Day 53: Skinny-legged Bird

This bird is tiny and supposedly it would take only about an hour so that suited me today as we spent most of the day on the boat....That is before I got it wrong three times and had to rip and sew again. Then i felt like giving up and posting my miserable little fabric patch but then I thought no, i'll patch it up. So I did. It turned out quite funny with it's tall legs and it can sort of stand...I like it. 

If you want to make one of your own, here is how: http://jennysbuttonjar.files.wordpress.com/2012/02/little-birdie-project.pdf

It is a project from Jenny's Button Jar-blog.

More about our boating adventures are available here:

http://littlepearlboat.blogspot.com/

Day 52: Small Bag Tutorial - Superquick

I like to keep my big bag tidy so I tend to put stuff away in smaller bags, this can be a snack bag, or make up bag or put anything you like in it bag. Takes minutes to make and there are no zips, buttons, nothing just a flap that keeps everything in. 

1. Take a piece of fabric, mine is 43 x 16cm (17x6in).

2. Fold on one end. This will be your flap so decide how large you want it to be. Remember to fold in and hem both edges before sewing it together.

3. Fold the other end over the first one, don't think about it, just fold it on top.

4. Sew the edges, the whole sides and zig-zag so they won't fray.

5. Turn it right side out and you will have a bag with a top flap to stuff your trinkets in. Or you could also make a pillow case using exactly the same technique.

Day 51: Hand-Made Book

It has been aaaages since I made a book, I used to make them quite often but then I just stopped. So here is one to revive old skills. A softbound fabric sketchbook, only about 10-15cm with 10 pages. Here is how to make it:

1. Cut out you fabric in desired shape and apply Bondaweb (it's a type of iron-on fabric straightener, keeps all edges from fraying and gives stability)

2. Hem all you edges.

3. Cut out a piece of pretty paper for inside of book, choose a sturdier paper. Glue it together ( i used spray glue).

4. Cut your white papers for pages and fold in the middle, one by one. 

5. Put everything together and run it through the sewing machine on straight stitch, make sure you tie knots on the ends so it doesn't unravel. 

6. Ta-daaaa! Give it to someone you love!

Day 50: One for the kids

I found this little project while browsing internet, looking for ideas and it really brought out the kid in me. Basically take two pieces of paper, draw a cloud shape with a little face. Fill with cotton balls or some sort of stuffing. Curt some papers in ribbons but cut them in sections so they hang together on the top. Staple round the top, insert ribbons (can be in rainbow colors too), staple the bottom together. Don't forget to fill before you staple it shut and take care while cutting shape not to cut ribbons off (i did). And there you go, a happy little cloud to put on a wall...

Day 49: Soap carving

Always wanted to try my hand at carving, I really wanted to carve in wood but it is not that easy to get hold of so soap it is...This little fellow is a 5cm, carved from half of hand soap. It was fun, I might try something a bit more complicated next time, the key seem to be a small knife..

Day 48: Little Bird Keyring

In one of crafting papers I got a little kit to make a keyring babuska but I didn't like their design very much. I have made a babuska earlier that I think is much cuter but anyway, would be a pity to waste the kit. So I made a little bird keyring using materials provided with exeptance of yellow felt dots. Cute.

Here is a babuska I made earlier...

Day 47: Oil-Painting Thursdays

All my previous attempts in painting oils have turned into mud so I decided to go on a course and learn properly. This is my take on a cheeta that has been painted by a canadian artist who's name i cant remember. 

I will be doing this every thursday for several weeks now, plenty of time to make a mess out of it :)

Day 46: Toy Mouse Part 2

Now mouse has a face and some trousers, believe it or not, it took me about hour and a half to figure out those trousers...i did have a pattern...Ambition was to create a small waitscoat as well but that will have to be tomorrow.

Day 45: Toy Mouse Part 1

3 hours of work equal small stuffed toy mouse....The pattern was new to me and I chose a fabric that was tougher then it's supposed to be so I ended up hand sewing most of it. As I am exhausted now, after full days work as well, I think I will leave mouse clothes for tomorrow...

Day 44: Fox and Bird on tissue paper

This is one of my doodles that happen mainly while waiting in a cafe for a cup of something nice. This is drawn in pen on a tissue paper as that was all that was available but I really like it. The plan is to make it into something but time is a premium at the moment so we'll see what happens...

Day 43: Boy and Horse

Day 42: Owl and Mouse

Owl and Mouse is second version of same little painting. I was looking into Chris Berens' painting techniques and tried some layering. This picture is painted on transparent paper in different colors and then glued together with varnish. The transparency is nice but I don't like the way it creased. Now I have some old fashioned photographic paper, which is what he uses, to further my experiments...

Day 41: Talking to birds 4

This is a picture in Talking to birds-series. I found this picture of a Squacco Heron hunting and thought that would be really intimidating if birds were that large, looking at us as if we were pray. 

Day 39 &40: days away from studio

Slim pickings for these last two days, I definitely have to put some thought into how to tackle days away as they seem to accumulate. Day 39 I managed to take two photos, this one is a better one :(

On day 40 I drew a fish with kids crayons as that was all that was available. I'm quite happy with that one though :)

Day 38: Star-Dog

Star-dog was my project for day 38 but as I didn't save it properly, pictures disappeared and then we had to go away and I couldn't rectify the situation. Now we are back and here he is, all toothy and happy. I had starts on my mind that whole day and it reflected in the work.

Day 37: Cat for the girl

Liked making my art doll that much, I decided to give her a little friend; cat.

