Elfsisters' Art Adventure - Knots and Knumbers - Week 4

Yes, yes, yes, I know "numbers" does not have a "k" on the front but you know what? I've never understood why "knot" has a silent k so I just had to play with the words in the title today! Now to get started ...

I had a lot of fun with this assignment! I don't quite have all the numbers done, but I had a lot of fun with what I did do! As you may notice it says "Starting Here" and I didn't exactly start with the number 1. No, of course not, I started with 42! As any good Hitch Hiker knows, the number 42 is the answer to "the Question of Life, the Universe, and Everything." Now we're not sure what the question actually is, so the answer doesn't help us much, but that still means it's a very cool number!

Since I didn't start with number 1 I didn't go in order for the rest of them. In fact I would just jump around and fill in numbers as I went :D I always thought it would be fun to have a book where none of the numbers were right, now I do.

See my pretty scribble? Sometimes I messed things up. When I messed up the first one I felt a bit depressed. My pretty book was messed up! Then I realized the ridiculousness of that thought. The whole point IS to wreck this journal after all! I tend to be very down on myself about my artistic attempts because I see everything I do wrong - which is a lot. Sometimes its because I don't know what I'm doing yet, and sometimes its just because hey, I make mistakes! This reminded me, vividly, that it's ok that I make those mistakes. It's not the end of the world, and I WILL get better.

One last thing, in case your confused, those are Elvish characters :) Meri and I have been learning to write in Tolkien's Elvish so I put that in as well as English!

I have another project in progress, but this I finished! I used the design I showed in my last post and it took a lot of erasing, but I eventually got something! The ink smeared, the lines aren't flowing the way I'd like, but a month ago I wouldn't have been able to do even this much, so I'm very happy! I may try to do another rendition, a better one, if I have the time this week. However, my other project, my secret one, comes first!

To find out this week's assignments and drop off your link make sure you go visit Meri's blog. 

Of Giveaway Plans and Wolves

I'm going to take a few weeks off from the giveaways. I know - it's sad! But I've just had a lot going on in my life and I want to make sure I'm giving the artists the attention they deserve, and I just don't have that attention right now. Hopefully it'll only be two or three weeks and then I'll be diving back in! If your interested in being featured when I start up again just let me know in the comments :)

Celtic Wolf Knot Wood Carving

I went to Artfire to find a random item to feature today - found this - and fell in love! It's so perfect for the other things that are going on in my life right now! I searched for "wolf" because I have a story world forming in my head that involves wolves, and we are doing the Celtic Art focus this month in our Elf Sisters' Art Adventures , so it combines both! I'm going to have to see if I can draw it, I'm guessing the answer to that is a resounding no but I figure it doesn't hurt to try! That's what the art adventure is all about right? 

Speaking of which - I do have a celtic art pattern in process for bead weaving but I just haven't had the brains to finish it :P Hopefully I'll do that soon and you'll get to see it.... next month? 

Giveaway Winner, Treasury, and More!

Its time to announce the current winner! And it is....

Peripatetic33!

Congrats :)

Make sure you check back for next weeks giveaway :)

I also wanted to share a treasury I'm in :)

Everything is Blue

And last but not least - this bracelet is featured over at Great Finds! 

Go vote for my bracelet or your favorite!

Some Special Wreck This Journal Pages

I mentioned in Wednesday's post that there are several pages in the Wreck This Journal that we are going to handle differently than the rest. I planed on posting about it yesterday, but I had a busy day, including some wonderful time with friends, and forgot! Oops. Sorry 'bout that :)

Before I get started - not doing the WTJ with us? Don't worry! You can join in anywhere you'd like, just read the posts and do the weekly assignments :)

There are a few pages that we're just going to leave open for you to do when you feel like it! The one above is one of them, as you can see I've already started using it! I had a bag of pens I hadn't used in awhile and needed to see if they worked, so I cracked the book and used 'em :) Here's the full list:

1. Collect Fruit Stickers - personally I'm going to collect fruit and any other stickers I find on things I eat, but this one should take awhile to fill! 
2. Use this as a Test Page - see above!
3. Collect the Stamps off of All your Mail - Unless you get more mail than I do its going to take awhile :)
4. Document a Boring Event in Detail - if I assign this one I just KNOW you'll have a fascinating week! So, keep it in mind, and when you have a boring event, share it! 
5. Fill in this page when you are really angry - I'm also not going to dictate when your angry :P 

Fill these pages at your discretion - and then share about them! I will remind you guys towards the end about the Fruit Stickers and the rest :) There are a few others that you may notice take awhile, but we will assign those for certain months - so don't fret!

