Blog - In A Tickle

Documented Life Project- Week 24

Posted on July 11, 2014 by JanJuly 11, 2014

Week 24 challenge in the Documented Life Project was to use book text. In case you are just starting to follow our blog, Melinda and I are participating in the Documented Life Project by using the challenges as art projects. This year we have not been doing the journal/planner part of the project. We invite you to join us in doing the challenges to stretch your creativity in new ways. There is no right way or wrong way to do the challenges. You don’t even have to show anyone what you do if you are not comfortable with that yet. Melinda and I are showing you what we come up with for each challenge to help you see how each one can be interpreted in different ways. Sometimes we feel great about what we’ve made and sometimes not so much. But we are trying new things and learning and growing in our creative journeys. Come on the journey with us!

Jan:
I really did not know what direction I was going to go with this challenge. I had no ideas even roaming around in my head. So I just started gelli printing on some pages from an old book of inspirational quotes and sayings (which I purchased at a yard sale for this purpose) and some card stock. When Melinda saw one of the gelli prints, she said it reminded her of a giraffe. That was all the encouragement I needed.

Melinda:
I found this quote that I liked in the book mom used for hers. At first I was trying to make flowers out of pages from that book. . .and failed miserably. So I cut the flowers up and mod podged the pieces to the page. After that was dry, I painted over it and finished my page off with the quote.

Documented Life Project- Week 23

Posted on July 10, 2014 by JanJuly 11, 2014

The challenge for the Documented Life Project for week 23 was to: “Practice gratitude – write what you are grateful for each day this week.”

Jan:
After the month of kids and grandkids (see post) we are behind a few weeks on the challenges and finally catching up. The week this challenge was issued was the week my 6th grandbaby was born, so gratitude for my family was the highlight of that week. I chose to make a paper banner saying “GRATITUDE” on my page. I cut some triangles for my banner from photos in a magazine ad of kitchen towels and glued them to triangle shaped card stock. On top of a gelli printed page, I wrote in pencil several verses that were on the topic of gratitude and thankfulness. I glued my banner on top of that and machine stitched across the top of the banner. To finish the page, I glued several word strips cut from magazines.

Melinda:Baby Boy was born the day after this challenge was posted on DLP on June 1.
I wanted to do my page to remind me of the birth. I was so grateful for so many things that week. I gelli printed a piece of paper with a tree to represent life and used colors to remind me of the placenta that sustained my baby for 9 months.

Summer Garden Recipes

Posted on July 8, 2014 by JanJuly 8, 2014

I love going to the garden and picking my own vegetables. Fresh from the garden produce tastes amazing. Last summer I shared with you my favorite refrigerator pickles recipe made healthy. When I picked the first batch of cucumbers last week, I planned to make pickles again. After I got started, I realized I did not have much honey on hand, so I decided to try something new. I substituted coconut palm sugar for the honey. The coconut palm sugar gave the pickles (and onions) a darker, carmel coloring, and a slightly different flavor, but they are very tasty. I would not hesitate to substitute again. Last year my garden would not cooperate with producing zucchini. That is not the case this year.So I am in the process of finding new ways to use zucchini. One recipe I found that has already become a hit with my family is Crusty Parmesan-Herb Zucchini Bites. Melinda substituted Mozzarella cheese the other night for parmesan and said that was yummy too.

I had bananas that were ready to be made into bread and looked for a recipe that also used zucchini and found this Zucchini Banana Bread recipe. It called for 3 bananas and I only had two, so I added more zucchini to make up for the third banana. I substituted coconut palm sugar for the brown sugar in the recipe. I also added about a tablespoon of cocoa powder (just because…) We just taste tested and the loaf probably won’t be around very long in my house!What are your favorite recipes for summer garden produce?

From Metal Tub to Creative Adventure

Posted on July 2, 2014 by JanJuly 2, 2014

This tub looks like it is ready for the 4th of July.But what to do with it the rest of the year? It doesn’t really fit my decor.

Actually, I picked it up at a thrift store with the intention of transforming it into something else. I decided to spray paint it with black chalkboard paint.The next step was to hand it over to my grandkids’ creative imaginations.They decided to turn it into a pirate ship. After giving them chalk, PVC pipes, masking tape, paper, plastic lids with magnets taped to them and a few other supplies…aaargh!After playing pirates a while, they decided to turn the tub into a spaceship.I think they had as much fun staging their creations for picture taking as they did decorating the tub. I wonder what their imaginations will turn it into next time they come over?

Grandkids (Cousins) Camp

Posted on June 26, 2014 by JanJune 27, 2014

This is what the past month has been filled with……lots of silliness, laughter, games, water squirters, swimming, coloring, painting, reading, playing, rolling in the grass, bonfire, glow stick dances, chalk drawing on the driveway, celebrating a birthday, riding bikes and scooters, canoeing, picnics, movies, singing, AND eating, eating, and more eating! Melinda and her sister often talk about sending their kids to Grandma and Pa Summer Camp, so I guess you could say this was a beginning (only it also included the parents and the birth of a new baby.) The time will come all too soon when they will be old enough to come spend an extended time at Grandma and Pa’s without their parents. But for now we will take it in little steps.

