My Artsy Spot

UGLY PIGGY

2010-09-14T13:23:00.000-07:00

Ok, Not all my attempts turn out right...
This is a good example of it.
Although I had fun Making this Piggy, and the Theme was very inspiring, the poor thing turned out very very UGLY.
Oh well, I had fun making it.
I'll spare you from the HOW TO's after all you won't be repeating this. = ]
Anyway.. Without further ado... He's the UGLY PIGGY.

The inspiration was: MISS PIGGY
I even bought rhinestones... And downloaded pictures of Barbra Streisand to get Inspiration.
But this is All that turned out. (There will be more Inspiring Crafts to come...)

She does seem to beg... Like me anyway... Like me anyway...

With those begging eyes, doesn't she? I might. I need Time.

Hehehehehe.

Here's a few of the in-between pictures:

(Notice how the lashes on the left size bend to the wrong side? =[ )

And that's it!

No mouth, because she looked a whole lot like Lady Gaga with a mouth.

Keep posted for the next PIG!

PIGGY BANK

2010-07-15T14:22:00.000-07:00

From This:

To This:

LEVEL OF DIFFICULTY: hum... MEDIUM?
COST: Less than U$ 6,00
How long does it take: It took me an afternoon. But again... I wasn't in a hurry. Take your time.
WHAT WILL YOU NEED:

A Porcelain Piggy Bank. Michaels had 3 Medium size Piggies (Like the one I did) for U$ 9,00.
Acrylic Paints BLACK, WHITE & RED (Under a Dollar each at Michaels or Joann)
Paint Brushes (You'll need thin ones)

I didn't really had a plan when I started this project, so there will be several actions per Step.
You can use this just as an inspiration and create your own Unique designs based on these ideas.

STEP-1: Start by scraping off the Nose of the piggy that comes already painted. A kitchen knife works great. TIP: This is also how you can erase any paintings you do not like.
Paint two BIG circles for the Eyes.

STEP-2 : Paint an upside down heart for the nose and a big smiley mouth. TIP: I drew the mouth previously by pencil so I could have some reference on where to start and end. Pencil on porcelain erases just by smudging with your finger. Super Easy. I also tried it out on paper before. To choose the right proportions for the teeth.

Here's a Smile close-UP to make it easier. I found very helpful to paint the top arches first, then draw the lower ones connecting them each time to the respective arch above and doing the smiley black line last.
Then all you have to do is ease the joints where the lines cross. Don't worry about it being perfect. Mine isn't as you can see and it all works out at the end.

STEP-3: Paint a thick black circle around one eye like shown in the picture.

STEP-4: Add Dots to the side of the eye, decreasing it's size like shown on the Picture.

STEP-5: Continue adding the details to the Eye as shown.

STEP-6: Now work on the left Eye. Circle part of it, Add Dots & Tear drops. For the Tear drops I just filled my brush with a lot of ink, touched the porcelain like I did to make a circle and when most of the paint was out of the brush, Just Slid it out to form a point. Try it on paper...

STEP-7: Add White dots evenly spaced all around the black band on the Right eye.

STEP-8: Add larger tear drops to the right eye.

STEP-9: Using the same Tear drop effect, draw a semi-circle in one ear and surround it with larger tear drops to fill the whole ear. Add white dots to the tear drops you drew on Step-8 (on the right eye)

You can see the White dots better on this one:

STEP-10: Add Red accents as shown.

STEP-11: Paint white spirals on both eyes (try to make them the same size if you can) Or you could actually make them very different in size. That could look really interesting... Draw white dots around the eyes.
Add wrinkles to the piggy nose.

STEP-12: Draw a large open arch surrounding the left eye. That arch was the start of all drawings I did on the left size of the Piggy.
Can you see it? (I added a white dot to it too!)

I just kept adding and adding lines and the left side ended up like this... (Oh, one more thing... The picture above is the only one you can see what I did on the TOP.

STEP-13: Here's the Right side non-sense drawings. Same story as the left side. No plan... Just kept going.

STEP-14: The Tail... Add a Heart!

You're Done!

No go have fun with the other 2 piggies that came in the same package you bought this one! And post your picture here so I can enjoy it too!!! ;-]

JUNGLE FAN for Kids

2010-07-10T15:28:00.000-07:00

Level of Difficulty: SUPER EASY

This project was SO MUCH FUN, and so easy to do. It took only one afternoon and it cost about U$ 7,00.

