friday fun

Okay, its kind of been serious around here lately, time to lighten things up! The New York Zoos and Aquarium has a fun website for kids and silly adults where you can build your own wild self. That’s me above, I have antennae so I can get me a better sense of what makes people tick, sticky froggy arms so I can hang on to the people and things I love, Tiger feet so I can stand strong and have more courage, and butterfly wings so I can fly away just in case all those other magic parts don’t work! Go build your own beautiful wild selves here! And then check out other Illustration Friday “vanity” entrants here…have a great weekend everyone:)

friday fun

I haven’t posted any generators for a while and since life can’t be all whine and no play, here’s a few online image gadgets for you to check out. The MP Change website is really wild (Clooney in the afro). You upload a photo (simple straight on portraits work best) and it animates it and then you can add wigs, hats, and facial hair. Unfortunately, you can’t save the actual moving picture, but it’s still a lot of fun! Just click on the pics and go make your own:)

color my world

I love this generator! You choose colors and it mines photos from flickr with those colors and puts them together in a collage. It’s not just fun, but actually useful. Say you are planning to redecorate a room or paint a picture, but aren’t sure about a color scheme, you can use it to help visualize your finished project. Very cool website, check it out here🙂

tuesday tidbits

the-reader-crowned-with-flowersNeed some help picking your next book? Go to this reader generated website, plug in one of your favorite books and get a list of similar books. The painting in this post is by the French painter, Jean-Baptiste-Camille. Looking at his work has gotten me thinking about taking one of the photos I did of Andy and Meagan and painting it. I seem to be “thinking” about going back to painting more and more lately, which is good I suppose, now I just need to put those thoughts into action! I still haven’t quite kicked the flu, it’s been over two weeks and I’m feeling a little frustrated. Luckily, I did a lot of the prep for Meagan’s baby shower earlier this month so I’m not stressing about the fast approaching May 3rd date. Meagan is feeling good and baby Brooklyn is over three pounds now so we are all counting our blessings and waiting for the day we can count her tiny fingers and toes!

mosaic monday

blessings

I’ve never made a blessing journal but I’ve decided to make that my spring art project (she says looking out the window forlornly at the freakin’ snow!) and I think I’ll do it in the form of an altered book. If you’ve never seen one, an altered book is when an artist takes a book and turns it into a mixed media work of art. You do this with collage, paints, folding, glue, stamping…etc. There’s a set of altered books on flickr and this artist has a cool portfolio. They are sold in galleries or just used as personal journals or scrapebooks. I’ve never “violated” a book before like this, but I think it will be a good creative exercise for me. Click on the blessings poster if you want to make your own, happy spring, I guess I’ll go shovel the driveway now!

spring quiz

You Are Blooming Flowers
You are an optimistic person by nature. In even the darkest times, you are hopeful about the future.You feel truly blessed in life and can sometimes be overwhelmed with emotions.You have an artist’s eye. You are always looking for beauty in the mundane.You have a good sense of aesthetics, especially when it comes to shapes and color.

What part of spring are you?