Little Knitted Purses

I learned to knit when I was young and did some sweaters, etc. Got away from it. Went back to it.........you got the picture. Well, when my Mom was very ill, I went to Oregon to care for her. I started knitting again while I was there. It was something I could do with little supplies while sitting with her. I knitted several afghans while I was sitting with her which I gave to her special friends so they would have something that I did for Mom for them. While I was up in the Northwest, I was able to go to ArtFest and I had this thought of making a bunch of these for trades. Some of them did not have chains on them and were just little knitted pouches with stuff inside. I think I ended up doing about 100 of them. I so wish I had the pictures of all of them but they were lost in a computer disaster. I did them all different and in many different sizes and shapes and used many different kinds of fancy yarns plus a worsted weight yarn. That way, they had more substance to them. I just ran across a few the other day so I had to share.

Giveaway--Deadline to Post is Tomorrow at Midnight

Just a reminder that I am giving away some things of mine to the lucky winner or perhaps winners on the January 11th post. It is entitled Giveaway....Celebrating My New Blog. You can click on it on the sidebar to your right. You need to leave a comment on that post to be eligible. It might be a box of goodies or something handmade or both.....who knows. I will announce the winner on the 19th.

The Paint Station

On one side of this room, I have two 6 foot tables which are adjusted high so I can stand and work. Really like standing better than sitting for most things. On this table I use it to paint canvas and fabric with acrylic paints and also decorate and paint paper to use in my artwork using Adirondack Color Wash Sprays and dye ink reinker sprays. I really like doing this part as well as making the items out of the painted canvas and paper.

At the back of the table are a bunch of blue cabinets which you find at Home Depot, Harbor Freight, etc. which hold a lot of trinkets, embellishments, etc. to use in my work. They are so handy to have in view. They are actually sitting in part of the bay window there which I put to good use. What you don't see in this picture is what those cabinets are sitting on........12 x 12 boxes of gorgeous papers.

On top of the blue cabinets are containers for Jelly Belly candy. I found these in Ellensburg, Washington, at a big yard sale that was being held for my nephew's daughter, Caitlin Calhoun, to raise money for her to go to Scotland to work with the Youth for Christ organization. I have a lot of thrift store goodies in those containers and they hold so much.........the attached scoops were still attached to the containers and inside the box was a bunch of the JB plastic bags.



This table is lined with plastic so I really don't care how much paint or ink it gets. Also, when I am painting pieces, etc, I work on a stack of either paper towels or papers and when they get enough paint, designs, etc on them, I use them for other projects. Nothing goes to waste in my world.

Fabric, Paints and Paper.....Oh My

This is a piece I did a while back while just playing around. I looked at it today and thought about using it but I like it so well that I put it back down. Just need to make another piece like it. I found a bag of cut up fabric (I think it was 2" squares) that was probably going to be a quilt or something.....at a thrift store....of course. I put down one layer of paint and then I randomly put down squares of fabric with gel medium. Then I did another light layer of paint and then did some dry brushing of different colors on it. The circles were created by using a prescription bottle and putting the rim of the open bottle in paint and then down on the piece to make another layer on it.

It Used to Hold Candy and Such.......Now It Holds Good Ole' Junk Stuff

I walked into a thrift store last year and from afar I saw this wonderful old stand that probably used to hold candy or such but all I saw was what a great thing to hold all my junk stuff. It is five layers and six containers for each layer and it swivels around too. I couldn't get to it fast enough. And to my delight when I went to pay for it, she told me that it was a 50% off day.........oh be still my heart.

A lot of the stuff in those jars are from the thrift stores too. I have spent a few years collecting all that good stuff and it is so handy now to just twirl the layers and see what will work for a particular project. You know the old say, out of sight, out of mind.........very true.....you just forget about it but not now.

Pages in a Travel Jourrnal

Here are some pages that I made for a travel journal back in October. There are lots of pages that will hold things like Artist Trading Cards, pamphlets, postcards, etc. All the papers and/or canvas was painted by me and sewed on the machine. I also have a picture of a couple Artist Trading Card holders. I did about 200 of these with ATCs to trade. On some of them I used my hand painted papers and some of them are scrapbook papers. The covers of the book and some pages that have zippers are canvas that I decorated. All of the ideas of these pages were mine and I had fun creating them.

Altering Composition Books

I altered a couple of those $1 composition books........I thought the cover needed a little pick-me-up. I used plumber's tape that comes in a roll, embossed it with a cuttlebug embossing folder, colored it with alcohol inks and added nailheads. After doing those steps, I glued it to the book covers. I also did the inside completely. The one with my name on it, I used metal pieces that I colored with alcohol inks from my stash and added the appropriate letters to spell my name.





Here are some watercolor papers that I colored for the signatures of the books. You know I can have any "white" pages anywhere around me.