On The Worktable. Early Post for Sunday, 30 September 2018.

I've had two of these metal canisters for quite a while. Spray painted them both black and have been thinking about how to paint them. Traditional rosemaling was in the back of my mind until I watched a how-to video on YouTube about Zhostovo painting for the umpteenth time and decided use that method.

Truly, I've watched these videos at least a dozen times. Luba Vdovina is an extraordinary teacher. The segments are short enough to hold your attention, but detailed enough to keep them interesting. I keep checking back to see if she will ever upload more. Alas, only the six videos are there to date.

She has some amazing products available in her Etsy Shop if you are one of the many artisans or amateurs who enjoy working with fiber.

Anyway...

Reference materials were pulled from the bookshelves. Thank goodness I'm a birdwatcher and have been gifted Birds and Blooms magazine by Dear Daughter. Lots to look at before deciding the subject.

Not owning a white charcoal pencil, a watercolor pencil was used to rough in the design.

Next came gathering materials and laying them out. Newspaper put down. Strong, hot cuppa coffee.
Artist quality paints were pulled only to discover that several of them had dried up. (How that happens in a closed tube is a mystery.) Thankfully, there are plenty of paints on the shelf. Both Artist Loft, Folk Art and Americana acrylics.

Also pulled good quality blending brushes from Global Art (same company as the good paint) and both Extender and Floating Medium. The good brushes and best paint were purchased at Jansen Art. They also have some wonderful instructional products available. I've always been very happy with everything purchased there.

I used Artist Loft Extender Medium when painting the blue background. Was amazed at how thick it is - very similar to Elmer's Glue. Shockingly, it took two days to dry completely. Yeah. This project has been in the works for a while.

Wishing I had practiced on a flat surface, the technique worked well enough once I got the hang of it. At first, the use of extender didn't work simply because I diluted too much. Lots of work remains.

I resorted to a more traditional style for the details being filled in over the next few days. Am always critical of how my incomplete work looks, but will reserve judgement until painting is completed.

For anyone else trying this technique: Luba says it only takes a small amount of extender. Truer words were never spoken. Use a dab at first. You can always add more later. Also, when painting on such a reflective surface be sure to keep q-tips on hand for cleaning up the extender. It dries clear, but can dull the original surface. A damp q-tip works wonders.

Tomorrow, 29 September is my late Little Sister's birthday. She would have been 59 years old. Am sure this weekend will be a soggy one. Hence the early post.

Y'all have a great weekend.

Make Up Post About That New Direction. Greeting Cards.

I never realized the skill, time and effort involved in making cards until I tried it myself. Mom always made it look so easy. She always had the parts of the card all cut out and stamped. Ready to color or embellish when we sat down at the table to finish them.

Now that I'm trying to make them I'm learning a lot. Have made a "boo-boo" pile for cards that have mistakes. Paint blotches. Double stamped or crooked greetings.

Thank goodness for YouTube instructional videos and the ladies who so generously upload them. They've taught me so much.

Here are pictures of some of the cards made so far. Hope you enjoy them. Lots more to come.

Happy First Sunday of Fall 2018.

Yesterday marked the Autumnal Equinox and today we woke to a cool, foggy forty-two (yes, 42) degrees. Brrrr. Not an unexpected temperature change, simply system shocking because of its abruptness.

The handsome guy you see to your left is an abandoned cat that folks in the neighborhood have been feeding. Well, truth be told it's been mostly me that's feeding him.

Bandit and I had the pleasure of meeting him on one of our morning walks. He was under a neighbor's porch and came out to sniff Bandit and rub his head on my legs. Very, very friendly.

We'd see him from time to time wandering along the berm of the road or in various yards. He seemed to stay under the neighbors porch on a regular basis. Then came the day it was obvious the neighbors were moving away. I flat out asked them if he was their cat and they told me no, but that they fed him. They own a black cat.

He sure did like the young woman. We had seen him run up to her car when she pulled in the driveway on several occasions. The young man and I had joked about "feeding the neighborhood" a while back, so I believed them that he wasn't their cat. Not my place to judge anyway.

He seems to be the kind of cat that can survive fairly well on its own. Which is good because the SPCA isn't accepting any more cats. They have been full-up for months.

He answers to the name "Ki-Ki" and comes running when called if he's within earshot. Had I known him better I would have named him Thomas O'Malley after that Disney cat.

It took a few weeks of first putting out kibble and then sitting near him while he ate it for him to trust me. Stray cats are funny that way. The first time he relaxed enough to trust me he climbed into my lap and put his front paws on my chest like he was giving me a hug. It kinda freaked me out - getting bitten by a stray would be horrible for us both (think rabies).

He has a cute little swagger and is simply a brave, affectionate soul. He's a polydactyl and has six toes on his feet; his back feet are HUGE. He follows me around the yard when I'm outside. Several times he's grabbed my leg and almost tripped me to stop me from going inside. He's a big cat. He isn't afraid of Bandit, but definitely has his sniffing limits. Usually he goes under the deck when he's had enough of that cold nose, although Bandit has felt the sting of his paws a couple times.