Day 36: Time for a photo

I haven't done any photos yet, so I decided to rectify that. We often go to a bird centre close to us, called Gauntlet. Saying that we always choose a really cold day to go on. Anyway they have some great birds but they are also very caring and responsible about their birds. They also happen to feed them chicks so this picture is not for sensitive souls but it is a great picture of an owl (don't ask me what kind). Owls are my favourite birds, I was a bit miffed as at some point I read they were really stupid but they say that for cats too, so I don't believe that garbage. Owls are great. 

So great are they that I spontaneously made a sketch of an owl! That turned out a bit cross-eyed...

And then I decided to treat you to this great photo of me attempting to put rollers in my hair for the first time in my life, I'm 32 don't know if that is embarrassing or not, but hey there is always room for firsts. The hair was not looking to bad after that, no re-washing business needed so that was good:) Hair styling is definitely creative!

Day 35: Art-doll

Since I have been poorly for few days my making has been non-exsisting, fever and sewing machine are not best friends. Today, as I feel better and as my blog has been featured on http://makesomething365.blogspot.com/ yay!! I decided I am well enough to continue. I think I will just add these three days on and if it takes longer then a year to complete, so what...

Anyway, I went back into the studio and already felt that little devil called lazyness telling me that I was maybe feeling too tired and maybe not good enough and maybe I should go back to telly instead. Seeing right through that, I decided to make a clutch bag...yeah, if my fuzzy brain could put instructions together I would have made one. Instructions read as well as hieroglyphs so I abandoned that, instead I decided to make a doll. But not one of those complicated with all the joints and stuff but a one piece one.

This doll, who is still nameless is made in one piece following instructions by Mindy Lacefield, http://www.timssally.com/.

Basically instructions are as follows. Cut one piece of calico and draw a doll shape on it with soft pencil. Paint face with white acrylic and when dry use acrylics to paint in the features. Transfer shape of dress on to a tissue paper and cut out. Then glue scrap paper on top of the tissue paper. ( I used an old National Geographic) When dry, machine stitch paper dress on top of calico. When you are happy with your embellishments  add another piece of calico to be back of the doll, sew all around, I did not turn this doll so seams are visible. Leave one side open to stuff through or cut in the back.

When the doll gets stuffed it kind of changes appearance which I was a bit unexpected but fun... 

So it has been very quiet

here for three days as I have been very sick and in bed. But feeling better today so it is time to get going again. Feel a bit split to what to do, should I just get going as usual with whatever I feel like or should I try some more structured approach. I am feeling that kid in the candy shop approach is fading a bit,,,so I will have to think about that...

Day 34: Timmy the Tailless Mouse

Erhm, this was supposed to be a teddy but then it turned into a mouse...

Day 33: My own mug

Few months back I had yet another of my brilliant ideas and decided that a shop on Etsy was the right way forward. the problem of course is that I never have anything coherent to sell as I make whatever takes my fancy and have zero patience sticking to one thing. The only coherent thing I do are my icons but they take too long and are very expensive so not really the right market for those.

Anyway, I came up wit this world-domination-idea of painting china mugs and in my eagerness I trotted off and bought about 50 mugs :) ...when I explained my marvellous idea to my good friend Carolin, she only raised an eyebrow...that says it all really.

But I continued with my super plan and got a marker that I thought was black, turned out it was white, then I got a black one, then I got sidetracked with other stuff....

So here it is..tadaaa... a cup with my own design, only 49 to go...But I do like it...so maybe it's not a completely daft idea...

Day 32: Swedish Semla (almond bun)

Baking is definitively a creative practice. Here we have some Swedish almond buns with cream, it is a traditional cake eaten about this time of year and you get them in all cafes in sweden but obviously I am not there, so I decided to treat my english husband to one. He took the largest one :)

I haven't baked since Christmas so it felt good to be up to the elbows in flour again. Secret to good baking is definitely love. I tend to bake when I feel happy and loved because then the cakes come out right. 

I have been baking since early childhood, my mother is a marvellous baker and my whole female side of family are known for their baking abilities, but unfortunately my mama tended to be a bit harsh with her expectations so I stopped baking for years. It is only recently I have re- discovered my love for baking and that I'm quite good at it. My favourites are bagels to which I refer to as my chubby children, all shiny and fat. :) I have to hold back on it a bit, otherwise my husband, who is a great fan, will end up looking like a bagel.

Day 31: death of an Unicorn III AND Talking to Birds I

The first picture is 'Death of an Unicorn" version three, I don't really know wht happened with my first two attempts. it was like I went backwards several years to the way I used to draw and then I snapped out of it. This version is quite Paula Rego-esk, without any intention to make it so, funny what mind retains because I never got her art by I guess my sub-conscioussness did...

Drawing number two is on theme 'Talking to Birds' as suggested by a friend of mine. I have been thinking about it for a while and have tried some other birds then i happened upon this picture of fierce falcons. I wanted the birds to be large and person small but drawing a giant chicken was not really it, although funny..maybe i'll try that. If you would like me to draw/make anything you only need to ask..

Day 30: A small painting

This painting is actually something I made quite a while ago but I didn't really have the skills to finish it to my satisfaction. Since then my skills have increased so I decided to have another go and sort it out. It is a small painting of happy buddha with turtle, made for my husband. It is painted using traditional egg tempera and 22ct gold on gessoed panel. 

Day 29: Polar Bear

I downloaded a free app today with pictures of wild life and liked this polar bear so much that I made a drawing out of it. It looks kind of stoic, if I may say so :) Otherwise I have been painting whole day long and I am really tired now...

Day 28: Happy Little Horse

I'm posting lots of drawings at the moment because my work is taking me that way. I am actually working on an important painting, important to me that is, so I don't really have time to drag the sewing machine out as it tends to take up the whole day but it will be back. 

Anyhow, here is a portrait of an icelandic horse who turned out like a quite happy little chap, with a smile and all...