Mini Murals

I finished another little painting in Joey's room.  This one is from Lu and the Swamp Ghost, written by, strangely enough, James Carville.



I've done quite a few of these over the years.  Luckily, Joey's still excited to come home from school and see that I've finished another one. 





All of the mini murals I've done come from her favorite storybooks.

 

I scanned the pictures, played with them in photoshop to show as much of the basic outline as possible (I think I used the stamp effect), and then printed them up on overhead projector sheets.  You can cram quite a few of them on each one.



Then I projected them onto the wall and traced them in pencil.



You can barely see the penciled versions unless you're right up close.  That way, I can finish them when I have time. Though this technique may have given me way too much time, since I've been working on this project for like ever.  And there are still more pencil drawings than finished paintings.

Our favorite part is deciding where to put everybody.



Like this little guy who is in the corner, behind the door.



And this bunch who are all hanging from a long rope I painted in.

I use plain ol' acrylic craft paints, thinned with water, letting it dry between coats (sometimes speeding things with a blow dryer).  This allows me to more easily do shading on the sort of difficult pieces.  I traced quite a few of them at the end with a super thin, black marker.



The Wild Things' hair and scales were done mostly with the marker.  It gives you a lot more control that way.

Kenzie's Graduation Present

Among the jewelry skills that I'm learning from Jenny and our Grandpa is how to solder.



I used Jenny's camera to take these pictures as she showed me the process.


(apply flux)


(grab tiny bit of silver solder)


(place solder on joint)


(heat until it flows)

It's amazing how, if you do it well, the little piece of solder sucks right into the joint.

After we soldered all the rings, I filed and hammered them, purposely going a bit wonky because I liked the look of it. Then I created a place to set Kenzie's birthstone, an opal.

Most of the process went undocumented. Eventually I made this.



Each girl will eventually have one of her own.

No, it isn't perfect. And it came very close to being late. But I made it myself, out of love, with hands that once held Kenzie's little girl hands. At 18, she may not fully appreciate that. But I'm sure she will.

One day.

Luminarias 2.0

I love my plain luminarias very much.



But change is good too, is it not?


(you wouldn't believe how many tiny maple leaves I have from yesterday's post)

I've tried all kinds of different methods of adhering these puppies. And the one that, I think, gives the best results involves melting them ever so gently with the tip of a very low temperature iron (like so low that on the scale, it's below the first number). I just hold the leaf in place with the thumb of my left hand, while I maneuver the iron with my right.

I'm not gonna lie. You will get wax on it. You probably will want to use a separate iron (hopefully found cheap at a yard sale?) devoted to crafts for this project. (Heh hem, this is definitely a case of do as I say, not as I do. I just keep wiping the iron clean with a spare rag. Jeff hasn't complained that his shirts are covered in wax yet.)

Also the plants with the little leaves are really tedious to get stuck down.


(plants, left to right: sweet woodruff, catgrass, purple vetch)


(this guy in the front is maidenhair fern)

But despite all those cons, I think the results are pretty fun.

Spring Pressed Leaves

Normally I start thinking about pressing leaves in the Fall, when all those pretty leaves are hard to ignore. Though recently I realized that Spring leaves are equally lovely. And they have the added bonus of being tinier than fall leaves, just mini versions of their more mature selves, which makes them perfect for using in projects when regular leaves are just too big.



Sometimes, before the chlorophyll has made it all the way up, they're even a bit red.

For some of you this will be way too late. For some, it will be perfect timing. But don't wait too long to cut yourself a branch. In the time between when I first pressed these (4 days ago) and today, the leaves on our maple are at least 50 percent larger and completely green.



My favorite way to press flowers and leaves is in books. I've been pressing bits of nature between the pages of Little Women since I was a kid. Strangely, I've never read the entire thing. Though anytime I open it there is usually one or two folded pieces of white paper, sandwiching something or other, little presents from my past self, sent forward into the future.



Those are maidenhair ferns, a plant I have never been able to keep alive for long in our dry climate, but I do love to press them flat. Today I plan to put these to good use.



I'll be back tomorrow with pictures.

