Whale and Driftwood Punch Needle!

It seemed to be too long of a week. Our anniversary week and Bill took it off, but it rained on and off, so we never got to do anything we had planned. We got some time at the beach, but I never got to relax or work on anything, so today I made up for it, lol.

I have been collecting driftwood and thought it would be fun to design something to go on a flat piece. Today I made a whale with Jonah inside, based on old drawings I had seen. I wanted to keep it simple and see how it would look, so it is not perfect, but I like how it came out and with a few tweaks, I can make it into a pattern. I have already gotten interest in a pattern, so I will be working up a new one, that may be different, so I can make two in this set.

I would love your input, what you do and don't like, anything you would like to see in nautical or beach pieces? I antiqued this piece, the blues were too bight and light, I tend to grab floss out of my scrap box, to use them up. I also had to go with 6 strands, since I can't seem to find my smaller tip, so I will look for that tomorrow.

I want to thank everyone for the anniversary wishes. I try and answer comments, but some are anonymous and some have no email, and not all come to my email. If you have a question and I cannot answer you, I will answer those in the comment section.

We had planned on taking the kids out a few days, and on Saturday I got too sick to do anything. Sunday they came over and had a fun day at our house, I was still weak but having them, always picks up my spirits. Unfortunately Bill put way too much chlorine in the pool, so my son bought one of their small ones to play in. That along with squirt guns and we all got cooled off. Bean had a blast too, but he got so excited listening to the boys screaming that he tore off the lower half of my screen tent, ugh. I hope you all had a wonderful weekend and made memories of your own.

Friday Finishes!

I finally finished my angel. The design is by Teresa Kogut and was an extra offering for her angel tutorial. Of course I changed the look and went with a patriotic dress and I have to admit, I lose focus when watching videos so to finish her face, I just went for it and did what felt right.

This is the finished angel, before I aged her. I really like how the background came out, I mottled it by double dipping the brush and patting it with a paper towel. In some ways I like the softer look, before aging, but If I was leaving it as is, I would do more detail.

And this is the angel, after I aged her. The process is from the tutorial, so I cannot explain it to you, but I did use crackle and antique medium for this look. I was happy that the crackle worked this time. Before I add the aging mediums, I do sand it, to get the worn look and expose some paper.

Here you can see the crackling, it is a nice effect for primitive pieces.

In this, you can see a little of where the paper got exposed, with the sanding. I use different colors and prints. I really had fun doing this and more fun when I just went out on my own, so I might start trying more of my own paintings with my photos. The class really helped me to explore a new medium for painting.

I had another project, but it was giving me fits, the blue marker would not come off, but I finally got it to come off, but I need to rework the colors that faded, so I will finish that, next week. I did work on a new punch needle project. I found the pattern in a thrift store for only 50 cents. It still had the printed weavers with it, but I wanted it larger, so I redrew it on my own backing.

The pattern is by Pine Mountain Designs. I went with a patriotic look, seem to be doing that a lot lately. The original has more muted colors, and I wanted it to pop more. I think this would be fun to do for a babies room too, making it without the stars and adding the babies name to the top or bottom. I also have wool floss, so making the sheep pop with fluffy wool, would be fun.

We were also able to get to the beach last weekend, an hour after a storm, was the perfect time to go. Lots of glass in with the rock piles, so we got a nice haul, this time.

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend. Seems another flu is going around and the kids are sick again. I really wanted to take the boys to see the mermaids this weekend. so hopefully I feel better tomorrow and do a little beach combing, till my hands go numb;)

Friday Finishes!

This week I am still experimenting with photo art and one type I tried is, attaching the photo, face side up. I had Bill cut out a piece of wood, but it is thicker than I would like to use. I like the thinner slat boards for art like this, but I wanted to test it first, before I do anything on good woods.

I like it in one way, but not sure if it is the thick wood, but not thrilled with how it looks. I think trying it on a white slate board, would look nicer for this technique. It is fun to try my photos in art, though.

With this one, I used decoupage to adhere it to the wood and then a coat, over the piece, then finished with a glaze medium. I also aged it a bit before I glazed it, with antique medium.

