Your Advent Calendar 🎄 Day 2

Hello my lovely friends 💕

Let’s see if today’s surprise behind Door #2 can lift your ‘Monday–after–a–long–weekend’ spirit 😊

Let’s take a peek behind this beautiful door…

Image was taken in Mdina, Malta

Look 😃 It’s a beautiful oil painting by Elena Khomoutova 😍

“We Love Snow”

I love Ms. Khomoutova’s work…there is something so happy about all her paintings. 🥰

Have a wonderful, fabulous, sparkly day! 😃💕🎄

The (scary) New Journal

Hello my lovely friends 💕

I’m not sure if ‘scary’ is the right word. Maybe ‘intimidating’…either way – the possibility of this beauty being ruined by “mistakes”, or a leaky pen does instill a sense of fear in me! 🙈

Do you know what I mean?

I’ve thrown away quite a few pretty (empty, never saw a pen) planners at the end of the year, because I was afraid to mess it up!

The same thing was about to happen with my new journal. I saw it, loved it, brought it home, admired it from afar. 🤓

Isn’t it beautiful? 🥰

But what good is a lovely journal when it’s not being used? And, after all, the creative life is messy, so why not the book telling about the journey!

So I decided – renegade that I am 😉 – to make the first page messy…even use paint 😲 And after that, what else could go wrong!

I always wanted to try ‘string painting’. It makes lovely pictures, and doesn’t look too hard. As a matter of fact, I heard from quite a few people that they did this in Elementary school.

So I got out some glass dishes for the paint, cut some cotton string, Latex gloves…and I was set.

Conquering the fear…baby steps 😄

I might be a bit rebellious, but still wasn’t about to try a new technique in this book.

Out came my spiral notebook with drawing-paper. Here we go…

Not impressive, but not terrible either 😌

It came out good enough that I wanna try it in the pretty book…and I did. And not just that, I wrote in it, 🙆🏻‍♀️ sprayed the page with glue, 😬 and sprinkled glitter – of course, what else – over the whole page! Done 😊

And that’s the first page. Ready to be followed by new ideas, more art, bits and pieces of my creative life! 😍

Do you keep a journal? Do you find the first step scary, or do you jump right in? I’m looking forward to hearing/reading about your experience. 💕

Small ~ Project ~ Sunday – A Yard Sale Find Extraordinaire

Hello my lovely friends 💕 How nice of you to make time for me on this wonderful weekend 😍

No crochet news today – but what I wanna show you instead is pretty nifty. 😁

On Saturday I spend a few hours thrifting. And at one yard sale I spotted an amazing vintage embroidery 💜 

Here are some details 

Beautiful, isn’t it?!

After I brought my treasure home I hunted for a frame…I always buy them at thrift stores – just in case. And yesterday was such a case 😆

It was already stretched on a piece of cardboard…and wouldn’t you know, I had a frame that fit perfectly! 😃 Happy Dance! 💃🏻

The frame is  was not very pretty, but is in great shape 

     Very ‘blah’ 😟
Time for some chalk paint and wax…ta-da 

I applied the paint, with a wide, flat brush, yesterday…let it dry overnight (even though it doesn’t take that long – an hour or two is plenty). Then I applied a thin layer of wax in a few spots (not all over ’cause all I had is a dark brown). Done!  🙆🏻

A few staples in the back – the frame didn’t have any of those metal bendy thingies. 🤓

And here she is 

I’m very happy with it 😍 It seems like it was meant to be….the perfect fit and the color paint I had is actually a color in the embroidery. 

Now I’m sitting here admiring my lovely ‘new’ wall art ☺️

Did you ever have a spontaneous project that worked out on the first try?  (Psst – doesn’t happen all that often around here 😆)

Thanks for dropping by and reading all the way down to here 🤗

 

A few things that happened this week 😎

Hello my lovely friends 💕 How sweet of you to peek in! 

How’s everything in your little corner of the world? All is good over here. It’s April in Kansas…that means a lot of rain ☔️ Yesterday we had a little lake forming in the back yard. For about an hour we were ‘Beachpeople’ 😁 It also means that the poor dogs are missing out on their walks….but they’re still tired! 😆 Here’s Lorelai in her favorite chair 😍

 
I had to keep really busy, or I would have joined her 😝

~1. So I gave my studio a (much needed) make-over/clean-up/destashing! 

