Meeting Notes from 6-14-10

We met tonight for the first time at the Bellevue Beadery. Only three members were in attendance at the 1st meeting at out new location, Angie, Sandi and Barbara. We discussed the 9th Annual Breast Cancer Brick Auction. Sandi will be getting bricks for all the members of the club. Please remember, you do not have to decorate a brick. Definites for decorating a brick are: Angie, Barbara, Carla, Sandi, and not sure are: Beth, Jean, and Pam. The decorated bricks are to be auctioned off on Sunday October 10 at the Cintas Center @ Xavier University. The proceeds benefit the Ellen B. Ganson Foundation. Click here for additional information. Click Here for another site with more information regarding the Call to Artists. The second site shows the actual flier and shows bricks that have been submitted in the past. Hope this will give you ideas. Sandi will be picking up the bricks and the distribution will be announced soon via an email to everyone in the group. We are striving to be able to get these turned in before the first deadline of August 9. If we make that deadline, then our bricks will be considered for inclusion in the Bricks Along the Journey Calendar. Now wouldn't that be an honor to have a brick in the calendar.

At the next meeting please bring your brick and plan on working on it at the meeting.

After the brick project is finished we are planning on going back to the Altered Surfaces book. However if anyone has a book with a particular technique that you want to learn, please bring the book in, we would love to add that to the techniques we want to work on at future meetings. We even discussed the possibility of working from 2 or 3 books just so we don't wind up bored with one book. We want to try to get into other publications as well.

Since attendance was slim, we adjourned early.

We are looking forward to the next meeting and don't forget to bring your brick.

Our New Home

Well it looks like we have found a new home for our monthly meetings. We will now be meeting at Bellevue Beadery. They are located at 341 Fairfield Avenue Bellevue, Ky. 41073. Our first meeting at our new home will be Monday June 14. Meeting time will be 6:00 p.m. - 8:30 p.m.

I am lookiong forward to our new location.

Retreat Projects

The retreat was so much fun. We all gathered at Jean's house at 9:00 am. We had breakfast, a hot from the oven, Sausage-Cheese Strata. I will include the recipe at the end of this post.

The first project we did was soldering. Sandi walked us thru the whole process and we all did fine with soldering. This is a technique that takes time to perfect. To get really good, we have to keep doing soldering projects. You know the old saying, practice makes perfect.

Angie's front & back.

     

Jump rings were a challange

                     Beth looks like she had things under control.

Sandi has this soldering thing perfected.

Angie got adventuresome.

This will look great with a bow attached. Looks like a piece of Jolly Rancher candy doesn't it??.

Next we moved on to the fairy dolls.

These are so cute and everyone had fun with this project.

These dolls speak for themselves.

Each of these dolls have their own personality. Everyone enjoyed this project.

After we finished with these fairies, we broke for lunch. We had barbeque, salads, fruit, desserts. It was a great day. Next we were on to the final project and it was the most time consuming but it gave stunning results. Great things come to those who wait.

Metal etching - the last project. 

Combine muratic acid and peroxide then stamp for the resist and then put the metal in the acid bath for 15 minutes or so while the magic happens. This is a process that must be done in a well ventilated area and saturday the weather was perfect for this project. We worked outside and everyone was pleased with the results. Here are a few,

 

 It was so great to see the beautiful results we obtained doing the metal etching project. Especially after the metal sat in an acid bath for 15 or so minutes. We were all wondering what the outcome would be.  All the projects were fun and exciting

After the third project, we were done for the day. The time flew and it was over in the blink of an eye. What a great day.

A big thank you to Sandi, Beth, Carla and Angie for all their work and pre-retreat efforts to have everything ready for this fun day.

Next month we will be meeting at the Kenton County Library 6:00p.m. - 8:30p.m. on Monday May 17.

