Vol. 2, No. 140, May 20, 2017

2140 - Singing in the Rain.

It was a cold and rainy day. I was supposed to go to the Twins game and I was going to do my project there, but it was postponed due to the rain. So when I got home I had to come up with something else. I decided to incorporate the rain into my project. I drew the background of a picture using dots of washable marker. Then I used Sharpie to draw a silhouette on top. I laid the picture on a tray put it outside in the rain. The rain caused the colors to bleed and blend together, creating a smoother picture. I photographed my drawing in 3 stages; first, before going outside; second, right after coming back inside; third

Vol. 2, No. 139, May 19, 2017

2139 - Paint Party.

Today I subbed for 4th grade at Holy Trinity. It was a pre-planned subbing day, so the classroom teacher asked me if I would like to do an art lesson. I decided to do a painting lesson, run like the popular painting parties (minus the wine). I walked the students through an seascape, with a featured silhouette. They all turned out great!

In planning for the lesson I did a couple practice pictures. They are the sailboat and the sea turtle. These paintings were with acrylic on canvas, but they cracked as they dried. so I decided to go a safer route and had the students paint with tempera on glossy paper. The top left corner, with the whale tail, is the picture I painted with the students.

Vol. 2, No. 138, May 18, 2017

2138 - Nature's Beauty.

At art club today,  we set out for the beach to make Land Art inspired by the work of Andy Goldsworthy. We got a variety of art works.

The top left picture is the a portrait of a student that I made. The bottom row is all student works from left to right we have a campfire, a fairy garden,  and a face.

Then as I was driving home I was admiring the gorgeous sunset and I realized that while we can make beautiful art in nature, none of it compares to the natural art made by God. So I pulled over and took some pictures to add to my project. The top right picture is one of my favorites from tonight.

Vol. 2, No. 137, May 17, 2017

2137 - Apple of My Eye.

My co-worker (the recipient of the cupcake card) wanted to know how to make honeycomb shapes. Since I had some free time this morning, I stopped in at  school and did a demonstration. I used white velum, which was thinner and easier to open than the scrap-booking paper that I used for the cupcake. I colored the edges of the apple while it was still folded. Then I rolled some brown paper for a stem and cut/folded a leaf.

Vol. 2, No. 136, May 16, 2017

2136 - The Sky's The Limit.

Today at school, I made my final graduation card. I wanted to give the cards out at the end of class at 11, so I had to hurry to get it done in time.

This was an extra challenge as I chose to base this card off of the class ceiling tile, galaxy. I used a combination of watercolor, acrylic, and metallic Sharpie to creat the front. Thankfully I had a hairdryer at school that I was able to use to speed up they drying process.

Despite the rush, this turned out to be one of my favorite cards.

Vol. 2, No. 135, May 15, 2017

2135 - Grad Greetings.

I was subbing today, but wanted to make graduation cards for my project again, so I looked around for supplies I could use. I found index cards and colored pencils. I drew a graduation cap on the card, over the lined side, to give it a school-ish look. I then cut the cap out to adhere to a card when I got home. I used another section of the index card to write the text for the card.

I wanted four cards finished for school tomorrow, so I did one more quick design using paper scraps and a star punch.

Vol. 2, No. 134, May 14, 2017

2134 - Green Thumb.

Today, as a present for my mom on Mother's Day, my family and I weed her flower garden. I was inspired by the weeds to make a quick portrait of my mom. There was a breeze, so it was challenging to make the eyes and mouth stay in place,  but I managed to get it to stay long enough to take the picture.

Vol. 2, No. 133, May 13, 2017

2133 - Congrats Grad.

Graduation season is upon us. I like to make my own graduation cards. I found a design on Pinterest and made it using purple paper and a purple tassel to match the Holy Trinity school colors.

Vol. 2, No. 132, May 12, 2017

2132 - Ordinary Lock.

I was subbing for PE today and I decided to do my project during my prep time. I looked around the PE office for some ordinary objects. Sitting on the desk was a pile of locks. I took one and made into a flower. I left it behind for the teacher to find upon his return.

Vol. 2, No. 131, May 11, 2017

2131 - Phone-A-Friend.

I was at a loss as to what to make today and I wasn't feeling very creative. I talked to a friend to get a project idea. My friend didn't have a project idea, but did get me a theme on which to base my project; National Nurses Week.

It was a beautiful day, so I decided to do a simple water drawing in the driveway. I got ambitious and decided to draw with ketchup at supper as well.

Vol. 2, No. 130, May 10, 2017

2130 - Going Postal.

I was subbing for my co-worker today, so I decided to make an envelope for the card I made yesterday. I tied in all of the same papers that I used for the card and even included a little bit of glitter. It was a fairly simple and very quick project, but some days that's what you need to do.

Vol. 2, No. 129, May 09, 2017

2129 - Pop-up Party.

Yesterday, I made cupcakes to give to my students. I made a tray of them for my co-worker as well. I wanted a card to go with the cupcakes so I decided to make one with a pop-up cupcake. It was very time  consuming, but it is sort of cute.  One of my students added glitter to the front to make it shine. After I got done writing, the saying on the front I decided it would have been better if it said 'Wishing You A Sweet Day!', but what's done is done.

Today is National Teachers Day, so I used that as my reasoning for  the gift giving, but really it was just because I felt like making cupcakes.

Vol. 2, No. 128, May 08, 2017

2128 - Nutritious Yet Delicious.

