a work plan

I have a few more fall themed projects to finish up before I can embrace winter.  The master bedroom has a  palette. :) I have a wrapping paper and name tag project to organize for my day job as well as an artist date with the grand kiddies but all that is fun kinda work.  But I have a promise to my Rooster that I will finally get his pants hemmed!  :P  If I was really smart I'd do the pants first as they are 'really' work.   lol

Was your Friday Black?

I must confess to a bit of shopping this week and I did end up going to the city again on Friday so I stopped by Artist's Emporium which was having a big sale.  I did WELL!  I got some fun things for the grand kiddies and me to try on our artist dates.  Better watercolour pencils for all!  And a super colouring book with tear out pages on great paper.

The home decor is up on my radar as fall falls behind and the whites of winter snuggle in.  I'm so excited about my new style book as the quiz on style caused me to slap my ahead- of course!!!  No major changes to my plan but definitely a better focus and better tweaking! 

I am feeling the itch to sew real bad.  A lovely visit with my friend Elizabeth at Sew Inspiring  inspired me even more.  I'm impatiently awaiting the new ruler foot for domestic Bernina machines and she gave me a great tip for making the rulers nonskid.  Those net liners Ikea sells for under rugs work remarkably well when cut to the shape of the ruler and adhered with a bit of super glue.  They do NOT budge!

The new Quilt Improv book made me go looking for some fabric and I do have an online order coming from Fabric Spot, a Canadian company.  Boring backgrounds and fillers but with the modern look.  :)  Something to look forward to.  We do keep the holiday buying down to just above Scrooge level so this is my own prezzie! :)  And I never could wait for the big day and was/am an inveterate seeker and searcher of all things hidden.  Now I just wait for the mail! LOL

Can't wait to get Monday's plan going as it is clear and bright and white here at the coop.  Time to snuggle up with winter's calmer pace!

Quenching Thursday's thirst

Actually the whole process of arriving at a pleasing whole has been challenging but...

While the little artists spent some time with their Grand Dad who had an old western to show them I added the finishing touches to my examples.

Jolina lost interest in chasing bank robbers and arrived to put buttons and one more flower on.  She likes to spread the matt medium on and it gets kinda thick but texture is good.  ;^)  She also likes to add circles with round lids.

Jolina is all about the world's creatures and plants.

We rubbed apricot Inka Gold all over the fairy to subude her garishness and then Eliana glitzed things up to her satisfaction.  The final outlining and embellishing proceeded after a good nights sleep and the bank robbers were finally dealt with.

Always a challenge to work with this one as she has definite ideas about what she wants ('much' more is better)  but tears result from her high standards.  I had to be discreet with my touch ups to her hair, etc.! :O  So its a balancing act to let her do it but have it 'beautiful'.  phew, she was happy.

Eliana and her super hero faerie!

I must admit I hated to see a full sized paper print plastered down on this canvas.  But Josh is thrilled.  After working on the others I hit on the idea to soften the printer paper edges and Josh agreed to try it.  He wanted words and two colours of foam letters were camouflaged  with acrylic blue.  The next morning brought only a few more finishing touches.

With this one less is best.  It is 'perfecto' at every stage.  I told him to date and sign it on the back.

Joshua's seascapes.

And then it was time to take all the new creations away to their new home.  They were suitably  greeted with ooohs and awes.

I finished up my day with with a long meander through the book store and a lovely coffee.  And a reminder to myself that I need them to come make art on a one at a time basis.  ;^)  After all, a great thirst can be quenched with small regular sips!

Wednesday's aWay day!

An artist play date

Monday-

We do include warm up exercises and some  art theory.  I don't mind mess.  It is a necessary part of creativity.  But I do have a hard time with no structure and the ensuing chaos.

The smash books are my busiest time as these have a bit of planning and 'show me your story BEFORE you glue' makes for some craziness.  ;^)

Recess!

As the day progresses I try to relinquish control.  I avoid mud by insisting on either warm colours or cool.  But what we get is what we get.    Hopefully everything dries out overnight.

But they are keeners and assign their own homework!

In order to be well rounded individuals they have a evening date with the Rooster and The Rifleman!  ;^)

 Tuesday-

Learning to add depth with dark shapes.  Kinda ugly but it does allow for creative expression.  :/

Layers include stencils, stamps and deli paper.  I limited the colour to black and the number of stencils and stamps and in the end they did some trading anyways. lol

I confess I did a bit of touching up on the deli paper when they went off for the recess/chore break. shh!

The chickens are settling in to their winter home but the change always disrupts egg production.  Only two today!

