jane's apron

auction for catherine

I don't usually jump in to something without really thinking about it.  But when I saw that Jenn (noodleandlou) was organizing an art auction for Catherine Thursby (redshoes), I couldn't respond fast enough.  Catherine is one of my first and oldest blog friends and a crazy-talented artist.  She has always supported and encouraged me (and made me laugh).  

I have a stash of items that I could contribute but I was more like the girl with a closet full of clothes but nothing was good enough.  I needed something new.  I'll leave out the messy details but I wanted the art to be red and black, with paper and paint, with dots and hearts.  The two-piece heart was from a stash of magazine pages and I think it's a perfect reflection of friendship and love.  

So...the auction.  It's on instagram and happens on Saturday, April 26 here.

And, Catherine, I have to include the next photos for you.  Hope they make you smile (as you attempt to see my artwork in the background).

tiny portraits

The front bench of our school sometimes has a box or two of school supplies that someone has donated; generally just dated stuff (but sometimes very cool vintage stuff).  A couple of weeks ago someone donated several boxes of art supplies. Like really good art supplies.  All kinds of art papers and a big bundle of prismacolor pencils.  I grabbed an armful of stuff and knew exactly what I wanted to make.  

I needed to donate something to our school auction and always wanted to create something using artwork from my students.  I cut 2x2 squares and asked each kid to draw a self-portrait.  I got some resistance with "I'm not good at drawing".  I told them it didn't matter...just sketch yourself and I'll take care of the rest.  It is amazing how some of the kids got their personalities and features exactly right.  

I took their sketches and outlined them in Sharpie Markers (thin for the facial features and thicker for the outlines).  I colored everything and distressed all of the edges with a little ink.  The idea was to create a stained glass window so that's why each portrait has four colors around it.  I glued every square in place and then stitched a cross onto my "window" of students.  

If you follow me on instagram, you probably saw a few too many pictures of the steps I took to create this but it was so fun (and so fun to share).

the best red paint ever and thomas edison artwork

 

We live in a house built in 1929.  The basement foundation is epic; like a dungeon (you can see a little of the stone wall in the top photo).  The TV room has no natural light so I painted everything a light gray and painted one wall bright red.  Every time I look at the wall I think "that is the best red I have ever seen".  But I didn't start with the best paint.  

I bought a Martha Stewart color (from Home Depot) called Maine Lobster.  Three coats of paint later, I was back at Home Depot. This time I bought their Behr Premium Plus Ultra Paint and Primer in One. I matched Martha's Maine Lobster to Behr's Firecracker.  O.M.G.  That paint went on like whipped cream icing.  One coat.  Done.  I'm a color freak and this red is perfectly red; not too blue, not too orange (my photo skills don't really do it justice).

I blogged about the Thomas Edison patent drawings this summer.  I put them in black 24x36 frames from Micheal's.  On the same day I bought them.  You can see how I did it here.

Ok...only one more post about the basement; the plank wall, vintage sign, and source for some of the furniture.  

feats of strength and stupidity; my galvanized pipe table

 

The purpose of this post is not really a DIY for making a galvanized pipe table (although it is based very loosely on these excellent plans).  Its purpose is to serve as a warning for the things you may not know and how to avoid the same mistakes I made.  As an overview, let me just say that I spent about 4,000 hours in the pipe aisle at Home Depot and made many mistakes (in both design and in my calculations (including a mistake in my Pythagorean Theorem calculation when the design briefly did not have crossing bars (oh, the math teacher shame)).

• DO make a very detailed list of parts.
• DO wipe all of the parts with a de-greasing cleaner.
• DON'T mistake a "coupling" and a "union" for the same thing.  A union is VERY important if your design has any closed loops (no matter how strong your teenager is or how hard you hammer and try to close the loop)
• DON'T let the pipes get wet (like during an unexpected rain shower when you are at Home Depot again and can't get anyone to cover the table legs or move them into the garage)
• DO use a pumber's wrench to take pieces apart.
• DO understand that the table will possibly cost more than you expect.

We had a great piece of butcher block leftover from my mother-in-law's apartment and that's what started this DIY.  In the end, I've forgotten how hard it was to build and I really love it.  It's a perfect perch to watch TV, eat, or mess around on pinterest looking for the next DIY.  (And DO try to make your kids drink from a cup with a lid).

 

skirts

 

I put up a plank wall in our basement this summer (using masonite; long story) and had a stack of scraps at the end of it all.  I'm a life-long leftover saver ("Oh, I can use this for something") and sometimes use what I save.  The boards I saved are about 6x15 inches; the perfect size for something tall and narrow.  

I had some sewing patern girls that need a dose of "modern" and a new stack of scrapbook paper.  I gave them each a new, bold skirt.

Chevron, monster dots, and numbers.  I painted the boards (one with chalkboard paint), layered them with tissue paper and a vintage transfer.  I also smudged on some brown ink to give a little more dimension to the images.  

Always looking for validation, I showed it to Ellen.  She said something like "that's a cute skirt".  Nailed it.  

girls' night

 

There's nothing better than finding someone that "gets" your idea, artwork, whatever.  I signed up as a vendor at a girls' night event at an all-girls high school last week.  And they got it; especially the younger crowd (yes!).  

I didn't do much prep work but I did sit down one day and made lit'rally 100 small fabriano cards.  The cards are beautiful anyway and I simply tore paper from one of my vintage sewing books and stamped them with either "love" or "happy".  I am crazy for these cards.  And so were the shoppers. I sold every single one.

Now I need to make more for myself.  

 

art school

My aim was true.  I created a pretty art journal and added a Summer Art School title.  My failure to actually take myself to school is my own fault.  Yes, I'm busy but I know I can find a few minutes each day.  I also know that creating something (even something very small) makes me happy.  Kind of like ice cream makes me happy.  And I manage to do that everyday.  

Would you like to go to school with me?  Maybe share some of your art journal stuff too?  Instagram makes it easy.  I'm janesapron.  Use #summerartschool and we can find each other.  

she is me

Student questions...

"Where did you get these?"  I made them.

"Are those lunch bags?" Yes.

"Where did you get the paper?"  I have some at home and found some at school.

"You have a hole punch that makes a fork?"  Yes, yes I do.

I have written something about desperate or hurried crafting at least 30 times on this blog.  It is how i get almost everything done.  When I suddenly needed cards to thank our lunch helpers and room mothers at school...well, you know...tag books with a binder clip and cards made from lunch bags suddenly happened.  The glue was still wet when I snapped this picture.  

Have you seen this commercial?  She is me. Is she you too?

 

thirty-one days {30}

Ellen and her new loom knitter are a pretty good match.  So far, Penny has a new scarf and plans for a dog sweater are in the works.

thirty-one days {29}

It's a birthday day here...my built-in deadline for getting my Christmas tree down.  I'm always just as happy to see it come down as I am when I put it up.  Always ready to move on.  

I like to keep a few "winter" things around so I will keep this cup of enchanted pinecones.  Enchanted only means that they have glitter on them.  They are the result of another craft gone bad but I like them and I finally used the pretty German glass gllitter I've had waiting for something.  Just dip some pinecones in glue and then into glitter...totally fancy.