The roller coaster ride continues

I still don't have a new tablet. I was hoping to get one when we traveled up to Thompson, but Staples never heard of one and I don't think there was any other store there that would have one. On the bright side, I finished my second sock while traveling.

I also attempted painting on fabric again. I'm not completely happy with this one. I like the flower, but I made some mistakes for the background. I will probably donate it anyway.

And I tried doing more work on my picture with the mouse, but I think I need a new tablet before I can finish it. I'm not sure what I'll do in the meanitme. Maybe something for Easter. I'm also feeling tempted to try coloured pencil again.

Things are kind of uncertain with the house now. Our banker finally looked into all the policies for this kind of thing, and now they need to appraise the house first. The whole thing is really dampening my motivation to do anything.

Ups and downs

I was just thinking yesterday morning that if anything happened to my tablet I would cry. Well, I didn't cry but I am very upset. I was working on my latest picture on the computer yesterday and one time when I picked up my tablet, with it being so dry and 'staticy' lately, I got a big shock when I touched the top of it. I think that did something to it because after that it didn't work properly anymore. And knowing the wonders of modern technology, it probably can't be fixed. We really can't afford extra expenses right now so I guess I will have to try to finish my picture with the mouse.

On the brighter side, the first sock that I knitted turned out pretty good. I think it took me almost a week to make but I hope the second one will go faster now that I know what to do.

We also got approved for buying a house. It's an older house, but newer and bigger than ours. We will be moving it here and demolishing this old one. So that means I have to get everything packed for storage. Not an easy job with the two of us being pack rats. Gee, I remember when most of my craft supplies fit into a big box. Now I have a room full.

Painted fabric

I have tried painting on fabric and enjoyed it. I think I liked it because the textile medium thinned the paint and that made it easier to use. I have to try thinning the paint more the next time I paint on masonite. This square will be donated for a group quilt for charity. I'm not sure where I'll go next with fabric painting. I was thinking I would like to so something with beads. But for now I have started on a new dragon picture on the computer.

I have also been knitting and I'm almost done my little afghan. I didn't think I would ever reach the point where I could knit and watch tv at the same time. After this I want to try making a pair of socks. Then I can go back to cross stitching, but I should start a couple more birth announcements before I go back to the house pictures.

Cross stitching done

I don't know when I started this picture, but it has been a few years. It was always being set aside for other projects and it wasn't an easy picture to do. I might try to do some knitting again now, at least make a small afghan for my pets. Then I will start the next picture in that book of cross stitch patterns. There are still three that I haven't done.

I also finished some polymer eggs this week.

Clay Valentine

I spent all day Monday making a Valentine's gift for my husband. It was one of those days when nothing goes right. My plan was to put a heart shaped photo on a circle of clay and decorate it. I tried laminating the photo with iron on stuff, but it turned out all bubbly, twice. And then the clay circle that I made with a mixture of red and black turned out really nice, until I broke a piece off it. I thought about patching it, but in the end decided to cut a heart out of it, and stick it on a black circle with a heart cut out of the middle, and I stuck another photo on the heart, which got ruined in the oven. So finally a fourth photo was used and I finished decorating in the evening with sparkle paint and pre-baked clay hearts. I haven't given it to him yet because he is away at work, but I sure hope he likes it.

Catterflies

Here are the two thank you gifts I painted for friends in the Creative Home Arts Club. I had been wanting to create butterfly wings for a while, and when I thought about what kind of bodies I would give them, I decided on cats since I love them so much. So the gifts were a good opportunity to try this idea out. I'm sure I'll do more someday.

Catching up

I didn't even realize how long it had been since I last posted here. Well, Christmas was good. I did some drawings for a short story I wrote last year and got a new scanner for Christmas, so I was able to colour them. I posted the story and pictures on my MSN group.

Christmas also supported my gaming addiction, and I have already played Destroy All Humans 2 (fun!) and Shadow of the Colossus (ok). In between I painted two 5x7 pictures for thank you gifts, which I still have to get online. This week I'm doing some stained glass suncatchers for gifts eventually. And I have been doing quite a bit of cross stitching. Unfortunately I haven't done much drawing lately, and I really need to get back to that.

A few pictures

I did bake some cookies that day, but I burned half of them and the rest flattened out too much and are too breakable. They still taste good though.

I fixed Kira's wings and halo. She's not too thrilled with wearing them, but she looks cute.

The ornament wreath is hanging in my bathroom.

And the slipcover for the couch is done. I was wishing someone could come and finish it for me when it came to fitting it around the arms, but I managed.

A few bumps on the Christmas road

I have crossed a lot off my list, though nothing seems to be going exactly like it should. Nearly everything I do ends up with some problem or flaw. Like the ornament wreath. I filled in the gap with bows, and then started gluing some of the ornaments together to keep them bunched, but one side didn't turn out quite right.

I made a halo and wings for my dog with wire and white garland, and attached them to her harness, then realized that I put them on backwards.

I started cutting fabric pieces for my couch cover, then realized I didn't have enough. I got some more of a different pattern but I'm not sure when I will get back to that project.

I also drew a picture and I was going to scan it and paint it on the computer, but my scanner suddenly quit working.

At least my first batch of cookies turned out good. I think I will do another batch today.

It's looking a lot like Christmas

Over the last few days I have done my Christmas decorating. I do quite a bit and my collection grows every year. All that's left is to finish the ornament wreath I started making. I didn't have enough ornaments to go around the base I have, so I will probably look for some ribbons to fill the gap. I also have an idea using a wine glass and glass pebbles.

