How was your weekend?
It was supposed to be absolutely miserable down here but the weather was gorgeous after Friday night’s showers. As a friend called it on Facebook: there’s nothing so blue as a rain-scrubbed sky. Really, it was amazing.
Of course, I spent the vast majority of it at my computer, staring at InDesign. Why? Because I’ve signed on as the Art Director for Millin’Air Magazine as of the spring issue (which will be released later this week). And while I can’t show you the full magazine (yet!) I can at least let you see the cover!
The cover was finished a couple weeks back, it was the other 53 pages I was finishing up this weekend! Complementary subscriptions available at www.katherinecarey.com
And that reminds me… I’ve been remiss in sharing some of the projects I’ve been doing for the teams I’m on. Let’s do a full quarter-1 recap, shall we? (Links are under each project if you want to see the play-by-play.)
Helmar Creative Team
March wrapped up my 3rd (6-month) term with Helmar and I’m happy to be staying on for the next 6 months, as well.
Backing up to the beginning of the year, though, I started with a mixed media tag:
Something about book pages at the beginning of the year.
And followed that up with some decoupaged tile coasters.
And maps. No clue why I was hung up on maps.
Where You Are, Where You’ve Been
In February I pulled out one my adorable (if I do say so myself) digital stamps for a Valentine’s card. Valentine’s was the earliest we said we might get a dog, and I was hoping real hard!
Not that stuffed pup, but another one I gave Todd on our first Valentine’s together says “I wuf you” and blushes when you squeeze it.
Of course, with the bathroom renovations still in full swing, I think we’d have been the ones in the doghouse had we gotten a pup in the middle of all that!
It’d been so long since I’d had time for any doll-related projects, I was afraid they were going to stage a tiny, plastic mutiny. That, and the slow pace of the real-life renovation, had me jonesing for some instant gratification, miniature-style.
My Cricut made this miniature project even easier!
Tiny (Cardboard) Taxidermy with Helmar Zap Dots
In March I returned to a favorite theme of mine: the phases of the moon. Now, you might recognize the images from an old Gauche Alchemy project. I photographed them and printed out the sizes I needed for my cross between a sun-catcher and a dream-catcher.
I still love these moon phase paintings.
And just before Easter I tried my hand at the classic “Exploding Box” card.
I’ve been holding onto those carrot-colored Easter eggs for *years* wondering what I was going to make with them!
Now, that technically wraps up the first three months, but I have one more Helmar project to show you.
I mentioned on Friday that I’d participated in an April Fool’s post over there, despite my dislike of the “holiday” and, well, I don’t think I’ll be doing that again. Not only did it backfire, but it did so in an entirely unpredicted way.
I mean, not in the way that Cake Wrecks did (where they apparently lost readers over the faux-sponsored post), but still. It did not go over well.
Here’s the project:
It’s tougher than you’d think coming up with adhesive alternatives…
If you read that post and project, you might pick up on the fact that there’s something missing from the project. Namely any Helmar adhesives. See, I thought that a project for a glue company that used absolutely no glue was appropriately inappropriate. Drop a few broad hints about a change in direction and, well, it sounded good in theory. There were some crossed wires between Georgia and Australia, however, and a lot of conversation at 6am (my time) on the 1st, before we got them untangled.
All’s well that ends well, and all that, but I think it’s safe to say I won’t be doing another prank post in the future.
Imagine Crafts
So far I’ve really been enjoying my time with the Imagine Crafts Artist In Residence team. There are just so many fabulous products to work with (and more coming, from what I hear) as well as some neat collaborations/team swaps coming up that I’m really looking forward to!
I started the year with a planner dashboard project that I’m pretty sure I’ve already shared on the blog, but let’s post it again just for completion’s sake.
Still loving my word for the year!
The interesting thing about the AIRs team (at least in the beginning) is that we submit multiple projects but not all of them go up on the blog, as was the case with the other two projects that I submitted for January.
February fared much better and all three of my projects made it onto the blog. There were some technical issues, though, so these links go to pdf files instead of web pages.
My first project incorporated one of my new favorite tools, the gelli plate. I’d ordered them for The Crafty Branch and they are just so fun to play with. Usually you use paint, but I wanted to try them out with inks and I think I like that even better! This print was for the Anything But Red Valentine’s theme.
The versatility of the gelli plate is an awesome thing!
Love in Bloom Embellished Monoprint (pdf)
This decorated onesie (for the White T-Shirt theme) might be one of my favorite IC projects so far–I love the way the flowers turned out!
Had to sneak a monkey in there somewhere!
And then, inspired by Leap Day, I created a canvas using their Tear It! Tape and embossing powders for accents.
That background is all ink pads and Creative Medium and reminds me of a sunset or sunrise.
Seize the Day Mixed Media Canvas (pdf)
In March we switched to two projects a month, and I started to feel like I was getting into the groove of creating for Imagine Crafts.
For Easter I tried out an old technique favorite of mine with some new players. Using white embossing powder as a resist for watercolors is the way I’m used to doing it, but I got to play with their Ink Potion No.9 and it gave me a similar effect using ink pads, instead!
The embossed resist is a great technique in general, but perfect for Easter!
And if you noticed that there was no mention of invitations on Todd’s Luau post, it’s because I was waiting for IC to share how I’d embellished them with their Radiant Neon Amplify! products.
I designed the invitations to look like the classic Hawaii Five-0 dvd covers. (And, yes, I drew the image of Todd.)
That’s not bad for three months!
On top of that, I managed two art journal spreads…
I saw the background technique on a YouTube video and had to give it a try.
And this one is actually a mini journal in one of the books made from the Bound & Determined kit.
And some mixed media canvases for The Crafty Branch giveaway winners:
This one went to the grand prize winner.
And this one went to one of the runners up.
Another runner-up prize. I really love writing with that flat brush!
Finally, how about a peek at a project I started Friday night during First Friday at Studio 209?
Work-in-Progress 16×20 canvas
This, and three more like it, will be decorating my birthday party at the end of the month. I’d brought the canvas and supplies with my to First Friday because the forecast was rain, rain, and more rain, and that usually means low crowds. So I thought it’d be nice to have something to work on and when folks did stop by my table it was a good conversation starter. I think I’m going to keep doing that!
Between the bathroom renovation, the party, and all of these projects, I think my time was pretty well spent these last three months!
So… what have you been up to? I wanna hear!
