the butterfly effect

♥wild at heart♥ by lisa

2012-02-26T10:50:00.001-06:00

The heart is more than life-giving pumping organ. It houses the portal to our soul from where our every emotion is wont to try and escape.

How wild is your heart?

Talk about put yourself under unnecessary pressure. When I was invited to be guest host for this week I thought long and very hard while considering my theme. I scribbled ideas, I mind-mapped and I toyed with words like a cat with a helpless mouse.

At last I pounced upon my theming and idea for my art – Wild at Heart… I had visions of storybook maidens with tendrils of vine and ivy curling from a troubled heart. I saw wild-spirited teenagers trapped in classrooms and dreaming of crossing deserts on the back of Harley Davidsons and Grannies wearing Sex Pistols t-shirts while they hobbled across their lounges with their Zimmer frames. I viewed the world through the eyes of the caged lion and heard the wild call of the parched savannah.

My Muse loved the idea so much that she took off for a week or two. Seriously… fickle creature decided that suburbia was doing nothing for her imagination so she hitched a lift to Heathrow and went to find herself in India… leaving me…. well, leaving me bereft of idea, a creative soul drying out and cracking.

We did manage to create this one piece before she high-tailed it though.

I had hoped for several, but then I looked back through the mists of time and piles of paper and found quite a few wild examples from my past…

I leave you to interpret the theme in any way you wish (although I really hope that at least one person paints a picture of an OAP in a punk outfit!) I went for wild-hearted girls with their eyes sneaking us a peek into their adventurous souls.

*****

hi guys (: it's amy again

this week's theme is wild at heart

next weeks theme is dreams/nightmares

you can see more of lisa's breathtaking portraits at her blog, and i totally encourage you to check them out.

this is a beautiful theme and i am very excited to see what artwork it inspires!

enjoy your week ♥♥♥

Show off and some important news

2012-02-25T13:56:00.000-06:00

Hello butterflies! :)

Thank you everyone for linking last week! It was fun visiting everyone's blogs. :) First we have some news for you.

VERY IMPORTAT!

For all of you who haven't heard the news yet, Google is going to disconnect the Google Friend Connect option for all non-Blogger sites on 1. March 2012.

What that means is that The Butterfly Effect will lose blog followers that are following through something other than Blogger.

But do not fear! Amy has set up Bloglovin and Networked Blogs a long time ago. So, for all of our "pretty stalkers" that are not on Blogger, please follow us through one of the options mentioned.

Now, let's see what you've been up to this week. :)

Titbelsoeur

Gina

Leovi

Piarom

Natasha

EVA

Tomorrow we have a guest post on a theme of "Wild at Heart" by Lisa Wright Stuff. Can't wait to see it. :)

Petz

2012-02-19T13:56:00.000-06:00

For this week you all unanimously chose the theme

PETS

I think we all know that this call for the LOLZ, right?! :)

So, go ahead and choose a pet to draw or paint or sculpt or whatever. You can even use live pets to demonstrate your artistic inspiration as long as you don't hurt them in any way. :)

If you don't have any pets, here is some inspiration for ya. :)

source

Next week we have a guest post on a theme of "Wild at Heart" by Lisa Wright Stuff. Make sure to stop by.

This week, link your pet inspired masterpieces in the linky below. :)

2012-02-18T10:53:00.000-06:00

I so loved this theme!

I love love the artwork that was linked, and i got a HUGE kick out of the groupboard.

you guys are so fun.

andrea:

cameron:

carol:

amy:

gina:

leovi:

mary:

sunshineshelle:

natashamay:

nicole:

what a cool week.

tomorrow a new week begins with PETS

but!

in the spirit of continuing to doodling - if you haven't already, check out zefrank's scribbler:

http://www.zefrank.com/scribbler/scribblertoo/

AND.

we have one more day left to use our groupboard

our groupboard

see you soon with pets.

doodling and a groupboard!

2012-02-12T13:06:00.001-06:00

Doodlers!
Assemble!

i'm really excited about this theme because i doodle a lot, and because there is something very exciting this week.

oh and i also did a "tutorial", but that part is not so exciting i'm afraid.

here, let's get that over with:

i'm really sorry.

but. hey! redemptive:

For the next 7 days we, (me, you and everyone we know - um, if they participate on this blog in any way) have a free groupboard - where we can group doodle.

I cannot get the widget embedded into the website because the board itself is too big - so you'll have to go the extra mile and click away from this page.

No complaining! This groupboard is cool and it's just for us, all week long!

Here it is: click this link to login to our groupboard

we don't get to keep it past this week, so yuck it up now and go over there and doodle on it. plus we can chat on it too. but doodle on it and click the save button to save your doodles.

i've never actually used a groupboard until today, so i'm over the moon about it.

omg. group doodle.

♥♥♥

i'm posting this now because i'm hoping you are still on your weekend and can go doodle with me rightnow!

all week long we can group doodle and link up doodle themed artwork.

i'm so excited about the groupboard!

all this week we are doodlers

next week: PETS (yeah!)

oh, and here is mister linky:

A Week of Awesomeness

2012-02-11T13:15:00.001-06:00

I cannot tell you how happy it makes me to see all of you playing along with us every week and even indulging me with your answers to my silly questions. :)

Thank you everyone for sharing your favorites! :) Here are the beauties you produced this week.

EVA:

Piarom:

Amy:

Cameron:

SunshineShelle:

Carol:

Lisa:

Norma:

LizzyLove:

Gina:

Leovi:

And the giveaway painting:

Goes to:

Congrats Sunshineshelle! :)

I'll get in touch with you by e-mail to get your address.

I have another favour to ask you all. :) We need a theme suggestion for the week after next. Please leave a comment and Amy will select one tomorrow.

Thank you!

Say What?

2012-02-05T12:05:00.000-06:00

This week’s theme is

“My favorite things”

Do you want to play a game? :)

Copy/paste the questions below and answer them in your post. Make your favorite artsy thing and link below in Mr. Linky.

This should be fun, right?! :)

What is your favorite flower to bring to your enemy’s grave?
What is your favorite bird to dress up as if you were in a parade?
What is your favorite pet quality you’d like to own?
Which one of your favorite celebrities would you marry if you could?
What is your favorite food to order when your in-laws are paying for the meal?
What is your favorite drink to accidentally spill on a person you like?
What is your favorite destination to vacation and/or live if you won a million dollars?
What is your favorite color to wear to your best friend’s wedding?
What is your favorite book or/and book character you’d take with you on a lonely island?
What is your favorite song to sing in the shower?

Don’t worry. You don’t have to answer them all. :) Take one, five or all of them.

And if you play along and link this week, you’ll have a chance to win this painting of mine.

15x15 cm (6"x6"), acrylics on paper

Next weeks theme is

Doodles.

Need help? ... Take your favorite color/s and paint your favorite thing/s. :)

You can draw your favorite pet chasing your favorite bird in your favorite place.

Or ... make your favorite book character cook your favorite food to your favorite celebrity.

Or ... take your favorite flower and put it in your favorite drink singing your favorite song. :)

I feel some awesomness coming on! Link your favorite thing below. :)

Layers recap

2012-02-04T11:29:00.001-06:00

This week's theme was LAYERs and we had guest post from the very talented Diane.

SO many wonderful layered artwork was linked and shared - i am proud to show it all off today:

andrea:

gina:

iamrushmore:

leovi:

lesley:

lisa:

lorraine:

mary:

natasa:

sunshineshelle:

terrie:

Really there was so much diverse artwork this week!

♥♥♥

Layers make things so rich - this post is a feast for the eyes.

The upcoming week's theme is MY FAVORITE THINGS

and.

ready?

and!

a giveaway by NAtasa!

i love giveaway week!

♥

Making Layers with Diane

2012-01-29T12:08:00.000-06:00

Hi everyone--I'm Diane from My Art Journal, and I'm so happy to be here and to be the guest host for this week's Butterfly Effect challenge. So when asked what I wanted the theme to be. I thought what I enjoy the most when reading other artists' blogs is how their art evolves from start to finish.

So this week's theme is:

Making Layers

To me, the more the better. Layers is what gives the art piece more interest, and it also attracts the viewer to keep looking at the story underneath. I think of it as an ice cream parfait sundae--the more you eat through all of the layers, the yummier it tastes. Or how about a present--it's always fun to open it and see what's under all of that wrapping. Even people--the older they get, the better they become as a result of all the layers that make up their life.

