something on the wall and some daffodils

I love daffodils. They're such a happy, humble, friendly flower.

After seeing this on Pinterest (a dangerously addictive place), I was inspired to create my own canvas. I like how the lyrics roll into the wooden letters beneath. That was completely intentional, you know. I didn't need it to be pointed out by someone else. Nope. Not me.

How To: make a canvas with a baby footprint

Surely this is one of those things which really doesn't need a tutorial, right? Surely you just brush a bit of paint onto the sole of your baby's foot and make the print onto a prepared canvas, perhaps in a co-ordinating colour, with very little effort.

Right.

Good luck with that.

The people who think that clearly don't take into account the fact that the tiny person who owns the foot MOVES. They also don't tell you that the tiny person will move EVEN MORE if someone is tickling their foot with a paintbrush.

Here was my first attempt at recording the footprints of my newest godson.

4 toes on the left foot and 6 toes on the enormous right foot.

All was going well (and by well, I mean that the paint had stayed on his foot while he was kicking it about and all clothing was paint-free) as I was guiding the tiny foot towards the canvas. At the last minute, he moved. That was the left foot. Not quite as central as I was hoping. He was even less keen on helping me out with the right foot, which is how we ended up with this.

Our second attempt was better.

The winning formula:

Wait until the baby is comfortably sedated during a feed. Get the room to a comfortable temperate and remove trousers so that you're working with bare legs (bear legs are a whole other issue). Be aware that there may be a sudden kick of a painted foot, so move silk cushions out of the way. Have a few canvases on standby, so that there's not so much pressure to get it right first time. Apply the paint to ONE FOOT with a sponge. Do not use a paintbrush. Firmly guide the foot to the canvas (yes, while he's feeding) and be sure to press the toes down (unless you want a toeless foot). HAVE THE BABYWIPES ON STANDBY. Once the first foot is done, move the canvas out of the way and clean the foot with a babywipe. Repeat with the second foot.

Much better, don't you think?

Now, how about a hand?

The best formula we found for the handprint was to follow the formula from above BUT, it's all about which hand you choose and how sedated your baby is. The above print was one where he curled his thumb around (hence why we were unable to flatten his wee hand).

If your baby is feeding on his side with one arm reaching towards his mum's neck and his other arm flopped towards her belly, choose the one near the belly. Make sure it's spread when guiding the canvas towards it and be sure to press down the fingers. Clean it with a babywipe immediately. Unless you fancy getting paint on your clothes, sofa, blankets, cushions and hair.

Finish it off with adding the date and it's ready to go on the wall.

Of course, you could just wait until the baby is sleeping to do all of this.

hope

I have no idea where this blog is going. I don't have a business plan of any sort. The only real 'goal' I have in terms of this blog is to be a bit less of a jack of all trades and master of none. If I could hone in on the things I do a bit better, and get even better, that would be good. But it's nice that, while I bumble along here (I love the word bumble, don't you? Say it. Bumble.) you lovely folk are bumbling along with me. Thanks for that.

I've always been a great planner. I like to make lists and tick things off. And, if I do/pack something which wasn't on the list, I'll write it on there so that I can tick it off. I doubt I'm the only one who does that. But all of my big life plans fell flat on their face when I got ill, 5 years ago. So these days, I make small plans (like deciding to learn the cello - oh yes!) and I think about the bigger plans, but I try not to hinge my happiness upon them. Only God knows that's going to happen next. Anyway...

Here's some paint I chucked at a canvas.

Here's a tip for you: if you plan on making a piece of art which involves flicking paint, be sure to cover everything (apart from the thing on which you want the paint to land, obviously). If you are foolish enough to do it on the floor in the kitchen, don't be surprised when you find paint on your table legs and cupboard doors. And, if you're flicking the paint from the actual paintbrush (by tapping the brush handle onto your finger, perhaps), be aware that that particular method flicks paint not just in the direction you're aiming the brush, but also from either side and, if you're really lucky, it'll flick paint upwards, onto your face and hair.