I only have one before picture….and that’s enough for you to get an idea why I said ‘much needed’ 😋 It’s from my sewing table turned catch all for fabric, works in progress, books, yarn etc. Well, brace yourself…..here it is 

   EEEEEK! Right? 😱
Well, it’s much better now! See…

 Hard to believe it’s the same corner, huh? 😁
I also cleaned up my other work table – the one I used mainly for my jewelry. After a lot of destashing, trashbag filling, and rearranging, the rest of the room looks like this…

 My work table 

       

     
I did paint the frame (used to be gold-ish), and the little bookshelf, well the box said ‘Microwave Cart’ if I remember correctly…it is quite a few years old 😉(used to be fake-oak laminate). I can really recommend painting old, outdated pieces. Just slap some chalk paint on it, sand in places, wax it- done! It’s really quite simple, and the transformation is amazing! 

~2. Now I had room to do something creative – I needed more felted pins for the store….so that’s what was Number one on the to-do list. See, experience has shown, that when my workspace is too organized I can’t create. So I make a list of a few things that need to be done. 😊 If you wanna see how to make these pins….look no further! There’s a post for that 😀

~3. Hubby and I celebrated our anniversary last week. And because he’s a pretty great guy I baked him his favorite cookies. It’s a german cookie called ‘Nussecken’, Nutty Corners- and they’re absolutely fabulous! If you wanna make some, I translated the recipe for you. 😍

~4. Yesterday started a new ‘100 Day Project’ on Instagram @elleluna. I hope to make it all the way through…last year I gave up after 2, 3 weeks 😕 I had gotten a bit too ambitious, and chose ‘100 Days of Fashion’ drawn in colored pencil. Being new to drawing, and the fact that the models had to have great hair – and arms and legs for that matter 😝- I fell behind over one weekend, never got caught up, and eventually gave up. Here are some pictures from last year…

This year’s theme – for me….you can pick whatever theme, medium you like- is ‘100 Days of Folk Art’. I love Folk Art, ever since I discovered ‘Karen Gerard’s’ paintings on Pinterest. My creative mind kicked in….I got out my oil- and acrylic paints, and started painting. Ha– that did not work out well! 😆 After a few days of working on this I had to admit that it looks more like a Kindergarten project than anything I had intended. Wanna see? Okay….here it is 🙇🏻‍♀️

See what I mean? 😏 I didn’t wanna give up completely, so, for the challenge, I switched to colored pencils. That seems to be working out a little bit better! Have a look…

 
There is definitely room for improvement, but I do have 100..well now 98..days to get better. 😎

~5. As you probably gathered from my talking about ‘destashing’, I’m on the brink of giving up jewelry making, and trying something else. I’ve been mulling this over in my mind for quite some time now, and I do believe I’m finally on to something! 😀 No, not painting! That might be a bit delusional. 😂 Let me think on it a bit longer….when I have a solid plan you’ll be the first to know! 😍

Alrighty, that’s it for now. Thank you soooo much for sticking with me through my musings! 💜

Oooohhhhh – one more thing. I’ll finally get to see ‘Garth Brooks’ in concert! Eeeeeeekkkk! That has been a dream of mine ever since the days of  our ‘Friends in low places’ 🤠 

So….Now I’m really done! 

I hope to see you soon! 💕

Until then 

~ Tina xoxo 

Create an ‘Artsy Day Planner’ ~ Update

Hello my lovely friends 🙋🏻 Thanks so much for peeking in. 😍

Remember I started creating my own day planner? Well, it’s been a while, but it’s finally finished … I guess I’ll have to start the next one in September 😋

If you missed it…here’s the start of the project 📝

I finished the artwork for each month little by little…in the beginning I used oil paint- and would not recommend that. It takes a long time to dry, and makes the pages kinda heavy. 

So….here are my calendar pages 

As you can see, I went from oil painting to tangling (with gel pens), to colored pencils, and soft pastel chalk. Whatever strikes your fancy…there are no limits! Even a collection of your favorite quotes would be awesome. 😍

The one change I made from the original idea….I changed the cover art. Remember I painted an owl to grace the cover? Not so great…it does need a smooth cover. So I made a collage out of strips of scrapbook paper 

That should work! 😁

I do hope I inspired you, and that we all start carrying our own, individual art around. Can’t wait to hear (and see) what you did! 💕

See you soon 💃🏻

Dear (Project) Diary

….and all you lovely people out there 💕

Lots of creative bustling going on around here. 😊 Almost too much – if there is such a thing. I say ‘almost too much’ because ~ as you probably know ~ if your brain is too busy planning things you get nothing done. 🙃
So I decided to make a list of the projects I have on my mind…and by sharing them with you, commit to them, and maybe inspire you to create your own day planner/wallhanging/art and art display. 🤓

1️⃣ First I wanna update you on the day planner…if you missed it- here’s the beginning
Since that post went public I’ve made 2 more calendar pages -the other 8 are going onto the to-do list 😋