And the added bonus of making layers in art is that you cannot make a mistake--it's impossible--don't like it?--then cover it up! And also, there's never a wrong or right time to stop--you can keep going or say it's finished.

Okay, my first layer was from the free class that I've been taking at the Strathmore website with Traci Bautista.

She used a watercolor page, but I decided to do this on a 12 x 16 canvas, and it was a good start, but it basically was just a bunch of spray-painted stencils on a surface. This was her first layer, and she suggested doodling with paint for the next layer, but I decided to do my own thing.

.....adding more paint with random markings

.....next layer I added some collage--I like using collage in all of my artwork, and vintage text pages are one of my favorites to use...

I wasn't really feeling the color of this, so I changed it to the blues with some white drippy paint coming from all directions.

I really liked this result, especially with the collaged papers showing through, so this is when I decided to stop and add my final layer.

I challenged myself to do 2 things with this last step. The first was to be totally organic, and just start painting, which I failed at miserably. I have a problem with this--I always need to have a plan or image in my head before I start...and the blue color gave me an idea, and took me to one of my most favorite things to paint.

A whimsical painting with one of my sun faces--love painting them!

This is the time when I start getting out my large stash of papers and use them as collage to finish my piece, which brings me to my 2nd challenge--not to use any paper at all--but instead, use paint, oil pastels, pencils, markers, etc, etc. as my "collage" element.

I cheated a little--the tree trunks are paper tape--I had to use it--it was perfect for these trees.

I love seeing the details of the background---the only way that I could achieve this was by all of the layers underneath.

Even the sides have the yummy textures and layers....

So if you look at this piece from the very beginning--it really doesn't look like the finished piece at all--it's a great lesson--you can cover up anything! And if you really don't like what's going on, get out the gesso and start all over!

And I have a P.S. to add on here. When I was making this piece, I used an 8 x 8 canvas as my paint palette, and each time I was finished painting for the day, I would just smoosh around the unused paint on my "palette".

...look at that--it's the first layer of another painting (and it's a great way not to waste paint too)

And since then, I've been adding more layers to it...

--who knows where this painting is going. I'm going to try to be more organic this time--we'll see...

So let's see what you all can do by just adding layer after layer--experiment with all of those art supplies that you may have--forget about the directions that come with them too (there's no such thing as directions when it comes to art supplies)--just do your own thing. I love to see how other artists' express themselves when given a challenge.

And I want to thank Amy and Natasha for having me as the guest host this week. I am so happy with my finished piece--I want to do more like this!!

***************************************************************

Hi sweets, this is Nataša. :) I want to thank Diane for this awesome, amazing guest post! I love all the stages this painting went through and I hope everyone gets to join in on the fun this week.

Next week it's time for another giveaway, this time from me. :) And the theme will be "My Favorite Things".

So this week, link your "Making Layers" posts below in the linky box. And we would totally love it if you remember to take in progress photos of your work.:)

Remember, the theme is optional BUT you get bonus points for being awesome, if you play along. :)

no means yes

2012-01-28T12:02:00.000-06:00

This past week's theme was opposites.

my kids used to do this really annoying thing where after i gave a 'no' answer to something they wanted, they'd say "it's opposite day. no means yes"

it doesn't sound that annoying does it?

well it was annoying after i'd chuckle and say, "cute. but no, it's not opposite day. No means no"

then.

they'd Keep it up, giggling and insisting that i meant "yes"

if it still sounds cute to you then you don't have kids.

leovi:

carol:

amy:

gina:

iamrushmore:

jenn:

natasa:

piarom:

sunshineshelle:

A great week. Everything looks great and i'm always knocked out by the variety of artwork that you guys share.

like, none of us are the same or boring.

we all have superpowers of awesomeness.

See you tomorrow with a mad sweet guest post from Diane.

Next week's theme is MAKING LAYERS.

♥♥♥

Opposites

2012-01-22T20:33:00.000-06:00

This week's theme is opposites, as suggested by Gina.

There are so many beautiful and insightful way to interpret opposites as a theme.

Do opposites attract?

Do they compliment one another?

Maybe they are an example of duality in all things.

What do you think?

source

How will you interpret opposites?

This week link up your opposites themed artwork :)

Come back on Saturday and peek at everyone's creations.

Next week we have a special guest poster. Diane will be hosting for us with a theme of MAKING LAYERS

All this week, link up and show off your OPPOSITES artwork :)

i'm really hungry.

2012-01-21T13:07:00.002-06:00

This week's theme was a poem or quote

you guys rocked it.

I seriously dig how everyone was able to visually interpret words that are meaningful to them.

eva:

cameron:

carol:

STEve:

gina:

iamrushmore:

jenn:

leovi:

marcia:

natasa:

piarom:

sunshineshelle:

terrie:

tee, i wasn't able to steal a photo from your blog so i'll link instead :)

tee

And here comes Lisa. :)

So.

Tomorrow night.

We'll have a brand new post and a brand new linky.

The theme will be OPPOSITES and was chosen by gina :)

a Poem or a Quote

2012-01-15T13:29:00.001-06:00

This week’s mission, if you choose to accept it, is to find

a quote or a poem

and make art based on it. Easy peasy, right?! :)

I have a speed painting video for you and several quotes. I couldn’t choose just one cause I like them all. :) Sorry, I don’t do poems. But you might, so please enlighten me with some magic words.

Again, forgive me for my editing slip ups and horrible music. Just mute it and listen to your own. :)

~Art is either plagiarism or revolution.
Paul Gauguin

~I don't think there's any artist of any value who doesn't doubt what they're doing.
Francis Ford Coppola

~Lesser artists borrow, great artists steal.
Igor Stravinsky

~Painting is just another way of keeping a diary.
Pablo Picasso

~The principle of true art is not to portray, but to evoke.
Jerzy Kosinski

And it was again your turn to choose the theme for the following week.

Gina suggested OPPOSITES. Thank You!

Link your magic below and we’ll all come over to admire it. ;)

Piarom

2012-01-14T12:21:00.005-06:00

This week's theme was Things Forgotten.

The artwork you guys linked up is great, and all of it had some sentiment or story behind it. I love that.

♥♥♥

leovi:

carol:

gina:

iamrushmore:

natasa:

amy:

piarom:

rubberduck:

I used Random.org for a number generator.

There were 8 entries.

8 came up.

did you guys know that 8 is my lucky number?

trufax.

PIAROM is the 8th linkeeeee this week!

Piarom, email me an address and i'll mail out the painting to you on monday :)

(amy@amymcdonald.net)

Now.

SPEaking of things forgotten...

i didn't ask you guys for participant theme suggestions :) i totally forgot.

Please leave a comment with your suggestions and natasa and i will pick one from there

It doesn't matter if it's a theme that you've already suggested, suggest it again if you'd like to :)

Next week's theme is A POEM Or QUOTE

but please suggest themes for the following week :)

♥♥♥

Things forgotten

2012-01-08T13:21:00.001-06:00

This week our theme is

'Things Forgotten'

which i love, by the way.

If something is forgotten, if all traces of it are long forgotten, did it even happen?

Long ago i read a book about a man who got to the end of his life and had forgotten all of his memories.

He had pictures and mementos of a lifetime, but it was meaningless to him

it was as if he had never happened.

Downer.

How will you interpret 'things forgotten'?

I'm stoked to see what you come up with -

and

And

When you link this week, that puts you in the giveaway.

GIVEAWAY!

i love giveaway!

What is the giveaway?

it's this little bit of cuters.

It's on a rescued (ah, see how i turned myself into the good guy there?) book cover.

no canvases were harmed in the making of this painting.

It's waxed.

You'll love it (probably)

Next week's theme is Quotes and Poems. Like, you'll pick a quote or a poem and create a piece of art based on that. Which is groovy.

But for this week

Link your

FORGOTTEN THINGS

themed art junk

and on saturday the genius at random.org will draw a wiener from the linkers.

rocking the weekend

2012-01-07T13:19:00.001-06:00

Wow. You guys are back in full swing! This week was Great!

