Illustrious Illustration

Last week I posted a picture of my workdesk as a part of What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday, and in that photo I hinted around about the illustration project I was working on. Now you get to see the whole project as it stands so far - though it isn't finished. Yet.

The site flashfiction5.com has a challenge each month to write a 100 word story utilizing a list of 5 words. My co-worker wrote a story using this word list:

centerpiece
deficient
rock
despise
wink

And the story is as follows:

The rock despised himself, he was deficient in producing moss. He wanted to produce moss so he could one day become a centerpiece in the fairy's castle. To sit atop the fairy Queen's table was his dream. He would be amongst the fairy berry pies and giggling Lords and Ladies. However, without moss, he was not invited. Then one rainy day the fairy queen was taking her umbrella for a walk and saw the bald rock. She gave him a wink and walked on by. The next morning the rock woke up with a coat of moss on his head!

When my co-worker read it to me, I was delighted by some of the visuals (I could just imagine "fairy berry pies" and the Queen "taking her umbrella for a walk"!). She teasingly suggested that I should illustrate it - thinking I'd just draw a few circles on paper for the rock, a little fairy here and there, and be done with it. Little did she know that I decided to go all out! It's turned into a major project - one that I hope to have completed before the beginning of school next month (egad!).

Here is the (again, incomplete) cover. I took a vintage book bought at a garage sale (would they have sold it to me if they knew what I would do with it?) and removed the book block (hopefully the book wasn't valuable! Yes, Mother, I know you advised me to check on these things before tearing them up - but I forgot...). Then, inspired by a pin on Pinterest, I added binder rings by setting some eyelets into the book cover.

WOYWW 164

I've been making the blog rounds the past few weeks, and have noticed a weekly installment many bloggers present called "What's On Your Workdesk? Wednesday", where artists share their creative spaces with the beautiful chaos of tools, supplies, and works in progress. I've decided to join in, so enjoy! (if you want to see other people's workdesks, check out the Stamping Ground blog, the host blog for WOYWW)

Rock the Block

If you have been in a craft store recently, you have probably noticed those glass crafting blocks they are carrying. I've seen some really cool stuff done with these, from lamps to dioramas, nearly enticing me to give in and pay the $10 these guys are going for ($20.00 on Amazon!). I'm glad I didn't fall for one, though, because last week my dear mother found a couple at a garage sale for $2! I started playing with it, not really intending to turn out a finished project without considering all the options and possibilities of the block form.

The Rolodex Project

In preparation for this post I was reminiscing on the origins of the project I will soon describe, and I sympathize with other creatives who are inevitably asked about the inspiration and genesis of a particular project. Ideas come from a myriad of sources, and concepts contribute to your thinking without your awareness. You may be able to tack down one or two main pieces of inspiration, but to list everything is impossible. On this project, for instance, I was inspired by Lea Redmond and her Rolodex Project, a pin I discovered on Pinterest, the Choose Your Own Adventure book series, the joy I experienced flipping through a full  Rolodex file, and many other venues, all diverse and unrelated snatches of information that I have let circulate in my brain. This truly illustrates the adage:

Watch your thoughts, for they become words.
Watch your words, for they become actions.
Watch your actions, for they become habits.
Watch your habits, for they become character.
Watch your character, for it becomes your destiny.

Altered Puzzle Part 1: The Beginning

The art of simplicity is a puzzle of complexity - Douglas Horton

I love altered art. Books, clocks, Rolodexes (Rolodice...Rolodeces...Rolodexes?), and now puzzles. Inspired by a pin on Pinterest, I picked up a cheap three-pack of puzzles from the Dollar Store. I bet those cute, unassuming puzzles never saw this coming! I'm treating each piece as a seperate canvas, which is one of the features I really enjoyed from my inspiration.

I've only completed the two pieces you see above so far, though I'm starting on a third. I wanted a driving force behind the entire puzzle (which will have thirty pieces), and I again took inspiration from a pin I found on Pinterest. Using this site, which is geared toward journal writers, I'm using a writing prompt from the random prompt generator as the basis of each piece. The first prompt asked me to describe the first thing I thought of when I woke up. The day I started creating the piece, the song "Make new friends, but keep the old. One is silver and the other gold." came into my head right after the alarm went off. Random, no? With two illustrations (one from an old Alice in Wonderland book and one from a children's encyclopedia), some scrapbook paper, black Stazon ink, and cut out letters, the top piece in these pictures is a loose interpretation of that song. For the second piece the prompt was "List your hobbies", so I chose one, Zentangle, and illustrated the piece with patterns. Two down, twenty eight to go!

I'll post an update on this project when I complete more puzzle pieces.