The recipe for the Sausage Cheese Strata:

10 cups french bread cubed 1/2" to 3/4"

1 # breakfast sausage, fully cooked and drained

1 4oz. can of mushrooms drained,(I use stems & pieces)

10-12 oz. shredded sharp cheddar cheese

3 1/2 C milk

7 beaten eggs

1/4 t salt

1/4 t pepper

I make this in a 9X13 sheet cake pan. Grease the pan and cover the bottom of the pan with 1/2 of the cubed bread pieces. Top with the cooked and drained sausage and mushrooms. Sprinkle the cheese next and then add the remaining cubed bread pieced to the top layer.

In a large bowl combine eggs and milk salt and pepper. Pour egg mixture over the layers in the baking pan.

Bake uncovered in 325 degree oven for 50 - 55 minutes or until a knife inserted near center comes out clean. Let stand for about 10 minutes before serving. Makes 12 servings

TIP: You can make ahead, prepare as above, cover and refrigerate over night. Bake and serve as above.

Hope you enjoy this dish, its easy to make and is always a hit!!

Retreat April 17

The retreat has been scheduled for April 17, 9:00 - whenever(probably 4:00 p.m.)

It was decided upon that we will be working on 3 great projects.

1. Soldering - led by Sandi C.
2. Fairies - led by Beth M.
3. Etching on Metal - led by Carla D. & Angie B.(Below are 2 pics of their trial run.These pic's are posted on Angie's blog so click here to go to her blog for more info.Scroll down to the March 14 posting.)
   
   

Items to bring:

For the soldering project

1. Soldering Iron *
2. solder (lead free)*
3. flux *
4. sponge try to bring the type that has a green scruffy on one side and the sponge on the other.
5. soldering tape *
6. Glass slides  1"X3" and/or 1 1/2" X 1 1/2"
7. clamps  to keep fingers from getting burnt, clamp type clothes pin could work.
8. flux brush - do not bring sponge brush for this project

* = available at Hobby Lobby

For the fairies project

Scrunchies (from the Dollar Tree store) these have chiffon on them

For the etching on metal project

1. Heat Tool
2. Spray Paint - optional - any color, acts as a resist
3. Eye Protection (very important)
4. Smock (important to protect your clothes since we will be working with muriatic acid)
5. Rubber Gloves (kitchen kind will work)
6. Rags
7. paper towels
8. Metal sheets *
9. Black staz-on
10. stamps
11. permanent markers
12. stencils
13. acrylic paint
14. painters tape (masking tape)
15. plastic containers - about the size of a chinese take out carton
16. metal cutting scissors- you will need these if your metal is too thick to be cut with regular scissors

*= available at Hobby Lobby (possibly in the model section)
This retreat is going to be another great and fun day of learning new techniques that we will be able to use in our altered art.

We are all looking forward to this retreat. See you there.

Meeting March 8

The next meeting of the Altered States of Mind group, will be held on Monday March 8 at the Public Library, the Erlanger Branch on Kenton Lands Rd. We have the room reserved 6:00 - 8:30 (Please note, this is a change from our earlier plan for the March meeting)



We will be working out of the book, Altered Surfaces, this is a Design Originals Book.

We will be working thru the Technique on pages 12-13., "Hobby Plastic as a Surface." Items needed are:

• Plastic, acrylic or plexiglas


• Scoring or cutting tool for plastic(OlfaP-Cutter 800, scoring tool or Inscriblio, etching tool)
  
• Tools and pens to make marks


• Alcohol wipes to remove oil and fingerprints


• Acrylic paints in various colors

Update on Paste Paper Projects Class

I spoke with one of the individuals in charge of the class and she said it would be okay to pay for the class when we arrive on Feb.13. I will need a head count of those wishing to take the class by our next group meeting Feb. 8.

Cinti Calligraphers presents paste paper projects

Please RSVP to Carla (email/phone listed on your email) ASAP (Sunday/Monday) if you are interested in attending this workshop.  

*For the Framable Art project ...bring a mat and/or frame of your choice. You will want 

the opening to be 8 X10 or larger! (I buy CLEARANCE framed art at HomeGoods, but 

make sure you disassemble it & remove the old art so it is ready to go that day!) 

