Collage Sisthars

Spraypaint: All Systems Go!

A perfect day to get our spray on! Wear sunscreen!

May 19: Let Us Spray (for good weather)

(sorry for the wacky processing on the photo - let's just say I'm not as good with my iPhone as Jean is with her camera)

To borrow the pun from Jean – Let Us Spray for good weather this Saturday morning (5/19/12: 10am – 2pm) –a rainless, windless day makes for a much better outdoor spray painting session. As of this writing, the forecast looks great – sunny with a high of 83° - bring your sunscreen!  I will post a “good weather – we’ll be outside or bad weather - we’ll be inside“ report before 7am on Saturday, if you want to check the blog for which set of supplies to bring.

I’ll also be showing how to cut stencils either with an exacto knife (old skool) or with a stencil burning/woodburning/multi tool. 

If we do have bad weather, I’ll bring the reinker sprays and we can also stencil with acrylic paint and makeup sponges (or stencil brushes).

Here’s what to bring:

For Good Weather

-         Paper and/or things to spray paint. If you haven’t yet (ahem) put away your papers from the gelatin monoprinting session last month, those would be perfect. Typing paper, cardstock, book pages, tags, manila envelopes, maps, file folders (the brown kraft recycled ones you can buy at Office Depot/Max are especially delicious), sketchbook pages, paper boxes, etc.  You could also bring some other flattish things you want to spray. For example, I have an old black glasses case I want to paint so I can see it when I peer into the abyss of my purse. This is also a great way to repurpose ugly scrapbook paper. (Strawberry Shortcake paper, anyone?)

-         Gloves - this will get your hands gunky and it is hard to get the spray paint off.

-         Spray paint – whatever you’ve got lying around. If you are shopping specifically for this, metallics are very nice.

-         Stencils (if you have them) or things that work like stencils – old plastic doilies, lace, hardware bits, laser cut scrapbook papers, etc. Bear in mind that they will be full of spray paint when you are done.  If you don’t have any, I have lots.

-         Bamboo skewers or chopsticks (optional) – to hold your stencil in place without spraying all over your hand.

-         Table/Tarp – (optional) My back does not like working on the ground, so I have a portable table that I will set up. I don’t think we should haul the Fine Line tables out into the lawn, so if you want to work upright, then bring a table and something to cover it (if you care). If you don’t mind working on the ground, then a tarp (or we can grab a plastic tablecloth out of the bin) to keep paint off the grass.

-         High contrast photo/image to make into stencil. (optional) You can draw this, find images on the internet, manipulate a photo in the computer. You want something contrasty.. it will be reduced to a positive and negative shape. If you can’t find an image, I’ll have some copies of things I’ve burned or mean to burn.

-         A piece of clear plastic/mylar/acetate to make the stencil. (optional) I just use transparency sheets for the copier.

-         A clear piece of glass to place between the image and the plastic (optional) tape the edges, please.

-         A heat tool  (optional) – stencil burner, woodburning tool or Walnut Hollow multi tool, if you have one (optional). A soldering iron is too hot for this. I will bring my stencil burner, so don’t worry if you don’t have one.

 

If it’s rainy/really windy:

- Assorted paper see above

- A Rubbermaid bin – slightly bigger than a shoebox

- Gloves

- Spray bottle with water - it should be able to mist the water

- Stencils, if you’ve got them.

- Acrylic paints

- Makeup sponge or stencil brush to apply the paints.

Sorry, the list really isn't as long as my wordy explanations makes it seem...

If you have any questions, please ask.

Edited to add: If you need spray paint, Menards has it on sale for $2.99 a can.. really excellent range of colors, too.

 

Wrestling with Gelatin

Okay, there really was no wrestling. It was dead-easy, quite fun and very obsession-inducing. Thanks, Cheryl, for showing us the "Joys of Gelatin".

Thanks, as always, to Jean, our visual recorder.

 

We came, we admired, we stitched...

The lovely, talented and prolific Leslie ventured out to the 'burbs on St. Patrick's Day to show us her techniques for machine stitching on paper. She brought fabulous samples and techniques - and the machines whirred away that afternoon. Thanks, Leslie for sharing with us - and thanks to Jean for giving us the visual reminders via your photos.

March 17: Moving the needle-- to draw, paint and glue with Leslie

For our March Session, Leslie will be showing us her techniques for using the sewing machine to make marks/draw on paper and fabric and also her amazing re-use of her journal pages. There is a little bit of "homework" - gathering/making copies onto transfer material, if you are so inclined, but the supply list is pretty short and sweet. Don't stress about your figures - use one of your Teesha Journal pages or just use a magazine photo.

Please note, this is an AFTERNOON Session again from 1-5pm. I will also be announcing the next round robin/swap project (don't worry if you can't make it on Saturday, I will send out an email signup announcement).

