Nasturtium Ditsy Print - Vote

Okay.  Here I go again entering another Spoonflower contest.  This time they're asking for small prints "Ditsy Prints" and I just happen to have a nice one of nasturtiums that I made a while ago.

It has been by far my most popular design, ranking as one of Spoonflower's "All Time Fav's" and in the top 30 or so in their "Floral" and "Vintage" categories.

There were a lot of entries this week, but I made the final cut.  We'll see how I do.  I don't have a huge blog following like some of the others.

If you would like to vote, you can do so here: http://www.spoonflower.com/contest_voters/new?contest_id=102
 I could use the help.

Thanks!

Joined Daily Paintworks--My first auction!

I just joined Daily Paintworks and put this little painting up for auction on their site.  http://www.dailypaintworks.com/buy/auction/16630 It is oil on canvas and just 5"x7".  With a starting bid set at $10, you should get a pretty good deal because no one has heard of me there yet.

We passed through this city on the first day of our "UberTrip" (as my daughter likes to call it).  We traveled across the country and back in our minivan this summer, camping and staying with family.  We enjoyed lots of National Parks and traveled through 19 states.

This was Nashville as the sun was starting to set.  We hit a little traffic then and I was all over this beautiful haze.

Back from Summer

My mother used to paint while carrying me on her hip when I was little--I can't even paint while the kids are around at all (it turns into a collaborative project).   I'm always so delighted to get back to work after the summer.  This year though, I have even more reason to be anxious to start--both of the kids are now in school full time.  No more rushing back from drop off at preschool to get a measly two hours of work done as I've been doing for years--Though that taught me to be very efficient with my time and kept my paintings quick and fresh (I guess I'm not really in the habit of  dwelling on paintings anyway, so perhaps that suited me well)

Even more cause for excitement are the 2,700+ photos that I took during our "UberTrip" (as my 5 year-old calls it) in which we drove across the country and back through 18 states.  I think there are a few great paintings in those photos.

Best thing to do after a long period of no painting is to warm up.    My students and I spent a whole class just slopping paint around on a scrap of canvas after the long break, and I made some nice sloppy studies on my own.    This one is of rush hour in Nashville.  I think I can make a nice painting from a crop of this study.

Super-Easy Girl's Trumpet Skirt

Hello!  Just back from a month-long road trip across the country and back.  I took lots of pictures which will keep me busy painting for a while.  More on that later.

Here's a cut-and-sew skirt that I created from my butterfly designs.  The fabric is purchased with the pattern pieces already printed on the fabric--you just cut out the pieces and sew it up.  I made the design just a little while ago, and when I came back from my trip I was pleased to see that Spoonflower was holding a skirt design contest this week.  So, of course, it's time for me to pester you again to vote for my design.

http://www.spoonflower.com/contest_voters/new?contest_id=91  (or just go to the "Contest" tab on http://www.spoonflower.com/)

This is a super-easy skirt to sew, and it fits great.  In knit, two skirts come on one yard of fabric.  I also offer it in plain quilting weight fabric.  Fabric shrinkage is accounted for, so you can wash and dry as you like. 

Available soon in other colors and sizes--adult sizes too!


Knit version: (buy 1 yard, knit only) You get a yellow graphic flower skirt as well.
http://www.spoonflower.com/fabric/215485

Plain quilting weight cotton in watermelon pink (buy 1 yard, quilting weight only).  http://www.spoonflower.com/fabric/578770




In Knit



In plain quilting weight (skirt displayed is not my fabric)

 To Vote:  http://www.spoonflower.com/contest_voters/new?contest_id=91

Thanks!

The Chapel Done Four Ways







Watercolor

 This was just one of those things that I felt I needed to work through.  I don't always know why I do that, but I never regret it.  In this case, I sent myself into a chapel painting do-loop of different mediums and styles.

What started all of this was that a few years ago I did another little painting of this local chapel and struggled with it.  I tried painting on clay board for the first time and it slurped up my paint more than I had expected.  That wasn't the only frustration though.  The subject itself gave me some trouble and I never really knew why.  I ended up selling that painting for just a small amount and never thought that I'd see it again, but since then I've been tickled to see that the people who run the chapel like to use the image for their note cards and things.   So, when it was time for them to order more cards again, I decided that I would treat them to another image.

Acrylic - Funky

I had only meant to make one painting, but then I did another in another medium and style , then another, and another.  I was working through whatever it was about the subject that I had found so tricky.  And you know how it is, once you work through something, you don't always know what the problem was in the first place.  But I think I know now--It's those eaves!  I start to get all free and sloppy painting the trees--which are lovely, the way they sit in front of the lake and make such a nice screen with nothing behind to clutter it up--but then those white eaves cut across and slow me down.   Then I get concerned about keeping them straight and properly angled and such and that breaks my flow. 




