Today is optional

I'm really having trouble getting myself up and motivated to go to class. Ugh. It's not that today will be a bad day; in fact, we probably won't be doing much at all in my one class. Maybe that's why I'm having issues. Ah well.

Also having sleep problems, which possibly contributes to all of this, too. So here's a sleep-themed selfie. Maybe it'll inspire me to sleep better. Ha.



Also, I've fallen in love with a new photographer! Her Flickr name is Allyson Kalie. I accidentally stumbled on this picture today, and her work is so good! You can click here to check out her stream.



Let's see, what other goodies can I drum up on this very blah Tuesday?

Covered in Crafts has a very awesome tutorial for making a folded file folder organizer. So cute!



Paper-and-String has a tutorial for these cute little cupcake zippered pouches. I've yet to try it, but the picture-filled tutorial looks really easy. Someday I'll get to!



Also loving at the moment:
[This video] on YouTube.
[This print/desktop wallpaper] by Amy Ng on kindred. They also have these really neat gratitude notes. Such a great idea.
[ShutterSisters]
and last but not least, [PimpStitch]


Happy Tuesday!

New design

I hate Mondays. With a passion. They involve an 8am and just general yuckiness.

But, amidst my boredom at work, I did manage to make this yummy design. And yes, I get hungry looking at it every time.

Hope your Monday was better than mine!

Ugh.

Sorry about the lack of posts for my new self-portrait series. It's been a rough couple of weeks. And when I see rough, I really mean it. But I promise that I will be getting back on track this weekend, maybe early next week. The next tour will be of the Painting studio! Hang around, and sorry for the delay.

Ser-i-gra-phy

Ser-i-gra-phy
-noun
a print made by the silkscreen process

The first studio tour is of the Lithography/Serigraphy studio. I am taking this class right now, and I love, love, LOVE it. I see all of these wonderful, gorgeous screen printed/silkscreened prints all over Etsy, and now I know how they do it!

First things first: you need a screen...





... and a base.


The screen goes on the base. It's what you push the ink through to create the print on your paper that is under the screen. The ink is water-based, so it's a lot like acrylic paint. It dries super-fast, and all of the colors are really opaque, which means that if I print white on top of, say, dark blue, it will still pretty much show up white with very little color showing through. It does NOT, however, wash out of your clothes. :( Bad news bears.

And speaking of ink... ahhh. This is color inspiration overload!






Here's a close-up of a done print. You can really see all the layers of color on this one.


Then, after you've completely finished the print, you have to wash out the screen with a pressure washer. It's loud, and I always use the noise blockers over my ears. I don't want to go deaf!




Surprisingly, there is a lot of time spent on the computer for this class. I choose to make my designs in Photoshop/Illustrator, and then I have to separate out each individual color before I make black and white prints to take to my screen. When I first signed up for this class, I didn't think I'd really be able to use my computer at all, but it has been my trusty sidekick. Not that I mind too much: I am a designer, after all. :P

Hope you enjoyed this studio tour! Let me know if you have any burning questions that you'd like answered!

This is me.

Time for a new self-portrait series!



Many people ask me what my life is like as an art major. Am I in class all the time? How much time do I really spend in the studio? What kind of projects do I have/get to do? What do the studios look like? Are the people friendly? And on and on. There just seems to be a huge curiosity as to what an art major's life is like. This week, I'll be shooting pictures of that to give everyone a glimpse. I meant to start this yesterday, but got off to a rocky start. HOWEVER, it is a NEW DAY, and I'm very excited to give you all a peek into my (not-so-fabulous-all-of-the-time) life. :)

St. Pat's Day!

So, I was insprired tonight. I'm back at school, and I thought I was going to get to spend the evening with the boy. But apparently, that wasn't meant to be. So I created! This is the first time that I have ever done a page or layout or decoration in this style before, and I really love the way it turned out. The four leaf clovers are made out of waxed paper with melted crayon in the middle, and then the background speckled craft paper was made COMPLETELY by accident when I was ironing the wax paper for the clovers! I loved it, and I was really inspired by it and decided I needed to do something with it besides throw it out. I might use this technique for more things later!

I also have a few things up my sleeve for some awesome appliqué, and I can't wait to get started on that! Of course pictures will come later. However, this week is going to be devoted to a painting homework assignment that I can't put off any longer. :(
Cheers to a good week!



(P.S. Sorry for the horrible picture, but the boy has my camera because he got to go to Quicken Loans Arena this weekend, the home of his favorite basketball team EVER. I decided he needed a camera more than I did.)

Just a selfie

Just a self-portrait for the day. :) Have a happy Tuesday!