A New Day

Hi there,

I hope you all had a lovely Christmas and New Year!
We had a wonderful time.

Below are two projects from last year that I wanted to finish before the clock struck 12:00. And I also wanted to ring in the New Year with a blog post, so I am nearly there.

There were a few personal milestones that I had planned to complete in 2018. Check. I never was much of a list maker, though I find lists really do help keep me on track.

I'll spare you the personal milestones, however I did finish a small knitting project, and I did have bird cards printed. I didn't paint and draw as much as I would have liked to last year, but it's a new day.

Long ago (say September- you may remember) I started knitting a hat named  Bough. I used Brooklyn Tweed's yarn named Shelter. I contemplated using a bold, zingy colourway. Somehow that thought vanished. So I chose: Pumpernickel.

Anyway the finish line finally arrived, so yesterday we went off to the woods to take a few pictures.

Just look at that! Canada in January ~ sans snow. One gets the feeling it might be early spring. A florid illusion, I reckon.

A pompom too. How daring! But, then, one should live a little.

 Cables add texture and beauty, and they are easy to make. Wishing my hands liked all that yarn twisting. However, knitting slow, like a tortoise might if he could, does eventually get you there.

 

While I was in the woods, these tenacious leaves and the pine needles below caught my eye.

 The "Fashionista" bird cards are printed and will be listed in my Etsy shop by 4 p.m. tomorrow.

For those of you who are not on Instagram, there's a program called "The Best of Nine." You enter your user name and voila the program calculates your most liked photos for 2018.
Call me fastidious, but I do want to straighten out that blue painting.

 

 

(Signo white gel pen on Strathmore Artagain 400 series.)

Wishing all of you a healthy, happy and prosperous New Year filled with love, and good cheer!

Cultivate your dreams!

Best Wishes

January 10, 2017

It's been almost a month since I've been here, so I'm definitely overdue to wish you all a Happy New Year!

This time of year it's not difficult to catch the sun rise; it crawls over the horizon at 7:36 a.m. And what a beauty this one was.  ( Wished the pics were better.) Flaming red rimed the horizon and a carpet of red, pink and beautiful shades of blue rolled out across the sky--a true celebration to greet the day.

I don't take a lot of winter pictures; however, it recently dawned on me that other people might like to see what a Canadian winter looks like. So over the holidays, I had a chance to go out and about. So far the winter has been a bit warmer (a mixed bag of snow storms and freezing rain) with less snow than usual, but ice is still settling on the river.

             For avid fisher people: an ice fishing chateau 👀 for rent. No, no thanks.

                                              Sitting on thin ice.  Not for the faint of heart.

Inside there have been a few doodles. I may get copies printed so I can pop cards in the envelopes to say thank you for my shoppe orders.

And finally a collage from my instagram account of the best of nine for 2016.

May you and yours long continue to promote joy, light, laughter, peace and good will in a world that, more than ever, needs a strong united front in voice, word and deed and our tender loving care.

Progress on The Pretty Pair, etc.

It's been awhile since I've been here. I have been out and about (see instagram for pics), but I've also been inside more than I like to be. However, I didn't want to let June slip away without posting.
This month, I did finish a few projects and started others. It's always fun to have multiple items on the go.

Wip. 
I sketched these two in May but started to paint them yesterday.

Since I am using pastel colours, I will paint her nest a light colour as well. I hope it all blends.

 It's always a bit scary to use new paper without practicing first. However, this time I threw caution to the winds and gave it a whorl. Glazes and washes lay differently on different types of paper, so I may redo it, but so far I am pleased with how the slow build up looks, although I can tell which bird I started with because of how the wash looks. There's a definite learning curve. There's also a little blurb on the male's belly. I think I can remove it. I was painting away and a spider appeared out of nowhere and ran across the page!!! 

The Paper: Canson 100% cotton Moulin du Roy 140lb. It's hot press and very smooth. Because the paint dries fast, you have to be quick.

