Creativity, Crafts, Books, Movies, Greyhounds & Favorite Things

.

Factory Girl is a fictionalized look at the life and times of Edie Sedgwick.  Edie was one of Andy Warhol’s superstars, a group of personalities assembled and promoted by Andy Warhol during the 1960s and 1970s.  The superstars appeared in Warhol’s art and films and accompanied him in his social life.  The title of the movie refers to The Factory which was Andy Warhol’s studio.  The Factory was also the hangout and party place for the superstars.  Factory Girl is a cautionary tale of fragile beauty, youth and a desire to be loved that goes tragically wrong.  Watching it, I was captivated by Edie’s luminous, uneffected personality and was saddened that her life was cut so short…like a beautiful moth that gets too close to a flame.

.

Inspiration:

Sparkle – Layered Ribbon Trees

 

 

Supplies:

Styrofoam cone (I used the small 6″ cone)

Wired ribbon (approximately 6 feet)

Scissors

Straight pins

Glue

 

1.  Take the end of the ribbon and fold it at an angle to the edge.  Repeat with the other side to form the point of the first piece.

 

2.  Cut the piece off from the ribbon spool.

 

3.  Pin the piece to the bottom of the cone, leaving the point hanging over the edge.  Continue to make ribbon pieces and pin them around the bottom of the cone.  I overlapped the edges of the pieces and pinned them together, to save on pins and to have less pins to hide.

4.  To add your second (and so on) row, pin your pieces between the previous row’s pieces, hiding the pins.  Continue adding rows until you’re to the top.  Here’s where everything started to go wrong.

5.  I did not measure my ribbon, so I saw that I was going to run out.  I got some gold ribbon and added a few gold pieces. 

6.  I still didn’t have enough for the top, so I cut out a felt circle and sewed ribbon loops to it to make a topper.

7.  Glue the topper on the cone and arrange a few of the loops to hide the pins.  Use a little glue if needed.

8.  Isn’t this adorable! and the possibilities are endless.  Big cones, little cones, ribbon, fabric…just imagine the forest you can create.

 

Yesterday was the last day of the Art Every Day Month challenge.  Thank you, Leah of Creative Every Day, for hosting this challenge.  Here’s what I learned:

You have to make some really ugly things, to make some pretty things…and sometimes your ugly things are pretty things to other people.  Don’t spend time analyzing and judging, spend time creating.

There are oodles of kind, generous, supportive fellow artists who wish you the best.  Let that spirit lift you.

Thinking about things, planning things, hoping for things, dreaming about things, doesn’t get it done.  Doing things gets it done.

It’s very important for me to work like this…in “challenge” mode, otherwise, all I’ll do is “think” about it.

More than anything I created during the month of November, this challenge gave me a glimpse of how I need to work in order to move forward with my art.  I’ll be applying these principles in 2012.

Here is a recap of all my AEDM projects:

 

Thank you to everyone who offered up a kind word and followed along.

Annette Crosbie & Bonnie

Annette Crosbie is a greyhound owner and a passionate voice for the welfare of racing Greyhounds.  You may recognize this Scottish actress if you love British sitcoms (she played the wife of Victor Meldrew in One Foot in the Grave) or from the movie, Calendar Girls.

Annette with Starkey, Hinny, Bonnie & Jedda

Art Every Day Month – Day 30

Felt Christmas Tree

.

During the month of November, I’ve asked some of my favorite folks and their furry “kids” to share their “4 Faves.”  One of my new “favorite” blogs is Living With 6 Hamsters (And 2 Dogs), written by Tooki.  Tooki and her “kids” live in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia on the island of Borneo.  If your geography is a little sketchy, check out this post.  Tooki is a creative blogger who writes about her adventures with Coco (a Miniature Schnauzer) and Wawa (a stray), and about her life in Malaysia.  Not only is she a good writer, she has  a great sense of humor.  When I visit Tooki’s blog, I learn something or laugh outloud…usually both.  Here are Tooki’s favorites along with Coco and Wawa’s favorites:

 

Hello, I am Tooki and this is a self-portrait of…my feet.  Sorry, my face is just not photogenic enough!  That is no ordinary river, it is the famous Li River in Guilin, China and has been visited by many VVIPs.  They may even have dangled their feet over it like I did!  I live with 2 dogs and 2 hamsters and you can read all about them in my blog.

I shall start with my pets’ faves.

OOU – Orange “Orang Utan”

This orange “orang utan” is Coco’s favourite toy.  She only knows it as “sotong” or octopus because her first toy was a pink octopus.  I was too lazy to teach her a new word and she told me that she prefers to call it sotong anyway.

Bottomless Bed & Rug

Wawa’s fave is his bottomless bed and rug.  He only gets to use the rug at bed time.  He’s happiest when I bring it into the bedroom and will usually follow behind carrying his precious bed in his mouth.  I used to put the bed on the rug for him but he now knows how to do it himself.  Well, sometimes he gets it the other way round.