New Skill- Jewelry Making

We are especially lucky to have a family member (mine and Jenny's Grandpa, Joey's and Kam's Great-Grandpa) who makes jewelry as a hobby and generously offers to share his time and resources.

(This picture was from awhile back. Just look how short Kam's hair is.)

Between Jenny (who took a jewelry making class in high school) and Grandpa, the kids and I have no shortage of teachers. Jenny lets the kids use her wax gun to make designs, which she and Grandpa then cast for them.

Jenny helped Joey make me a beautiful and simple little ring. I love how it looks like a twig wrapped around my finger.


(As I'm looking at this picture of Joey holding my ring, I'm struck by how much her hands look like mine. She looks so grown up here. Which I realize is a strange thing to say about a picture of a hand. But it's true.)

And Kam made a design that became this necklace for his Gram's birthday.

And yes, we let the kids work with the wax gun even though it is pretty damn hot.



This is mostly because we agree with Gever Tulley when he encourages parents to let their kids try moderately dangerous activities, "Trust me, they are going to learn things that you can't get out of playing with Dora the Explorer toys." (Note- head over to that link if you want to hear his Ted talk on the subject. It's a good one.)

They also love to use the flex shaft for polishing the piece after it's been cast.

For now, though, the adults sprew up the pieces and do the actual casting.

Yes, I too am working on some pieces, but since they're gifts, I'll be sharing them a bit later.

Nontoxic Chalk Markers for Your Whiteboard

So maybe some of you aren't really all that into chalkboards. You prefer whiteboards, maybe? Well, the chalk markers that I'm giving away work pretty well on those as well. They have a couple of perks that I think make them much better than regular dry erase markers.


(Don't ask me what this is a drawing of. I do not know.)

First of all did I mention that they're xylene free?

Because they are.

These puppies are almost completely odorless. Which is so much better than the brain-cell killing markers we previously used on our whiteboard.

For some time now, I've discouraged the use of our whiteboard because it's right near my sewing table. And the entire room stinks for hours after the kids have drawn on it.

Blech.

So I only let them use it during the times of the year when I could actually open a window for ventilation. Because it says so right there on the dry erase marker... Use in well ventilated area. Which really makes me wonder, how many people working in offices have access to open windows? In my experience, very few.

In case you're interested, here are the health hazards of xylene (a common ingredient in regular whiteboard markers), according to OSHA...

Dizziness, excitement, drowsiness, incoordination, staggering gait, impaired reaction time, impaired short-term memory; headache; eye, nose, throat irritation; corneal vacuolization; anorexia; nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain; dryness and scaling of the skin, dermatitis; reversible liver and kidney damage after exposure to sudden high concentrations.

And while some of that does indeed sound like a good time, I think I'll just skip it and have a few gin and tonics instead.

I also like the fact that once the chalk markers have dried, they won't easily rub off on you like the dry erase markers do. But if you use a damp cloth, it comes right off.

All of which makes it the perfect time to let Joey make a little stop animation video on the white board, something she's wanted to do for some time now, but I've been hesitant about because it's such a long project. We're talking hours of drawing, erasing, drawing and erasing again and breathing fumes the entire time.







Luckily this was created in a completely stink free environment...



and caused no brain damage-amage-amage-amage-amage-amage! what so ever. (Warning- that link takes you to an audio file. You know, in case you're at work and don't want everyone to know that you're, um, not working.)

Update- And here's the second of Joey's whiteboard animations.



She spent most of Friday making this one. Other than taking some of the pictures on the first one, I didn't help her AT ALL with either of these. She wouldn't even let me see any of this last one until it was totally done, music and all.

Chalk Markers Giveaway and Upcycled Planters

The first time I saw Martha's instructions for making a custom colored chalkboard on the wall, I really geeked out. Everywhere I looked, I began to see the potential for chalkboards. And so I started painting them all over the place, using her homemade recipe.

But oftentimes I was disappointed with how the actual chalk looked. It was either not bright enough, or I couldn't write small enough for the space.