Finished painting my blog assistant in June. She's on the sidebar without her spotlight. One of these days, I hope to paint a Welcome sign.

I also started a new Nature Journal and cast on The Rustling Leaves Beret. I am pleased that my hands are co-operating. ♥ A few rows here and there do add up.

Earlier this month, I watched the wee warblers in the marsh...so sweet. A Common Yellow Throat with his black eye patch and an American Yellow Warbler.  Hopefully, the paper will take a light wash. I am thinking of using watercolour pencils.

 

Love peonies! They have helped to brighten up the days. I haven't been well, but I am on the mend and feeling better each day; I should be back to my routine soon. 


I hope you have all had a wonderful June!

'Til next time...Enjoy...

Watercolour Gift Tags and A Lotus Flower

My mother loves Easter and when we were children she usually bought us pastel dresses etc. to celebrate the season and to ring in spring. In particular, I remember a beautiful multi-coloured pastel dress, sweet white socks and black patent leather shoes, topped off with a wee white straw purse with (you guessed it) an ornate ducks head on top.  So since Easter is not far away, those memories my mother created for me triggered my need to create a little beauty. I opted for these simple watercolour tags. They are pretty and easy to make, although they do take time.
I was hoping to add ribbon but I can't find any 1/4 inch pastel ribbon.  So I may have to settle for pastel twine, although I have my heart set on soft-hued pink, blue, and yellow ribbon. ( I know it's only a gift tag, but, hey, there are standards!)

If you are interested, here's how I made them.  I cut the tags out of watercolour paper using a template. Then I splashed the front of two of the cards with water (two cards--all I could manage at one time) and randomly dabbed on the paint that I had watered down before hand. After letting the water dry a little while or longer, (drying time changes how the salt reacts) I sprinkled the cards with coarse and fine salt. Once they dried, I brushed off the salt and continued on to the other side.  I left a few cards plain on the reverse side, although I do like the texture that the salt creates.
Luckily, I found a forgotten bird punch in my hoard of craft supplies to top off the tag.

Recently off the drawing board and keeping with the pastel theme: a lotus flower. They are such lovely flowers. We have waterlilies in Canada which are beautiful as well. I'd love a pond full! To emerge pristine and  beautiful from muddy beginnings has made the lotus symbolic for many religions, including Christianity. 

 I hope to paint a few more flowery watercolour cards to pop in the mail for Easter. 

And lastly, (well almost)  here's a link for my instagram account. If you follow, I will definitely follow you back.

Thanks for reading along...Have a wonderful week!

This and That

Lady Slipper ~ I've painted a few of these.

Although I was reluctant to do so, I decided to use one of my shell plates for painting.  It has worked out well because I can easily see the true colour of the paint, and the added bonus, the grooves on the side act as a brush holder. 

When my son saw my new palette, he raised an eyebrow.  Did he think that I might covertly wash the plate and put it back in the cupboard? Chuckle.

A gift. Unfortunately it arrived a bit water logged. Also, on the way here it lost several of its buds because of the arctic temperatures. But its still beautiful!

The large flower is approximately 5 inches across. 

***

On the needles...

I found out that, for me, a paint brush is not a substitute for knitting needles. It seems my fingers also need to knit. Originally, I frogged [for those folks that do not knit that's knit speak for unraveling, or in frog terms rip it, rip it.] this shawl to use the yarn for another project. Ran out of yarn for that project and had to order more. And because I spent my knitting budget on paints, there's no new yarn in my stash, so although the pattern is different, it seems like a re-run, but I really like this bright colour.

The tulip shawl Lastly, I recently joined Instagram. For an easy transition, I bought an app, but the fit still isn't right for my new camera ~ older pics work fine. Does anyone have any suggestions, or have success with a certain app? If you are an Instagram member, please let me know. My link for Instagram is at the top of the page. Enjoy...