Polka Dot Fever

"You should never wear a red shirt with black polka dots because your friends will call you a lady bug."
--Stefanie, age 8

You know how it is... 

You have sworn you wouldn't commit to anything for awhile.. 

You wouldn't dare take on anymore swaps... 

But inevitably, that one project... THE one you simply can't resist.. is dangled in front of you... 

beckoning... begging... pleading with your inner artist... 

justifying the time any which way you can... 

and before you know it... 

You have done the very thing you promised yourself you wouldn't...

you made that commitment! 

When Heather Bluhm announced on Chubbyville a polka dot themed fat book, that would be circular in shape.. and utilize the 7 Gypsies Circle Book (Shosh, over at Hannah Grey was kind enough to offer us the book kits at and incredible price -- Thanks Shosh!) ... Despite a very quick due date, I didn't just jump, I asked how high!

 What did i find just sooo tempting? It is not only an original concept; but a shape that I have yet to really tackle... quality materials will be used as the base.. and really, the little girl in me was uber thrilled at the chance to play with polka dots!

“From now on, I'll connect the dots my own way.”
-- Bill Watterson

Since this is due at the end of May, and I will be traveling for almost the next 2 weeks, I needed backgrounds that weren't quite as time consuming as my hand painted ones are. I haven't played with paper collage alot recently, in fact I've gotten so far away from it.. this was just the project I needed to delve back in.

 Arming myself with a new Xyron Adhesive Runner and plenty of the permanent refills (I never use these kind of adhesives, can ya believe that?)and an array of awesome, polka dot decorative papers that I had stashed in my not-so-little paper collection... I began the process of coordinating the papers, and quickly fell back into the familiar lull of paper collage. I didn't realize how much i missed working with and matching up pretty papers! 

 The 20 backgrounds were the slightest bit tedious to do, but well worth it. For those that will inevitably ask how I did it.. here's a quickie tutorial...

 Polka Dot Circle Book Background Tutorial

 1) Apply your permanent adhesive along the edges of the blank circle (in the 7 Gypsies Kit), then a few strips crossing in the middle.

 2) Press paper to the circle, and using a bone folder or other burnishing tool.. burnish it well, paying close attention to the edges.

 3) Using sharp scissors, trim the paper as close to the circle edge as possible.

 4) Sand the edges, so that the circle edge remains smooth.

 5) Use an eyelet setter, or hole punch to reveal the smaller, binding circle in the template.

 6) Roll a small piece of sandpaper up and sand those edges.

 7) Repeat this process with the other side.

 8) Ink those edges! Use a brush tipped marker to ink up the binding hole.

 “If you love someone, put their name in a circle; because hearts can be broken, but circles never end.”

 While I still prefer my painted backgrounds -- this has been a much needed, refreshing break from my norm. It's definitely more expensive, but I could have cut costs if I had more free time available.

 I haven't a clue as to what I will do for the composition yet --I rarely plan out my work... it always takes on a life of it's own, which frankly.. is part of the charm to me. All I know, is I am not quite ready to cover up the yummy papers!

 -- Chrysti

 

 P.S. Did you see I was featured as the Spirit of ZNE this week? Thanks Chel! ZNE members --be sure to leave a comment, as you'll be entered into a giveaway contest!

Seven - 7 - Sept - Sette - Siete

1. One Digit / 7, 2. Everyones Lucky number, 3. IMG_3822, 4. Number 7, 5. 7, 6. 7 something...?, 7. 7-years - Thursday 9:02:41 pm, 8. 7 - Mantle, 9. . e l e v a t e, 10. One Digit / 7, 11. sexy silver seven, 12. 7, 13. Number 7, 14. the spirit, 15. 7, 16. Golden 7, 17. Seven, 18. Removed at request of photo owner, 19. 7, 20. 7, 21. One Digit / 7, 22. 7, 23. lens, 24. Prince, 25. Seven

 “There are no seven wonders of the world in the eyes of a child. There are seven million.”
- Walt Streightiff

Tag! I'm It ....

The delightful Laurie tagged me with the sevens meme... the idea, is to list 7 random facts about myself, then tag 7 other bloggers & notify them that they were tagged, and reference them to my post. Despite recently doing the 29 random things about myself... I've always liked the Number 7, so here goes nuthin'....

“All human actions have one or more of these seven causes: chance, nature, compulsions, habit, reason, passion and desire.”
- Aristotle

My 7 Random Facts:

 1). I am a sheets snob. Yes, thread count matters.

