the marvel of magazines

***UPDATE 2/1: random tile winners are #18 (express) and #22 (gm glimmerglass). i wish i could give one to all of you! those were some of the best responses ever! express and gm, please send me your snail mail addresses at artsyville(at)gmail(dot)com and i'll send those tiles on their merry way.



what is it about a stack of magazines that brings me to my giddy little knees?

buying a book is a wonderfully deep, all-consuming process for me, something i do based on recommendation or research, with intentions of learning or bending my mind in a new direction. but the impulse purchase of a magazine delivers a zing of self-indulgence and complete slackerdom that makes me feel like i'm really getting away with something. i have all sorts of odd little rituals with magazines. as lovely as that top copy looks at the bookstore, for example, i never buy that one; i dig at least halfway down into the stack and get a fresh issue. such a transient, throwaway thrill. i dig through mags in the evening, usually with a glass of wine in hand; reading them during the day feels too frivolous. i read each issue from back to front, then front to back, unless i'm not in the mood for that, in which case i skip around, read what i want and cast away the rest. even when a certain issue sucks, i go back through page by page and make myself milk that magazine for at least ten ideas, which i may or may not use. then i attack it with a pair of scissors and do silly things with it. when traveling, i buy a wad of magazines in one airport, deposit them in another, and then wonder who will take off with them and where they will go next. and foreign magazines! different languages! stop me!

if you're game for this, tell me something of your periodical habits. read them? don't read them? what's your favorite, or even better, do you have a incongruous mix of magazines in your household, like people and the economist? are you a subscription kind of person or a buyer on whim at the checkout counter? if you read yours with scissors, what do you make out of them? in return, i'll draw two names at random from this post on monday morning, and each will get one of my drunken tiles. happy weekend and good luck!

fun with alcohol

a few years ago i bought some tiles for our kitchen and could not figure out how they were made. the colors and patterns mixed together in a complicated way that seemed beyond the ability of traditional paint or ink. my friend sandra, a walking googlepedia of craft knowledge, took one look at them and said, "oh, those are alcohol inks. ceramic tile. easy. fun." i filed this away in my future creative explosions folder and forgot about it until i dashed into michaels last week for glue, took a wrong turn and wound up in the adirondack ink aisle instead. i took this as a sign, bought six bottles of ink and the alcohol blending solution, and ran over to home depot for ceramic tiles. sixteen cents each!

then i went home and hit the bottle.











so easy, so fun, just as sandra said it would be. the results are nearly immediate. alcohol ink dries very quickly on non-porous surfaces. start with a thin layer of the alcohol blending solution, spreading it evenly with a toothbrush. (this diffuses the color, brings out the saturation and extends the drying time.) then squeeze big drops of one color on the tile and watch it do the weirdest stuff ever.

then just experiment with the color layering. adding another color to a wet layer will blend the two together, while adding color to a dry layer will create a distinct, bright color separation. try drawing directly with the tip of the bottle on the tile, moving the ink around with q-tips, and blowing it around with a straw. you'll get all sorts of interesting effects. every single one will be a surprise. and yes, once in a while a tile will wind up in a big muddy mess that just seems unfixable. don't throw it out. just squirt the thing with a coat of the alcohol blending solution, wipe it off and start over. this alcohol is very forgiving. when you're happy with the outcome, ink the sides of the tile for a more finished look.

i'll also emphasize that you must varnish the tile when you're finished with a waterbased (not solvent-based) sealer and let each coat dry completely in between, as much as it tortures me to write that. i am a very impatient person and despise waiting, but there is no room for a cavalier attitude here. you must varnish that thing or the ink will scratch off. after four or five coats, you can back it with felt for a coaster, glue on a hanger and show it off on the wall, display it on a mini easel or even use it as a backsplash tile in your kitchen.

if you have any questions, ask away and i'll do my best to answer! please let me know if you try this - i'd love to see!

Update April 2013: I am totally overwhelmed by how many people have come to check out this tutorial! Thank you all so much! I wish I had the proper sealer to recommend -- I've found many workarounds, but I know there's still a better solution out there -- maybe some sort of clear lacquer? If you have any other questions about fun with alcohol (though I have shared all I know in this post, so you know as much as I do now about it!), startling discoveries or want to share projects you've made using this technique, send me a note at artsyville (at) gmail (dot) com. I finally had to turn off comments a while back because it was being shared so much (yay!) I was getting so much spam (boo!). Thanks for visiting Artsyville :)

the traveling doodlespirit

my camera and i need to have a chat. it knows all about my ravenous appetite for travel, which came to an alarming halt after the girls were born. it has indulged me in some magnificent stateside trips over the past year, true. but it has developed the habit in recent months of abducting mr. artsyville - who is quite content staying put - to gad about the world while i'm stuck in the daily doo doo of domesticity, and quite frankly it's starting to chap my gypsy hide. first it was india. then it was china. then it was hong kong. and now the cheeky thing has run off to costa rica without me, once again whisking away my husband as the shutterguy.

so i created a traveling doodlespirit to tag along with my lovely one on the journey this time, and what a ride it was! oh, the things we did and saw in costa rica!



we wandered through the streets and gazed at architecture together. chatted with the townspeople.


saw love and texting in action.



nibbled on plantains, pupusas and other delights.



shopped at the little roadside markets.



