Art Journal Page 2

This month for the Different Strokes Project at wetcanvas.com the theme was Canadian post impressionism, in other words, Group of Seven type stuff. This was my attempt. I tried to use bold colours and brush strokes but not sure if this really makes me think Group of Seven. Maybe more like Clarence Gagnon, who was also painting at the time.

The painting is only ATC size, 2.5 x 3.5 inches.

Then I added it to my latest art journal page. The background is all acrylic paint. Since this is just for fun and I was trying to do it quickly, it's not as refined as I would normally paint, but I would like to try something like this again in a more serious format. I tried painting some frost and a realistic snowflake, and the swirls were made with a stamp. Plus, there are paper snowflakes and the others are made with home made modelling paste used through a brass bookmark that has a snowflake design cut into it. I also put some of the modelling paste around the little painting. And then there is a little touch of glitter nail polish. The writing is done with a Derwent Graphik pen. I wonder how many Canadians recognize the song title.

My next journal will have thicker paper.

Wagon Wheels

This was inspired by a group project at wetcanvas.com where the theme was wheels of any kind. Someone mentioned these Wagon Wheels and I happened to have some in my cupboard. This is 7x5" on acrylic paper.

Christmas is over

I can finally say I am all done with Christmas projects. One was to repaint this Christmas countdown I made years ago. I had first coloured it with pencil crayons but wasn't very happy with it. I gave it a couple of coats of clear gesso, sanded it a bit because it was gritty, then painted over it with acrylic paint and Derwent Graphik pens.

Before:

After:

The before picture shows just one window flipped and the other one shows them all flipped. Some of those little images were really challenging, the squares are only 1 1/4".

The fabric on my rocking chair seat was really falling apart so I did some sewing. I didn't have enough of anything so I used two different fabrics and just did the seat and back.

Art Journal Page 1

I recently decided to start an art journal, and what better time than at the beginning of a new year. This journal is a way to try new things and experiment and just have fun. No pressure to make a masterpiece, as you can see here. I wanted to keep it simple but it still took me all afternoon.

The background is acrylic paint and represents the way my mind feels sometimes, exploding with ideas, and also hope for a bright future. The writing is on painted card stock and done with black embossing powder. Same with the numbers but with gold glitter embossing powder and outlined with a black Derwent Graphik pen. The outer edges of the number cards are outlined with a gold Sharpie, which I also used in the corners. It was a good learning experience and reminder of things I already knew, like I know that red is very transparent and that I should have used the purple more sparingly.

This is a Fabriano book. The two page spread is 11 1/2 x 8 1/4".

Happy New Year!

A little late, I know, unless you follow the old calendar. December was a busy month with Christmas projects and making a few gifts, including this sign for my husband:

Then my son and I both had the flu for over a week which started a few days before Christmas. We made through Christmas okay but I was glad I wasn't hosting anything, I felt so tired and weak. For quite a few days after that I really didn't want to do anything, could barely even think about painting. Finally started to feel better after the new year and started feeling like painting something. The December Different Strokes challenge at wetcanvas was about Christmas shopping and I decided to focus on the temptations in the stores in December. The local Home Hardware really puts out a display of Christmas stuff and I really have to work hard to control myself when I go there. I snapped a picture and painted just a small section of their display. I still was feeling a little shaky and tired so I kept it quick and simple. Painting this way is really fascinating, just a few strokes of light and dark and objects appear.

And I am still finishing up Christmas projects. I had so many ideas in mind that I wanted to get a few of them done. A few ornaments and jewelry sets are ready for next year. Just a couple more things to do and then I can move on to different things, like my very first art journal and trying out some new products I have. For example, these embossing powders which I made samples of and glued to the bottles. I got that idea from YouTube, but I also coloured half the circle with clear ink and the other half with black.

New beaded ornaments.

These star spheres are an adaptation of the pendant I made. Many hours went into these.

I also bought a bunch of large beads that are netted with thread and came up with this design for one of them.

So many ideas are running through my head for Christmas ornaments and jewelry, it's hard to sleep at night.

Blue Ice Star Sphere

My site is working normally again and I have uploaded a new set. It wasn't intentional but this does make one think of a certain movie.

