Tuesday, March 6, 2012

The City

I know realize this didn't scan straight. Oh well. I drew this paper cutting while I was working, so pardon the lack of straight lines. This is a different paper than my other cuttings, its a bit thicker and holds up marvelously to thin lines. The really fine detail shows up poorly on the scan, but there are very thin lines in the clouds and in the triangular part of one of the buildings.


I had to go out and purchase a new exacto knife for this. I ran out of blades and the replacements I purchased were not the ones to the blade holder. That meant buying a new holder! Oh, that was fun being at the art store three days in a row. That was just a pain, especially since one of the days it was raining.

There won't be too many updates within the next few days. The quarter is wrapping up and I'm attempting to finish my thesis and my art project done along with these "one" hour drawings. This drawing took three, not one, but three. I can't wait until I can sleep in, in eight days!

Sunday, March 4, 2012

Down by the Docks

I'm not going to lie, sometimes when I sit down to do paper cutting I simply have no idea what I want to put on paper. Then when I get something drawn I'm not too happy with it and end up winging things.


Well, I didn't particularly care for the docks when I drew the one. Then I started to get my detail in, and well it grew on me. I had to do a bit of taping because I cut something a bit too thin and it tore when I flipped things over. This was cut in white and when I scanned it into the computer I needed a different background, so the black appeared. I think I need to find some spray adhesive and get this attached so that nothing else breaks on this cutting.

Definitely my favorite so far. I can't wait until this quarter is over and I can actually frame a few of these. I would say I'd put them up around my apartment, but I'm moving out soon and there wouldn't be much of a point. For the next apartment though!

Saturday, March 3, 2012

Camping is Intense

Lame joke, I know. But every time I see this paper cutting that's what comes to mind. The corny part of my brain wins out.


The reference for these tents was a platform tent from the camp I'm doing my thesis on. I really like this paper cutting, the amount of detail that I am able to get when I fold the paper over is simply delightful! I'm not too pleased with the color, but it's what I had on hand and the tent canvas is usually some ugly color. Not that this yellow is ugly, I just don't think it goes with the tent.

Friday, March 2, 2012

Bow Tie

I had a review again on Wednesday for these one hour drawings. That of course meant I was frantically working on these things all day on Tuesday. Maybe I should learn to manage my time a bit better? Well, I also scanned all of my drawings into my computer, yes scanned. I found out that I have 43 drawings! The three drawings I squeezed in on Tuesday, I did not actually need! 


I wish I would have know that before I lost feeling in my index finger. Nevertheless I really like this paper cutting. I was an architecture major in undergrad and we had a running joke that architects always wore bow ties, ALWAYS. It was required if you were to be a great architect, like Le Corbusier (one of our teachers adored him, so we were all very familiar with him and his bow tie). In light of those wonderful sleepless nights and the craziness that went on I came up with this, a glorified bow tie.

Thursday, March 1, 2012

Stick a Needle in it!

I'm not going to lie I'm avoiding working on my thesis... And my art projects... I'm sorely eyeing up the alcohol in the fridge, its sooo tempting... I have to rearrange a large bulk of my thesis and delete quite a bit. Not looking forward to that, at all. But I know it has to be done. I'm also working on my final art project, which I had to take a break from because the permanent marker was getting to me.


I took a break with this lovely little piece of sewing. It's a heating pad. Yes, I know it's small. I'm fully aware it's simple. I know it'll come in useful. I get have a tendency of getting cramps during that time of month. Heating pads feel wonderful, I doubt they help, but I don't object to the heat when I start freezing.

I used some cotton fabric I purchased from the remnant rack. Cut out two rectangles, sewed the suckers together and filled them with some type of beans. I don't recall which ones as I normally don't eat the type I put in there; I stick to black and garbanzo beans. Then I sewed around the edges a quarter inch because I felt it was a wee bit too large for the amount of beans I poured in there. We'll see how well it works.

