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.