Artiscape - An Artist's Gathering

I'm so thrilled to be teaching at a variety of wonderful events this year.  My workshop schedule starts out with Artiscape - An Artist's Gathering this weekend.  I will teach a book sculpture class on Thursday night, and the second installment of my popular Tons of Techniques class on Friday afternoon.

You have probably seen the book sculptures before...they are all the rage!  I saw them about a year ago and was totally intrigued by them.  I bought one, and went crazy trying to find tutorials on the internet on how to make them.  What I found was a little discouraging.  One woman was selling (and giving away) patterns for awesome designs.  Unfortunately, however, the patterns required a database grid, measuring and mathematics.  Way too complicated for me!  Since I couldn't figure out how to do them by deconstructing the book I bought (and I think the crafter used the same measuring method since there were pencil lines on the pages), I kept searching.  I did find another easier tutorial, but that one required a computer and a graphics program to use.  While I could figure out how to make that method work, I was convinced that there had to be an easier way for all the many people out there that were not computer or graphics-program savvy like me.  Being the persistent woman that I am, I worked out a new way to create these great folded sculpture patterns that is so easy anyone can do it. Being the teacher that I am, I decided I just HAD to teach others the method. 

These folded book sculptures are so much fun to make, and really make wonderful gifts.  After I figured out how to make them last fall, I made LOTS for Christmas presents.

Folded Book Sculptures by Cyndi Duncan. Thursday, April 9th, 2015 6-9 pm. Artiscape, Columbus, Ohio.

Last I checked, there are still a couple of spots available in this workshop if you want to learn my easy, no math, no computer method to create these amazing book sculptures.

Also when I checked, the Tons of Techniques Class had a few spaces available, too.  Both workshops had just two or three spots, though, so I do expect them to sell out.  In the TOT II class we will be learning 16 great techniques (time permitting). There are several acrylic and watercolor techniques, along with a couple of transfers and miscellaneous techniques.  They can be used in mixed media works as well as art journals, scrapbooks and greeting cards.  We will take those techniques and use them to create a sampler book that can be used as a great reference tool.

Tons of Techniques II by Cyndi Duncan.  Friday, April 10th, 2015, 12:30 - 5:30 pm. Artiscape, Columbus, OH.

This is probably the 11th year I've participated in Artiscape.  Most of those years I've attended as a vendor for Altered Arts magazine.  This is the fourth year that I have actually taught at the retreat.  The first year I participated, I took a workshop from THE altered book diva, Beth Cote.  I have not had a chance to take classes myself since then.  This year, however, I am taking THREE workshops!  I am so incredibly excited.

With the magazine on hiatus, I will not have a booth at the marketplace this year (a FIRST in all the years I have participated).  This will be the first year that I get to attend the preview party as a guest.  I am also sharing a room on-site with a friend, so I will be right in the thick of things. I can't wait.  I am literally giddy with excitement.

To truly immerse myself in the total experience, I made sure that I made art trades to exchange, and also created a hat for the Mad Hatter Tea Party.  I did not have time to create a theme specific piece for the collaborative work auction, though, which is unfortunate.  I will say that, having done these "extra" things in the past, participating in the swaps and other side events truly pushes the event experience into an even more enjoyable realm...if you can believe it.  After the weekend is over, I will post about the event and share my trades and my fun little hat with you all.

If you plan to attend, be sure to say "hi."  Maybe you will take one of my workshops, or sit next to me in a class we take together.  Maybe we will just cross paths as we come and go.  If you are not already planning to attend, there is still time!  There are always a few workshops with space remaining.  If you live in the area, at the very least you can stop by the vendor marketplace on Saturday and/or the Outsider Art Fair on Sunday.  You will be really happy you did.  If you miss it this year, be SURE to stop by at www.artiscape.com; make sure you are added to the email list....and make plans to attend in 2016.

Check out my Workshop page for information on my other classes around the country. 

~Cyndi

Cardboard Shamrock Journal Tutorial

Hello everyone!  Here where I live, the snow is FINALLY starting to melt.  It is beginning to feel like spring.  Hallelujah!

I hope you've enjoyed my St. Patrick's Day bead embroidery projects.  If you haven't seen them, you can see them here and here.  When I posted the first project, I mentioned that I had started a project last year that simply did not inspire me to complete.  I think the bones of the project are great, but I just haven't been able to get into decorating it.  It is still worthwhile, and someone might be inspired to try their own book, so I'll share it with you today.  Just a note:  I was inspired by Michelle Ward's Debris Journal.

I've shared different pictures of it and some other ideas over on the Altered Arts magazine blog. 

Here is a tutorial you can use to recreate my shamrock book:

Supplies Needed:

Cardboard (mine was recycled from boxes on-hand)
Paper and writing template to create a template
Pre-gummed Kraft Packing Tape
Water (a paint brush to brush on the water is helpful)
Utility knife or box cutter
Cutting Mat
Cork-backed metal ruler

To start, I drew a large shamrock pattern and cut it in half.  I then used that to cut pages for the inside of the book.  I used corrugated cardboard from recycled boxes.