JerHigh Cookie Cheese

This is Coco and Wawa’s fave JerHigh Cookie Cheese.  Both dogs prefer this to all other tidbits.  Made in Thailand so we worry that there’ll be a shortage due to the serious flooding there.

Leash

Both Coco and Wawa’s fave is their leash.  It means that they can go for a WALK!

And now, Tooki’s 4 faves…

Camera – Canon EOS 1100D

I love taking photos so this camera is my favourite baby number one (besides my dogs and hamsters).  I use it mainly for my hobby at 365 Project.  Dew drop by to have a peek.

Foot Reflexology Stick

My foot reflexology stick is my next fave.  The best way to end a long, tiring day is to watch a good movie in bed while tweaking the soles of my feet with my comfort stick.  I usually fall asleep before I reach the other foot.

Multimedia

My next fave is the multimedia in front of my bed consisting of a tv, a hard disk (filled with all sorts of dramas and movies, thanks to my nephew) and that little white box which converts and transmits all that’s in the hard disk to the tv.  Very convenient and space saving.  I don’t have to get up and change discs anymore.

Spin Mop

My spin mop will be my last fave.  My house will be an unholy mess without it and I think I will probably be in the hospital for sprained wrists if I use the conventional mop.  Due to my 2 dogs, I have done more mopping in 1 year 7 months than in my entire life (and I have lived for rather a long time).

Thank you, Tooki, Coco and Wawa.  I enjoyed learning about all your favorites.  I must say that the “bottomless bed” has brought me much enjoyment.  Here’s one post (of many) in which the bottomless bed makes an appearance.

Art Every Day Month – Day 29

 

Flannel Scraps Christmas Tree

.

Creative Time and Space by Ricë Freeman-Zachary is the book I’m currently working my way through.  This week, I’m writing about the chapter, “Mental Space: What Goes on Up There in Your Head.”  In the book, this chapter comes before the chapter I wrote about last week.  I think the fact that I have them in reverse tells you a little about my “mental space.”  

The first half of Creative Time and Space deals with how we view and manage our time.  The second half deals with space, both inside and outside.  This chapter challenges us to look inside ourselves and do an assessment on how much space we allow for creativity inside our heads and hearts.  If you don’t allow space for creativity inside, you’ll never make time for creativity outside.

This chapter links well with Chapter 1, “Exploring Time: What Exactly Does ‘Time’ Mean to You?”   That chapter encouraged us to infuse everything we do with creativity and see what great ideas can form and grow if we live creatively…always looking, open to our creative spirit.

The idea of living my creativity and making the space for it inside my head is a relatively new practice for me.  For myself, I find it helpful to add a bit of structure to that formula.  For instance, I follow a schedule of different daily topics for my blog.  That “schedule” offers me a lot of freedom, but also helps me look for specific ideas that fit within that loose structure.  I’ve also been participating in the Art Every Day Month challenge and that has helped me see that “structure” helps me in creating my art too.  Each week, I’ve focused on one type of project…fabric flowers, yarn vases, canvases, paper and this week, Christmas trees.  Not every artist needs this specific of a focus, but I find that if I don’t have it I’m willy-nilly all over the board, and I don’t get anything accomplished.  For me, this structured openess seems to work best, and that’s the practice I plan to follow in the year ahead.

Art Every Day Month – Day 28

 

 Yarn Christmas Tree

.

This year, I joined a Card Club with my two sisters, two nieces and a friend of one of my nieces.  We meet every other month and make two cards, two scrapbook pages or a combination of both.  Last Sunday, we had a cookie exchange.  In fact, it was a cookie and card exchange.  Here are the rules we followed:

1.  Bring one handmade card for each person.

2.  Bring one dozen homemade cookies for each person, plus one dozen to share.

First we exchanged cards, then cookies.

Some of the gals had “extra” gifts for each of us.

 

Here are the cards we made:

It was a great day.  My cookies were horrible, but I’m planning on doing better next year.

Art Every Day Month – Day 27

Ribbon Christmas Tree

.

The Color Purple is a deeply moving book that centers around Celie, a black woman in the early 20th-century South.  Abused by her father and then her husband, Celie’s life is bleak; but an unlikely friendship with Shug Avery, her husband’s mistress, changes how she sees herself and her life.  Told through a series of letters, Celie learns to survive, love, forgive and triumph.  Some books I love for the story, some for the characters; The Color Purple wins for both.  The power and beauty of this book makes it a gem in the crown of American Literature.

