Jen Bowles Design

M.I.A.

Let's see. 
I haven't posted because I was in Holland?
Ok fine, not quite.  I guess the American flag probably gives that away...
Actually, we've been busy for a very good reason.
Late last week we accepted an offer on our house (!!).
Very happy about that.
A mad flurry of packing and cleaning and moving boxes and signing papers has ensued.
The home inspection is tomorrow, I'm not too worried (our house is only 3 years old and we had it inspected before we bought it) but I'll be glad when it's all set.
In the meantime, I've not been creating much art and will soon be packing up all but a few journal essentials from my studio.  We anticipate putting our stuff in storage for a month or two so for our long distance move this time we are using PODS.  Hopefully packing and loading at our own pace will be slightly less stressful.  We shall see...
As for the picture of the windmill, that was taken yesterday at Metrolina Greenhouses .  I accompanied Will & Cuyler's class there on a field trip.   The first time I drove by the Metrolina site a few months after we moved down here I was amazed.  Out of the middle of nowhere, there were acres and acres of greenhouses.  In fact, they have 100 acres of heated greenhouses, the most in the US (according to their website).  When the permission slip came home for this field trip, I knew I was going.  After all, how many more chances am I going to get to see the inside of this place (we move in a month if all goes well so hopefully, none).
It was pretty amazing in there.  Apparently, Metrolina is one of the most automated greenhouses/wholesale growers in the country.  There were conveyor belts, cool automated transplanters and watering stations all over the place.  Oh, and flowers.  Acres and acres of flowers as far as the eye could see.  Of course the funny part was how the field trip was supposed to be for the kids but as soon as all of us moms saw the flowers, it was all about us : )
We did go to a nearby playground for a picnic lunch and an hour's worth of playtime.  I guess we had to do something for the kids after all... 

{Check out my Metrolina Greenhouses photo set on my flickr}

Circles and a Square

Hey look, it's a $50 art journal page!  Sure, it's hard to tell just by looking at the finished product but trust me, 50 bucks.
    It started with the painted circles on Monday night.  After I'd done 3 colors (2 pinks and orange) I decided I wanted a punch of darker pink as well.  So I portioned out a squirt about the size of a penny if a penny was about half the size that it actually is.  I painted my accent dots and went into the other room to watch tv with the rest of the family.
You'll note that I did not say that I cleaned up my painting supplies.  Because I didn't.  I also did not mention closing the door to my studio.  Because I didn't.
Fast forward an hour and it's time to take Ebby up to bed.  As I approached the stairs I noticed what I thought were large blood drops on the light beige (very light) carpet.  While quite distressing, this was not shocking to me because a. on Saturday Will had a mysterious bloody nose that may or may not have been caused by Little Dog and he was so shocked that he ran directly to the (light) beige sofa in the library and wiped blood all over the cushions and b.  our cat has been having some issues and I thought I saw a single bloody paw print on the window sill last week.  Alas, Will was in bed and the cat was not bleeding.  The cat had however been in my studio.  On the table.  Stepping directly in the not yet dried up blob of magenta paint.  And then jumping down on the the carpeted floor and up the carpeted stairs.
Yes, 7 round spots of magenta paint on our carpet.  Have I mentioned lately that our house is for sale?!
Fortunately my Resolve/toothbrush/dish detergent triage coupled with a visit from our friendly professional carpet cleaner, has restored the carpet to its original, unblemished glory.
So, a $50 art journal page.
$40 for the carpet cleaner and $10 at Hobby Lobby for a set of 4 Pitt pens.
I love the Pitt pens, they are so fun to draw with.
And with my carpet now spotless (for today at least), I was feelin' the love  for the carpet guy too.

Happy Earth Day

Library Love

I love the library.
And I especially love the online catalog.
I browse around, find something I'd like to read, request the item, and like magic it shows up at my local library branch with a special slip saying it's just for me. 
When I'm done I can return it--which saves me money and storage space.  And with a husband who seems to think that in order to maximize the "free"  ($75/year) 2 day shipping from Amazon.com it is necessary to order something daily (no tax! free shipping!), these are good things.

I think I have 7 books checked out right now, including this one: Pretty Little Pincushions
If I can't find the time and/or motivation to make any of the projects in the book, at least I can look at the lovely pictures of them for 3 weeks.  Maybe the instructions will burn into my brain for later use...

By Ruby

My little 4 1/2 year old friend Ruby stopped by my studio yesterday and wanted to make something.

  Not to worry, Ruby wasn't alone.  She was visiting with the rest of her family, some of our very best friends.  Since they live in NY, we don't see them nearly as much as we'd like.  Lucky for us, we were a convenient rest stop for the whole family as they were returning from a vacation trip to Florida.

Whereas so much of my art stuff is packed up, it was a bit tricky to find something for Ruby to create with on short notice.  Not to worry though, within 5 minutes she was picking out colors to paint her paper mache box at the kitchen table.  With the slightest (as in not very much at all)  bit of help from Mommy and Aunt Jen, Ruby painted, glittered and glued her way to this fabulous creation.  Would you expect anything less from such a sweetie?

The funny part was that once Ruby started painting,  the other, older kids started drifting in, looking for a surface to adorn.  Fortunately, I was able to accommodate.

Creativity--it's contagious!

Hope Always

Another day, another journal page.  Unlike my last page, this one was quick.  Not surprisingly, I like this one a lot more.  I definitely work better when I like what I'm making, much less of a struggle.  The other thing that helped me get this page done quickly was that it is a) simple and clean lined and b) heavily inspired by a Hallmark card.  And when I say heavily inspired I basically mean I changed a few colors and copied it.   Usually when I am inspired by  a greeting card (love having my iPhone to snap pictures of cards at Target!) I use it as a jumping off point.  Not this one.  I really like the card--the design and the message--so I decided to just re-create it. 

