Christmas 2013

As the weather cools down and the 3 degree weather is being experienced (no snow yet, this is last years picture taken from my shoppe area) and with Thanksgiving less than a week away I am ever concious that Christmas is nearly here....

This year I feel like I want some changes....
so my tree will be a bit different.  First of all it will be a live tree to plant come spring.... and I am going to make a lot of my ornaments using dominos....another of my favorite artistic surfaces....Tonight I worked on them to the point where they now have to dry before I add the preservation finish and embellishments...  The necklace bails are ordered which will get glued on the back of the ceramic domino so that it can be hung from the tree branches...  It was really nice when I went down to the shop and pulled out my ribbon, lace, etc. bin and found the color ribbon I was looking for to attach to the bail for the hanging device.  

 I have made, and am still making, and will be making right up until Christmas day.... a lot more of my gifts this year...just because I think it makes a more personal gift....and I have been exploring the marvelous Etsy vendors for handmade....and I am hoping for a jovial, fun day.

My living room has deep red and sage green walls so it seems as if the Christmas tree has just blended....  Hopefully this year it will make a "statement".... of sorts.

Tomorrow we will go after the tree which is going to go on a table and I can take my time and decorate adding ornaments as I finish and before making/adding more....  It would be nice if at least the tree was done for Thanksgiving but  am not holding my breath....

So stay tuned for the "finale"....

Have a great Thanksgiving and week everyone.


Plastic Grid Rolling Frames for Clay


  • I have wanted to do some clay work but wanted to wait until my grid frames came for rolling out the clay to a specific thickness.  They came today as well as white clay so now I am anxious to PLAY...
  • hopefully this weekend??? 

  •   I condition my clay in the pasta machine but would prefer to do the final rolling in these frames as I am not looking for a smooth, sleek, shiny clay that the pasta machine gives me so this way I feel "I" will have more control.  The frames come in #2, 3, 4 5 and 6 and two can be put together for a thicker size....  I purchased only every other size (#2 ,4,  6) and will add the other two sizes as a later date.  They are plastic and I think that they are going to be a "Slick" clay tool.  

  • I also purchased some round metal indenter tools  (for lack of correct name, and showing my lack of any type of expertise/clay terminology) that can add some texture that I am anxious to work with too.

I ordered extra and have them for sale on my Etsy site.  All 3 sizes for $18.00 plus shipping



Fun Project

This was fun.

Quite a while ago I purchased this white snow flecked open work stiff material in the clearance area of a local stamp store.  I had no idea what I would use it for but it was "neat" so it cam home with me.

The small black canvas pieces...the same.  I picked them up "somewhere."

My substrate for this piece is an inexpensive 9" x 12" canvas (those that come 3 to a package...these work great for this type of a project).  Next I glued down an olive-y green felt squate, and cut the snow flecked material the same size and just laid on top.  It is rough enough that it kinda stuck to the felt like velcro and is stiff enough that it just lays in place.  Next I have to find a frame....in all the frames that I DO have...None this size...  and I want to see how it looks with and without a mat.  My grandsone just got his FIRST apartment with a long time buddy of his so I thought this might be a manly Christmas decoration for them.  They have several placse they could put it....even on an easel at the front door where there is a window.  (I think).....  I used the glitter paints on the Christmas bulbs as well as the Black Glamour Dust for stars, and then the touch of Ice Crystal Glamour Dust for the tree limb.   Once it is finished I think it will be a really pretty piece....so watch for a finished update....  I think I have 3  more of the black canvas pieces so maybe I will do another.....

Have a great weekend (ALREADY, AGAIN) everyone....

Earrings

3 more pair of just plain ole' natural feathers with lampwork and crystal....yet sooooo pretty.


Painting

As you will see from the photos below my focus this week has been on painting.  I LOVE painting on Ceramic and Porcelain pieces so I began to surface scour.  The small boxes are just a perfect size and I really like the porcelain cups with the silicone lids...they are going to make neat Christmas gifts....  I am not using patterns having discovered I really like the impromptu of just painting and seeing what happens....or doesn't happen....  I use the Rustoleum Frosted Glass as a surface prep so that I have tooth and then finish with 2-3 LIGHT coats of the Thick Gloss Paint which takes the surface look back to the smooth shiny porcelain look and the design just seems to recede into the surface..  