I spent the day making cupcakes, as I promised my students some before the end of the year. I decided to make my specialities which are Chocolate Zucchini, Banana, and Carrot. I figured if you make cupcakes with fruits and vegetables in then, they are healthy. The banana and zucchini have chocolate buttercream frosting and the carrot cake has cream cheese frosting.

As I write this, I realize that I didn't sample any of the finished product, so hopefully they taste okay. I did do plenty of tasting while mixing though, and that was good.

Vol. 2, No. 127, May 07, 2017

2127 - Pucker Up.

To celebrate National Lemonade Day, I made a batch of homemade lemonade and drew a lemon design on some coasters. Simple yet tasty.

Vol. 2, No. 126, May 06, 2017

2126 - Fruty Flower.

With the Creative Sprint and it's reflections over, I have to come up with my own projects again. By dinner time I still hadn't come up with anything spectacular, so I carved my kiwi into flowers. Yay edible art! After eating it, I remembered why I don't like kiwi; it makes my tongue hurt.

Vol. 2, No. 125, May 05, 2017

2125 - Short Sharp Advice Reflection Poem.

Reflection Day 5 What is one piece of advice you would give to someone who is starting their first Creative Sprint?

My biggest piece of advice is stick with it and share your work. Making a project everyday may be frustrating at times but the complements you get from sharing your work are worth the frustration.

I decided to use a limerick for my five-line #64MillionArtists poem today. Limericks use AABBA rhyming, with the A lines being longer and the B lines being shorter.

For those who start a Creative Sprint, please heed my advice.
Set aside some time to work; even five minutes is nice.
Create everyday, simplicity is fine.
Share your work and let it shine.
With any luck you'll fall in love and will want to do it twice.

Vol. 2, No. 124, May 04, 2017

2124 - Short Sharp New Reflection Poem.

Reflection Day 4 What is one new thing you did month that you would like to try again or incorporate into your work in the future?

I tried a few new things this month, but the one that stands out to me the most, that I would like to try again is galaxy egg painting. Rather than dying eggs the traditional way, I painted an egg using a paint brush and food coloring. I loved how it turned out and can't wait to try it again.

At Art Club at the Winsted Arts Council, we were making paper kites. I decided to use it as my project today, which meant incorporating my #64MillionArtists five-line poem into it's design. I used a white oil pastel to write the poem, and then painted over it with watercolors making it look similar to my galaxy egg. The spine of the kite is made from straws taped to the paper. The other side of the kite is just an abstract design, because I didn't want to repeat the poem.

In order to make it fit and look cool, I combined some of the words of the poem into one long loopy line. So here is the text:

This month I tried something new.
I dyed an egg with a brush.
The colors mixed creating a beautiful hue.
The eggs beauty made everyone gush.
My galaxy egg tasted good too.

Vol. 2, No. 123, May 03, 2017

2123 - Short Sharp Suprise Reflection Poem.

Reflection Day 3 What was the most surprising or unexpected thing that happened this month?

When I started my Creative Marathon 17 months ago, I was saving most of my projects. There were a handful that were disposable, edible or given away, but I have a lot of them. When I looked back at the pictures of my projects from the April Creative Sprint, I realized I only had a handful in my possession. Some projects like days 2, 5, 9, 18, 19, 20, 21, 25, 26 and 28 were left behind and were most likely thrown away, unless someone else claimed them.  Other projects like days 1, 6, 10, 12, and 17,  were given away. Still others like days 3, 4, 14, 15, and 16, were eaten. A couple projects like days 7, 8, and 24, were disposed of/erased shortly after a picture was taken. Days 22 and 30 were photography projecst, so I have nothing physical to keep. That leaves me with days 11, 13, 23, 27, and 26; five projects that I actually want to keep.

My #64MillionArtists five line poem is a summary of this surprise I found. I wrote the poem on small strips of colored paper that I folded up to be used as packing in a surprise package.

After 17 months of creative venture, not much takes me by surprise.
Yet when I looked back, I found a new pattern did arise.
I used to keep every project in a box right before my eyes.
This month I gave most projects away and some I ate like pies.
That left only 5 projects to have at home, which is a much more tolerable size.

Vol. 2, No. 122, May 02, 2017

2122 - Short Sharp Challenging Reflection Poem.

Reflection Day 2 What day was most challenging for you? Why?

The #64MillionArtists Weekely Challenge of writting a five-line poem continues to work with my Creative Sprint reflections. I wrote the poem out by hand today, so it is slightly hard to read. Here is the text:

A challenge came on Day 28, when it was time to collaborate.

With a busy schedule, I lacked the time to seek out sprinters with which to climb.

So on my own I ventured forth and found some friends on my way up north.

During dinner, wrappers in hand, we built a zoo that wasn't so grand.

Collaboration can be fun, even though it's a challenge to get it done.

Vol. 2, No. 121, May 01, 2017

2121 - Short Sharp Poem: Why is this important?

Reflection Day 1 What was your favorite day of this Creative Sprint? Why?

I combined my #64MillionArtists weekly prompt (write a 5 line poem) with the Creative Sprint Relfection by writting a 5 line reflection poem about my favorite Creative Sprint project.

It was hard to choose my favorite project, but after looking at all of my project posts from the past month, I decided on Day 20, because it was one of the most fun. I got to make something and leave it for others to find.

After writing my poem, I used Microsoft Publisher to format it, creating a fun design.