Here's what you'll need:

An ugly old Fan that you don't care much about. (This is important, because you won't be thinking you're messing up a perfectly good fan. It was ugly anyway... So you can just have some fun!) U$ 0,00
Acrylic Paints. Colors: BLACK, BEIGE, BROWN, OCHRE & ORANGE. (I also Used WHITE and RED, but they are NOT essential) You can get the paints at Michaels and they'll cost anything from U$ 0.79 to 1,19 each depending on how fancy you want to be.
Paint Brushes. (Go dig for some you already have)
A pencil
A screwdriver (To remove the Fan Blades)

STEP 1: Go online for inspiration. I just googled some Jungle pattern images and printed them for my reference regarding color and proportions. This was really helpful. Here's my image results. (Print it for you if you wish)

STEP 2: Remove the fan Blades and clean them well. Let them Dry.
STEP 3: Now it's ZEBRA Time... With a light pencil mark random Zebra stripes on the blade. The stripes should be thick & very irregular and end with a thin point if the end is showing in your blade. Use your left hand if you have to. There should be a balance in between the stripe (black) and the White space in between them. This is where the pictures comes in handy... Just remember, you can always erase and do it again if you don't like. Paint the Stripes BLACK when you're happy with the design.

STEP 4: Coat 2 Fan Blades with the BEIGE color. One is for the Giraffe and the other for the Cheetah.
Set aside to dry. (Acrylics are great because they dry real fast)
STEP 5: Coat the remaining blade ORANGE. (For the Tiger.) Let it dry. TIP: I picked a very "Redish" orange for the Tiger. It looks more "Tiger-ísh". I also added a dash of that dark brown to the orange to make it more Tiger-dirty. =D
STEP 6: Giraffe Time! On one of the Beige Blades, Mark with the light pencil geometric shapes with straight edges. It's very important that these shapes are evenly spaced. The key to make it look like a Giraffe is not much on the shapes, but on the line in-between that is formed by those shapes. You can add an occasional curve here and there... Paint the Shapes with the Dark BROWN.

STEP 7: Cheetah Time! On the other Beige Blade add Oval OCHRE blobs of paint evenly spaced. Let them dry. The Ovals don't have to be perfect. It's actually better if they're not.

STEP 8: Tiger Time! While you wait for the cheetah to dry, Draw tiger stripes in pencil on the Orange Blade. The Tiger stripes are to be thiner and closer together than the Zebra ones. And slightly more linear. See example.
Paint the Stripes Black.

Step 9: Back to the Cheetah... Add random black dots around each Ochre Blob. Be free on this one. Test your dots on a separate area before to make sure you like the way they look. Trust your instinct and don't worry much. It all looks good as a group.

STEP 10: Now you could be done if you wish. But my fan had a REALLY REALLY UGLY glass dome covering the light bulb with hideous blue flowers. That did not go with the Jungle Theme. So all I did was paint over it. I really didn't have any plan. I just covered the flowers with RED paint and added the same jungle themes we added to the blades. Here's some progress pictures. Be free on this part.

It did look a little funky when it was dark and the light was turned on. But the Fan's owner favorite color is RED and that gave the room a RED glow. It was approved.

And that's It! You got yourself a JUNGLE FAN!

SEWING: JEWELRY POUCH

2010-03-10T10:06:00.000-08:00

These are instructions on how to make a jewelry pouch.
Level of Difficulty: EASY

This is a simple project, but for a true beginner like myself, you might need to ask the help of someone more experienced to do button holes and deal with all the sewing machine foot changes and bobbin filling. (Mother in laws are excellent at that!) =]

Here are your steps:
1- Pick your fabrics.
You can choose up to 4 different color fabrics for this project. It's up to your imagination. Just make sure the patterns complement each other. I personally prefer to use 3 or 2 different kinds. (See picture for where the colors will apply)

2- Cut 2 circles. One should be 18"diameter (for the outer part) and the other should be 8" diameter (for the Inner pockets). In order to cut them you can use a paper template or anything that is closer to this size. The smaller or bigger the circle, the smaller or bigger the pouch. If you adjust these sizes, just know that the difference between the larger and smaller circle will be what sticks out above the ribbon, so plan carefully.

3-Make 2 Button Holes. On the 18" diameter circle, Make (2) 1/2" Long button holes, exactly opposite each other, XXX" from the outter edge of the circle. Cut them open.

4-Pair your Circles. You should pick which fabrics will be attached to the inside of each circle. Cut them so the circle fits inside each piece.

5-Sew them together (1/4" from the edge) with the finished faces of the fabric facing each other on the inside of the circle. Trim the edges to cut all the extra fabric.

5- Turn it inside out. Cut a small hole right on the center of the circles (on one layer only). and pull the inside out through it. IMPORTANT: Cut the hole on the fabric you choose to be in the inside of your pouch.

6- Firm the Edges. Using your fingers or any tool you might have, (a round point knife works fine), adjust all the edges so they lay flat together. Iron the circles (so they are flat) and sew around the edge (as close as possible) to firm the edges.

IN PROGRESS