More Handmade Earrings Unique and one of a Kind.

I don't have pierced ears, so therefore I don't wear earrings but I always admire pretty earrings of others and shopped  for them for my sister, daughter in law, and friends..... AND....very rarely do I find any that I like so have been creating earrings for gift giving for a couple of years.

The neat thing is the beads and the feathers are pretty much one of a kind...so you have earrings you won't see anyone else wearing and I guarantee they will be noticed.  The are simple but striking and colorful as are the trends of today.

The crystals in the 2nd pair of earrings are really neat as they are blue in artificial light and lavendar purple in good natural lighting.

Once again the feathers are hand marbeled feathers from Ely of QuillnAros on Etsy,  the findings are Tierra Cast and the handmade glass lampwork beads have been made by various SRA lampworking artists from around the world....

 Making earrings is so simple and easy I am surprised that more people don't make their own....and my only recommendation is buy top quality merchandise, look for something that can't or won't be replicated/copied, and put your own personal twist to the item.





Great Balls of Fire


These earrings were made with the help of Ely's bird (feathers) of QUILLNAROS (Etsy)and I love this 
"fellows" fluffy fluffy feather beginnings. 

Thet polymer clay beads were made by TLSCLAYDESIGN (Etsy).  My job was just to correlate what these artists did into a piece of jewelry.  

(The clay beads remind me of stained glass).

Oh, and thanks to Jerry Lee Lewis for GREAT BALLS OF FIRE..... 

I think I am going to work on some more earrings this evening and maybe tomorrow I will hit the clay and a few of my rubber stamps and see what "I "can come up with; but don't expect feathers.


Have a great weekend everyone.

Sunday Muse

Another week ... has poofed away and a start into the next.

As of today I am not going to worry any more about tomorrows....just todays.  

I feel as if I accomplished a lot this week and have things kinda in order (both mentally and written on paper) for this upcoming week.  

Tomorrow I want to get in as much time as I can downstairs working.  I have a painting started to finish, I need to start an assemblage box for a Christmas gift, and on Friday the Gift and Food Bazaar at our local fairgrounds.  Last year it was great so I am hoping for the same this year....already have ideas on purchases so I really hope the vendors I am thinking about will be there.

I also need to get Session III
started here on the blog so I can get it posted before the end of the month.

So have a great week everyone.

More Jewelry



I worked on and finished 2 more fabric and lampwork cord necklaces.  FUN. 

 The one on the right is mine and the 3 fabric beads were kinda the ones that got laid aside and I thought why not really mix and match.  

It is funny what one remembers and just kinda,  sorta applies when designing.  I remember reading or hearing somewhere that design composition is 1 -3 - 5 and then after 5 you can have any number you want...  On my necklace I have used 3 fabric beads, one is different.  Excluding spacer beads I have a total of 5 beads on the necklace and the knots in the cording are one--three---and 5---numbers. .  The only thing everything has in "common" within this necklace is the color yellow..... but yet I think it is really pretty, unique, artistic, with good composition, balance and even texture with glass, fabric, metal.   And I like the fact that each one.....is One of a Kind.  You aren't going to find another just like these......  It is kinda nice to own and collect
art by others....I know I do.

  The necklace on the left is also done with cording and above the central beaded area and knots and beads.  One again throughout the necklace I have used the 1-3-5 design numbers.  The lampwork beads I have had for a couple of years and I cannot believe that the fabric bead ( from an artist in Isreal) that I have used matches so perfectly....as if it were totally planned instead of random luck.  Again with this necklace I have the smooth texture of glass, the rougher fabric bead , the texture of the knots, and twisted spacers.  This necklace will probably show up on Etsy in a few days....I would like to do a few more so there is a collection of this style jewelry.  

