A Formal Affair

  What else could you call it when the theme is black and white? I didn't know that this year's favorite theme for christmas trees was going to be black and white. That is what I had decided on a couple of months ago. It turned out really elegant, and stylish. I am so glad I decided on this as I used a lot of ornaments I have had put away and never used. Here is the results.

 
And the best are these guys that are perched on the branches.

Both large ones and the smaller ones really make it a formal affair. After all they come ready for a black tie event. What do you think? Is it a party, or what?

I feel the need….

To say something, but my mind is jumping in so many directions… Ever feel that way?
I am wondering if I will get everything done, I have put aside, not finished, just relocated, found, and in general left till after everything else got done. I am tired of doing what everyone else thinks should be done. I have put so many people places and things ahead of me, that here I am wondering will I ever get to it all, or for that matter get everything done, before I can't do anything at all.
  Do you have a hard time deciding what to work on first? Sometimes it's hard to settle on just one thing.Then I spend so much time looking for all the pieces and parts so I can work on something, that I get to tired to start the project.
  Is this what comes with "old age"? There is just so much I want to do, and not just sewing, or painting, or …. or…. but a whole bunch of things. How do you decide what to work on, when you can't settle to just one thing. I get off in another room looking for something, and get side tracked. An hour later here I am wondering what it was I was doing in the first place. lol. And don't say you have never done this… we ALL do it. So how do you handle the diversions?
  I have tried making lists… lol… I lose those seems like over night. I've tried stacking up the gathered "stuff" too make whatever it is, and end up with a huge pile that gets dumped by the kittens at play, and mixed up. Nothing like seeing something  trailing after a cat as it disappears down the hall.
I've tried putting things in a tub, and stacking the tubs up, but they have overflowed the back porch, and it takes awhile locating what your looking for… and here you go on the round around again.
  I wish I had a large lazy Sue that would let me load it up, spin it around, and just take something off to work on. lol. Wouldn't that be great?
  So if you have an idea do share, I'm more then ready for it.

At last!

This was a long two year project, with a lot of pit falls and problems, but at last I have a swimming pool, and I am hoping it will help with my back problems.
10,000 gals of water, and I haven't even been in it yet.
Why??? Cause it's COLD! I will need to add some heat or a wet suit. lol.
But it's done. Another project finished for this year.

And the toad came home…...

Lady toad came back and was sunning herself next to the pond.
I love having this pond, as it attracts all kinds of things as well as having the koi to enjoy.

Pond rock

At last I got rock to line the top of the pond, and got it where it belongs and only smash one finger this time. lol.
I like it and I think the fish will to. The big toad is back and took a dip in the pond. I wonder if there will be babies this year? If the Koi will leave them alone.

  Doesn't it look better? It was raining while I took these. That is what you are seeing in the pond.

And the last bit added

I wanted to cast a bit of golden glow around the fairy after she was completed and down on the background. So I have done that and here she is finished at last after about 10 years of trying to figure out how to do this.
  Hope you like it, I am going to hate to see how much this frame will cost me. lol. It's got to be golden, my favorite kind.

The Fairy is finished

So now all I have to do is mount her on the background, add the finishing touched there as well, and she is done.

Down to a few last things.

I love the way this fairy has turned out {even if the size is big}. Now here's hoping the last few things I need to do will work out quickly and then I will be done.

How does she look?

More Details

I am working on the Fairy's dress and wings, adding details, so she will stand out from her background. Anyone seeing her, will think she is a rare golden flower.

  She is definitely becoming center of attention for this piece. Once completed and sewn down to the background I have a thought about maybe doing to create a glow around her. But that has to wait for her to be done. The piece is really coming together.

Woodland Fairy

My wall hanging has come a long way, but she is still not quite done. Details, details,details. Now I just need to add the finishing touches, and she can fly away to her woodland home.

And one for me!

Now that I have finished the piece for my dad, I decided to pull out a piece I started on a few years ago. This is for me, that is if I can find room on a wall.
  No name yet but I'm sure I'll come up with one at some point.
The subject is a fairy in a woodland glen. Now that I have a better idea how to proceed, I can work on it till it's done.
So, here is the start {or should I say where I left off} of the woodland fairy.

Still a lot of work to do and first of all to sew down all that is in place, which is a lot more than what I remembered.
  I have also finished a project I wanted to complete from a different beginnings, and I changed a lot of that one which is a paper doll project {pictures to come later}. Along with the doll clothes I've been sewing for Lark, I also have been working on completing a baby project {a baby album, box for her clothes storage, more clothes, and a basket for her to sleep in}. She is only about 6" in size so she is tiny. It has let me have the fun of putting together a baby album with pictures of her, with Debbie Mum papers etc. I don't usually do babies, but this one is just to cute, and I really fell in love with her infectious grin. I'll post pictures of her set at a later time as well. Other then that, I have been doing the eternal sorting of papers etc. More then half way there now, with all of it, and am I glad, cause I hate sorting papers and old bills etc. This has been a productive beginning for this new year, even with the crazy weather, plowing one day and watching the snow melt the next. So onward to the next project, and who knows what that will be. lol.

