Here comes the snow and block printing (unrelated thoughts)

We're expecting some snow in D.C. which kind of stinks because 1. I dislike snow and 2. I was supposed to go to NYC on Wednesday... so we'll see how that goes. But, I've been waiting for an appropriate weather system to come through to finally share this:

Another technique from Pattern Camp applied to a painting I did back in 2010 during D.C.'s famed Snowpocalypse.

In addition, next weekend I'm taking Jen Hewett's Design, Carve, Print online class to learn more about hand printing fabrics. I've been going through all our previous forays in to block printing and found this fun bike Kevin had made. So I whipped that up into a repeat digitally:

For as much as I dislike snow, I'm actually working on another series of snow related patterns (go figure) so come back for that and for the results of our block printing efforts! Happy snow shoveling!

Better than Bubble Wrap?

As promised this is part two of my Pinterest Challenge entry. Sadly perhaps for you, I've decided that explaining how to make bubble wrap art is boring so really we're skipping right along to show you another piece I made a year or two back for my cousin. Let's just say, you cut out a piece of bubble wrap, tape it to some cardboard, paint and stamp. Easy.

So what's better than bubble wrap? Q-Tips of course.

When I'm mixing colors I rarely get the color I intended but I try to make it work. I learned this technique circa 1995 in fifth grade to paint an orange that I still have on my bulletin board. Fascinating, I know ;o) Here's another Q-Tip painting I did in college.

What do you think? Bubble wrap or Q-Tips?

Pinterest Challenge: Bubble Wrap Mash Up Part 1

I am terrible at waiting for a big reveal. I'm a girl that eats my dessert FIRST. So guess what!? Here's what I made for this week's Pinterest Challenge! Click here to see a bigger/prettier version.


"Quilty People"

 Ok, deep breathe, let me tell you about the inspiration now. We've been looking for a piece of artwork to put in our dining room for at least a year. We are two full-time desk job + grad school students, don't judge. Thank goodness four lady bloggers challenged me to take something I had pinned and make it a reality. Instant motivation!

Source: intellokids.blogspot.com

It all started when I saw this bubble wrap painting pinned by one of the lovely Pinterest Challenge... uh... thrower-downers Sherry from Young House Love. 

I must admit to you, internet, that I am not a bubble-wrap-painting-novice. I, much like the preschoolers on the blog this originally came from, think bubble wrap is an excellent way to create a funky, textural pattern. About a year and a half ago in the midst of the worst snowstorm ever, I made this painting, "Snowpacalypse." Get it?

ANYWAYS, in order to take my inspiration and bubble-wrap painting skills up a notch, I decided to do a mash-up with THIS pin I found last week. 

Source: ffffound.com

Beautiful colors, geometric perfection. The idea to do a mash up was ALSO inspired by another Pinterest Challenge... thrower.... downer, Emily Henderson (OMG OMG OMG). If you are familiar with her show, Secrets From a Stylist, you will know that she takes two people's styles and mashes them up in a glorious new style.

So since this blog post is officially too long (sorry, I'm just feeling so chatty), I'm just going to have to break it up. Stay tuned for part two where I show you how I turned some bubble wrap into a piece of art. Then maybe there will be a part three where I show you my other preschool-paintbrush-substitute: Q-Tips!

What do you think? Will you be trying out the bubble wrap art anytime soon?