*Calligraphers: ...in addition bring your favorite pens, black & white gouache, mixing 

brushes, water bottle, pencils, eraser, ruler, paper towels & any other calligraphic tools 

that you wish. 

*Non-CalligraDhers will be given some instructions/guidance on how to add text to your 

project in an easy way. You may want to print out your text ahead of time on nice paper, in 

segments which can then be cut apart and added to the page, although not necessary. If 

you wish to try some writing of text, please bring pencils & gel pens in white and/or black. 

*ALL levels of skill and enthusiasm are welcomed. 

*PLEASE be prompt as there is a lot to cover in 6 short hours. 

*Bring your own lunch to eat as you wish (there is a small refrigerator but no microwave) 

*Parking is FREE at Dunham Recreation Center 

For those who would like to take this class, but do not have Paste Paper or some of the 

other listed materials, DO NOT let that stop vou! We will have Paste Paper for sale and 

sharable supplies aplenty. Arches Text Wove and other decorative papers will also be 

available for sale by the sheet.

ASOM January meeting notes and news

Pictures above are the boxes some of us worked on at the January meeting and Carla's crackle technique sample.  The crackle technique is from Claudine Hellmuth's 2nd book: Collage Discovery Workshop--Unexpected Techniques  (http://www.amazon.com/Collage-Discovery-Workshop-Unexpected-Techniques/dp/1581806787)

We discussed new meeting places and came up with several suggestions.  Jean has offered to let us meet in her heated garage but will be out of town in February.  Angie was able to reserve the Erlanger library meeting room:

 ERLANGER BRANCH

401 KENTON LANDS RD

ERLANGER, KY 41018

(859) 962-4000

MON-FRI 9:00-9:00

SAT 10:00-6:00

SUN 1:00-5:00

 for us for the February meeting.  Sandi checked out the Boone county library on 25 in Florence and they do have a meeting room also but it was booked for February.  Barb Bruder also checked with Lana at Scraps--Lana has offered to let us meet at her store for a fee of $20 for the group(per meeting).  Thanks to all for checking those out!

So for the February meeting we will meet at the Erlanger library (free) and see how that works out.  There should be plenty of room there so if Kendall and Jean want to get in touch with their friends (Carol and Pam) and let them know about the changes  I think we will have room for additional members now and can open the group to more new members.  

We will continue to work on altering boxes at the next 2 meetings.  If anyone has a technique related to altering boxes that they would like to teach at the next meeting please email me with details(supply list) and I will post them on the blog.  Angie--would you teach the image transfer technique you used on your Christmas ornament block for us at one of the next 2 meetings?  I think it could work on a box too!  And I really want to try it!

Jean passed out maps to her house at the January meeting and I will email her address for everyone before we meet there.  Thanks to Angie for sharing cards from American Greetings!  

Also there is a short 2 page layout on crackle paint in the Altered Surfaces book in case you have it and want to check that out(pages 36-37).    

For the February meeting please see last months post for a list of supplies you might want to bring to work on your box.  Please bring some kind of paper or mat to cover your work surface, a cup or plastic dish for water, and some paper towels since we are working at the library.  We must leave the library as clean as we find it before the meeting.  

Barb Bruder--thanks so much for hosting our meetings at Creative Stamper for the past several years!  We are sorry to see the store close.  Best of luck for the future.  

Meeting Monday Jan 11th still on!

Just wanted to assure everyone that we are still meeting Mon. January 11th at Creative Stamper.  Sadly, it will be the last meeting there before the store closes.  We hope to find a new meeting place soon which we can discuss at the Jan. meeting.  Jean has kindly offered her heated garage where we are also planning to meet for the April jewelry retreat.  Hope to see everyone at the meeting --I'm looking forward to altering a box!  The above pictures are 2  boxes my cousin altered for me.  If  you want to add rust/patina to your box it would probably be a good idea to do that before the meeting to save time.  

