Pastel Pumpkin

It's that time of year. The leaves are falling, and the air is getting crisp and cool. I created this quick sketch in approximately five minutes using soft pastels on purple construction paper during one of my art classes this week.

Soft pastels are easy to blend, and you can keep building details with every layer that you place on the paper. I'm not a huge fan of pastels; however, I'm always amazed at how quickly one can create a piece of artwork using this medium.

Jewelry Making Goes Green at The Banana Factory

I always meet the nicest and most interesting people when I teach at The Banana Factory. Today was no different. The students who joined me for my Jewelry Making Goes Green workshop came from New Jersey and southeast Pennsylvania.

Lorene created the laminated earrings above using pages from an old wrapping paper catalog.

I brought a lot of aluminum soup tabs to class today so that the students could make these funky pendants. Diane did a great job using monochromatic colors for her design. Believe it or not, that's not a pearl. It's a mushroom button. Deceiving, isn't it?

I love how Lorene used paper clips, paper, natural fibers, and unique stones create these earrings. Nice job!

Natural fibers have a way of adding just that little extra touch to a pair of earrings. Ilisa's ensemble is fabulous.

I'll leave you with more pictures from today's workshop below. Enjoy!

 

Featured on When Creativity Knocks

Here's a glimpse of me working on one of my latest design collections inspired by the beach. You can see more of my work and a recent interview on my art licensing and design business on the When Creativity Knocks Web site by clicking here.

A big note of thanks to Theresa Cifali for featuring me on the When Creativity Knocks Web site.  She's a fellow CHA designer who is an inspiration to us all.

Liz Revit Designs Featured at CHA Summer 2011 Trade Show

 ~ Image copyright Christoper Hanson ~

I'm honored to have had my jewelry designs featured in Westcott's booth at the summer 2011 CHA trade show. Although I was unable to attend this year's show, I obtained a photo of how my jewelry looked on display.

Since my jewelry ensemble consisted of interchangeable pieces consisting of Duck Tape's "flames" and "camouflage" motifs, I'm thrilled to see how they arranged my necklace on top of the camouflage print. Nice job!

The CHA designer challenge was a lot of fun. I might add that there was a lot of pressure with this year's challenge due to a delivery problem with one of the products, which resulted in a week-long delay in my receiving the product. Working under pressure is never a problem. You just do what needs to be done.  

I'd like to thank the generous sponsors of this year's designer challenge: Westcott, Velcro Brand Fasteners and Duck Brand Duck Tape.

A big note of thanks to Marisa Pawelko aka Modern Surrealist for organizing this challenge.  She was so gracious to reach out to the CHA designer members to participate in this event, and she was very helpful throughout the designer challenge.

As a reminder, our projects will be auctioned to raise funds for CharityWings.org. Please be sure to check out this wonderful organization and all that they do.

I'd also like to mention that I used Swarovski crystals and Beadalon's German-style wire in my designs. As always, Swarovski always provides that extra sparkle, and I love using Beadalon's wire as an alternative to sterling silver.

Patriotic Ornaments in Create & Decorate August 2011

~image used with permission of Create & Decorate, August 2011 

and Sean O'Brien Photography~

If you haven't already seen the latest issue of Create & Decorate, be sure to check out page 78, which features my grand old flag star ornaments.

For this project, I used Celluclay from Activa Products. I also used Americana acrylic paints by DecoArt, American Painter brushes by Loew-Cornell, and Aleene's® Original Tacky Glue®.

If you love making primitive crafts, give this project a try.

Bazaar Season

It's that time of year when bazaars are in full swing in northeast Pennsylvania. I opted for a dozen of clams tonight in lieu of potato pancakes and pierogies.  Somebody better check my temperature. How did I pass up that traditional Polish/Lithuanian fare? Although, this bazaar wasn't serving Babushka Betty's pierogies, so that's probably why I passed on them tonight.

Every year, St. Nick's parish draws a great crowd because the food is always delicious.

An old water tower stands in the distance. You'd think the city of Wilkes-Barre would rip this eyesore down already.

St. Nick's parish has one of the best flea markets. The doors were wide open, and the flea market was calling my name.

All the Christmas items were 50% off today.

I was in heaven when I spotted a grammar book. I don't collect things, but I do acquire well-written grammar books. I'm always on the lookout for vintage books on sentence diagramming.

I fondly recall my fifth-grade teacher, Sister Carmelita, teaching me how to diagram sentences. Since then, I've always loved grammar. Thanks to her, I've had the opportunity to use my writing skills in a variety of different ways throughout my career.

When was the last time you saw sentence diagramming in a grammar text book? Forgive me, but they no longer call the subject grammar. I believe it's referred to as language arts or some other watered-down version of grammar. No wonder why Suzie and Johnny can't write coherent sentences.

Look! It's a chapter on dangling modifiers. I can't wait to start reading.

Art of the Doodle

My Art of the Doodle workshop at King's College was lots of fun. The kids created wonderful works of art, and I had the pleasure of teaching a great group of kids. Following are some pictures of what the students created this week.

Third Cover for Country Flag Artwork

 

Wow! This is the third time that my artwork titled Country Flag has landed the cover of The Country Register. I'm thrilled that the editor for the Maryland edition of The Country Register chose my artwork for the cover of their July - August 2011 edition.

To learn more about this fabulous publication, click here.

Haddonfield Art Festival 2011

Welcome to historic Haddonfield, New Jersey. It's a quaint, little town that plays host to an annual art festival each July.

The charming storefronts make a great backdrop for all the activity that takes place during the art show.

Vendors lined the streets while patrons browsed and shopped for those special purchases.

Even the local church got in on the action by catering to the thrifty shoppers in the crowd. The church had a lot of hidden gems in the basement. 

By looking at this cloudless sky, you can get an idea of how hot it was this weekend.

After leaving the festival, I had the chance to cool off in the train station. While sitting there, I was intrigued by the design that the elongated gates created.

The train tracks provide an excellent example of a vanishing point. It's a great study in perspective.

Now I'll leave you with some colorful pictures of a New Jersey garden. John's aunt knows how to make a garden an inviting experience.

One can never have too many kitties in a garden. Even those made of concrete add flair.

This guy's coming in for a landing.

~ Orbs of blue ~

~ You're a grand old flag. ~

Lucite Grapes

The weekends are fun, but they're even more fun when you've scored some fantastic finds at an estate sale.

Here we have what looks to be a tangled mess of colored orbs, wire, and wood. If you scroll down, you'll see what these lovely things really are.

~ Vintage Lucite grapes ~

~ They're so 70s. ~

What a catch; green and blue grapes on the same vine!

According to dictionary.com, Lucite is a trademark name. Lucite is a "transparent or translucent plastic, any of a class of methyl methacrylate ester polymers."

Call it what you will. I think it's fabulous. Look at those colors!

These grapes are going to provide some great inspiration for future artwork and designs.

So, what did you find in your travels this weekend? Stay tuned. I have a feeling tomorrow's going to be even better!