After getting the number of pages that I wanted for the book (You will need sets of two.), I measured the thickness of the stack. I put the stack aside.  I then traced my shamrock (facing left) onto a larger sheet of cardboard, measured over the amount I calculated for my thickness, and then flipped the pattern over (facing right) and traced it again. I cut out the large shape, leaving a mark for where the "thickness" part started and ended.  I then scored the cardboard along the "thickness" marks, using a metal ruler and utility knife.

The scored cover with pages inside. The spine is the thickness of the stacked pages.

After your cover and inside pages are cut, begin adhering the pages together using the gummed packing tape. Push the two sides of the shamrock together, as shown, and adhere down the middle.  I found it easiest to do all my sets of two and THEN start joining each set together. So, after all your sets are joined, fold over the first set so that the tape is on the inside; fold a second set the same way.  Now, with one set folded to the left, and the other to the right, push them together to form your shamrock.  The center will be unjoined; you will now join it with the packing tape.  This will form two sets of two pages that can be easily turned.

Adhere all of your inside pages as I described above.  After you do, your stack will look like this when folded:

I did not adhere my inside pages to my cover.  I decided to use it more as a storage sleeve.  However, you could add the page stack to the back cover (and front cover, if desired).  When I was working with the book, I decided that adhering it to the front cover, too, would make it so the pages would not open flat, just fyi. You can fiddle around with it and see what you like best.

I hope you enjoyed my shamrock journal.  Have a wonderful St. Patrick's Day.

~Cyndi

Earrings to Match

In my last post, I told you about the process I used to create my St. Patrick's Day bead embroidery cuff bracelet...about its therapeutic effects, and how it became a sort of memorial and tribute to my mom.

As I mentioned in that post, and in others, the process itself of making bead embroidered items is so incredibly soothing; I think it is my new favorite medium.

I love my shamrock bracelet, but I felt it needed earrings to match. So, this past Sunday I set out to create a pair of bead embroidered earrings. I stopped tracking the time it took to make them when I hit the three hour mark. It was a day well spent. 

I will have to say, though, that it is a good thing I created them for myself, as they were intended to be post earrings when I started.  After they were completely finished, I decided I did not like the way they sat on my ears.  So, I snipped off the posts and added fish hook wires.

At first my ears were kind of sore from all the messing around I did with the posts, and I was afraid that the earrings would be too heavy.  After giving my ears a few days rest, when I wore them again I realized they were not too heavy at all.  I really like them.

I hope you enjoy my St. Patrick's Day bead embroidered earrings.  Keep an eye out for an upcoming post about my cardboard shamrock book.

~Cyndi

An Artful Memorial

My mom was born on St. Patrick's Day.  She always considered herself "honorary Irish." We always celebrated St. Patty's Day, because of her birthday, and so it has a lot of fond memories.  Shamrocks, in many ways are symbols of love and affection to me.

Mom always accessorized for the holidays.  St. Patrick's Day was no exception.  Since we almost always went out, she would dress in green and add her various green bracelets, shamrock pins and earrings.  She had a beautiful gold claddagh ring she would wear and I made her a pin that said something about how lucky she was because she was born on St. Patrick's day - she usually wore that, too. My mom was big into bracelets.  I don't remember any specific St. Patty's bracelets, but she probably had one of those, too.

Mom died a couple of years ago, but even before she passed away I had begun planning a memorial St.  Patrick's Day art project.  Of course if it were completed while she was alive, it would have been more of a tribute project. While I thought of creating this project EVERY year, it never materialized.  I couldn't decide on just what form it would take.  Somehow, even while she was alive, I knew I would never finish it while she was living.

Last year I started to create a project, but couldn't get into it.  I don't know why, but the project itself didn't inspire me.  I may post it sometime...it was a corrugated cardboard shamrock book.  I got that part completed, but it was the actual decoration of the inside pages that lost me.  I set it aside and never looked back.

So once again this year, at the beginning of January, I began thinking of my tribute project again.  As you may have seen in my last post, I've really taken off with bead embroidery.  I totally love it.  After I finished my second beaded project, one that I created for a class proposal, I decided that I would make myself a St. Patrick's Day bead embroidered bracelet. 

As I embarked on this project, I kept telling myself that I was making the bracelet for ME...not for a class, not as a gift.  I also told myself that it did not have to be THE tribute project. It was for ME.  Therefore it didn't matter if it was perfect.  It was my piece, but as I created it, it became my tribute to my mom.

As I may have mentioned before, the beading process itself is VERY therapeutic and cathartic.  As I beaded I would think of my mom, of things she used to say and do.  A lot of love went into my bracelet.  If mom were alive, I would have given it to her, and I know she would have loved it and worn it EVERY year.  I love my bracelet, and every time I look at it I think of my mom.  Good and happy thoughts.