Finished!

It's time to quit messing with the finished piece. Knowing when to quit is as important as doing the work. I know it's time to quit. Only years of artistic creations can give you the instinct that will tell you when to quit. That is why they say.... practice, practice, practice!
  I think this turned out to be a really great work of art, and I am not saying that to toot my own horn, but because I can honestly look at it and see what I was trying to express. If it had turned out differently, I would have said so. So please don't think badly of me because I express my opinion about what I have created. I try very hard to be honest in my assessment.
  "Racing A Tail Wind" is a piece of art done as a surprise for my father's service in WWII. The Martin Marauder bomber was a two engine plane used to carry bomb payloads to Germany. Like the B17, many came back with holes shot in them from flack,and bullet holes from German plane attacks. They stayed in the air when other planes didn't, bringing back the crew to fly another time.
  I've wanted to do this piece for sometime, but as I've said before I just didn't know how to go about it. Thankfully I didn't have a lot of errors in the trial and error period. I believe this to be something new, as I have not seen anything done quite like it before. The technique and combinations there of while simple, were not read about in any book etc. Perhaps only seeing it in person will bring out the differences, and they may be very subtle, to the naked eye.

 Whatever the case, I am done. It will be on it's way to the framers in a week or so. I hope you enjoy the piece and will let me know what you think.

Placing the highlights

And adding a bit to the clouds, and it really is coming right at you.
There is just a tiny bit more to do, but after these are glued down, I'm almost home.
  This project has been two years in the making, from concept, to cutting the fabric. I wanted to do something really special for my dad, that had not been done before. One he would enjoy looking at, and perhaps come to realize an artists road while not easy,often yields truly special works of art.

  This piece not only met that aspiration but exceeded it. I couldn't be more delighted with what I designed and created.

Racing A Tailwind

I titled my artwork "Racing A Tailwind", because it looks to me like that is what the three bombers are doing as they run in and out of billowing clouds. The piece is still not complete, but at these final stages of creation I never rush the work. You can overwork your art work that way, and ruin what you have done so far. Hard lesson to learn, but one that will save many a good piece of work.

It just can't get much better then this.

  

And then there were two.....

And one to go. I just finished the smallest of the Martin Marauders, a twin engine bomber, my father flew in as a bombarder in WWII. This is the next faze of the wall hanging I am working on as a gift for him.
  I still have one more to go, and then I can start laying them down permanently on the sky and clouds background. I get more excited as I finish each piece to this wall hanging. Having never done anything like this I can't wait to see it completed. Truly something very unique.

Go For It!

Sometimes you have something on the back burner that you just can't figure out how to do. Not enough info, lack of creativity, tired, or just plain overwhelmed by what you are trying to do.
  I have been trying to get at something for two years. A project that will be a present for my dad. Two years of struggling to figure out just how to do what I wanted to create. It has not been easy.
  Last year I got started doing the research, and that wasn't easy to find something really good in the way of pictures.I wanted WWII war planes, of one kind. What my dad was a bombardier and flew in during the war. But I did manage to find some. Then another big search for fabric. I didn't know yet just what it was going to look like. Ground at the bottom, sky at the top? All sky? So I collected about 20 or so fabrics of sky, clouds, whites and grays, grounds of rocks, trees etc. Also a number of grays and silvers, with and without prints, darks and lights and a lot of in-betweens. Then I got stalled out.
  Did I want just one large plane? Two, three, or a whole flight?
  This is the story of what turned into a two year long struggle deciding what to do and how to create it. There are no how-to books on this one, so it's all trial and error. You use what you have and do know, and create the rest as you go.
  Last winter I got the background done.

Doesn't look like much now but it really does in person.
  Then summer came and went and I didn't get much more done.
This past few months has seen a lot of work on the planes. I have almost completed the main bomber.

Six layers or so of fabric laid down one at a time, and the final highlights yet to be added after it's applied to the background and I have a plane.

This is what the drawing started out as and the highlights are taped in place so I don't lose or confuse them. Made of vinyl they would melt if I tried to iron them in place, so they will be glued in place after the main body is ironed in place on the background.
  I also decided on adding two other planes to the picture, and have them yet to do. But I have picked out the framing and {a beautiful 4" deep silver shadow box molding that will really bring your attention to this plane.
  There is a lot more work to do and more detailing that can only be done when this is laid down on the background.
  Needless to say, it's come a long way, baby!