WOYWW #608

Happy Wednesday all my crafty friends!! Well, we have made it round once more for expressing and the showing of our arty sides through snapshots of our crafty and sometimes sloppy (ME) desks over on Julia's Stamping Ground Blog!  It's a great opportunity to see what like-minded folks are up to, making friends, and maybe even be inspired by others' wonderful talents!

Out of the gate today, I just want to stop and truly thank all you lovely folk who take the time out of your busy day to pop on over here at my place and leave encouraging and kind comments!! I work full time and it takes me at least half a day, in between doing what I am supposed to be doing, which is work, to go by and visit each and everyone that I can and leave a comment, so I KNOW what it means to do that! So again, thank you ALL so very much for doing that for me! That being said, I think I recall in all the stories leading up to the "600" post for Julia that when this idea was at its beginnings there were up to 100 folks participating!!!! Did I read that somewhere?  All I'm thinking is how in the blazing saddles did you all get round to everyone and comment???? LOLOL I can't even imagine? We usually have up to 30 or more now, and that's a labor of love, so can't quite wrap my head around larger numbers!!! LOL So good on ALL of you for participating!!!!

So my head is STILL swimming with ideas and projects! I write them all down so I don't forget and trying to start looking for supplies to get some of these projects started!! I must admit, if it weren't for Google, I'd be lost! Never thought I'd say that one! LOL That being said, even with the almighty Google, I am still having a hard time finding some supplies. A lot is due to low stock because of our arch-nemesis, the COVID, ut a lot of it, I don't know the proper "key" words to search for things or where to find things. But onward ho I go! LOL

Altered Book Cover

Today I will share the finished products of things I showed you last week! I am having a blast, I tell you! So the first is the book turned art journal! This turned out to be a little more different in my mind than what came out. I was hoping I could use my gelli print to do the cover, but....that didn't really work too well. After about three tries, I got completely frustrated and chucked that puppy to the side! I then just went back to good old stencils and acrylic paint!! It turned out pretty good, but still not exactly what I was imagining. So, that just leaves room to try again. Anywho, I am satisfied with this for right now. The main stencil on the front was from my trip years ago to Donna Downey's studio. I so enjoyed that trip, seeing her studio and meeting her staff. It says "artists create from emotion and truth." I LOVE that and feel it is so true! So had to put it on the front!

Watercolor Flower in altered book journal

I pasted the book page watercolor flower I showed you guys last week, in the front, and then did this watercolor flower over the weekend! I really enjoyed doing this one. Really, I just really enjoy doing it period! LOL I can't wait to fill this journal up with many more of God's beautiful creations!

Wonky pattern, but fun!!

I finished the second cross that I showed you last week and then actually have been so excited about these guys that I did another one! LOL Honestly I don't know where all this gusto is coming from, but I love it! Both of these crosses were from a local big box store that has like two craft aisles, so they aren't from a craft store. That being said, I feel lucky that they carry any kind of wood pieces, but they just aren't symmetrical and even all around, so when you try to measure to do things, it inevitably turns out to be off or wonky. So, there are some obvious flaws regarding that, but hey, it's all for fun right???

Top view but has a shadow

Different view to see dots!

I think they both turned out pretty good in spite of my goofs. Also, I think I mentioned last week that these two were two-tiered, so a true pattern was hard to do, but I made due. When my sister cuts me some new blanks, they will all just be a flat piece and better to work with.

I'm definitely NO expert at this, it's usually trial by error.....A LOT of error!!! The hardest part for me is getting the consistency of the paint just right. But what I have found is that just plain old DecoArt Americana Acrylics are the best. But as I alluded to previously, paint and other crafting supplies seem to be hard to come by these days. Not sure if that is happening everywhere, but it sure is in the states! So I had to order more paint and it took a minute to get to me? Oh well, I should have enough paint for upcoming projects...I hope! LOL You know how we are crafters......there is ALWAYS ANOTHER color that we just HAVE TO HAVE!!! LOLOL But for now, I'm good.

Well, that's about all I can show you, today friends. I had someone reach out to me last week about my crafting and I joined yet ANOTHER swap group! I know....where in the world will I find the extra time? But luckily it is just another ATC Group, so, small treasures AND.....I love expressing, so there you go! LOL Hopefully be able to show both sets next week!!

