So here are my results. The first four cards feature art work designed by myself just for them.
So it's been a while since my last post but I've been busy with several craft projects and ideas. Since the Holiday Season is nearly here I've been focusing in that general direction. Mostly with hand made Halloween cards. My first ever attempt at them, as a matter of fact. I didn't really want to post anything about them until I was certain this was a craft I would enjoy and could do reasonably well. So here are my results. The first four cards feature art work designed by myself just for them. The last two feature stamps I bought to try out. I wanted to see if that would be something I would in enjoy as well. Turns out I do. I think this is something that I will be doing a lot of in the future. It's a surprisingly relaxing craft to me. A simple way to be creative and end up with something useful. I have not decided who will get the cards, but I figure that will be decided before the end of the month.
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I've been working on several ideas involving the Derwent Inktense Pencils over the weekend and this evening. The first was testing the idea of dying fabric using the pencils. I have to say I like the way the fabric turned out. This was a wet on wet application so the colors could bleed and blend into each other. I didn't want a straight line one color kind of looks. The next was a Tutorial involving the Pencils and some beautiful white lace I have in my sewing stash. I like the way they turned out too. If you wish to see the Dying Lace Tutorial you can click on the picture below and it will take you too it. Both of these will be used soon to work on several doll outfits I have in mind. Some to get the fabrics I chose to work better together and to get the look I want. Sometimes you just want something a little different from the patterned fabrics you have without loosing the pattern. The good thing about using the Pencils for this is the fact they add color without hiding the patterns.
I'll try to remember to take pictures along the way so you can see my progress. So as I posted earlier I received my pencils in the mail Friday and have been playing since. The fist experiment was to see how well they'd work for me in painting a drawing I've done. It was surprisingly easier than I thought it would be. Forgive the wonky look of it. This was cheap watercolor paper and bulked under the water used on it. I will test ways to straighten it out again after the ink has dried. I'm still working on the background so that doesn't bother me too much. Here are the results of the first experiment. I'll let you guess who she is supposed to be. I will say that all the clues are in the picture.
Enjoy! This past weekend was a long three day one. Three lovely days off work. What to do with them...
I won't lie I spent part of it sleeping. I think the shift in weather or seasons changing has messed with my head. I kept getting these stubborn little mini migraines as I call them. They are like the start of one but not quite one full blown. Enough to be annoying into a dark room and quite to get away from it. Sometimes that is the only way to deal with them that has ever worked for me consistently. The rest was hanging with the family and playing with my new Derwent Inktense Pencils. They arrived Friday and I couldn't be happier with them. Once I figured out how they worked for me I got started. Trouble is I was having so much fun I kept forgetting to take pictures along the way. I promise one this evening. What did I learn? Well, I learned I need a better grade of watercolor paper for one thing. I'll be the first to admit that painting pictures has never really held any appeal for me. I just never found the level of comfort in paint that I have with pencil and pens. So the only watercolor paper I had on hand was from a cheap packet I bought years ago in an attempt to find some way of getting enjoyment out of a set of paints I was given. I failed. But the Inktense is so different from the paints it was enough to make me pull it out again. The way they go from slightly dull to completely vibrant had me giddy. It was magic. Almost like those coloring books from when I was little. You remember the one where you got a paint brush and the instructions were to "Wet the page and watch the color magically appear." These pencils brought the memories back, but in a better way. Now I got to choose the colors and where they went. Something I always wanted to do. The second thing I learned was just how easy they worked for me. I could draw what I wanted and then used a little water to fill it in. That was it. No mixing colors, unless I wanted to, and no guidelines to follow. It was just creativity as free as the wind. I think this might just add more to my crafting in another way as well. That's where the next set of experiments will come in at. Something I watched on youtube caught my interest. It's called Painting on Fabric with Kathy McNeil. She shows you how to use Inktense to alter the colors of your fabric. I watched it over and over. I want to try something like that with mine. if you get the chance I recommend watching it. That's my next experiment with them. I will try to remember to take pictures this time. I'm still waiting for my Derwent Inktense Pencils to arrive. According to the Tracking they should arrive at my post office later this evening and be ready to pick up tomorrow. Not bad seeing how I ordered them only Monday.