All of spacer beads and bead caps are from Dragynsfyre on Etsy who also carries her own handmade lampwork beads as well.
The fabric beads by Gulgulim on Etsy
The cording (which comes in several different colors) is nylon braided and I purchased all that I use at our local Military Surplus Store for a fraction of what I would have paid in an art or crafts store.  Think outside the box when you are looking for something.


Jewelry Items Handmade Lampwork Focal Bead by Dragynsfyre


This is a handmade lampwork focal bead made by Dragynsfyre (my daughter)  on Etsy.  It  reminds me of a waves and water....

The smaller beads are also handmade lampwork beads done by an artist in the state of Washington who specializes in tiny spacer beads.   I envison the dark green/blue for the deeper water, the milky white for the foam, the wrhite for the white caps with the blue lighter than the darkest.....  (The knots are inspired once again by Dragynsfyre as she has made several pieces of jewelry using this simple knotting technique along with her own focal and smaller beads).  The technique of this abstract knotting done with nylon cord  kinda gives the illusion  of  "motion" to this bracelet that I like.

 Note the little bubbles in the transparent glass which just adds to the all over water feeling.

This particular piece is a Christmas gift....I have been busy trying to make as many of my gifts as possible this year.....I love the "elfy" feeling I get.....kinda like a whistle while you work feeling...which I would love to still be able to do......  I loved to whistle....

Jewelry Items Hand Marbled Feather Earrings

Another of my favorite Etsy sellers is QuillnAros.  Ely handmarbles feathers.  These are so "cool" or is that not the "lingo" of today?  The bottom  and middle pairs are done using cockatoo feathers and the top photo are African Parrott....goodness I hope I have the "birds" right.....  I LOVE the fuzz that is at the top of the feathers....especially the longer African Grey ones.  I LOVE using other peoples art in some way when I make mine....kinda like a double whammy..... and with a lot of my jewelry I prefer one of a kind pieces....which is what happens when things get "mixed up".....  Lampwork and these handmarbled feathers provide me this exclusiveness....

The top pair of earrings are a Christmas gift ....  I love the red and green abstract design along with the furry tops....so unique and different.

I love the tropical feeling of the middle and last pair of earrings and the lax a daisy, whimsical, windblown, I don't care, carefree, loose feeling these earrings impart.  


Jewelry Items Handmade fabric and lampwork beads

This is a necklace I made today using a thin nylon cording, handmade lampwork beads and the main focal piece is a handmade fabric bead from the Etsy Seller Gulgulim .   I have a dish of beads that are waiting for me to "do something" with them.  Thank goodness I am finally using up my bead stash....

What a match of the fabric bead to a set of lampwork beads I had purchased.   Not sure just how this one will get worked up but I am thinking something asymmetrical...???  

Christmas Card??

3 has been a part of my life this year and it has carried over for some reason in what I wanted to paint for my card this year....  I am glad you can see some of the stars in the sky.. which are the Glamour Dust Paints in Ice Crystal.... although I used the Black Glamour Dust in areas of the dark sky......Paynes Grey/Soft White.

I purchase cards that have been prepared to accept a photo with gummed edgings which will act as the mat for the picture....

Now I just have to get a good photo to use in the card.....  I have been painting my cards on and off for several years.

Try your hand at painting YOUR holiday cards....

Session II Snow, moon, trees fog

SESSION #2

RESULTS OF SESSION ONE AND SESSION TWO.....

These sessions are going to be available on my Etsy site as a kit.  5" x 7"  Canvas board, photos, step by steps and instructions/paint list. etc.  The kit will be available with and without brushes.  I am hoping to get everything together to offer this by the first of December.

             
The next thing for YOU to determine is:
What will be the NEXT farthest thing from you?  
Establish your horizon line.
Decide on your Point of Interest area and object.

My Point of interest is about 2/3 across the canvas and is the mountain and a tree.  I LOVE trees.  Without them how boring winter would be.