Do you have grandkids? Have you considered planning a creative week or weekend of activities for “Grandkids Camp”? Perhaps that seems overwhelming to you. So, if your grandkids live close enough, maybe you could start with a special “Grandkids Day” once a month through the summer. Make some positive memories with your grandchlidren that will live on in their hearts as they grow into adults.

Stitched Greeting Cards

Posted on June 19, 2014 by JanJune 19, 2014

A few posts ago, I shared about some stitched designs on card stock that I painted with gelatos for a Documented Life Project challenge. Here is one of the designs.I later needed to make a card and decided to coat the back of the stitched and painted papers with a thin layer of mod podge to hold the threads in place. The front of the stitched paper could also be mod podged, but would change the look of the design.When I cut the stitched papers, the threads stayed put. I made a couple of cards using strips of stitched and painted paper.

Sometimes when we create, we don’t always know what to do with the finished pieces. Look at some of your art work and see if there is a way to repurpose some of what you have created. Perhaps there is only a portion of a picture you’ve drawn or painted that you really like. Cut out that portion and use it on a card or incorporate it into a mixed media project. You may be surprised to see what you can create using art you have already created.

Father’s Day Handprint Gift

Posted on June 16, 2014 by JanJune 16, 2014

Yesterday was Father’s Day. So while Pa was away at work, the girls made a gift for their dad with their kids. The six grandkids gave them a hand (pun intended) with this piece of art for their Pa.

Whenever the kids come over while Pa is home, he welcomes with a “who’s at my house?” or a “hello, Droops!” So Pa’s Droops were excited to give him their gift as soon as he got home from work.

With the rainbow of colors, he will always know who’s handprint is whose because the colors coordinate with the oldest to youngest grandkid. (The babies gave Pa some nice knuckles for their contribution.)

Documented Life Project- Week 22

Posted on June 12, 2014 by JanJune 12, 2014

The art challenge for week 22 in the Documented Life Project was to, “Draw, paint or sketch a house.”

Jan:
I came across a photo I had taken of a bird house in the backyard of a vacation home where we stayed in Skaneateles, NY. It was a cute little house made from a log. When I took the photo, I had in mind that maybe someday it would be inspiration for an art project. Whenever I see something that interests me, I try to snap a photo (so much easier in this day and age of phone cameras.) Even if I don’t get a great picture, it can still be a starting point for a future project.So for this challenge, my sketch of a house is this bird house.Melinda:

I’ve been a little behind on my challenges because of baby, but I’m ready to jump back into it! I have about five pages to do to catch up and figured I should just go with what I was inspired to do first and go from there.

Because of Baby Boy’s desire to nurse frequently, I got my paper, pencil, and clipboard so I could sketch while I fed him. I did some brainstorming and decided to draw a whimsical house. I was able to get it half drawn while feeding him, and then I finished it while he had a good long nap. I tried to make myself draw without trying to be too accurate or realistic just to get my hand loosened up to draw freely. Every time I sketch, I know I’m practicing to be better the next time.

I drew 446 on the mailbox because that was the time Baby Boy was born, 4:46am.

Inspired by Nature

Posted on June 9, 2014 by JanJune 9, 2014

I found something new in the fence row by my house the other day. I had no idea what it was, but the large size and intricate design captured my attention. I had not yet figured out what it was until today when I discovered a new flower on the plant.Now that I have an image of the flower that turned into the giant seedpod, I could look it up online to figure out what kind of plant it is. It’s official name is Tragopogon Pratensis, otherwise known as Meadow Salsify, Showy Goat’s Beard, Meadow Goat’s Beard, or Jack-go-to-bed-at-noon, none of which I had ever heard of.

When you are outside, remember to look closely. Inspiration is all around you. The details in God’s creation are amazing. You just might see something you can incorporate into your own art work.

Documented Life Project- Week 21

Posted on June 7, 2014 by JanJune 7, 2014

The Documented Life Project challenge for Week 21 was: “Add embroidery or embroidery floss to your page – no floss? use thread.”

This challenge reminded me of the last Great Big Stitched Postcard Swap I did using embroidery floss on my tulips. I have plenty of embroidery floss, but wanted to do something different for this challenge. I have not done any free motion stitching on my sewing machine for a long time and thought it would be fun to free motion stitch a design on paper for this challenge. You can check out the post about using the darning foot on the sewing machine to learn how to do this.

I switched to a needle I use for paper on the sewing machine and changed to the darning presser foot. Since it had been a while, I decided to just practice for a bit on the pieces of watercolor paper before doing a “real design”. It is more difficult to do the free motion stitching on paper than it is on layers of fabric. I used white thread on the white paper. After stitching a few pieces of paper, I decided to try adding some color to them to see what would happen. It turned out well, so I decided that the stitching I had already done would work. At this point, I don’t have time to try to make the “perfect” design (I’m already behind in the challenges.) My goal was to try a new technique for the challenge. I lightly rubbed gellatos on top of the thread stitching as well as on some of the paper.The next step was to “paint” over the gellato coloring with water. The gellatos act like watercolors when you use with water. After painting with the water, I added more gellato coloring where needed to get the effect I liked. The threads took more of the color making the stitch design show up better. I ended up with three stitched pictures for the challenge.