Last week I found out that a family friend was recently diagnosed with breast cancer that has spread to her spine and her sternum.  She's 23.  I've known her since before she was born and I babysat for her and her sisters for years.  I was, and am, shocked and saddened to hear the news of her diagnosis.  Fortunately, she is a strong woman  with a wonderful and supportive family and extensive network of friends.  She is maintaining a positive attitude and as much normalcy as possible as she begins her treatment.  The whole family has been in my thoughts and prayers daily so when I saw the card  the other night I put it right in my cart.

I had already painted the background of this page pink before I knew what I'd be doing on it.  It's right next to the Africa page in my journal and some of the paint had migrated.  And with pink being the color for breast cancer awareness, it all came together.

{acrylic paint, Sharpie}

No Ice Cream in Africa

Guess who watched a bit too much Idol Gives Back last week?  And yes, we donated, so I could watch guilt free--at least in that respect.
This page started out as something completely different.  However, it took me several days to complete as I kept getting distracted by my paper mache tea set project.  By the time I got back to it, things morphed.
Last week I took Ebby to Panera Bread for lunch.  We took our dessert to go and I decided I wanted to use the bag in my art journal.  I had thoughts of using the logo but just couldn't work it out.  So I moved on.  I went through my old scrapbooking templates, looking for something to use as a pattern to jump start a collage.  For whatever reason, I decided on the ice cream cone.  I cut the scoop of ice cream out of scrapbook paper.  Then I cut the cone out of the Panera  paper bag.  I painted the background and left it to dry.  For 5 days.  Finally yesterday I told myself I had to finish.  I wanted the scoop of ice cream to stand out from the background so I went looking for a page from one of the (only) two thrift store books I currently have in the studio.  And the map of Africa is the page I randomly picked out.  When I saw the map I thought of the stories from Idol Gives Back--the malaria nets, the 15 year old boy whose parents and grandparents had all died and he was left to care for his 3 younger brothers, the living conditions.  So when I put the ice cream cone on top of the map of Africa, it made me think of how much we take for granted (in America, at least at my house).  If we want an ice cream cone we can just hop in the car, drive 2 miles to Bruster's and partake.  I'm thinking that in too many parts of Africa that's just not the case--thus the dripping/melting ice cream tears.
I didn't and don't mean for my art journal page to be making a political statement, it's just me--seeing the world and interpreting it. 

{materials:  acrylic paint, scrapbook paper, Panera Bread paper bag, page from an old almanac, Hero Arts alphabet stamps, charcoal pencil}

Sunday Afternoon Tea Party

Welcome to my Sunday afternoon tea party!  Sweet Little Miss Crafty (Juliet)  is hosting a 3 day tea party over on her Altered Art Appreciation Society blog.  She made the most adorable invitation so really, how could I refuse? 
My tea party this afternoon is somewhat of a hybrid--real cupcakes and paper mache tea set.  As soon as I read Juliet's invitation I started thinking about making something out of paper mache.  I picked up 2 tea cups and 2 saucers at the 50% thrift store sale and used them as bases.  I had some help early in the week from Ebby and her friend.  They each covered a saucer with Vaseline (for easy release) and then glue & water soaked newspaper.  I was in charge of the cups and the teapot.  The teapot started as a pink balloon.  We didn't do too many layers of newspaper, as evidenced by the wonky, warped nature of the tea set.  I must say though--I like it.  Especially the way the tea pot lid is all curled up on itself.
Decorating the paper mache was, of course, the best part.  Followed closely by decorating the cupcakes (sure, the mix and frosting are store bought but I didn't watch Martha's Cupcake Week for nothing!).  First I gessoed all the pieces, then painted with regular acrylic craft paint.  I freehanded the swirl design on the teapot and saucer.  The dots on the tea cups are punched out of cardstock.  I also went dot crazy with my black Stickles for a touch of sparkle.  Speaking of sparkle, I love how the pipe cleaner handles turned out!  Silver was the only color of pipe cleaner I had in the house and my refusal to go to Michael's when I have an entire room full of craft supplies, dictated that I use them.    My little surprise is the pair of wee birds peeking out from the bottom of the teacups (also had them on hand).  The final touch was cutting out the letters and placing the words on each object.  I love those letters, they're from a  1940s children's magazine.
So here we are, my tea set and me holding down the fort in my studio.  I'm just waiting for some lovely little girls to come by to drink some tea and nibble on pink sugared cupcakes...

Another weekend mosaic!

Ok, I've had a lot of favorites lately!  One mosaic could not sufficiently showcase all their beauty so here's take 2...

1. Petit Jaune with beret, 2. Flora Hugly, 3. Soul Mates, 4. Wallpaper Class Artfest 2008, 5. Amy, 6. And Would We Have It Otherwise?, 7. 'Twas Always Thus, 8. Let's Play Card, 9. n.15 | AMOR (embroidery), 10. ♥ again..., 11. "n", 12. Untitled, 13. Time for Tea !, 14. Coeur, 15. My GO Arrow, 16. Happy Teapot Painting

Saturday Flickr Faves

Lots of lovely discoveries this week (well, except for that blue square on the bottom--you can see the picture if you click on the link for Felt Cake #4)
Enjoy!

1. Brown Betty Teapot, 2. Bridge at Augusta, 3. World Cities Alphabet, 4. Garden 1-2-3, 5. bird cages, 6. hearts, 7. I've added to the pottery, 8. Swatch portraits in shared bedroom..., 9. Close Up of A Rendezvous with Nature, 10. the GOLDEN State, 11. For my next solo show., 12. Untitled, 13. artfest 2008, 14. Felt cake #4, 15. 4.little.birdies, 16. birdhouse1