Cameron's theme was In The Woods, and you guys really rocked it.

leovi:

andrea:

amy:

gina:

iamrushmore:

lisa:

natasa:

piarom:

rubberduck:

terrie:

There is such rich variety in the artwork this week, i'm honored again to be able to post all of the photos you shared.

a great week!

guess what?

I'll see you tomorrow night with next week's post...

the theme is

THINGS FORGOTTEN

and...

a giveaway!

you gotta get in on the giveaway :D

In the Woods with Cameron

2012-01-01T12:47:00.000-06:00

Hiya Everyone! This is Cameron from Paint Myself Pretty. I hope everyone had a Magical Holiday! Thank you for joining me here for my very first Guest Post ever….woohoo!

The theme I’ve chosen for this week is

IN THE WOODS….

At first, this seems like a very simple group of words. When I asked friends and family to tell me what first popped in their heads when they heard it, they all said “Trees.”

Sure. That’s a given…..but when I asked them to go a little deeper, I got a range of answers. Heck, you can pick almost any adjective to insert in that phrase and it changes the whole way we look at it…

In the Enchanted Woods…
the Dark Woods…
the Wild woods…
the Spooky Woods…
the Sun-dappled Woods

You get the idea….and isn’t it true that the forest holds a mystery within it that can scare us, inspire us and renew us all at the same time…

I love being in the woods.

For me, it is a time of renewal and relaxation. My Husband, daughter and I travel up to the Redwoods every Summer to camp among the trees and escape the heat.

I tend to favor Forest creatures over others…including dragonflies, snails, elk and Owls….

…and, of course, foxes!

But, I think my favorite thing about the Woods, is the fact that some of the very best Fairy Tales take place there.

I can see Snow White running through the Forest in fright with the trees grabbing at her dress, then later, her breathless body displayed in a clear glass coffin.

What about Hansel and Gretel finding a sweet Gingerbread Cottage with an evil witch inside…

….and one must not forget about Little Red Riding Hood…

What do you envision when you think of the Woods?

We’d love to see what your interpretation is! Please play along and link up here anytime this week :)

If you don’t, we’ll send the Big Bad Wolf after you!

Thank you, again for visiting me here….and huge Hugs to Amy and NatashaMay for having me! I just feel so special * sniff *

Can’t wait to see what you create!
All my Best,
Cameron
*************************************************************

Hi guys, Nataša here! :) HAPPY NEW YEAR 2012!!

Thank you so much to Cameron for guest posting! What an awesome theme to start the new year and AMAZING art from Cameron! Make sure to check out her BLOG.<--click

Now, for next week's theme Amy chose

things forgotten

... and she's having a GIVEAWAY!!

Use Mr. Linky below to link your creations. Like always, you can link whatever, you don't have to do the theme but we'll love it if you do. :)

resolute, that's us

2011-12-31T12:51:00.000-06:00

This year, for real... right?

We are a resolute bunch.

For Real this time :)

It was neat reading all of the resolution posts because i think it helps me realize that we are all so similar.

Like, all people have similar worries and issues.

Sometimes it's easy to feel alone in struggles, but reading over all of the resolution posts, i feel like we all want to make very similar changes in our lives.

No one is unhappy, we just want to tweak a few things.

I think that's great.

leovi:

andrea:

cameron:

amy:

gina:

natasa:

marcia:

carmen:

hahahahaha

piarom:

This upcoming week our theme will be In The Woods courtesy of a guest post by the superfun Cameron.

Happy New year friends.

Resolutions

2011-12-25T20:15:00.000-06:00

Our theme this week is

Resolutions

Honestly, neither natasa nor i realized that father time had sneakily snuck a 5th week into this month.

as you can imagine, that screwed up our game a bit.

Now, December tends to get heavy

with holidays

and

inclement weather

and

santa hats.

those are ugly.

stop putting them on.

I'm always chomping at the bit for the new year.

the last few days of the year are always spotted with ennui and children hanging about the house.

so!

what better time to think of all of the stuff you could do different in the next 12 months so that ~~children won't have such a long winter break~~ you'll be sane and perfect by next december.

yes.

For this week, link up a resolution themed post.

Having a hard time coming up with a resolution because you are so incredibly perfect? (i feel your pain. it's a burden some of us must carry)

You can always check out the:

New Year's Resolution Generator

ready? set?

Resolve

paper doll party

2011-12-24T12:40:00.001-06:00

This week was so fun :)

When andrea suggested 'paper dolls' as a theme for this past week, natasa and i both pounced right on that!

The awesome whimsy (sometimes naughty) playful element of paper dolls totally fit the bill right now.

Mad sweet theme.

andrea:

amy:

andrea (part deux):

gina:

leovi:

natasa:

Our theme for this next is RESOLUTIONS

and the week after that we have a special guest post by cameron and her theme will be IN THE WOODS.

cool.

enjoy your weekend and i'll see you sunday night with RESOLUTIONS.

xxa

Paper Dolls

2011-12-18T10:24:00.000-06:00

It's participants theme week. That means one of you chose the theme for us to play with this week. That someone was Andrea. Thank you! :)

The theme is

PAPER DOLLS

How excited are you about this theme? :)) It took me back to my childhood when I used to collect paper dolls and dress them up in all sorts of paper dresses. :) My favorite was Betty Boop. Do you have a favorite?

source

You can go vintage ...


source

... or more modern.

source

You can even make them move. :)

source

And lets not forget about men. Oh my! :)

source

If you're brilliant like this artist, you can make faces out of toilet paper roll.

source

But whatever you do, make sure you link below. We're always excited to see what you come up with.:)

And now for next week's theme, Amy chose RESOLUTIONS. I bet you have some. And we want you to share them with us. :)

Linky, linky!!

the story of you

2011-12-17T12:44:00.000-06:00

I love your stories

<3 <3 <3

There were really lovely sweet links this week - and that is so cool and cozy because i know you are all busy with holiday junk too -

so it's mad sweet that you took the time to link up.

natasa:

i love green and red - and i love this girl. she looks so totally unconcerned.

donna:

ornate and cool and aloof - donna's story was neat

gina:

gina, this is great - and i love the process shots - those are my favorite posts - the ones with process shots

leovi:

the coolest abstract photography. hands down.

natasa:

you go getter :)

piarom:

i really, treally loved this post - this is cool.

andrea:

andrea - i couldn't get the image to download for me so that i could put it here, so i'm going to link to it right here - but guys, the link to her actual story is in the mister linky.

terrie:

terrie - i want to hug this grampa. i love him. i miss my grampa.

this post was so cool, but i'm partial to smurfs, so i chose this photo :D

This is really wonderful. I am convinced that we get the coolest and best links here - like, you guys are really make it the best.

This will sound straight up gay, but you guys make this the really funnest linky thing that i know of. really.

not the biggest (that is good), but definitely i think you guys make it the best one.

Natasa is going to blow our minds tomorrow with a paper dolls post

(suggested by andrea)

so get cutting and pasting.

storytime

2011-12-11T17:31:00.001-06:00

this week our theme is storytelling. it's also my turn to make a tutorial.

my manslave accidentally deleted my source file for the Awesome Storytelling video tutorial i'd made for you guys.

nooooooooooooo!

anyway.

overitnow.

i love stories.

if you have spent any time with me in real life you have (often) heard me say this:

tell me a story

seriously.

if it gets quiet for a second, just a second, i want a story.

stories are rich.

stories are revealing and magical.

stories take us someplace else.

But stories aren't always words, are they?

They can be told with other things.

This week is my week to make a tutorial for you.

The video is a tutorial on my altering a spread in a board book. When i alter a children's board book, i make it into a new story.

But i don't know what the story is until after i am done with the glueing and beading and painting.

Then a story just shows up in the stuff i put there.

So i made that for you and it is on a jillion times fast forward.

here is the spread at the time i finished filming

I love

i LOve

when i visit around and artist bloggers have created stories to accompany their artwork.

That adds an entirely new dimension to the physical piece.

For this week, create and link up your artwork based on a storytelling theme.

It can be anything, Anything that you consider to be inspired by storytelling.

of course you know that you can always link Any art here - but linking the theme gets you extra scout points.

now. i know, i happen to Know that quite a few of you guys are suckers for a story and storytelling.

my very pretty friend darcy hosts a challenge every year.

it always begins in january and is generally a weekly thing.

this Upcoming january kicks off a new challenge.

you guessed it, it's some bad ass storytelling.

