A TEWTORIAL

So here's how to make this postcard:

1.  Eat all the Alpha-Bits; disassemble the cardboard box
2.  Draw the shape of your monster onto the coloured side of the cardboard
3.  Cut out and base coat with white gesso
4.  Block in colour with gouache (thick highly pigmented paint that covers excellently*)
5.  Drybrush lighter colours on to get highlights - you can just add white to your first colour if you don't have two shades
6.  Make warty-looking dots by dipping the back of your brush into the paint and dabbing onto the horns
7.  Use a Stabilo Marks-All pencil to add outlines and shadows
8.  Stand back; admire work; slap a stamp on the back and mail it to someone you like

*yes, I know that's not a word


Go. Make monsters.

Love Shelley!


P.S.  This technique also works with Mini-Wheats.

Pocket Letters

So here's a new idea: pocket letters.

I found them on Pinterest (where else), followed the links to the original post, and this is my first crack at making a couple of them.  Guess what: they're super fun.

You just take a 9-card baseball card holder, mine are from Staples, and fill up all the pockets with goodies for your pen pal.  Each slot is 2 ½" x 3 ½", the same size as Artist Trading Cards (ATCs).  NOT the same size as your Project Life cards.  Those are a majestic 3"x4" and won't fit in here.

Anyway, these were for people who like very specific things, so they were easy to create.  The first lady likes fabric, sewing, stickers, buttons, lists and gum.  Those are sewing needles, by the way.

The second lady loves her garden, used stamps, stickers, tea, band-aids, buttons, and things for gift-wrapping, hence the twine.  Oh, and sparkly things.  You probably can't tell by the pic but the star card stock and a few of the buttons are pretty glittery.  Hopefully she'll like it.

I wasn't sure how I was going to cram a proper letter into a single tiny pocket but I did figure out a way.  I folded a piece of card stock in half, then added 3 sheets of onionskin paper, also folded in half and stapled in. Because the card is so small I was able to use my regular desk stapler for this, no special equipment required!  The paper is nice and thin, and although I  didn't write a novel-length letter or anything, at least I was able to say a few things.  

If you're careful about how chunky all your items are, you can fold the card holder into thirds, because it fits perfectly into a business size or #10 envelope, and then mail it off.  It'll likely be heavier than a regular letter, so you might need to add more postage.  But if you don't make it too fat, you won't have to send it as a parcel.  Hooray!  

If you want to send bigger items, then this format may not be for you.  But for a novelty, it is kind of cool.  

Now, go make something!

It seemed like a good idea at the time...

But we'll see if the googly eyes really make it through the mail or not.  But if they DO, then they are going on EVERYTHING from now on!!

Imagine the phone company, or hydro employees.  I like to keep the world entertained, you know.  Especially the ones with jobs like opening envelopes.  If they have to deal with the mail, then they are part of my tribe. 

Suckers.

Hi ho, it's your favourite art dork here.

No, seriously.

I got the itch today to make something, so I figured I'd make an envelope from scratch for a letter that was ready to send.  I started with two blank time sheets, then collaged, glued, painted, doodled, sewed, all that good stuff.  It went really smoothly - the muse was definitely IN.

Then: this is supposed to be an envelope.  How shall I join the two together so that I can stuff a letter in it and ship it off into the great unknown?

Idea: use the office laminator!!  In fact (genius lightbulb moment) I should just layer it all together.  Back of envelope, letter, front of envelope!  Run the whole thing through the laminator!  Then once it reaches its destination, its new owner has merely to snip off the top, as if it was a bag of delicious animal crackers, and the enclosed letter will be accessible and easy to read!  GAWD I'M SO SMART SOMETIMES I EVEN AMAZE MYSELF.

To the office!  Set up the laminator!  Turn it on!  Layer carefully - make sure the back of the envelope is in fact facing out!  Okay, now run it thr- uh oh.  What's that grinding noise?  Ohboy.  I don't think this laminator can handle that stack of pages.  SHIT!  PULL IT OUT PULL IT OUT!  Phew.  Okay, I don't think I wrecked anything.  *looks guiltily around to make sure nobody saw me* *remembers I am alone*

New idea: Laminate the front and back together.  Then I'LL clip the top open like a bag of delicious animal crackers.  I'll put the letter in, tape it closed, and voila.  HOLY SHIT I'M THE BIGGEST GENIUS I SHOULD TOTALLY GET A RAISE.

