Better later than never

Well, I seem to have forgotten that when you work with contracters, nothing seems to go according to schedule. But I am happy to say that my house is now quiet and my new darkroom "skeleton" is now in place. To keep costs down, I negotiated to lay the floor, install my own sink, and mud and paint the walls. Fortunately for me, I have a father who knows how to do all of these things and has offered to come over and teach and help me do this stuff. So while it is not totally finished it is so awesome to finally have everyting in place.

I can hardly wait to start working in here.

Their Coming Tomorrow!!!!!

I know that this photo might appear to be an odd addition to my little blog but by tomorrow, this will be the beginnings of my new darkroom. This is actually on the other side of my "room" in the attic. We have a really great contractor coming to move wires, air ducts and beams and build a very basic room. I have been saving like crazy for this little room since he came a year and a half ago and built our porch. I asked him then if he could build a darkroom which he thought was a strange request but was very open to the idea.

It will be such a luxury to not have to tear down and build a make shift darkroom in the bathroom. Dealing with the leaking light, dog and cat hair and the kiddos coming in and out when they pleased made the bathroom extremely difficult which is why I have been putting off all of my film explorations.

I am so excited I can barely contain myself. I will post pictures later with some of their progress.

Embroidering onto Fabric Paper

It is always fun to take supplies that I already have and use them together in a new way. Several years ago I scrimped and saved to purchase an embroidery machine. One of the best purchases that I have made ever!

I have these very skinny walls in between the windows in my "room". I found some canvases that fit perfectly just had to decided what to put on them.
So, I made some paper fabric, embroidered the letters onto it and mounted it onto the canvases. Turned out really nice. And I was really surprised how easy the embroidery machine worked on the paper fabric. I "babysat" the machine the whole time it ran worrying that it might get mad about stitching on such a foreign thing, but it worked out fine. I am going to have to explore this a little more.

Fun with Aluminum Foil

So this is something that I have been working on for a little while. I know that we are all encouraging everyone to be more green and reuse things that we have for repurposing. Well, I love jewelry of all kinds especially the pieces that I make myself. So, I was in the kitchen one day cleaning up after dinner and noticed the aluminum foil sitting on the counter. I took it to my "room" and out came this really great necklace. I am crazy about it. Just had to add a washer to the back for some weight. I will probably be making this in every possible color, maybe a ring, or earrings.

Time to play with wax!

I have decided after watching my mom use wax for a while to try it out. And I gotta tell ya, it is so fun. It is a great way to add texture on the top of something and still be translucent for the image underneath. The way it smells is nice too. This is definitely going to be something that I will play around with some more.

New Year's Resolutions!

So I don't usually make New Year's resolutions, but this year I have decided to jump in with a couple that I think will help along my creative process which has been in a little bit of a slump due to other duties in my life that have come up lately.
I am excited about what this year is going to bring. So what are my new resolutions????

First, I am going to start keeping a more serious art journal. I have been keeping one for a while now but always have the expectation that it should look like a finished piece of art instead of what it is meant for and that is an idea book. It is really only meant for my own personal "jumping off" anyway. And I want to jump back in on my blogging which I consider an extension of an art journal.

Second, I have been fortunate enough to inherit a wonderful Pentax ME Super from my late grandfather. It is a fantastic 35mm with a few great lenses. I have had in interest in photography but this is the year that I intend to learn how to take the manual off my cameras and explore the creative process through the lens. I also want to process my own prints.

That's it. I think those will be good starting points for me for right now. Some times it is difficult to keep my life straight with two kiddos, homework, housework, church stuff, animals, a husband, etc, and also make time for my creative side. I am hoping this will all help.

Oh, this pick is of my and my "little artist" an New Year's Eve. Just a few days ago.

Mind Wide Open Challenge - All Dressed Up

I have found a new site through my mother called Mind Wide Open. Go over and take a look if you have never been there. It is a great group of people and artists. I decided to take a chance and enter. I just absolutely loved the photo that we were supposed to use. These two little ones are adorable. This is a 8" by 10" gallery wrapped canvas that is 1 1/2" in depth.