Spring Frolics – & New Give-away!

March 14th, 2010

Since it’s a new week, AND we sprang (? sprung ? sprang ? I’m an English major, I’m supposed to know this! Oh well, you get the gist) forward last night, can flowers and lawn-mowing be far behind!  I hope not – and in celebration of spring frolic-ing, check out the video below from YouTube:

Dog Montage

I realize as a Sleeping Dogs Studio artist, I’m biased…but I love it.

Time for another give-away, which this week will be a set of Sleeping Dogs Studio cards anticipating spring!

       

   

Please sign up in the comments below by entering ”Give-away – 3/19″ before 5 p.m. ET this coming Friday, 3/19, and I’ll make sure you are entered.

Have a wonderful week, with lots of thoughts of April showers and May flowers on the way!  :)

Sir Owen, Lady Jasmine’s Sleeping Dog Sidekick…

March 13th, 2010

I get a lot of teasing from the family about Owen.  I met him while I was volunteering for a local pet charity, when I was asked to provide a foster home for a dog from the local shelter. 

I agreed, and went to the shelter, trying desperately to figure out how on earth I would take only one home, even to foster!  Luckily, my sister-in-law was with me, and she pointed out one I had walked right by – a small terrier mix, relatively reserved, sitting out of the spotlight created by his clamoring brother and sister.

I took him out of the cage – and it was love at first sight.  He snuggled up to me, and continues to be a snuggler – he just LOVES being close to his humans.

When he arrived home, my husband and son immediately laughed at the idea that he was “…just a foster dog”, and that he’d only be with us “…until a good family was found…”.  They clearly realized what I was refusing to admit – that Owen was already home, and that we were his new family.

By the time Owen arrived, Jasmine was a mature 7 years old – so she wasn’t quite sure what to make of this terrier who became less and less reserved the more comfortable he became.  Soon, he was stealing shoes (as you’ve seen on our Facebook account and other entries here); shredding toilet paper off the roll; and showing a nearly inexhaustible ability to chase a tennis ball.

Slowly but surely, they became family.  She now treats him with relative tolerance, much like a big sister.  And he teases and “pokes” at her just like a little brother does!

Every night, he sleeps at my feet in our bed.  And I can’t help but feel that he is grateful when he looks at us – as if he knows that things could so easily have turned out differently.

He has taken to the Sleeping Dogs Studio lifestyle like a true champion…and can give Jasmine a run for her money in the snoozing category!

Frankly, he’s now been in our lives for five years, and we wouldn’t know what to do without him…

Friday, March 12th – Give-away winner

March 12th, 2010

Well, no surprise here!  There was LOTS of interest in Toney’s breathtaking bowl, and the lucky winner chosen by Jasmine is:

Tish (tish@tishmiller.com)!  Congratulations!  Please be sure to send me your mailing address at carolyn@sleepingdogsstudio.net so that I can get it out to you ASAP.  You will be so pleased when you see the piece in person – it is a real treasure – thanks again, Toney!

This Sunday’s give-away will be a Sleeping Dogs Studio item – and tune in tomorrow for a post on the second dog in our illustrious studio team – the ever-faithful, and ever-goofy Owen!

Hand-Turned Bowl Give-away – Last Chance!

March 12th, 2010

That’s right, today’s the last day to sign up for Toney Robertson’s lovely bowl give-away – I will draw a winner after 5 p.m. ET tonight.

As a reminder, if you want to enter, please submit a comment below that includes your e-mail, and the words “Give-away – 3/12″, and I’ll be sure that you get entered!

Thursday Tutorial Continued: Adhesives, Part Two

March 11th, 2010

We talked about our favorite “dry” adhesives last Thursday…today I’d like to share with you a little about those adhesives we use specifically in “wet” applications.

There are two primary glues that we use in this way:

1) The first is polymer medium.  I use polymer gloss medium primarily, as I like the glossy look – but you can also purchase it in a matte finish, as well as  a semi-gloss.

Polymer (Gloss) Medium

In addition, the medium comes in a wide variety of thicknesses.  I primarily use soft gel, as I like the way that the glue when applied with a brush holds its shape – but isn’t too stiff to work with.

Some of the options for thickness/texture include heavy gel; self-leveling gel; granular gel; molding paste, etc.  All of these provide terrific additions to collage work you might be doing, as you can see below.  Since our primary purpose is adhesion, however, we pretty much stick with the basic, every-day variety!

The typical application for this type of adhesive is quite similar to mod podge (but without the smell!); or wallpaper glue – it works very well with anything that won’t ripple from the water content.  I typically layer a small amount of adhesive under the paper, lay down the paper and carefully smooth it out - then layer more medium over the paper in order to completely secure the paper to the object. 

The most common place to purchase polymer medium is at an art supply store, but some of the larger chains like Michael’s and Hobby Lobby carry it too.  If you’ll use it in quantity, you can even buy it in gallon jugs like we do (as in the MONDO version below)!

Heavy Gel

2) I also promised last Thursday to let you in on the secret of a non-toxic super glue…and for those not yet initiated into the use of “Crafter’s Pick”, you need to go out and get yourself some!  It really does hold amazingly well – perhaps not quite as good as crazy glue…but it is water-based; and it has no smell at all.

We use this fantastic product for attaching ribbon to frames, boxes, etc.; and for adding any other embellishments, such as flowers, beads, etc.  It dries clear, is easy to get off your hands, and comes in both large and small bottles. I highly recommend investing in it – I’ve just not found anything else that works as well while still remaining non-toxic and relatively eco-friendly.  It works on metal, plastic, glass, etc. – truly worth our highest endorsement.

Crafters Pick - Ultimate Glue - Amazing water based super glue 118ml

With these two adhesives at our fingertips, all of our needs for wet adhesives are covered – so the next time you find yourself looking for just the right glue to use in an art project, refer to our Adhesive Tutorials 1 & 2 for more info – happy glue-ing!

mengland@indyrr?

March 10th, 2010

Apologies for posting, but I don’t want a customer to think we’ve forgotten her!  At the Indiana State Museum, a client ordered two custom earring holders, which are complete – but the e-mail address I’m using to contact her keeps bouncing!

If you read this, dear customer, pls. contact us so that we can get your finished product to you!  Apologies if you thought we’d deserted you – we just don’t know how to reach you!  :)   So much for technology…