Back into the laminator!  La la laaaaa!  *so proud*  OMG why is it grinding again?!  CRAP!  Ah, for the love ... okay.  Back to the drawing board.  I willllllll........... ok.  OK!  I will laminate the front, and I will laminate the back, and then I will find a completely different way to put them together into the form of an envelope.  *deep breath*  *slides single layers of arted-up time sheets through* Motherf--- WHAT IS HAPPENING NOW?  Why is the carrier sheet coming out the back but NOT  MY ENVELOPE?!  

*takes laminator apart* *says more bad words* *finds that first sheet kept rolling inside and is stuck and all curly* *unsticks and uncurls it* *reassembles laminator* *looks around again to be sure nobody is witnessing this jackassery* *still alone, thank God* *turns it on and runs the rest of it through*

Ah.  Better.  I suppose I should have followed the directions on top of the laminator (THAT ARE IN PICTOGRAMS SO THAT EVEN A DUMBASS LIKE ME CAN FOLLOW THEM) that show that you put your material INSIDE the carrier sheet.  Not on top of it.  Jeez.  

Anyway, too late for directions now.  Run it through one more time, fingers crossed that it will uncurl and be relatively straight so I can still use it.  Otherwise: all that work for nothing, and then I'll just have to start day drinking way earlier than planned.

SUCCESS!!!  OMG I'm exhausted.  But I got my two sheets laminated.

WHAT I LEARNED TODAY: 

1. Take pictures before it's shiny.  
2. Braille Dymo tape does not fare well when going through a hot laminator.  
3. I probably require adult supervision.

You've been very patient.  Here you go:

Love Shelley!

I just can't help myself.

Hello, my lovelies!

I have a confession to make: I've been sending mail again.   I was at the library the other day and of course they're always selling off old books to make way for new shiny ones.  I found a couple of kids' books that had great illustrations, and snatched them up to use for envelopes.  "SACRILEGE!  WHO TEARS BOOKS APART?!" you howl in righteous outrage.  Well, me.  I do.  See, these are kids' books.  They have been dragged around, scratched up, drooled on, torn, doodled on with crayons and pudding fingers, and basically treated like... I guess like any other possession a kid has.  So they weren't exactly in mint condition anyway.  I just tell myself I'm giving them a new life... a final hurrah, I guess.  Anyway, the envelopes are adorable. 

The piglet above is going to a customer.  The cross-eyed alligator below is going to a young friend who's been waiting too long for a letter from me.  I tried to make it as enticing as possible, including adding a wax seal on the back.  After all... I do want her to write back!  

 I hope you're all making and getting fun mail.  Trust me, it can really make your day to find something joyful in the mailbox!  Go. GO!!!  Make something.  Then mail it to someone who's not expecting it.  I guarantee good results.  And I don't guarantee much, so that's saying something.  (Go.)

Love, Shelley!

Self-Mailers... they do everything but walk to the mailbox themselves

Okay, they totally don't.  BUT!  They are still pretty cool.  Remember passing notes in high school?  Sometimes you folded them in half, then in half the other way, then in half once more; but other times they were folded in such a way that they stayed together and made a nice stiff little packet that was easy to pass back and forth.

These are like those!  (The second "those," not the first "those".  The first "those" are boring.)

The deal was to figure out a way to fold your letter so it could go through the mail system safely, without going into an envelope.  This fold isn't one that I used in high school but it's actually pretty cool.  When you're done, you end up with a little corner pocket that folds over the top right corner, and loosely keeps it together.  I made sure to cover the edge with a stamp so it holds together until it reaches its new home.  I know the "start here" is pretty tiny - I hope these lovely ladies see that before they just rip n tear into the envelope and destroy it.  I kind of gave myself a mental picture there.  Ha!

Nothing really fancy for the back, just some more decoration and a declaration of what this colourful, extremely light "envelope" is all about.

 All doodled up in pencil crayon and ready to roll  Like me.  Gotta jet.  Bye!

Love Shelley!

So I'm taking this class...

I signed up for Childrens Book Illustration, a night class offered at the community college, and there is A LOT of homework.  Which is good, because it forces me to draw.  Want to see?  Good, let's go!

* * * * *

This was the first assignment I handed in.  We had to draw children in three different age ranges; and in three different states (standing, sitting, in motion).  I used reference photos from the internet, and the bottom two are in pencil, various lead hardnesses.  The flying kid was sketched out in pencil, and then I used a manga set of markers to shade him in.  Sorry about the demon eyes.  I got a little carried away with the marker.