Sucker that I am, I made him a Winter Shelter out of an old cooler and straw after watching several YouTube instructional videos. He doesn't seem to want to stay in it and I've been encouraging that by occasionally putting a can of food inside. Am considering moving the shelter closer to the shed to see if that's more to his liking. Right now it's under the picnic table - a little bit of protection from coyotes and what-not. A couple of the videos suggested cutting a second hole in the shelter if a cat didn't like going in with only one. Winters here are so harsh I'm hesitant to make another opening for heat to escape.

My cats like to watch him. They would fight him if I let him in the house as proven repeatedly at the glass of the back door. Tigger-Tiger is too old (and de-clawed) to have to deal with a big tomcat. Romeo is timid by nature and would probably be bullied as well. Henrietta has claws, but is tiny by comparison; KiKi is at least twice her size.

Pre-Fall Sunday, 9 September 2018. Off In Yet Another Direction.

Don't know about you, but Fall always makes me want to change things up a bit. Out with the old, in with the new. Or in my case, re-arrange what you've got in keeping with the new season. Guess that's what happens when you get older. You already have enough "stuff" to re-decorate your house to make it feel like you've remodeled.

Fall may not arrive on the calendar until later this month, but it's arrived with a bang here in Northwestern PA. The oppressive heat we've had for the last couple weeks took a dive and we woke up to very pleasant sixty degree weather.

The BEST thing about cooler temps: less mosquitoes!

Locally, we've had signs of Fall's approach. The apples on the trees round about have been ripening and the trails and ditches are ripe with dropped, bruised, rotting apples. (The deer seem to be enjoying Nature's bounty.) Fields abound with goldenrod, queen anne's lace and purple asters and the oranges and reds of the sumac are sure to follow soon.

Our garden slowed down enough that the remaining wax and purple beans have been left unpicked to be used as seed for next year. The purple beans were so prolific everyone in the neighborhood had fresh beans at least once a month. Same with the cucumbers. Only a few straggling tomatoes remain on the vine. The MacIntosh apples are pretty ripe. So far we've gotten over three bushels (most went to feed the deer 'cause I didn't spray) about a fourth of which hadn't been eaten by ants or flies. The Gala apples are ripening nicely; the tree is simply loaded down with fruit. Only six pumpkins grew large enough to harvest before the rain forced us to pick so they wouldn't rot. There were two small, one normal size, two larger and one HUGE. Am going to be giving seeds away again next year. YIPPEE!

Speaking of change...

Have pulled some of the card-making supplies in from the shed and have started learning how to make cards. More on that next time.

For now, my fine feathered friends, it's time to swap the laundry from the dryer to the folding plane and from the washer to the dryer.

Y'all have a blessed day!

The Creative Process OR If At First You Don't Succeed. A forgot to post from Sunday, 2 September 2018.

For the last week I have been trying to make hummingbird brooches similar to those beautiful ones made in the Ukraine. The artists there make such lovely products. My "experiment" with making them hasn't fared all that well.

I created a pattern on copy paper using Pinterest to get a rough idea of what a brooch should look like. I always put a couple stips of packing tape on the pattern before it's cut out to make it durable. You know, just in case the finished prototype is something marketable.

The first hummingbird didn't turn out all that great and took two days to make. Made of wool felt, glass beads and ribbon, it's about two and one-half inches long. While it does rather resemble a hummingbird, in my opinion it is not good enough to sell.

Fortunately, even creating something not deemed worthy is a learning process. From this experiment, I learned what was needed to re-shape the pattern and how best to adjust the beak for sewing.

After this failed attempt, I took another look at the bird brooches I so admire and took notes. The artists I like best are using silk ribbon, leather, cotton, two different sizes of sequins, silk embroidery thread and Swarovski beads in addition to glass beads.

Silk ribbon, silk threads, Swarovski beads and leather are definitely not in this budget. So... I looked around to see if there was anything on hand for substitution.

The second attempt at hummingbirds turned out a little better. The pattern adjustments have made helped make it closer to a usable product, but not quite ready for the assembly line yet.

Found some sequins while on a necessary trip to Megalowmart. They were in budget range ($5.00), so they hopped in the grocery cart almost on their own.

The problem with buying bulk sequins is having to sort through them to gather enough of one type of sequin to make whatever project you're working on. Separate sequins are going on my craft supply wish list.

Hummingbird Two is from cotton batik, polyester ribbon, small sequins and glass beads. It also measures two and one-half inches. Know anyone who wants a brooch for $120.00? Me either. At twelve hours in production, that is what would need to be charged to make $10 an hour.

Ever heard of three strikes you're out? Here is a photo of the uncompleted third attempt at making a hummingbird brooch.

You can see it's much larger than the others measuring about 4 1/2 inches from to to tail tip. It needs another wing and a few more tail feathers, but I simply don't have the heart to finish it right now. The feathers take a long time to make.

With so much time spent on production, it's not commercially viable. Perhaps it will be finished and make it into someones stocking for Christmas.

In the meantime, I hope y'all have a wonderful day.

Remember to count your blessings!