10 Little Girls All Lined Up in a Row . . .

# 11

(irregular shapes inspired by this Love)

Still working on my 29 Faces . . . and as of today, I only have 8 left to go (eeee) . . . .

It's been quite a challenge; not only in finding the time to sketch on a daily basis, but also in finding a variety of expressions, techniques and hair styles to play with. I'm trying to learn as much as I can throughout the process, and am really trying to stretch myself along the way. At this point, I'm working less on copying the masters (as I did in this post) and more on finding new ways to express "my style" of whimsical girls. 

Here's what I've done thus far (all of which has been posted daily on Instagram):

# 12, 13 & 14

(Catching up)

#15

Going for a loose hand, hash marks and whimsey

#16

(Inspired by a piece I did last year following this Beauty 

which BTW, I dislike very much, but for the sake of Bravery am still posting ;)

#17

(It was my Birthday)

#18

Little Alien Girl

#19

Playing with different hair styles here. 

#20

(It was a hard day ;)

#21

Another girl from my "Just be You" series

That's me. Caught up. And since it's Sunday, I'll link to the lovelies at Sunday Sketches as well. 

Thanks for taking a peek,

Kristin xo

Paint Party Friday: Altered Alice

"Alice"

Altered Cook Book with vintage ephemera 

Happy PPF!

I brought my new book to the party . . . 

It all started a few years ago with an Alice in Wonderland inspired quilt that I bought from an artisan who, like most of us, was also an art supply and ephemera hoarder. Thankfully for me, she was selling some of her old junk er, vintage collectables, and I got to take said blanket home.

The perfect opportunity to use it came when I decided to try and capture the Lewis Carroll tale by creating an altered book in Alice's honor. I thought it could be cool to tackle the project from the perspective of a child of that era, as if she had put the book together herself. I used both vintage materials and modern clip art and did my best to blend the two. This is what we came up with:

Page One

Packing tape transfer peeks out from the back of a piece of the quilt featuring that famous Rabbit

Page Two

The vintage letter asking for a "play date" that gave me the idea

Tucked into an envelope and guarded by an altered tag attached with a child's bobby pin

Page Three

Here I used a vintage photograph, bingo card and pages from the book itself

Page Four

A pretty napkin that I stole from my Mom used as an accent

Page Five (my favorite)

Mad Hatter multiplied 

Page Six

The Queen's silhouette added to an old mini playing card

Last Page

I added another vintage photograph - this one representing our girl as she grows up - put in a frame enhanced with silver leaf

That's it! It's a lotta pictures I know, thanks for hanging in there with me . . . 

See you at the party,

Kristin xo

When Someone Loves You . . .

Altered spoon with Paper Clay heart

"When someone loves you, they way they say your name is different. 

You know that your name is safe in their mouth."

- Billy, age 4

Happy Valentines Day,

Kristin xo

29 Faces (Still At It) . . .

29 Faces: Day 4

I've been good (so far ;) and have kept up with my daily sketching for 29 Faces. It's been quite a challenge - some nights easier (and much longer) than others - but in the spirit of growth, I put on my big girl panties and did it anyway. . . .

My goal is to really stretch myself, to try new things, explore new angles and learn new techniques. I've dug out my old art books (you know, the kind weigh more than a newborn) and have been studying some of the masters. On nights when I feel really brave, I've tried to copy their portraits and emulate their style. On nights when I feel like playing more, I've gone in my own direction. But each time, I try to do something that I haven't done before. 

Here's what I've come up with so far:

Day 5

Inspired by "Head of a Woman" (Portrait of Genevieve) by Pablo Picasso, 1903

Day 6

Trying angular shapes here, and going for the high ponytail. 

Day 7

Going for a loose strokes and a vintage feel

Day 8

Trying to be looser yet. Really wanting to be more spontaneous

Day 9

Inspired by Michelangelo's "The Delphic Sibyl" from the Sistine Chapel

Day 10

Last night's efforts. Trying out short hair

Whew. Only 19 left to go . . . .

I guess I better get on it, 

Kristin xo

Love that Arty Mama . . .