Happy Wednesday to you all and stay safe and healthy!

Blessings

WOYWW #607

Good Wednesday all my crafty friends!! So last week was a big gluttonous post, so I will try to keep that to a minimum this week! LOL I still have the whirlpool of ideas swirling around in my noggin and have been trading out projects around my craft desk as one dries, I work on the other. You all know how that goes! I'll share a couple today over on Julia's blog for WOYWW this week. Click on over and join!

So this first photo was actually from the weekend as I was working on my cross-project.  I love crosses and have done projects with them over the years, either painting, collaging, or sort of steampunking for loved ones, and also sent them to people as RAK's who may have been going through a hard time or sick.  It really is a labor of love and fun to boot! This time, however, I wanted to pull out the dot arting and try that on them. I love to dot art, although I am not very skilled at it because as I am sure you are aware, that is something you have to keep at to get better, just like anything. Well, I do things for a minute then move on to the next "brilliant" idea!!! So......I never get better at it! LOLOL Then, I think of it again and here we are! LOL Yes, that is a sneak peek inside my chaotic brain!

Getting started!

So I had a handful of crosses, that I keep in my stash for said occasions, and started with these two. The smaller one is chunkier, which I like, and the larger one is thinner and had a little raised area on it as well. Right now, to monopolize on all things COVID, wood is hard to come by. Or at least in my area it is, so my internet search has come up short as well. But luckily, I have a sister that also crafts with wood (you will remember my Project Mom Christmas project) and she has agreed to cut various sizes for me as well as some other images so that I can dot them as well. This is me getting a head start on Christmas 2021! LOL

So this is the finished smaller piece that I just kept really simple. I think it turned out pretty good and now I will tackle the big one. Thank goodness for Pinterest that we can find a plethora of color and pattern ideas! What I did find out is that over my two-year hiatus from crafting that a lot of my paints dried out (BIG surprise, huh? LOL) so I didn't have a lot of colors that I wanted. THEREFORE......uhhh ohhhh, that's NEVER good....hee hee.... I HAD to order more! We really should call our hobby a sickness!!! LOLOLOL However........once again, and even more so, paint is REALLY hard to come by right now! It really is astonishing to me! So I did order some and hopefully, they will be coming in this week! Good thing about this project, since it's also involving Christmas this year, I can't just "think" about it and move on, it will be ongoing this year. So, maybe I'll learn something! LOL

This other project on my desk late last night is one that I have been wanting to do for a while and just now getting around to it. As you know, I love watercolor and discovered that I like to watercolor on book page, so tada....new project! I have been scouring second-hand stores for old books that spoke to me. Specifically, I am looking for an old ledger, you know, like shops used to use for accounting before the computer! Well, they are either a hot commodity or people just toss them when done because I can't seem to find one. I saw some on ebay, but apparently, they LOVE their ledgers because they want a mint for them. My pocket was thinking a couple of bucks at best! LOL So, I'll keep searching!

Anybody with paint ideas on book cover? Let me know!

In the meantime, I found this great book written by George Washington about his expense account and have taken several pages out of each signature so that it's not so thick and it would lay flat when I paint. I love this book! I almost hated ripping it apart because it was very interesting, but went on with it anyway! Since then, I have gesso'd the cover and it's at the ready for paint! Hopefully next week I can show you the finished product! I'm excited to have this journal that will be designated for my watercolor painting flowers and nature. Neat idea, huh? Fun at any rate!

Several posts ago, I shared that my daughter brought me some flower sunshine surprise and last week, she and her precious boyfriend showed up at work with another parcel of love! She truly is a dolly and seems to know just when her mama needs a little extra love and encouragement. It's never been something that I had to have often, although I do love flowers, but it's extra special when your babies shower you with love! I'm a blessed mom for sure!

Love from my dolly!

Well, that's it for me this week guys! I do pray you all are staying safe and healthy and I will try to get around to everyone and see what you are doing on your desk! Happy Wednesday!