If you are into story telling, you might want to check this out.

So.

So!

this week, show off your story telling skills :))

Next week's theme is PAPER DOLLS (as suggested by Andrea)

This week's theme is STORY TELLING.

link it!

Book pages galore and a winner

2011-12-10T10:59:00.000-06:00

How fun was this week "destroying" books and using pages in our art!? :))

Oh my gosh, guys! I'm so impressed with everyone's work.

I think Amy would agree with me. You really make this blog worthwhile with your awesomeness. :) And welcome to all the first-timers for joining us.:)

First off, here is this Saturday's show down.

Piarom's song inspired journal spread.

Andrea with her awesome cats. I had really hard time choosing just one. :)

Lisa's gorgeous Lady.

Neil Diamond's music sheet Christmas tree by Terrie.

LadyPhlogiston's phone book pages collage.

Amy's blue scarf lady. :)

Leovi's Insomnium.

Gina's Altered Soul

Pippa's best friend Lydia by Natasha.

And now for the winner of Pippa's portrait on a book page..... Since I was the first one in Mr. linky and I can't count myself in for the win, the number's start with nb. 2 as being nb. 1.

So that said, nb. 5 is really nb. 6 and that is Terrie! Congratulations! :))) I'll be sending you an e-mail to get your snail address.

Next week's theme is STORYTELLING.

Make sure you stop by to check Amy's tutorial.

And since you TOTALLY ignored me :) and nobody suggested a theme for the week after Amy's, I decided to give you another chance today. :) If still nothing happens, Amy and I will choose something for you.

Sadly it won't be a naked gnome since you have a chance to draw him for next week's theme of storytelling and I wouldn't want you to hold back on us. :)

A chance to win Pippa on a book page

2011-12-04T11:18:00.000-06:00

water-soluble oil pastels on a book page

I'm calling her Pippa cause I always liked that name. I like it so much that I would name my future daughter Pippa, if it didn't mean faucet in my language. Yeah, the name just lost its charm didn't it? :) Just imagine me yelling Faucet in the middle of the store. Hilarious! :))

Anyway, Pippa is a bit of a tomboy. Not surprisingly since she grew up with 3 older brothers. Both parents had to work to make a decent life for their children so the brothers were stuck babysitting their little sister all of the time.

They didn't really mind it once she was old enough to ride her little hand-me down bmx bike to wherever the brothers decided to go that day. She looked up to them and tried to learn everything they were doing just so she wouldn't feel left out.

Well, little Pippa grew up into a teenage girl. Being a pretty girl that could play sports with the guys and ride dirt bikes, you can imagine the grief she caused her brothers when their friends became interested in her.

Oh, yeah. They tried to scared them off by threatening to beat them up but there was really no point to it cause little Pippa did what she wanted to and her brothers couldn't stop her.

Here she is modeling for that cute, curly haired painter that she met the other day with her best friend Lydia. Well, that's a whole other story for another day. :)

You can win her portrait if you play along with us this week. Link your creations below and one of you will be randomly selected next Saturday.

This week's theme is

BOOK PAGES.

Draw/paint on the book page, use book pages as a collage or make origami. Whatever you may think of to make out of a book page, we'll be thrilled to see it. :)

And this week is another chance for you to pick a theme. We have one week out of a month reserved just for you and your theme suggestions. Don't be shy. Tell us what you'd like us to make. Feel free to repeat you previous suggestions if they have not yet been chosen. We'll pick one out randomly on Saturday as well.

Next week Amy is making a tutorial for us all and her theme is

STORYTELLING.

Yes! Being a Holiday season, I'm sure you have some stories to share with us. :)

Oh wait! I feel a story coming on! Some naughty elves, kinky Santa and drunken snowman. Wow! That would make one hell of a story. :))

Link away! :)

pieces of you

2011-12-03T12:33:00.001-06:00

i think broken pieces was the coolest theme we had had.

so far.

Something i really like about this group is how we all make and link such totally different things.

I love seeing how things are interpreted.

because life is subjective.

anyway.

my socks were rocked this week.

look for yourself:

carol:

donna:

amy:

gina:

iamrushmore:

leovi:

lisa:

natasa:

natasha:

Really, the artwork this week was creative (i mean that in the cool way, not the way that people say when they want to say 'weird')

here is what i love about this group:

everyone makes art - the kind of art that is art to the artist, not just the kind of art that is trendy on the internet or facebook or blogs or would sell in an etsy store, but

Art.

i really really think you guys are great.

Broken Pieces

2011-11-27T20:33:00.000-06:00

Broken Pieces.

Many things can be broken.

Tea cups and mirrors.

Hearts.

Dreams.

Creative souls see broken pieces,

Not as garbage,

but as a thing of beauty and promise.

Something to be made whole again.

(insert hand/foot encasing picture)

How will you interpret this week’s theme?

What can you create from something that is

broken torn ripped

cracked chipped

or fractured?

Gather your fragments

And let the healing begin.

Don’t forget to link your art below.

Thank you for allowing me to guest host this week.

It has been an honor.

Love, Lisa♥

***

hi guys - it's amy again :)

please visit lisa's cool blog to see more of her work, and her unique posting style!

let's see your broken pieces artwork this week,

and next week's theme is:

book pages

Espresso Yourself

2011-11-26T13:29:00.000-06:00

Thank you everyone for coming over for tea and coffee this week. :) If I may judge by the submissions you're much more inclined to drink coffee than tea. That would make 5 points for coffee and 2 points for tea. :)

Go team Coffee! :)

Gina's teapot.

Leovi's Venus

Carol's coffee tree

Cameron's Elixir of the Gods

Lisa's hoosming :)

Natasha's Coffee Mustache

Amy's discernible tea cup over the brow

Brewed awakening by Iamrushmore

Very exciting guest post coming up tomorrow. Make sure to stop by and play along with our theme next week.

We'll be all about broken pieces.

You don't have to break anything just make it look like it's broken. :)

Or break something.

It's up to you.

Just don't blame us if you get in trouble. :))

Coffee? Tea? Cigarettes?

2011-11-20T23:34:00.000-06:00

THis week's theme, as suggested by the lovely and brilliante and generous and fun cameron

Tea or Coffee

Coffee or Tea

or whichever way you want to say it

My own coffee and tea inspired art was lacking so i turned to my friend, google.

i really Really want to try to make this now.

i have an espresso maker, so i might try it.

source

the poor girl...

source

is this what she's in there making? keep up the good work, coffee girl!

source

personally, while i love coffee, it straight up gives me hives.

i drink tea.

source

this tea inspired art is so pretty:

source

i went through a time when i painted and dyed everything in sight with coffee.

that was how i learned that caffeine can be absorbed through your skin.

now i dye stuff with Decaf.

Join in this week and make something coffee or tea inspired.

and.

ask me.

Just Ask Me

what our guest poster's theme is for next week.

wait. you want to know who the special guest is don't you?

i'll give you a hint.

she's priti.

now are you ready to hear her theme?

beg me.

it's worth it.

okay.

i'll tell you.

Broken Pieces.

but that's next week!

this week's theme:

COFFEE or TEa

TEA or CoffEE

link it!

abundance

2011-11-19T13:02:00.000-06:00

ancient goddesses abound!

the ancient goddess theme was really fun.

everyone had really thoughtful posts to accompany their artwork, which made this week extra exciting.

I'm always happy and excited to do this part:

andrea:

carol:

donna:

gina:

leovi:

amy:

natasa:

pascale:

so guess what?

this week's theme is Coffee or Tea.

The post will go up late late tomorrow night with a linky.

see you then :))

How to draw an ancient goddess

2011-11-13T17:00:00.000-06:00

Ancient Goddesses

is the theme for this week.

So listen. This is how we're gonna do it.

First off you need to decide which goddess you want to draw.

Step 1: google ancient goddesses
In case you’re not as familiar with mythology as you’d want to be, the safest bet would be to first get a list of goddesses. There are a gazillion of them so this might not be as helpful as you’d think.

Step 2: decide upon an era and culture
There are many goddesses and some are the same in different cultures they just go by a different name. This would be the time to decide whether you want to explore Romans, Greeks or Egyptians or any other ancient culture.

