I know it's been a minute since my last post, but I have been a busy little bee. I've spent my summer thrifting, making things, and dealing with the odd anomaly. I had a case of furnace birds, for instance.

I came home from work a few weeks ago to find Stella and Grayson going to seizures on and around my dining room table. The source of all the excitement was a sparrow who had, somehow, made his way into my apartment and who was chilling out on my ceiling fan. I packed the cats away in a bedroom, turned all the lights off, turned the porch light on, opened the front door, and hit the deck. The bird was clearly stressed out and spent some time flying into walls and dive-bombing me before eventually flying out the front door (then flying back in, then leaving for good).

After giving the apartment a good scrub-down I went to bed, only to be awoken by scratching noises coming from my utility closet. 

Oh, no. 

In my half-awake haze I imagined it to be some sort of R.O.U.S. or similarly scary and fictional animal. It took a good amount of time to psych myself up enough to put my feet on the ground. As I got closer to the closet (in my snow boots) I heard a frenzied chirping. 

Way less scary, but still disconcerting.

Again, I packed the cats away, turned of the lights, opened the front door, and slowly opened the utility closet.

Nothing happened.

I waited.

Eventually the scratching resumed and a terrified and (probably) sweaty sparrow clawed its way out of my furnace vent. He eventually settled under my dining room table, where I let him collect himself before coaxing him out the front door. 

If you don't believe me, see for yourself:

I guess they were trying to make a nest in my furnace spout and fell in. 

Anyway, I haven't come home to any furnace birds in a while, and I promise to post more than once a month from now on.

On to the tutorial!!

More after the jump...

Today is lazy. 
Here are a few things to look at whenever you wake up:

Wall sconce. 

I made those pillows. 

Best. Chandelier. Ever.

This is a chandelier in the shape of a ship. I am certain that this is the best chandelier known to man. A while ago I went bananas collecting chandelier crystals to use in necklaces and I have ziploc bags full of extras. I am considering trying to make a version of this myself. 

I figure I would need the following:

- chandelier crystals (check)

- 12 gauge galvanized steel wire (check)

- some sort of electrical tubing

- Rubber mallet for shaping tubing (check)

- soldering gun

- candelabra bulbs (check)

- hanging light kit

I am not usually a proponent of directly copying something like this, but I'd make an exception here because a) I am not intending to make several copies to sell for profit, b) this lamp was mass-produced, so by making this I am not refusing my support to an artist who needs it, and c) I am not about to drop $600 on a chandelier, however awesome it may be.

Stay tuned. I am pretty jazzed about this idea.

Your Sister in Craft,

LB

Someone once told me that I should draw every day for 20 minutes regardless of whether or not I want to. This is solid advice because it is startlingly easy to fall out of practice. Making art is not like riding a bicycle (...actually, maybe it is. The last time I got onto a bike I fell right back off of it). It takes practice. There is only so much that talent can do for you.

ATCs (Artist Trading Cards) are baseball card-sized works of art that are meant to be traded. That's about all there is in the way of specifications. ATCs can be found in every medium and every style. ACEOs (Art Cards, Editions and Originals) are basically the same thing, but people tend to sell ACEOs. Mostly, the two names are used interchangeably. Here are a few links relating to ATCs and ACEOs:

Art-e-zine ATC Swap

 ATC Swiss Site

 

Etsy's ACEO Street Team Blog

IllustratedATCs - A Juried Swapping Site

I like that ATCs provide an official little area to try out new things. The parameters make it feel important without it having to be that important. I have a feeling I am going to use them to get some of my more on-the-nose ideas out of my system (because small silly things are easier to enjoy than large silly things).

In any event, I am going to post one every Wednesday. Here is my first try. I made this on a Sunday while my friend and former studio mate, Meghan, was visiting. It has no purpose...just a few elements loosely related that are grouped together. It was fun to make:

 

 You can find little envelopes for the cards at Dick Blick-type places. They are adorable.

 

 I've yet to decide what I am going to do with them after I make them. I may give them away to people who ask for them in comments.  Keeping them defeats the purpose. Of course, I may require that the recipients make an ATC in turn. Is that fun or frightening?

Your Sister in Craft,

LB