Friday, January 29, 2010

Friday..... Artist Date!

Fridays Artist Date! I found these  vintage pictures and I thought I would love to share them and keep them for memory in my blogs journal....What vintage pictures have you found? Do you have a source for vintage images? I am always looking for vintage prints, lithographs, and etchings...any ideas?

Thursday, January 28, 2010

As Promised...a DIY



I wanted to post one last DIY for January...Remaking the humble compostion book.  I use compostion books for my sketch books. I love the size, and well they are really easy to come by.  So I try to make them pretty to sketch in, to make my oh so many lists, and to well jot down good quotes and such.  All for 1.99 a book.  So take a peek and see if you can get any ideas for your comp books...XO Marie

Winding down January....with an added DIY

As I am winding down the month of January I have reviewed my lists to do...eeeek...so much still to do.

That brings me to the question of the blog...How much posting is enough ...how much too little. I am finding after researching other blogs three to four posts seem to be ample per week, and who has the time for more... I do not know.  I was also looking at all of the categories I was trying to cover in one week, and I was just trying to take on too much, and by doing that, not able to do the proper research and writing for each one.  So I am going back to what I want out of my blog...Inspiration...in the form of artist dates..I will look for artistic inspiration and share it because as artists we all need a good store of inspiration.  Some other blogs that do an extrememly good job of that are dearada.blogspot.com, and thedesignfiles.net.  I am going to go along that road I think.  You can never have enough inspiration.  Next I will add a quote, or text that I love with a visual.  Using words and quotes in my work inspries me to collect quotes and such. I also like looking at new ways to use type. I will continue to write a creative thinking exercise as I alsways need a little boost...who doesn't, plus it is fun to exercise my brain with new ideas.  And lastly, a catch all day...whether it be a collection of photos I have taken , vintage prints, words, new work I want to share...who knows... that will be the fun of it...It is the post of question marks...whatever strikes the fancy that day...and suggestions are always welcome...Cheers and I hope the blog will be a fun exploration, a journey, a pilgrimage in creativity...xoMarie...

Wednesday, January 27, 2010

Oops Diy Wednesdays...


Been flitting and flapping too much today...just like this demented pixie...I will work on a DIY project tomorrow....But what oh WHAT TO DOOOOOO?

Tuesday, January 26, 2010

Creative Thinking TuesDays.......


Creative Thinking Tuesdays.....Lets look at Maginfication.....Can you broaden your subject?  Can you make it more global? Can you expand your options? Can you broaden  your possibilities?  Where does it lead you? Can you see the creative connections? What can be useful? What is lacking? What else can you learn from this exercise? Try to use this technique to expand on any ideas you are working on...Try it on for size....

Monday, January 25, 2010

MOnDay OoDles of DooDles


Monday oodles of DooDles....here ae some DooDles....what do yours look like?

Saturday, January 23, 2010

Special SaturDays....SAturdays will be posted randomly as I find six days a week tough...


So Special Saturdays is going to be about sustainable living...My husband John concieved,and built this house. It is made of paper crete, and rasta block.  We have a hoot system as our septic system which turns black water to potable water, and we are on total solar power.  We have rain water catchment, and wells.  We are still trying to figure out how to grow food in the desert but alsas that still aludes me.  Our stove,and refrigerator run off of propane as does our heater.  What is so cool about this sustainable experiment is that we have no inconcviences, and it is as if we are still wired but without the bills.  Yes, there is an initial outlay, but you don't have to worry about raising rates,and fuel prices so much.  If anyone wants to know more I will be glad to go into more detail.  I will try to highlight a system that we used for others who are interested every week.  So if you are thinking sustainability...It is a great way to go!!!

Friday, January 22, 2010

Artist Date FriDays....Today is vintage prints..oh how I love them!


I can't resist vintage line drawings and prints...they are so wonderful and whimsical..Thought I would share some as for some reason I am drawn...ever so drawn to them!! Enjoy Artist Date Friday...and savor the old vintage prints!XO

Thursday, January 21, 2010

Thursdays...no tech today...I haven't had enough time to expirement...








Tech ThursDays this week has turned into Inpsiring ThurDays...I just didn't have time to expiriment and learn something new in technology...I will update when I do, but when I don't...Well what to do....Inspirations.....That I figured is always a good topic...
sparrowsalvedge@blogspot.com, or click on the link on the blog,  had pictures from a book by Siebelle Court called ETC.  I found it on thebookdepository.com for $24.95 as a preorder price, but you can also get it on amazon.com for $75.00.  Anyhow...enough of my jabberish....take a look for your self!