Until then I'm going to be eyeing up my sewing machine because I just purchased more fabric for a skirt and a dress. Those won't be done for at least another week. I am currently blocking access to my sewing machine with my art project as that HAS to be done by this Wednesday along with more of my one hour drawings. And I want the revised version of my thesis sent back to my professors by tomorrow evening. After those things are done, heck, after the thesis is sent I'm getting into the hard cider as a reward!

It's Just Peachy

Happy first day of March! You know what they say, in like a lion, out like a lamb. This was almost always true when I lived in Ohio, down here in Georgia it's a different story. Well, it's been raining a few of the past days and I dislike the rain. Don't get me wrong, it's needed but I have to bike through it and it's not pleasant! It's just peachy when I have to bike in a down pour.


Speaking of peaches! Here's another embroidering, this time of Princess Peach from Nintendo's Mario games. My first game I played on the gameboy was Donkey Kong, I think. It was the lovely game where Mario had to jump over the barrels to get to Donkey Kong and Princess Peach. That was back when the gameboy looked like and weighed as much as a brick. And the gameboy was technically my older brother's. From that I got going on my gaming. Not that I'm much of a gamer, heck I haven't played any gaming systems in months. I don't have one with me at grad school. I do miss being able to kill time and being engrossed in a complex story, but playing video games would not help me with getting my schoolwork done. I guess I'll just have to settle for embroidering game characters for now.

Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Floating Away

Over the weekend I didn't have a whole lot of time. I was attempting to get loose ends tied up with my thesis. My thesis is currently 53 pages and is in desperate need of revision. I finished up what I could, I'm still anxiously awaiting from a source, and sent the sucker off to my committee. I can get this sucker revised in two weeks before the quarter ends, just as long as my teachers get drafts back to me.


While I was attempting to sort out my own revisions and adding in more things I had forgotten I was working on this butterfly. I was going to embroider in some orange as that is the color these butterflies normally are, but this took well over two hours. Considering this is supposed to be a one-hour drawing I wasn't going to put that much effort into it. I'm noticing now that the wings aren't symmetrical... I'm nitpicking,  I know. I really feel the need to keep my sketchbook on me and actually draw thanks to these last two drawings. The bug has bitten me and knows I will have free time soon... Damn it...

Tuesday, February 28, 2012

Jellyfishing

I had a busy weekend again. This of course means my one hour drawings were embroidery. I find that my one hour embroideries are taking longer than one hour. Not that I mind that, it's so relaxing to sit and just embroider. It makes me want to draw more often, which after this quarter is over is just what I think I'll do.

Although, if I do draw more I highly doubt it will be sea creatures. I do like this jellyfish though. It was fairly easy to embroider. The reason its pink was because that was what thread I had on me, lots of shades of pink. The cloth is a bit wrinkly because I didn't have time to iron it quite yet. I spent an hour and a half scanning all of my one hour drawings into my computer. Sounds like bunches of fun doesn't it? Well, it wasn't. I had to scan everything because I'm required to turn in a CD at the end of the quarter with all of my drawings on it. I really want to keep ahead of that as my last day of work is also an important day at my work and it'll be more hectic than ever! Plus, if I do most of the tedious work now I'll have more free time later.

Monday, February 27, 2012

Oh Dear

When my drawing professor saw all of my one hour drawings more than a week ago, he only had one request from me: Draw more figures. Lovely. Figures aren't my strong suit, or at least I don't think they are. I did take a drawing class back in undergrad because I wanted to strengthen that. I can draw people, but I need larger paper for that because we drew them on large scale paper and it just helps me to flush problem areas out.


I'm not overly fond of this embroidery, but that's all right. I opted out of doing a face here, it didn't look right when I did it the first time. She's a bit out of wack in places. I really should start drawing in my sketchbook. Eh, I'll get around to that after this class is over.

Sunday, February 26, 2012

Under the Sea

I've finally reached desperation in trying to find things to draw. By that I mean when I go to draw on my pieces of cloth for my one hour drawings I can't think of anything that I should sketch out! This is bothersome because I still have 20 more drawings to do for my class, yes 20. I'm over half way done! Now if I wasn't busier than all get out I would have had these 50 suckers all done in 50 days, but thesis had taken over most of my life. Yes, had. That sucker has been finished in rough draft form for a while. I'm just waiting on revisions. Waiting for those suck.


