The Hippie Moose: Creativity

I recently rediscovered charcoal. I love working with it. I had forgotten.

If you've never used it I highly recommend trying it. It's available at any art supply store and it's so easy to use. I love the ability you have to shade and really get your fingers dirty. I was introduced to the idea of adding white pain at the end to add highlights and I think it's brilliant, not to mention another opportunity to finger paint as an adult!

Below is a youtube video on the basics of getting started with charcoal.

!

June 16, 2014 No comments

I'm pretty sure what you think I'm talking about... is NOT what I'm talking about.

My mending pile was HUGE. Meaning all the articles of clothing that had rips, holes, wear, blow-outs. So today I spent the day fixing everything. It took most of the day but I'm done. And I feel awesome. I can't explain it, but there is this huge weight lifted!

Here are just SOME of the jeans I fixed today:

Here are my thoughts on the matter... whether you care to hear them or not. I think the reason that mending is such a pain in the rump-roast is that there is no creativity to it. It's just taking old crap and giving it a little extra time before it hits the rag pile.

BUT getting that pile out of the way clears the way for creativity... doing something new. Making something cool, something that didn't exist before. SO. I'm excited because I can see the bottom of my mending basket. There are a few items left that need some specialized attention, but for the most part I'm moving into a more creative sewing time. At least until someone blows out their knee or their crotch again. "sigh"

April 28, 2013 No comments

I’m out to deliver some yoga bags I just completed. Here are a few images. It’s amazing what you can do with recycled jeans!

These are made with jean legs. You have to open one of the seams to apply the fabric designs and then stitch it back up again. (All of my appliques are made from quilting scraps and leftovers from other projects.) Add a round bottom, a strap and fold over the top and make a channel for a string to tie the whole thing closed! Happy downward facing dog!

April 02, 2011 1 comments

February/March was a really busy time for cake making! Here is a rundown on some of the more recent stuff…

A Jungle Theme baby shower… It was actually for my friend Mary in Penetang. ON, she picked it up on her way home from Ottawa and froze it until the shower. She's going to be a grandma! Here are the elements, picture it stacked all together.

My friend Sara ordered a Pirate birthday party cake for her son Kailin. I’m pretty happy with how the chest came out, and the gummy spiders were a bonus last min. find at the Bulk Barn!

March 15, 2011 No comments

I love doing baby shower cakes. They are always fun to do!

Baby shower cake ~ boy

After the baby shower came my youngest sons birthday. He wanted a Star Wars cake. Again. I had a million other ideas for cakes but... no.... he wanted star wars.... again. So here is, hopefully, my last Star Wars cake.

R2D2 Cake

February 22, 2011 No comments

Every winter I get a bit antsy to do some truck painting. My loving husband took this into account at Christmas and that’s why I am the proud owner of this VW Bus….

Ok, so I can’t drive it anywhere, and it's not as cool as Rachel's … but I can paint it over and over and over and over …. you get the picture!

February 07, 2011 1 comments

Some of you might remember this picture from 2010. It was my gift to my husband last Christmas.

I’m pleased to announce that with only a week to spare his gift was finally finished for this past Christmas!

I’m not going to lie to you. Crocheting something this size and then felting it is a daunting project. Before it was felted it pretty much covered our bed. The best/worst compliment I got was from my youngest son who took one look at it and said: “I want one too!” Oye. Maybe for his 18th birthday.

January 20, 2011 9 comments

I have a new favourite quilt pattern. It’s called the Twisted Log Cabin and I just love how it comes together and how it looks when it’s done. I have completed two throw quilts (16 blocks done 4x4), both with very different fabric choices. I love them both, just for different reasons. One is dark browns with red. It’s done in the classic log cabin where one side of the block is darks and the other lights. Both quilts had yellow stars separating the blocks. The second quilt is done “scrappy” with no rhyme or reason to colour choices or sides and is a lot lighter in colour.

I think my next project will be a table runner using these blocks.
Do you have a favourite quilt pattern? I would love to hear what it is…

October 27, 2010 3 comments

My son just celebrated a birthday and when asked what kind of cake he wanted he didn’t come up with an answer until the night before the big event. His answer was that he wanted a Star Wars cake…. no other details were given.
I decided to make a light-sabre. The reason I’m sharing this with you is that is was so easy it was scary, it looked pretty cool, and you can adapt the idea. Here’s a picture:

I simply made a 9x14 sized cake, cut it into long strips, pieced it together on a big tray and iced it. What made the kids love it is the addition of glow sticks along the sides. I already have an order for another one in November. (I’m not sure why it looks so crooked in the picture?!?!)
If a light-sabre is not something your birthday person would be into, you could transfer the same idea to a princess wand, fairy wand, change the shape of the cake and you could do a lava lamp, a glowing retro diner clock, any neon sign you want to reproduce in sugar….. you get the idea!
Any other suggestions I’ve missed?