and eavesdropped on people as they went about their daily lives.

i wonder where my doodlespirit will go next? if you could go anywhere today, where would your doodlespirit take you?

what i was wearing

here's a one-two punch for creative every day (body) and corner view (what you are wearing) with a scribble of yesterday's outfit. now how is that for efficiency! i know the body proportions are all wonky, but hey, i tried, and the look really syncs up with my lopsided hair. i've been walking around for a few months with one side an inch longer than the other. time for a haircut and a shoe repair. well, enough about me. what are you wearing today?

wilderness of the mind

in this resolution-heavy time of year, i decided to paint an antidote, and here it is - a goal-free ode to getting lost in my mind (not LOSING my mind, mind you). this one needed a lighter touch than my normal blast of color, so i put my inky antics aside for a few days and picked up my watercolors. i used winsor & newton watercolors for the background, staedtler watercolor pencils for the layering, and microns for the lettering.

a big thanks to candy for featuring me in her bloggers to watch post this week, and yay to all of you who stopped by my new artsyville page on facebook. great to see so many of you there! i have a bunch of silly doodleprojects to share in the next few days, so please stay tuned. a dreamy sunday to you!

the hodgepodge house

thank heavens for chopsticks and spaghetti, who sent me to this fabulous little gem of a front yard after she saw my report on the outdoors type. this place has it all - chandeliers, metal sculptures, painted bathtubs, bowling balls-a-plenty, a vase strung in between the slopes of the roof, dinosaurs and bottles and ceiling fans and headlights and bicycles and license plates and lord knows what else dangling from anything dangleworthy. now that the subzero temps and howling winds are history and the sun is shining again, i was finally willing to lace up my boots and hike over there today. it was worth every moment of trudging through the blocks of slushy goo. thanks, chopsticks!

p.s. just set up an artsyville page on facebook - if you're in the neighborhood, please stop by and say hello!

more mixed messages

good monday morning! i've gone on another fun run of mixed message doodlemagnets! these mantras du jour are so willing to change at the whim of my moods that i plan to keep them around for a while. credit goes to a wise elder in my family for 'vodka dear' and to a smart friend for 'i am super over that'. i am super over SO many things. i look at that one a lot. 'keep on truckin' is the cheesiest of the bunch, however, and therefore my favorite. these flexible little creatures are now in the shop with the rest of their tribe.

good stuff today:

> jeannine has a beautiful new blog
> fruenswerk gussied up a corkboard
> thereza's icy babies
> michelle's bubbleful 37 before 38 journal page
> and groovy, colorful creative explosions at daisy yellow

coldbound

school was canceled again because of the deep freeze, or so it's called in kansas. four winters in minneapolis changed my definition of deep freeze. but i'm being surprisingly zen about our second winter break and seem to be rolling with it. mostly. letting the kids roam and wreak havoc. managing to get little bits of work and play done in five minute installments. looking at things from artsy friends.



a groovy cigar box from ricë. thinking about painting a room turquoise. earrings i love. pattern from a new york stationery show postcard. a foam ball i collaged with bits of antique maps five years ago.



printed & laminated bookmarks for my etsy packages.



a dear postcard from dear pixie. my elbows in the mirror.



detail of a gorgeous gift from valentina. muchas gracias valentina :))



a surprise stack of splendid patterned papers from daisy janie. i especially like the one that went screwy louie in the printer. thank you jan :))



no idea and not sure i want to know.

what happens when i multitask

the first creative every day prompt of the year is body, and what better place to start than my addled brain? generally speaking, it's not good when i try to do two things at once. neurons stray and misfire. incompatible thoughts consort and do naughty things. intentions cross paths, exit the wrong way, and doodles almost wind up in the microwave because of it. no, no, i didn't nuke the journal, but it was close! when the coffee was on the scanner and i went to open the microwave door, for one long moment i knew something wasn't right but didn't know exactly WHAT wasn't right. and again i realized that the world is a safer place when i do not multitask.

by the way, we're back on winter break. school canceled! my doodleweek! truncated! what's a wind chill of 5000 below when the sun is sparkling like gold? while i go assess the artsydamage that i assume has been going on around here behind my back, enjoy this colorful tour of yasmina's bubble. not only is she a talented and expressive doodler, she's only just turned fifteen! then go see shannon, grab your paintbrush, turn up the volume and see if this doesn't fill you with good vibes and a big grin. shannon and i have become good coffee pals over the last few months and i just love being around her. she's a creative whirlwind, full of sunshine and calm, and a born leader - i can't wait for her inside out course to start. please join us! i'll be the straggler doing one thing at a time, alternating between the yoga and deep breathing.

just kidding around

my sweet little bell ringers are back in school, and looking through these pictures i realize we had a fairly artsy break after all - cutting paper, wrapping stones, scribbling on newsprint rolls, and drawing patterns from popcorn at a basketball game. my husband and i put a stop to the barber shop conspiracy (not a sanctioned artsy activity after artsygirl chopped off her hair a few years ago), and she changed her sign to reflect the no-haircut rule. not long after that we saw her three year old sister streak by covered head to toe in tattoos, including two where the sun does not shine. did lots of reading, too - the secret garden, anne of green gables, little women and alice in wonderland. looking forward to a good doodleday here - see you soon and happy new year!