All Packed Up and on Their Way...

Welcome to day 9 of Blogtoberfest!

Today, I finally finished and packaged my second submission to the Art-o-mat Project. I have been slow to finish, summer is just such a busy time, but today I brought the box to the post office...

 This project can be time consuming, there are a lot of little steps necessary to getting the blocks just the right size and thickness. They start with a piece of 3/4" MDF, but need to be 7/8" thick, so a layer of 1/8" Masonite must be added to each block. I came up with quick way to evenly apply wood glue using a small roller from the dollar store...

and clamped the layers 7 deep. These dry fairly quickly, and are then ready for the table saw. I carefully set the fence on the table saw at 3 1/4", and run the now 2-ply boards through, then reset the fence at 2 1/8" and run them through a second time. This sounds complicated, but really you can whip out a LOT of blocks quickly this way. I tried cutting the MDF and Masonite first, then gluing them together, but was left with uneven edges and gaps where the glue didn't fill. This is much quicker, I ended up with enough blocks for almost two shipments! ( They ask that you send 50 at a time.)

Then comes a light sanding, which smooths the MDF beautifully, and a light scuff to the surface of the Masonite, to give it some tooth for gluing on the artwork...

Next, I paint each block with a base-coat color. At this point, I am starting to group them by ten. It makes the time commitment more manageable when I work on only ten at once. After the base-coat, I use a brayer to grunge a second color over the first...

Then I start adding extra detail with stamps and ink. Now my blocks are that old, grungy, interesting look I like, and ready for my artwork...

I have been working on the art steadily over the last few months, so I have a decent variety to offer. I try not to include more than two of any one design. I use GIMP to re-size and enhance my art, as well as add some lettering. Then I cut it out and use Mod Podge to glue it to a block. I like to use the brayer again at this point, to make sure there are no air pockets. A bit more ink applied to the edges give a nice finished look to each piece...

The last step is wrapping each block in a band of cellophane, and boxing them to ship. They are fairly heavy, when you get 50 of them together, but they fit in a Medium Flat Rate box from the post office, so postage stays around $11. 

I hope that if you ever considered participating in the Art-o-mat Project, this little tutorial can help you streamline the process a bit...and should you be traveling and come across an refurbished cigarette machine selling tiny pieces of art for $5 each, I hope you will indulge yourself and give it a pull!

Until next time...enjoy!

Wise Soul and Scheduling Creativity...

I have been working on canvases to enter in my Etsy shop, which I finally launched last week! I cannot believe how nervous I was, or how incredibly simple the process actually turned out to be. Here is a 5" x 7" canvas panel I just finished and am listing this morning...

I am so pleased with the way my little owl turned out, and the colors just went together so nicely.
I have made the commitment to myself and my art to work on something everyday, and still find it difficult to get everything else done around the house. I told a friend over the weekend that I wished I were three people, because it seems like everything that needs to be done, can only be done by me, and cannot be hired out. The sun is shining, the birds are singing, and the weeds are growing. My next step is to make myself a schedule, with items listed such as "wash the dishes", "plant the lettuce", and "go make something in the studio"...Things like, "get some exercise" and "scrub the bathtub" aren't even in the running right now. I am still learning how to pace myself, and still get everything taken care of.
  The thing is, creativity is very difficult to control like that. Inspiration has no sense of timing, and my muse doesn't really care about dishes and laundry or whether there is food in the house. So I am perpetually dancing from one mundane project to another, then into my studio in a fever of ideas, then back out to a chore whose importance is increasingly difficult to remember. By dinner I am exhausted and have a dozen partially completed tasks, and nothing crossed off my list! Sigh...
Never the less, I am enjoying this creative journey I am on, and know I will learn a better way to organize and utilize my allotted time. Are you like me, scattered to all corners of your life, or are you one of those enviable people that "has it all together"? Got any secrets to share? Bring 'em on, maybe we can make something of this mess...
  By the way, it is Every Inchie Monday, with this weeks theme being simply "blue". Right away I started thinking of the pretty mountain blue birds that nest in my birdhouse out by the tool shed every year, and decided to depict one in my own little way..

Oh, that reminds me, I need to get that cleaned out, both the shed and the birdhouse...
The theme for this month's creative Every Day is "language" and I have a poem to share;

My Studio

by Sally Rose

Paint, brush, and canvas.

Paper and easel.

Inks, dyes, and crayons.

Pencils and pens.

Sewing machine, fabric,

thread, twine and string.

Unfinished projects, sparked ideas

that then sputtered.

Magazines and books,

clippings, sandpaper.

Glue, tape and staples,

frames, shelves and plans.

Some baskets to store things,

not nearly enough.

Bags, boxes and cabinets,

and piles of more stuff.

Snippets of floss,

bright colors spilling.

Buttons and ribbon and

“Where did that go?”

“I didn't know I had it!”

and, “Isn't this pretty?”

Files and magnets,

and needles and beads.

Lost orphans, found items

and stories to tell.

Inspiration bombarding,

and me with no helmet.

Not enough lifetime

to fully explore it.

Story of my creative life...until next time, enjoy!

Collage Chic...

This is a new 8" X 10" canvas panel I just finished. It is a mixed media collage, with an acrylic encaustic finish. It is my first piece of art that I am listing for sale, hopefully soon to be followed by many more!

Thanks for looking, until next time...enjoy!