Origami Business Card Holder

My creation, a photo by megan_n_smith_99 on Flickr.

I had a sudden urge to make origami. I guess this happens to everyone? Well, I made a few little boxes with lids, and then I decided I really needed one the perfect size to hold mini business cards. I was using this tutorial. With a little fussing I determined the correct size squares to make a box as wide as the mini cards was 7 & 7/8" for the box and 8" for the lid. Then I realized it actually made a nice desk top display to hold both my mini cards and my full sized business cards.

I just used some pretty recycled cardstock here. I am working on some boxes in various sizes using scrapbook paper. I'll show you those another day.

My mini-cards are from 123print. My full sized cards, which have raised ink, are from Design Your Own Card.

Gypsy

Gypsy, a photo by megan_n_smith_99 on Flickr.

I've been under the weather for the last week. I had a ruptured ovarian cyst. I hope this is not too much information but if you've had one before you know what I mean. This is my 4th and not nearly as bad as the 1st - just a small cyst --so I've just been taking it easy. I feel better now, just a bit tired. I know it's sweltering hot most places in the U.S. so I am glad Seattle remains cool but none of us would mind a bit more sunshine.

I've been reading more than painting. I read A.S. Byatt's The Children's Book - which I loved. It's almost 900 pages but I still did not want it to end. Parts of it were inspired by the Life of E. Nesbit, though she made a lot of changes too. Well, I loved E. Nesbit's books growing up (and still do.) So then I read a Nesbit bio: A Woman of Passion: The Life of E. Nesbit, 1858--1924 by Julia Briggs. I enjoyed that too, though I am not sure all readers would find it as approachable as the fictionalized version. I've always liked biographies so I found it approachable. Now I am re-reading Carol Goodman's The Lake of Dead Languages, about the dark misadventures of girls attending a boarding school with an emphasis on the classics. At the same time I am listening to another Goodman book, The Drowning Tree. I guess this might confuse me but I have read them both before. I like to listen to audio books while I knit and paint and things.

There seems to be a whole subset of literature about students of the classics going off the deep end. Maybe I will address that in my next post!

The painting:
Gypsy
5 x 7 inches
Watercolor and ink on paper
Available on Etsy.

Beauty Among Roses

Beauty Among Roses, a photo by megan_n_smith_99 on Flickr.

this is my latest. i love painting hair. i actually love painting and drawing women but i don't do it as often as i'd like to because .. well, people are hard to paint or draw and while i am not necessarily frustrated with the results i'm afraid other people will look at them and roll their eyes and snicker. however i think i can make up for any lack of skill with faces with my love of painting flowing, twisting, curling hair. Also I love painting scenes from fairy tales.

Beauty Among Roses
4 x 6 inches
available on etsy.

Secret Garden

Secret Garden, a photo by megan_n_smith_99 on Flickr.

I had such an unexpectedly wonderful day yesterday. Some of my oldest dearest friends were in town - which I did not realize, possible due to having my head in the sand and my nose in a book? Had lunch with 2 lovely ladies and 2 funny imaginative wonderful children. Then spent a few hours in the park with this kids and touched base with their daddy, one of my oldest friends. Then I came home and finished this painting - which I just love. I am not always entirely happy with how my paintings come out, but I am quite happy about this one.

Secret Garden
5 x 7 inches
watercolor on paper
available on Etsy.

Bird in Paradise

Bird in Paradise, a photo by megan_n_smith_99 on Flickr.

I tried an experiment for this one. I tend to get carried away with color... so for this one I prepared a new pallet with just 5 colors. I used Daniel Smith watercolors in: Cascade Green, Rich Green Gold, Phthalo Turquoise, French Ultramarine, and Quinacridone Gold.

Bird in Paradise
5 x 7 inches
watercolor and ink on paper
available on Etsy.

Luminous World

Luminous World, a photo by megan_n_smith_99 on Flickr.

I was really happy with how this painting turned out. I am not always entirely happy, sometimes i have to make myself push through and finish a painting. (And then I am almost always happier w/ it as finished.) Sometimes I don't even finish a painting, but I usually do. I want to paint some more today, after I find some more jobs to apply for. Today may be a green day, I think. Outside it is green and grey.


"I found I could say things with color and shapes that I couldn't say any other way - things I had no words for. "
Georgia O'Keeffe

The Painting:
Luminous World
9 x 12 inches
watercolor on paper
Available on Etsy.

art sketch book page

art sketch book page, a photo by megan_n_smith_99 on Flickr.

This is my latest finished page. I've been painting a bit - working on a 9 x 12" drawing which you know is big for me. At least I am learning to work bigger. I have also been knitting some. There are so many things I want to do and not enough time, and of course trying to find a job has to take priority.

But I think I need to take it easy for at least part of today - so tired!

"I often painted fragments of things because it seemed to make my statement as well as or better than the whole could."

--Georgia O'Keeffe