Is that a calendar in your pocket?

When I saw the Stampotique challenge for a 2012 pocket calendar I immediately tought of an ATC format, inserting montlhy cards into a small portfolio. I like the idea of small – I can manage small projects lately.

The image on the portfolio cover is cropped from my row houses for Stampotique.  I love this stamp – the imperfect houses are reminiscent of the houses my Kinder and First grade artists draw. I get a lot of inspiration from the children!

I used Copics and Prismacolors to color the image.  Copics, scraps, and masked stamped text from the colorful border.

The months are a set by Amy Wilson Wellenstein for Stampotique.  They fit perfectly – I was so glad they did as that was my agenda!  I created the miniture calendar in Publisher, leaving off the months so they could be hand-stamped.  The number row on the inside of the portfolio, also by Amy.

The 2 1/2" x 3 1/2" portpolio ties with a beaded cord and is secure with a brad.  I think an old button would have been a better choice, but the brad was an easier solution! 

Bee Happy

Vera Lane Studio has been my safe haven this week. With thoughts of retirement, an ill parent, and completion of 850 report card grades (two semesters to go) my head has been in a state of "whirl." Although I am surrounded with plenty of inspiration and things to play with, life just seems to get in the way.

Vera Lane Studio is slowly getting ready for little artists to explore, share, create. Doors will open late summer to early fall. In the meantime, I putter, rearrange, and try to draw when I can.

I am really excited about a new image line that I'll have coming out with Stampotique. The company has a variety of outstanding artists with new ones added to the winter catalog. I am happy to be able to add a few images here and there -- there is something about having your art indexed in black on a little block of wood that gives you such a thrill! A simple,happy pleasure.

But with all the images floating in my brain, and some perhaps not lending themselves to rubber, I am taking a stab at digis. Plenty of artists are doing them I know, but I hope my own brand of funk and whimsy will be enjoyed by some crafters out there.

My latest digi posted on the Vera Lane Studio Etsy shop is "Bee Happy." She's perfect for Valentine's Day. Her perplexed, little face just may be my own expression of late. The versatile side-kick images are two different flowers which are great to use with or without Bee or to even incorporate with your rubber images to give new life. The heart and circle flowers come in PNG format, so you can overlap them and tuck them neatly under other images without the chunky, white outline box that the jpegs sport.

Oh, life is calling me. Have to run.

Until next time, be well, bee happy.

Tree Gal

Better late than never. My art life has taken a backseat to my 850 art students. That's right, 850. It seems a little unreasonable, with a half hour "lunch" and 15 minutes of "plan" a day, it is no wonder my personal creativity gets staled. This will all change in five months when I retire. So here I am, testing the waters. I am going to venture into the world of digital art, invitations, and digital scrapbook elements. There is a lot out there, but we all offer our own brand of style, and I hope my whimsy has an appeal to keep me a little busy! I just opened an Etsy Shop with this lonely little image. I have more on the drawing board so stay tuned. “Tree Gal” is fun to color digitally or with markers. I printed off a dozen in two color palettes, and then added a little colored glitter glue. They are pretty festive on the stark white and easy to “crank out” if you are in need of time as I always seem to be! Please let me know what you think. Thanks for stopping by!

Non Traditional Christmas (Colors)

This simple card is in response to the Stampotique “Non Traditional Christmas” card challenge.
I have such a fondness for these muted colors and the blend of these neutral tones. The colors remind me of a beach cottage, the smell of the ocean, and the color of sea salt.
I think a pale “skirt” of ice aqua ribbon would look nice tucked in-between the two contrasting patterned layers. It’ll be a start to make variations on a theme.

Stamps used: Mr.Snow, 9197 and Wish, 7191.

Copic Alternative

I keep my drafting table in my classroom. On occasion, when time permits, I will demonstrate some art techniques for students who complete their projects early. I think it is important to show children the variety of media and the difference in quality. While I have let my students play with Prismacolors, I had to draw the line in freely allowing them to dig into my Copics. They had discovered some of my older Design markers and really liked them, so I needed an affordable alternative.
The BIC Mark-it set is a great value; I have seen the set of 36 for as little as $15.00. It is a perfect gift for young artists. If you are new to markers and can’t afford Copics I think these inexpensive markers are terrific!
While there are only 36 colors, it is certainly enough to blend and get Copic marker effects – in fact, I’ll bet it would be hard to tell the difference on a finished drawing. The BIC Mark-Its work with the Copic “O” Colorless Blender, although it is not necessary.

Working with values is easy to get the hang of. I prefer to begin with the lighter value, while wet ,quickly add/ layer my darker value, then “chase back” with the lighter value for smoothness.
The BICs also work well with the tip-to-tip technique. Hold the lighter value pen to the tip of the darker value to absorb the darker pigment – apply to the paper with the lighter pen – as the darker area blends, continue to go over it with the lighter color.
I have also noticed that the lighter colors can “pick up” dark areas. If you have gone too dark, you can soak the area with the lighter marker until it lightens up in value.
If you are new to markers it is great to start small. These Twinchies (2 inch squares of art) were designed for color practice – all of them are made with the BIC- Mark-its.
If you have any questions, please contact me at: Janet@veralanestudio.com.

Brown Eyed Girl

When I came across the “Less is More” challenge for the week I didn’t think I would be able to make a submission. After cutting a few hundred blank “inchies’ for my enthusiastic ten and eleven year olds, I decided I needed to make a little something before the day was out.
The challenge is to make a simple card, white space, with the color of your eyes. Since the blog is from the UK there sure were plenty of blue and green submissions!
So here is one from the brown-eyed girl from Arizona.
The little “pretty party dress” is stamped in coffee. Old book scraps, brown chalk edges. A little stitch and button accent. That’s it!

Treats

I’m not so sure my dogs like the Trader Joe’s natural dog treats nearly as much as I enjoy the packaging.

The lettering is too inspiring to toss in the recycle bin, so I used it as my inspiration for this gift card holder. Cas-ual Fridays put out a challenge to use ribbon as a tab or a loop. So here is my response, featuring the word “treats” from the Trader Joe’s dog treat box. Believe it or not, this was fast to put together. I created the card holder and made a pouch that was ¼" wider to accommodate the fold and the card. I extended the dimensions to create a side and bottom tab to glue the pouch closed. The pouch was decorated with Tim Holtz Distressed Ink in Milled Lavender, and scribbled with NeoArt water soluble wax crayons. I used Stampotique stamps; dots Medium checkerboard . The "inchies" are cropped from my Corie and Little Skull Boy images also Stampotique. I used a circle punch to allow the card to be pulled easily from the pouch. A piece of ribbon attached with a grommet. Pop in your gift card and you are all set for a spooky and sweet surprise!