Until, that is, the magical and life-changing day that I discovered Chalk Ink Markers, thanks to Creative Kismet and Maize in Montana.



These markers come in 2 different types, water-washable and water-proof. I bought some of the water-washable kind because that's what they carried at the local art store. After doing a small test on the corner of Randa's chalkboard, the girls went to town with them.








The first thing *I* did was make containers to pot up some of my seedlings by sprucing up some recycled containers using black chalkboard spray paint.


(And since these are water soluble, it was a good thing that I normally water all my plants from the bottom. These totally run if they get wet. Though I'm sure the water-resistant kind would work brilliantly. I just haven't bought me any. Yet.)

After making sure to remove the hand-slicing bit of metal on the top (and pinching it down flat enough that I could run my fingers over it without getting cut)...



I cleaned them well and put some holes in the bottom for drainage. For the metal cans, I used the can opener to cut several, inch-long openings.



For the plastic I either drilled holes or simply stabbed it in several places with a screwdriver, which didn't make the holes I was hoping for, but cracks that drained fine just the same.

Then I sanded the metal with fine grit sandpaper and wiped clean. For the plastic, I went over the entire surface with turpentine on a cotton ball. I was able to spray the metal containers directly with the chalkboard paint, but needed to prime the plastic first with a special primer. Then I sprayed on a few layers of the chalkboard paint, letting them dry in between. As always, when using spray paint, several thin coats are better than one thick one, which will drip and make you sad.

After I planted them, I used the white marker to write the name and date that I started the seeds.

So is anyone else as incredibly excited to own a set of these markers as I was? Because I've contacted the company and they've offered to sponsor a contest here with a 5 pack of markers. Wee!

To qualify for the drawing, just leave a comment letting me know what amazing and creative uses you plan to put these to, should you be the lucky winner.



The contest will run through Sunday at midnight during which time I'll post about some of the other chalkboard projects I've done.

If you have any ideas of your own for chalkboard ideas, please feel free to link to them in the comments.

Good Luck!

Wakey Wakey, Let's Have Cakey*

Despite the fact that it was Easter, I can safely say that our family just experienced the Weekend of Cake.



We had this strawberry cream cheese cake on Sunday afternoon.



And while Jeff was making it Sunday morning, he and I ate leftovers of his birthday cake from the night before.



Which was homemade Boston cream pie (it does say 'pie' in there, but trust me, it's cake) and Jeff actually made it for himself for his own birthday. Yeah, I know, it seems bad, but he really loves to bake. So even though I enjoy my time in the kitchen, I let him have at it this time.

And as wonderful as this tasted, it's awesomeness may have had as much to do with how it was decorated.



I helped Kenzie (17) and Randa (15) make their dad's face in chocolate. Actually two faces because we couldn't decide which picture to use.



I realize that for those of you who've never met Jeff in real life, you may not appreciate how amazing this is, but these look EXACTLY like him.

I showed the girls this fantastic tutorial by Jojo over at Eye Candy of how to make a portrait out of chocolate. Though we did make a few changes. Instead of just using a plastic bag, I gave them actual pastry tips to apply the melted chocolate.



We also found that it worked much better using my light box.



Without it you couldn't really tell the difference between black and gray, which, apparently, made a big difference, as evidenced by Kenzie's first attempt below. We also found out that it's best if the chocolate isn't too melted as it's more difficult to control.



Here's what it looked like on the back, using the white chocolate to fill in.



When he saw the decorated cake (along with the extra portrait of himself), he didn't stop grinning for quite some time.



In fact, he pretty much looked just like that one there on the right.

The girls enjoyed making these so much that they've decided that every single dessert from now on needs to have someone's face on it.

And I concur.


*Alternate title: Dad is Great; He Bakes Us Chocolate Cake.



Added Note- In case you're interested, these two recipes are from Cook's Illustrated, available both online and in print.
Strawberry Cream Cake (which also can be found in their magazine on Entertaining)
Boston Cream Pie (also can be found in their fantastic cookbook Baking Illustrated)
Their website does have a yearly fee to access the recipes, but they've also got a free 14 day trial you can sign up for.

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