Anyway, I pulled out one of my old sketchbooks to see if I could find some inspiration. And indeed I did find some! I drew this octopus over a year ago. He looks almost exactly the same in my sketchbook, except he's in color here. I would simply love to paint him, but I don't have paints or canvas here.

I was working on this while talking to my roommate and she pipped up that she wanted him. Oi... At least I know this little guy is cute! I'm not fond of the cut towards the bottom left, this is what happens when I draw things too low on the cloth and use scrap pieces.

Saturday, February 25, 2012

Would You Like Fries With That?

 I've decided that I really need to get better pictures of these one hour drawings! Or a better camera... Hm... Yeah, better pictures are just slightly more realistic. Oh the woes of a poor college student. I'll just add a super nice camera to the list of things I want after I graduate, along with furniture and heaps of other practical things.



Yes, this is a burger. Yes, I was super bored when I drew this. Yes, I was watching TV and saw an add for either McDonalds or Burger King. It was an inspired burger. While I don't believe this is all that great and I need to fill in the burger so that the color comes out better this seems to amuse my drawing classmates. Whatever floats their boat I guess. The burger really isn't bad, I'm just not fond of drawing or embroidering food.

Friday, February 24, 2012

Birds of A Feather

Another one hour drawing, this time I got slightly bored at work and started to draw one of the paintings that was in the area I was sitting in. For being in a historic house I can only sit a few places, especially within the house. I keep telling my coworkers that one of these days I'll be in period dress while working on embroidery on the couch that's in one of the rooms. And yes, I am allowed to sit on said couch, it was re-fluffed and the like so us employees could sit in one of the rooms to help keep an eye on things. Apparently people have sticky fingers or something of the like.  


I left out quite a bit of detail with this bird, but it was an hour in the making. I'm not too pleased with the critter, but it's a drawing and I'm working on my skill. I feel like a Victorian girl while I'm working on these, appropriate because I work in a house that dates to the Victorian time.

Thursday, February 23, 2012

Beneath the Tree

This is another papercutting, in the ever lovely yellow paper. I had a lot of fun with this one and I have to say it turned out wonderfully.


The only thing I would have liked is to get some more detail into the figure at the bottom. I won't go back into this at the moment, but if I do another one I'm going to take more time for the person beneath the tree. This is probably my favorite paper cutting so far. I'm really liking how clean my new knife is cutting and how nice these bifolds come out.

Wednesday, February 22, 2012

Swirl Snowflake

I really like the design of this snowflake. It was pretty much just line work that worked out.


I drew this while I was chatting with my boyfriend the one day. I sometimes get antsy when I have to sit still for long periods of time and it helps when something is moving, like a foot or a hand. I just so happened to have a folded piece of paper next to me and here the result is. No... I did not cut this while chatting with the boy. I don't know how to get my phone on speaker and I need both of my hands to cut these.

Also, happy Lent for all of those who celebrate it. Yes, I am fully aware Lent is not supposed to be a happy, exciting time. I've decided that in these lovely 40 days before Easter I'm going to sew myself an Easter dress! I'm excited because it'll be the first garment in months that I have sewn! At least, that's the plan at the moment. I still have to dig through the patterns I have here to see what I have with me and if there's even a decent pattern to use for a dress. If not I'll have to go out and purchase a new pattern, oh darn!

Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Live in Knots

During the weekend that led up to the 15th I was attempting to get as many of my one hour drawings done as possible. I worked the entire weekend, which was my 4 days off from school. Not that I mind working at all! I like my job, but this was probably the only weekend I did not have one day off and other things that needed to get done.


I have time to sit and embroider at work, so this little thing came to be. I'm all right with it. It's not my favorite piece and the knots could have been done a bit better, but it was a rush job and well, it worked for what it needed to be.