 2). My favorite comfort foods (thanks Mom, and Gramma) consist of saltines with butter, fried bologna, butterscotch pudding, cabbage & noodles, potato chips burnt over a candle... but feed me breakfast foods for every meal... and you'll have my heart forever!

 3). The true spelling of my name is Christy .. however I use Chrysti and have also used kryc-t, khryctee, and many other drummed up versions.

 4). I unwind at night by playing games at Club Pogo. Spades is the one i play most often.

 5). Art aside, my other passion is working with young children.. especially 3-4 year olds.. they are still so genuine... authentic.. so full of light, wonder, and magic... it's contagious.

 6). I drove my mother absolutely bonkers as a child, because I was always giving away my toys to who i deemed 'the needy'. I always wanted them back soon after too, you'd think I'd have learned my lesson the first bazillion times!

7). I had a mega famous celebrity buy my art & supplies from me over Christmas. I mean a HUGE celeb name. No, I'm not telling who! Despite the urge to, privacy should matter.

 

“Fall seven times and stand up eight.”
- Japanese Proverb  

7 People I Tag:

Hope  Kira Tricia Judy Gypsy Miz Carla Lisa 

“The average pencil is seven inches long, with just a half-inch eraser - in case you thought optimism was dead.”
- Robert Brault

If you've participated in this meme as well, please let me know in the comments.. I always love learning more about y'all!

The frantically-trying-to-catch-up-and-get-things-done-maybe-even-get-ahead before my trip Chrysti

Mission: Studio Organization

For the sake of my sanity... let's pretend this post isn't oh...

*looks around nervously*

a mere few months overdue...

Really, what's a few months among friends?

So why dontcha pull up a chair, and take a refresher course through the previous installments in this series...

Pretty Organized (June 2006)

Pssst... (September 2006)

Art Marker Organization (September 2006)

Everyone all caught up now? GREAT!

Today's focus is on storing Collage Sheets, Magazines, and Books, and how to showcase the things that inspire me, without becoming overwhelmed. 

 It was crucial, that I have a quiet, cozy place to curl up and page through books, magazines, and other publications that can not only light my spark of creativity, but teach me new techniques as well. I've had that oversized chair for about 5 or 6 years now.. It's one of my favorite pieces of furniture, as I scored it for a mere $185 when Sears Homelife went out of business... 75% off! Woot! It's comfortable, vibrant, and the perfect addition in my studio. Pairing it up with my cheap, old Wal-Mart bookcase was a no brainer..

 When you stand in my hallway, those are what you see (along with the Ikea Expedit piece I'll show you next week)... I didn't want my art table visible..as it's so cluttered. I admit it, I like pretty. This isn't my vision of perfection -- but it suffices for now! 

 

 

 I loaded the bookcase with all my art, craft & home decor books, some art I've been given, or bought... and stuffed it full of the cardboard magazine holders I purchased at Ikea... just $2.99 for 5 of them! All i did was color copy ephemera and old letters from my grandmother and use gel medium to adhere them to the cardboard. I put on a few topcoats to seal it, sprayed it with a Matte Fixativ, and voila! Some cute magazine files awaited me. I labeled them with my Dymo, and stuffed them with all the publications & zines I have... I was mindful, to leave some blank though.. so my collection had room to grow.

 

 

 Storing my collage sheets and printouts posed a bit of a problem at first, as I didn't have enough room for a filing cabinet in there, and frankly, I didn't want anything to fall out. When i saw this cute accordion file in T.J. Homegoods clearance ($3.99).. I snatched it right up! I labeled each pocket by theme, with tabs and filed my papers accordingly. (My smaller, cut images are stored on my art table, an area I'll show you soon)... It's stored on the floor, under my art table, so i can grab it on a moment's notice. The bonus? This is totally portable, so when i travel or teach workshops, I can take it with me easily. Sweet!

 It would be easy to recreate, as the covers are just fabric covered canvas panels... if you decide to tackle creating one, please share!

 

 And lastly, my inspiration board!

 This is a constantly rotating display area filled to the brim with other people's artwork. It changes based on season, sentiment, my mood... I bought the French bulletin boards at Michaels, they go half off basically every month... and are super cheap. I can turn to my left as I am creating, and be instantly inspired! Take a close look, do you see your art there? That display was on my board in March, it's changed a bit since... but there is art there from The Altered Diva, Bird Nerd, Paper Relics, Zorana, Amyma, Jean Skipper, Misty Mawn, and a bunch of other gifted artists!

 Hope this sparked some ideas for your studio, I'll show off another area of my studio space soon!

 -- Chrysti