Ink and Sushi

I am continuing the Inktober Challenge -

drawing in ink every day and posting it

on line- but using the Hobonichi Challenge

 prompts. Above: Mummy and Skull.

Candy and Monster

Clown and Cobweb. I'm not particularly afraid of

clowns, but I also do NOT usually watch horror

 movies...so if there are scary movies out there 

featuring clowns, I don't want to know about it.

I tried to make a pleasantly happy clown...

Enjoyed a wonderful week visiting my son and

his family. These pages document some of our

 activities. Above, Owl and Trick-or-Treat prompts.

My son had a birthday while we were there,

and he wanted to go out for sushi. We had lunch

at a Japanese Steak House, and I had the 

"Bento Box" lunch. It seemed more like a 

lunch tray, at least in size, but the food

was good. I chose the grilled scallops.

Our grandson also ordered sushi, and as he

was seated next to me, I got a photo of his

substantial lunch.  He said some of it was

pretty spicy.

It's actually pretty to look at, but just not to 

my taste...

More October prompts: Haunted House

and Black Cat. The cat is inspired by a vintage

Halloween decoration.

For the Ghost prompt, I decided to draw one

 of the ghosts from the Harry Potter movies, 

Moaning Myrtle. She's one of my favorite

 characters. The Leaves are drawn from

and on-line photo.

Prompts 18 and 19 were Vampire 

and Werewolf.  The Count from Sesame Street

 seemed a fun choice to draw for the vampire. 

I wonder if I could find a copy of

the Werewolf of London movie? It

might not be too scary to watch. 

I would guess that a 1930's movie would be 

pretty tame compared to what 

is produced these days. One of my all time

favorite old movies is Arsenic and Old Lace. 

I loved that movie!  But I digress...

Prompt: Mermaid~ I chose to do a
little gal in a mermaid costume.

You may have noticed several little coffee

cup drawings, in addition to my glass of water

at the restaurant, referenced for Bleubeard and 

Elizabeth's T-Tuesday blog hop.

You don't have to draw your own tea/coffee cup

or your food to join in...just

stop by for a beverage and a chat!

Morning Coffee and Collage

Starting my day with some coffee

and sketching is a winning combination.

Linking up with Bleubeard and Elizabeth

for T Tuesday, and Show Your Face.

I thought I'd share this double page spread

with you, and try to arrange the scans

side by side in the post.  Either the limitations

of Blogger, or the limitations of the blogger (me!)

will not let me arrange them that way.

Some days things just don't work out the

way you had hoped.  And sometimes a 

bit of a 'shake up' is good for the

variety of life! 

The entire two pages will not fit onto

my scanner at once. Above you can see

how the pages fit together.  I am actually

rather pleased with the 'empty' space on

the left, (shown in the first image on the

 left) which allows the layers of papers

and colors to show through. It is so

 difficult for me not to fill up every

inch of space with images! Click on

any image for a closer look.

The days are getting cooler.

 I've been enjoying the gorgeous

blue skies and temperatures in the

70's and low 80's F. this week.

I remind myself to appreciate being

able to walk outside. It won't be long

before it will seem too cold. Perhaps

this will be the year I bundle up despite

the cold and walk outside in the winter.

Maybe. In the meantime, I love to 

see fall color emerging.  And I do

enjoy the Halloween season.

Stay tuned for some fun Halloween

projects and decorations next month!

♦  ◘  ♦

Time for Pumpkins

© Dianne Bishop Carey 2011

It's T Tuesday over at Elizabeth's blog:

Altered Book Lover...

© Dianne Bishop Carey 2011

And time to share a few pumpkin characters.

To celebrate October, I will show a variety of pumpkin

and Halloween decorations this month, so

'stay tuned' for stitching, painting, drawing,

collections, and dust-catchers of all kinds!

© Dianne Bishop Carey

I love vintage-looking pumpkins, so I am

sharing some past art work inspired by

old paper mache' Halloween decorations.

© Dianne Bishop Carey 2014

Above, an ATC (Artist Trading Card)

 with a vintage-style pumpkin face.  The 

Lettering was generated on the computer 

and printed on card stock. I drew the rest of the

 elements on white card stock, applied

 watercolor or marker, cut out, and glued on.

The background is navy card stock.

This went to Dawn via snail mail!

© Dianne Bishop Carey 2014

Above, 'Jolly Halloween' lettering was also

done on the computer. The background is scrapbook

paper and a piece of Smash book page, with a geometry

diagram from a vintage Geometry textbook.  I drew 

and watercolored the pumpkins and the 

Man in the Moon. The title on the back says

 " I AM smiling," said the moon.  This ATC may end up

in my Project Life scrapbook...

I am having my mocha coffee today and linking up

with Elizabeth's   T Tuesday link party. 

How do you celebrate October?

Halloween Stitching on T Tuesday

Joining Bluebeard and Elizabeth for T Tuesday

over at Altered Book Lover blog.  

 Thought I'd do an art journal page with

a Halloween travel mug...wouldn't this be

a stylish way to have my coffee or tea? 

Here is a sweet pattern that 

was created by Lori, the designer of

Notforgotten Farm.

She published this wonderful Halloween

freebie on her blog, and invited her readers

to get it stitched up by October 15th.

Readers were urged to come up with an original

finished project.  I decided to make a 

'little black bag' to hold fall foliage.

It's hanging from my ladder back chair.

It would also make a nice door decoration!

  It is stitched on Natural
 48 count linen, with black and orange floss.

