It's Looking A lot Like Christmas!

Work In Progress...

...I finally picked up a brush. I attempted to finish a what I thought would be a beautiful portrait of a woman today. Hubby and I had a good laugh as I kept ruining her and ruining her.

As I started to wash up and call it "one of those" days, then I saw Him, (she had further transformed - no pictures - no words, hahaha) then she no longer existed. I'm not sure how He will turn out but I believe I am keeping the base color scheme. One side of the canvas purple & reds lit with light, for power & royalty. The other side, greens, blues & yellow for renewal, growth & His Light...

  

Thanks to my Followers who are still following and for stopping by! I know I have been neglecting my blog, "my happy place", a lot more than I should.  Someone I love is & has been fighting for their life so it has been very difficult as of late to paint. I will start pieces and not finish them. I have been drawing and working on some embroidery designs to digitize and doing some zentangles thanks to my sister's persistent encouragement. I should share some of them in my shops ...soon, but mostly I have been pacifying myself with yarn, thread & fabric, it's my comfort food, my soul food.  My BFF gave me an embroidery design for tea light holders, the battery operated kind, so I have been having fun making those.  Honestly, I didn't really like them at first but I was just looking at the picture, then after I sewed one out, I was hooked. In person they are so  much cuter!  Ok so some of you will know what you are getting for Christmas or what you will be getting when you come & visit.  I'm making a set for outside on the patio.  I have a concrete block wall around the patio and when I have a party I put real tea lights in glass holders all over the wall.  It's really pretty but it's a pain lighting all the candles and then making sure they are all out. I think these will be great for that. Combining a portion of the original design I am able to create any design I want as a tea light holder, well most.  I did list them to sell because they are so different and make great gifts.  If I get lots of orders I won't be able to make them all myself but I do have a person that will help.  Depending on the design each can take 15 - 30 minutes to sew out and I can't wait to get a little battery tea light in them as soon as they are finished!  Click on the Live Bold light below to see more.

Mugged...

 

... I love the mugs that people make with Sharpies that I have seen on Pinterest.  These are a few of my favorites I have seen.  For Father's day our little "Bubbie" gave my hubby a hand painted mug, & it has been a joy for "PopPoP" to use.  There are only remnants of the paint left even though it has been hand washed.  So thinking of Christmas, (yes already!), I want to make some special mugs for some of my beloveds. Finding the right words like the first one above is not as easy as making them! Wouldn't these be great way to personalize a gift basket?!

Last year I used a Sharpie on a antique plate & on some old Corelle plates.  A tip I learned  if you make these... even though the most directions say to clean it off with soap & alcohol prior to inking & baking at 350 degrees for 30 minutes,  don't,  just make sure it's clean - I ran mine through the dishwasher. Putting the alcohol on it first seems to make the ink tend to run a little & not stick as well.  I actually used a brown Marvy Marker on the plates, which is a water resistant book marker. Once baked it did not smear at all it was very well adhered. On this first plate I had to clean it up (it wasn't baked yet in the photo) over & over before I baked it, I think because of the soap & alcohol.  The soap & alcohol tended to make the ink slide while you are creating your design. The latter was easier when I did use the soap & alcohol. Of course I would not eat on these, nor would I run them through the dishwasher.  The mugs I would hand wash as well so that the design wouldn't fade.

On this plate I simply outlined the design on the plate & incorporated it into my drawing.

These get your "right mind" gears working and could become addiction, eyeing every flowered plate that you pass by in a whole new way!