Not that I did any of that. I just thought you'd appreciate the tip.

it's a canvas!

I am really pleased with this. It's 'scrapbooky', but it's on a CANVAS. Exciting or what?!

If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels,

but I have not love,

I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.

And if I have prophetic powers,

and fathom all mysteries and all knowledge,

and if I have a faith that can move mountains,

but I have not love, I am nothing.

If I give away all I have,

and if I deliver up my body to be burned,

but have not love, I gain nothing.

Love is patient, love is kind.

It does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude.

It does not insist on its own way;

it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing,

but rejoices with the truth.

Love always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

Love never ends.

As for prophecies, they will pass away;

as for tongues, they will cease;

as for knowledge, it will pass away.

For we know in part and we prophesy in part,

but when the perfect comes, the imperfect disappears.

When I was a child I spoke like a child,

I though like a child, I reasoned like a child.

When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me.

For now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror;

then we shall see face to face.

Now I know in part;

then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.

And now these three remain: faith, hope and love.

But the greatest of these is love.

Dress-making patterns, paper, ribbon, sheet music and paint. I don't really think I can call this a painting because a minimal amount of paint was used. For now, I'm just calling it a canvas. Right now, it's propped up in front of the TV. I'm sure it will find a better home in due course.

I'm having a bad few weeks: constant helmet headaches, sore throat, feeling as though I've been trampled on by a horse... I'm a lot slower at the moment - having to scrape all of my concentration together just to eat some cereal. And to make it worse, I have a huge to-do list. Urgh. I have so many creative ideas but I have to put them on hold until I've got on top of life again. But my favourite scrapbook page is still on my easel and this canvas is on display, so at least I can look at these and smile, because I've made some cool things this month.

patient endurance

Art journal page for today.

I've got a few things on the go at the moment. It's quite amusing really: today I had my art journal on my computer desk with paint and pencils, I had my sewing machine out on my art desk with socks and thread all over the place, a painted item drying at the back of my art desk (which you'll see later this week), some crocheting at the side of my art desk, and I had papers all over the floor. I even did some sticking in the hall because I had run out of space! I kept alternating between activities. Quite fun really. What a day full of variety I have had!

I'm melting

I've been a rubbish blogger lately. I went away for a week at the beginning of the month and I am still paying for it now. I've been spending most days in bed and the days I haven't been in bed, I have been sitting and staring at the wall like a mannequin. I'm completely exhausted and also I am wondering if I really was trampled on by a horse last night. Is it possible for one to sleep through that sort of thing? Very achey indeed. But I've been wanting to do SOMETHING creative for a while. So, I got out my unused birthday toy (a mini quilting iron) and began melting! I melted beeswax onto an older painting I did (pics at the end of this post) which gave it the finishing touch I had wanted. Also, I did an art journal page using melted crayons. Very fun indeed. Have you ever melted crayons before?

I LOVE the smooth finish of the crayon once it had solidified (which doesn't take long). So tactile. So stroke-able. Yes, that's right: strokeable.

I will post again soon. I will. Promise.

advice, please...

I did this painting a couple of weeks ago and have since forgotten what else I was going to do on it. I wanted the text like that and an image of a tree/some trees on a hill, so I've got that... but what now? I'd like to get some beeswax on there but that will have to wait until I actually have beeswax... and one of those mini quilting irons. I think it needs something. Any thoughts?

I lied

Okay so I didn't post pictures yesterday. It turned into quite a busy day. Today I have some art-journal pages to share with you. This one is one from a while ago but I jazzed it up with some ribbon, which I really like.

This spread is on 'rest'. As part of the recovery process for ME, I am having to teach myself how to really rest. I don't have the energy to be taking part in high-demand activity, so my days are generally filled with low-demand activity OR sleep (which I am VERY good at!). However, I need to be making time to really rest - just sit down and breathe for ten minutes. Don't read a book (that hurts my eyes and I have to use my brain, which is mush most of the time), don't watch TV: just sit. There are just so many other things I could be doing though!

