Robot Invasion!

So after getting some positive response to my first robot painting, I decided to paint him some friends. Playing with the angle made a huge difference I think. And if I don't say so myself, they've got quite a bit of personality.

Playing with Modeling Paste

This stuff is FUN.

Use it with a stencil, or in this case a doily, and smear it on with a piece of cardboard. Lift off the stencil and VIOLA- a raised surface that hardens up quite nicely.

I tried it out on a tag I recently did and am looking forward to using it on some other valentine projects. It adds such a neat texture. You could use it to make your own faux raised wallpaper remnants that seem to be so popular these days.

Another little tip: the seam binding on this tag is originally off white. I watered down the acrylic I used to paint the tag and sponged it on the binding to make a custom colored ribbon.

Furlough-palooza

My day job as a government employee afforded me some extended time off over the holidays which I've affectionately dubbed furlough-palooza. In between day trips to local fun spots I did get in a little studio time. I thought I'd share a bit of both.

Nevada City-

Had a great time visiting with my dad and doing some shopping downtown. They have an awesome fairy shop but I was disappointed that the one store I really wanted to see was closed. I should really check these things out first... Oh well, good excuse to go back right? In the meantime, drool over the goodies at My Favorite Things web site with me.

Snow day! On another day we headed up the hill to play in the snow. This resulted in a somewhat depressed looking snowman and a very goofy little boy.

It really was a beautiful day.

Finally, a few stray ornaments I whipped up

and our family gingerbread house for good measure!

Bleep bloop bong bing...

Decided to go in a different direction today and make something for my youngest son's room. I was inspired by some kids art I saw in downtown Walnut Creek (great shopping!) and thought, hey I can do that! It's not exactly how I'd wanted it to turn out but hey, Jake loved it so that's all that matters. It's fun to get out of my comfort zone now and then and it seems like a good way to start off a new decade, don't cha think?