I hope you enjoy it, too. 

This picture was taken before I added the edge trim.

There Are No Mistakes in Art

After teaching myself how to anchor a cabochon using bead embroidery, I decided to try my hand at a larger, more free-form piece.

I started this piece with no pattern and no preconceived notion of how I wanted the piece to look. I took out my bead box and started with the first bead that "spoke to me."  That was the round metal bead.  I decided to anchor it with brightly colored orange beads.  At this point I wasn't sure where I was going to go with the piece...the circle could have been a sun, too.  Oh, the possibilities!

One of the things I like most about bead embroidery is the amazing fringe.  I LOVE texture!  So, I decided to add some fringe to the round circle.  After adding the fringe, it was obvious to me that it had to be a head with hair.  From there the piece took on it's own life.  I kept adding just by pulling out a bead that I liked.

After two hours of work. The piece decided it wanted to be a person.

This piece took about 23 hours to complete.  It wasn't laborious.  The stitching was actually kind of therapeutic.  I spent about 2 hours a day on it until the final day when I was snowed in and just had to get it finished.  I truly enjoyed the process.  I enjoyed it so much that I'm working on another piece.  I see a lot of possibilities in this art form.

 

This was after about six hours of work.

 

The finished piece.

I titled this piece: "There Are No Mistakes in Art."

Big Changes!

If this is your first time at my blog, I hope you'll spend some time here looking around.  I post on a variety of things including food, books, shoes, art and lifestyle.  Take a minute to subscribe by email. Leave me a comment. Thanks!

Big, Radical Changes!

I've always wanted to do it.  So I finally did.  My youngest says I'm having a mid-life crisis.  Maybe...but since I plan to live to 120, I won't reach middle age for a while yet.  Besides, I just finally got the courage to do it. 

The picture actually makes it look really good, the color that is.  The actual color is a little more pink than I'd like, and it didn't take too well to the blonde areas.

This is what it is supposed to look like:

The picture makes it look like it is closer to the box than it really is.

I picked up this box, too.  My oldest said I should start with the one above and move to this one, if I liked it.  (I was deciding between the two.)  I think she was right.  This one would probably been too radical a change at first.  I returned it to the store.

Sometimes I like it, and sometimes I don't.  I've been blonde for soooo long that I don't feel like me.  Plus, one of my favorite colors is red, and my red clothes look differently on me now than they used to.

What do you think?

~Cyndi

Bead Embroidery: My First Time

Every so often I feel a need, I mean a NEED, to learn a particular art technique.  I'm not sure what compels me, but it can become intense.  When this need arises, I will often look to friends to teach me, or will try to find a class to take.  More often than not, the need overpowers my ability to wait, and I wind up teaching myself.  One of those compulsions was my need to learn wet felting.  I finally couldn't wait anymore, so I taught myself...on a basic and very small scale.  I was fortunate that a friend invited me to wet felt with her not long after, and I learned a lot of tricks and wisdom from her as we felted together.

Recently, the need overpowered me to learn bead embroidery.

I went to a craft show this past fall and there was a woman there selling her amazing bead embroidered work. I had seen similar work before, but didn't even know what it was called.  It was very arty and gorgeous.  I had done my own version of bead embroidery on a scarf I made for a class proposal a while back, but it was very simple and not arty.  I heard this woman talk about her classes and, very excitedly, asked her where she taught. Florida.  Ugggh!  I scanned the internet for local and regional bead embroidery classes and no one offered any. I like in-person classes. I need that interaction. I got very anxious.

Armed with my frustration, I began searching the internet again and found some tutorials.  Moving forward with this information, I began to create my first piece.  The piece I created is a cabochon with peyote stitching to anchor it.  I was fascinated to find during my research that the bead embroidery I had done totally on my own, without ever seeing a tutorial or anything, was spot-on.  Another source I found tells us to just sew things on...period.  What you get is what you get. I suppose I had actually stumbled on something back then.  Since I do NOT SEW, I was concerned that there was some sort of trick to it.  There really is not; but there are stitch variations...just as in regular sewing.

Things I learned during my first time doing bead embroidery:

• I will need a new and stronger pair of reading glasses.
• None of my scissors want to cut through fire line.
• I will need more beads!
• Not all beads are created equal. (My stitching on this first piece is uneven mostly due to unequally sized seed beads.)
• I will need more money. (To buy beads, of course!)

Because of my inability to find local outlets to learn the tricks of this new art form, the teacher inside of me is already planning several classes to teach the basics to others who just have to learn. Because of course I will continue experimenting and teaching myself until the need to bead is sated. 

I'm not done with this new art form.  My next piece will be a free-form piece.  I am totally psyched to get started on it. I will, of course, share with you when it is finished...and maybe while it is underway.

Have a wonderful day!

~Cyndi