Another test was with a butterfly photo. I used the glaze medium this time and when I pressed the photo down, the colors started oozing out, so not the best medium to use. But, I was pleasantly surprised to see their was a nice print underneath.

I also used regular printer paper, which is thinner, so that may have left a better print but it was a pain to get off, the paper adhered with the glaze, so I had to be careful not to rub the design off. Overall it worked nicer than the first one with decoupage. I do think a heavier paper is nicer, so I will see if I have one without ridges. I will also try a heavy gloss gel medium, that I have. I have plenty of mediums, so fun to use what I have, to save money as I experiment. Most people seem to use the gel in this method, so hoping my heavy will work. I will also try the glaze with a heavier paper, I do like how it came out, overall.

As Michelle mentioned, most tutorials use laser printers, I am using ink jet, so you will get more color bleeding with that, but it lends to a more artistic look. I am also using cheap mini canvas squares, so not the best surface.

Another little project was a pillow I made, using a design by Ginger of Primitives by the Light of the Moon. It is a free design that she offers on her blog, along with others. I used my colored pencils and was not pleased with the look. I was trying to blend and make it look more like watercolor. I added some extra stitches, so I think that helped cover the flaws.

I did hear about using blending stumps, they look like fun to use and not expensive, so I will try those, on my next colored piece.

This design would be fun to do in punch needle too. I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

Testing and Finishes!

This week I practiced on some glass jars and tried some new mediums. I previously used spray on, sea glass paint, but that only works if it is nice out and no wind. So, I tried another product by Ceramcoat, frosted glass paint.

I was able to get some at our local Michaels, but it is hard to find different colors in the store, so I ordered more this week from Create for Less. I had a green, called sea grass and was able to find Jade, which is more like a blue.

In the photo, the ones on the left and right were done with the glass paint, mixed with antique decoupage. The ones in the middle are done with just the glass paint. It is hard to see in the photo, but I found that the straight paint works best, with decoupage, the glass chipped off when I was working on it. You can also bake them, after you let the paint set and that makes them washable, so I will have to try that next.

Here are the results of the paint and the colors.

I also tried another product from Golden, called glass gel bead. It makes a nice sparkle on the glass, which looks pretty with a candle or lights in the room. I have been using flicker lights for now, later I will try a candle, outside, to make sure it doesn't cause fumes or explode, lol.

I loved the thicker blue shade and thought it was the perfect background for painting on. I used a design from one of my books for the ship and the lighthouse came from a free pattern at Artist's Club.  My sister is already trying to buy them from me, but she also is having a light weight flute made by a tribe member in her area, so I will make her a box of goodies in exchange.

I also wanted to try some simple ornaments. I was able to find the wood pieces at Michaels, I like the white tag the best, it is a nice size to work with and already painted. The angel on blue was another experiment with the glass bead gel. It shines when you move it around, so I think that will be nice to add to ornaments with the tree lights, shining on them.

I used a new glue too, tacky clear gel. It is not as thick as the regular tacky, so it took some patience to place things and keep them from moving, and on the brick, it does show where I moved the arm. I am also wondering how the glass gel will look on items like the white pottery dress, another thing to try.

We went out for some rides this weekend, but the foliage was being elusive. It seemed some areas had nice spots of color, while others were still green. Tomorrow is going to be stormy, so hopefully their will still be some foliage left on Sunday.

This is in Rhode Island, outside the village of Westerly.

In Connecticut, we saw some foliage at Goodwin Forest.

And we ended the day with a visit to Mansfield Hollow, with a view from the top of the dam.
I hope you all have a wonderful weekend, filled with your own adventures and experiments.

Friday Finishes!

This week I made a new project and finished one I had started. The first one is a design by Kathy Schmitz for her, One Stitch at a Time Club. Each month she sends a new design to stitch, for two dollars, a month. I decided to join since I love her stitcheries and it is fun to get something new each month. There were a couple, I never did, but I still have the designs that I can do another time, but I do love ones I can make for the holidays and ones I can give as gifts. You can also buy the designs for a dollar more, after she releases them, if you want to buy individual ones.

