Cynthia Shaffer

Free Motion Stitched Girls : : Greeting cards : : Tutorial

It's always a thrill to be asked by Stampington & Company to submit art projects ... in fact I'm working on a batch for some upcoming article as I type! 

Here's the funny thing about the Guest artist post I did for Stampington Place. I was poking around the internet one morning and I came across Stampington & Company's blog! I didn't even know that they had a blog! So I was looking and ckickin here and there and thought, WOW this is really a fun blog that I need to check often. 

I got up and went outside to water the plants ... you, know, it was Tuesday morning and that's one of the two days that us Californian folks are allowed to water the plants and lawn! 

I came back inside, check my emails and sure enough there was an email from a Sarah that works at Stampington. So I opened up the email and it was from Sarah, Stampinton's Blog editor and she was asking me if I'd like to be a featured guest artist on the Stampington Place Blog! SERIOUSLY, I kid you not ... that's how it all started! 

Hope you'll hop on over to the Stampinton Place Blog and check out the entire post. You'll soon learn that these free motion stitched girls were inspired by an online class I was taking through Jeanne Oliver, by Danielle Donaldson. Thanks friends for allowing me to post and share these girls! 

She's a little awkward ... She's my favorite free motion stitched girl! 

 

 

Stitch, Sketch, Doodling with my Sewing Machine

Just playing around here.

Moving kind of fast and not thinking, just creating.

Being inspired by old botanical prints.

And finding the back side of some of these pieces to be even more interesting than the front.

Happy Stitching, Sketching and Doodling with your sewing machine!

Free Motion Stitching : : Sketching : : Doodling : : Painting

It was weekend of work, work and even more work ... and I couldn't stop the ideas from flowing.

In fact I got up early Saturday morning and then went to bed late that night with my mind still spinning over new ideas to stitch/sketch/doodle/paint on fabric and paper.

I couldn't stop thinking about all the possibilities for this type of organic, free motion stitching, doodling, sketching, painting ... or whatever you want to call it.

Here's what I did:

I first adhered a panel of muslin to a panel of white batting, using spray adhesive. Next I cut out a few circles in a variety of colors and glued them down using a fabric glue stick. And then the fun began ... I free motion stitched around the circles creating flowers and just random shapes. 

Next I painted the panel using these acrylic paints. I added color to the insides of the petals and to the outer edges of some flowers. At some point I even went in and added some white paint just to pop a few areas.

And then ... of course ... a little embroidery with white perl cotton adds the little perfect details that I love so much.

So fun don't you think? More samples to come ... Lord knows I made a ton!

 

On Art Journaling and Doodling

It's a funny thing ... I have never thought much about art journaling, except to think that that's just not for me. I'm not an art journaler type. And then again, maybe I am, but not in the way most people think of art journaling ... Who knew?

I have a few books, old book, that I carry around with me and when my mind needs a rest from life, baseball, photography, I'll whip that book out and just start doodling.

I've found out that before I can paint, like on a canvas, I have to get paint on some sort of surface, just to get the juices flowing again and to be reminded of the feel of the paint ... and ... to quiet my mind.

So what do I paint on, you might ask. Well sometimes it is a panel of wood, canvas or, as of late ... the doodles in my books. 

Without thinking too much and often late at night, like tonight, the paint comes out and happens to land on these doodles. 

And of course being the stitcher type that I am ... next thing you know ... I'm hand sewing on the pages with big running stitches and French knots. Oh how I love to hand sew!

I'm not sure if these pages are "done" ...

 I'm not worried about finishing anything right now, just happy to have my doodles and these old books to embellish, paint and sew!

 

CAN'T . STOP . PAINTING . . . ! ! !

I have lots of work to do and all I can think about is ... when can I paint again!

While most of these paintings are not complete, I am so loving the process, a process/style that has sort of naturally morphed after taking Flora Bowley's class and Jennifer Mercede's class.

Truth be told ... I'm a little bit afraid of forgetting the process that I have discovered here and so, I just keep on painting, when I've got a extra minute that is.

During Jennifer's class ... we were told to use our non-dominate hand to draw and doodle with. This technique has changed my paintings!

Jennifer also encourage us to try Blind Contour Drawing, something I had done years ago in my college art classes, but had simply forgotten about!

This little elephant was actually a blind contour drawing done by Christy Nimeh's daughter Maddy! So adorable! Thanks, Maddy!

As you can see I am out of my mind crazy these days, in love with painting! More to come ... for sure!

 

Jennifer Mercede : : Amazing Class!

