Friday Finishes!

I hope everyone faired well during the recent storms. We got hit with a lot of rain and wind, but so far our power has stayed on.

This week I made a couple of items. I got a book from a thrift store and wanted to make the flag pattern. The book is Handmade in the USA by Kindred Spirits. My original idea was to mount the piece on wood, but I didn't have any good wood so I decided to try it on a canvas frame. I used various vintage papers for the background, but thought it needed to be toned down, and basically, I ended up painting over it and then I did some stenciled stars.

First I antiqued the canvas, then I antiqued the flag and once it was dry, I attached it with a decoupage medium. It worked great, the flag lay flat and it is hardened into the background. The problem was, I had used a little of the black stain for antiquing and the medium made that run throughout the piece. The flag came out too dark and the background lighter, so not the look I was going for. I think another problem was, I rushed to get it all together and should have given the piece, a day to dry thoroughly.

I had to lighten it up, so you could see how the flag looks, so the stars are lighter than the actual piece, as well.

Another piece is a lavender sachet, using Kathy Schmitz's newest pattern, from the stitch club. I have a lot of items in boxes, so I can always use more sachets, though this one is so pretty, it is a shame to hide it.

Last weekend we got out for rides, but no eagles. Of course I found some new, old graveyards and a wonderful old church that will be perfect for an art piece or maybe a new punch needle pattern. I do not show photos of items I will be using in art, but I took a few of the unique graveyards.

And the only bird that I could capture this week was a turkey vulture. I thought it was the hawks at first, but this is what I got a shot of.  It was good practice with the new lens, I wasn't sure if I could get good shots of birds in the air and this guy was also far away, so I am pleased with the results. The good thing about getting a better quality lens is that you can get a better result when editing the photo.

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend and find your own adventures.

Friday Finishes!

This week I have been busy with new projects and trying new things. I enjoy experimenting and seeing where it takes me.

I wanted to try two photo transfers with two different mediums. I am still not pleased with the results, but they didn't come out too badly, considering I am using an ink jet and it is recommended to use a laser printer. I also used my laid paper, which has ridges on one side, so I printed on the smooth side.

The first is a sailboat photo, that I took from Jamestown, looking towards Newport. I used heavy gel medium, and I think the heavy is what made it harder to work with. I had to smooth it out a few times to get out the bubbles. I also had to be more careful when I removed the paper, or part of the design would come off too. There was also some slight bleeding, so a little antique medium was applied.

The second piece is another one of my photos, an old one from a kayak trip. I used the glaze medium and it seemed to work better, but it does bleed out some color, always seems to be a red. The design adhered to the board, so that it looked like it had melded into the canvas, so it was easier to get rid of the paper without taking any of the design. I also think my prints come out a bit dark, so maybe lightening them up would help and make it look more aged.

I do think I like them better on the framed canvas, but the smaller hard boards are easier to work on and great for practice, since they are cheaper. Next I will have to try some on wood.

Another project was the Stitch of the Month Club pattern from Kathy Schmitz. I really enjoyed doing this one and used DMC 115 to get a variation. The color tends to run longer with one shade, so I cut off a long piece, then recut and mix the dark and light in two strands to get this look.

And yesterday I was in the mood to paint, but my brain wasn't up to finishing the angel. So, I found a fun design from Artist's Club. This is a free design by Sharon Bond. The club is an online store for painting patterns, lots of free ones and PDF patterns for sale.

A Valentine for Nick. I added glitter to the word love and the heart eyes have glass gel in them, so it shines when you turn it to the light. I also used the glaze finish, which leaves a wonderful glassy shine, but hard to get a good photo with it.

He loves things that I make so it was fun to do. Last week he asked me if I could help him paint some rocks he found. I used to teach kids how to paint, so it will be a fun project to do together.

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

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!

Tuesday Tries!

I am doing an extra posts, since I have a few things to show you and new things for Friday. I finally finished my lighthouse and not too happy with how it came out. I used a photo that I  took of the Point Judith lighthouse, so my first that I did on my own.

I used Teresa's technique for a paper background and antiquing, but the paper didn't seem to show through too well and the crackle did not work for some reason. I even got the brand she uses, so not sure what I did wrong.

Even if it is not what I was hoping for, I still enjoy practicing and learning and find it relaxing to paint.

I also got an idea, I had to try. I get distracted to easily, lol. I wanted to try a photo transfer on canvas. I used a mini canvas and reduced the photo to fit. I used Modge Podge by applying it to the canvas, then you put the photo, picture side down, onto the canvas. Once it sets over night, you use a wet sponge to get the paper off and it leaves an image.

As you can see, I didn't transfer a few pieces of the photo by the white spots and in some areas the design started to fade and mix colors in other areas. So, another experiment gone wrong, but It may have been the paper I used or the canvas, so will try again. It is fun to do and easy, so by using junk canvas or cutting out some wood to try, I keep the cost to a minimum.

I tried adding a bit of color and then antique medium to cover some of the flaws.

We had a slight warm spell on Sunday, so we got out on the beach for an hour. The tide was just going out and with the wind, the waves were coming up to high, so it was hard to find much glass. But I did get some nice pieces of driftwood. I put it in soapy water with a little bleach and now they are air drying. They lighten as they dry, but I like the darker sections too, they will be fun to use in projects.

I hope you are all enjoying your week and enjoying time to create.

Friday Finish!

This week, a few new patterns were uploaded on Cheri's facebook page. Even though she is no longer with us, she has given permission for others to keep the group going. I saw this pattern and knew I had to do it for the boys.

I changed it a little to make two boys, one was a girl. Then I put their names above the boy, that depicts them. Alex who is the happy, smiley boy and Nick who is always giving me that smart alec smirk.

I used Bills jeans and the green shirting is from their dad's old shirt, when he was younger, so it is a memory pillow, as well. The finished size is 7" x 11".

We also did some beach combing this week. We didn't get the full tides, but still found lots of treasures. The ones on the right are from our local dog beach, lots of craft glass, but some nice sea glass too. The ones on the left are from the island, a lot of smaller pieces but a few large ones.

I was able to find some tiny bits of glass, to finish my Love piece. It isn't what I imagined, so I will try some on wood, next. I like the way I can age wood, hard to do on canvas and this was a small one,  only 4". I realized that the glass shifted a bit and went off the line, the result of moving it too soon. It was good practice and I wanted to see how tacky glue would work, which was great for this project. I also sprayed a high gloss over the piece.

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend. It is a holiday I avoid, so I am hoping the rain doesn't last and we can get out for some walks on the beach.