JoAnn's Christmas haul

After ordering this three times I finally got my shit together and ended up with the best Christmas present ever! I wish I knew how to stream because I would make my palette's of ink and my colorburst online!  I hear the girls are having a stream-a-thon over the New Year, looking forward to that.

 Do you think my new pj pants are too bright? Ha!

Three pair down one to go. Just need to finish up the hem and waist of the fourth. So cute and I am really getting better at sewing, never thought that would happen.

It helps to have a good machine and my husband fixed my serger for me.

I will try to take pictures of the the last pair because I actually had to deconstruct a previous pair to figure out how I made that cute hem. Not that hard, but I could not figure it out without taking it apart.

Can't believe I messed that order up so many times but glad I repeated it over and over. It was worth it! Four pairs of pj's for only $32 bucks. The inks were on sale $5.99 for three, and I got the colorburst through Amazon with credit card points so they were free! What a HAUL!

New flannel!

My flannel showed up from my JoAnn's order! They sent me extra yardage for free and all of it is really nice!

I spent yesterday pre-washing the fabric and drafting a pattern for pj's. I've lost a lot of weight since I last made them so I made a new one. Freezer paper works great for me because I hate pins and I just iron it to my fabric and peel it off after I cut it out. Reusable and not near as flimsy as tissue. 

I must have channeled my auntie because I made a muslin pair to check my sizing.

John helped me measure my body the other day.  I put on a pair of long underwear so I wouldn't freeze and we measured everywhere! He enjoyed it more than he should have, ha. We have been married for thirty five years and this old gal is showing the age. (Life is tough, but so am I.)

With all that done yesterday I spent today ironing the fabric and got all four pairs cut out and ready to sew! Trying to make them in an assembly line so I can get them done quickly so I can spend the rest of the winter all warm and cute and cozy and play with my new watercolors and alcohol inks! They haven't all arrived, but should be on the way! Merry Christmas to ME! If they get here before the pants are done it won't be good. 

 It was so warm on Christmas day I opened all my windows and doors and cleared that stale energy of 2016. That was good.

 Had to add a Happy New Year message to my Christmas cards because they did not go out in time.

Is it wrong to have fifteen different blue gel pens in your studio? If so, then I am going to hell in a hand a basket! AND, I did not find the perfect match for the manganese blue Archival Ink I had used with the gelli plate!

Watercolor

I almost gave up at this point, but pushed through by adding a layer of india ink inktense pencil over the colorburst background. Then it seemed too flat and not near enough green.

I'm not sure this is considered watercolor because I used gesso in the last couple of layers. It was so flat that I just grabbed a small brush and added more leaves over the water colored background then after drying, added even more watercolor over that. I like it now even though I have a feeling that I'm breaking all the rules. I'm self taught, so ignorant about what you should or should not do.

Not that I follow rules mind you. "Don't tell me what to do!"

Christmas cactus

Riki is channeling my mother's dog Jackson in this picture. If you knew him then you know how terrifying this is! Good thing it was just the light because he really doesn't except for the fact that he is the exactly same size as the dear departed Jackson. I will admit that he does scare me when playing, he lunges to my face and kisses me really hard, Jackson on the other hand would lunge at your face when playing, and bite your fucking nose off. Or your boob, as my good friend Cathy reminded me. We both were lucky and healed but I had to have stitches along with my brother and I'm sure others. The dog was crazy and mean and my mother thought it was a great pet to have around.

 I must have moved the cactus just in time for Christmas blooms. It didn't bloom last year by the kitchen window so I moved it to this window and it seems like it bloomed overnight.

10 thousand village haul

 This was such a great idea until I tipped it while cleaning up the other night. Dripped ink everywhere and mixed the colors! I would throw the mess away if I weren't such a hoarder. It stains my hands every time I touch it.

 THIS is very exciting for me! I have been hunting punchinella for years and years!!! I bet I have five or six circle stencils to try to get the look and my husband said, "does this mean we don't have to look for drywall tape anymore", :) "yep". Quest completed!

 I must be twelve because both the spirograph and coloring book are for me. :)

 My sweet husband took me to the "Ten Thousand Villages" shop in Overland Park, KS. Of course I found art supplies to buy...they had such a good price on the carved wood stamps that I had to have five for $20. Cheap cheap cheap, I paid close to twenty for the big paisley at my scrapbook store.

 I like this version of the zinnia more than the last. Still overworking the paint and practicing. Hope to get better.

In the studio

I've emptied my desk and tansu then got distracted melting blue stamps with metal bobbins and peace symbol beads.

 Had to break in the middle of the mess and glue down this fabulous paper towel to my 8x8 journal. Such vivid color, will be great to draw a zinnia page with it.

All this crap is for gelli printing. I had it in the tanker desk but then I found while printing I could not get to my texture, stencils, and papers.

Bottom drawer organized within reach with basic texture tools.

 Caroline Dube stencil storage idea with my art dolls for company. The flat containers also have stencils in them.

What is all that on the printer? Why, more stencils that were too small for the hanging system. Another Caroline Dube idea. I wish I could say that is all of my stencils but I have a bunch of glue masks I made that are impossible to store neatly. Also a bunch of random kid stencils and fossils that I always find a use for.