Oil - Traditional



Oil - Messy



Even if the chapel is a bit of a road bump for me, I'm glad I took the trouble to paint it.  I know it as a symbol for our community.  Its front lawn is where everything in town happens--where our kids will hunt for Easter eggs this Sunday.

All of these are 8"x10" paintings.  My favorites are the watercolor and acrylic even though those aren't my usual mediums.  

Happy Easter.









Cat Herd



"Cat Herd" by Ann Tuck.  15" x 60".  Oil on Canvas.

I may have thought of the idea for this painting as I was herding my two busy little kids around the grocery store...I don't know, but I ended up painting the background to show these cats heading off to a conference room.  Perhaps that's where this painting belongs.

It's all dry now, so I'll bring it to the Lagerquist Gallery on Tuesday.  Please contact them if you are interested.





My "Sheep" are on the cover of JAVMA.

My painting "Sheep" made the cover of JAVMA (Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association)!  Click here to see. http://avmajournals.avma.org/toc/javma/237/8 

Moths and Marigolds Aqua Now for Sale.

A photo of my Moths and Marigolds Aqua fabric--I love how it came out.  See more at: http://www.spoonflower.com/fabric/334123

Moths and Marigolds Cyan for Sale.

Here's a photo of my Moths and Marigolds Cyan fabric that I just received.  I'm really pleased with how the colors printed out, and I put it up for sale today.  See more at: http://www.spoonflower.com/fabric/333884  It's also available with an aqua background.  I'll post that next.

Moths and Marigolds entered in this week's Spoonflower contest.

Detail of "Moths and Marigolds"

I just entered my “Moths and Marigolds” fabric design in the Spoonflower design contest. This week’s contest is for border prints (fabric with a separate design on the edge).  Since I have been planning some border prints to make into tablecloths, shirts, and bedding for a while, I got out my watercolors and painted some nice juicy marigolds to go with some moths that I had already painted. I think my time spent living in India has definitely influenced me to use marigolds in this piece.

I plan to make a caftan and a blouse out of this fabric.  Then perhaps I'll blow up the design a little and make a bedspread with Spoonflower's cotton/linen blend fabric.

If you would like to vote in the contest, just follow this link. You can vote for as many designs as you like--I'm sure there will be a few other very nice ones there. If you happen to like mine I could use all the help I can get because my design really doesn’t display very well on their site—it looks very yellowy which make my blue and green backgrounds look kind of gross.  When it is printed on fabric though, it should like like it does in this image because I already tested these background colors by having Spoonflower print a pallette for me.  I had a chance to see the moths printed on the Spoonflower fabric as well and I'm really happy with how they came out too.  I'll put this fabric up for sale after I receive my test swatch and make sure that everything looks right.

Wish me luck!

1 yard of "Moths and Marigolds"

I'm in the fabric business!

Nasturtium fabric in 4 sizes + polka dot accent fabrics.

I've wanted to design fabric for years, but the cost of having small portions of fabric printed was pretty expensive.   Since Spoonflower came along though, I've been having a great time making things with my own fabric.  Thank you Spoonflower!  I hope you have a long and prosperous life.

Spoonflower recently started a program to let fabric designers sell their fabric to others, so I put my Nasturtiums fabric for sale and then forgot about it for a while until I needed to upload a design for a baby blanket that I was making for a friend.  When I logged on, I was delighted to find that lots of people had been buying my fabric!

That was inspiration enough for me!  I designed more fabric to sell and have lots more in the works.

Spoonflower prints each fabric order on demand-- just specify the amount of fabric and type of cloth you would like to have and Spoonflower makes it and sends it to you.  I love that there is so little waste involved in the process--no unsold inventory.  I've been extremely happy with the extra-careful printing quality, the quality of cloth and how it stands up to washing and other abuse I subject it to.  You can choose basic cotton (quilting weight), stretch knit, cotton-linen blend (my favorite), upholstery fabric, sheer cotton lawn, and more.

You can find my fabrics at http://www.spoonflower.com/profiles/anntuck.  Since my Nasturtiums design is so popular, I decided to offer some polka-dot accent fabrics that go with it (I love polka-dots),  I'm also offering the Nasturtiums in different sizes.  Nasturtiums (great size for everything from quilts to garments), Nasturtiums Petite (nice smaller print with a Liberty of London feel--for smaller applications like doll clothes, or shirts, or anywhere you would use a calico print.), Nasturtiums Bold (use where you would like a bolder print--perhaps a skirt), and Nasturtiums Jumbo (could be used for drapery or bedding).

