Mimmsical Creations

I am up to 8 out of my challenge of 30 ATCs made during this month!! I doodled while watching TV last night! These first two are in the mail on their way to my niece and nephew. Joy drew a picture for me about a month ago (I posted about it here), so I thought I would send her something in return. I included a card for her brother David, too.

Cards 6, 7, and 8 are just doodles! This is what I do best, and what I enjoy drawing the most! No rhyme or reason. I almost always like the outcome! These were very fun!! I will probably do more like them as I head toward my 30! The outline on the first card is a continuous line. There is an entry and an exit point for the line, but no other breaks!

No really! I know - my blog is called Mimmsical Creations... but I haven't been creating much lately!

However, I couldn't pass up the challenge of the Sharpie! My sharpie group did a challenge back in October of 2006 called SAC - Sharpie Art by the Card. We pledged to make a certain number of ATC cards during the month. I did 90 cards that month! Well, this month of May we're doing it again. I've pledged to make only 30 this time. (Challenge enough when I haven't made any art lately!) So far, I've made 6... not exactly on track for my 30, but we'll see! I have the first three scanned in to share with you!

I'm taking pens/paper with me on our trip (we leave on Saturday for Oregon! Yay!) And we'll see if I can create more while sitting by the ocean!!

Last Sunday, I attended a one afternoon art group with my art therapist. It was a session to make a Treasure Map of your intentions for 2008. I'm so glad I went. It has been a long time since I did an art group, and even a one day session was so good for me!

We met at 3 p.m. and introduced ourselves. Turns out all of the other participants were mental health professionals - colleagues of my art therapist. I was the only non-mental health pro! But, it wasn't a bad thing. They were all there to do the same project!

We took quite a bit of time to search through magazines finding the images that inspired us. We weren't supposed to use too many words, but I found a few that really fit, so I did use them.

Many of my images turned out to be the ocean, the shoreline, etc. I know that my intention for this year is to get Mike and I moved somewhere near the coast! Either one - I'm aiming for either Oregon, or North Carolina. We love both areas!

My treasure map feels very peaceful to me. I wanted that feeling for sure. The background is made up of a "breathing space" spread from an Oprah magazine, always my favorite pages! It is magnolia blossoms on a black background. I cut it to fit my circle and then pasted my other images on top.

I don't normally choose butterflies, but these bright colored ones spoke to me. One of the other participants said that butterflies can represent a new change/new life. That is good and it fits with my intentions! The zen garden and the woman with the cat also represent peace to me. Our cats are in dis-harmony still, and I hope for peace there too.

The words "the spice of life" is to remind me to live my life to the fullest and take opportunities. Fearless is a biggie for me. I am excited about the possibility of moving, but it also scares me. I want to take it on, and not let my fears keep me from doing anything!

It was such a positive experience (as always with my art therapist!) I'm glad I have this image now to remind me of my intentions for this year!

1/18/08 - Ben the Fuzz

1/19/08 - Berry Crisp from this recipe.

1/20/08 - Treasure Map mandala - made in an art group with my art therapist.
I'll do a whole post on this soon!

1/21/08 - Miss Girl enjoying catnip.

I created some new Sharpie art over the weekend! Yay!

I'm participating in an ATC swap called "Art Not War". Each person (9 total) are assigned one letter from that statement. Then when returns are sent, we will each get ATCs that spell out Art Not War.

My letter was T. (the first T!) I decided to go for a "tie-dyed" look using sharpies. I tried something first that didn't work. I used white crayon to draw the peace signs on my cards. Then I colored over it with my sharpies. My hope was the sharpie would not stick where the crayon was, but that didn't work! So, I revised my plan!

I drew on my colors - tie-dye, and then drew on my Ts in a dark, matching color. On top of that, I used my metallic sharpies to draw in the peace signs.

I like how they turned out! And now, I can't wait to get back my full set!! These nine cards took me about an hour and a half to do - I was watching episodes of season three of Alias while drawing! :)

Well, we made it!! I've posted at least something every day this month!! I didn't think I'd make it when I got sick. It was hard to consider what to post when my brain was all fuzzy and cold-addled!

I did get some new art done this month (as promised, Vicki!) I procrastinated until the last possible minute... I know, I know - hard to believe I'd do something like that! :) I'm mailing these cards off today to make it under the wire for postmark by date!!

