From Our Backyard

Today I was blessed with several hours with nothing planned...

so I headed outdoors to do my first oil and first en plein air painting.

Isn't the view from our backyard gorgeous?

My sweet painting set-up

I recently began an oil painting in my art class, but one hour a week is precious little time for a painting! So today I found an unopened set of oil paints that I had gotten when I was ten (the prospect of using turpentine scared me away from oils) and opened them up for the first time.

The painting didn't turn out the way I wanted, and I am completely humbled by artists who can create masterpieces using oil paints. I have a lot to learn. I finally decided that if I touched the canvas, I was going to completely mess it up. So I'm calling it an "impressionistic" painting and leaving it as is.

My seven year old sister came and painted with me (she used acrylics). I left her to her own devices... she only came to ask for help with making mixing a "light green that's not yellow." Isn't her treeline cute?

A Set, Lost Pictures, and a Printable

A nice little medley for you today... Scroll down for the printable.

Last week, I got put in charge of painting a set!!!

Me. And the set. And the tree. Because there is a funny inside joke with that tree.

Read more....

It's a funny story-- my younger brother was in a play, and Mom told the director that I could come and help paint the set.

Before we began-- this was the painting that was already there

I showed up, was told what the director wanted done.... and somehow wound up in charge! It certainly helped that I had some of the most amazing and talented helpers!

The finished set-- click to enlarge

I'm not used to being in charge of people painting set-- I'm used to being the one who is told what to do! And only a couple of short times, at that.

We were also working with a shortage of paints! I helped paint for two days, and we didn't even have any brown paint until dinnertime on the first day.

Then, on the second day, we didn't have any black, red, etc, because they had not been left at the "theater." It all worked out, though. :)

Look at that lovely wood cottage! One of the dads built it and we painted it. Painting stone is fun-- it's kind of hard to loosen up and let people do it "their way" and not be too bossy, though.

It was a very fun experience!

Here is my brother, Blarney the Leprechaun!

I was having difficulties with getting images to load a couple of weeks ago. Remember this post? I was talking about making some accessories for my Confirmation dress. Here are the pictures: for real this time!

Earrings.... My favorite orbital chainmaille design, Swavroski pearls, and silver earwires (which were insanely comfortable and I've ordered more to use for jewelry in my Shoppe)

A pretty little beaded hair barette.

Shoe clips! Here is when I remind you that I have very weird feet, and the only shoes I can comfortably wear cost alot-- and therefore I can't just buy shoes to go with a couple outfits. So shoe clips are an awesome, DIY solution.

I'll post a tutorial someday. :)

These clips are fabric yo-yos (so much fun!) I made another, bigger, and more-beads yo-yo and attached a brooch clip to the back. As you can see in this picture, I wore it as a decoration on the ribbon belt.

I've had some requests for a printable of the "Messy desk quote" I used in this post about decorating a desk with paper.

Well, I've obliged! Here it is. :) Just print it out, cut it out, and hang it up wherever! I do so love doing typography. :)

(Instructions-- click the image to be taken to the large file. Right click and select "Save Image As." It will then let you download it as a file image. Free for any non-commercial use. :)

Floating Book Shelf

 

A stack of books is suspended on my wall! That or else the bookshelf turned invisible. I think its just too cool.

I made this spur-of-the-moment after browsing "instructables". They give instructions for building an invisible book shelf that requires one bracket, glue, and drilling holes in a book. You can see their instructions HERE.

My first thoughts? 1) One bracket is not very sturdy. 2) Why ruin a perfectly good book? 

So I created my own reusable-book floating bookshelf. 

How to make it:

 Supplies:

2 "L" brackets

2 screws and a screwdriver

A few books

Masking tape OR a rubber band

  I did not want to screw new holes in m bedroom wall (that is, Dad didn't want me to), so I took down this tiny little shelf between my bedroom door and my closet door. My mom had a collection of little foreign dolls, and this particular shelf was the "leftover" that I was not super fond of. So step one for me: take down the shelf and use those holes for the L brackets.

Step One:

Screw two L brackets into the wall.

Step Two:

Set a hardboard book on the brackets.

Step Three:

Either use masking tape inside the book or a rubberband outside of it to hold the back cover shut. (I didn't think of masking tape until afterwards-- it would be less easy to remove the book but would also be an "invisible" way of keeping it shut.)

Step Four:

 

 Stack some books ontop so that you can't see the L brackets. 

 (See the green book? You might recognize that as my Hollow Book Box)

You are finished! If you want, you can add some books standing vertically and other things.