Elfsisters' Art Adventure - Circles and Spirals - Week 3

Hey everyone! How are you? Are you having fun? I know I'm having lots of fun! This is week three and we are slowly building momentum :) So here's what I did with my projects this last week!

This week's Journal Assignment was the "Write/Scribble on the edges" page:

I only did two sides of the journal this week. I started by putting my real name on the top - Ruthie. I used a purple marker for the words, the pink is also marker, and I used crayon to do the background green. You can also see that on the corners I took the orange marker and marked them. The long side says "Marrikala" and has some spirals :) Marrikala is my Jedi name, that's a long story, but that (or Marri which is shorter), has been my user name for a long time! I don't use it for jewelry stuff, but I use it for a lot of other things! Like games :) The third side is going to be my Elvish name - but we're working on figuring out the proper script, so I'll be adding that in later! 

This was the assignment page, and I couldn't leave it blank! So I colored in the edges of the book picture with purple crayon, did spirals down the side of the page in pencil, the op is some more spiral type things in purple pen, and I did some more crayon and marker on the remaining two sides of the right page. The left side has a bit of a zentangle in the middle and then kinda scribbly stuff around it. And look! You can see my orange page edges :)

This Week: At the front of the book you'll find the assignment "Add Your Own Page Numbers," so go for it! Have fun! Think out side the box, I know what I'm going to do! There are also some pages in this book that really aren't assignable to just one week. I'll do a post about that tomorrow and add a link here.

I was a good girl and actually did some knots this week!

The one on the top left was inspired by one that my elfsister Meri did last week, and the bottom right is a very traditional triskele. The coloring was random, just pulled things out of bags and went for it :P I'm very proud of them :) I was scared! It took a few tries, and you can see one of the first mess ups in the top corner peeking out, but I did it! 

I took the elements in one of the knots I did above, and played with it, to make this one. I don't think it's very true to Celtic Art, more modern, but I used the techniques, and I it's the first thing I did knot wise where I wasn't copying it all, I added my own touch :) I also have another work in progress, but it needs a lot of work before I show it off! 

What are you going to do with your Celtic Art Adventure next week?

The link program isn't working properly, I'll try to add it to the post later tonight :)

Tears of Joy

There are multiple meanings to today's blog title. The first one is very literal! I got a text message from my brother yesterday after he went to the doctor, and I did literally start crying and jumping up and down! And dancing of course. Why? Gordon is in remission! No more cancer! It's all gone! 

Definitely worth dancing about don't you think? 

The other reason I titled this post Tears of Joy is that yesterday was also a sad day. My hubby's Aunt Janet passed away about two weeks ago, and yesterday was the memorial. We spent the afternoon at my Mother in Law's house with just the family, and then we headed over to the Portland Center for the Performing Arts to celebrate her life with all her friends! 

Aunt Janet helped start the Tears of Joy Theatre with her husband many years ago, and not only created a successful company that has touched the hearts of thousands with their puppets, but she has been a major part of the arts community in Oregon and the Northwest. I didn't have a chance to get to know her that well between when I married into the family and when we lost her suddenly, but she was a wonderful person, and was incredible to see how loved she was an by so many people! It was a wonderful celebration that included everything from people sharing stories, to poetry, to puppets, to opera! Aunt Janet, you'll be missed.

Aunt Janet

Go check out the Tears of Joy Theatre company.

Another Quick Update!

I have a memorial to go to today, so no "real" post :P Just a reminder that last weeks giveaway was extended through this week :) so go check it out! 

Quick Update

Hi guys! Sorry I haven't been around. Because of that I'm going to run this week's giveaway for an extra week! Yay! It'll be up until the 21st - so if you haven't already - go enter! 

I also haven't had a chance to share about the Etsy Beadweavers contest! There's another day left to enter so go check it out!  My entry is number 16, but don't feel like you have to vote for me, vote for your favorite!

Elfisisters' Art Adventure Wk2 - I Revisit my Childhood!

Before I get started with showing off all of my fun stuff for this week, I just want to remind you that we have a group on Flickr! So make sure you go join, upload your pics, and join in the discussion!

I have more that I want to do to these two pages, but it's a secret! Muwhahaha. You'll see soon :) For now I just took my trusty purple pen, filled in the letters with zig-zag lines, added some flowers, blurred the word "destroy," boxed in the authors name, circled the "A perigree book" and added "Woot!" cuz I am excited! Aren't you?