Step 3: google goddesses for that era
You need to narrow it down so you don’t get overwhelmed. There are still a lot of them but at least you have some idea of how they’re depicted. If you don’t like what they’re wearing go look at another era. Like Greek goddesses are always in white, Egyptians have more color and lots of gold. You know what I’m getting at, right?

Step 4: do a little wiki search for goddesses’ traits and symbols, what they represent
I think this is the most important step. You don’t want to just draw a face and call it a goddess. No. You need to know what she represents what symbols are associated with her and so on. Once you know a little about her it will be easier to put expression on her face as well. Whether she’s seductive or vengeful or fierce.

Step5: decide which goddess you like the most
Just decide. There can be more than one but go for the one first.

Step 6: google images for that goddess
Now go look how other people depict her. You might want to put in some more key words in the search so you don’t get so much nonsense in the results.

Step 7: pick 3 images that you like the most, like her posture, the symbols that represent her etc.
Don’t go for just one image or you’ll find yourself copying it. We do not want to copy! We’re just looking for an inspiration. And usually you have your own vision of her so this is just something to help you out.

Posture is of most importance for me. I can’t draw posture out of my head, I need a reference so I look for it. Sometimes if I can’t find it, I google something else so I get the posture I want.

Then decide on what she’ll be wearing. Go as simple or as complicated as you’re comfortable with. I usually go for the simpler ones.

And don’t forget about symbols. Goddesses usually hold their symbols in their hands or wear them or they are placed around her. Her symbols define her. That’s how we know which goddess she represents.

Step 8: draw a goddess
Now watch me draw. I'm sorry about the poor quality. It took me 30 minutes to film it but it got really dark at the end. I only noticed it later while editing the video. Yeah, and I didn't do a good job editing either. You'll see me zooming in on my knee at the beggining. Sorry! :) I forgot all about this tutorial so I managed to film it on Saturday and it took me the whole Suday to put it up here so there was no time to make another. Hope you get something out of it.:)

Amy asked you on Saturday's post to suggest a theme for next week. We really appreciate you taking the time and thinking up a theme for us. :) We ask you fresh every month so feel free to suggest the same themes if they were not yet chosen. It's not that we don't like them but we can only choose one.

So, that said. Next week's theme was suggested by Cameron and it is

Tea or Coffee.

It's your turn now. Make something and link it below. You don't have to make a goddess but it would be so cool if you do. :) Pimp us in your posts and leave everyone some comment love.:)

iamrushmore <----

2011-11-12T11:46:00.000-06:00

So!

Our theme this week has been cats.

You guys did awesome great cool fun stuff with cats.

I always get a kick out of posting all of the links because we all much such different kinds of art and it's all so cool.

it just is.

Leovi:

ANdrea:

Cameron:

carol:

gina:

iamrushmore:

ike:

maggie:

marcia:

p.s. marcia - i can't ever comment on your blog :( i try a few times a week and i never can :(( i've been meaning to tell you that i do stop by, i just can't ever leave a comment.

is this india ink (the black part?)

miz katie:

natasa:

tracey:

and - this week we had a giveaway, right?

now, Please trust me that i DID put in the proper number for the max -

the min was 1 and the max was 13

it generated number 8

i promise it was 13 when it generated - maybe the code copies funny?

Okay. I have to check who 8 is.

8 is also my lucky number.

8, if i already have your address, i'll post the cat to you, but i'd better just go see who the hell it is. hang on.

iamrushmore

okay. i will stalk you down now iamrushmore and arrive at your door... errr, post the cat to you.

Natasa's theme for this week is Ancient/Greek Goddesses.

!!!

wait.

and

i forgot (yikes) to ask for suggestions for our upcoming participant theme week.

Please leave a comment with your suggestion :))

True Random Number GeneratorMin: Max: Result:8Powered by RANDOM.ORG

macavity

2011-11-06T19:09:00.000-06:00

This week's theme is Cats.

I. Love. Cats.

i mean, i don't love all cats universally, but i love cats.

The idea and symbolism of cats.

yep.

cats are crazy.

Not Only do you get the THrill of looking at those fascinating pictures of my cats for this week's post, but

you can also win this cat painting!

giveaway? i love giveaway!

acrylic on muslin, sewn to cardstock, beeswax, oil paint

how - how! you ask, can you win this painting?

easy.

link some cat inspired art this week.

then on saturday, i'll use the random number thing and someone can have that cat painting - and that will be exciting. if you are the winner.

link cat stuff!

possibly win my cat!

that was almost dirty!

almost.

our theme this week: cats

next week's theme: greek/ancient goddesses

art and music and me and you

2011-11-05T11:49:00.000-05:00

this week was truly laugh out loud great.

the artwork that was shared here is socks knocking off good!

and hereitis!

carol:

donna:

gina:

iamrushmore:

amy:

kristin:

leovi:

lisa:

natasa:

these are great!

it makes me so super happy to see so much cool artwork!

i love this day of the week when i get to post what everyone shared - so that it's all in one post.

it's such a total honor to have you link it here, it really is so cool.

okay.

this week's theme is going to be CATS

and

a giveaway!

you'll get the dirty details (which are the same as always) on tomorrow night's post with the linky attached.

next week's theme is GREEK/ANCIENT GODDESSES

Art and Music

2011-10-30T02:00:00.000-05:00

Today is a very special day cause we have our very first guest blogger posting today! :) She chose this weeks theme as well so it's all about

ART and MUSIC.

Hi everyone my name is Nicola and I have been blogging for about 3 years now.

I've always been interested in art and drawing but hadn't been creative in years until about 4 years ago when I started drawing again. After I discovered the world of blogging my obsession for everything arty came back with a vengeance and I've been creating on a regular basis ever since.

Kimbra

This piece that I'm sharing with you today is something that has been stuck in my head ever since hearing and watching the music video for one of my now favourite songs.

This song is called 'Somebody I used to know' and it's by an Aussie guy called 'Gotye' and features a beautiful Aussie talent called Kimbra. The song by it's self was enough to inspire me but when I first saw the video I fell in love with the combination of the music and art.

I love the idea of body art and really enjoyed this video. I love how the bodies blend with the paint on the wall, it's such a simple concept but really captured my attention. If you've never heard of Gotya and Kimbra you should check them out!!! :0)

Thank you Nicola!

I do hope everyone gets to visit her blog for more wonderful art and inspiration. :)

So,

The theme for this week is Art and Music

For next week the theme is Cats

You are always, always welcome to link any art, you are Extra Pretty if you link art based on the theme :))
You are TRiPLE pretty if you go visit fabby Nicola at her blog!

Sir Real

2011-10-29T12:24:00.000-05:00

Schmiggly Great Fabby Stuff!

You guys are SUPER PRetty!

pretty!

carol:

chloe:

donna:

gina:

kristin:

leovi:

natasa:

amy:

wonderland:

you guys are pretty!

PRetty!!

so. This week upcoming is a guest week.

Exciting!

The guest theme is Art and Music and you are going to love it!

exciting!

Surrealism

2011-10-23T16:39:00.000-05:00

sur·re·al·ism

noun (sometimes initial capital letter)

a style of art and literature developed principally in the 20th century, stressing the subconscious or nonrational significance of imagery arrived at by automatism or the exploitation of chance effects, unexpected juxtapositions, etc.

(source)

Underwater city

That's weird explanation, isn't it? I'd describe it as a dream world where beauty and weirdness is combined. I'd call it Alice's rabbit hole. Just throw logic out the window and you got yourself some surrealism.

Ballerina on a Trojan horse

We are all familiar with Frida, Dali and Magritte, right? But my favorite for a long time has been conteporary artist Mark Ryden. I think he's pretty much brilliant. A little weird in his obsession with girls and blood but I love his weirdness.

The man with no face and the girl with golden locks

He has to share my adoration as of last week though, when I found this brilliant lady Natalie Shau. Holly shit! That's all I can say. She gives me goosebumps.

That is our theme for this week.

SURREALISM

Next week we have a guest post by Nicola Toms. She was inspired by ART AND MUSIC which will be the theme for next week.

