 ½ by 13 ½ feet, and it’s got 2 large windows, a small triangular-shaped closet in one corner with a door and a door to the upstairs hallway.

The room measurements and shape, they may not be exact.

The advantages:

• Large windows facing the east and south letting in a lot of natural light.
• The closet, that will make great storage if fitted with shelves.

The disadvantages:

• It’s small so I can’t just add another shelving unit or more bins to control the clutter. I may actually have to get rid of some things to make room for others.
• The windows and doors, as they take up valuable wall space, plus the fact that I tend to  work in there at night so all that great light is pretty much wasted.

I spent most of the week thinking over what my needs are, and how to use the room to it’s best advantage.

My needs:

• I want to keep my sewing machine, fabric and notions; just not as much. When I was a costume designer, I needed to keep a lot of fabric; it came in handy so I wouldn’t have to always run out to the fabric store when building costumes. I also sewed a lot of my own clothes. I don’t really much, anymore.
• I would like to cut my collection of fabrics in half. That should give me more room to add a work and storage area for painting and other mixed media work. This one is going to kill me, I hate the thought of getting rid of my fabric stash. I also have a ton of patterns but I’m not ready to get rid of those yet.
• Even though in last week’s posting I said that I would not spend any money on furniture, I may need to buy some lighting, since my overhead light is really inadequate. I only have one task light that I end up carrying all over the room. My other, an old 1960-something pole light, doesn’t work very well anymore. It’s really too bad, I liked that old pole light. I inherited it from my parent’s house when I went off to my first apartment in 1975. I don’t think they make pole lights in this day and age. For those too young to remember pole lights, there were three lights on one pole which was held in place with a tension rod. The lights, on cone-shaped shades could be aimed in different directions to focus the light where it was needed. The shades on my pole lamp were originally plastic, in white, orange and turquoise. They eventually broke apart so I replaced the cones with small basket shades, cutting holes to fit them on the hardware. That was in the 80’s when earthtone colors were big.

 I will look around the local second-hand stores or Ebay to see if I can find an inexpensive replacement. Who knows, I may find another pole lamp to replace mine.