I didn't do much to this page, I wasn't feeling inspired. I did fill in the "warning" so that it's a solid purple. But this page wasn't assigned so I guess that doesn't matter :P I may come back and scribble on it at some point...

Sometimes I don't follow instructions very well. So when it said "write your name in white" I wasn't satisfied with it! So I colored over the white crayon with pencil so you could see it :P I filled in my address, but I scribbled over it in purple cuz I don't want to share it with every random person on the internet! Oh, and when I was done following the instructions I covered the page with a light rubbing from a purple pencil :D Didn't do anything to the face page, hmmm, I should go back and do that at some point...

I think this was my favorite! I filled in "instructions" with some purple zig-zag lines, then I started coloring. I don't remember the last time I pulled crayons out! There's something soothing about it though isn't there? I have a bag of crayons so I just randomly pulled them out one by one until the bag was empty, refilled it, and started all over! I "messed up" at the top and colored the end of "Carry" and the beginning of "this" with the same color, so I made that my thing for this page. I used the same crayon to end one word and start the next :)

Yay! The spine is cracked! I have to admit I did this one I was little sometimes to books that were too stiff while I was reading them. I never cracked books this bad, but I still did it, which makes me a bad girl :P

I lost a few days to migraines this last week, so instead of trying to learn some thing with Celtic Art I decided that I would color! And I'm so glad I did! I love how this turned out :D I used purples to represent me and greens for Meri :) I promise I'll be a good girl this week and actually do some drawing myself.

What did you do this week? Head over to Meri's Blog to drop off your links and join the party!

Giveaway Feature - Memories for Life Scrapbooks!

This Giveaway is Closed.

Check back each Monday for a new Giveaway,

And each Wednesday for the Elfsisters Art Adventure!

I'm having so much fun doing these giveaways! I hope you are too :)

Please note that some things are wonky on the blog right now because

we are under construction! Hopefully I'll have it finished soon :)

Now for our featured giveaway artist! 

1. Where can we find your work and what do you create?

I create Custom Scrapbooks and Laser Engraved Art. I can be found at: http://memoriesforlifesb.etsy.com and http://memoriesforlifescrapbooks.blogspot.com

2. What's your favorite part about being an independent artist?

I love coming up with new designs and creating something truly special!

3. Where do you find your inspiration?

Lately everything has been an inspiration! Since buying my laser engraver in February, I've been looking for anything and everything to put in there! I've come up with so many new ideas because of it!

4. What advice would you give to other artists?

My personal motto is: "Enjoy the Process". It really should be about having fun and enjoying what you do. Create what you love and you will never tire of your craft/hobby!

Like the picture says you can win:

Your choice of Laser Engraved Pendant or Magnet Set

1.5" Pendant or 4 1" Magnets Both Laser Engraved with Love :)

Valued $5-9

How can you win? Keep reading!

1. Comment on this entry
2. Share your favorite item from her shop (scroll up for links)
3. Plurk or twitter about it and leave a comment with link.

4. Promote the item on Facebook.
5. Blog about it and leave a comment with link
6. Purchase an item from her shop (for 5 entries) (link above)

7. Comment on the Artfire thread (link to be added when I have it up) for one entry a day.

Important: All entries must be submitted by comments on this blog post.

I'm keeping track of the entries, so telling Edi about them won't help :P

Giveaway Ends Saturday Evening 5/21

Important: I need more artists to feature! Please let me know if your interested :)

Happy Mother's Day and Giveaway Winners

Happy Mother's Day!!!

What are you doing with your Mom's today? Or are you a Mom? What are you doing with your kids? Don't have either? Well then here's my *hug* to you! 

I'll be getting together for lunch with my inlaws and then heading over to my parents house for dinner :) 

Now for what you want to know...who won this week's giveaway? Sorry I didn't get to announce the winners yesterday, it was just not the best day for me, but I'm here today and that's what matters :) So...

Congrats to first place winner:

jhitomi!

And second place winner:

Lyudmilla!

I'll be sending you guys an e-mail here in a moment. Before I sign off here though, I want to let all of you know that both of this week's winners regularly enter the giveaways I host on my blog, and looky, it paid off! So keep checking back and entering, you never know when you might win :) And check back throughout the week for lots of other fun stuff! 

Under Construction - Bloggy Spring Cleaning

I decided it was time to update my blog. A friend pointed out to me that there was something wonky with my side bars, and I've been thinking about doing it anyway, so I decided it was about time! What do you think so far? I like what I've done with the layout and the colors, but there's a lot more that needs to be done!