As you know the theme is not mandatory so you can link whatever you want. Make sure to mention The Butterfly Effect in your blog post and have fun checking out the other participants. :)

Have fun exploring your weirdness. :)

masked and delicious

2011-10-22T17:08:00.000-05:00

Andrea:

Cameron:

Donna, Doni, Lady D:

Gina:

Kristin:

Leovi:

Lisa:

Natasa:

Natasha:

Tracey:

These are wonderful!

WOnderful!

This week upcoming we are having a theme suggested by one of you guys!

There were some really good suggestions -

and it was tricky to choose just one, but i did obviously.

This week's upcoming theme will be surrealism and you can link up surrealistic work all week long.

Of course you can always link up other work too - it doesn't have to be surrealism -

but

playing along with the theme makes you

EXTRA pretty.

what is happening for the following week?

well we are having a guest poster.

i'm sure that was grammatically incorrect. A special guest will be posting next week. That is what i meant.

but said badly.

I am very excited about this special guest.

masks and masks and a demo

2011-10-16T17:40:00.000-05:00

This week's theme is masks!

all week you can link up your mask themed stuff and we'll tell you how pretty you are.

sometimes folk art birds carry masks on sticks.

you might need to see a video about this to believe it.

You will be told strange stories that have nothing whatsoever to do with making the painting in the video.

You can obviously See how to do the folk art painting.

all week you can link your mask themed artwork.

okay, you can link any artwork, but masks will get you into the extra bonus round.

next week's theme is surrealism.

which i love.

it was suggested by natasha.

Lovely winged stuff

2011-10-15T16:42:00.000-05:00

Yay!

We made it through another week!

Lots of entries this week. Thanks so much to everyone for playing along with us. :) So, lets do this! Here are this week's creations.

Marcia's clapping butterfly:

Dona's Iconic Lady:

Leovi's abstract photo:

Amy's Candide plane:

Gina's winged skelletons:

Natasha's re-done fairy:

K's dear departed Fuzzball:

Cam's pretty owl:

Andrea's very special butterfly:

Carol's woodland creature:

And my fairy (NatashaMay):

And now the moment we've all been waiting for. :)

The winner of the giveaway is:

Congratulations Cameron!

I will e-mail you to get your snail mail and this fairy will be on her way to you.

Also, we asked you to suggest a theme for us to play with in two week's time. Suggestions so far are
from Natasha:
Frida
Picasso
Surrealism
Cubism
Self Portraits
and from Cameron:
Flora and Fauna

You still have time to suggest a theme on today's post. Amy will pick one tomorrow and let you all know what it is.

Next week's theme though is MASKS.

Don't forget to stop by and check out Amy's brand new tutorial on masks.

Giving away Wings!

2011-10-09T16:00:00.000-05:00

Hello lovelies! How are you this Monday?

I’m excited cause it’s time for my giveaway. And lucky you, you won’t get a tiny ATC sized painting but a 20x20 cm one. That would be 8”x8” for all my inches friends.

So, this week’s theme is WINGS. But don’t just stop at birds and butterflies. You can go into a magic land of fairies and angels and other weird flying stuff that wouldn’t fly in real life.

You can put wings on pretty much anything. Make it look pretty or weird or pretty and weird. We’re ok with anything that has wings. It’s Halloween coming up so I’m pretty sure you’ll think of something that you can put wings on, right?

I made a pretty girl wear creepy wings. But hey! They can’t all be angels, right? Those wings can fly her pretty high but I’m not sure if she’d make it all the way to heaven. But that’s ok. As long as she ends up at your place if you happen to win her. :)

To enter the giveaway, link up your artsy stuff this week in the mr.linky below. Wings are not mandatory so you can link whatever your soul made you create this week.

And this week is another chance for you to suggest a theme for us to play with in two weeks time. We’ll choose one randomly or if more of you suggest the same theme we’ll go with that one or if no one suggests anything Amy and I will come up with something lame just to mess with you. :)

For next week’s theme Amy chose MASKS. She's gonna do a tutorial on masks as well so make sure you don't miss that.

Don’t forget to pimp The Butterfly Effect in your posts and say hi to your fellow flyers.

Super Pretty

2011-10-08T13:18:00.000-05:00

This past week, our theme was portraits - you can link anything, but linking portraits makes you SUPER PRETTY.

So much awesome links this week!

andrea:

i know you were mad when you drew it, but it turned out nicely.

cameron:

i want this.

carol:

carol, you could totally sell these photos.

donna:

this reminds me of all things Tudor - i love it

amy:

gina:

beautifully done

iamrushmore:

pensive

i wasn't sure which one to take :)

iamrushmore:

hey. i think i have a sony camera like that too.

leovi:

this reminds me of Dali stuff. Awesome.

marcia:

colorful and happy and sweet

natasa:

pretty! but my enlarging the photo made it grainy. i'm sorry.

sandy:

cool 3/4 view. very pop art!

natasha:

beauteous. and no ink pen in sight!

If i haven't been around to comment on your specific post that is because, simply put, i can CONSistently not leave comments on some blogs. It's touch and go - but i know with some of you, my comment will only load about 50% of the time.

So rest assured, we come to visit and stalk, but the comment box sometimes evades me.

Natasa's theme for this upcoming week is:

WINGS

get faced

2011-10-02T21:24:00.000-05:00

you are like.

whaa -

why is this amy and not the guest post?

and i am like.

*i Know*

so here i go making this really fast and hoping that it will still kick some ass!

this week's theme is

portraits.

Because none of us have any earthly idea what a portrait consists of, i consulted wikipedia:

A portrait is a painting, photograph, sculpture, or other artistic representation of a person, in which the face and its expression is predominant. The intent is to display the likeness, personality, and even the mood of the person. For this reason, in photography a portrait is generally not a snapshot, but a composed image of a person in a still position. A portrait often shows a person looking directly at the painter or photographer, in order to most successfully engage the subject with the viewer.

We're all schmooogly big into portraits, mostly, so let's see yours this week.

I'd LOVE to see photography as well. I love photo portraits. And in case you are totally wondering, i looked up the difference between a snapshot and a portrait (basically you could follow those links yourself, but i'll tell you anyway)

in a snapshot, the background isn't blurred.

That's interesting because i've seen bonafide portraits with very vivid background imagery.

So i'm guessing that there are no rules.

Okay, i just decided that there are no rules.

snapshots, portraits, paintings, drawings, collage, something photoshopped beyond recognition - if you say it's a portrait, then it's a portrait.

i'm not going to argue with you.

You are welcome to add any link to any of your art, all week long, but if you add a link to your

PORTRAITS

that would be conflibbilisliioticly great.

next week's theme:

Wings <---- and natasa's giveaway!

so ready?

onetwothree,

link your portraits!

Tribal awesomness

2011-10-01T17:00:00.000-05:00

Hello darlings!

It's Saturday and it's time to showcase our tribal/indigenous awesomness.
This was a really good theme judging from your multiple entries.

You totally ROCK! :)

I on the other hand was totally lame cause I really wanted to do something fresh for this week but I didn't. You are now allowed to spank me. No, you really are.

So, let get this party started!

Leovi:


Totally looks like a bullet hole through a glass, doesn't it?

Kitty is our first timer and she got two entries in this week. Yay Kitty! :)

This makes me wanna get a tattoo.

My mind wants to see a spider in this but it's not. It symbolises a gift of life. How cool is that?

Amy totaly digged this week's theme. She got two entries in as well. Go Amy! :)

We all appreciate the naked guy, don't we? Thank you, Amy!


Some real fancy shit. Her words I tell you.

Gina:

We should all get ourselves some tribal faces. We would be the coolest kids on the block.

Made it in in the nick of time, the suggester of the tribal/indigenous theme - Natasha (that is not me)

Maori style. And we want to see that tattoo. :)

Little ol' lame Natasha May:

My tribal cat. I am so indigenous it hurts. :)

Don't forget next week's theme is faces/portraits.

See ya on Monday. Have a great weekend!

Tribal/Indigenous Art

2011-09-26T08:27:00.000-05:00

Higuysit'samy.

This week our theme is tribal/indigenous art.

which i am damn excited about.

For this week we'd wanted to do a theme that was one of you guys' suggestions.

Because it's funner and cooler when we all take turns.

Natasha (<------ go visit her neat blog ) suggested tribal/indigenous art.

Some ~~ganked images from google~~ ideas and inspiration to help you along:

via

As always, you are free to link anything, but get extra love for linking within the theme.

