Chocolate Talk and other things !

Hi Everyone
Lovely winter day....... ! Well almost. It's very frosty but a bit dull. Looks like it could snow any minute. I've talked myself into thinking its not so good but I'm optimistic for later.
Very little art to report, I've been so busy doing other things. Not sure what ? Certainly nothing to remember.
I did see this typewriter/ calculator and thought it could feature in one of my paintings. I will practice making my version.




I've also been looking for inspiration re Christmas - mini treats and came across these
Here




They seem simple to create, just need to find some wooden spoons. On a chocolate front, my little boy attended a 'Technology' workshop at his school last night and made a chocolate mould. I am so impressed - here it is.




We will spend some time tomorrow making some little chocolate bars and will decorate them for Christmas presents. Will share our results.
I'm aiming to get Christmas sorted this weekend and should have lots to share next week.Painting does feature on my lists too, way down at the bottom.
One last thing - something amazing happened earlier this week. Several weeks ago, I bought a very cheap ring - I liked it and it had been reduced several times, even better ! I'm not sure how much it cost originally (in the shop) but by the time I bought it , the price was down to £1.50. I put the ring on and within an hour the ring was broken - huge disappointment.
Then, I had a thought ... It would look great as a broach for Mary Haversham ( one of my 'masterpieces in waiting' ! She deserves some attention and has been waiting for something to get her going ! I'm thrilled with the outcome and its making me think about what to do next. Take a quick look.








She will be 'on her way' very soon.The flowers need to go. I've never been that convinced about the flowers. They are definitely going.
Have a great weekend. Bye for this week.

Pretty designs for Christmas

Hi Everyone
Weather report today is ? - I'm struggling to describe the scene ! It's white-ish with frost, some low 'vague' sunshine (coming from somewhere but not clear where ?)the leaves are crisp and outlined with frost (which looks very pretty) - all in all it's 'pretty with a veneer'.

So far today, I've done a few batches of extra gift tags for my boys - more to do ! Thought I would share the design. It's my usual print tag approach but I do love the paper image. It's tissue ! , I will use it in a painting, definitely. I LOVE IT.






The design is by Paperchase - they have some lovely stuff most of the time. I often go there for inspiration. I end up spending loads of money every time.

I also came across this project to make little houses, another one of my favourite images.






These little houses are made from felting techniques. The project can be found in this pretty book.



There are a few more ideas I would like to try - if I only had more time ! One day !


I'm going to send this card to my Dad, so will spend some time personalising the message.its one of my design for 2012. I made quite a few of these designs and am trying to decide who will get one. The card looks good alongside my current favourite tissue. I'm just thinking I will use this tissue for wrapping his presents. I will need to go and buy more - dangerous for me to go back to the shop. Must also get to more wrapping or to be more specific - must start wrapping.

Bye for today.

Fantastic Crochet Baskets

Hi Everyone
I'm so late today with my blog - I've been doing volunteer work at school and have been there all day. My general routine is OUT completely. Weather has been OK and quite mild today, bit damp but OK for December.

I've not done anything 'arty' as such, I did decorate a little watch package but forgot to take a photo. It's in a raffle so may have chance tomorrow. Will share it then. Some days everything goes wrong, today was that day. A very simple job ie the watch package took ages and all was so difficult !! It worked out in the end and looked fine. However, our event looks to have made lots of money so 'all is well'.

My boys are doing something creative at scouts this evening. We have been asked to provide a tin (with frozen water in it) and a hammer ? Will takes some photos of the end product. Sounds fraught with problems. Boys with frozen tins and a hammer !!!! I need to develop my tin project - I've found a better tin , so am glad I didn't tackle it earlier. Some things 'work out for the best' !!

I've one little thing to share. I love the look of this project and it seems my kind of thing - yet again it to do with crochet, I'm still not over 'crochet'.




This image comes from Gathered, a weekly online publication. I love it. This article gives the place to buy all the materials as well as instructions. This pattern is created by Cara Medus - I've often seen her work and like it very much. I'm ordering the stuff tomorrow and will aim to use my finished baskets to contain crochet yarn too.

Well that it for today. Hope to be more creative tomorrow.

Bye for now.

Will it be ready for Christmas ?

Hi Everyone
A lovely bright day today - cold and lots of ice but great Winter weather.

Busy, busy again ! I'm way behind, as usual. The scary thing about my Christmas preparation is that I don't even know what I've not done !! Best not to worry about such things.

Craft wise, I've made some home tags for family presents and found some paper which will look OK.



I need to do lots of wrapping and sorting.

On another subject - tomorrow, is our school Christmas Fair. Lots of little things need to be organised. I'll be checking them of a list today and probably this evening.

I'm also going to pick up a wreath kit from our other school (my boys go to different schools this year) - there is a workshop but I can't make the session. I'm still keen to do a wreath so will just get on and do
it. I will show a picture when it's done.

I also came across this lovely image



It's on an old napkin from last year but I love the tree. I'm going to draw some similar trees and display them over Christmas as little paintings. I will do one and then take prints. Again, I will share when I'm done.

Another amazing thing I saw today Here you may recognise this idea from my crochet necklace project.



This version is detailed on the link. Here is another look at my necklace 'to be'



It's still 'under development'.I would like to wear it over Christmas - I wonder ?

That's about it for today.

Bye for now.

Tumblr, Art Journalling and Christmas ?

Hi Everyone
Weather today is 'tricky' to call - looks wet but a little warmer (relatively) and who knows what will happen ?
I've got loads of varied things to do today - mainly stuff I didn't get done over the weekend. Christmas, of course, is creating lots of pressure for me.
I need to be more 'in control' of my many parcels. I have ordered Christmas - I think ? I will get to it soon ! I've also got to shop and do some volunteer things for school. I will be much happier when these few things are done. Then I can relax and do some painting.
I've 'prepped' a piece of wood (upcycled 'to be'), I've got some pencil lines to give a vague idea of a landscape but I want to add some little characters - they were going to be Christmas Barney and Tucker ( some regular characters) but I'm not going to make them Christmas specific - I'm not sure how they will turn out yet. Today, will be the background and I will spend more time than usual trying out some new ideas for a background.
I have come across this interesting piece for inspiration (new to me, although I have heard of it ie Tumblr).
Art Journaling on Tumbler
Tumbler is a growing home for inspiration, and Barb has been curating an amazing cross-section of art journal inspiration. It isn't about who's popular or not, it's about what is visually yummy, giving exposure to the less-known, and whatever resonates deeper.
I found this on Crescendo Look here and think it looks great - many of my paintings have a message - sometimes 'frivolous' and sometimes 'brief' but I always have an idea behind what I'm saying in the painting. So, this site is worth checking out. I will be looking each day this week and will share anything I feel relevant to my stuff. The reason I was drawn to look at the site was this particular picture




I really like the expression of the subject and the background is very clever.
Barb is the curator of the collection and Sabrina-Ward-Harrison is the artist of this piece. The whole idea is slightly confusing to me at the moment but I will try and get to grips with how Tumblr works ( mainly need to know how to spell it - I'm thinking Tumblr but the crescendoh site calls it Tumbler ?) and what it may offer.
The only other thing Ive been doing 'art wise' is reworking this Christmas Angel painting. I want make some smaller works which will help to decorate our house for Christmas. I'm not there yet but will get some photos here when I'm done.




That's it for today.
Bye for now.