October 13, 2010 No comments

My kids are not the most gentle creatures when entering and exiting a vehicle. So it came as no surprise to find my thin cotton seat covers ripped to shreds. It was just a matter of time. So when I started looking around for replacements I knew I had to go much more heavy duty. Do you know how much those things cost to buy?? I mean REALLY. So I was going over some old posts here on the ol’ blog and fond memories stirred when reading THIS ONE. So I put the same idea to use and came up with these ……..

Overall I would rate these as a pretty easy project. I had to run out a few times to make sure they fit and pin them for adjustments. My old seat covers only covered the back and not the butt, so these go that extra mile by adding a flap of material to cover the seat as well. The great thing about using jean is I just cut around objects like the seat belt hardware and didn’t bother to finish the seams. I didn’t attach the two seat covers together but I might do this at a later date to make sure they don’t shift around. I did a bit of a his & hers theme by appliquéing some elements on each one. I got some flowers, hearts and patches. HE got a big sun, waves, and a barefoot print.

September 25, 2010 No comments

Well, my 12 year old Kevlar canoe... my pride and joy, needed a face lift. The UV had done a number on the finish and it was badly scratched. So, I did what I always do. I painted it.

If you've never painted something large... you need to try it. Even if it's just a huge piece of plywood you find at the back of the garage. There is something about doing art on a BIG scale that just makes you stand back and say wow. I can't say it enough... art is not about doing something that fits into a certain box. It's ALL about putting yourself out there, through paint, pottery, beads, yarn, words, crayons, etc. It's about having fun and expressing your soul.

Eagle

Whale fin

August 17, 2010 5 comments

I think there are two types of people... those who thrive on change... and those who resist. I fall into the "thrive" catagory!

As such...we just updated our art truck photos so please have a look!

June 08, 2010 5 comments

In honour of my 100th post I thought I would ramble about my weekend. My husband has been away for three days and it rained for two of them. Nice. In case he doesn't believe me I took a few pictures....

I learned that I seem to get WAY more done when he's gone than when he's here. Odd. I had a few unfinished projects I decided to tackle in his absence. The first was a chair that I bought at a junk shop (for lack of a better term) at least 10 years ago... OK 15 but who's counting. I was inspired to do this by Brenda. I read THIS blog posting the day Dave left and was completely in awe of her ability.

I learned that I can break my own rules...I have a rule against painting wood. So I stained it with blue milk paint. You can still see the grain and details through it... but it's blue. I consider this a fair compromise. I learned that boys are a great help sanding. Staining.. not so much. Going with the grain seems completely and genetically beyond them. I blame my husbands DNA for this.

I also learned that even though they are boys the have very decided opinions on fabric so a 5 min. trip to the fabric store turned into 35. The stripes were the compromise between the vision of three different personalities. I also learned that stapling fabric with a electric staple/brad gun is pretty scary stuff with an 7 and 8 year old "helping" you.

I learned that tea tastes better in my new mug. No.. it's not all in my head. It really does.

I learned that once I start to paint it's REALLY hard to stop.

I learned that when trying to fix your plastic dog head with expanding foam because your adorable sons smashed his nose in...... less is more. There's a reason they call it expanding.

Finally, I learned that I really miss my man when he's gone.

April 12, 2010 11 comments

Every night at bedtime three dogs jockey for position in our room for the best dog bed. When they were younger they didn't seem to care where they slept, but as they age everyone wants the soft bed. I can relate.

On a seemingly different topic, I had a garbage bag full of old pillows that I was debating on what to do with. I had replaced a bunch of old pillows at Christmas time but was having a really hard time sending them to a landfill. So there they sat, waiting for inspiration to strike.

Yesterday it struck.

I pulled out my sewing machine, stitched two pillows together, grabbed a bunch of fleece I had sitting around (also waiting for inspiration to strike) and made some really big pillow cases!

I also made drawstring bags out of unbleached cotton. Why? To fill with cedar chips. The bag will get shoved inside the "pillow case" to keep the beds smelling nice and more importantly... repel fleas. Fleas hate cedar.

Ginger has claimed the cow print one for herself and has been spotted dragging it around the room. I'm guessing she's trying to break it in. Boda Zapha is looking pretty regal on his new red bed. And Zeke is still trying to sneak onto our bed at every opportunity but is still satisfied with his big jean bed.

Don't they look well rested......

March 10, 2010 3 comments

I just finished reading "Ignore Everybody; and 39 other keys to creativity." by Hugh MacLeod. It's actually an extension of his blog: Gaping Void

I really loved Chapter 7 about getting our crayons back. Somewhere along the line of "growing up" our crayons are taken away and we need to demand them back. To do art for the sheer enjoyment of the process and not the possible outcome of the endeavor.

I also REALLY love his art, very real life and he does it all on the back of business cards. Brilliant. Check out his gallery at: http://gapingvoidgallery.com/

February 26, 2010 No comments

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