Next week's theme:

Faces/Portraits

And.

Misterlinky:

mythical creatures kicked some ass.

2011-09-24T16:01:00.000-05:00

Yes. Yes! to the links this week!

Mythical creatures kicked some ass!

Gina:

even dead girls love red lipstick.

iamrushmore:

she *is* a myth. awesome.

Leovi:

texture! Yes.

Natasa:

if you missed the tutorial on this, you are missing out. scroll your thingie back to the last post and you'll see it.

amy:

my (now shelle's) kookoonuts zombie

Natasha:

This is really Really awesome.

Natasha's Hydrangeas that cost her some mommy points:

RIght-o.

The new week of linkies starts with our next post on Monday morning.

The theme will be

TRibal/Indigenous Art

um, and then also i'll share with you the theme for the following week when our guest poster does her thing.

because i don't know her theme yet.

but i will tomorrow.

probably.

MYTHICAL CREATURES

2011-09-19T00:00:00.000-05:00

Hello sweets! I’m Natasha May and this is my very first post on The Butterfly Effect. Yaaaay!!! :)

I’m so excited that Amy thought of me to join in this awesomeness so I hope I won’t disappoint you all and we'll have some fun.

I guess I should introduce myself first. I’m going to clear up my name fist cause it confuses people. :) My fist name is Nataša but I go by Natasha or Natasa as well. May is my last name. I don’t have a middle name it’s not in our culture. I’m from Slovenia. ;) Google it. My country is shaped like a chicken. I kid you not!

I’m a self taught mixed media artist. I love to paint, I love on-line workshops and cats & dogs are my life. Well I like pretty much any animal as long as it’s not a spider or some sort of insect or a fish. Well cute fish are ok but I like to cuddle and I can’t cuddle fish.

I’m currently addicted to ATC’s (artist trading cards) so that’s pretty much what you’ll be seeing from me.

But not today.

Today, I made a video tutorial in an art journal just for you.

I love to read.

Do you like to read?

But I don’t do those deep thought provoking classics. No, I had enough of those in school. I like fairies and vampires and werewolves and angels. Yeah! You’re feeling me now, don’t you?

So, this week’s theme is MYTHICAL CREATURES.

It was inspired by Amy’s birthday party theme Unicorns vs. Zombies which I’m sure you all attended cause we all like to party, right? And there’s nothing like a blog party.

Unicorn in an Art Journal

What is a mythical creature?
Mythical creatures are almost always literary creatures that generated popularity out of literary circulation and story-telling. They are legendary creatures that at one point were believed to be real beings, while some have their origin traced from literary myths.
(source)

If you had to choose, what mythical creature would you be?

All you lovely people link your blog post to the linky below. I would grow wings like I’m in a Red Bull commercial if you decide to play along with our theme this week. But it’s not mandatory. You can link whatever you feel like cause you’re awesome and we like you.

Don’t forget to link back to The Butterfly Effect in your blog post to give us some pimping. And it’s always nice to leave some love on other player’s blog posts telling them they are the coolest people on earth playing in The Butterfly Effect sandbox. :) Or should it be flowerbox?

Yeah! We're the cool people!

For the next week's theme we wanted your suggestions but only Natasha (not me, the other one) was brave enough to speak up. :) So thanks to her

Next Weeks Theme is

TRIBAL OR INDIGENOUS ART

links of things we made <--clever

2011-09-17T19:58:00.000-05:00

So, this is a pretty good saturday.

Because we really had a great haul this week with links.

See for yourself

Leovi:

ssssssSUper texture

Lotus:

your daughter is sosoossoosoo pretty, lotus!

Natasa May:

i love cats. really lots.

Marcia:

i love that your colors don't bleed like crazy. they blend neatly.

amy:

Lisa:

hey, lisa - i wasn't totally sure what image to grab, so i went with this one. i love it.

i LOve this.

Gina:

this makes me happy. totally.

Natasha:

god. holy shit i love this.

iamrushmore:

(i Love your screen name)

this is a cool effect - i like the 'coloring book' idea thing that i read on your blog.

The bunny?

number 3 - Gina.

I went with links not comments - and i wouldn't let myself win, if it had been my number i'd like, have run the number generator again.

But it wasn't me, it's gina.

sososooooo

**Edit** crap!
Natasha is totally right!

she did share an idea for the week 4 theme and i Straight Up didn't even see it -
so, the week after this one that is happening in one day
the theme will be
tribal or indigenous art (per suggestion)

gah. i am so totally sorry natasha!

So, enjoy your weekend (i know, it's almost over).

my BIrthday is REALLY getting CLOSE.

2011-09-11T21:19:00.000-05:00

onyourmarkgetsetgo!

A giveaway!

That you have a great chance of winning!

Because really.

There aren't very many of us.

See.

Seeee this crying bunny painting?

mixed media on wood

This crying bunny on wood is totally the giveaway thing for this week.

That is super exciting.

He is sealed in beeswax, but don't let that scare you - i've shipped beeswax shit before and it's been fine in transit.

Plus.

I live in the deep dirty south and it's like 107 here and my paintings haven't melted yet.

So you can win him this week.

a different, but equally exciting view of this great sad bunny

If you don't win, don't be sad, there will be another giveaway next month.

Because we are schedule keepers here at the butterfly effect.

Yes. Really quite organized. You'd be surprised at what a tightly run ship we now have.

yeah! to tightly run shit!

The theme for this week, as you are learning late (because we decided on all of these great changes a little late) is

STREET ART

but you don't have to go out and do tags or anything in your neighborhood.

It's really just street art inspired stuff. But i won't discourage you from doing actual street art because i consider street art to be a public service.

So you can, as always, link any art, but playing along with the theme makes you EXTra Pretty.

And i will come to your blog and tell you how pretty you are if you play along with the theme.

Yep.

I will.

Here. Here is a deposit:

You are Very Very Pretty

Now if you liked that, i've got a whole bag of, "omgeeeee you look so great!" to unleash on you. You've just got to try the theme.

Ideas?

Yes. That's why there is google and image ganking. Hang on.

via

very Very well done.

via

So there is another exciting thing this week.

It is THIS.

Next week we'll announce the theme for the following week. You guys totally choose that theme. Like you know how gnaked gnomes sort of spread around? It's like That. Just leave a comment suggesting your theme.

One will be the awesome CHosen ONE

And!

Natasa's theme that you can link up here next week?

Mythical Creatures!

Hint =

Recap of Big and Exciting Stuff!

My birthday is really getting close.
You still have time to sign up for Unicorns V. Zombies
This week's theme is street art.
I will KISS YOUR ASS forever! if you link up street art inspired stuff, and i'll be along to tell you about your beauteousness. BUt, you know you can link any art.
There is a GIVEAWAY of a cute and great bunny that i made for you. Wha- how you do win? Add a link to mister linky before I do the weekend wrap up thing on saturday. I'll draw a random entereeree (i do Not rig shit, i promise) from all of the linkerseres.
Leave a comment telling us your theme suggestion. You know, you KNOW that you want to be the Chosen ONe (omgeee, i canNot believe that you didn't watch that video)

and.
here.
is.
mister.
linky.

MY BIRTHDAY is REally STILL coming up

2011-09-10T15:22:00.000-05:00

there is some excitement happening.

do you want to know what it is?

changes!

Seee how we have a schedule?

See how there is a new blog author? <--- hint = click it!

See how we have giveaways and tutorials? (on a schedule!!!)
and guest posts and
!!!!!

here!
here is the monthly thing!

week 1:guest post (we missed week 1 for this month)

week 2: giveaway (yeah!) <--- and that means that this week's post will have a giveaway

week 3: tutorial (yeah! and sometimes a guest tutorial person!)

week 4: participant theme (yeah yea yeah!)

We'll share the themes and prompts a week in advance. Then! Not only is there a whole week to do it, but then a whole OTHer week to get around to linking it.

This is cool
AND each week will still have the schedule above.

iknow!

Here is the only stinky thing.

These changes are new new new, so last week i totally didn't announce a theme to be linked up this week.

So.
What do you think of this?
THere will be a theme for this week, but since it's Super Short Notice, i'll just be really HAppy if you link the theme, but you can also just link ANYthing!

YeaH!