Paint Colors:   Paynes Grey, Warm White, Hookers Green, Dioxizine Purple...Burnt Umber
Brushes:    Flat Brushes and/or Dry Brushes (my recommendation).  
                  Dynasty Foliage Wave Brushes and IPC Flats  DIANA'S LANDSCAPE BRUSHES:  I sell this packet of brushes on my Etsy site....and will be using these for the foliage portion of this painting.
 Brush Kit Includes:
Small and Large IPC Brushes (Black Handled) used for soft foliage,  dense coverage.
Foliage Wave brush (White Bristeled Brush)  Airy, openwork foilage.
DryBrush (Varigated black and white bristles)  Used for skys, blending, snow, water,
and occassionaly stippling procedures.

With the IPC brushes I use the narrow end of the brush the majority of the time (and sometimes I only use a corner of the narrow brush) and to have more control of where the paint goes I hold the brush down at the ferrel.  When I use the Foliage Wave brush I hold the brush highter up on the handle for more range of motion.

I tip the foliage brushes AWAY from me to get "UP" on the tips of the bristles.







I soak my brushes in tepid water for about 5 minutes before using.  This opens up the bristles so the paint will soak INTO the bristles for a soft, mystical look.   I then towel dry (roughly) on a terry cloth towel.  I purchase towels at thrift stores because they are a bit worn and soft.  If I buy a large towel I cut it into pieces.  These towels are one of my major staples.

I use the Eye of the Tiger Brushes and the Faux Squirrel flats, rounds, angles etc.  Also Dynasty brushes.  I like a brush that is a bit stiffer than normal as these 2 lines work for me.

There are approximately 3-4 applications of paints to get where you see a finished moon and a tree and pine bough.  With the tree boughs see 1-2-3.... and I used the small flat IPC brush for all 3 layers of color.  Keep the final white to the very tops as fresh snow.


When painting the mountain I used soft slip slap x shaped strokes....I want the mountain to be choppy and layered....not smooth.  I will smooth the outside edges of the mountain as I add layers of snow.  
Whatever brush you choose....work the same way with the criss cross x strokes.  Once again I am going to use the Paynes Grey and Warm White.  I want it darker than the sky so I added  more Paynes Grey to my brush and blocked in my mountain down to the horizon line even though part of the mountain is covered with trees/shrubs, etc.  As I worked down the mountain to the horizon line I progressively got darker.  When satisfied wipe off your brush, add more Warm White and lay iin some of the snow area so it takes on more shape....lights and darks.

The Moon was done with the dry brush and a dark mix of the Paynes Gray and Soft White to rough in the outline of the moon.  I then proceeded to add one or the other of the colors to achieve a realistic moon with darks, lights and inbetweens.  I took my liner brush and created this a thin line of PG.  If you want more lights add some Soft White to the dry brush and very softly add some small highlights.

Next it was time to establish my Tree Line and I worked down once again to the horizon line.  At this point I am going to change brushes to the Foligae Wave brush  because I want a lacey look to the tree line and bushes.

I DON"T VERY OFTEN WASH MY BRUSHES WHEN I AM DOING A LANDSCAPE UNLESS I AM GOING TO A LIGHTER COLOR AND MOST OF THE TIME I JUST WIPE THE BRUSH WELL ON MY TOWELL.  I DON'T CARE THAT EACH STROKE IS NOT THE SAME COLOR LIKE ONE WOULD DO WHEN COLORING.    I WANT THE CANVAS COVERED....BUT I WANT VARYING SHADES WITHIN THE "SECTION"  I AM PAINTING.  I FEEL THAT THIS CREATES A MUCH MORE REALISTIC PAINTING... WITH AN INTEREST INTO COLOR...WHILE ADDING DEPTH TO THE PAINTING. 

