Wednesday, December 18, 2019

Peachy Rose in Watercolor





This was a lovely rose to paint.  I sure enjoyed painting it.


Tuesday, December 10, 2019

Ranunculus in Watercolor





I wasn't as happy with this ranunculus as I was with the roses and the tomatoes but still, it was fun to paint.

Tuesday, December 3, 2019

A Darling Angel in collage





I was wondering if I should make the cloud she is sitting on darker but the more I look at it the more I think it is full of light and softness and that is the way it should look.  What do you think?

Tuesday, November 26, 2019

A Little Maryland Church Model in Paper





I'm really happy to have these little books published.  I sold 4 downloaded patterns on Etsy this week.  Nice.

Tuesday, November 19, 2019

Fall Leaves in Watercolor





These are just a few fall leaves in watercolor for the entertainment of the experience.

Tuesday, November 12, 2019

A Fairy Fiddler in Collage





Back to doing collage, I created this little fairy fiddler with the purple wings.  I don't know why but I feel this background is too dark for the light subject matter.  What do you think of it?

Tuesday, November 5, 2019

Tomatoes in Watercolor





I was really enjoying these color schemes.  Especially the red-orange colors in watercolor.  So I started purposely picking subjects that called for lots of those colors, such as tomatoes, persimmons, red-orange roses, and chrysanthemums and tulips.  This is just one more off the art table.  I'm having so much fun.  Someone stop me!

Tuesday, October 29, 2019

Tuesday, October 22, 2019

Chrysanthemum in Watercolor





This watercolor painting was very diverting in that it had complications but was fun to paint. There are some things watercolor can do that collage just can't do.  But then there are some things that collage can do that watercolor can't touch.  I will soon get back to my collages.

Tuesday, October 15, 2019

Watercolor of Tulips in a Tulip Wrap





I have so much to be thankful for this year: my computer, books, flowers, paint, my sight to enjoy painting and flowers, plumbers, brakes, cool air, and the list goes on and on. 

Tuesday, October 8, 2019

Flowers Made From Homemade Bread Clay





I finally made a video of my children's project using bread for clay.  People have requested it for a long time and so it's a long time coming but here it is, recipe and all.

Tuesday, October 1, 2019

Another Watercolor of Tea Roses





I love painting flowers.  It makes me so happy.  These tea roses I photographed at a little shopping center a couple years back.  It really broke my heart when the shopping center was restructured and reconstructed and they tore out the roses.  Isn't that sad?

Tuesday, September 24, 2019

Tea Roses in Watercolor





I painted these roses while waiting for my computer to be fixed.  Now I'm glad I got the watercolors out again.  I enjoyed painting these.

Tuesday, September 17, 2019

Anika Collage from 5 Years Ago





This is a long lost clip from 5 years ago before I got my drawing table.  I found it when I got my computer back from the repair shop.  How did it hide from me for so long? I'm glad I found it anyway.

Wednesday, September 11, 2019

Darling Angel Collage Tutorial



So I finally have my computer back and can get back to work with some of my book projects but while I waited for it I got a few collages done.  Here is one.

Tuesday, September 3, 2019

Boy With Chin on Hand in Charcoal





I really love drawing children.  This is just one more in a long line of charcoal drawings of children just for fun.  It's about time I finished this one.  I started it some time ago.

Tuesday, August 27, 2019

My drawing of Aviator boy in Charcoal





I found that I never published this charcoal drawing of the little aviator boy.  I'm still without my computer but finally, I have the opportunity of getting my old one fixed or getting a newer one.  I'm still praying about which to do and trust that God will lead me.  It has been a blessing to have this borrowed computer and to even have enough to think about replacing or repairing the old one.  I am very blessed.  Happy Birthday to me.

Tuesday, August 20, 2019

Georgia Plantation Paper House Model





Here is another paper house model, this time for a Georgia Plantation.  The books are all published and ready to be purchased.  We'll see if anyone buys one.

Tuesday, August 13, 2019

Butterfly Pattered Knitted Baby Blanket





This is a variation on the Bow Tie pattern.  I thought it looked more like a butterfly in the end so that's what I'm calling it.



Cast on in multiples of 10 + 7.  In this case I cast on 107.

First 4 rows work in stockinette stitch: Purl first row, then knit one row, purl one row, knit one row.

5th row starts the butterfly pattern on purl row: P6, *with yarn behind, slip 5 stitches, yarn in front, purl 5 stitches, repeat from * with last stitch, p1.

Knit side rows just knit across.

7th row, 9th row, 11th row, 13th row, repeat 5th row, until there are 5 strings hanging on the knit side.

14th row: K8, *make butterfly body knot (slip the needle under all 5 strands hanging, k next stitch but before pulling off the old stitch, pull the loop back around the 5 strands and knit the stitch again, then pull the first over the second stitch off the right needle), k 8, repeat from * to end.

15th row through 18th row work stockinette stitch.

19th row purl row: P1, * with yarn behind, slip 5 stitches, yarn in front, purl 5 stitches, repeat from * with last stitch p1.

Knit side rows just knit across.

Repeat 19th row till you have 5 strands on the knit side.

28th row Knit side: K3 *make butterfly body knot, k9, repeat from * to last 4 stitches, butterfly body knot, k3.

repeat these 28 rows till the blanket is as long as desired.



I added a contrasting color, picked up stitches all around and knitted a border for this blanket.  You can crochet a lacy border if preferred.



I hope you enjoy this pattern.


Wednesday, August 7, 2019

A Tribute To My Friend Dennis Lewis





I don't want to forget the awesome friend Dennis was to me and influential to my art so I filmed bits of the reception night at the tribute show we did for him back in February.  I miss him every day.  Hard to believe it's been two years since he passed.

Wednesday, July 31, 2019

Lantern Boat Girl Collage





So it looks like it may be another month before we can get my computer out of the repair shop but in the meantime, I created another video using this borrowed one and iMovie.  I think the iMovie has some good points even if it lacks some of the bells and whistles I'm used to using.  In any case, it's working for my purposes.

Wednesday, July 24, 2019

Martin Luther King Jr Collage Tribute





So I got another collage video done on this borrowed computer using the iMovie program instead of the Adobe Premier Pro that I'm used to. I'm beginning to like this for its sleek design and no-nonsense approach although there are no real bells and whistles.  At least I don't need a computer to do the collages.  My computer will be another month or so in the shop before we can get it fixed.

Monday, July 8, 2019

Collage of My Grandfather





Finally got another video of a collage done.  I'm having serious computer problems.  The good computer is in the shop and this older one is so slow that it took 5 hours to render this one 4 minute video for YouTube.  Obviously, I don't want to tax this machine too much but I hate that I haven't been able to get a video up each week like I used to.  I will have to keep trying other methods.

Wednesday, May 22, 2019

Iowa Cozy House Paper House Construction



All 17 of the little house model books is now published and ready for happy crafters and educational professionals to find and use.  I hope they love them as much as I loved making them.  It's been a long journey getting these done finally. 




















http://bit.ly/2Y5E3Ss

Wednesday, May 15, 2019

Lady of the Lake and Excalibur Collage



I couldn't find any other fairy tale for X so I used Excalibur and the Lady of the Lake story.  I thought it came out very cute even so.  The book is for sale here: http://3.ly/eTF


































Lady of the Lake and Excalibur Collage



I couldn't find any other fairy tale for X so I used Excalibur and the Lady of the Lake story.  I thought it came out very cute even so.  The book is for sale here: http://3.ly/eTF