Perspective - View From Above

As the sun hopefully begins to return I am planning to continue my search for a different perspective.

This week I'll do a bit of climbing to loftier spaces locally, and a bit of on-line searching for images that provide a 'view from above'. It's interesting to see how when we are removed by some distance objects changes, and how color, line and texture have a chance to play out.

The little photo I found this morning is a perfect example. The kayaks here are more about shape & color. What do you think about the composition and all the elements here?

Presepctive - One of Many Definitions

Like many others I love a new blank notebook. It is filled with possibilities, so in beginning this study on perspective I have sought out the perfect blank notebook...

Now to set about filling the pages, I like to start an exploration by first finding out the definition. By looking up perspective I found many interesting directions to go. Paths of discovery...

The etymology of the noun perspective had its origins from the Latin prospectus, then the later Old Italian prospetto and more recently the Middle French prospectiva. And, of course any Jane Austin reader might think of Elizabeth Bennett speaking of something having or being a 'fair prospect'.

Within the definition I found there were mentions of techniques of reproducing perspectives in drawing.... but my wanderings that start today are influence by the definition -- a visible scene, and the appearance to the eye of objects in respect to their relative distance and position.

The first picture for my book was taken a few days ago. While off with some friends we were sitting waiting at a traffic light when this huge tire appeared. The size and just how big it was in comparison to everything around us was intriguing and luckily I had just enough time to pull out the camera to take this picture..... What do you think?

Free Color Lessons

I have just filled the last page on my color book. It has been a long time accumulating all the words, pictures and happenings that fill these pages.

The book was started while on my first trip to Sante Fe--way back in 1999?? (note to myself --better date the pages next time). I knew I wanted to expand my understanding and ability to use color, so I set out on an adventure to find Orange.

What better place to discover orange than New Mexico! Well, from orange I went onto to purple, blue, red, yellow... think you get it. From this continuing exercise I feel blessed with the love of ALL color and look for it, and have begun to understand how color effects us, changes us ..... calls to us, and best of all, I love incorporating it in all my work.

As I finished pasting in a final picture today, I took some time and went over the pages again, and from that I know that my next book will be about adventuring into perspective. I'm headed out to get a new notebook to get started...

Want to join in?

Pin Weaving - Mojo Doll Creativity Shield

Last week I had posted pictures of my small studio mojo dolls and promised to tell you about how I had used up some fun yarn scraps to make their wonderful creativity shields. It has been a busy week filled with ups and downs, but as promised here are the steps for the pin weaving.

The very first thing you'll want to do is create a
small loom. This I did by taking scrap foam core
board and trimming it to the size I wanted.
To hold the yarn in place to weave I cut a 1/2" notche approximately every 3/4" across the top and bottom of the board.

After this was done I wrapped yarn thru the notches.

Once this done, you can take scraps of various
yarns, thread them onto a large yarn needle
and weave them in and out. As loose or as tight
as you like.


Leave yourself several inches of yarn as you start and stop
the adding of the various yarns.

With the weaving all done you can tie these off and create
a fringe,
or re-thread them onto the yarn needle and run them thru
the back to hide the ends.



With sides tied off, turn the cardboard loom over, then
by snipping from the middle you can now tie these off
top and bottom to finish as you like.

I chose to hide my top threads, while adding extras to
the bottom to make it fuller.

These are tons of fun to make and the possibilities to use them..
well, endless.

Have fun! ~Rose

Little Studio Mojo Dolls

A fun idea was recently passed along to me.... why not create a little doll for the studio that could be jazzed up with all the things you like, and therefore give you creative boost. This little doll was to be instilled with lots of positive mojo.

Liking the idea, I set off, and having some new interfacing products I want to test for ease of use and beading this seemed perfect. And, after all, two would be better than one.

The test began with selecting a red and pink silk similar in weight and texture for the test. You can see this in pictures here.

Each of the sampled products:
Sulky Tender Touch
&
Pellon 865F Bi-Stretch Lite

Each of these were stitched together and subjected to a bit of machine & hand stitching that proved very similar results.
Both worked well, but I do have at least one more to test -
Pellon Designer Lite (for another day).


I went on to embellish these two little dolls and had a great time weaving yarns to make each of them a shield.
Look for the little weaving step-outs later this week.
I do hate having to run these tests but manufacturers stop making materials, or change 'the recipe' which then makes finding a good alternative necessary.
At least this time its been FUN, too!

Design Group - What are they Doing?

Design Group met yesterday and almost had to swim home... you just can't tell from the pictures how we all had to bundle up in plastic to make it to the cars...

The photo here is of the wall of words:
Our warm up exercise words were,,,, monopoly.... cheers.... & ear
We had a lot of fun, so much so that the rest of the photos are on the slide show here.

Hope you enjoy it... I'm headed back out into the storm.

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Thinking About Organizing?

Today I went through torrential rains in order to make it to Design Group
We continued our work on creating stamps using foam, and I promise to show those pictures later this week.

But, for now my mind is still spinning with thoughts about organizing our work spaces. Are you thinking about yours? Well, the one thing I believe you should keep in mind is that Organizing Can Be Fun.... o.k. you can stop laughing now.

Really, take the few steps below, make the process fun:
1. Think about what you do in the space.
2. What tools do you use in this space.
3. How about the type of materials?
4. Lastly, how do YOU operate?

Once you think about these things for a bit...
Dream up just how you want your space to look like, and how you see yourself working there.

Keep in mind:
Clean does NOT mean organized....
What you have in this space and how it looks should make YOU happy.
Add things that inspire you, nourish you and make YOU feel good.

Would love to hear about your special place. Big, small--something in between.

More about Design Group soon... promise! Definitely, fun. ~Rose