Monday, February 20, 2012

We'll Meet Each Other There

I finally got away from just cutting out snowflakes! For this, I just folded a piece of paper in half and had fun. It's only yellow because I had extra of it and well, it needed to be used up somehow.


I decided to do an attempt with figures on this. They're not too bad, but there are definitely spots that could be a bit better, like the legs. I was very happy with how much detail I was able to get into this. Cutting through less paper seems to be key. Perhaps I'll actually get around to drawing on a single piece, then cutting. That's not looking promising.

Sunday, February 19, 2012

Centered Off

I drew the pattern for this snowflake out a while ago. I had 30 of my lovely one hour drawings due on the 15th. So when did they all get done? Well... Most of them got done on the 14th, it was a lovely productive Valentines Day.


I tried to do something other than geometric designs with this snowflake. I'm quite happy with it, especially how the center turned out. I was originally going to have something else in the center but I accidentally cut out something important and this was just a result of that.

Saturday, February 18, 2012

Leafing About

Sorry I haven't posted anything in two weeks! I had midterms, multiple art assignments due, and I finished the rough draft of my thesis. Needless to say it's been just a wee bit busy. Luckily for me things have calmed down just a bit and I've managed to get some one-hour drawings completed.


I'm still working on my lovely snowflakes, although I have branched out a bit. I was playing around with design and pattern on this one. I'm not very fond of the center but I do like how it looks as it goes out. Reminds me of looking at the top of a tree, a very symmetrical tree.

Please pardon the dinginess of my cutting board. My last project dealt with clear vinyl which I drew on with permanent marker. Well the permanent marker did NOT want to come off the material after I cut out the shapes and it got all over my cutting board in the process. Once I get around to taking my camera out to my studio I should be able to get a picture of my actual projects at some point.

Thursday, February 2, 2012

Hearted

Happy Groundhog's Day! I hope the little rodent predicts spring is going to come soon. Who am I kidding?! The little stinker always sees his shadow and we get six more weeks of winter.

Today's paper cutting was a product of a few days before hand. I'm very pleased with the finished product here. There are a few places where I accidentally cut through the paper, but some of them you can't see.


I noticed as I was cutting this out that my shapes, which I had based off a spiked pattern were starting to look like hearts. Apparently I'm subconsciously starting to think about Singles Awareness Day -er I mean Valentines Day... I think I may play around with this and yesterdays flakes for one of my larger art projects. But we shall see how that all works out. All I know is I won't be able to feel my finger again after I finish project two, it's going to be larger then four 17.5 inch snowflakes which means more cutting... yay....

Wednesday, February 1, 2012

Bursted

Yet another paper cutting. Aren't ya'll just getting bored of these yet? Well I'm not getting bored of making them! My finger was recovered enough that I could attack some paper today, and attack I did.


When I started this snowflake off  was a bit worried because of all the curve in it. Luckily those curves didn't do quite the number I thought they were going to on my finger. Don't get me wrong, it still hurts because I went ahead and started experimenting with different materials (baaaaaad idea). I have to say I really like this design.

I'm definitely enjoying this paper cutting but my sewing machine is starting to get jealous of my exact knife. Unfortunately, I won't be sewing anything for myself, with the exception of embroidery, until after my thesis is finished. Although, I may get adventurous when my rough draft is finished. We shall see. Until then, I hope you all are enjoying what I've been working on!

Monday, January 30, 2012

I'm Just Going to Sit Still

I wish I could sit still today! I need to hunker down and get cracking on my thesis, which did NOT happen this weekend. I had an art project that's due today, or well is due. I don't have that class until a bit later in the morning. I spent most of this weekend with my exacto knife and paper. The result: four awesome looking snowflakes and one index finger that is in some state of injury.

I ended up working Saturday and Sunday, which wasn't a problem I got another embroidery "sketch" completed. This makes 20 drawings/snowflakes/embroidery pieces that have been completed. Twenty of these suckers are due on Wednesday. Luckily I've been knocking at least one of these out a day.


