Delight Bird Mug Rug

A rug for your mug and a snack. Genius!

Have you heard of Mug Rugs? I hadn't, until recently. They're bigger than a drink coaster, but smaller than a placemat. Mug rugs are the perfect size to rest a teacup, or mug and a snack on them. Cleanup is easy since most are machine washable. I like the idea of having these for when my granddaughters come over and have snack time.

Best of all, they're a great way to use up my mound of fabric scraps. Okay, I confess. It's now more of a mountain. Everest comes to mind. I can't see throwing away any piece of fabric. It seems so wasteful when I can use it down to an inch in size. That being so, I need more projects in order to get that mountain back to mound status.

So, pictured above is my first mug rug. It measures 6" x 10". I just love the bird fabric. It's background is covered in words of encouragement.

Words of encouragement grace this lovely fabric.

The fabric is 100% cotton. There is a top layer, batting in between and a bottom layer that matches the denim patterned fabric on the top. For a little more detail, I made an applique similar to the printed bird and placed it on the right.

A little close-up of the applique bird.

This was a lot of fun to make. I have plenty of ideas for more.

Delight Bird Mug Rug by trgatesart. 6"x10"

If you're interested in the Mug Rug in this post, Click Here to visit my Etsy shop. More Mug Rugs are on the way!

Sunday Photography - Bluejays

Finally, I was able to go outside and play with my camera this weekend. While I wasn't fast enough to catch photos of a hummingbird in between all the goings on, I was able to get photos of a couple bluejays.

At first, they were shy. Unlike the sparrows and grackles, the bluejays kept to the trees while I filled the bird feeders and tossed peanuts here and there. I don't blame them. The length of the 70-300mm camera lens when it was fully extended probably seemed as if I was trying to shoot something at them, rather than take a photo. But by Sunday, although still cautious, they came down more often while I was in the yard. One showed plenty of curiosity of what I was doing.

I have plenty of photos to use as reference for eventual paintings. I think some would be great as they are for prints and cards. The first on this page is one such photo.

Here's another:

 

I don't know if I'd count myself a great photographer yet. I'm sure I have a long way to go. I do know that I was bored of taking photos of birds sitting on the ground, or feeders. So, I'm playing with camera settings to get better shots of birds in flight.  I thought I might need a longer lens, especially for smaller birds like sparrows and chickadees. Too expensive. For now, I'll just have to get in a little closer.

What ever your thoughts on bluejays, I think they make wonderful photo and paint subjects. Don't you?

Peaceful Morning

Last week we took a trip to Florida. Saw lots of beautiful places and wonderful wildlife. Of course, I took lots of photos! Here is a digital art I made of a heron soaring over the Anclote River.
Much more photos and art to come.

-Trace

At the Dock - Prints

Copyright © 2009 Tracey R Gates

Fine art prints are now available for my painting, "At the Dock", at: Tracey R Gates Fine Art (http://tracey-r-gates.artistwebsites.com/featured/at-the-dock-tracey-r-gates.html).

Fine Art Prints

© 2012 Tracey R Gates

In an artist group that I'm part of I recently asked about printers. Specifically, home printers that can handle heavier paper than photo, such as inkjet canvas, or fine art paper. My reason for this is that I'd like to have more control over prints of my artwork. To make sure that the colors in the print matches to the colors in my original artwork before selling to a client. Not only that, but sometimes I put my art on fabric and add it to some of my sewing designs, but the printer I have now tends to jam.

Before I knew it, my original post turned into a long discussion from fellow artists about whether, or not it is cost worthy to do the printing yourself, or to have someone else do it for you. Not exactly what I was asking. I seem to run into this more than not when I think I have a simple question. So, I'm still on the hunt for the perfect professional printer that will do what I want without breaking the bank.

In the meantime, I've set up some of my art for prints through professional printers. (Thank you, Abril Andrade Griffith).  You'll find art prints, acrylic prints, framed and canvas prints of some of my artwork and nature photos at Tracey R Gates Fine Art  ( http://tracey-r-gates.artistwebsites.com/). Including the bird bath photo above.

Dragon and Chickadee

© 2012 Tracey R Gates

I just finished this fantasy art drawing of a dragon and chickadee. Still haven't thought of a name yet. This is one of a set of drawing/paintings I'm working on. So, look for the painted version to show up sometime soon.

Those who know me, know that I love chickadees. The ones that come to our backyard are just as friendly as they are curious. I couldn't imagine anyone harming the little beauties. Not even a dragon!

Drawing was done with woodless graphite on acid-free recycled sketch paper (with more detail than shows up on the computer).

-Trace