Art Every Day Month – Day 26

 

Tissue Paper Flower

One more thing:

I heard about the Wolf Hall Readalong over at Danielle’s blog, Book or Big Screen.  I was intrigued, but debated back and forth about participating because it is a 600+ page book, and I’m a very slow reader; but, I’m going to give it a try.  If you’d like to check it out yourself, you can read about it on Nicole’s blog, Linus’s Blanket or Natalie’s blog, Coffee and a Book Chick.  I’ll post my “status” the next 3 Saturdays (December 3, 10 and 17).

.

Rob Roy is loosely based on the life of the Scottish Highland folk hero, Rob Roy Macgregor.  Set in Scotland in 1713, clan leader Rob Roy Macgregor is forced to borrow money from the Marquis of Montrose to help his clan survive a harsh winter. When a young acquaintance of the Marquis’ plots to steal Macgregor’s repayment and is successful, Macgregor must fight for his honor.  This is a personal tale of an honorable man who must take a stand for what is right at the risk of losing everything.  If you love beautiful Scotland, well-crafted characters. good against evil, honor against treachery and a great sword fight, you’ll enjoy Rob Roy.

Art Every Day Month – Day 25

 

 Scrapbook Paper Flower

Made using this tutorial from Whimsical World of Laura Bird

.

Inspiration:

Martha Stewart – Rickrack Cards 

 

Supplies:

Red and white rick rack (I used Jumbo size)

Scissors

Card

Decorative paper for background

Adhesive

1.  Cut two 10″ lengths of rick rack; one from each color.  Twist the two strands together.

2.  Iron the twisted strands to make them lie flatter.  I used a pressing cloth and a few bursts of steam.

3.  Form the candy cane and trim the twisted strand to fit the card.  Glue the ends of the two strands of rick rack together on both ends.

4.  When dry, trim both ends so they look finished.

5.  Glue the decorative paper on to the card.

 

 6.  Glue the rick rack shape on to the card.  You can create a variety of shapes and designs with rick rack.  Check out my AEDM picture below for more ideas.

Art Every Day Month – Day 24

 

Rick Rack Christmas Cards

.

Greyhounds are a noble breed, the companions to royality.  Perhaps that fact is best captured in the story of Richard II.

Richard II was the last of the Plantagenet kings.  Born in 1367, he was ten years old when he succeeded his grandfather, Edward III, to the throne.  Richard’s authoritarian approach during a time of economic hardship following the Black Death and his generosity and dependence on his favorites provoked resentment.  In 1388, Richard’s power was revoked and the kingdom was placed under the regency of the Lords Appellant.  Parliament then sentenced many of the king’s favorites to death and forced Richard to renew his coronation oath. 

Richard gradually re-established his royal authority and took his revenge in 1397 by arresting or banishing many of his opponents, including his cousin, Henry, Earl of Derby.  Upon the death of Henry’s father, John of Gaunt (a younger son of Edward III), Richard confiscated the vast properties of John’s Duchy of Lancaster and divided them among his supporters.  The house of Lancaster possessed more wealth than any other family in England and they were of royal descent; therefore, they were rivals and likely candidates to succeed the childless Richard.

In 1399, while Richard was in Ireland to quell warring chieftains, Henry returned to England to claim his father’s inheritance.  Henry captured and deposed Richard and was crowned King Henry IV.

Jean Froissart wrote about the conditions that created the Hundred Years’ War and many of the events that took place between 1322 and 1400.  Froissart wrote his Chronicles in four volumes.  Volume IV tells of the deposition of Richard II and the accession of Henry IV:

“According to the information which I received, king Richard had a greyhound called Mathe, who was in the constant practice of attending the king, and he would not follow any other person; for whenever the king did ride, the person who had the charge of keeping the said greyhound would always let him loose, and he would run directly to the king, and leap with his forefeet upon his majesty’s shoulders.  And as the king and the earl of Derby were engaged in conversing with each other in the court, the greyhound, which was usually accustomed to leap upon the king, left his majesty, and went to the earl of Derby, duke of Lancaster, and behaved towards him with the same familiarity and attachment as he was usually in the habit of shewing towards the king.  The duke, who did not know the greyhound, demanded of the king what the animal might mean by so doing?  Cousin, quoth the king, that is a sign portending great prosperity to you, and a token of adversity to me.  Sir, how do you know that? quoth the duke.  I know it for a certainty, replied the king.  The greyhound maketh you cheer this day as king of England, to which dignity you will be raised; and I shall be deposed.  The greyhound possesses this knowledge naturally; therefore take him to you; he will follow you and forsake me.  The duke of Lancaster fully understood those words, and cherished the animal, which would never afterwards follow king Richard, but followed the duke of Lancaster.”

The date and manner of Richard’s death is still in question, but he is thought to have starved to death in February 1400 while imprisoned.  Richard II’s is the first death in what would become known as The Wars of the Roses, a series of civil wars fought between the houses of Lancaster (represented by the red rose) and York (represented by the white rose).

Art Every Day Month – Day 23

Envelopes Made From Book Pages