WINTER ALBUM: Album Cover

It has been a bit chilly outside lately and has inspired me to get into the winter spirit. Probably my least favorite time of year, but gotta love it for the scenery, spiritual references, family time, relaxation, and most important ..my birthday :)

I always love making a December Daily album in past years, but plan on doing a Winter Fabric Album this year to focus on the entire season...and use my Project life book for my December Daily. 

So I had a super and easy way to create my cover based on this Painting By Number kit. 

I took out the practice sheet or as I refer to it as the guide..grabbed a piece of tracing paper! and my gessoed book cover. 

I used a stylus to draw the entire painting on the book cover. Although it was a bit smaller than the cover, I plan on adding more elements later to blend it in.

(And please note...make sure tracing paper is facing right way before start of trace...I had an oopsie, but luckily noticed it after doing one bird.)

And then using the kit's paints and guide, I started.  I didn't trace the numbers onto book to avoid having to cover them (most annoying part of paint by numbers...in my opinion.)

The final result...

And now I am having a paint by number addiction to conquer :(

2013 AUTUMN JOURNAL: Fox

As the season goes on, I'm can't tell you how much I enjoy FALL....and love working in my Autumn Journal.  The page I will share today is titled "FOX" for obvious reasons.

It started with wanting to do something fun and whimsical.  So I sketched out a fox and used canvas letters to simply write FOX onto a gelli printed page with fabric accents.

I didn't really like the overall look of the fox, so I added some reinkers to the mix.  I loved how this looked.  Kate Thompson showed us this technique and material during her class. 

I planned on keeping the fox, the same shape and whimsical aspect....but once the ink dried...I didn't care for his figure, but loved the background....so.....

I used another technique from Kate's class ...and started an image transfer of adorable real life fox (foxes?!? not sure what the plural is...my mom would be so ashamed :(  I acquired the images from none other than Pinterest. 

Before printing I mirrored the images:

The images below show the initial result from rubbing off the paper.  I did this a couple of times to make the image not so cloudy.  (Hint: You can use Tar Gel to make it even more clear.)

  

So after the paper dried, I used a Stabilo ALL black pencil to highlight accents of the fox plus it created a better outline.  I instantly fell in love with these little guys (I refer to them as guys since I have so many Warrior girls already in the journal)

I felt I was done at this moment.

But the next day, I needed to add a bit of orange/rust via watercolor to make them more FOXY :)

And I fell deeper in love with the guys. 

Other pages I have completed using inspiration from classes include:

Warriors

Free Spirit

My goal is to complete my first vlog once the album is finished showing each page. 

I truly adore this and love mixing the papers and fabric plus embellishments.

 www.aligitt.etsy.com

WILDE AND FREE: Free Spirit Warrior

My Little Owl Loving Free Spirit Warrior :)

SUNNY CARVALHO: Doll #2

My little One-Eyed Wilhelmina . . .

SUNNY CARVALHO: Crazy Ladies

Day 2 began with some breathtaking views on my drive to the studio. I can only imagine when the leaves all have changed. 

...and some frizzy humid mountain hair

But arriving at Random Arts, there were yummy Danish rolls there and several friendly new faces. And hence the class began: 

This napkin was used in the background. My table mate had the most amazing napkins to use. I adored this one. Especially the feather and dragonfly. 

Then lunchtime was back out on the porch for a Fried Shrimp Po-Boy and chips. Delish!

Hair is slowly calming down. Lol. 

After sketching out figures. I opted to do a Fox Girl looking up at the dragonflies. 

This was my stopping point for the day as I wanted to leave on time to get to Pearson Falls. It is suppose to rain here tomorrow dampening my options. Pun intended. 

But first a group photo:

And then a short ride and hike to get to the falls. Once again playing countdown  with my iPhone battery. 

The top was soo worth it and the sounds of the falls were so relaxing. 

After a short trip around town searching for food, I drove to the cottage. Again gorgeous views!! And a renewed desire to finish my artwork. 

MEET HARRIET!!  

"Harriet rhymes: 

One, two, three, four, and five

I caught a hare alive. 

Six, seven, eight, nine, and ten

I let him go again."

You can see outdoor lighting is so much better. But hard to obtain at night.