Kreuzspinne

Deadly! Well, not for us humans …
Now that I think about it, I never made a spider journal. Wonder why … :)

By Renate on July 31st, 2010 | Posted in Diverses | 2 Comments »

Sewing Machine Troubles

I could go  with the lost stitch on pic nr. 1. At least, that looks somewhat … artistic. But what she (the sewing machine) did afterwards is just unacceptable.  I understand it’s a problem with tension. I don’t mind changing the “top” tension, but she (the sewing machine) better not forces me to fool around with the one on the bobbin!!!

Any sewing masters out there who can explain to me what happend there? It worked fine. All I did was change  stitches …

She (you know who) just ruined what could have become the coolest journal ever! Well, maybe not the coolest, but anyway … ruined. Bah!

By Renate on July 23rd, 2010 | Posted in Diverses | 5 Comments »

Fresh Supply

The only problem with it - which one first? :)

By Renate on July 21st, 2010 | Posted in Diverses | 6 Comments »

Desire and Reality

We are in the middle of a gigantic, superenormous, unbelievable hot heatwave. 30°c indoors at the moment, that’s 86°F my american friends … HOT! At least, much to hot for my taste. And we don’t have airconditioning here. In supermarkets, yes, there it’s cool. But well, you can only spend so much time chatting with the frozen peas…

Anyway. I take long reading sessions in the pool (bathtub) to cool down. It works. But it would work so much better if instead of here:

I could do it there!

Universe - I’m so ready for the lottery win! Hear me? :D

By Renate on July 16th, 2010 | Posted in Diverses | 8 Comments »

My creative process

Or - from Sun to Brain Cell.
I had my share on blog interviews. And most of the time the question “Tell us about your creative process” came up. I never had a good answer for that. It’s just what happens …
But well, today I made this book. I started with the idea to draw a sun. You know, one of this nice, baroque ones. With a smiling face and all that stuff. So I made a cirle and the “halo” around it. While I filled that my brain somehow jumped in and told me to make that little dots.
Okay, so next step where the eyes. But as the dots made it look somehow “technic”, I decided to make real circles instead of almond shaped forms for the eyes. And at that point, things went into a totally different direction …
What I had in the end didn’t look anything like what I had planned when I started. It looked more like one of my (obviously) crazy brain cells.
Yep. There you have it, my creative process. I’m glad we finally discussed that.

By Renate on July 7th, 2010 | Posted in Diverses | 4 Comments »

Artist Materials - a neverending story …

I threw out the second computer I had in my studio. I will probably miss it when it comes to packing orders, but the free space is worth more. Since I moved into my new studio, I had put away all the materials for painting and drawing. All I had left where the fabric paints for - well, painting my fabric books. And you know how it is when something is stored away. It never get’s used anymore. At least, that’s how it works with me. I’m much to lazy to put things out and in all the time.
So, I declared this Sunday to be a lazy day for me (yay!). No bookmaking today, just fun and playtime. I just went through all my artist materials and boy do I have  a lot of stuff!

Watercolors! Ahhh! Fun! I hope I can get the tubes open again to refill my “box”. And well, if they are dry already… wound’t it be cool to have a big box of  these? Even if I never ever get a good watercolor piece done, I would so love to have this neat and tidy box full of great colors. But let’s face it - all I do with watercolor is to color in some sketches ….
Acrylics! Hip and modern! And also a thing I have had little success with. The few pieces I’ve done so far always left me unsatisfied. I must do something wrong …
Oils! Now that’s a medium I love. So easy to work with. The long drying time is fantastic. One can grease the colors around until it’s right. Or a big, grey mess … And then comes the drawback with the long drying time. It takes ages until it’s dry :D
Pastels and chalks! Dusty things. As you can see, I never used them much. Not really my thing…
Colored Pencils! Name a color, I probably have it!
And that’s not all. I also have a lot of inks, pens and other crazy stuff …

I don’t know what it is with artist materials. It’s a neverending story that’s going on for years. I need them around, even when I don’t used them. Please tell me I’m not the only one! I know there are other crazy people like me out there … At least, I hope so!

By Renate on July 4th, 2010 | Posted in Diverses | 5 Comments »

That’s NOT how Giveaways are supposed to work!

Remember the Giveaway I had for the “Unloved” book?
Jelena (Lariata Designs) was the winner - and now look what this crazy girl did!!! She sent me a “thank you” package with this gorgeous table runner! And pieces of beautiful baltic amber! It wanted to give something away, but she turned that around and now I’m the winner instead! Tsk! Cheeky! I’m tempted to go and pack another book for her now. But I fear, that would be a neverending story then ….  :D

Thank you Jelena! But let me say it once again - that’s NOT how Giveaways are supposed to work :)

By Renate on July 1st, 2010 | Posted in Diverses | 4 Comments »