Next on my list is fixing the header. I was hoping to have that done today but hit a snag.  To do what I want to do with my header I need to learn some more photo editing skills. I found what looks like a good tutorial, but it doesn't seem to be working right. I will have to do more work on it tomorrow because I'm about tech'd out for today! That and, of course, plans never go the way I want them and I of course got interrupted.

After that I plan to work on adding additional pages to the blog. I have an idea of how to do it but I need to actually DO it!

Gotta love all the different things related to running an online video that you have to learn!

Elfsisters' Art Adventure - Getting Started - Wk1

Don't forget to enter this weeks giveaway!

Welcome to week 1 of the Elfsisters' Art Adventure! I'll give you a quick run down of what's going on in a moment, but you can read a longer explanation here on my blog or here on Meri's blog. Basically we're two crazy elf sisters who love to take crazy adventures and we're inviting you to come along :) We have two parts, Wreck This Journal, and a monthly art challenge. Feel free to join us for one or both of these adventures! 

Before I start sharing - feel free to grab the banner above - or my banners below to use on your own blog :)

This week we're just getting started - so no journal pages - just a picture of me with my new journal! I can't even begin to tell you how excited I am to do this journal! And, of course, wreck it totally! We're going to start off with some beginning things. Normally we'll do one page in a week, but we're going to do a couple just to kinda kick us off:

1. This Book Belongs To Page - fill out your info following the instructions - and fill free to have fun! Color all around it, scribble over it, just follow the instructions, do whatever you want! Just take a picture when your done.

2. Flip the page and read the instructions! Again - feel free to do whatever you want to this page - I know what I'm going to do! You'll see next week :) 

3. Flip two more pages and you'll see it says, "Crack the Spine." This is an important step for future projects! Whatever you do - take a picture! 

I've always loved all things Celtic, and I'm excited to have a chance to play around with it! Feel free to do whatever you want to with your focus on Celtic art, as for me, I'd love to learn to draw Celtic knots. Now have I mentioned I can't draw? Brace yourself for the proof...

I tried free handing these, I tried using a ruler, and I never really figured out what I was doing :P I realized that while the book I have has great patterns, it doesn't really tell you anything about learning to draw them for the person who doesn't know how to draw! I have since found a couple links that I think will be a lot of help, and you can see them here in a discussion I start on our Flickr Page. Feel free to join our Flickr Group, upload your pictures, and join in on the discussion! 

Now for the wrap up! Drop your links to your posts in the linky below. I know we're just getting started, but feel free to post a picture of you holding your journal if you have it already, and if your doing the Celtic Art challenge then post what you've done so far or about what your planning on doing! Make sure you check out Meri's blog - she'll be hosting the adventure next week! 

Edit 5/5

If you are interested in doing the Wreck This Journal w/out the "official" journal that's fine! I can e-mail you this week's journal pages in full (it's a bit long to put in here) and all future journal page assignments will be spelled out in full in the blog posts. Just let me know in the comments if you want this week e-mailed to you and make sure to leave me an e-mail address to send it to!

May's Giveaway from Rose Works Jewelry

This Giveaway has been Closed.

Check back each Monday for a new Giveaway!

Check back each Wednesday for our Art Adventure!

Last month's giveaway from my shop had over 100 entries, and I was really excited about it! I ended up adding a second item to the giveaway and I'm going to do that again! But for the first place prize....

Yay! Now for the second place...I'll add another pair of earrings for every 100 entries I get! How can you enter? Good question!

So How Can You Win?

1. Leave a comment on this blog = 1 entry

2. Visit my FB page and "like" it. Leave a comment there to let me know your a new or returning fan! = 1 entry

3. Visit my Artfire page or Etsy page, come back and leave a separate comment with your favorite piece = 1 entry

4. Follow this blog or let me know your already following = 1 entry

5. Announce this contest on plurk or twitter, come back and leave a comment with a link = 1 entry

6. Blog about it! Since this is means monopolizing your blog space it = 2 entries

7. Make a purchase in either of my stores (Artfire or Etsy) = 5 entries! 

That's a total of 12 possible entries! Please remember to leave separate entries for each entry to make my job easier! I'll be keeping track in a spreadsheet and each entry will be given a separate number (based on order received) and I'll pick a winner using the random number generator. 

Want even more entries? Come visit my Artfire thread - you can earn one entry a day by commenting on that thread - I'll come back and add the link as soon as its up!