Done for the day me thinks.

Ok, so I scrapped the original skirt idea I had because I came up with a BETTER ONE. Old vintage lace, gypsy fabrics, dark grey wool...got me all excited and now after sewing part of the bottom skirt together I'm stopping before I do this all night.

Poor Nick hasn't seen me all day as I've been held up in the studio (the bedroom, really. But for now it works, LOL) measuring and cutting and going through my stash of goodies to see what else I could possibly come up with for crafties.

It's a sickness I tell you. And there is no cure.

I did however, take a small break to go outside and tend to my little porch garden.

Naturally I was followed by little soft kitty feet.

Who really loves her grass.

Om nyum nyum nyum...

Curently listening to:

My sew along songs of the day, LOL.

Reflections and a Project List

I have hardly posted anything in the past few months save my neighbor rant (Booo!) and a quick recipe, and for those who actually read what I write on here, I apologise. My world has been spinning in so many directions lately I'm just grateful my head is still at the right place on my body.

Life has been super busy. I'm working full time (whaaa-hooo!) and learning all sorts of new things, and working with one's fiance is as hilarious as it can be frustrating. I'm working on finishing school as I'd like to go back and get a degree to teach science, Nick and I are planning our wedding for the Fall, possibly a Samhain wedding, and we recently lost two little members of our family rather suddenly, one after the other (Patches did not last long without her sister, and holy hell I never want to go through something like that ever again).

I'm still grieving, praying nothing goes wrong with Merlin in his old age. He was our very first ferret fuzzy butt and now we've come full circle as he's the last of the four we were blessed with.

I haven't really had the time for much crafting during all of this, but have resolved to set some time aside for my work each week because without it I just get grouchy and am just not good company, lol.

I'm working on quite a few projects, and all at the same time because I swear, I have crafters A.D.D.

I made Merlin a new hammock stuffed with super plush cotton to make sure it's nice and comfy for his old man bones. I used some of my faux fur leopard fabric so it's super soft and fluffy. So far he's been sleeping in it most of the day, so I'd say it's a hit.

I've also been working on new pillows for the couch. I'm making two of them and so far I'm almost done embroidering the first one. I'm using a triple moon design I found on Urban Threads. Will post pics (of course!) when they're all done.

Allsooo...the bunnies. Yes, I haven't forgotten my bunnies. I'm almost done with one that is being sent out next weekend for a baby of one of my Mom's friends, and a few more being worked on for the shop. Also on my project list is actually getting around to organizing all my crap and actually STOCKING UP THE SHOP. Amazing.

Umm..what else? Oh, skirts! I'm working on a skirt for myself that I'm super excited about. I found this dark grey wool/acrylic fabric on sale at Joann's that I've been itching to use. I also got my Moda Gypsy Rose Charm Pack that I ordered and am making hexagon flowers with it as an embellishment. That's the plan, anyway. We shall see where this insanity leads me, because I found these photos online and am now obsessed with hexagon quilting....

How cool are those? Speaking of quilts, I also have one of those in the works, but more on that later. I have a cat pawing at me for cuddles and a tired Mr. wondering what the hell I'm still doing up. It's 1 in the morning and I'm still looking at quilt photos.

Oops...

Home!

I'm back! My trip to Chicago was so fun!

I saw my brother's firehouse, did oodles of shopping with my mom, hung out with a great friend, spent time with my dog, joked around with my younger bro, celebrated my dad's 54th birthday and just had a wonderful time all around.



My older brother and I. We haven't changed much, really LOL.



Me and my brothers of awesome.



My darling old man!

The weather was beautiful when I got back and since then it has been getting nice and stormy, which I love.















Karma and I have been catching up on our cuddling.


And I'm about to put some spring bunnies up in the shop!






More details about them later. For now it's off to bed!

~*L*~

Spring love

I was working on my bunny pattern tonight and thought I'd post what I have so far.






He's crocheted out of 100% Peruvian Highland Wool which is then brushed out to give him a fuzzy look.

His nose, mouth, and around his eyes are embroidered with DMC floss. I haven't had much time to work out the pattern, but I like how he looks so far.