Sketchbook - we're supposed to fill three pages in our sketchbook every week.  Doesn't sound like much, does it?  (ha.)

Again these are all from reference photos.  I wish I had the imagination to make up stuff like this on my own, but nope.  This was all done with a red Col-Erase pencil.  It's a pencil crayon but erasable.  Allegedly.  I was sitting on the couch and was too lazy to get up and look for an eraser, so I just scribbled harder to go over the parts I didn't like.

The cow went on some outgoing mail; I found her by doing a google image search for "cow" and she came up as "curious cow".  She was outlined in a Micron pen and then coloured in with Copic markers, kind of a quick-and-dirty job since I'm really not great with markers (YET).  Then I found a website that is all about character development, (visual, not like working hard and never telling a lie) and it's not in English, but there are a ton of great reference photos.  All the hamster drawings are in pencil.  I love this little guy.  From the website it looks like he's in the Disney movie "Bolt," which I haven't seen.  I figured I'd better start working on some kind of stuff that kids would like, since the final project is to illustrate a 16-page kids' book.  I'm sweating a little just thinking about it.  Then again, being challenged like this is sure to make me grow. Or have a nervous breakdown - one of those two things.

This big momma is a work in progress.  I just got started on her last night.  I hope to finish her tonight, because I still have to complete two more sketchbook pages for Monday, PLUS my assignment.  Yikes.  Anyway, this is from a  reference photo from a National Geographic book I snagged at Value Village.  So far I've only used a 4H pencil and a Palomino Blackwing.  I  might add more values with different pencils, but I'm not very good at that yet.  Since I used to just cross my fingers and hope you could tell what it was supposed to be, I think I've made some progress.  HA!  (Oh, and if I haven't, it's an elephant.)

I have a LOT more work on the go for this class.   I'll post pics as I go along. I'm hoping to see some real improvement between now and the end of  March when it's over.  Critiques welcome - you might see something I don't, so let me have it.

Love Shelley!

Dear Sarah...

 Would you believe that I have not one, not TWO, but THREE pen pals named Sarah?

Well believe it, baby.  Look:

This is for the first and closest Sarah.  She sent me the Most Amazing Package last time she wrote.  And this time I didn't have any treats to send her but I did use a plastic clamshell to at least make it interesting to receive.  I remembered to snap a pic of it JUST before I slipped it into the mailbox.  I wrapped the actual letter in some other paper to keep the mailman from being able to read it.  Since part of it was about the difficulty of getting a chicken to hold still so I could practice giving it stitches, I thought that was for the best.

Sarah Red?  Totally different personality.  Also fiercely intelligent, down to earth, and a ton of fun to talk to in letters.  This time I picked a clear plastic envelope and used some paper out of a notebook to give it a nice background.  And to keep the mailman from seeing what I wrote.  Since part of it was about French beauty pageants and taking purses into football games… wait.  That's not that bad!  Next time I might just let it intrigue the people whose hands it passes through.

Sarah in the UK is the newest and bravest Sarah.  She had to write me a letter and basically knew nothing about me, so she went out on a limb to tell me a little about herself in the hopes that we would get along and I would write back.  Mission accomplished!  She left out enough intriguing details that she tweaked my curiosity and I had to find out more.  MY letter is full of nosy questions.  This one actually went out this very morning.  Strangely, the mail to and from the UK is faster than to the US.  So I'm sure I'll be hearing from her soon.

That's all I have to show you for today.  I have to go find that chicken… talk to you soon!

xo
Shelley

Fancy Nancy

This afternoon I got pretty sick of working, so I busted out the el cheapo pencil crayons at my desk, and what do you know - my muse decided to join me for a few minutes!  It probably helps that I'm deliriously tired and my guard is way down.  She's sneaky; she likes to wait until I've given up on her, then she blows back into my life like a bad boyfriend fresh out of jail.  That's probably the worst metaphor I've used yet on this blog, too, so you're welcome for that.

I have a second one in the works - completely different, yet exactly the same.  (Don't ask, I'm even confusing myself right now.)

Stay tuned.

Love Shelley!

Friday's outgoing mail

Still slightly lame, but getting marginally better:

I especially like the 7cent Pierre Laporte stamp, because it's got a ton of texture on it.  I don't know if it was letterpressed or what, but it is AWESOME.  Now the stamps are smooth and plasticky, and just not as official-feeling.  Anyway, it's gone now, but at least I still have the memory of it.  (deep, nostalgic, nerdy sigh).

