Altered Canvas

One of the prizes from my last giveaway. Made especially for Cheeka. It's an altered canvas.

In one month, Nanowrimo will be starting. I'll be trying once again to attain the 50, 000 words goal. I have one month to get prepared.

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Voici un prix qui a été gagné au début du mois sur mon blog. Il s'agit de canvas altéré que j'ai fait spécialement pour Cheeka.

Dans un mois, Nanowrimo va commencer. Je vais encore une fois essayer d'atteindre le but de 50,000 mots écrits. J'ai un mois pour me préparer.

Exquisite Corpse

***(J'ai traduit en français plus bas.)

In the art community, there is a "game" called Exquisite Corpse. The way it works is simple. You get 3 or more people together and you follow these simple guidelines.

If you're writing a poem, the 1st person writes a verse. The second person writes a second verse, starting it with the last word (or so) from the previous verse and then folds the paper to hide the first line. The 3rd person writes a verse starting with the last word from the second line (never looking at the first line) and then folds the paper to hide the second line before handing it to the 4th person (or back to the 1st.)

If you're doing this in drawing form, the first person draws a head, extending the lines of the neck beyond the folded line; folds the paper so the head is hidden but the lines of the neck can be seen. The 2nd person draws the body from the neck to the waist or hips (waist if there's more than 3 players). Paper is folded again with only extended lines to be seen. 3rd player draws from waist to knees (3+ players) or hips to feet. If there's a 4th player, the paper is folded again and the 4th player finishes the drawing.

These can be very fun. The drawing you see here is 3 ATCs representing a character I drew for a swap. Everyone in the swap does 3 cards (head, body, legs) and when the swap is over, we all receive body parts from 3 different players. I created mine with a Micron pen for the outline, watercolour and coloured pencils for the rest.

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Dans la communauté artistique, il y a un jeux qu'on appelle le "cadavre exquis." Le processus est très simple. Ça se joue à 3 personnes ou plus.

Si on veut faire un poème, la 1ère personne écrit un vers puis passe la feuille à la 2e personne. Celle-ci écrit un vers commençant par le dernier mot de la 1ère phrase puis plie la feuille pour cacher le premier vers et passe le tout à la 3e personne. Celle-ci écrit un vers commençant par le dernier mot de la 2e phrase et ainsi de suite.

Si on veut faire un dessin, la 1ère personne dessine la tête et plie la feuille en laissant paraître seulement une partie du cou. La 2e personne dessine le corps du cou à, soit la taille ou les hanches puis plie la feuille laissant paraître le bout des lignes. La 3e personne continue le dessin. S'il y a une 4e personne, celle-ci fait le dessin des genoux aux pieds.

C'est un jeux amusant. L'image que j'ai affiché est un personnage que j'ai créé pour un échange de CAE (Carte artistique échangeable.) Tout le monde qui y participe créé 3 cartes (tête, corps, jambes) et reçoit à la fin des parties créées par 3 artistes différents. Mes cartes ont été créées avec le feutre Micron pour les contours ainsi que de l'aquarelle et des crayons de couleurs pour le reste.

Warm & comforting

Mixed Media on cardboard. 12"x12"

Gesso, acrylic paint, Prismacolor pencils blended with Gamsol, inks, pencil.

Inspired by Kal Barteski's Tiny Art series.

My best friend

This is my mother with her two dogs: Magy (pronounced "majee" as in the french word for magic=magie) the black Pomeranian and Mopette (pronounced "muppet") the grey and white poodle/schnauzer mix.

My mother (MamanKoolAid) is my best friend. We do a lot of things together: shopping, crafting, talking. We even have the same job but in 2 different schools.

When I moved out of the house (almost 6 years ago now) I promised to her that I'd visit every week, even though we don't live THAT far apart. And I've kept that promise (and still keeping it.) I usually go to the house on Wednesday night because it cuts the work week in half and also to watch Lost with her when it's on TV. I also go to the house on Saturdays. It used to be every Saturday but now I'm cutting it to every other weekend so I can do other stuff like go out (which hasn't happened yet) or clean my apartment (hasn't happened yet either!) I get along great with my mother, I'd say 95% of the time. After all, we're only human! We give each other a lot of inspiration and ideas and it always keeps us busy and happy.

I just wanted to share a little bit about myself and my mother today. After all, I wouldn't be here if it weren't for her! Merci Maman pour tout ce que tu fais pour moi! Je t'aime!

Inside the artist's studio

So. This is where the magic happens. My living room/studio. It's small and I have way too much stuff for it but I've gotten used to it in the past 5 (closer to 6) years.

Now. I've already talked about my belief in signs and messages from the Universe. And this summer, I received a message in the form of a new-to-me blog. She calls herself the Mermaid and lives in a cottage near a beach. She teaches "fat, messy journal" classes to young girls in her home during summer. And the way she writes... it got me thinking...

I could do this. I could teach "fat, messy journal" classes of my own during summer. Yes, my apartment is small but with a bit of de-cluttering and reorganizing, I really think I could make my living room kid-friendly. All through this year I've been taking small steps to de-clutter my life. And I've been experimenting with new art techniques. I've also been reading about organization more (and seeing Violette's posts on this subject and the progress she's making with this is very inspiring.) I already have access to kids so that won't be an issue when it's time to get started. I even have 2 girls in mind to "test drive" this new project. Thoughts and ideas are swirming in my mind day and night (making it hard to fall asleep but that's a whole different post that I won't bore you with!)