He reminds me of my childhood bunny Sandy. All wheat colored and floppy. I miss that huge fuzz ball (and did he ever get huge!).

Anyway, "Sandy" is my prototype bunny, I plan on making more in different colors, fur patterns, etc. for my shop.

I have to work on stocking it up, I just have way too many projects going on at once!

My brother, btw is going to see the doctor on Monday about surgery. I guess because he works for the city the city's medical people have to determine if he gets surgery or not, which I personally believe is bullshit.

His tendon was torn clean off bone, people. He fucking needs surgery no matter what you say. The end.

~*L*~

Goddess Painting II

One of the watercolor techniques I love to use (loooove) is making an effect in the paint by using salt. Let's use the sky in "Bedtime Story" as an example since it's easy to see where the salt was applied:


This technique is pretty straight forward and just really fun to do. The brushes I use for this are my favorite Japanese goat mop brushes.


Once I got these babies I wondered how the hell I'd lived so long without them. They are THAT AWESOME.

So like I said, this is simple and fun. I dip my goat mop in water and wet the area of the paper I want covered in paint. I then take the mop and literally throw/splatter the colors I want on the damp surface.

I take the paper and move the paint around on it so the colors run into one another a little bit. Lay the paper back down flat and sprinkle salt (sea salt will give you a better effect than table salt) over your colors.

You'll see the salt suck up color right away. You can either let it air dry at this stage but I like to blow dry it as I found the hot air gave the effect a more crisp look.

Once dry I use a paper towel to GENTLY scrape the salt off the paper. Then you can go back in and add shadows or highlights to any areas you feel needs it.

I love how this always turns out and the best part is it's different every time you do it.

I did this lightly for the background behind my Goddess and then dried her.


I also worked on her eyes first because I feel if the eyes don't look life like then the rest of the painting will suffer because of it.

I've always had this obsession with faces and eyes and the messages you get from them. Don't mind my crazy :)

Next step, her skin tone. In watercolor you work in layers from light to dark so a quick light colored wash is done with a bit of shading done here and there.


I often turn my work as I go along and squint to see how the lights and darks stand out which is why this was taken upside down.

Often if you look at a painting from a different angle you'll see areas that need more work more than you would if you looked at it the same way all the time.


I repeat the process, feeling her out until I like the look of her, blend a bit of pink into her cheeks, and take a break on the skin to work on other areas like her lips.

I loved how she was turning out and then added eyebrows and lashes and just wasn't happy with her anymore. So she'll be worked on more later today and hopefully I can fix my crap ups.

We'll see how it goes.

~*L*~

Study of Maggie

I'm working on a pastel of Maggie for class. I really hate this medium. It's so messy and gritty and it drives me insane.



I really don't think I'm doing this right. Anyone have any experience with soft pastels?

~*L*~

Goddess Painting I

So I'm going to go through how I'm doing this painting step by step as was suggested in the comments of the previous post (awesome idea, Lyneya!).

First and foremost, I have to have music on. I can't paint in silence, I've always painted along with music and for me it's as important as my brushes are because without it my brain just won't shut off.

When I paint I'm in another world in my head (Nick won't even bother trying to get my attention because I seriously shut off from everything and won't hear him) and the music shapes where that world will take me and the direction of the art as well.

I find I base my colors on what a song is making me feel. So before I start anything, out comes the iPod.

During this painting I've been listening to a lot of Black Lab's Passion Leaves a Trace album, various Richard Marx songs (sigh), La Ventura, and a bit of Disturbed thrown in there because I need my hard rock!

I will then lightly sketch out what I had in my head and will make notes on the work itself like, "this should glow over here" or "fade this out". I erase these as I go along, but they help me keep the details in mind that I wanted.

I'll go through my painting process in the next post, it's almost time for Maggie's vet appointment so I gotta get a move on!

~*L*~

Studio sneak peak-a-doo!

The light sucks, but here is the start of The triple Goddess Morrigan, being power dried. Gotta love watercolor.

~*L*~