This challenge is giving me so many opportunities to play! I don't normally spend my time working with special effects for my photos, since I prefer to see my pictures the way they actually look. But by giving myself limits for my photos in this challenge, I've forced myself to play more. And I'm so pleased with the results!
This evening gown from my 2010 Spring Collection was modeled by Rebekah for the Fashion Show. She has plenty of attitude, which makes her infinitely photographable! I played with this shot on Picnik, a photoshop extra in my Picasa program that lets me do special effects. The first photo in this montage used the infrared film effect, which gave it a stark look that I really liked. The second one used a combination of the black and white function with the posterize effect. The third photo (on the left on the bottom) used the effect called 'Holga-ish.' It made it very dark and spooky. I loved it! The final photo used the invert special effect. I'm really pleased with this montage.
This challenge is giving me so many opportunities to play! I don't normally spend my time working with special effects for my photos, since I prefer to see my pictures the way they actually look. But by giving myself limits for my photos in this challenge, I've forced myself to play more. And I'm so pleased with the results!
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I wanted to make another national doll today. The national costume I chose for Russia had been found on the internet the other day after I'd been disappointed with the one in the quilt book. Once I picked the perfect paper for the jumper, I knew my colors for the trim. The finished doll reminds me very much of my old nesting dolls, which makes me smile.
Taking this challenge has really brought some excitement into my days! Most mornings I wake wondering what I shall create today. In fact, this dress idea actually came to me when I went to bed instead of when I woke in the morning. I finally got out of bed and made it during the night, because the image wouldn't let me sleep! A large spoon served as my model (with the addition of a clamp for legs and two screws for arms.) I originally began the dress from the bottom of the skirt, but soon got lost among all the pins. On my second attempt, I began from the top, making a sweet pin bodice that worked into a narrow waistline. The attached pin skirt flowed easily from there. My original thought had been for a full skirt, but as the pins draped, I realized I liked the narrower skirt better. The final row of pins hang loose like a flapper's fringe. This is my first ever permanent sculpture, and I'm very proud of her!
This pretty gypsy dress was made today for my granddaughter's birthday this weekend. The style was taken mostly from a dress I found at a sale last year for her older sister. Using pattern pieces from two different dress patterns, I was able to make this dress with some of my cherished brown stretch velvets and a fun print knit chiffon. Because my granddaughter is so tiny, the bodice pieces had to be taken in several times before I added the skirt, but even so, it didn't take more than a day to make this lovely dress. My granddaughter approved of the final result!
This dress was another idea I woke up with first thing in the morning. I originally saw this as a blue and white button dress, but once I started laying them out against the white background, I decided I needed more color. Thankfully, I had lots of light blue buttons on hand. I built the dress from the bottom of the skirt upward. How thrilled I was to see how it all turned out! I'm also glad that I have photo documentation of this dress, because I think I'd like to someday sew this button dress onto something. I just don't know what yet. A jacket back. A quilt square. Who knows? But in the meantime, the art is preserved. Yea!
The quilt book's Mexico dress was fancy enough to use without a lot of alteration. The main change I made to the basic pattern of the dolls was to add a neck. The girls looked dumpy with their heads resting on their shoulders. Once more I had a busy day, so this doll was made in the evening. Her background pages weren't made until the next morning, so here she is shown on a sheet of specialty paper. Her pretty ribbon trim on her skirt didn't photograph well, but are actually lime green, white, blue, and bright yellow ribbons. The flowers in her hair seemed flat the next morning, so I removed them and put tiny white and yellow silk flowers in their place. They looked much better.
Today was so busy that I didn't get to my dress until later in the day. I really wanted to make a dress from kitchen utensils, but when I scouted around the kitchen, most of the tools we have wouldn't work well in a dress. I finally chose the syrup container (thankfully almost empty!) and the dress took off! A baster inserted into the bottle created her face and funky hair, while the cap to the bottle made a jaunty hat. A cookie cutter made a great belt and also held her teaspoon measure arms in place. For a full skirt, I draped the apple bag (emptied first, of course) around her waist and made a train at the back. Ta-da! The perfect kitchen outfit!
This morning I woke with an idea to create a dress from the word 'dress.' My first attempt had a very large and weighty capital D, so I tried again using a cursive D. The second one did better, but put the girl in profile, which necessitated me making a nose (which I don't like to do.) The third attempt was the best, allowing a full front view of my girl and letting me give her ponytails instead of a bun. This change made it possible for me to change-up her dress to a dance tutu. Isn't she the cutest?
Also note that I'm not making a national costume today. I didn't want to force myself to stay on that task until it was completed, knowing that eventually it wouldn't be fun anymore. It would be work. And this challenge is all about fun! I chose Fiji for today, because I found the perfect paper for her dress! The basic pattern for the dolls is from a quilt book I own called "A Trip around the World" which features several applique patterns for dolls in national costume. But most of the costumes are very plain, so I added lots of detail. Also, only 16 countries are shown (and not all of them well-designed), so I went looking on the internet and found many more (and sometimes better) costumes to create. Each region of the world now has a representative for my book. It's truly the united nations of national costume! *grin*
I've wanted to make a National Costume quilt for many years, but I could never narrow the countries I wanted on the quilt down to a workable amount. Finally, this challenge gave me the right impetus to come up with the perfect solution. I'm making a geography book for my granddaughters called "Girls around the World." Each two-page spread will have a large picture of the girl in her national costume on one page, while the flag and map of the country will be on the other. Backgrounds are scrap collaged, then covered with a thin layer of acrylic paint. Do you see my practical side trying to exert its influence? *grin* But in this case, I don't mind, since I've been looking for ways to discuss world geography with them on a level that they will understand and enjoy.
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Denise FeltI took this challenge in the hopes of expanding my creativity as an artist. Already I'm seeing art in a new light -- as something to do for fun and not just practicality! Archives
December 2015
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