Working as a team

I'm not sure if I already told y'all this, so I'm gonna say it again. I am part of 4-H. If you don't know what that is, you'll have to google it, because I can't explain it.

ANYWHO. One of the activities one does in 4-H is something called "team invention". Basically, you and two of your closest 4-H pals get together to form a group. Then, said team is given a non-descript paper bag full of random stuff, a rectangle piece of cardboard, and a 45 minute timeline. Once you and your teammates area given the above supplies, an adult gives you one last thing. A theme, and guidelines. In this case, the only guidelines are to create something according to your theme, and you must use what is in the bag, and ONLY what's in the bag.

For this challenge, the theme was "Michigan Traditions". {the 4-H group I belong to is in Monroe}

So, for the first few of the 45 minutes allotted to us, my teammates{yup, you guessed it! Enter the infamous Zakk and Adam} brainstormed, and, after discarding several ideas, including a secret military base and something else I'd rather not mention, we decided on making a farm. For those of you who live in or have been to Michigan, you will know that Michigan is big farm country.

Exactly 40 minutes later, the three of us stepped back to admire our handy-work. So, enough chit-chat. Let's get to some pictures!!!

An overview of the whole thing

A close-up of Zakk's totally awesome Tractor/trailer, including hay bails.

My Grain silo, slightly less awesome.
You can't really see it, but inside the barn, there are two horses, in their own stalls. One eating hay, and the other peaking his head out from behind the wall. SWEET!!! That was totally Adam's idea. bravo, my friend.

Part of the requirement was that our project needed our team number and the name of each team member

Apparently, we named the farm "Grim Reaper Farms". Yeah. Zakk named the farm.

Well, now all that's left to do is wait to find out what the judges think of our farm. All I can say is, I'm really glad we decided not to make the Monroe county fair{which hosts the 4-H activities}, because when I was looking around at other projects, I noticed several dozen county fairs, and about three other farms, none as awesome as ours, if I do say so myself. :)

See you later, peeps! Wish us luck!

~Erin ♥

My latest endeavor

The latest in my sketch book..........

Examination....

I often find it useful to, after drawing a picture, find the aspect I like and dislike the most. I tend to learn from that. If I didn't like the face of the person I drew, I will try a different way next time. I may decide I like the way the shading turned out on another picture, and rarely stray from that technique, that is, until I can find a better way of doing it. I also enjoy others' opinions, to see what they like, and dislike the most. That is what I endeavor to accomplish in this post. I will show my favorite drawings, give my opinion on each, and then this is where you come in. I want you to comment and tell me which is your favorite, why, what you like best about that picture, and what you think should be done differently. Are you ready? Then let's get started!

I'm not digging the leaf.

I love Tink's face and hair. I thought it turned out very well.

The window doesn't look right. I think it's slightly lopsided.
However, I think this one is my favorite.

I really like her hair

Actually, I'm not to fond of this picture in general

The dog is SO cute!!

I don't like this picture, either. Everything is wrong with it. Her face is squashed, I have no idea what happened with the hair, and her entire person looks two-dimensional.

I like the flower in the book

The girl is more than a little fatter in my drawing than she was in the original picture, and the foliage is so sparse it's not even funny. I was just lazy, and didn't want to draw an entire bush.

The butterfly is so tiny!

In contrast to the rest of the picture, the umbrella has almost no detail, and just lopsided and flat

I think her bustle is simply marvelous, if I do say so myself

I should have added more to the picture, and her apron is just sad.

That doll is great! I totally want one!

Her hips are HUGE in comparison with her waist

I'm really in love with the twig paint brush

I don't like her face, I should have done more with the curtain, and I wish I had drawn more of the picture.

I like her delicate necklace, lace collar, and lace sleves

The little boy isn't centered on the bed, and his knees are way too low down for that short child

I can't help but laugh at that duck head board.

Now it's your turn. Be honest. I really want to know your true opinion.

~Erin

A hat

So, Christmas Carol is only a few short days away! Six days, to be exact.{Let's pause while the author goes off by herself and happy dances to "Party in the USA"}

O.K. I'm back. Anywho, so the hat that the theatre provided for me was, well, atrocious. To put it lightly. It had a purple sparkly pointsetta, for crying out loud!!!!! So, knowing me, the only thing to do was to make my own!!!! And, to my utter surprise, it WORKED!!!!{Can I get a woot, woot?!....Andybody?...........Bueler?} But, back on track.........I took TONS of pictures, and decided to make a picture tutorial as a way to show my hat, AND, you'll get to make one, too!! How SWEET is that?!?!?!

You ready to get started? Well, O.K. then! {If you don't care about making an 1840's bonnet, and just want to see the finished product, scroll down to the end. But why would you want to do that?}

Supplies:
Straw Hat
Ribbon{At least enough to tie around your neck}
Hot glue gun
~optional~
Trim
Fabric

This is the pretty trim I used

We are attempting to achieve this general design.

Step 1: Draw the desired shape onto the outside of your hat. Then cut.
{tip: put the hat on your head, figure out where your ears are with it on, and start your line from there}

Step 2: Now, determine how big you want your brim to be, and then cut it down to size. {My brim is slightly smaller than I would probably have made it otherwise, but, because I'll be on stage, I don't want it to shadow my face.}

Your hat should look something like this, if you have followed the steps up until now.

Step 3: optional Cover your hat with some kind of fabric. I used red velvet, but it really doesn't matter what kind you use. Hot glue your fabric in place.

Step 4: Optional Hot glue trim around the head part of your hat, or wherever you want it. {Another good place is on the edge.}

Step 5: Optional Make 8 little bows out of your ribbon, leaving enough for the fastening ribbon around your neck. Hot glue six of them around the inside rim of your hat.
Now, if you want your hat to look like mine, you're going to need roughly 3 yards of ribbon{length varies on amount of bows/size of hat}

Step 6: Optional Take the last two little bows, and hot glue them in the outside corners of your hat. {They should hid the ends of your trim, if you put any on}

Step 7: Take your remaining ribbon and cut it into two even strips. Then, hot glue the ends so that they won't fray. Sew them to the edge of your bonnet, or hot glue them, if you don't sew.

And voila! You have a SUPER cute 1840's bonnet!!!!!! And you made it all yourself!!!!

Experiment with different shapes of straw hats, or styles of bonnets, and send me the pictures, or links to your blog posts about them! I would simply LOVE to see your creativity!!!

Happy Saturday!

~Erin

Fingernail decoreating

No, this isn't a nail polish tutorial. I was bored, and, you know me. When I get bored, I draw. This time, my canvas was my fingernails.
It was fun, you should try it!Just be careful what kind of pen you use. I used a liquid gel ink pen, and am now having difficulty getting the design OFF my nails.

Finger people

Hee, hee

Art Gallery

I finally managed to fix my pictures so they were facing the right direction! The photography isn't the greatest,but I had the notion to take pictures of my sketches at a very late hour. Just one of those things you think of when it's 1:30 in the morning,and you can't sleep! Enjoy!

~Erin

Picures.....

Hello again! Today,I will be sharing some pictures of some of my drawings! I really hope you enjoy them!

(By the way,this is WAY easier to upload pictures than on HSB)






Sorry this one is on it's side. But can you see what it is? It's Alice,from Alice in Wonderland









Well,All the other pictures are on their sides as well,so,I won't put any more on,for fear oof giving anyone a headache. If you REALLY want to see more,I'll see what I can do about flipping the photos!

Please comment!


~Erin