I decided to broaden my embroidery subjects and attempt a person. I always want to be able to draw people and I often fail miserably. I CANNOT draw faces, I also dislike drawing them as well. I was able to get a decent person as you can see. I'm fairly proud of how this turned out, I don't believe she's totally in proportion, but that's okay. You can tell she's a person and she's sitting.

We'll see what I manage to come up with today. I'm not sure what I'll be up to after my review, aside from a second class. In the words of my undergrad architecture professor: YIKES!

Sunday, January 29, 2012

Did You Hear?

I should be done with my art project today. I just need to cut the outline of my last two snowflakes. Then I should slowly get the feelings back in my fingers! I think I need to change the blade on my exacto knife, I've been holding out on that simply because I don't want to change the sucker. I keep having flashbacks to undergrad where the blade keeps falling out when I was cutting. Then again, that was a cheap exacto knife.


This one-hour is another embroidery. As you can see it's an ear. I found a tutorial online that showed you how to draw an ear step by step. This helps me greatly as I don't always break objects down so simply in order to draw them. Following the tutorial the ear turned out pretty good. And the ear is actually flesh colored! I'm slowly getting better at matching thread with objects. I did have the thread color with me and in sight when I started this.

The word is there because I was worried that I wouldn't make enough time with just the ear and I wanted to practice embroidering my writing. I'm thinking of doing a quote and wanted to make sure I didn't butcher my writing. What I'm thinking of doing will likely be given to a friend as a birthday gift. I'm planning ahead, so some of these will likely show up as Christmas presents to some of my friends. Yes, I know Christmas is just under 11 months away, time flies folks!!

Saturday, January 28, 2012

Once Upon a Girl Scout

I am finally caught up with posting my one hour drawings! This may be a bad thing as I haven't done any this past week. I have been working full steam on my first project for my drawing class as well as researching for my thesis and writing that sucker. Needless to say things have been busy!


This is my first time embroidering a person. I'm pleasantly surprised at how this turned out! I copied the image from the cover of "How Girls Can Help Their Country," the first Girl Scout guide book. The book has been lying on my desk for the better part of the past week as its a reference book for my thesis. I got a bit bored looking at the cover and decided to draw, then embroider it.

And I know ya'll are thinking it, I have OPENED the book! Multiple times too and typed in quotes for my thesis! I haven't just been looking at it. I've had enough time to juggle being sick, classwork, class, a project, thesis, researching, and work. There just hasn't been much time for the boy, much to my dismay. Hopefully, that'll change slightly after Monday (the day my art project is due).

On another note, since I have so much freedom with my one hour drawings, would anyone like me to try anything specific? I have a decent ability to draw, so feel free to suggest just about anything.

Friday, January 27, 2012

Smaller but Sturdier

Yet another snowflake. Don't worry, there are sewing projects coming. It's just quicker to doodle and cut a piece of paper than laying everything out to embroider. This snowflake I'm quite proud of. It's on thicker paper, which I finally went out and purchased. This means cutting is more difficult but the end result is a much sturdier final product.


This was another doodle and cut piece. I really like the center. I had planned for more detail but with my dulling exacto knife that wasn't possible. Once I find where I can order more blades I will snap that sucker off and enjoy the new blade. Or I'm going to figure out how to sharpen the sucker.

Thursday, January 26, 2012

Snowflake Failure

I'm going to apologize to anyone who is following me thinking that I would be doing sewing. I will be sewing! I promise! I've just got to get through this quarter and I'm golden. I realize the paper cuttings might not be what you want to see, but they're almost all I can share right about now.


 This was supposed to turn out like the one below. I wasn't being patient enough and rushed through cutting. I accidentally severed part of the line. I wasn't pleased and fully planned on tossing the piece out. But my roommate popped up out of nowhere, she does this often, and said she wanted this. So I unfolded the piece and kept it. She will be getting it once my class is over.


I had wanted the top snowflake to look like this one. Let me tell you, this was hard to cut out! The single squiggle line I started with proved to be a challenge, especially since I had to cut this twice. This is a very delicate piece and I'll need to secure it to something soon.

Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Initialed

I had a bit of time over the weekend at work to assist with one of the programs that children are allowed to do. This program involved embroidery, so I was over the moon! I had to start a project so that I could show the little ones how to do a back stitch. I was surprised how enthusiastic all of the children were about embroidering (they were all girls)!


These letters were from stamps at work, so I cannot claim to have designed the letters at all. The thread is much thicker than what I have here. I really should order embroidery thread or go find some, which is looking rather dismal. Oh, wait... I could have picked some up yesterday when I bought paper at one of the art stores in Savannah. The local Walmart didn't have anything useful, which is disappointing. I digress, working with the thicker thread was much more enjoyable the stitches really pop from the cloth.

And don't worry I went back on Sunday and I ironed all of my pieces so they would lie flat. Yes, that includes my paper pieces. I was informed on a makeup class on Friday that if I turned the steam on my iron off this would be possible. It probably made my weekend! I cannot believe how nice my snowflakes look now that they are flat. Although it'll make them slightly more difficult to transport. Once this quarter is over I'll see what I'll end up doing with everything. I might sell some of the pieces I've been working on, I know a few are going to be given as gifts.

Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Doodles and Trees

Snowflakes, again. These two finish up the first batch of one hour projects. I was unfortunately sick on Wednesday when I was supposed to be peer reviewed, which would have helped greatly. My professor did encourage me to keep working on these and my embroidery. So you'll be seeing more of these and hopefully more embroidery!


The snowflake above was another one I doodled on then cut out. You can see here I decided to play around more with shapes and curves. Curves are very difficult to do on printer paper, yes that's the paper I've been using. I manage to do a fair job with them, but my exacto knife is getting dull and I don't want to break off the end because I don't know where I can buy more blades... The problems I face.
This one was a snowflake I did, thinking I needed something quick and easy. Draw this took more time than previous ones did as it's a tree. I like the trunk because of the detail and it kind of looks like bark, but I'm not overly fond of the leaves. Maybe I'll get around to cutting another one and improving upon the tree look, but we shall see.

Monday, January 23, 2012

Today is Brought to you by the Letter "A"

This marked the tenth drawing for my class. The review was on Wednesday. I only had to complete ten of these one hour drawings for class thus far. Well, this one was the limit, though not the last one I completed before the review. You probably figured out that there's been a bit of a delay of me posting these. I'm also busy with thesis so when I get the chance I post these suckers in bunches and scatter them throughout the month or else I'll fall off the face of the earth, again.


This happens to be my second favorite after my heart embroidery. This is the letter "A" in ASL. If you are wondering, no I am not fluent in ASL. I know some words and phrases from taking two semesters of it, but I am no where near fluent.  I do happen to admire the language as quite a few of my sorority sisters are capable of speaking it insanely well (many of them are deaf education or special needs education majors).

In high school I'd draw my hands if I got really bored in my classes, this happened a lot. I've known the ASL alphabet since I was in grade school and figured why not draw my hand in the shape of some of the alphabet. Since I haven't drawn my hands in a while (notes were slightly more essential in college and grad classes) I figured the letter "A" would be a good place to start off.

Sunday, January 22, 2012

The Third Snowflake, Day 9

I got bored in class after I finished up the last embroidery so I decided to doodle on a piece of paper and see if I could create another snowflake. Well here it is.


I challenged myself with curves and circles. Cutting the circles out with an exacto knife is a huge pain. There are eight layers of paper I have to cut through. Most of the time I open up the snowflake so I can get at the other layers.

Unlike the other two flakes this one did not get finished perfectly. The spokes around the center aren't  perfect. One of said spokes was a casualty. I accidentally tore it off while I was cutting. If I had noticed (or really cared) then I would have taped it back together so no one would have noticed. But as we can see that did not happen.

All and all, this turned out quite well. Once I get a hold of some colored paper I should have fun decorating behind this.

Saturday, January 21, 2012

Perspective of Day 8

Another day of embroidery. Can we see this is one of my preferred methods of drawing? I ended up running out of all but the green color on this project. Which was insanely disappointing. I was in class when I whipped this up.