ANOTHER IMPORTANT "THING" IS THAT WHEN YOU ARE PAINTING FOLIAGE... YOU WANT LITTLE UMBRELLA SHAPES...AND TO ACHIEVE THIS...YOU POINT THE TIP OF THE BRUSH AT ABOUT A 33 DEGREE ANGLE AWAY FROM YOU SO THAT WHEN YOU PAINT YOU ARE USING JUST THE VERY TIPS OF THE BRUSHES TO TAP IN THE FOLIAGE.   IF YOU WANT TO "DROP" SOME TEXTURE ADD A BIT MORE PAINT AND TOUCH A BIT HARDER TO YOUR SURFACE....NOTICE I SAID TOUCH....NOT SMASH...  I AM GOING TO WAIT TO "DROP COLOR" WHEN I ADD THE SNOW TO THE TOPS OF THINGS FARTHER ALONG IN THE FINISHING ELEMENTS OF THE PAINTING.

To my dirty bursh  Paynes Grey, Warm White I added into the "mix" just a little Hookers Green .  The tops of the trees will be the lightest and you will work down to darker closer to the horizon line.  If you will check out the photo above you can see how light, airy and lacey the background foliage is....very faint at this point in time.  BE CAREFUL:  I wanted my tree line very irregular with ups and downs Check back at my painting to see how there is a soft irregular tree line and you can even see little umbrella shapes here and there.
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THE TREE....  I love trees and especially when one is unique, different, etc.   I added a bit of Dioxizine Purple to my dirty brush mix to darken (Says Jerry Yarnell,,,"purple is the natural
shading color",   and I like to use it to darken..especially in a winter scene.  Much more natural than using black.

I painted the trunk of the tree with the tip and chisel edge of an angle brush but I round works great.
I worked in short choppy strokes with the tree just a thin light at the top and growing in girth closer to the horizon line area.    Add paint when needed to your dirty brush.  Smoosh lightly on your towel to barely blend the color in and continue with the tree.  With a liner brush I painted in the tree limbs.  They should be bigger at the trunk and then get thin at the end.  The branches should not begin at the same point on the tree t runk  left and right...stagger the tree limbs from the trunk.

To get a thin line using a brush you must release pressure on your painting surface and paint with the very tip of the brush...even when using a liner. 

 Notice that the limbs on my evergreen tree are widely spaced apart and angle down which is the way this tree seems to grow here in OR and the foliage portion is going to be clumpy, thickest at th... e trunk area becoming less sparse as you work out the branches and densest/darkest in the very center of the little clumps within the big clump...  I used the small IPC brush for doing the foliage on this tree and remember to hold the brush down at the ferrel of the brush so you control where the paint goes, how much, etc.  I started with just Paynes Greay and my IPC small brush on all branches then I added Soft White to the dirty brush and added some lifht to the top of the branches.  I then wiped my brush on the towel and added just the Soft white to my IPC and added snow to the tops.

SO......that is it for session II.   I just finished painting our next session so I will add a photo to the end of this session in a day or so.



CAN YOU BEGIN TO "FEEL" YOUR PAINTING.  THE FOG WHICH I AM BEGINNING TO SEE.  THE TEXTURE OF THE EVERGREEN "CHARLIE BROWN" TREE WHICH I JUST LOVE....AND YOU BEGIN TO QUESTION WHAT THE NEXT STEP MIGHT BE.  AT THIS POINT IN TIME....I HAVE NO IDEA.......  HMMMM.    

STAY TUNED FOR "SESSION III" CAUSE FROM HERE ON TO THE END OF THE PAINTING .......MAGIC HAPPENS....AT LEAST THAT IS THE WAY I FEEL WHEN I PAINT.  I LOVE WHEN THE BASICS ARE IN, SHAPES FORMED, ETC.  THEN I GET EXCITED.



                                                                                                 SESSION III:   Coming Soon
 






Gingko Biloba Necklace


When I was doing some bead searching I found this handmade  Denim Blue Gingko ceramic leaf that I had purchased a couple of years ago.   The blue and white swirled lampwork beads match well and I used delica beads along with some square silver beads and a delightful elephant clasp.  I am a blue jean, t shirt or flannel shirt type so I wanted something simple;  yet pretty, piece to wear and as this developed it began to "fit the bill'.....   Hopefully it will inspire you to put together a necklace.

I LOVE FREEZIN' FOG DAYS

I LOVE FREEZIN' FOG DAYS
Freezing fog on a pine tree bough.