This one I made for me, loved the design and I happened to have a little hanger and christmas clothes pins. Perfect to hang on my peg rack. She had three words to choose from and I love to use Joy, though I did the word myself, so not the best layout, but good enough for me. I used her crackle fabric and then antique medium, love how it came out.

Another piece I finished was a quilted wall hanging with a design by Cheri Saffiote. This was a free pattern on her Facebook page, Quilts by Cheri - Friendship Group. This will be a gift and I wish I could have gotten a better photo, but the lighting is bad in my house and it is freezing outside. The wool textures don't show up as nice or in true color. It is a little wonky and I used scraps for the border, not perfect, but made with love.

I added the words in the upper two areas to fill in that space. I also received a wonderful gift from my friend Karen. She had made a top with sailors and never finished it, so she gifted it to me with the backing, so I can make something for my beach room. I love it so much, I may make a quilt with it, or a wall hanging, something fun to work on.

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend. We have snow coming in tomorrow, so it will be a stay at home day. I will finish up cards and things and then I can enjoy the rest of the season and work on new projects for fun.

Friday Finishes, Yes, I actually finished two things!

I finished the piece I was working on and the piece I finished earlier. The old houses is a design by Primitive Spirits, gifted to me by a friend. I loved the design and had thought I would mount it on wood and add nail hooks for a key holder, but I changed my mind.

I remembered I had a square box and it was the perfect size for this piece. The box was gray, but I painted it white, then sage green and sanded it down. I was hoping for more white to show, but my hand is still messed up, so not strong enough for heavy sanding. I ended up antiquing it to match the piece. The punch looks lighter than it is, it is more stained than shows, so it goes perfectly with the box. I think it would make a nice gift and something they can use to put items in.

The second piece was a free design by Julie of The Old Tattered Flag. Another design I loved when I saw it and the perfect gift for a friend who has a birthday coming up. I like making pillows, they are small enough to fit anywhere and go nice in settings. I also remembered why I don't use java stain on punched pieces, it leaked out and the hidden colors like green, came out. I had to rinse it a few times to get it out, but it left some darker staining.

Today was one of those days when I felt overwhelmed with all I had to do. We are heading to camp tomorrow for a 3 day weekend. I had to cook food, clean up all the messes, pack clothing, laundry, clean house and finish some rocks to take with me, but I got most of it done. Just a few more dishes and I will vacuum and tomorrow I can get last minute things done. The nice thing about camping nearby is we can leave later and only a half hour away. We are camping at the state park on the lake with a spot next to the boat launch, so I plan on relaxing and paddling and getting some bike riding in, this time.

I wasn't doing very well with my painting last week, so I took a few that weren't too bad and finished them up quickly. Not the best, but I am sure, whoever finds them will have fun and that is what counts. I can do the rest, next week, to take on our next trip. Then that will be it, I have lots of quilting and things to make and the holidays will be here before I know it.

I hope  you all have a nice weekend, and prayers for those in the hurricane's path.

Art in Maine!

The one thing that you see a lot of in the Blue Hill, Stonington area is art studios. Lots of painters and pottery but I avoided most of the galleries since they are a bit pricey. Then there are the places that sell pieces that are slapped together to sell to the tourists, not what I would buy.

There is one place that is a must stop, if you are in the area. It is called Nervous Nellies Jams and Jellies. I knew they had art done by Peter Beerit, but I didn't realize how extensive the art and displays were, until we arrived. Peter came to Deer Island to start a jelly business and little by little, he has been creating sculptures from found items and building towns based on his travels.

The minute you come in, you are greeted by this lovely couple for a cup of tea.

Bill and Bean are spending time in the jail for smiling too much.

The sheriff is relaxing in his office, unaware of what is going on outside.

Unbeknownst to the sheriff, a jailbreak is in progress.

There are characters in every building and the surrounding areas. This guy is just chilling.

The piano Player....

Bill is getting his fortune told.

After a stop to get some jelly and maple syrup, we found an entire scene of characters, including a castle.

And back to Peter's studio, where a group of characters, were swapping the local gossip, on his porch.

It is a wonderful place to visit and Peter's art is sure to put a smile on your face. He is continually adding to his towns and characters, and there is much more than I have shown here, and more to come. He also has living characters, who visit the bird feeders, that is builds. This little guy was enjoying his perch, waiting for us to leave, so he could raid the bird feeder.

