Working on!

 

This week went by, way too quick. Lots of plans and as usual, only a few things got done. I have several projects I am working on and a quilt I got ready to hand quilt. We will be leaving our RV at a camp next month, so we will be able to spend days there and overnights when we feel like it. It will be easier since Bill doesn't have to drive around and he can relax, and I can get out and bike and paddle, right from our site.

One of the projects I started is a new painting. I wanted something simple and a change to try a pattern from a painting site. It will be a nice summer piece, but the instructions are written with a small photo of the finished piece. I am just looking at the photo and trying to copy it and some of my old skills are coming back to me. The pattern was smaller than my canvas, so I added more water and I will paint in some whale parts.

We got a chance to enjoy some time at the beach. My happy place.

And a few beach finds. This week the tide was high in the afternoon, but the waves threw up a few nice pieces.

And on another beach at the southern coast, I went for some photos of birds, but no luck. As I walked back to the truck, an Osprey flew overhead, carrying a fish. We followed it to the area that I had seen a nest and found him in the nearby marsh. It was a beautiful area with a lot of birds, and across from the fishing fleet, so we will definitely go back for the day.

I hope everyone had a nice week and can enjoy getting out this weekend.

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;)