I decided to challenge myself a bit to see if I could do a bit of perspective AND a person. I will admit that this doesn't really look like much of a person. This was how I was taught in undergrad to draw a person by my architecture teachers. Yes, it's pretty much squiggles. All of our hard work in drawing was supposed to go into the building we were working on and we just needed people for sizing.

I don't think this went too terribly. Some of the perspective is off on the one counter-like thing. But it could be much worse. If I would have taken more time and pulled out a straight edge this could have been a bit better, but it works in experimenting.

Friday, January 20, 2012

Another Day

Once again I decided to head back to embroidery and use an architectural feature in my adventures. This time it did not work out so well.


These squares and rectangles are supposed to represent Savannah's grid. Tything and trust lots surround squares in the historic district. It doesn't read all that well here. That is probably because its about half finished. I got bored with this after spending over an hour on it. I did figure out that doing any map like embroidery will be out of the question for my larger projects. Far too boring for me.

I did show this to my roommate who looked at me like I was crazy. She wasn't impressed with the whole idea, then again her major doesn't deal with maps, plans, and buildings, which I can get obsessed with.

Thursday, January 19, 2012

Day 6

Another paper cutting today. This one was inspired by the Gothic rose windows. I took a class all about Gothic art and architecture last year. It was a bit cut and dry but I still admire the details on many of the Gothic cathedrals I had to study, including the windows.

I would simply love to get my hands on some colored paper and place it behind this to add a bit more to it. But I still fall into the category of "poor college student" so no fancy colored paper for me. I did manage to impress myself by completing all of the circles without going crazy. There are so many circles I thought I would be working on this for a week.

Wednesday, January 18, 2012

White Dragon


This little critter was sewn three years ago. I’m a fan of dragons and the idea of being able to crochet my own made me over the moon. I don’t recall exactly where I got the pattern; I believe it was raverly. I think it’s a snow dragon and I used the wings off of some other critter.
This is an amigurumi piece as it’s crocheted in the round. I learned how to crochet in the round which was great fun as this was my first project doing so. I have since made other dragons, one was given away with the safety eyes. That was fun to do and a pain to get the eyes to fasten together.

As you can see this little guy has some items sticking out of him. I use him as a pin cushion for my yarn needles and crocheting hook. He has yet to complain about being used as such. I've also made a few other variations without as much success. As I'm not feeling too well today, I should make more of these cute little dragons. Sure sounds better then working on my thesis while I'm battling a fever and sore throat. Good news is I have meds for that, although the hospital I went to could not confirm or deny that I have strep throat. But I get meds for it anyways. I am definitely not complaining, although they do make me a bit loopy...

Tuesday, January 17, 2012

Donkey


I used the same pattern for this donkey as the elephant. Or more accurately the same envelop, different pattern.
I was trying to make it look like a horse, but according to my family it looks like a donkey, so a donkey it is! This was done with cotton cloth I had bought. I believe this was part of a remnant I picked up and it was just enough for this lovely critter!


There’s only one small problem with the elephant and donkey. They need to be given away. As cute as they are I would rather give them to friends who have kids as I have none of my own quite yet. But none of my close friends are having kids just yet. These guys may stick around until I have my own... That could be years.
You may have noticed that both of the stuffed animals do not have eyes. I got a bit lazy and decided not to add them. I’ve been told it makes them look Amish, I’m okay with that. 

Monday, January 16, 2012

Days 4 & 5 for drawing

I have discovered that embroidering is just slightly addictive. I have also discovered I cannot do a whole lot of it in an hour, especially when it involves lettering. I attempted to go back to my architecture roots here and embroider the plan of a small house (it's a bath house that goes along with my thesis).


I'm not overly pleased with this embroidery. Trying to follow pencil drawings are rather difficult. It's also hard to draw straight lines without a ruler or straight edge, go figure... After that I decided to try another method of drawing: paper cutting.

Now, I chose to attack a snowflake. Maybe I miss the flakes back in Ohio or maybe I just want to torture myself with them. Either way below is my first paper cut snowflake. It's the outline of the states the Appalachian Trail runs through along with some lovely text.


