don't look a gift bird in the mouth

Most of my crafting time lately has been devoted to makin' stuff for folks. Which I can't post until after I've given them away.


So, here are some of them:

Josiah's thesis.

Zach's altered suspenders.

Zach's altered hoodie.

Rawr.












Random, supposedly Chinese proverb of the day: "A bird does not sing because it has an answer. It sings because it has a song."

twenty-fourth bird

Work with nature. Go to your yard or a nearby park and collect materials to work with.

I went out to my back patio, armed with my trusty spray paint. I grabbed some leaves and, Voilà!

Art, or something like it.

twentieth bird

Clay. Yes. I have finished. For now.


Make some clay and then use it like you never have before.
--By the by, that's really a ridiculous sentence.


Well, not being much of a sculptress, really anything I do with this clay is going to be "using it like I never have before." So, win?


"Baker's Clay" Recipe
--You can't really make clay. It sort of comes pre-made when you find it in the ground (or at Walmart). This is more of a homemade play dough.
--This recipe is found in 365: A Daily Creative Journal: Make Something Every Day and Change Your Life! by Noah Scalin
Supplies
4 c. flour
1 c. salt
1 1/2 c. water
Measuring cups
Mixing bowls
Cookie sheet
Oven
Paint or other decorating materials
Food coloring, optional


Directions
1. Put flour in a large bowl.
2. Mix in salt.



















3. Slowly add water (add more if the dough is too dry and crumbly).
4. Knead with your hands until smooth.

5. Create things that are under 1 1/2 inches (3.8 cm) thick or they won't dry properly.
6. Bake on a cookie sheet at 300°F (150°C) for 30-60 minutes to harden (just don't let it get brown).


I used whole wheat flour because that was all I had (low-carb diet means I'm not really restocking my flour reserves at the moment). I think this made the dough a little drier and a little harder to handle. It never really got smooth.


Also, it was rather frustrating that I couldn't make anything thicker than 1.5 inches. At which point, it was more like making cookies than sculpting. One batch makes a ridiculous amount of dough if you're making everything flat, so be advised.


I made an octopus,

some weird little pendant-y things,

and a bunch of buttons.

And I STILL didn't use all of the dough up. But, I threw the rest away. There's only so much extra clutter I need.


When they baked, they smelled like crackers. MMMMMMM...

Prepping to paint! 

I painted everything with regular matte spray paint. Then, I used acrylic paint on the octopus where I needed a bit more precision. I also used a black sharpie on some of the other pieces to make them slightly more interesting. 

After painting them, I varnished everything, which took about 2 hours to dry completely. I had two boxes that needed varnishing as well, so I knocked them out while I was at it.








In the meantime, I felt like I needed to come up with somewhere for my octopus to live.

I layered paint and scratched through it with a stick to make the effect. Just in case you wanted to know. Probably not.

I glued Mr. Octopus to the board,

and gave him some friends!

 

I'm not sure what exactly I'll do with these. Hang on to them for something. Until then, I can keep them in this fine and dandy little box.

seventh bird

This one took forever long, and was rife with disaster, but I think I still like how it turned out.


Make a stencil, and use it in your artwork today.
--I really feel like this should have counted for two days. Technically, it's asking you to do two different things. (gripe gripe gripe)


OK. Because I am over-industrious, I decided to make a one-time-use stencil and paint a t-shirt.

Here is le plain t-shirt from I Have No Idea.

I decided to do rain drops. Two wax paper sheets worth of rain drops.

Which I then had to cut out.
And this is when I started to question myself.












The plan was to iron the wax paper onto the shirt, then spray paint it. 
I looked on a website, and it promised that this idea was trustworthy and good.

The ironing, it did not work. Apparently when not-so-trustworthy webadvice said wax paper, they really meant freezer paper (not the same thing). But I did not cut out all of those stupid raindrops for nothing.
So I glued the wax paper to the shirt.
--Except for one bit, which I left loose for EXPERIMENTATION.

These are the spray paints that I am using.

Mid-process.

The stencil is very obviously not salvageable. Also, while most of it came off, there were a few bits that needed some extra encouragement.
Also, my fingers are still paint-y.

A close-up of the rain drops. 
The wax paper that I didn't glue down smeared, so I just sprayed a light mist of paint over most of the shirt to make it look more intentional.

Outside, right after completion.

Inside, drying. Tomorrow I'll wash it to see whether  removing the glue residue affects the paint.




Overall, I think I like it. But, next time, freezer paper. 


I will post the washed, completed project asap.