Can I just tell you something? Jennifer Mercede's class this weekend was amazing. This was her first class she has ever taught and let me tell you ... it was amazing, and she was an amazing teacher!

This is the one painting I did finish ... and I love it! It's actually really big, like 30 x 30 inches. I loved all the doodling and and all the layers and then more layers ... then more doodling ... then we covered it all up and started again.

On Saturday, the morning started out with a few fun warm-up type games ... so fun!

then Jennifer talks with all a little about how the weekend was going flow ... and what we were to expect ... and she was constantly asking us if the pace was ok, or if she could help in anyway ... so sweet!

And in no time were all blind folded and had to doodle all over our big canvases! So fun.

I thought I had covered my entire canvas ... or that the pen was not working at all ... 

Next we were to pick just one color and slather it all over the canvas ... not paying any attention to what was being covered up.

Then came the doodling and mark making ... and random words, what ever words were popping into our head were to be written down.

Next ... more doodling and random painting dripping and splattered.

And most of this painting so far has been done with these random house paints that I picked up a Home Depot for little to no money!

I was really having fun with the doodling ... these marks were all made with my left hand!

And just about the time I was kind of liking my painting ... we had to cover up 90% of it with random paint! I cringed at first, but then fell in love with it again.

Of course there would be a final challenge ... we had just one hour to finish our paintings ... needless to say ... I was sweating at this point ... but I did it ... I even had a chance to get some advice from Jennifer on a few things that were not feeling right.  Finished with a few monents to spare and  I loved my painting all over again!

This is one other piece I started to work on ... but ran out of time ... not sure where it's headed!

And this piece is still in the works ... hmmmm ... What to do next? Maybe more doodling ... always a good thing to do when you're stuck! I need to remember that!

 

Tag Explorations

 

Crescendoh is featuring my tags this week ...

You can find the entire tutorial here in the Gallery section!

Enjoy and Happy Crafting!

Japanese Candy Wrapper Collage : Tutorial

My Husband just called to inform that he will be traveling in the upcoming months ... It's Japan again ... my favorite place!

He travels there often and always returns home with some very interesting candy for my kids. We never know what it will be and I have to tell you, I have only actually tried a few of the 'sweets' he has brought back.

Why you might ask ... well here's why ... I learned early on in his traveling days that a lot of the Japanese candies are made from bean paste ... and I love beans, but here's where I have an issue ... I can not wrap my brain around the idea that beans are a sweet treat. To me the are salty, savory and are often slathered with onions and cilantro. So ... do you understand my problem?

Here's a funny story ... so my mother had a Japanese foreign exchange student named Yoshiko come to live her for a year. We introduced her to all of our favorite foods, including refried beans ... she tried them and nearly spit them out on her plate ... she could not wrap her brain around the idea that they were not sweet! 

Japanese Candy Collage and Doodles

The wrapping and presentation is a feast for my eyes ... I love all the color and love the attention to details.

Japanese Candy Wrapper Collage:

 Unwrap and flatten colorful candy wrappers ... feed the candy to your children!

Cut out random shapes and swirls from the wrappers.

Using a glue stick, randomly adhere the pieces to a panel of watercolor paper.

Free motion stitch the wrappers in place and then onto the card in swirls and loop patterns.

Add some color with watercolor pencils and doodle shapes with a black marker.

Here's to Japanese candy, happy and safe travels for my husband and crafting and doodling!

Doodling Days

Let's just say that I a little bit of time over the holidays to play around with doodling ... I call them doodling day!

While visiting my in-laws in Michigan, I sat for a few days with pens and journal and doodled away.

Some pages were collaboratives with my sister-in-law Brenda ...

And some were just simple faces ...

And simple wispy flowers ...

And at one point a series of bumble bee looking things started showing up in my journal. That's the fun part of doodling, or at least doodling without a plan ... just start and see where it leads you!

Doodling Days = Happy Days!

Inkodye : : Apron, Ink, Doodle

Ok so, I have been crafting for lots of years, and tried lots of different products that do lots of different things, but when it comes to something quick, simple and super fun ... Inkodye is it.

So i was moving fast here,not wanting to spend too much time on an apron that is going to get used while I'm painting ... in other words ... there will be paint everywhere on this apron in no time.

First off, I just painted the apron with a red and orange, blending the colors a little. The ink goes on sort of clear, so blending can be a little difficult. Next I place this stencil on top of the apron, the placed it in the window sill for just a few minutes.

You see, the ink is light sensitive, so when it's exposed to sunlight the color develops right before your eyes.