And this one is just a sneak peek, because otherwise it will ruin the fun for the lovely lady who's going to be receiving this in the next week or two.  Once she gets it, I'll let you see the rest.  Deal?

I didn't make as much mail this weekend as I would have liked.  Instead I kept busy making salsa and tomato soup and getting a bunch of canning done.  I was going to make pickled beets too, but thankfully SADLY the beets are tiny this year and so it wouldn't be worthwhile to go to all that trouble.  I'm still looking into canning pumpkin for holiday pies, though.

Tomorrow I might have something a bit more entertaining for you, if you don't offend easily.  If you do... maybe skip a day.  I'll be back with good clean fun later in the week.

And now... back to work!

Love Shelley!

The muse, she is elusive right now

So I'm in the mood to write letters, lots and lots of letters, but do you think I can come up with ideas to decorate the envelopes?  Nope.  I think I'm out of practice!  I could cheat and look for ideas on Pinterest, but I decided just to go with it and let my muse come back in her own good time.  She will.  She always does.  She's a good shit.

In the meantime, this is today's outgoing mail.  Not my finest work, but still better than a poke in the eye with a frozen stick.  (I like to keep everyone's expectations nice and low.)  The postcard is from SomeECards and I'm not showing you the front because it's rude.  Funny, but rude.  Plus, I have to save SOME surprises for the recipients.

What are you sending out today?  Get going!

Love Shelley

PS: Lisa, I replied to your comment.  I KNEW you'd call me out, that's why you're my favourite!  The letters are written but the envelopes are... lacking.  They'll be in tomorrow's mail.  Pinky swear.

WANTED: New Pen Pals

Okay, so you know that I love the mail, Canada Post, my delivery driver, pens, papers, envelopes, and of course postage stamps.  I delight in going to the mailbox and seeing what exciting surprises await within.  But lately, that isn't happening so much.  Instead, I'm just getting, bills, statements, newsletters, flyers... all boring grown-up stuff that's beating out the happy mail by a ratio of like, 10 to 1!

Now, I have a bunch of pen pals, some of whom I consider close personal friends; and others who are mere acquaintances but who are still fun to write to and receive mail from.  So I don't know what's going on; maybe real life is getting in the way, or maybe I'm just not everyone's cup of tea*.  The bottom line, though, is that I NEED TO TAKE ACTION.

So, I've fired off a letter to the LWA.  They're going to hook me up with a couple of random new people, to see if we hit it off.  I'll send first, introduce myself, and see what happens.  Then, hopefully, slowly, steadily, my trips to the mailbox will become the highlight of my day again.

Want to play?  Either join up and see who you get, or if you want, hit me up.  I promise to write back.

Okay, that's all for now.  I'm off to go find some trouble, and I'll report back.  Because this blog is getting bo-o-o-o-oring.  Stay tuned.

Love Shelley!

*Pfft.

So I cleaned up my desk...

... and I found a couple of things I'd forgotten about!  

These are just a couple of postcards I made when I was hacking around. The first one is more doodling than anything.

This second one is a little more focused, but it's still on a piece of old file folder cardboard.  It's so weird that I can't resist buying fancy art supplies, but then every little piece of trash I come across has incredible potential, and I end up using that stuff first.  Junk mail, cereal boxes, packaging, magazine images and words, (and numbers... I use a lot of numbers when I'm writing letters and marking the pages), stuff out of the newspaper, flyers; basically anything is fair game as long as it doesn't have food on it.  Dirt's okay, I've used lots of stuff I've found in parking lots and at bus stops.  But no food.  I don't want feral coyotes attacking the mailbox when I go dump my daily pile of envelopes in the outgoing.  The new mail-lady would be upset too, and I kinda need to get her on board with my mail habits, so yeah... gotta watch what I use.  Also I think all coyotes are feral so I probably didn't need to qualify that, but it sounded more descriptive, and that's how I roll.

Because of these magpie-type habits, I've realized that I don't need to keep buying actual art supplies.  In fact, I'm putting a moratorium on any more art spending for 2013.  I have more than enough STUFF and even books, and I'm going to use what I have for the rest of the year.  This is a scary resolution to make, especially for books... I freely admit I have a... problem... with books.  In fact, I keep expecting to come home and see this hanging up:

I'll still keep a running wish list though - because I'm only human, and I know I'll still WANT more.  But let's see what I can do with what I have on hand and what I come across in my daily travels.  I bet it's a LOT.  Between finishing up things I've started, and following through on ideas that have been brewing, I have a lot to get to.  Enjoy the rest of your weekend, I know I will.