I still want to make a couch cover with Christmas fabric. I gave up on trying to make a pattern and bought one. There are quite a few things I want to do for Christmas. I had to make a list yesterday because I would keep forgetting what those things are. I don't know how much I'll actually get done. The days are going by so fast I haven't even done any drawing lately. But at least I got around to trying an eggnog muffin recipe yesterday, which turned out quite yummy.

I have an album online of my decorations.
http://www.forest-of-dreams.com/Christmas.html

Getting ready for Christmas

I haven't had much to post about, but I have been busy making some gifts. I'm making fabric coasters for some family members, which are all done. I made 7 sets of 8, but most of them I will be giving away next year instead, so for a bunch of people on my list I'll be set.

There have been other things that I've been working on, but I can't mention them here because the people who will be receiving them do have internet.

And for today, I have shovelled some of the foot deep snow that fell last night, and we will be celebrating my husband's birthday when he gets home.

Otherwise, I am excited to start turning on Christmas lights, and to decorate the house, but I refuse to start before Dec.1.

Feeling kind of down

Sometimes I have phases where I don't know where the time goes or what I have done with it. I guess I have cross stitched quite a bit, though the picture I am working on feels like it will take forever to finish. I also tried making a few little beaded stars last week, but I think they are too small for ornaments and will probably use them as gift embellishments.

On Saturday there was another craft sale, but all I sold was one card. It was really disappointing and makes me wonder why I try. My mom took a few ornaments though, and will pay me in perogies. Yum.

But now I'm wondering if I'm wasting my time with all the crafting. Maybe I should just stick with making things for myself or for gifts, and spend more time on painting. But I haven't been able to seel many of those either. Am I doomed to not have any success until after I'm dead?

Well, I need to get focused again. Christmas is coming and there are a few gifts I want to make, so I should get started on those.

Halloween is over

I only added one picture to the Halloween album in my MSN group. Not much else was new this year except the body.

I also posted the story I wrote and I made a little illustration to go with it. It took me a while to draw because I had no reference. I kept it simple, outlined with pen then scanned and painted in photoshop in one layer, with the outline on a separate layer on top.

Well, now I should get back to the drawing exercises I was doing before getting into all the Halloween stuff. I have a book from the library on drawing people that I started going through but have neglected lately. I have also been working on a new dragon picture. I think I have finally drawn the dragon the way I want it, now I have to work on the rest of the picture.

And, I have wanted to try making a fitted cover for my couch so maybe now is the time to start on that.

More Halloween projects done

I finished my ghouls and a fake body for the porch. I started a Silent Hill hospital theme last year and I have pictures in my MSN group. I will be updating with this year's pictures soon.
http://groups.msn.com/LavenderFrost

I have also written a short story for Halloween, but I still need to go over it again. So, I have been busy with Halloween projects and decorating. And in the evenings I relax with my cross stitching.

Halloween is coming

And it's time for some Halloween crafts. This week I started making a few little trick or treating ghouls out of clay. They still need some finishing touches. I also decorated a small artificial pumpkin with wire and beads. And on the gory side, I tried using spray paint to make an old hose look like intestines, but I don't think it's working. And I think I sprayed way too much at once and it will probably never dry.

I have some more crafting ideas for this Halloween yet.

A busy Thanksgiving weekend

Well, I have nothing to post about, but I thought I should post why I have nothing to post about. It was a very busy weekend with putting laminate flooring in our living room. We have a lot of stuff and furniture, so more time was spent moving things out of the way than actually putting the flooring in. I still have to finish putting the room back in order. But the room looks much nicer now, and after seeing all the dust under the carpet and underlay, I don't know if I ever want carpet again.

We also rearranged the yard a bit. We moved the little stone wall that I started building around the vegetable garden, and we moved our apple tree. I hope it lives.

We also had supper at my parents', visited with friends a bit, and watched a movie.

Fall Leaves are Finished

Well, I finally finished playing Empire Earth the other day. Now that that's out of my system, I can get back to work.

I spent about 11 hours on the fall leaves picture. I'm afraid the scan didn't pick up the metallic sheen on it, which is more noticable from an angle. The metallic paints are very transparent, just as I thought, so it was a good thing I painted it in acrylics first. I might try to do something with them alone one of these days. But for now I think I want to spend some time just working on my drawing skills.

Coloured pencils

Here's the picture I did in coloured pencil.









I worked on my leaf picture some more yesterday and got everything filled in with a layer of paint. And I finished cross stitching the birth announcement border. Next I'll be starting another one.

Leaf crazy

Thursday I cut a few branches off my Amur maple to bring into the house to use as a reference. Then I drew leaves on an 8x10" piece of masonite. When I was about halfway done I realized that if I was smart I would have drawn them bigger, and fewer. But I kept going and covered most of the board with leaf outlines.

Yesterday I started to paint the leaves with watered down acrylics. I still want to do it metallics but I thought it would be better to do the first layer with regular paint. All I did was outline the leaves with burgundy and brown, and paint the branches and stems, and that took me 2 hours.

Not much accomplished

Well, I didn't finish that picture on Tuesday because I ran out of patience. I did finish it yesterday, I think. It turned out ok for a first try. I think if I do more with coloured pencil it will be a matter of choosing the right subject, and better paper. Or maybe I would like it better in combination with acrylics.

I'm not sure what I'll do next. Something fall-ish I think. I picked up a bunch of metallic acrylics a while ago and have been wanting to see what it would be like to paint something all in metallics. I'm in a experimenting mood these days.

I am happy to say that I have already inspired someone to start her own blog. Pixie is a very talented and creative lady.