And here it is after I rinse, washed and dried it .. so fun!

Next I tried it on a file folder with this alphabet stencil ...

So fun ... to be used in a future project.

While I was on an apron kick, I decided to use masking tape to mask off strips ... The colors are sooo rich and yummy.

And here it is after I rinsed it and peeled off the tape. I love the way the tape worked ... possibilities ... endless!

Oh, No, I couldn't leave well enough alone ... no, no ... out came the black permanent marker for a little doodling.

Then I white permanent marker , just to pop some of the doodles.

I love the quick transformation of these very simple aprons. Possibilities ... unlimited.

What a great thing to do at a kids party ... they would think it's all so magical!

 

B ... Is For Berklee and Boston!

Doodling and thinking about my pup Berklee. You see Berklee is our pound pup, scooped up at our local animal shelter, and let me tell you, she is one in a million!

I look at this photo I took of her and I can not imagine that she was left at the shelter and her owners did not come to get her. Really? 

Ok, so she is little bit ugly, but trust me, her personality and loving sweet sweet soul melts your heart the first time she tries to slurp on you.

We named her Berklee for a few reasons. 

• She can sing and howl like no other Boston Terrier and after all there is the Berklee College of Music in Boston MA.
• My friend Darcy saw a photo of her when we first brought her home and she noticed that she had great legs. I told my husband about Darcy's comment and he blurted out Busby Berkeley ... famous musical choreographer and movie director in the 1940's.
• And last but not least, my father graduated from the University of California, Berkeley and he would have loved her, I just know it!

Berklee is scrapper and a survivor ... we often find her sleeping on a pile of dirty laundry, or outside on the hard plastic bbq cover laying on the concrete under the patio cover. Really? Wouldn't the couch that's right there under the patio cover be a bit more comfortable? 

Oh well ... Where ever she wants to sleep during the day is fine as long as at night she is snug under the covers with me!

Doodles, Doodles and Even More Doodles

As I continue to play with doodling, I get the biggest urge to add color. While this piece remained  just black and white for some time, I could not resist adding just a bit of color with my watercolors. Ok, a lot of color, but that's just how I roll.

This is one of my favorite pieces to date. Notice that some color did sneak in there. 

I was on a sort of botanical adventure when I sat down and doodled this piece. I'm not sure if it's finished and I guess that's the fun part of doodling ... you can just keep adding more swirls and dots until you think it's done, or not!

Still more botanical doodles...

And a sweet little doodled tag for my sweet friend Becky ... Thanks Becky!

 

Doodle Exploration : : Black on White

There's  truly nothing better than diving into a new journal and some new juicy black markers. 

Just some doodle warm-ups I call them ... not thinking too much, just putting the pen to the paper and sitting back and watching what comes out of me.

The crazy thing is that it is never the same. Tonight it seemed to be all about the swirls and dots.

I started on this end and worked my way across the paper, reminding myself to leave the oh-so important negative space. I'm a 'more is more' type of girl and so I do have to consciously make a decision to stop.

Another strange thing that happens to me when I'm doodling ... I count 1 ... 2 ... 3 ... 4 ...

More to come as I continue to play and explore with doodle warm-ups!

Doodle and Shrink : : Ring Tutorial

I woke up this morning and all I could think about was playing in my studio. Lately, for the past few weeks, I've been photographing a whole bunch of super cute shrink jewelry for a new book (SHRINK, Shrank, shrunk) due out at the end of 2012. Who knew it could do all the things that it can do? I've been so inspired that I decide to try my hand at it.

 Doodled and stamped shrink plastic rings!

So much fun and soooo easy ...

I felt like I needed to put the pencil in there so you could see that these truly are rings.

So I just might need to leave that darn laundry and those dishes for another day ... I can't stop!

Here's What I Did:

• Cut a stripe of shrink plastic that measures 1 x 5 1/4 inches, then sand both sides with a fine grade sandpaper. 
• Next, just start doodling or rubber stamp images on the plastic. Make sure to use an ultra fine Sharpie and Staz-on permanent ink.

• Using pastels or chalk, add a bit of color with Q-tips or pom poms. Remember that a little chalk goes a long way.

• Following the directions on the shrink plastic package, pop the stripe in the toaster oven and watch it curl up, shrink, then flatten.

• As soon as it's flat, take it out of the oven and really quick like wrap it around a circular object ... the size of the ring you want.

And that's all there is to it. So cute don't you think? Sky is the limit yet again ... oh to have all the time in the world to just play and create.

My mind is swirling with ideas and possibilities!