Love Shelley!

The mail is alive and well

This isn't super-fresh, because etiquette dictates that you make sure the recipient gets the mail before you go splashing it all over the internet for everyone else to see.  Plus it would be a spoiler if you saw your mail online before it showed up in your mailbox, right?

I just grabbed a plain white envelope and started playing.  First I collaged on some bits and pieces that looked interesting, then I think I put a coat of gesso over some of it to mute it a little.  Then the rest was pretty much all done with Inktense pencils.  They behave just like watercolour pencils when you're using them, but when they dry, the colour is permanent, hence the reference to ink in the name.  You can even go back and add new marks over top and if it's dry, the stuff underneath won't move.  The permanence is nice because you never know what's going to happen to that envelope between here and there.  If it gets soggy I don't want the address to slide right off the front, the mail people have enough challenges.

To make the lettering stand out, I gave it a white highlight with a Sharpie paint pen, and then I used a T5 toner grey copic marker to shade the grey underside of each letter.  

Then of course, stickers.  I'm all super fancy up in here!  Oh, but since stickers are considered cheating, (whatever), we'll just call it additional collage.  If you send me a letter and it has stickers on it, I promise not to judge.  Ha!  

I know it says "SECRET" but there wasn't much in there that was very incriminating.  (Or maybe there was.  I'm not telling.)

Hey, you should go send a letter.  Then you might get a letter back, and that could really make your day.  It always works for me.

Love Shelley!

My happy place

This is Group 546.

Our box is number 38, on Rural Route 5.  A lot of people don't know what group mailboxes are, although  they're becoming more common.  They save the mailman from having to make individual stops.  

I get a kick out of putting these crazy things into the outgoing mail at our group mailbox.  It's kind of my happy place.... the mailbox is at the end of the road and it's usually really quiet out there.  So in addition to picking up and dropping off my mail, which is already one of my favourite parts of the day, I sometimes stand there for a few minutes and enjoy the utter peace.  Or watch the neighbour do his loopy morning dance outside, depending on what time I get there.

Plus, I like to think the mailman enjoys this stuff marginally more than just picking up regular old bills.

(I am a master of the obvious.)

The assignment here was to send out a couple of "blank" journals - not exactly blank because the pages inside are all altered and ready for these two people to add their own brand of fabulous.

The trick was that they had to go in the mail "naked" - no envelope!  The idea is that the postage and postmarks and assorted marks from being handled would add to the character of the book.  Knowing that the addressed area is a keeper, I used a bunch of my old vintage stamps to mail them.

I don't know if you can tell from the pics, but the books are actually pretty puffy... I added LOTS of fold-outs, tip-ins, secret hiding places, and doodles to these pages.  And the tags on the second book look pretty 3-D because I went around them with a light grey marker to give the illusion that they aren't stuck right down.  It's like MAGIC.  (ooooOOOoooh!)

Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go invite my sister over, and then put up a poster with her picture on it that says "BANNED FOR LIFE" on the front door.  I love messing with her.  Have some fun today... I know I'm gonna!

Love Shelley!

DOOOOOOOO EEEEEEEEEET!

Hi guys!!

So are you all signed up for Nathalie's Creative Jump Start 2012?  YOU'RE NOT?!?!  Well GO!  GO RIGHT NOW!!!!  No really, I'll wait.  It's free, and it's amazing.  It's amazing, and it's free!  Some of your very favourite artists have put together tutorials in various formats that will give your creativity a kick in the pants.  It's possible that I'm raving prematurely, because to be honest I've only watched the first video - but you can see by the impressive lineup of artists that this is going to be an EPIC series.

The first artist featured (and wow, did this start with a bang) is Dina Wakley.  I've been a big fan of hers for a very long time; her style is very free and inspiring and COLOURFUL!  And we all know how much I like bright vibrant colours.  Her Creative Jump Start is a warm-up exercise that she does before she starts creating for real.  Although you may agree with me that some of her "warm-ups" are cooler than some of my finished work!  But that's neither here nor there.

I followed her example, and this is what I came up with tonight.  Unfortunately it's a bit too late to start any "real" art, but I really like these the way they are!  Check them out:

These tags are basically finished.  I'd probably stick them on an art journal page as is.  OR cut bits out of them to use on something else. I used Tattered Angels Glimmer Mists on them, Staz-On black ink for the stamping, and Sharpies to do the writing.