2️⃣ Next on my list is a new ‘spring-y’ wallhanging 🌺
Remember the felted one? This one is similar, except the background is not a piece of felted wool sweater. For this one I crocheted a rectangle with Bouclé yarn.
If you would like to make one, it’s really quite simple…
1. Crochet 28 chain stitches (that number is really up to you, it depends on the desired size of your piece… maybe you want to make a blanket 😊 it just has to be an even number)
2. Place a double-crochet stitch in the 3rd chain from the hook. *Chain 2, and place a double-crochet stitch in the 2nd chain stitch. Repeat from * until your piece is the desired size. Then pick your ‘wool fluff’ and start decorating! Have Fun! 😀
Here’s my ‘wip’…

For a quick no-sew solution, simply clip some ‘Café Rod’ clips to the top and thread on a rod or a skinny branch (my favorite 😌)

3️⃣ Painting a frame is up next.
I’ve had this print in my store when it first opened, when it was ‘Beads for Belles’. Quite fitting, don’t you think? 😊

Well, since then I changed the name to ‘Kristabella’, and also the decor and feel of the store. So, home with me it went. It really doesn’t go with anything here…what to do 🤔
A new print and some chalk paint! Got both – next thing on the to-do list 😏

I will show you the result soon!

4️⃣ Then there is the stack of wool sweaters and pretty fabrics waiting to be turned into pretty pillows, arm warmers, and wall decor – next on the to-do list- man, that thing is growing fast 😆 – so I can restock my somewhat depleted Etsy shop.

5️⃣ Last, but not least…a finished project! My growing- quite literally 😉- plant collection. As I mentioned before in Roommate: Mother Nature , I can finally buy and keep plants. Here’s the latest addition

It seems I can’t stop buying plants, cacti, succulents 💕

Here I took some minis, and replanted them into these pretty pots

Behind the pink top you can see that I’m trying to propagate some succulents. I’ll keep you posted-if you never hear about it again, it didn’t work 😂
I wanna say that’s it for now, but I’ll probably think of more projects you don’t wanna miss. 🤗 So please look for the next entry in my ‘Project Diary’!
Until then

~ Tina xoxo

 

 

 

 

 

 

Create your artsy Daily Planner/Calendar

Well, hello there 😊Good to see you here in the new year! Speaking of which, isn’t one of the best things about January 1st the opening of a brand new daily planner and calendar? I love the possibilities it represents…and am always very excited to fill it with plans/birthdays/memories! 💖

This time around I had a hard time finding one that got me excited, spoke to me. So ‘New Year’s Eve’ came and went…no new planner 😢 That conundrum combined with all the posts about the new year being an empty book- I love that thought! – gave me the idea to create my own! 😬 

Today I’d like to share with you the way I went about it, and show you the first few pages. 

Lately I’ve been painting on canvas, but I knew I had a sketchbook laying around somewhere…ahhh – here it is…

First I painted one of my ‘HippieDippie Owls’ (my favorite subject – for now 🤓) for the cover. I plan to glue/ModPodge it on the cover once it’s dry- I used oil paint, so it will be a few more days 😋

Next I measured the page, penciled in the boxes for the days, then traced the lines with a Painter’s Pen. 

After the numbers and the month were filled in …

…the fun-part began – the artwork 😍

That’s all I have so far- I will post an update when  the calendar is complete. 🤗

I hope I inspired you to make your own planner, and that you will share your creation with me! 💕

Until next time 

~Tina xoxo 

Paint a ‘Color~Field’

If you like to dabble with paint and are out of ideas, Muse is escaping you, or just want a quick, colorful piece of original art in your house – paint a ‘Color ~Field’ 😊 For inspiration check out the works of Helen Frankenthaler, Morris Louis, and Kenneth Nolan.

The basics are really quite simple. All you need is

~ a stretched canvas- you can pick them up at your favorite hobby store, or even at Walmart
~ a wide paintbrush
~2 different colors acrylic paint
~Isopropyl Alcohol (70% is fine, 91% will create a bigger contrast)

~1. Paint your canvas – since the canvas is textured you might need two layers.
Let dry completely. Clean your brush under running water.

~2. In a small plastic- or paper cup mix two parts water to one part contrast paint.

~3. Use the brush to coat the entire canvas with the mixture.
Do not let dry!

~4.  Pour a small amount of alcohol into a small cup. Using an eyedropper drip alcohol onto the canvas before the paint dries.
I have used a Q-tip before – just remove the cotton, and flick the alcohol onto the paint.

Pretty nifty, huh?
Let it dry completely, paint the sides, and you have an awesome, original, made-by-you piece of art in your home! 💕

Here are 2 more pieces I made

To personalize your creation you can embellish it with a photo, a pretty magazine picture, a pressed flower or leaf, a doily…. anything you love, really. Just set it on the dried canvas, and apply a thin coat of ‘Mod-Podge’.
For example…

Now go get creating…can’t wait to see what you did! 🤗

Until next time
~Tina xoxo