The swap is a Project Runway swap for my Sharpie group! ATCs based on the Bravo show Project Runway - which I had never seen until recently. One of my fellow Sharpie Scouts sent me a tape with the first two episodes of season 4! Boy, it is a fun show! I'm sorry I can't watch more as we don't have cable! I'll have to keep up online and watch clips I think.

I made three cards that were my take on some sketches from season 3, and one card based on the first challenge of season 4 - to show how I would be as a designer. A fashion designer I'm not, but these were fun! These first three are my take on the sketches.


This last one is my attempt at a design. I used real fabric for the skirt and top. The belt and embellishments are pieces of ribbon. And the background is silver sharpie. I think it's cute, but it certainly wouldn't win any fashion awards!

New art!! (I promised my sister - there would be new art to post this month! Here is the first of it!)

I am hosting a swap in my Mojo Art Group. We are making inchies and swapping 12 for 12. I've never made inchies before, but I've read about and seen them! 1" x 1" square. Now that's tiny!

For my first attempt, I took a paper that was 4" x 3" and did my doodle on that size rather than attempting 12 small ones. I cut it down today to get my inchies. I think I'll add some more to these (like probably glitter!!) but here they are.

First - this is the big doodle, before being cut down.


This is the same doodle after being cut down to 1" squares! I think each piece looks pretty cool by itself too!

I'll post the end results if/when I do some more embellishing! I have other ideas for other inchies too. We shall see if I get to them. I have an ATC swap due date approaching - theme Project Runway (a show I've never seen! But, I have ideas how to make ATCs look like outrageous fashions!)

I'm also participating in a swap called "Art Not War" - each person (9 total players) is assigned a letter from Art Not War... Then we each get a set of ATCs back spelling that out. I think this will be fantastically fun. My letter is T. I have to get started!!

And so it begins... Happy November! Post #1 of 30! :)

I have a talent that I don't utilize very often. I wish I used it more!

I LOVE flowers and making arrangements. I prefer to buy cut flowers and do it myself than to buy pre-arranged bouquets. My very favorite thing to do is to arrange the flowers for a wedding though!

I have done this three times total. It has been quite some time since the last one I did. The first was way back in 1999. It was for a college student that I was supervising at our jobs at the CSU Bookstore. She had seen bouquets I'd brought in for random occasions and asked if I could do a wedding for her! The only bouquet I didn't do for her was her own. I made the bridesmaid's flowers, the boutonnieres, the vases for decorating, and even the cake topper!

It was a bit nerve-wracking as I'd never done anything of this magnitude before. My mom helped me with transporting everything and getting things set up at the venue. I couldn't have done it alone! I even arranged the flowers on the cake. Talk about scary! Yikes!

I truly believe that Julie loved what I did! It was a gorgeous wedding and I was proud of the flowers!


The next wedding I did was my niece Jennifer's wedding. I actually don't have (or can't find) photos of her flowers right now. I'll try to get some and post them later. This second one was a little easier because I had a better feel for what needed done and when. Her colors were all pinks, and the pink roses we used were SO beautiful! De-thorning roses is a tedious process though! (I think we used somewhere in the range of 12 dozen roses!) I'm happy that Jenny trusted me enough to do this huge part of her wedding! It was also a beautiful wedding, and she and Darren are quite happy, with a little girl now!

The third wedding I did was for my boss at the time, Diane, in 2000. She was marrying for the second time after her first husband had passed away. I was again pleased that she asked me to do her flowers! We used a lot of alstromeria and pink roses. The boutonnieres were made of stephanotis - which I'd never used before. It requires threading each blossom onto a pearl ended wire! Very pretty and fragile!

The only mishap with Diane's flowers was this. She had told me I needed to make 4 bridesmaid bouquets, but in reality, we needed 5! At the last minute, in the wedding venue, I pulled together the fifth bouquet using flowers from the decorative vases. I was lucky to have enough ribbon with me to do up one very similar to the others! Pshew!

I haven't done flowers for a wedding since, but I'd love to if given the opportunity again! I truly enjoyed all three that I've done. I know that if/when Mike and I get married, I'll arrange my own flowers! I've only ever worked with real, live flowers - never silk or dried!