I hoped you enjoyed seeing a bit of Nervous Nellies with me. More to come this week, places we visited, our adventures and misadventures.

Oldies but Goodies!

Nothing new this weekend, Bill had to work and I just crashed, so I rested most of the time and redid my drawing to get the rocks right and straighten out the buildings.

I also wanted to color in the design to see how it looked but I couldn't find my colored pencils, they seem to have disappeared. So, I used my watercolor pencils which are limited but it gave me a general idea of how the lighter green and rocks looked against the sea, much better contrast.

I over painted on the right and top, was just fooling around with colors and contrast but I do like how the light green pops and then the rocks will be more defined. Now to start the new punch, though I may change something else before then, we never know;)

One of the reasons that my pencils are limited in colors is because I use them for frakturs. I like using the pencils to start and then I use the better water colors for definition and shading. I thought I would show you some of my old frakturs, something I used to love doing but not so sure I can keep a steady hand now.

I like to find old designs and redo them into something new, this was a fun one to do. I used to write sayings in fraktur style, now I forget what it meant;)

This one was done for a friend, for her anniversary. I always enjoyed making custom pieces for special dates.

This one was based on an old fraktur with a few of my own touches. I usually sold them on eBay or gave as gifts.

And I also enjoyed painting boxes as gifts. This one was made for a friend who had collies. I think it says friendship. With the script I used, not sure what letter that is, my brain is mush. I hope you enjoyed seeing my pieces, another creative side of me.

Friday Finishes!

Well, I guess our flu wasn't over yet, Bill woke up coughing bad on wednesday, so I made him go to the doc and he got medicine for both of us. I got the sore throat and sinus, no cough and now that I am on meds, I won't have to worry about that. Hopefully we can enjoy the weekend, Sunday is going to be beautiful and I really want to get out and enjoy a day of nice weather.

The good thing is, I had plenty of time to rest and work on some new pieces. I am still working from the Kindred Spirt books and made an easter pillow for me and two that I can give as gifts next year. It is fun making up things I can give next year and sometimes I like to have things to give just for fun.

Now I am going to have to buckle down, I have two weeks to make a baby quilt for the new baby and since I know it is another boy, I can get to work on it. I have an idea, now I just need to draw it out, figure out sizes and get it made, lol.

I had one more piece that I stitched, but didn't have time to finish it today. I have some ideas on ways I can change the finishes, fun to experiment and try different things.

Another thing I love, is to see the work from those who use my patterns. Deirdre of The Old Rose Cottage made a beautiful rug, using my Spring Chicks pattern. I love the lighter chicks against the dark antique background.

Monday Finishes!

This weekend didn't go as planned, both Bill and I woke up sick, so we spent the weekend at home. The good thing was, free HBO this weekend so we watched movies and I worked on some stitching.

I am having fun making stitcheries from the kindred Spirit's books, and made two more pieces, this time I made them into pillows. I think they would be great bowl fillers or a shelf sitter, great to tuck into those primitive gatherings and nice for gifts.

I added the X's and 1,2,3; I have an obsession with filling in empty space;)

Also, if you like free patterns. Theodora Cleave has the last of her free patterns. They are additions to the original ones that she offered. The designs can be done in a quilt or as small quilts since the designs stand on their own.

Do It Yourself?

I want something to put in my beach  room to hold some of Dani's things and for a bowl to hold the heart stones and things I collect on the beach. I like the idea of a ladder shelf, but I haven't seen any around here and Bill saying he will make it, doesn't mean I will get it, anytime in the near future;)

So, I decided to make a crate shelf and do it myself to save money. I used coupons for the crates and paints, but it still adds up and then there is the paint brushes and sandpaper. Never mind the painting and the hot sun and then sanding and the hot sun and trying to antique it, in the hot sun, lol.

Well, with what we spent on items and the work involved, I think it would have made more sense to buy finished crates at the home store. It did not come out the way I wanted, it is too thick, I wanted a white washed look. I had to give up for the day and I will see if I can talk Bill into sanding them more and then I can do a better edge stain on them. I just wanted a hint of stain and the wood to show through. It still looks nice though and maybe I will just use, as is and keep my eyes open for a nicer beach style shelf. Not sure if this is practical for the items I will put on it.