I find blank pages quite daunting so on this spread I stuck down a wallpaper border (I always pick up some free samples when I'm in DIY shops). With a border like that, I needed a spread that was quite flamboyant, so the rest just happened. But I have no idea what to journal about on it! I think I'll wait until I have something so celebrate and dance about.

And finally this page. I really really enjoyed making this spread. Lots of layering and ripping and painting. It reads "one of my favourite places is the land of dreams". That's right folks, it's a whole spread about my love of sleep (or should that be my love for sleep?). The sketch I did of the sleeping girl (possibly me?) was one I drew years ago, so I just copied it.

Ah I do love sleep.

my first moleskine

This was my Christmas present from my in-laws: a moleskine! I've wanted one for ages and I finally have one. I didn't use it immediately as I didn't want to ruin it. I have so many beautiful sketchbooks (not many that I can actually paint in though) and I'm the same with all of them - I don't do anything in them for fear of ruining them. THIS MUST STOP! If we forever save things for something perfect, we'll never use them! So, I have been getting out those beautiful sketchbooks and using them. I feel like I'm breaking the rules. Like going to the supermarket in your wedding dress (I've actually done that!). So here's my beautiful moleskine. Over the next few weeks and months it will look very different.

My first page spread. The beginning.

Second page spread. Time to have some fun!

Third page spread. As you can see, I've only done the foundation. Not sure where I'll go with this page.

some of my stuff...

I realised that anyone looking at this blog for any signs of art may be disappointed. Everything in the house is still all over the place with the move so I haven't been able to be as arty as I would normally like. Instead, I will share some of my old pieces of work and general doodles. This blog will get artier - that's a promise!

Here is a hand I drew in a black ball-point pen. I love working in biro. I did this a few years ago and now I think the very straight lines of the cross-hatching are much too harsh. I wanted to make the hand look old and 'weathered'. I was pleased with it at the time but now I'm not so sure.

Another doodle in biro. Often, I want to draw but I just don't know what. I'm not good at just thinking up a picture in my head - I prefer drawing from observation. Hence why most of my doodles are circles and lines!

Another doodle. This time in pencil crayons.

This is a page from a sketchbook-come-scrapbook. I like to keep any little meaningless drawings I happen to do while bored, so I stick them in here.

Another page. I can't remember whose face this was. I think it may have been a model in a magazine. I love drawing faces.

Another page. I drew this daffodil in pencil crayons but decided that it was far too boring! So plenty of black fine-liner was added. This was originally in one of my GCSE sketchbooks (very old indeed!).

My eye, drawn in pencil crayons. When I drew this (a couple of years ago) I wanted it to be as true a likeness as possible, so I kept the colours quite light. However, I am so pale that if I were any more pale I would be see-through. The result being that this drawing looks unfinished and pale.

I'm so pleased with this painting. It's such a shame that I can't find the photo I was copying. I painted this two years ago with acrylic paints onto canvas. I had to work really quickly as acrylics are so fast-drying. There was a very slight orange reflection in the sea which I tried to do. Didn't turn out as I hoped, but I'm definitely not changing it now! I'm very pleased with the sky. Not sure about the horizon or the sea.

This is a mono-print done in oils after much layering. I rollered the oil paint onto the table (that's right - the table! (Not to be done on a beautiful kitchen table) and gently pressed a piece of paper on top. On the paper I drew simple shapes (which were actually based on a still-life I was doing) and, once I was happy with the arrangement, I peeled the paper away from the table. I repeated this several times, which is why you may see feint white lines in the background. I've always liked this piece. But not many other people do. It certainly needs to be framed properly.

My face. I first did a biro sketch on white paper, then copied that with a white pencil crayon on black card.

My face again. This was done on computer. A very enjoyable program to use with pleasing results. However, it was done on my parents' PC and I can't remember what the program was called. Shame. I'm sure Apple have something, I just haven't explored the photo-editing possibilities on my Mac yet.

I'll post some more of my work later. I'm off to have a nap now.