Ever since I was a kid, I've wanted to be an artist and to teach kids (without actually being a school teacher.) So I think, no, I KNOW that this is one of those dreams that can and WILL actually come true! I'm very excited about this and will do everything in my power to make it happen. And I'll keep you all updated on my progress.

On a different note...

Yesterday, I was at my parents' house to take care of the dogs for a few hours and decided to make 2 cards (I hate the term "greeting card" but that's what they are, not ATCs.) They are both very similar: same colours, same stamps. The differences are: this one has 4 birds while the other has 2 AND this card has punched flowers with a bit of Gold Liquid Pearl while the other has Turquoise Sticklers on all the leaves of the tree. They both came out great. The other card is for an ATCSforALL member who lost family members last week. The one you see here is for a 5 year old girl, Ellie Bouchard, who is going through chemo because of a brain tumor. If you want to brighten this little girl's day, go to her website to find the address where you can mail her a card or anything else that you think she might like.

Before I go, I also wanted to share with you this video (found through iHanna's blog.) It makes me happy and I could watch it over and over.

Over the rainbow...

As I was walking home after work yesterday, the sky was spitting huge cold drops of rain on me. I arrived soaking wet and changed into more comfortable (and dry) clothes. Then I went about my usual business. Turned on the computer. Turned on the television (I always watch an old episode of The Simpsons right after work.) Relaxed. Then, I figured that if I wanted to eat, I better go into the kitchen and cook something. And that's when I heard a crow. I looked out the window to see where the bird was (it sounded really close by) and saw it perched on the clothesline's post. I looked at it briefly and then turned to get dinner started when it cawed again. So I looked at it again and asked it what it wanted. Believe it or not, its beak went up as if it was pointing in that direction. And that's when I saw the rainbow. I had time to get my camera and got a few photos, this one being the best. After the second shot from my camera, the crow flew away, as if its job was done and it could move on.

For a couple of weeks now, I've been asking the Universe to send me a sign, any sign. Some people I know asked for a hawk and saw one right after. Or a feather. Or a heart-shaped rock. I got none of those. I got a crow showing me the way to the rainbow. Reminding me to take the time to look, really look, around me and see the beauty even in the midst of uglyness. The sky was still grey and heavy with clouds but that rainbow was so colourful and bright. It made my day.

Today was a rainy day and the kids at work were over-excited. Some of my coworkers have started talking against others, not necessarily to be mean but to get "stuff" off of their chest. I let them talk and I nod or shrug. I don't take sides. I keep smiling. And I spread the good stuff by lending CDs to my friend Anik and giving her books and toys for her 3 year old son. It's all good. Life is beautiful, no matter what. So whatever happens, look for that sign. Look for the rainbow. Or the hawk. Or the feather. Or a heart-shaped rock. Or whatever else floats your boat.

Have a great one (day, evening, night, week, month, year, life!)

And the winners are...

Congratulations to JAN and CHEEKA! You are the 2 winners for my giveaway. Please contact me via email (sophietousignant[at]videotron[dot]ca) so we can discuss your prize.

For those who didn't win this time around, do not fret... I'll probably have another giveaway before the holidays.

For those new to my blog, today's image is one of my paper spool collages (the winners will get one similar to this in their gift package.)

CeeCee's Colour Challenge : Halloween

My friend CeeCee's offering her colour challenge again. With this one, the colours were Black, White, Glitter (I know it's not a colour but it should be!) and a colour of our choice. I went with a brick red. We also had to make the card on a Halloween theme. While shopping with mom this weekend (go visit her blog, she has beautiful cards including one made with a photo taken by my brother,) we found glittered halloween stickers so I just had to use this skull for my card! I also added more silver which doesn't really show on the card with the embroidery floss wrapped around the red piece. The scalloped edges were done with the new Stampin' Up! scallop border punch! It's absolutely great!

You still have a couple of hours to be entered in my giveaway below. The winners will be announced on Monday.

I smell a GIVEAWAY

In honor of my 200th post, I am offering a GIVEAWAY. I thought I'd make this an even more personalized giveaway by making it "winner's choice." In the past, I have given away an altered canvas, altered slide mailers and an altered CD. I thought it would be a good idea to offer these prizes again but this time, the winners (yes, there will be more than one) will decide which prize they want, what colours I should use and a specific theme if they are so inclined. Of course, there will be other things included in the prize like a paper spool collage, an ATC and maybe other things too (have to keep some surprises, right?)

To be entered in this giveaway, all you have to do is comment on this post. You have until September 7th 11:59pm to be eligible. I'll announce the 2 winners on Monday the 8th. Good luck!

Making a list

Maybe it's because I work in a school but to me, September marks a new year. And often, it's when I make my "resolutions." This year, I decided to take it one month at a time. So my list is as follows:

1. Be ACTIVE every day of the week

2. Eat HEALTHY food

3. GO OUT at least once downtown

4. Be CREATIVE (that one is easy enough)

5. Be THRIFTY/frugal

6. Be POSITIVE

7. Do at least one NEW thing

8. READ in my spare time (forget television for a while)

9. mostly, have FUN

10. and SMILE whenever possible

It all starts today.

I had promised a giveaway for today. Last week was a bit chaotic and overwhelming so I didn't get a chance to post here or to do anything specific for a giveaway but it will happen anyway. See the post above for details.