Here is a close up of the wood and painting. I put some of my stones and the heart ones in a heart shaped bowl, that she had. Today Bill was going to put in the new fan light, but he didn't have time to finish. Adding a few things to the room makes it easier for me to go in and work on it.

Friday Finishes!

This week I finally got the time to finish one item and make something new. It seems that I spend more time cleaning and taking Bean out, he really is an energetic pup and if i don't wear him out every few hours, he spends his time indoors, annoying me.

My great niece got a giant dollhouse last Christmas and so far she has decorated it with Barbie items, so i wanted to make her a rug for the house. I picked an antique design from Kopp's book and kept the colors in pink and blue, since those are her favorite colors. I wanted to use 3 strands of floss to keep the rug in scale, but it was way too much work and repetition, so I jumped to 6 strands for the background. It gives it a bit of a raised effect and it is not what I envisioned, but I am sure she will love having a real rug for her doll house and maybe someday she will get real furniture for it;)

If it were me, I would spray it with walnut ink, but she is a girlie girl and bright it will be. The rug is 7 1/4" x 6".

Another idea I had, was to make little tea coasters and stuff them with balsam. I thought a small piece like that would fit nicely into a thank you card and I could give them out as little gifts too. I used one of my photos from the trip and printed it on printable fabric, but I misjudged the size and they have become little pillows. I do like how they look and still a nice gift idea. I don't really like the stiffness of the fabric paper and I really do not trust the inks if it gets wet. I did heat set it and then run under cold water but I did notice a bit of red ink. It is a nice idea to use with photos to make pillows or even a mini quilt from your favorite trip.

I hope everyone has a nice weekend. We have the annual art show in Wickford and the folk art music festival in Newport, so hoping to get to the art show, I haven't been in years.

Monday Finishes!

This weekend I was able to get in my sewing room and clean it up a bit. I have projects that need finishing and some to put together so I have projects to work on later. This weekend I sewed borders onto the little quilts, that my friend Kelley sent me. They were all finished and quilted, I just needed to add the border and I have two new table mats.

I love the pattern and colors on this one. Now that I have a blue couch, it is nice to have blue pieces to match it. It is hard to see because of the flash but this and the next piece, were tea stained after I finished them.  It doesn't darken them up as much as the walnut ink, but it gives it a lighter aged look.

The second piece was quilted, as well but not on the seam lines so it puffed up a bit. I decided it would be fun to add a feather stitch to the edges and I like how it came out and gave it a new look.

Here is a close up of the stitching, I used two strands of DMC floss. The quilts look crooked because of the borders. I thought I had bought cotton but when noticed how hard it was to push a needle through it, feels like lightweight jacket material and it puckers. The white materials are actually yellow, so you can see how the flash washes out the staining.

Another project I started is a mini rug for my Grand Niece. She got a doll house for Christmas and everything is pink and blue. I looked in The Rug Hook Book and found the perfect rug, it was done in pink and blue and will match her doll house decor. It is larger than most of my pieces and I am doing it in 3 strands of floss, so I am working on it, a bit at a time, so no hurry.

Friday Finish!

This week I decided to make another new pattern. I still need to finish both of them and make them into finished pieces, as well as make the patterns, so that will come next week.

This piece was done with a pattern I did in a cross stitch. I liked the elements and rearranged them to fit a punch needle piece. I really think this piece would look nicer with variegated threads, especially Valdani, but I use what I have.

I decided the pup should look like Bean, so I made mine black and white. Bean has more black, but I didn't want too much on the punched pup, so I just made similar markings on a couple of areas.

I still need to fix a few things and it will be antiqued a bit.

One of the reasons I have a hard time punching is that a certain fur ball wants attention most of the day and night. He is getting better and resting more, but I can't wait for the snow to melt so we can get out for more play and long walks.

And today he was being a bit bad, so he had a time out. He was not happy about that and decided to cover himself up with his blanket. I hope you all have a nice weekend.