Love that Arty Mama!

I'm honored to have been interviewed about Art, Life & Mama Hood (let's pretend that's a real word ;) by the sweet and effervescent Carin Cullen today. Check out her new Arty Mama series by clicking on the picture above.

And thank you Carin for all of your love and support,
Kristin xo

Paint Party Friday: Thumbelina

"Tiny Keepsakes"

Thumbelina assemblage using an altered soap box

Happy PPF! 

I hope this week has found you happy, well and in a creating frenzy. At least that was the case for me. It seems as if weeks' worth of ideas swirling around in my head have finally turned into something concrete and frankly, between 3 projects on the fire and a daily drawing for 29 Faces, I've been crazy-busy. But in a good way . . . .

On this post I shared some Instagram shots of a teeny tiny project I started last week. If you guessed that it was about Thumbelina - one of my favorite childhood stories - you were right.  It all started on a walk with my baby (okay, I know she's 7 but still) when she picked up a pea pod type thing off the ground. I'm sure you know what it's called (I don't) but when I saw it, I instantly thought of a little bed. Which, for some reason, led me to think of the little fairy girl I have always admired. 

Ironically, Thumbelina is a Hans Christian Andersen tale about a peasant woman who could not have a child of her own. (Hum). She exchanged food for special seeds that once planted, grew into a tiny little girl, no bigger than your thumb. Here's my interpretation of the special keepsakes that I think her Mama would have saved - in a special place - just for her:

The altered soap box. Martha Stewart crackle paint (from the hardware store) on the sides of the lid and crackle paint covered in Martha Stewart glitter on the sides of the bottom. The top of the lid is covered in decorative paper, watercolor crayons and beeswax.

The first element: a little jar of "seeds" (or glass glitter). Vintage text reads, "Little Girl." 

The flower pot I imagine she sprang from. It was made with Paper Clay (a first for me) which I purposely (I promise) distressed and cracked. It rests on a shell that was painted and prettied with Stickles glitter, Swarovski crystals and a vintage tiny flower bud coming out from the cracks in the shell.

Little things for the little one: a decorative plate that I "chipped" and distressed. The napkin is a small piece of fabric and the glittered shell serves as her bowl.

Her bed. With a pearl for a pillow.

Everything in it's place. Keepsakes for Mama's tiny one.

All tied up for safe keeping. With a "T" for Thumbelina of course.

There it is! And now I'm off to a Tea Party . . . Check out the Instagram pictures (on my sidebar ;) if you wanna see some of the next WIP's I'm working on. Hint: Her name's Alice . . . .

Kristin xo

29 Faces . . . .

29 Faces, Day 1

Strathmore Visual Journal

Yep, I'm doing it too . . . a first for me. After seeing so many amazing sketches, paintings and participants creating a face-a-day over the last few challenges, I decided to bite the bullet and give it a try myself. At first I was intimidated by the sheer volume of would-be work, but I committed anyway, knowing that my girls were getting a bit, um, stale (just being honest) and that if I wanted change, I'd need to actually do something about it . . . .

So February first came and it turns out, I'm a busy girl. Had no time at all to start this new challenge until I got home that evening - at around 11 pm - the hour just before my pumpkin expires. But alas, commit I did, so I got to work and found . . . that I really loved it. Late night sketching in front of a bad round of reality TV is apparently a good combination, at least it worked for me. So much so, that I repeated that routine for nights 2 and 3 (which is why I have only Instagram shots thus far - no light ;). Here's what I came up with:

29 Faces: Day 2

Inspired by "Young Girl in a Fichu" 

Sculpture by Jules Dalou, early 1890's

(I told you I needed a change - I decided to try my hand at copying the classics ;)

29 Faces: Day 3

Inspired by Kees Van Dongen's "Lady in a Black Hat" (1908)

So, yeah, that's where I am to date. Since it's day four and I haven't gotten out the pencils yet, I guess the late-night sketching / bad TV routine will continue. . . .

Looking forward to more - and to seeing all of your 29 Faces!

Kristin xo