we're not kids anymore.
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Peter Solarz
RMH
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Xuebing Du
will byers stan first human second
Kiana Khansmith
cherry valley forever
Kaledo Art
One Nice Bug Per Day
todays bird
almost home
Cosimo Galluzzi
titsay
ojovivo
Product Placement
izzy's playlists!
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sheepfilms
seen from Argentina
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@madebyvina
Still Lives in Watercolor
Watercolor Studio at Art Annex with Susan Greenstein Feb 12, 2025: Different viewpoints, using a giant brush Feb 5, 2025: (forgot the prompt here) Feb 5, 2025: Wet on wet exploration and overlapping dry shapes Jan 29, 2025: Same scene, two starting methods Jan 15, 2025: Studies with a two-color palette
Chipmunk Cabin
Watercolor Shapes
Watercolor Orchid Studies
Vegetables!
Corner Dollhouse
A more appropriately sized mouse-house to live in our small apartment. Third time’s a charm! Plans, paper mock up, and color studies. After, lots of cutting, sanding, glueing and painting. Spiral popsicle-stick staircase, stained to match the floors. Perfectly sized for mice! What’s a home without a “quilt” (made of hand-woven scraps) Home sweet home!
Nesting Dollhouse
Watercolor sketch of a little nesting two-room (plus balcony) dollhouse Now that it’s built, this might be a little more space than I can handle furnishing and decorating… Luckily, it packs away relatively compact. These are not the appropriate tools for such a project… Paper mockup Elevation plans
Flowers
Brooklyn Botanic Garden / Aug 16, 2023 / Caran d’Ache in Komtrak notebook Peruvian Lily / Jul 31, 2023 / Caran d’Ache in Komtrak notebook Flower boxes at Cafe Grumpy / Jul 31, 2023 / Caran d’Ache in Komtrak notebook Flowers at Brooklyn Botanic Garden | July 13, 2023 | Caran d’Ache in Komtrak notebook Dahlias / July 13, 2023 / watercolor in Artist’s Loft notebook Flowers at Cafe Grumpy / June…
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Watercolor Color Kits and Studies
CaranD’Ache Neocolor II Aquarelle. I’ve been exclusively using these in my small pocket notebook (bottom right). For the most part, I’ve been dipping a water brush directly onto the crayons, and mixing on the page, but I just learned I could sharpen them into pans and wet the shavings. Here they are shaved into half pans in an Altoid’ Smalls tin. Rembrandt Watercolors in Art Toolkit’s Demi…
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Nature Paintings
Flowers at Brooklyn Botanic Garden, July 13, 2023 Jazzy Leaf at Brooklyn Botanic Garden, July 13, 2023 Dahlias, July 13, 2023 Road Trip, July 2, 2023 Backyard Hostas, June 24, 2023 Caramels at Tybee Beach, June 24, 2023
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Plein Air Painting Workshop
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cat hammock + scratching post
broken hamper + shearling coat lining = cat hammock!
The cat needed another, cat bed... but elevated!
My husband had a nice wooden-framed hamper, but eventually the straps on the bag broke beyond repair.
And...
I had an old hand-me-down coat that I kept intending to alter, but never got around to it. (Sadly, I did not take a photo of the coat.)
[image here]
Due to a lack of sisal to create the intended scratching post, there was an interim version with just the hamper frame and the hammock, which caused a dramatic slow-motion cat-tastrophy. Luckily, some repurposed cotton rope stabilized the frame, and created the intended scratching post. (Once I get more rope, or some sisal, I'll continue wrapping the scratching panel, as originally intended, to hide the support.)
[image here, caption The cat seems to like it.]
pennants
So, I started making pennants...
Each is the same size and shape, and hand-sewn using different stitches. Theoretically, this will remind me how to sew, and be a good use of random small scraps of fabric.
After the first couple, chopsticks weren't doing it for me. Initially, I thought I could press the ends of a metal tubes together, punch a hole through the flat area (as is sometimes done in jewelry making) and string the tubes together with s-hooks.
However, the tubing I bought was a little too thick for that plan. No matter—some left over wire, threaded through the cut tubes and folded over, did the trick!
Additionally, hanging them on a chain, rather than just stringing them together with the hooks, lets me replace or move them as I add, or—procrastinate, as you can see from the three that are still in pins awaiting stitches.
More to come!
matching benches
Last year, I found a piano bench on Etsy, and thought, with a new cushion, it would be perfect fit for my keyboard. It arrived, I did made a very quick cover with a staple gun and (not enough) scrap fabric. It was useable, but not ideal.
Then recently, I found an antique footstool at Brimfield Antique Market that looked like a tiny version of the piano bench! Creating a matching pair seemed like a good reason to take a trip to Joe’s Fabric, and to take a second (more thoroughly researched) pass at learning how to reupholster.
The footstool had many layers of stuffing, including a layer of horsehair, that seemed like a form of craftsmanship I'm not prepared to attempt to recreate. It was sad to replace all this with a polyester cushion, but at least now the cat is less interested in destroying it…
Many upholstery tacks later, they match!
Next time, I'll use a layer an extra layer of fabric to smooth out the edges more, and probably a stiffer stuffing, but for now I think they'll do.
Note: I bought waaaay too much fabric, so it will likely show up in many future posts.
leather working 101
I spent this past weekend learning how to work with leather at the Textile Arts Center. Our excellent teacher, Kat Roberts taught our 9-student class how to make patterns, and turn them into handmade leather pieces by way of 3 projects. Here are my results: Day 1, morning: design a cuff Our first project was to design a cuff because it lays flat, but changes shape on your wrist. My pattern was…
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drawstring bag I found some reversible fabric, and matching cord that I couldn't pass up, and made a little backpack/purse.
tote to backpack conversion
We have no shortage of reusable tote bags around the house, but sometimes you just need a backpack.
I found a cool looking (and very cheap) tote bag at Uniqlo, and thought it would be a good test subject. But first! The first test: The bag I started with was not my cup of tea, and straps were a tad short, but overall, it worked as planned! On to the Uniqlo bag! I carefully removed the stitching from the straps, and reattached them with snaps on the front top opening and rivets (with little…
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