Don't know when I'll be back again... OK, so I do know when I'll be back! Mike and I leave tomorrow morning for a vacation!! We are heading south to North Carolina (does that even make sense!?) to the Raleigh area and surrounding places. Including the OCEAN!! WHOO-HOO!

We'll be back in a week, and I hope I'll have lots of fun trip stories and photos to share! If I owe you a swap package - it's in the mail! No, really! I got everything mailed out that was supposed to go out (I think and HOPE!) :)

I'll leave you with my newest ATCs (which have also gone postal!) for Halloween! Have a great week and I'll catch up with you when we return!

No - Really!! I haven't been creating much lately, but I did this doodle the other night. It was inspired by my Mojo yahoo group. This month's mojo theme was "Hand Jive"... I love hands, so I HAD to participate! :)

I traced my hand and then doodled it in. I did this with my tiny, fine line Staedtler pens rather than Sharpies... I wanted the detail I could get with the finer lines.

I did this while I was in a snit (really bad SNIT fit actually) about our washing machine - breaking, again, with MY clothes in it! Sheesh. All is OK for now... but man, I hate when things break! I guess doodling while I'm mad is a good thing! I finished this in about 30 minutes!

I have some fun mail to share also, but the photos didn't turn out, so I'll try again and post soon!

Yesterday was canning day! My friend Andrea and I make pickles every summer. This year we made bread and butter pickles. I documented our process! It's a fun, long, hot, productive day! I really enjoy canning even though it's a lot of work. The outcome is quite satisfying. Hearing the "ping" of sealing jars is a great sound! You can see all of my photos at my flickr, but here are a few! :)

Step one: Cut the cucumbers and onions.

Step two: Ice the cucs and onions for three hours.


Step three: cook the cucs and onions in the mix of vinegar, sugar, and spices.


Step four: Scoop the mix into jars. (very carefully!)


Step five: "bathe" the jars to create the seal on the jars.

Step six: Let them sit to cool, and admire your handiwork! :)

A little bit of art was produced this weekend... I've been feeling uninspired to make art, but I joined a swap (and it had to go postal today!) so I made up these three little ATCs! I like how they turned out!! And I had fun making them once I actually got going!

The swap theme is Sweet Things - done with Sharpies, of course!! I went with a simplistic style, lots of color! They are called:

Sweet Treats, You Scream, I Scream, and Fizziness. What better Sweet Things than a popsicle, ice cream, and soda!?

This is art from a Sharpie ATC swap that I joined some time ago. I knew what I wanted to do, but had a hard time getting moving!! The deadline to mail these cards in was July 15, so I made it just under the wire.

Each participant had to make 12 ATCs. They could all be the same or all different. I chose to make mine all the same to simplify. It was a passport theme - so some sort of travel card from any country, real or imaginary.

Mine is from Pinkyland... as my scout nickname is Scout Pinky! :) I used rubber stamps, coffee colored ink, and Sharpies for these. All 12 are the same (or very similar!) When the host receives all of our cards, she will give us each one from each player in a little passport holder and return them to us! Should be fun!

The words on mine are gaelic and mean:

Bandearg Teigh - Pink Land

Ceann Scribe - Destination

Taisted - Travel.

News flash: Tammy makes new art! No, really! I did!! :) I've been so uncreative about art lately (other than photos) and a deadline was the only thing that pushed me to do it!

I joined several Sharpie ATC swaps and the deadlines are upon me!! I mailed the first set of cards off yesterday! Before the deadline even! These were for the easiest swap - an open theme - basically whatever you want as long as it uses some Sharpie! These were fun, as always! Doodling is my favorite!




Next up, a passport themed swap (due to be mailed on the 15th! Yikes!) I have all my supplies, but haven't started the cards. I HAVE to get them done tonight!! Nothing like a little pressure to motivate me! Hopefully I'll have some more art to share soon - as in before the deadline!

We have friends coming to stay with us tonight through Sunday. Mike's friend Jeff, and his wife Sarena will be visiting from Dallas, TX. They are the friends who got married in March and we went to Texas for their wedding!

I think we'll have a fun time! Mike has taken today-Friday off from work. I was only able to take tomorrow off because of work conflicts. We'll be heading up into the mountains near our home to show them the sights! I'll take pictures and have them to share soon! I may be absent until next week though since we'll have visitors!! See you all soon!! (I'll be back later with the Getting to Know You questions for this week... I think!)