Blessings

WOYWW #606

So happy Wednesday all my crafty friends!! I didn't get to make it last week, it has been a complete madhouse in the town I live with Covid cases. Our location is in a terrible hotspot and cases have skyrocketed and are off the charts.  As I work for the local government, you can imagine that we have been on high alert, and trying to mandate orders has been a nightmare! I don't understand how solid numbers, hospitals full and loved ones sick and or passing doesn't make people stop and think that they need to take extra care, wear their masks and above all stay home!!  Unlike our across the pond neighbors, we are not in lockdown here, although maybe we should be, but they still are not supposed to "gather," and folks seem to have the "it won't happen to me" syndrome! Honestly, I will be soooo glad when we can all get back to some semblance of order! I hope it's soon!

So as a part of what's going on over on Julia's Stamping Ground blog, I want to share what I have been working on and what's on my desk! Literally, my mind has been a flurry of creative projects!! I have had a bazillion ideas swarming around and I, of course, want to do them ALLL!! LOL  The problem, of course, is that I work full time and there aren't enough hours in the day! Go figure, huh? LOL I tell you though, I have feverishly written all these "amazing" ideas down and I want to try to get to all of them this year! I think that arty ideas are what keep us creative people going. I'm so thankful for my crazy mind! LOL

Hopeful dot art palettes!

I am at the beginning stages of this project that will reveal over a little time due to the fact that it will probably take me ions to do! LOL But I love crosses and have always done some sort of crafting with crosses, so this is just a new project. I have been wanting to drag my dot art painting back out again and wanted to give it a whirl with some crosses. I have seen other folks do crosses before, so it's not "new" as such to the dot painting world, but new to me. So I have just started with base coating these guys. There is a method to the madness. along with just having fun, I am also trying to plan for next Christmas.

I also have some watercolor painting on my craft table. As time has gone on with all my mixed media fun over the years, I really have decided that watercolor is my favorite medium. I still love acrylics and such in mixed media projects, but watercolor truly has my heart. What's so funny about that is that I still consider myself a beginner! But never the less, it really makes me happy to watercolor. This idea was inspired by an artist I have followed for some time over on YouTube, Susanne Rose Art. She had been doing some watercolor on book page and I never thought to do that, so I wanted to give it a whirl! I loved it! Now it's brought up some other ideas to do! LOL It's an evil cycle! LOL

This past weekend and this week has been like Christmas all over again for me!! Yay! I have had happy mail galore. The first picture truly is happy mail from Amy who is the host over on Amy's Art Alchemy, which is the ATC Swap Group that I am involved in. She truly is a treasure and a special person. We connected right away and several levels, but specifically in our spirituality.  I've learned that God places people in our lives for His purpose and I believe she is one of them. So this journal was truly a blessing from her and one I will treasure.

Happy Mail From Amy's Art Alchemy

I love rag paper or handmade paper of any kind. I love how it feels and I love doing art on it! I have used Khadi papers before and totally loved it, so when I saw that they make journals I had to have one.....or maybe two....LOL, Of course, I have big plans for them, don't we all when we "just have to have them!" LOL But in all seriousness, I had in my mind to use these for my birds and flowers. We shall see how that goes!! The Pentel Arts Portable Pocket Brush Pen I have seen several arty folks use and I really wanted to try it out with my watercolors and mixed media! It is always hard to find a pen with multiple uses that won't clog when used or bleed when used! Hope this one works out! :)

Can't wait to use these guys! 

Lastly, I will share this holy grail package from one of my favorite places, Nippon Kodo! I am an incense fanatic. And not just any incense, Japanese incense. I will only buy Japanese incense because it is the best. When I buy, I usually stock up for six months to a year because where I live, I cannot get the incense I love anywhere under a 200-mile radius!! So it's online all the way! I love the art of incense, the ceremony of incense, the history, and of course the aromatherapy of incense. I so admire the Japanese culture for savoring and continuing their blessed culture! If you haven't tried Japanese incense, you should!

My LOVE for incense abounds!

Well, I shared wayyyyyyy too much this week! But it has been a buzz around my home! Both girls have started back college and I'm prayerful for this new semester! It's so amazing to see your babies grow up to fine young adults! I'm so, so, blessed as a mother! I'm also prayerful for you ALL during this continued COVID crisis! Stay safe and healthy everyone! Happy Wednesday!

Blessings