Matted Watercolor Art and Textile Art

Making cards is something I love to do, but I felt as if a new approach was in order. I made up a watercolor and ink painting and mounted it inside this 8x10” Matt. This is a closed Matt ready for framing. It is a bright white, but photos are hard to get right sometimes.

It’s already sealed in a crystal clear bag, I had forgotten to take a photo before doing so, but that’s ok. This one is watercolor with doodling. 

There were also black matts available, and I had made up some textile art to fit. This is also in an 8x10” matt, also sealed in a bag. 

This one was a bit of work. I use heat n bond ultra for the cat, then embroider the background. The saying is made the same way I make my labels (post prior to this one). The pussy willows are made of quilt batting and glued in place. The stars and whiskers are made with metallic thread. 

Well, that’s this weeks post for me. What have you been working on? 

I’ve been working on baby boy cards and some small pouches recently, including wet bags. I’ll take pictures and show you those soon. 

Have a good weekend!

Blessings,

Carmen

Doodles on watercolor

Hello everyone,

It’s kind of a somber looking day in the Loops, so I’ve just been playing. This is probably one of the most relaxing type of art I do because I’m doing it for me. I don’t care if it turns out or not and it gets my creative juices flowing. 

So here’s my creation - - it’s fun right?

I took some close ups so you could see some of the details of the doodling - - from left to right. 

I love doodling! Do you? 

Blessings!

Oils, Acrylics and Watercolors

Hello,

I have been going through my blogs and doing some spring cleaning on them. In that process I came across some painting posts and realized that I haven't shared any of my new paintings with you in a long time. So I'm going to share a few here today that I did in the past (that I haven't posted yet) and recently.

This first are oil paintings. 

The first two of those are sold. I still have the third one and I quite like this one.

The next are my acrylics:

I don't even know who I sold the first one to, but I no longer have it. 

These last ones are watercolors. I've done these recently to get my creative juices flowing again. They were just for fun with the doodling on them, but I love that and may do some bigger canvases like this. The last one is smaller and I might turn it into a card. 

I love to doodle. So if you're wondering where I've been -- this is where. Although I have been away a lot in the last few months, and sick three times as well. Very unusual for me.

 I also did some purging and organizing in that time. I find that I'm creatively challenged when things aren't in order. It's a huge problem for me. I can have a messy craft desk while I'm creating, but I have to know where things are. 

Have a good day! 

Time to Relax!

Hello!

Sometimes I just want to grab something to do that involves a couple of small tools rather than pulling out a sewing machine, cutting machine, or a bunch of different supplies. Do you sometimes feel that way too? 

Drawing is such a peaceful, relaxing medium while watching TV or listening to music. In fact, I love doing that with just quiet all around me. I crave quietness and simplicity. Anyone else out there relate?

My last few weeks have been wonderful, but busy. We've had company from Holland and gone on a short holiday to Harrison Hot Springs where we enjoyed the pools, went on short walks and then also rented a boat one day. Fun! Since then I've been babysitting grandkids and cleaning away yard waste that was left out last winter. Plus I've been to the dump with a big load of wood, metal, and more. 

My husband had a couple of bad days one of those weeks, which unfortunately involved one trip to emergency. My husband has some serious medical issues, but trips like that take up a whole day and are usually stressful. In between all of that I've been having coffee dates with friends that keep me sane! Lol...thank goodness for my wonderful friends and family! I am definitely blessed.

The bible study I was teaching is over for the Spring. I wasn't actually finished, so we pulled in another day to complete it, covering the last 3 chapters in that time. Now I'm taking a little break and then I'll be getting ready to teach the Fall study.

I am currently attempting to get that whole study onto my inspirational blog as a teaching tool for other teachers out there. We covered Genesis 1 - 11 and most of the information was from The Genesis Record by Henry Morris. It was an incredibly interesting study, but not really geared for beginners. Anyways, I'll let you know when I start posting them so you can have a look if you're interested. 

In the mean time I have been doodling a bit for relaxation.  I really just do these for fun. 

I don't know why, but for as long as I can remember, I've always loved to draw eyes. The left one, specifically.  I'm not sure if that is quirky or what, but that's what I seem to do.This one is a bit dark. I'm having to use an old iphone for pictures right now. :(

So, that's been my last little while. What have you been up to? I'd love to hear.

Blessings,

Carmen

Who Likes Giraffe's?

If you live where I do, you have been seeing a whole lot of snow lately! We had at least 3 feet of snow in front of our home. It started up a week ago last Saturday night and didn't stop until Tuesday after midnight sometime. There was a mountain of snow in my front yard because that's where the 'plow guy' dumped the snow from out of our cul-de-sac.

Ya, thanks for that!

Was I annoyed? Well, not really. He didn't leave too much in front of the driveway so we could still get out if we wanted to plow snow with our cars until we reached an arterial road. (It kept snowing, so the plowing helped, but only so much).

Was I concerned? Well, a little. We were expecting freezing rain and then sun. I thought we might need a boat, or an inflatable should we choose to go for a walk float, or perhaps some skates to slide on the ice. 

Anyway, that's not why I'm here with you today. I wanted to show you the Pouch I made for my sister. Her birthday is coming up, and although we don't exchange gifts anymore, I thought she might like one of these. She loves giraffe's so much she wears one on her shoulder, so that was the fabric theme of this bag. (She doesn't actually wear a giraffe ~ it's a large Giraffe Tattoo).

Here it is with the zippered pockets open. Some more animal print and some color inside for interest.

The closed bag. I love the handles and the little taggy thing I made. See how Giraffe-y it looks?

I thought I'd show you a couple of photos of the bag before it was all put together. Now that I have the techniques down, they're lots of fun to make.

The tags were done up on Quick Fuse Iron on Fabric Sheets. Be warned though --these things cost a small fortune. I think they were $13 for 3 sheets (are you kidding me??). So, I used a 40% off coupon. Still too much in my books, but a worthy sacrifice. I love my little tags.

(In case you're wondering, I still haven't made myself one--a Sew Together Bag, that is. Gotta get onto that.)

Since I was snowed in I cleaned up the house, made a turkey dinner, worked on this Pouch and did some doodling. I used to love doodling when I was young, and there's so many sites with good ideas on doodles that I played around a bit. I hope to make something nice soon. 

I'm really into graph paper too for some reason. Don't ask me why. Sometimes I just don't make sense.

I think that's my car under that snow. I've been looking for that. I have to make a trip to Katja's Quilt Shop in Valleyview. She has that fabulous newsprint fabric. Love it. 

Have a good week!

Blessings,

Carmen