Pitter, Patter, Putter

As the rain fell softly yesterday, I read the comments on my blog post about storage. Lisa left a great comment that I wanted to address. I've seen blogs that use Flikr accounts to store their photos. I'm not sure if they are all like that or not, but all the ones I have seen take you away from your blog and take you to Flikr. Your photos are not shown on your blog, but a URL (link) is provided to go with your blog post. The number of photos I use in each post would cause people to go crazy, because the photos are part of a set. There's nothing worse, in my opinion, than providing a tutorial where you have to click to a new screen to see the photo of each step. It would defeat the purpose, and is similar to the frustrations I had trying to post a tutorial on ABC Yahoo group recently. Your post is separate from the photos and it is hard for visual learners to follow the tutorial well.

It's funny that Lisa also suggested using the "save for web" feature in PS. I was just playing around with that the other day, and found that when I "save as" and specify a low quality under "image options," it uses less memory than when I used the "save for web" option. Not sure if I am doing it wrong or what, but that's how it came out when I tried it.

As the pitter, patter of rain lulled me into a catatonic state, I continued to read this book: Pretty Little Felts: mixed media crafts to tickle your fancy by Julie Collings (North Light Books, 2008). This book's projects and content were written by Collings, only. There were no other contributors. It took me two days to get through this book. It was chock full of delicious mixed media projects and information. This is a book you sit and read, word for word, cover to cover. That is, if you want to use felt in your mixed media art.


Everything was laid out well, including the materials pages (not shown) and the tools pages (shown).


All instructions had adequate photos located directly above them.


Each project started with a photo of a completed piece, then a materials list and instructions. I would highly recommend reading this book, if you want to use a bit of felt in your mixed media.


After I finished reading the book and taking a few notes, I got inspired to create something with material. I'm still ripping old clothes apart for fabric (yardage). I found that skirts are easier to rip apart, provide more material than pants, and have fewer seams. After I tore this skirt apart, I had 4 panels, 6 buttons that went down the front of the skirt, one seam I saved for flowers (tutorial will be here on Monday), and a label to use in my art. I decided this was a color I could do something with, so decided to dye one panel for a project that is swirling around in my head.


As the rain continued its slow pitter patter on my roof, I cut the panel into two pieces, wet one piece, then colored it using distress inks. I took my time and puttered, not caring if I had a completed project or not. I was truly lulled by the rain.


In the process of dying the skirt panels, I managed to color two Viva paper towels, too. After I cleaned up the craft room, laid the pieces out to dry, and turned out the lights, I decided it will be fun to see if what I have designed in my head becomes the piece I get in the end.

Do blog giveaways drive traffic to your blog? Well Tammy Freiborg at Bonsai Habits has my traffic. I won her fabulous blog giveaway that you can see here. I was tickled to win, but also tickled that Tammy's interests are similar to mine. I really enjoy her posts, some of which will touch your heart. As a result, I'll be returning to Tammy's blog quite often.

And here are links to two of my favorite artists who are having blog giveaways. They ask for nothing, other than you leave a comment or make a selection. They didn't demand anything in return for a comment, other than hopefully you enjoy their art. I was not coerced into doing anything special, or even posting about them. These (and Tammy's) are my kind of giveaways. As a result, I think it's my duty and privilege to make you aware of their blogs and their art.

1. Marilyn Rock whose giveaway ends March 15.

2. Cat Giglio whose giveaway ends March 14.