Supplies:

Sewing machine - please bring your own, however, I have 4 (!!) machines to bring and we can share those. If you decide to lug along your machine, you may want to bring an extension cord to plug it in.

Black ink pen ( your choice)

Doodling pens (your choice)

For Paper Dolls:

Color copy of a figure (inkjet or color laser - either is fine)

A piece of colored/printed/painted paper---larger than the size of your figure

For Material Girls:

Color copy of a figure onto a fabric background via Artist Transfer Paper or any fabric transfer paper (Avery, HP - available at Mike's Hobby Lobby or Office Depot/Max). This is most often an inkjet print (they make Laser transfer sheets, but I have never gotten it to work).

A piece of colored or printed fabric----larger than the size of your figure

For Glueless Postcard:

A journal page, a color copy of a journal page or a not-quite wonderful photo (inkjet or laser copy, both will work)

4 x 6 piece of card stock

A 6 inch  piece of ribbon

 

Any questions? You have only to ask....

Chair-spiration

I've got my chair.. now what to do with it?

Here are a few inspirational sites from the interwebs:

Baby Shower Chair

Rabbit Chair

Swarm Gallery via Anthropologie (swoon - but of course! It's Anthro) Scroll right to see the chairs

Upholstered Altered Chairs

Vintage Girl, Altered World

Pratt Fine Arts Center and Seattle Design Center’s Chair Project

University of Nevada Library Chair-ity Auction

El Rito, NM Library Chair Auction

 

 

 

 

 

 

Scenes from January Journaling

Once again, you get a glimpse into what we did last month, courtesy of our ace photographer, Jean. Thanks, Jean!

Helen and Sabrina hard at work and Jill's colorful marker bucket.

 

Cherylyn (who came packing her own paper cutter!) and Linda and Geri pushing the paintbrushes.

Sara and Barb, sporting works in progress.

 

 

Jan 21: Your Journal = Your Coloring Book

(sorry, no photo... I'm in the midst of a humungous studio shovel out and have no clean surfaces in which to photograph anything.. this also means boxes of treasures for you to dig through on Saturday from my purge)

NOTE: This is an AFTERNOON SESSION from 1-5pm

We’re kicking off January with a session on treating your journal as your personal coloring book. I’ll show my tips and ideas for fun/interesting things to do in your journal and then we’ll have time to play in our journals. You should have everything you need already in your studio. Please bring whatever you want to play with in your journal, not limited to the following:

Your journal(s). If you have finished ones (that you don’t mind sharing), bring those along – you know how much we love to ooh and ahh over each other’s work.

Acrylic paints, if you want to paint some backgrounds.

Gesso, if you want some to cover your pages or if you have some backgrounds that are a bit “too much”.

Markers: regular, sharpies, gel markers, a highlighter

 Aquarelle Pencils, NeoColor Crayons, Pan Pastels etc.

 Papery Bits and/or Magazines to cut up

Scissors

Glue Stick and/or Gel Medium.

That's it! We'll talk about the 2012 swaps and collaboratives, too.

 

 

ALERT: January Date Change!

EEK! Mark your calendars.

The Sisthars Date for January has changed to JANUARY 21!

I'm so sorry to mess with your carefully coordinated scheduling, but I overbooked myself - I will be co-hosting the Fine Line Fashion Show Volunteer Luncheon on Jan 28, during the same time I am to be leading the Journaling Workshop. I can't be in both places at one time, so I've moved the Sisthars date to January 21. You can curse and scream at me. make a voodoo doll of me (not the eyes, please), I understand. The rest of the 2012 dates (as scheduled) will not be changing - at least not by my screwup.

If you missed December and want to know what we are doing this year, click 2012 Schedule on the left schedule will appear.

 

Happy New Year and a Belated Thank You!

Happy New Year! I hope your holidays were wonderful and Santa brought you what you asked for!

I finally have a moment to sit down and say THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU! for the wonderful pins/badges and the sash! I felt like Miss America, parading around with it - minus the Vaseline on my teeth (thankfully!). Also Thank You so much for the generous gift cards - you know those will be put to good use - and Jill was absolutely right - Hobby Lobby is 5 minutes from my office - easy (and dangerous) to pop over at lunchtime and Dick Blick is perfect for a less-impulsive shopping spree. I can hardly wait to head over there to browse the aisles and to consider the artistic possibilities.

I'd also like to say a huge THANK YOU to all of you - The fact that such a wonderful, supportive group of women can meet like we do, is an amazing thing. I am honored to know each of you - and am proud and happy to be the "gel medium" that holds our group together. Your generosity of spirit, friendship, support and laughter is a real treasure.. and we get to make fabulous art on top of it!

Thank you again for not only the lovely tangible gifts you have given me, but for the gifts of yourselves and what we've come to create in our little collaborative.

Sara