   

The purpose of an Altar

from Jean: 

Intention and Intuition
The Purpose of an Altar

If you didn’t grow up with an altar in your home, having an altar now may seem like an exotic and unattainable idea. Yet having an altar does not have to be complicated or difficult, nor does it need to be based on a religion or a set of ideas that don’t seem to relate to you. An altar can be a simple, personal expression of what you want to focus on right now. You do not have to build anything or take up a lot of space. You do not have to buy anything new or follow a complex set of instructions to create your altar. All you have to do is have a general understanding of what an altar is and the willingness to allow yourself access to this wonderful, ancient tool of transformation. 

At its most essential, an altar is simply a raised structure that serves as a resting place for meaningful objects. It focuses the eye and provides a place for contemplation and, if so desired, ritual. All of these elements can be quite simple. One idea for a simple altar is a pot with a bulb planted in it, set on a box. This altar to growth can act as a reminder to you that all living things bloom in their time. A simple ritual might be to write down dreams you would like to see come to fruition on scraps of paper. You might place these scraps of paper in the box, or under the flowerpot, or in an envelope you prop against the pot. As the flower grows, so will your dreams.

If you look around your home, you may find that you have already created altarlike arrangements without even really thinking about it; this is something we humans do quite naturally. A candle, a decorative box, and a vase of flowers are just a few of the common household objects that lend themselves naturally to the creation of an altar. Simply add intention and intuition, and you have created your first altar. Remember that it isn’t necessarily about the objects you place at your altar—it is the time you spend with it daily, taking the time to be with it for your sacred time.

http://www.dailyom.com/articles/2009/21286.html

Creative Therapy --a shadow box

Just came across this in my "research and development" (or in other words my blog/twitter reading) and thought that our box project for next month could be a shadow box too!  Rebecca Sower is one of my favorite artists---I love her book kits especially but all of her art is inspiring.   Read about her latest inspiring project here: 

http://creativetherapy.wordpress.com/2009/12/13/catalyst-ninety-two/

Or follow her blog here:   http://rebeccasower.typepad.com/

Altered Shrine

Thought you all would want to see the altered shrine that Jean Webb brought in.  She was given the shrine by the artist Pam Thompson who is one of the people interested in joining our group.  The shrine has been in the classroom at Creative Stamper for the past couple of months but everyone may not have had a chance to see it.  Here's what Pam emailed me about the shrine:

I made a series of  Sacred "Alters" over a year ago and had them for sale in a shop in Covington. Although they were well appreciated and received many positive comments they did not sell, so I took them to Jean's yoga class one night and gave them away to good homes. Jean's selection was the largest one I made. All items were found at yard sales, thrift stores, etc.  Jean's was made from a hand constructed box from 1939 as I recall. I really don't remember what was in that particular box. If I saw a picture I could comment. I secured items with super glue (E600), but did not secure items that would hold candles or incense, so that they could be moved outside the box and lit if so desired.

 

The painting on the front was my first and only attempt at painting with a palette knife, but I had watched a friend do it and saw that it was very easy to do a mountain with that technique. It probably took me only about an hour from start to finish. It is the technique that Bob Ross taught.

I have two small Asian "alters" that I kept. One was made from a wooden cigar box  painted white and has a stature of Kwan Yin and the other was made from a small drawer  painted glossy black and has a statute of Buddha. The front of the Kwan Yin "alter" has a pastel collage of the goddess along with a 3 dimensional butterfly. The interior has her stature and a rose shaped incense holder.
The Buddha  "alter" has a black incense holder inside and the decorative top piece is an aquarium ornament of an Asian bridge painted black. 

 

I am about to embark on some new shadow boxes. It takes a while to collect things and I have several possible containers now and some items that could make for fun boxes. Since the "alters" didn't sell I thought I'd try a different direction. These will tell stories in some form. I am thinking about trying some of the old myths told in Women Who Run With the Wolvesas well as some other classic story images.  

Christmas Party 2009 part 2

Here's the pictures of ATC's (metal tape project), final 6x6 art, and Christmas items exchanged!