The next three.  I'd probably add to these, possibly with some words on Dymo tape; and then use them on art journal pages or in letters to my pen pals.  Especially the one that says "Do not look inside."  That really has to go on the outside of a cool envelope, don't you think?  I like to keep the mailman on his toes.  Hee!

The final three.  The middle one is the only one where I changed up the technique a little.  I got out a stencil and some Mr. Huey's white spray, and gave it a spritz.  However, the dark blue ink underneath wasn't dry yet, so the white turned light blue.  However, I really like how it turned out.  I fiddled a little extra with the one on the right.  Dina's work is really organic, her stuff just seems to turn out right away, but I liked the red on the edge so I purposely added more, even though it totally felt like cheating.  I was trying to get some yellow in there too but my yellow wouldn't spray so I was just dripping it everywhere and making a colossal mess.  SO MUCH FUN!!!!

Just to give you an idea of one reason why this jump start grabbed me so instantly: Dina mentioned that she often does her warm up exercises on manila tags, and I just HAPPEN to have a drawer full of them.  That I organized just last week.  Serendipity?  I think so.

Want to see some close-ups?  Well, okay!
 

On this first one, I loved how the two colours ran together; you can also see a hint of the shimmer that the spray leaves behind.

Better view of the shimmer/glimmer; kind of strangely focused though.  I only have my iPhone for taking pics at the moment, but these did turn out surprisingly well!

This one is almost too simple; it definitely needs something.  But I so love how the red blends into the orange that I couldn't bear to cover it up yet.  

And finally, this one is much more messy-looking but I love the distressed effect that I (accidentally) got.

Now, I just hope that all this mojo lasts until the next time I get a crack at my art supplies.  Stay tuned!!!

Love Shelley!

Whew.

So it's been a while.  The short version of the story is as follows: 

Things have taken a turn for the awesome around here.  I predict amazing things to come.  The end.

I'll probably expand on that one of these days but for now, here are a couple of things I worked on this week:

There is more to the address than just "SWARTZ" but I can't just go around giving away peoples' addresses all willy-nilly.  The font, called "circus" is one I downloaded from a free font site, printed out, then sat and painstakingly wrote out with a 0.1 Copic multi-liner.  I wanted to go for a circus feel, and I really liked that font.  The biggest compliment:  my son thought the letters were rub-ons.

The envelope is actually the main event - it's meant to be sent empty.  I put a piece of cardboard inside to stiffen it, but sending a decorated envelope was the whole point of this swap.  It was based on this book, called Mail Me Art (you can click to see samples inside the book); and I've been captivated by this project ever since I heard of it.  This isn't for the same project, it's a swap through swap-bot.  

My kids also bring me little bits and pieces of neat things because they know that I like to decorate the pages in my journal.  (See?  Awesome.)  They gave me this piece of cardboard, so I attached some bits and pieces I had lying around, then did a bit of random meandering journaling on it, and cut notches into it so I could slip it into the coil binding inside my book.   I hadn't worked in any of my art journals for a while, so this was more of a warm up than anything else.  

That's all for now, but stay tuned.  More awesome to come.  

Love Shelley!

YAY CANADA POST!!

SO glad the mail strike is over.  I know they don't have all their differences with the union settled yet, but I'm just (selfishly) glad that postal service will resume today.  Now I can mail some of these babies out:

I discovered a place in town called Arts Junktion last week.  It's in a semi-sketchy area but I went in the afternoon (ie. broad daylight) and everything was fine.  If you don't mind following directions that go something like this:  "Go behind the building, down the alley along the fence, past the loading doors, then up three steps into a small discreet wooden door" then this is the place for you. 

What they do is accept donations of "junk" that artists may be able to use - all kinds of stuff, from legit art supplies, to used binders and other office supplies, fabric and leather scraps, buttons... really anything that COULD be used for art.  Then?  And this is the part that floored me - you can come in and pick whatever you think you might use.  FOR FREE.  Yes!  Really!!

I was very careful not to go all crazy and grab up everything in sight, I took a few select things that I knew I would use.  For example, the three wee paintings at the top there are done with gouache and paint marker on old 5.5" floppy diskettes. 

While I was waiting for layers of paint to dry on those, I took a few minutes to put down a background in one of my art journals.  I had done half a page in here several years ago (it's horrible, I'll probably never show it to you - or I might paint over it) so I drew a black line with a sharpie and decided the bottom half of the page will be something entirely different.  Here it is so far:

I have no idea what it will be when it's finished but at least the colours are fun!

See you soon - go check your mail!!

Love Shelley!