May Creations

This month's creations happened a little more smoothly (and legitimately) than last month's. After all, I was sick for most of April.

 First off: a most embarrassing endeavor to create a booster seat cover.

Yes, you may laugh. I plunged into this project with a measure of irrational recklessness. Not only had I finished a heroic undertaking of cleaning the kitchen floor (vacuuming, sweeping, spot cleaning, mopping, drying...it was so perfectly spotless and breathtaking that it was the first thing Michael noticed when he got home)..Oh, here's a picture of the loveliness which was much better in person...

...I had also just cleaned out inch-thick layers of grime from the grooves in his booster seat, and I felt that this would be the solution. I jumped in without planning and just hacked into a plastic tablecloth and old towel with my scissors. I made a crazy mess. 

A couple weeks later, I ripped it off of Ender's chair. It was getting torn, it was actually HARDER to clean than the booster seat, it kept slipping around, and it looked really stupid. Besides, the kitchen floor had returned to "normal." Bah. So this project = FAIL. But it makes me laugh finally, so whatever. And I am so willing to be the first to admit that I have projects like this. Total rejects. Projects that could have been done better in a bazillion different ways. Or shouldn't have been done at all! Yeah, it happens. 

On a better note, I had a wonderful success of a creation this month when I completed a doodle for Rae's (and therefore, my) friend Sarah. Tada!

My scanner's screen is too small to take it all in--it's about 18"x13" I think. That's why the top part is a little smeary looking (the paper wouldn't lie flat on the screen without me creasing it). If I get a better picture, I'll share it. I'm very happy with this doodle! It took me about 8 hours from start to finish. That might sound insane--I don't know, does it?--but I have a process. 

• Start: I consider whatever my Doodlee (uh, client?) wants in their picture; I ask questions, we talk about personalities, hobbies, etc. 
• Reference: I collect photos of my Doodlee(s), especially face shots and family group pictures.
• Research: I do "research" on their hobbies or favorite things. For example, with this picture, I wanted to make sure I knew what Captain America's outfit looked like. I wanted to get the right shape for Tinkerbell's wings. I looked up the Disney castle and various attractions at Disneyland for the signpost. 
• Sketching: I practice by sketching the various things I've researched. I also practice sketching faces. That part can be tricky; if I'm not already familiar with the faces, I have to figure out what features are the most defining and which of those fit in a doodle face. It can be hard. It's often the most intense, brain-consuming part of the task.
• Composition: This is where I figure out where everyone will be. It usually comes pretty naturally, but there's always some tweaking with spacing and placement. 
• Doodle! Here I repeat my sketches onto the main paper (which I haven't touched until now). It involves a lot of erasing! :) I noticed when I was finished with this one that there was a massive collection of eraser gloobies on the floor by my chair. I thought they were bugs at first. It made me laugh.
• Outline: After my pencil marks are finished and satisfying, I trace over with a fine permanent marker. Sometimes this is stressful because marker, no matter how fine-tipped, is just not as precise as a mechanical pencil. It's okay though. I just have to pay attention. It's maybe the next-most intense thing I do in the whole process because the time for mistakes has generally passed.
• Color: So fun. I use anything from crayons to permanent markers. My art supplies are not fancy, but I sure love them. There might be last minute touch-ups, but I'm typically finished with a careful scribble of my signature. It's a very good feeling.

This month I've had some bouts of nesting that got me to rearrange Ender's room, organize closets (is that a never-ending thing?), and end up with room for a crib or cradle finally. It makes me smile when people ask what we're doing for the nursery...*sigh* If we had an actual nursery, I'd sure have lots of fun decorating. But that's not how it works in our apartment. A crib is as far as Scarlett's very own space will go. And that's okay. Babies don't mind, and neither do we. 

Nevertheless, I have hopes for a very pretty June Creation that will decorate Scarlett's little area. :)