I've also finished some other designs that I really like.  More on that later.

Basset Ring Square

I just posted this for sale on ImageKind.com.  It's a cropped version of my "Basset Ring" painting.  That's the nice thing about prints--I don't have to chop up my canvases to enjoy my paintings in new ways.  I like the square format of this painting and I think it pairs really well with my "Dog Pile" painting this way.

See it at:  ImageKind  Check out the framing and canvas options too.

Maidenhair Fern Necktie

I had fun making this necktie for my husband.  I used a textile pattern that I made a while ago, and just removed most of the flowers and changed the background to gray to make it more masculine.

My husband tends to be picky about neckties, so I was a little concerned because Zazzle (the company that made it for me) doesn't print the image on the narrow end of the tie (which you can't see when you wear it).  That didn't bother him at all though.  He loved it and said that he received lots of nice compliments on it at work.

I just set up my shop at Zazzle http://www.zazzle.com/anntuck  and I'll make sure to add some new designs eventually.   I can design skateboards and tennis shoes there too, so I won't be able to resist.

Pretzel Gingerbread House

Just as I was digging out my gingerbread house pattern and recipe, my husband came by with a bag of pretzels and said, “how about using these to make a log cabin?”  "What a great idea", I thought.  And "Oh, did I marry well!"--My heart goes pitter-pat when he comes up with nifty ideas like that. Since it meant that I wouldn’t have to roll out cookie dough, we gave it a try.

To hold everything together, you will need to make some icing that dries rock hard. I used to make it with egg whites and cream of tartar like my mother taught me, but now I just use Wilton Meringue Powder mixed with powdered sugar and water. You can find Meringue powder in craft stores—follow the recipe for Royal Icing included inside the can.

I constructed the walls and roof pieces separately and let them dry before building the house, instead of building the house Lincoln Log-style.  I also added pieces of Rye Crisp to the insides of the walls for extra structural support.

 
 
 
 
 
 
The roof is made of graham cracker pieces.  I added gingerbread cookies to the roof  for a nice German look.
 

 

I constructed the house on a foil-covered piece of cardboard.  My mother taught me to lay down a good-sized blob of icing in each corner before placing the walls, then put a generous amount of icing in the inside seams.

 

After attaching the roof, let the icing dry and have the kids decorate the house with candy, add some icicles, and top with a dusting of powdered sugar.

Stupid Cabinet - How I Wasted my Summer Vacation.

Behold stupid cabinet! One day I will add some artsy fused glass or something to the cabinet doors, but for now, I’m calling it done!

It all started when someone who was interested in buying some of my paintings came to the house. We use our computers in the living room, and had been using some very functional, very baby-proofable, very ugly white cabinets to contain them. I knew they were ugly, but I was able to edit them out of my vision most of the time. At this moment though, when I was showing my paintings to a potential buyer, I realized that this was just not good marketing. Who is going to want to buy paintings from someone with cheesy taste like this?  It turned out that my potential buyer was kind enough to overlook the ugly cabinets—I’ll make sure to post the paintings that I made for her. She did have to wait a little longer than usual to get her paintings though, because I thought that I would just quickly whip up this cabinet and then get on with my other work.

I really didn’t want to take on a woodworking project, I just wasn’t able to find anything suitable to purchase. I made a thorough search, and just came up with nothing. The only thing that made sense was to order some custom kitchen cabinetry and modify it to work. Then the very naive thought came to me…”Well, I’ll just make it”.

“We’ll, I’ll just make it”, always turns out fine for me even when I don’t have a clue what I’m doing—which I didn’t in this case. I’m a master of winging-it and I also work very fast, so I have never regretted taking on projects like this.

Building cabinets is not difficult. Because of all of the right angles, it is much simpler than sewing. But I must warn all of the seamstresses out there, that cabinet making just…takes…a…l..o..n..g…time.

Had I known how long I would need to spend on Stupid Cabinet, I would have saved myself a lot of frustration. Instead I thought, “Oh, I’ll just whip up the cabinets this month and then get back to work”. And then I said, “Oh, I have the carcasses done, so now it’s almost done. I just have to build the doors, sand, and stain it!” And I just kept saying, “Oh, I have that part done. Almost finished!”. And then I was waking up early to work before the kids got up, and staying up late to work when the kids went to bed, and working on the weekends while my poor husband watched the kids. That is how Stupid Cabinet got its name—I started saying “I need to go work on that stupid cabinet”.

Stupid Cabinet was completed at the end of the summer, and I eventually caught up on my backlog of work. I’ll eventually think up some beautiful thing to insert in the cabinet doors, but for now it’s kind of convenient to be able to just reach into the cabinet without opening the doors. Our kids are old enough now that we no longer have to worry about them inserting sandwiches in the disk drives…knock on wood.