 Hmm.  In the flurry of after break creativity I neglected to use the camera but we applied a wash of colour with watered down acrylic to kinda tone everything down and pull it all together. 

Then we cut pictures for our focal points.  Jolina and I used an old calendar and got some nice images and words.  Eliana had used my Tombow markers to colour a fairy we printed out.  I insisted it be cut out and she was dismayed at the loss of some stars and 'curtains'.  I assured her we could make this work.  I'm more concerned with the harsh colours. :O  Josh persists with his obsession about the Titanic.  We printed out a picture that satisfied us both.  (I'm not really into ship disasters.)  :O  Softening the paper edge was a challenge.

And there they rest while I dreamed of solutions to make some wall art that their mother will be delighted to showcase on her walls.  lol

To be continued...

A Trio of Treasures

This is an eye spy quilt.  I also spy a few cute treasures!

I added lower case letters that I appliqued to the solid coloured fabrics. I added the four extra blocks I need3ed by including shapes.  It was fun to do!

 This is an old wall hanging and I waxed poetical as I did this colour/design exercise.

The sun was shining, the sky was blue, the grass was green, and the birds were singing.  Behind the walls of the secret garden there was laughter and music and fun.  The family that lived there gardened and worked and enjoyed the four seasons.    It was so wonderful that flowers bloomed in their hearts all the time. 

This wee top declares a few of my favourite things.  This quilt exercise shows that one can combine all their favourite fabrics in one glorious expression.

I must admit that quilts and kids and good times are treasures any time!  :)

a messy Monday

Joshua, Eliana, and Jolina have the plan for this Monday! 

When will I ever learn???

Thursday morning dawned to winter's arrival.  I am a Pegger, ie from Winnipeg.  We  don't let winter interfere too much with  our plans.  So...

I made it as far as the library in town.  I phoned the grand kiddies and said life was too short for the white knuckle run on icy roads.  :(  I selected a couple of movies as well as the book they had brought in for me.  I did an ice turn at the Dollar Store and scooted back home.  Snow Day!

The craziness of the world isn't so easily shut out.   I didn't have my 3 Sunshine's to make colourful art with so...

I scattered encouraging words on all the stair risers.  Amazing what you can find at the Dollar Store when no one else is in the store because of a blizzard and you are fortifying yourself for the ride home.  lol   I go up and down these stairs dozens of times a day.  Each step lifts me up.

The chair turned out not too bad.  While it was drying I decided to 'clean up' the print letter trays. ack!  Too much cleaning.  They are now two different colours because I washed all the varnish off of one.  :(  The darker one was put under weights to reduce warping!  :(   The lighter got a coat of wax when I waxed the chalk paint on the chair.  That was a pile of work but after scraping off all the varnish I figured.... :-{   I KNEW I should just damp cloth them but oh, no.  Mrs. Clean!!! 

I just put things in to see but I need more secure holders.  yoo hoo!  Rooster!!!  And then, vbsigh, if you upgrade one thing then you see what else needs upgrading.  I need to consider wall paint now as I can't hide all my previous nail holes pits!  ;^)

This is the darker one and since I have temporarily moved the black and white canvases I can put the other letter tray in their spot.  I'm still deciding whether to wax this one or not.   :}

I have a bit more room in the closet and the smaller stencils will hang on the edge of one section.  I do need to figure the best way to store the masks-  probably clear page protectors. :) 

But my grand kiddies will be arriving this evening and we shall have a few days to mess up the art room.   Stand by for full colour next week!

BUT- Next time I get the urge to clean I'm gonna run up and down the stairs a few times.  LOL

The worse before the better

The things I do to keep me motivated.  pant, pant! 

Chocolate, anyone

I forget how this all came about.  Another challenge.  I think it was to make nine blocks of each sample block.  Luved this quilt and really hated to give it away but I had no good reason to store it.

This might have been the back of the quilt.  I was trying to use of some of my stash!  :O

Monday musts

I want an art wall and the best place for it is the stairway.  Putting the new shelves up I can already see that the last two were way too piddly.  Gotta think big!

My stairs are actually fairly roomy and a chair on the landing doesn't compromise safety.  When we get the woodwork painted white it'll be better yet.  So I'm thinking a lighter chair and a fun seat cover.
I got two letter drawers at a closing sale to mount.  I have the Sprutt ready to fill and the playroom to tackle because the grand kiddies are coming for an art day on Friday.   I must get on with Monday's plan! 

Where is the target?

 I have not had a lot of productive work this week.  But I'm excited to have a start on my fall fibre art.

It'll be about 40 inches square and the two pieces of canvas art are to remind me not to stray too far from that colour palette. 

Once again I have discovered that if I have no general target, I barely get my arrow in the air!