When you have the best of intentions and then a Global Pandemic hits. My 20 projects in 2020 dwindled to 7. Sometimes life changes your priorities.
The Olive Project honors Olive Maxine, my Grandmother. She was beautiful, feisty, and introduced me to life in the big city of Kansas City, Missouri. As a farm girl from Kansas, with city girl aspirations, I grew up loving her outspoken and unapologetic style. She believed in breaking the rules with elegance | grace. Best of all, she instilled in me the confidence to spread my wings and explore new things.
The Olive Project is all about experimentation and learning - 20 projects in 2020. Follow my journey. Grandmother would be so proud. #theoliveproject
“Give a girl the right shoes, and she can conquer the world”
The Stubbs and Wootton slipper challenge inspired me to design a loafer. Inspired by Andy Warhol and my favorite Celine bag acquired on a trip to Florence, Italy, I created the “Ladies Who Lunch” slipper.
Fresh or dried hyacinth petals +
Serena & Lily catalog = beautiful handmade paper
Handmade paper was a much needed hands-on project as we wind down week 6 of the IL stay at home* order. Pressed Paper offered an online mini class and thankfully, we had all the supplies available around the house: scrap paper, wood and window screen for the mold, a sponge, and optional flower petals.
My husband, an engineer and woodworker, constructed the mold and deckle pictured below. He also brainstormed a new method to grind the pulp without using our blender. An old coffee container and drill did the trick. An interesting side note, the drill bit used in this project belonged to my grandfather.
I was thrilled to have my paper featured on a Pressed Paper Instagram story and their blog - read on below. This project required limited use of Adobe programs, however, photos were enhanced in Lightroom.
*Week 7 for the Mitchells since have only ventured out for groceries and neighborhood walks after the restaurants were ordered to close in early March
Here’s a creative alternative to grind the paper pulp if you do not want to use your food blender
Mold and deckle: single 5x7 and double 2x3
Experimenting with wildflower seeds and pansy petals - the paper may be given as a gift to be planted
My dog, Mugzy, turned 14 on March 31, 2020. To honor his birthday, I designed a Pet Logo.
We are entering week 3 of our stay at home order in Illinois. My husband and I are so grateful to have Mugzy’s companionship during this time. He reminds us to appreciate simple joys such as fresh air on our walks.
Given the current environment, I thought a light-hearted project was in order this week. Stay safe everyone and stay creative!
March. My favorite month. It's my birth month and it was my Grandmother's birth month as well. I created The Olive Project to honor her creative spirit. This year, the month of March is certainly like no other. As we all plan how to spend more time at home, I was thinking about my Book Club. We are avid readers and I'm sure when we are able to resume our monthly meetings, there will be a lively discussion about all the books we have discovered. Which got my thinking - why not create a Reading Journal to capture our thoughts so we'll be ready to share. Olive Project No. 04 is an Interactive PDF Reading Journal created in Adobe InDesign. It contains space for 4 book summaries each month and may be used as a rolling journal - start with any month. Use your journal while you read on your tablet.
I’ve also included links to my local booksellers. Let’s all support their online channels. As we stock up on reading material - both audio and printed, please shop small. Be well and happy reading!
Here’s a preview of what’s inside
Laser engravers create fabulous projects. I have etched monograms, logos, and vector graphics, however, testing a photo has been on my list for some time. I converted a color photograph to B&W in Photoshop. I vectorized the image in Illustrator, simplified the sketch, and exported the image as SVG for CorelDRAW to etch on the raster setting. The image shown has the brown paper protective coating. I etched through the paper and tried a second test, using the Elegrazia logo, without the protective cover. Both etched perfectly. (Images left and below right)
Click to watch the Eplilog laser engrave 3/8" (9mm) clear acrylic plexiglass
Photo Inspiration
I have always admired watercolor artists. It is meditative to paint and beautiful backgrounds enhance graphic designs. I also find it refreshing to step away from the computer and just use my hands so The Olive Project prompted me to sign up for a watercolor class. Project No. 02 also encouraged the use of color, outside of my typical neutral palettes.
I have been experimenting with a few techniques to enhance watercolor washes. This example uses wet on wet as well as basic staples found around the house:
1. Table salt reacts with wet watercolor and creates bubbles and movement in the paint. Leave it to dry or once the desired effect has been reached, use a hair dryer to stop the process.
2. Plastic wrap allows manipulation of the paint through the wrap with fingers.
3. Q-tips are great for lifting off to create opacity in desired spots.
My photo inspiration for this project was taken in Yellowstone National Park last summer during a Jackson Hole vacation.
Here’s what I love about Adobe Fresco, the iPad program: It supports drawing with vector, pixel and watercolor brushes. I used a vector brush to draw this olive leaf and cleaned the sketch up in Adobe Illustrator. I also used Illustrator to create the patterns shown below. Fresco is free with a paid option for premium features.
The GIF below was created in Photoshop with Illustrator assets.
