It’s done! Unless I decide to do a background, but we’ll see about that.
Archive for July, 2008
Sam & Max
Friday, July 25th, 2008A Week in Art, More Art, Crochet, Beads, and Cross-stitch
Tuesday, July 22nd, 2008Ok, I haven’t updated in a little while. But that doesn’t mean I haven’t been making things. Quite the contrary, really. Let me do a photo update in chronological order (which really saves the best for last anyway…)
First! The elephants. Yeah, they’re done. I’m not sure why, but now that it’s in threes, I don’t really like it as much as I thought I would. It still looks nice, but when it was finished, I didn’t feel the need to stare and marvel at it for hours like I usually do with completed projects. But anyway, here it is hanging above the window:
Second! I’m not going to share a picture of this one, partly because it’s still in progress and partly because of the nature of the project. My dad is a member of the National Cartoonist Society. He is putting together an NCS event honoring Frank Frazetta that’s taking place this fall. He’s asked the members of the NCS (who includes just about any cartoonist you can think of) to submit a caricature of Frazetta to put together in a scrapbook to present to him at the event. He asked for my help in putting it together, and in doing such, I get to put a caricature of my own in the book. Soooo, yeah. I’ve been working on that. It does, in fact, involve a woolly mammoth. Why wouldn’t it?
Third! Every once in a while, I pick up the crochet hook or knitting needles and just do something. I rarely actually turn it into anything and tell myself it’s just for practice. I’ve been “practicing” on a blanket since 2001. It’s just one of those things where I never finish what I start. So, I started something new. It’s just squares… They’re pretty versatile. I can make them as I feel and eventually turn them into something. A bag? A blanket? Who knows. But I’ve done 8 squares so far:
Fourth! In that huge box of beads I was working with last week, I found several pieces of jewelry that were already put together. They looked really old… They were made on regular string that was just, well, falling apart. I don’t know who originally made them. Big Mama? Granny? Mom? Who knows. It was done by someone in a previous generation. That’s all I know for sure. So I decided to take them apart and very carefully reconstruct them with sturdier material. They’re very vintage looking, but really quite neat:
Last! And best! And still in progress!
So, I keep seeing on the internets a bunch of people cross-stitching old pixelated video game characters like Mario and Zelda. I rarely played any of those Nintendo games. We were Sega kids… So why would I cross-stitch Mario? I wouldn’t, that’s why.
Instead, I tried to think of pixelated characters from my childhood. I bought some black cross-stitching fabric with the original intention of cross-stitching Missile Command from my Atari youth, but never got around to it. It just looked too easy. Something more complicated… Something more complicated…
One of my most favorite games ever! Sam & Max Hit the Road! Oh wow, did I ever play that game. Good old Lucas Arts with their good old pixels.
After working on it for a day and a half, I finished Max:
And no sooner did I start working on Sam:
As you can see, I’m not terribly far along with Sam, but let me tell you: That’s hours of work. And hours and hours. Either I’m extremely slow at cross-stitching (which is possible- my eyes aren’t great on small black surfaces) or it’s just one of the most time-consuming crafts there is. Right up there with quilting, crocheting, and knitting. Very tedious work, but I can’t wait to see the finished cross-stitch.
Fun!
Busy busy
Friday, July 11th, 2008As it turns out, the canvas panels I had lying around were an unusual and hard-to-find size. Parts one and two of the inked elephants were 7×9. We drove around to five different places, covering all the options, and could not find 7×9. I had to order them. I’m still waiting on them to arrive, so I can’t really do much else on the elephants at this point.
I cleaned the old craft closet and rearranged to make it all nice and organized. It’s still crammed full of stuff (I need a craft room) but at least it’s organized. While cleaning out, I found a huge box of beads that belonged to my great-grandmother. My mom had the box in a closet at her old townhouse, and I was looking through them and tinkering around with sorting them a few years ago. Somehow in the move of everything I ended up with the box. Sorry, mom! Hope you weren’t looking for those…
Anyway, I pulled it out last night and once again started the daunting task of sorting them. There are all sorts of shapes and sizes and colors and types all mixed up in one huge box. I got one of those little plastic divider things I had lying around and started separating them by color. I worked on it for a few hours, but still haven’t even made a dent in the task. I’ve sorted enough that I could do something with them, though. There are so many pretty beads in there, and so many nice metal beadcaps… And since they were Big Mama’s, they feel kind of like an heirloom. I decided to make nice jewelry. Not just stringing them up on floss or wire.
This is the first time I’ve ever used eye pins or done any kind of beading that involves tools. I had to stop at Michael’s and pick up the beginner stuff. (The cashier asked me if I was just starting with beading. I told her about my great-grandmother’s bead box, and she said, “Oooh, are they haunted?”)
Anyway. Take one:
I’ve made two bracelets (bottom and middle) and started a necklace (top.)
Hey, just gotta keep myself busy until my canvases come in.
Update:
The sorting process is probably going to be an ongoing project… It will take years.
This is what I’ve sorted over the past two days:
And this is what’s still left in the box:
Part Two
Wednesday, July 9th, 2008Since I liked the linework elephants I did the other day, I decided to extend it to another canvas.
Which means, now I have to extend it to another canvas. And possibly two more. Yay! I originally said I liked how it turned out, now I say I’m liking how it’s turning out. Things are never done when I think they are.
Inkwork
Tuesday, July 8th, 2008If you didn’t know or hadn’t noticed yet, let me just put it out there. I like elephants. Lots. I have a nice little (big) collection, and I have that acrylic painting I did about two years ago hanging in my dining room.
I painted that one while watching The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy shortly after we moved into this apartment.
I made a new elephant art… I did this one on canvas with one of those old fashioned calligraphy pens with the metal nibs. I used three different sized tips. I really like how it turned out:
And yes, it is in fact four in the morning. That’s what happens when you drink French press coffee at eight. 
I’m going to make some tea and try to get sleepy.
Enjoy!
Friday, July 4th, 2008I have no choice. I have to.
Zipper pouch
Friday, July 4th, 2008Since I have so much canvas now (I found a good deal and figured I’ll be making a bunch of those block-printed bags) I decided I could spare two little 5″ x 6″ pieces. I had this little zipper pouch from the North Carolina Aquariums that I used to hold all of my wallet cards, and attached the keys to the zipper. It was so handy, but the only problem with it was that I didn’t make it.
So, I made a canvas zipper pouch. I was going to make it all mammothy, but decided it was too small to patterned with a 4″ x 5″ pattern. I’m going to make a single little design to put on it. (Or maybe I’ll just use my old puffer fish design. That was pretty cute.)
Anyway. Here it is, plain:
I made it a little larger than my old one, because I was always sticking change in it, nail clippers, etc, on top of all the cards I normally carry around. I’ll update when I decide what I’m going to put on it. Since my old one was fishes, I might stick with fishes.
Oh, also, in the process of making this, I used a zipper I had lying around the house. I only had two: one was 18″ and the other 7″. Both of these were too big… But after careful inspection, the little metal piece at the end can be bent (with pliers, or in my case, cuticle clippers. I use those things for crafts way more than I would ever use them for their intended purpose. They’re so precise and small!). You pull the metal part out and can repositioned in any place you need. Voila. Custom sized zippers.