Father's Day T-shirts

It started a couple of years ago with this shirt. (Who does this guy's laundry?) We went from "what should we give Dad for Father's Day?" to grabbing a T-shirt and some acrylic paint. (which works great on T-shirts, by the way. No need for fancy fabric paint--the inexpensive craft acrylics that come in bottles work great for T-shirts)

The kids didn't spend much time of this shirt. With a couple of drips of blue paint for eyes, the blobs quickly turned into creatures. Dad loves this shirt. LOVES it. He wears it all the time.

This is a great project for very young kids. Just remember to protect their clothing, because the paint will never come out. I find that limiting the palette prevents muddy colors. Other than that, just stretch the shirt over a board, give the kids a brush, and let them go.

Now... how to top that last shirt! I have been itching to do some applique--I never dreamed it would be for something for my husband. Keeping the creature theme that worked so well before, I asked the kids to draw some monsters. Our six-year-old drew a one-eyed monster straight away, but our three-year-old just made some scribbles--No problem, the scribbles looked very creature-like. We found a flying creature and a mushroom-headed lizard creature in them.

I dug out a precious scrap of my Spoonflower fabric (can't waste those!!!) and we used Steam-a-Seam2 double stick fusible web to make the creatures into fabric "stickers". We slapped them on the shirt and then I pressed them with the iron and sewed around the edges. We added some button eyes and we were done!

He'll get the creature drawings as a Father's Day card.

Shhhhhhh! Don't tell him what he's getting!

Dog Park

My latest painting "Dog Park" is of dogs at our local dog park--I always feel happy after spending time surrounded by all those dogs.

It's a 24"x24" oil on canvas and you can find it at the Lagerquist Gallery in Atlanta.

Sewing Instructions for Girl's Flirty Skirt

I scribbled down these instructions for the girl's flirty skirt I showed in an earlier post. The skirt is made with the Spoonflower fabric I designed. Skirts are very easy to make, and this design with the elasticized waist will fit through several growth spurts--today's knee-length skirt will be tomorrow's mini.

The pattern for this skirt consists simply of three rectangles, and can be made by an absolute beginner. I tried to make the directions for beginners to use, but if there are any confusing parts please let me know. I'd love to see how your skirt comes out using this pattern--send your photos and I'll post them here.

For a young girl, like my three-year-old daughter with a 19'' waist, you can make this skirt out of two fat quarters (21"x18" sold to quilters) of fabric.

1. Take two body measurements (in inches):

a. Measure around the waist (or widest part, ie. hips, thigh..)

b. Measure from the waist down to where you want the bottom of the skirt to be. (best to keep the top of the ruffle above the knee so the skirt is easier to run and play in.)

2. With a as the waist measurement, and b as the length measurement:

Cut two rectangles for the main part of the skirt (ax.5)+3.5" by (b-1"). In other words, (half of the waist measurement plus 3.5") by (the length measurement - 1").

Cut one rectangle for the ruffle 3 3/4" by (a+6")x2.5 (In other words: the waist measurement plus 6" times 2 1/2.). You will probably have to piece two pieces together to have a strip that is long enough--in that case, just add an inch to the length. It is not so important that the length of the ruffle be exact.

3. With right sides together (the printed faces of the fabric touching each other), make seams 5/8" from the edges as shown.

4. Press the seams open with an iron.










5. With right sides together, sew the ends of the ruffle piece together (and sew on any pieces you may have had to add on to get the the length you needed). Press open the seams.

6. Hem the ruffle by folding up the bottom 1/4", then pressing, then folding up 1/4" again, then pressing, then sewing along the edge.

7. To gather the ruffle, baste (sew with large stitches) 5/8" from the top of the edge, and then again 1/4" or so from the edge. (Offset the start of the 1/4" stitching from the start of the 5/8" stitching by a few inches if you want the ruffle to be nice and evenly gathered)

8. Gently pull the ends of the threads to gather the ruffle until it is the same size around as the main section of the skirt.

9. Pin the ruffle to the skirt with right sides together. Sew (don't forget to set your stitch length back to normal after basting) together, stitching on top of the 5/8" basted stitches. Remove basting that shows on right side. Press seam toward the top of the skirt.

10. To make the elasticized waist, fold over the top of the skirt 1/4" or so, press, then fold over again 3/4" (or more if the elastic is wide), and press. Sew a seam along the edge of the fold, leaving an inch or so gap between the start and finish of the seam for inserting the elastic.






11. Attach a safety pin to the end of a piece of elastic (to make it easy to feed through) and feed in through the folded over stitching. Adjust the length of elastic and sew the ends together.

12. Done!