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.

Fiber, Paint & Paper...

...is what is keeping me so busy. Fiber... The above is a picture of the purse I'm currently working on. Totally "Boho". I will share the photos when I'm finished. There are 18 different yarn colors in that one, some are vintage and no longer obtainable. Yesterday I started making some granny squares to design a purse I have in mind and now I remember why I never make granny square projects. Granny square creations are truly underrated. They are so much work even doing them in an assembly line, one section at a time. And who likes hiding all those ends, only then to have to steam block them and sew them all together? I'm marching bravely on, but it may take a while to finish. If I have another granny square creation in mind, I think I will be buying some pre-made by some wonderful supply shops on Etsy! Speaking of Etsy, I just listed this new Gypsy Tassel Garland Pattern in my Shenanagans shop. I also created a new Shamrock square because I couldn't find one I was really happy with. I will post that later.

Paint... I have started a commissioned painting of a beloved Great Dane Angel named Tyson aka "T-Bone". I am painting it in the style of my Shar Pei Angel. The size of the canvas is challenging for me as I usually paint much smaller pieces. Wasn't T-Bone adorable?! I will definitely share the finished piece.

and Paper... I have been working at home doing quality control audits of mortgage files. The Lord has blessed me to be able to work on these from home, but I am still trying to find balance, sometimes I'm not sure what to juggle first. 3 blogs, 3 shops, files, painting, creating, marketing, cooking, cleaning ... don't feel sorry for me. I LOVE it! I love being busy. Where's my frying pan for all that bacon?!

I have lots of Big Shout Outs & Thank You's to some fantastic Etsy people for featuring my art or creations in their Etsy Treasuries! Stop by & visit them all! Yimmekedesigns, OnTheGrain, ChatteJolie, AnnaLela, BirgittasBridal, KatKando, CarlaGrifo, VerbenaPlace & Chocolate Dog Studio.

Crochet ~ Comfort Food Without The Calories

That's what I've been up. All I've wanted to do. I have a shameful amount of yarn *hoarder* that I need to do something with or I won't be able to buy more. *yarn hoarding sickness but in denial* A thought even crossed my mind today of how sad it would be if I did crochet it all up and it was gone. *therapy might help* I know! Seriously! I have it all organized in huge space bags. One full of greens & blues, another reds & oranges, yellows & beige, ... it makes my eyes twinkle to look at it all, just like a palette full of paint. I have been working on a few new designs & things for my Shenanagans Shop, and made a red circle blanket for JJ's new kid size sleigh bed.
I used Lion Brand's Circle in a Square pattern except I made the circles different colors and left the rest of the square bright cherry red. I plan to do a little more embroidery on it in between projects... it will be my ongoing project for a little while. I will post another picture when it's completely finished. I have designed a series of scarves inspired by travel & some of my favorite cities. A little Gypsy don't you think? I do series with my paintings so why not?! These are all one of a kind scarves. A lot of the yarn used is vintage and could be impossible to find. I have also designed a super cute Owl square but have not started the blanket to show it off yet because I discovered & quickly became addicted to Free Form Crochet or Scrumbling as it's often called. The 1st photo in the post header is the Free Form piece I'm working on. Soon to be called "Monterey". I started with Miami in mind but now that it's taking shape it reminds me of the tide pools in Monterey and the beautiful blues & greens of the Pacific. I'll be adding some bling to this one. Free Form crochet is like doing an abstract painting with yarn. I am having so much fun with it. Paint & thread, my 2 favorite things. If you haven't tried it I encourage you to. It gets your creative juices flowing. You can check out some awesome Free Form pieces here at Free Form Crochet. It really gets your right brain in gear! I will be taking step by step photos of my next piece to make a video for my YouTube channel. Below are a few new things at Shenanagans.

Big Lips & Mustache Pattern

"Denver" (Sold)

"Sedona, Arizona"

"Portland" Free Form Crochet