Wednesday, January 20, 2010

DIY...Wednesdays...A Collage a Day

DIY...WedNesDays...........I have been making a collage a day in January..sort of a fun goal to get those creative juices rolling.  So every day I take a postcard size sheet of paper and allow myself mainly three elements, and I go to town.  It  is like popping a vitamin pill...Keeps my creative juices flowing so that I don't stagnate....Try it out yourself...The great thing is you can mail them as
mail art,
birthday cards,

get well cards,

and inspirational cards for just that friend that might need it, and becasue they are postcards size they are easy to make, easy to store, and you can jot a quick note...have fun and make your stash of daily collage cards today! XO

Tuesday, January 19, 2010

TuesDay...Creative Thinking Exercises....

TuesDay...Creative Thinking Exercises......Today is use it or loose it! Your intuition that is...
Todays creative thinking exercise is about using out intuition regarding evaulating ideas.   It's the old flip the coin trick...try it out..the next time you need a simple yes or no answer, flip a coin.  Heads is yes, Tails is well you guesssed it ...no. If you feel comfortable with the result.Well you guessed it agian ....run with it.  If not go with the opposite answer.  However the coin falls your intuition makes the final decision.

An interesting aside.  Charles Merrill, of Merrill Lynch, once said that when he makes decisions fast he's right 60% of the time. If he takes time and really analyzes the situation he may be 70% right.  He's also found that the extra 10% is seldom worth his time....I tend to agree....Intuition rocks...use it or loose it...so flip your coin today. Let me know what happens...

Monday, January 18, 2010

Mondays...Oodles of Doodles...





In one of my Favorite Magazines selvedge.org  I came across this most fabulous Illustrator...  Rachel Eardley...What a brilliant idea she had of using photos and adding on the photo with a pen and ink illustration.  This week I am going to try a few myself by cutting a portion of a picture out and working up the rest of the picture in pen and ink...try it out yourself..How do you add up...

Friday, January 15, 2010

FriDay...Artist Date


Some more prints I couldn't pass up sharing with you.  I found these on dearada.typepad.com, by Belinda Fox...Just look at the detail in these fabulous prints...WOW

FriDays.... Artist Date


Fridays...Artist Date.....

Today I wanted to share Enid Marx's work...WOW is all I can say... I love her Print work....Check it out for yourself....I am looking at alot of print work lately, and incorporating the printing block into my collages...I love her work because it is bold, and stands on its own...Its got legs,  honey...Its got legs...

Thursday, January 14, 2010

Its....CreaTive TechNology ThursDay

Technology Thursdays.....I know I still haven't figured out how to make my photos go the right way, so who am I to talk about technology.  Well really..I am not.  It is sort of my babble about trying to learn technology and hopefully as I go I will learn a bit more each week.  SO... we shall see. It also acts like a carrot, If I have to write about it I guess I have to try to learn it. SO.... its a bit of learning, and a bit of sharing....

Today I want to Introduce Blogging for Bliss, a great book that was both visually stimulating to me, and it helped me learn a bit more about setting up my blog. It sure helped me to redecorate after trying out so many styles. It also helped me to figure out that I could write text, add photos, and otherwise decorate my blog. There is still an awful lot in the book I need to try out...but Hey it's a start!

Wednesday, January 13, 2010

WednesDay....DiY

Today we are going to talk about Alternatives....AN Alternative Life!  Come on dreams of 2010....What dreams, Hopes and wishes do you have for the New Year...Every Year around my Birthday I make a book of Dreams...I use a standard issue composition book you know the black and white kind...Then the magic starts....I write a list of all of the dreams, hopes and wishes I have for the year. I type it out and glue it down to the inside cover. It is like my table of contents...Then I collage a picture of each and every wish, goal, desired item or outcome,  and each hope for the New Year.  Each wish has a page all to itself.  I look through this book every morning and make my to do list based on what comes to mind as I review these visual desires....And you know what FIVE  have already manifested...so give it a try yourself...I DARE YOU!

What you need:
Standard comp book
pva glue
magazines, and photos
words, sayings
your hopes and dreams...

Your imagination............

Tuesday, January 12, 2010

TuesDay...Creative Thinking.....Exercises



Today is about Alternatives...In reading DeBono's Creative Thinking books he goes on from PMI to alternatives...So you have the plus column, the minus column, and the interesting column.  Now you add in alternatives...What could be an alternative reality to this situation, an alternative product, an alternative...SO as we delve into creative problem solving, ideas, and projects it is always good to use these four creative thinking tools... Plus, Minus, Interesting and Alternatives...We will look at this more tomorrow with our DIY project...