Gina:

Leovi:

Lotus:

Marcia:

Natasha:

Natasa:

amy:

PLEase!

PLEASE!!!

Pleasesesesesesesese Do the Unicorn v. Zombie blog party with me!

the details are in that link and then you just email me (amy@amymcdonald.net) and tell me that you are totally doing it.

PLEELELELEEEEAse.

Now, i know it's not super lots of notice, but the theme for this week (which starts on monday) is

~~zombies (because zombies will win, you pansy unicorns)~~

~~begging people to do shit~~

~~amy's really exciting birthday~~

street art.

i'll post mister linky on monday (okay, who am i fooling. i post it late sunday night) and you have ALL DAMN WEEK to link street art inspired stuff (or hell, street art)

but you can still always just

link whatever the hell you want.

big cool changes!

2011-09-05T01:13:00.000-05:00

Let's just see how well this post timer works out, shall we?

It would appear that i need to do a bit of tidying on account of ~~the pending invasion~~ my soon to arrive houseguests.

So.
Hey!

I am learning something new (to me). I noticed that i sort of go about all things in one way. Like. When i learn a new thing, i'll only use that information in the context in which i learned it. It's like i get too busy to really think about how to assimilate The New Stuff into existing things -and then i don't want to take a risk with totally Not Tried And True (to me) methods. I want to go with what i know.

I am really bad about that.

I'll like,
learn new great stuff,
but then be really sketchy about incorporating it into different endeavors.

I noticed that i get really attached to stuff when i am working on it. That's no good, because then i lose that experimentation aspect. Like, i don't really cut loose with it.

I keep like
ONe Jillion sketch books and scrap books and leftover books.

when i flip through them i'm all shockified at the awesomeness of the art in them.
Because
I am Not Worried about it when i'm doing it.

It's just a sketchbook, so i don't think about it - i just do my thing and if it gets fucked up, i don't care.

But then i lose that freedom when i move to "a Real Piece"

that's terrible.

I am trying
trying
trying
to learn to
totally let go
in everything i do.

I read this book

here is the website for what they teach.

i haven't cruised the website.

i don't feel like i need a class in this (oh god, not one more...)

but i do think that the book is The Big Stuff.

It's like

all about painting for process, not product.

The idea is that you ought to be painting for you - for the enjoyment of it.

Not to have a product at the end.

It's very intuitive painting.

Yeah!

I'm all for letting go.

Like. It grodies me out to think of my life passing me by and i'm all hung up on worrying about how stuff looks or seems, or what anyone thinks of it.

Yeah.

That really grodies me out.

So.

i'm going to let go more.

That's my Big Thing

this week.

(okay, it's my Big Thing today. god knows what it will be tomorrow)

Cut loose.

Link some Stuff!

Some Naked Stuff!

and some

clothed stuff!

and some digital Stuff!

link stuff!

oshit.

i have to go get the linky thing.

let's see how this goes on timer.

Gin-nan

2011-09-03T15:28:00.000-05:00

Yeah!

Yeah!

It's saturday!

Saturday is GREAT because it's not monday. Usually i L.O.V.E mondays, but this monday is a "holiday" of some sort which means everyone is home and

i'm having houseguests.

okay. not the kind that stay in my house. they are staying in a hotel. but it will be an invasion of sorts.

omigod.

this is SO not about me.

it's about the weekend wrap up where we parade our magnificence of the prior week.

Here's what we've got:

Leovi:

my brain really wants to see a horse in that. do you guys see it?

Mel:

soul pops. yeah!

Natasa May:

Owl. I am on some weird owl kick, so i was extra tickled to see this.

amy:

me.

Gina:

yeah! yeah! YEAH!

so that was us this past week.

i'd write more but instead! i'm going! to wake up the manperson! and make him take me to get masking fluid! so i can "fix" my painting!

he'll be so excited!

i'll see you bright and early monday morning with a new linkity thing and a rambly nattery post.

sound good?

in which i have nothing much to say...

2011-08-29T02:06:00.000-05:00

have some music -- it will distract you from the fact i have nothing clever to say :D

yeppers.
i've got absolutely nothing remotely witty or interesting this week{which implies i think the other stuff was witty and interesting}

i'm full of mad notions at the moment -- the sort of notions that aren't necessarily welcomed with open arms by Popular Thought.
which doesn't bother me.
not much.
but it's mostly to do with a generalized rejection of viewing art and creativity within the confines of intellectual experience.
i'd argue the hind leg off any donkey that wanted to tell me that you can place any of it in a tidy package and give it a label.
so yeah...no more finite thinking.
behold the sea, my friends.
now, how's about you don't suck like i did last week {i was thinking, people...plus, i had no internet for a couple of days} and you can link something.
because now that i'm all over finite-ness, i'm even more in love with the idea that each creative communion reverberates through the cosmos.

2011-08-27T18:22:00.000-05:00

Good week.

Lots of gnomes and tattoos.

Some dirty zombies, abstract stuff, an awesomely big portrait, some flower stuff that i forgot to do for IA, and awesome stuff from traci's workshop.

Vague?

that's okay.

Here is the long and short of it (what did you think of my cliche?)

chunky monkey got a chakra tat

gina has a mad sweet one

she is also, apparently, a hilarious pervert.

Leovi makes the best photos i've seen.

Marcia's stuff from Traci's class (which i love, p.s.)

marcia, reloaded.

mystery woman (marcia?) hiding behind baby but in front of a GINoRMOUS sunflower patch.

Monica made this, and i'm down with anything that makes use of drywall tape.

Natasa May!

I love them! I had to show 2 of natasa's zombies.

i know. i'm sorry.

I TRIPLE DOG DARE you to say Natasha W's isn't AWESOME.

Friends, I'd hoped to bore you lots and lots with a real post, but i shopped at walmart today and

just

feel

dirty.

We'll rock together in the new week, but for now i need wine and a shower.

oshit! and i have so much stuff to tell you too. but no. that burst of energy was short lived. i'll tell you that good stuff later.

enjoy your weekend.

lots and lots and lots

2011-08-22T01:36:00.000-05:00

You guys.

There is just a Lot of Everything!

Like.

Really.

No! For REAL.

I've been really thinking about this lately.

You know how i love facebook? omigod, i do. Well, i 'liked' deviant art on facebook (okay, i love deviant art in real life, but i'm paranoid about the whole public domain thing, so i still have to find someone who has already read the fine print before i post my photos there).

You know how fan pages will post gay questions to get conversation flowing and whatever? I usually ignore those because i have enough damn questions of my own. I don't need any facebook pages putting more uncertainty into my life, thanksh tho.

Right. but deviant asked 'what is the hardest thing about being an artist' and then like, Hundreds ( i bet thousands by now) of people typed in their opinion and then we all 'liked' the ones we agreed with.

Whatev.

But! Wait. I read lots of them and was sort of sad at the Great Artist Myth of being misunderstood and struggling and all of that. Dumb.

One person typed in 'nothing. nothing is hard. you all fail'

sweet.

but i think that's maybe off a bit.

i find it hard to do all of the things that i want to do.

I Know you know what i mean because i stalk all around to you guys' blogs and am always knocked out by all of the Diverse art that you're making.

Like,

none of us really ever just Do One Thing.

We're like...

a lot of everywhere.

(my posts, i'm afraid, never make sense. hold out for mel's week. she makes sense)

I love going around and buying books and taking classes and looking at art and then coming home and then wanting to make 20BillionTrillionDifferentKindsOfArt.

It's overwhelming isn't it? Like, there aren't really enough hours in the day.

Well, it's not that, it's like.

You get tired and have to rest your eyes or eat or sleep -

but there is always something else waiting to be born.

Lots and Lots and Lots and Lots.

Every week when i go through the links and post our stuff on the weekend wrap, i'm all 'neato' at how different everyone is. And i don't mean just the stuff you link, i mean, when i go to gank your image for the weekend wrap, I stalk all around your blog. Then i stalk all around at the links you've shared on your blog.

We're just neat, guys.

I love the links.

I love when you link all different stuff. I love when you link more than once in a week. I love when you link photography, and i love when you link journal pages and i love when you link paintings.

I love looking at the diverse art that we make.

It's just exciting to share it and to learn new stuff.

I'm excited about a new week (told you, it doesn't take much)

Here is mister linky, show him love and enjoy your week.