Technology Troubles

It seems like a week doesn't go by where I'm not wondering why something isn't working. Printers, scanner, website, iPhone.... the list goes on.

This time it's my website. I recently had to change hosting and had everything uploaded and working properly but suddenly it won't work with www in the links. I still wanted to do an update so I have started to remove the wwws from a couple of pages but I am also waiting for a response from my host to find another way to fix this. After all, many people are used to typing www with an address so I still want it to work either way.

On the upside, I sold the three painted ornaments I previously posted. And today I added three different ones to the holiday page on my site.

Mini Painted Christmas Ornaments

These three little Christmas ornaments have just been added to my site on the Holiday and Decor page. They are 2x2" acrylic paintings bordered by copper tape and embellished with glass beads. They may look familiar to some of my friends because I had previously posted them on my personal Facebook page.

Halloween and Resin

Here are some recent resin pieces I did for Halloween. One pair of earrings and a brooch with candy sprinkles inside and beaded around, and a simple pair of glitter candy corns.

I also tried one of the Mod Podge molds to see how they would work with resin. They work fine and come out easily, but have a very dull finish. A clear gloss spray on top helps. I used nail polish and acrylic paint to colour them, except for the middle one which just has glitter in it.

Painted Key Rack

I purchased a wooden key rack and wanted to decorate it. I decided to try something that I thought about a long time ago using metallic paints and outlining with black pens. The design was inspired by some decoupage paper.

This was fun to do and I think I want to more like it on some wooden plaques. The wood really seems to bring out the sparkle in the paint.

Light Green and White Jewelry

Just added a necklace and earring set plus another pair of earrings to my site. All in pale green and white. This is one of those projects that just came together. Both the light green seed beads and the round faceted beads came in mixed packs where I didn't know what I would get. And they just happened to go nicely with the pendant I had.

First Resin Casting

I've been wanting to try this for a long time and finally did recently using Easy Cast resin and the usual jewelry mold. Some of them turned out pretty good (top two rows), and some are okay (next two rows), and a few got big bubbles. I learned that planning is very important. And don't mix or pour too much resin. And that rhinestones will flatten in resin.

I already have some more on the go, and always looking for things that can be put into resin, or that I can pour resin into.

Two Russian spiral bracelets.

I have been making jewelry over the summer, just haven't been getting around to posting it. One of the techniques I have been using a lot is the Russian spiral. It comes together pretty quickly and makes a nice flexible rope. Here are two bracelets that I added to my site today.

Rubies on Ice

I have more jewelry to post but so little time to do anything indoors, like this computer stuff. But I got photos of my latest jewelry ready and posted this one today. I liked this bracelet so much I made myself one as well.

http://www.mkmcreations.com/rubiesonicebraceletandearrings.html

Good news!

The Ukrainian store in Dauphin, Manitoba has purchased some of my Ukrainian themed jewelry. These are the items I sold, the triangle pendants are now on chains.

Carved Bowl painting

I decided to take out my acrylics again and paint this picture from I photo I took at the Negrych Homestead museum. This was in the men's bunkhouse. The scene outside the window was so overexposed in my photo that it was nearly all white, so I had to improvise on that.

http://www.mkmcreations.com/forsale.html


I haven't been doing as much beading lately, too busy with gardening and stuff. But I did just finish a bracelet and started on a matching pair of earrings. I hope to get them posted soon.

Pearl and Gold Jewelry

Well, not real pearls and gold but glass pearls, white luster seed beads, and silver lined amber seed beads. The amber beads really shine like a metallic bead without the worry of the finish wearing off. I also made myself a set, I really like the Victorian look of it.

http://www.mkmcreations.com/jewelry.html

Rose Mini - Time lapse acrylic painting

More Flower Earrings and a Bracelet

I got a couple more colours of Preciosa twin beads and made more of these flower earrings. I really like the pair I made for myself in red, they are quite light.

The inspiration for this bracelet came from the button I happened to find which was very close in colour to the large beads. This bracelet is quite weighty but I think it would be fun to wear, like big chunks of ice around your wrist.