This in itself was a wonderful exercise on patience. This was over an hour and getting all those small details was just a slight pain. But I somehow managed to enjoy working with it. I'm just a glutton for punishment apparently!

Sunday, January 15, 2012

Elephant


During high school I went through a phase of making felt dragons. I had modified a pattern for a monkey and overbought on the felt. No, I don’t have the dragons with me at the moment. They’re back up North and I won’t be hiking back that way anytime soon.
I did need to find a use for the yards of felt that I had bought. I think I had five yards of felt or something ridiculous. Now, there was no way I was making any type of clothing out of the felt. There wasn’t enough to do a coat and none of the colors matched, that was clearly out of the question. So I picked up a pattern for stuffed animals! 




Here’s an elephant made out of felt. This was a quick pattern from Simplicity 2921 and the instructions were less than perfect. I was expecting a step by step guide much like clothes and I got diagram... Yeah, not impressed, but it was detailed enough that I could  make sense of it. Plus, I ignore the patterns on everything else, so that shouldn’t have been a big deal.


Out of all of the patterns on here I found that the only one that the felt is good for is the elephant. I attempted to do the horse out of felt and that failed miserably. I couldn’t turn the creation right side out.

Saturday, January 14, 2012


Day three of my 50 one-hour drawings brought on my favorite piece so far. This little heart!


I have a great liking for anatomy, although I hate blood, guts, and dead things. Give me an internal organ and I’m happy as a clam (although don’t literally give me an internal organ, that would be weird...). This is the second time I’ve done an atomically correct heart. I’ll likely get into other organs as I continue to explore subject matter with my drawings.
As you can tell the color matches up a bit better with this piece. I am going off of sewing thread that is running out, and as of now all of these colors have been used up. This is great for me because I’m going through my thread and using things up. This is not so great because it means I have to go buy thread for the colors I actually need. I’m not looking forward to spending money, so goes the life of a graduate student. I’ll likely be tempted by cloth and patterns when I go, I shall try to abstain.

Friday, January 13, 2012

Happy Belated New Year!


Happy New Year all!
I’ve been incredibly busy these past few months. The past few weeks I was up North visiting family and friends. I haven't done much sewing in the past while. School ate up my time (as per usual) and I didn’t touch my sewing machine for the past 6 weeks. It’s been tempting me horribly. Unfortunately the sewing machine cannot write my paper for me. I’ve asked the machine nicely, bribed it with nice thread, offered it wine, and threatened it, no such luck with. Apparently I’m going to have to write my papers, so not fair.
I hope that will greatly change over this quarter, but I highly doubt that. This quarter I have a drawing class, I’m TA-ing, and I am working on my thesis. Add in two jobs (part time, thankfully) and balancing my social life, things are going to be super busy. So, I believe these next few weeks will be spent in a stress induced haze complete with rum, lots of rum. I may get some sewing done in correlation with my drawing class. 
For my drawing class I have to do 50 one-hour drawings. This will prove to be an interesting exercise. I all ready have one of my drawings completed. I had chosen to go the traditional route with a subject matter that relates to my major, then I got bored. Me bored is never good it leads to things like trying to take over small countries in my quest for world domination. 


This was a bit of challenge for me. I hate sitting still for long periods of time. The time dragged on a bit, but once I got into my drawing time passed too quickly! I found that I went from area to area randomly. Maybe I should have laid off the permanent marker? Hm... Likely.



I then cut up some of my remnant fabric (where the white came from I'll never know) and pulled out some thread I was hoping to use up. These are supposed to be lily-of-the-valley, in red of course! I hadn't embroidered for months before this, so I was doing this from memory. While I don't think it's all that great, it was much better than drawing!

So, it looks like I'll be working on small embroidery for a few days or other drawing related things. I'll be sure to share them so it doesn't look like I'm falling off the face of the earth. Once my thesis is complete (only roughly 40 pages to go...) I hope to get some garments out, but we shall see.