School Artwork

By this time, most of you have already begun the school year. I was going through my assignments from last year so that Mom could send in my transcript, and realized that I did a lot of doodling. In the spirit of being bored during class (yes, it does occasionally happen to homeschoolers!), I present...

*great fanfare*

Random doodles from junior year!

Really, there are tons more. I just didn't bother to unearth them or else this would be a very long post.

I got to watch Disney's Beauty and the Beast for school! Since I was continuously pausing it to take notes for my research paper, I couldn't pass up the chance to do some minute sketches. And yes, I was using a fountain pen to take my notes. Fountain pens are fun. They help me think.

The grumpy Ebeneezer in the right hand drawing is angrily saying my rather ludicrous German assignment (I had to translate "I do not like to play." I mean, come one! Who would ever say that?)

Why yes, I draw pictures that are hanging on the dentist's wall in my notebooks. I'm sure I'm not the only one who 1) does schoolwork in dentist waiting room and 2) freaks out the receptionist by starting directly above her head to draw a painting.

I also feel as sad as this little girl when I have a list of irregular verbs to memorize.

This last photo was actually snapped in sophomore year; that's one of the first German phrases I ever memorized! Oh, and.... ONE WHEEL IS BETTER!

Do you doodle on your schoolwork, too? Let me know in the comments, it's always interesting to hear if other people share my quirks.

DeviantArt

After being bugged... to death... (in a good way), by multiple friends...

I caved in!

Please visit my DeviantArt page at:

shaylynnann.deviantart.com

For those who don't know about DeviantArt, it's basically a huge networking website for artists. They can upload artwork, browse the work of thousands of other artists, get feedback, and much more. I'm still trying to get the hang of it, and only have about 15 pieces up artwork uploaded and another couple in the "scrapsbook."

(One thing I'll add-- you probably don't want to browse the site at large via the search box unless you have the "mature content filter" turned on. I prefer to do my random browsing by checking out my friends' "favorites," because they have both good taste and really good morals, lol!)

There's some artwork up on DeviantArt that's brand-new, like this Art Nouveau Mermaid fresh out of my sketchbook!

If YOU have a DeviantArt account, please let me know! I'd love to check out my readers' galleries. :)

Beautiful Ideas...

A dream...

I recently stopped by the craft store while they were having a wonderful sale on the beautiful Swavorski Crystal beads and findings.

I absolutely love these beads... but they are expensive, even at sale prices. So I settled with a couple of sets of my absolute favorites...

These beads are so stunning that I immediately went to my craft table to dream away. I saw dream, because making a bracelet in the stunning design shown above would cost almost $30 for the supplies alone...  I can't justify that for myself. And I don't yet know if something like this would sell in my Shoppe... and besides, I bought the beads to use as focals in some more of my popular "Royalty Teardrop" design.

(However, if any of you readers want a bracelet like this, you'll make me very, very happy.)

While dreaming, I took pictures of some ideas... And I say some, for I am always chock-full of ideas. I sooo wish that I had an excuse to buy a ton of these beads and make these ideas a reality!

The same design as shown above

Wouldn't clusters of these be stunning on a bracelet?

You can always use different colors... or a mix of colors!

Cool necklace idea...

I want a jewelry set like this! A crystal drop necklace... Sparkling dangle earrings... (I didn't have enough purple beads to put one at the bottom of the other earring for this picture, lol!

Well, there you go. My musings in beads...

A Medley of Chainmaille

Some of the stuff littering my room...

Chainmaille is addicting. I never knew just how fateful that one day at the Summerfest would be. I saw UnkamenGifts, and was immediately hooked.

I've been working hard on some new chainmaille items. Shown here is most of what I have made (that I still have; I've made and given more!). 

Click to enlarge the image. Which is your favorite? Leave a comment!!!

PSST! I've discovered the secret to getting a good picture of chainmaille!

It's called a scanner. While, as an artist, a scanner is very annoying, it is a lifesaver in the way of chainmaille. Of course, the scans are not very artsy, but boy do they show detail! I'm sitting here grimacing at all the pliers' marks and the half-shut rings.

These make me happy. ^_^

Czeck glass leaves! These are gathered from various bead sets. I don't know why, but leaf beads are so inspiring. You can see them put to good use in my Evenstar Pendant. And they just look so pretty piled all over one another. ^_^

FAIL

Think chainmaille is difficult? You're right! It is about as complicated as it looks. This thing was my third attempt at a really cool design, and I never figured it out.

Fun Way to Organize Jump Rings

Like I'd mentioned before, I bought a set of sample jump rings from Unkamen Supplies. Well, I had to have a way to sort them...

So I used these memory card cases (I have a nice, padded case for camera memory cards now-- funny story how I got it...)

Quite Random

I've gotten some new "toys" recently:

Broken jewelry from my grandma:

A set of beads from Hobby Lobby-- I got some jumprings and several other things of beads there, too!!!

AND, here are some things to look forward to seeing on my blog really soon!

Craft Basket

I finally organised my craft basket. Don't worry if it doesn't look organized-- its organized to me. At least stuff is not falling out.

My beads and wire are in an under-the-bed box.

Teaching my sister

This picture is from sometime around last Christmas. EVERY BIT of my jewelry stuff was out all over the floor. Since then I've used most of it up and have more stuff! lol!

Teaser

Yes, I am teasing you, my kind readers.With a photo of recent craft projects. I will write a post about each and every one, hopefully including some instructions. And, yes, the envelope is a craft. You shall see.

Oh, I am also working on a hand-drawn animation with someone who lives halfway across the country.

One man's junk is another man's treasure...

...or however that quote goes.

Does the picture above make your fingers itch and your imagination run on end? 

Those are all random trinkets I found lying around the house. I am sure I will uncover more when we move and get the boxes out of storage.

I am not sure what to do with a broken zipper, belt loop, or spiral paper clip, but I can assure you whatever I make will be... interesting.

Look what else I found! And old watch. The wriststrap was missing, the battery was rusty, and it was salvaged from the "junk/to be sorted box".

The actual watch case would make a great locket bracelet. I could imagine something romantic like a lock of a loved one's hair or sentimental like a picture of your family. But, me being me, I am more likely to build a miniature Narnia in there. :)

With the help of a handy screwdriver, I pried the watch face off the gears without breaking anything. I am very proud of myself. I was able to reattach the hour and minute hands, but I'm sure you can see the tiny, lonesome second hand... just lying there...

Let's see what I do with all this mess!

Glimpses Into An Artist's Mess

I have to say, I have a great talent for making messes. Much as I love tidiness, I rarely feel like actually cleaning. Organizing-- love. Cleaning-- hate. I do make myself actually clean, because I do dislike mess, but its... cleaning.

But when it comes to actually working on art/craft projects, I'm content with mess. :) And while it may not look very organized, be warned that I can remember where everything is and shall bite your head off if you mess with my messy unorganized style of organization. :)

Here are some glimpses:

This was during my very first jewelry "spree". Boy, was I making things left and right! This is on my desk in my bedroom. Made it a bit hard to set schoolbooks on there. :)

A lamp makes an excellent place to dangle jewelry from... it was much more organized there than in the box where it is currently all crammed. :P The poor lamp has left me, sadly. It suffered a dramatic fate at the hands of my little brother.


...I had another picture of my yarn basket, which was overflowing beautifully, like a waterfall... only the picture as disapeared. So you only get one glimpse today. Sorry.