Still the waiting is killing me. I want to try them out like crazy to see how they work. If they work as well as I hope they do I have several projects to try them on. Some drawing, and some fabric based projects. Either way from all I've learned about them they should work fine for both. We'll see. In the mean time I'm working on a sketch for Halloween. Might seem early to start thinking Halloween for most people, but for me it starts in May. I know, I know, but it's my favorite holiday. I am trying things a little differently this year than before. I actually have plans for projects in the works. Almost two months should be long enough to get most if not all of them done. I'd love to post pictures of the sketch I'm working on but I rarely show first sketches. My sketches are very sloppy and sometimes hard to figure out. I promise to post something here about them as soon as I can. In the mean time enjoy looking at one of my dolls. She's named Brigid and the puppy on her knee is Pea. Well the work space is finally back in order. Actually it was back in order Monday evening, but I got busy and forgot to do anything for the blog. It's nice to know I now have enough space to be creative when the muse hits. So what's the first thing I'm going to post about? Wait and see. I have a few ideas floating around in my head to start off with. I'll be sure to get things together and post about them tonight. In the mean time let's talk Inktense Pencils. These beauties are Derwent Inktense Water Soluble Pencils. Think Water Color pencils in how they work. They have two major differences though. First, these are ink based pencils not paint. That means when the water hits them to spread and blend the color you are working with liquid ink not paint. The second major difference is after these dry the color is fixed and permanent. Unlike water color you can't go back and move the color around again with more water.
Intense is a good name for them as the colors are intense and vibrant. Though when they are dry the colors look darker and muted the magic happens with water. They come alive. The more water you add the lighter the color will be. But you can simply add more to darken it again. An added benefit of the permanence of them is the layering you can do. Once a color has dried you can layer another one over it without messing up the first layer. The second color will be translucent allowing the first color to show through. The more you add the less this effect is visible. So I ordered a pack of the 24set and they should arrive sometime this week. Once they do I will post on here a little more about them. What I learn and how they work in person compared to the videos I've seen on youtube. By the way, watch a few if you are curious about them. Here's a link to my favorite one. Inktense It has good tips and tricks in it. Enjoy! I could have spent the weekend doing many creative things. Maybe I could have started one of the things on my list. I could have sewn something in the two days, but no. I had to get my work space in order first. Two days of cleaning and it is just about back to the way I want it.
Why two days? Well, I'm a messy crafter. I mean if I'm sewing and something else pops into my head I stop what I'm working on to start what occurred to me. This usually happens a lot which adds to the piles on my work table, not the mention my ever growing list. So, when I clean I am really reorganizing the projects, cleaning up bits and pieces pulled out for all of them, and generally finding what I miss placed. This weekend the thing that took the longest was my embroidery floss. I wanted it to be organized into the case I have especially for it. That meant spoiling all of it onto embroidery bobbins. One at a time. Through every color. And I have a lot of them. So that's how I spent my weekend. Hopefully I will have something more interesting to post about tomorrow. How is that this year is almost to a close before I realized it? I swear I woke up yesterday and it was early May and now it's almost September. Well, I suppose with a new month and the kick off of a new blog I should come up with a new Project list for next month. Old Project List: Finish the Forest Fey outfit. That would be this one. I do have the drape for the back of the vest all beaded. Trouble is this sort of work takes far longer than I want it to. It took me a whole week, time totaled up, to just glue those tiny micro beads on the lace. Now I'm working on finishing the under corset, and trying to successfully draft a working pants pattern for my Ju. I have the worst luck drafting pants patterns. Project two: Finish drafting patterns for Picco Neemo Pirate outfit and Obitsu 25cm Pirate outfit. Now I do have several of the pieces for it already drafted and tested for the Picco Neemo. The vest, the pants, and even the under shirt have been drafted. To see them check out the Picco Neemo Sewing page in my Gallery. Still, I had to wait until I got a pair of shoes that would fit her to make the spats and now I need to finish the jacket pattern. Project three: Finish the pants patterning for the Ruby Witch. I have a lot of work done on this concept as it was really meant for this doll to have two outfits. The first one is done, I have her rerooted and repainted, and I have one of her props done as well. Project four: Embroidering my Witch for Halloween
Now I have already started this one but since I am still learning to embroider I do not have current pictures of it yet. I have given myself two months to complete it on time. Hopefully, that will work out. That is quite a few things to complete this month, but I think if I buckle down I might just be able to do it. I have had a picture in my head for a while now of a drawing I wanted to do for my mother. A while ago I drew the rough draft of it. I liked the way it looked but didn't want to transfer it from the sketch to the working paper until I had a light box to work on. At first I tried building one, but that is far easier said than done. Then I I found one on Amazon that was in my budget range. A Huion Led Light Pad which worked brilliantly. Here is the light box all sleek and light weight. Isn't it a lovely thing to look at? Well I got it in the mail and the first thing I wanted to work on with it was the drawing for Mom. So over the last week I've been slowly turning the sketch into a completed drawing. I call it Mother of Valkyrie Guardian of the Unborn.
There is a story behind the drawing and why I chose this for my Mother, but it is rather personal to her. I won't explain it here unless she says I can. Well it is taking a little longer than I thought it would to get things set up. I'm working on the Gallery today. Maybe by this weekend it will be all up and running with a few more posts on the blog, and in the tutorial section. We'll see.
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April 2022
AuthorI am a creative person seeking more knowledge to better my creative endeavors. |