 The finished design is appliqued onto
 the bag with blanket stitch in black thread.
Tan felt scallops decorate the bottom of the
bag, with black felt circles, and orange buttons
for a 'penny rug' feeling.  Loosely stuff the
bag with fiberfill, and place artificial fall
foliage in the top of the bag.

♥

Lori is taking

a vote on her blog starting on 
Oct. 16th, 2013, to determine the readers' 
favorite finished project  from this pattern.

Please go to  Notforgotten Farm
blog, and place your vote.  Click on
 the number of your favorite in the right side bar.
Voting ends on Halloween!
The winner receives a
gift certificate from Lori's etsy shop.

♥

To get the free pattern from Notforgotten Farm
go here.  No stitch colors are given on the chart --
do whatever you like!  It would be very striking
stitched in all black, or all in orange on black fabric!
The challenge is over but you can still
stitch a fun Halloween decoration!
Thanks for stopping by, and 
don't forget to vote!

♥

T Tuesday: Coffee, Pumpkins and Cats

Linking up with Bluebeard and Elizabeth today
for "T Tuesday" at Altered Book Lover.
My tall ceramic mug holds the mocha coffee that I love.
Continuing the Halloween theme for October...

The painted boxes are just the paper mache' boxes
that you can purchase from the discount or craft store.
I painted them with acrylics, using vintage-
inspired Halloween designs.  These boxes
 come out every year!  

The black cat mug coaster was a gift from
my daughter-in-law's mom.  It was a cute fall
decoration from her shower.

The white art journal was created from an old book
purchased at the Salvation Army.  The book block
was removed and pages with a variety of papers 
were bound in.  I learned to do this in Mary Ann Moss'
Full Tilt Boogie on-line class.  I enjoyed the class
very much, and love how this journal turned out!
(I believe Mary Ann is having a sale on her classes
right now. Visit Dispatch From LA for info)

I really like the gold and white cover. 
 The book was 'Sacraments of the Church.'
 I added the black felt, beading, and
 an antique button on the cover.
Still working inside the journal...

'Fraidy Cats Welcome'  - below -
for a Haunted House swap in 2011...
old twisted trees are a favorite thing to draw!

Pumpkin head doll -- below --
made from cardboard recycled from
cereal boxes and painted with
acrylic paints.  This guy could be
decorated in a lot of ways.  His
'brother' wears a ghost costume,
but he was unable to appear here today.
--Out haunting I believe!

Recycled cardboard again...
background of gessoed newsprint, stamped
curlicues, various Halloween images that
I drew and painted are collaged onto
the background.  Charcoal darkens the
outside edges.  The old quote reads:

"From ghoulies and ghosties
and long leggity beasties
and other things that go
bump in the night,
good Lord deliver us."

May you be delivered from any 
hauntings of the scary variety, and
be blessed with a colorful, cozy Fall!

Artist Trading Cards - Halloween Edition

Artist Trading Cards from past years...

'Murder of Crows'  -- 2012.

I think this may be my favorite --

'Old Crow'  -- 2008.

I see a theme emerging...  From year to year,

a vintage-style pumpkin is featured in them all.

Above, a tri-fold atc.

Inside the tri-fold.

Another version of the Goblin Queen.

2008

Above, vintage-style pumpkin with

witch's hat -- 2007.

Above, 'Jolly Halloween' -- 2006

Above, another 'Jolly Halloween' -- 2008.

I drew and painted the pumpkin with

watercolors. Background is scrapbook paper.

Button 'moon' and sequin leaves dangle

from embroidery thread.

I love old vintage-style Halloween decorations.

Do you decorate for Halloween?

Do you like vintage, cute or scary?

T Tuesday: Tutorial

Black and white Halloween postcard

 collage on 4" x 6" cardboard.

Start by cutting scrap cardboard to 4" x 6".

Tear old book pages into strips.

Glue strips of text to the printed side of the cardboard.

I used Aileene's Tacky Glue, staggering the pages for

extra interest.

Trim around the edge of the postcard with scissors.

Paint over the text with gesso.  You can wipe off some

of the gesso with a paper napkin so more of the text

shows through. 

Use some paper scraps for the collage in colors that

you would like to use. I was going for a black and white

theme, so I used a limited palette. Scrapbook papers, 

painted papers, (as below) the inside of security envelopes,

and Dover clip art are all good choices for 

black and white designs.

The leaf on the right was from a Dover clip art book,

but you could draw or stamp one too.

I used a hair dryer to quickly dry the gesso.  I begin laying

out collage elements and moving them around to make

a pleasing arrangement.

I drew the vintage-style pumpkin myself.  These features

are pretty easy to imitate...

Notice the square of security envelope got moved up

to the top right corner, and more pieces of the painted 

paper were added to it.  It is usually a good idea to

repeat some motifs or shapes within the composition.

The leaf on the diagonal top left serves to lead your eye

into the composition.

Detail of the vintage style pumpkin, above.

"Jolly Halloween" was hand-written onto black

card stock in white gel pen.  You could certainly

stamp letters on strips of white paper and glue to 

black card stock, or even print them from

your computer.  To finish, I usually add some

pen work. Here I've added pen strokes behind

the pumpkin and behind the leaf.  I also added

an outline with a few curlicues around the 

outside edge of the card.

I hope you enjoyed this tutorial with your 

tea (or beverage of choice) today.  Visit

Bluebeard and Elizabeth at 

Altered Book Lover, for Tuesday 'T.'

Stop by again soon for more

Halloween inspired fun!