Thursday Art Walk

 

In Which Today's Art is Scanned!

Today I have a couple of paintings to share with y'all. One, I completed while still cat-sitting, the other, I finished this morning.

"At the Dam"; watercolor pencil on sketch; 2023
[Animal, Location, Vegetable]

This picture was based off of a view Z and I had when we went down to the dam near the apartment we were watching for my sister. We sat and watched a bald eagle and several turkey vultures soaring over a dammed river with lots of rocks in the water. There was a small rocky island that the birds kept flying over, and while what I've painted here doesn't really look like what we saw, it's close enough to give the feel. The small gray bird to the right of the tree is a mockingbird that was flashing its wing patches at us as it flitted around the area.

"Cocoa"; watercolor on paper; 2023
[Food]

Hmm... should I add Food as a Request Category like the others (Animal, Vegetable, Mineral, Dedbert, Location, Geometric)?

I had a lot of fun drawing this, though I really need to pay more attention to shading. I Am very pleased with how the first painting looks, though. I turned the brightness down to about -30 and scanned it at 600dpi instead of 1200dpi. Since I scanned "Cocoa" first, it didn't get the brightness lowered, and I should have paid more attention to the cropping.

Regardless, I should do more paintings, and I'm still working on a digital piece that has... a lot of colors. I'm planning on doing some weird stuff to it lol!

If you'd like a say in what I draw or paint, week to week, you can send me a coffee donation over on Ko-Fi with a message telling me which category you'd like to see (Animal, Vegetable, Mineral, Dedbert, Location, Geometric, Food) and I'll draw or paint something that fits that category for the next Thursday!

I've also started taking commissions, if you'd be interested in that route, and I also have a Threadless Store! You may also see an Amazon Wishlist on the sidebar, which contains a bunch of random stuff that I would use for the blog.

That does it for the shameless self-promotion for this week, so I'll just head on out and get a little snack before working on more art!

Go Enjoy Something!

FC

Fiber Monday

 

In Which I Am Not Built for Yo Yo Weather...

This has been the weirdest fall, weather-wise. Yesterday was in the 40s (4,4℃), the day before was in the 60s (15,5℃), and today? I think our high was 38℉/3,33℃. And it's windy! We're talking gusts up to 25mph (40kph)!

Here's the problem.

My skull is a very sensitive barometer and everything that is going on with the weather has been wreaking havoc on my poor lil sinuses.

I have been coughing and sneezing all day.

Needless to say, I did not get a whole lot done today, crochet-wise. I tried to, but uh... I'm not a human being right now.

I'm a very sneezy potato.

Anywho, after about six and a half hours of crocheting and sewing and stuffing, here's the tree from last week!

It's a little under a foot tall!

I think if I was selling these, I'd charge about 30 bucks.

I also started work on a cat sweater!

I don't know if I can finish this...

I'm trying to make my cat a cute little sweater but....

I'm already out of sparkly green yarn.

Should I add that red & green yarn? It's lighter weight, so it could be trouble...

I could also just start over with the green yarn I used on the tree, of which there is a lot left...

I think I'll do that.

Maybe I'll also include some of the white metallic yarn I used for the flocking, too...

Crochet is hard, man.

Right, I think that'll about do it for me - I have sinus meds to take, water to drink, and thick blankets to cuddle down into...

Go Enjoy Something!

FC

Fiber Monday

 

In Which The Christmas Craftathon Begins

If you are someone who is making things for people for Christmas, the very latest you can begin and not lose your mind is November 1st.

Take it from someone who waits til December every year - you want to start making your gifts no later than November 1st. Save the last week before Christmas for your Wrap party, where you wrap all the gifts (if you're not wrapping as you go).

So as of seven days ago, I've actually been working on Christmas gifts every day! Will I say what all of them are? No. Some of the people who are getting these gifts have access to this blog.

I will say this, though...

I am making another tree.

I don't remember if I showed the tree I made for my mom, but if I did it's from a couple of years back, and I'm terrible at tracking things down. Regardless, it's The Christmas Forest/DROPS Extra 0-1398.

As before, I'm using neither the correct yarn weight nor the correct hook, but it's still going pretty well! I'm using a Worsted Weight yarn and a 3.75mm hook, whereas the pattern calls for roughly a DK yarn and a 3.5mm hook. I'll be using Red Heart Super Saver Jumbo in Paddy Green with flocking made from Red Heart Super Saver Metallic in White.

I don't know if I'll be weighting the bottom of this (I'll have to ask my mom, since she's the one who asked me to make this), but I found that with the one I made her, it didn't need me to do much. I just didn't overstuff it and it mostly sits straight.

This is up to about halfway around Round 19

The progress I've made was made in about an hour and a half, total. It stitches out fast, is what I'm saying. 18.5 Rounds in 1.5 hours. 10.5 rounds remain in the main body, followed by 7 rounds of bottom and 5 rounds of Flocking...

Which leaves us 22.5 rounds. If we do some math...

Uh.... I'm not that good at math.

So we'll say it'll probably take another 2-3 hours, total (not counting breaks and distractions). That's a really zippy project! Especially for something that will probably be over a foot tall!

I'd give it a try if you've got oodles of yarn you're looking to use up and also want to give a fun gift!

I think that'll about do it for me. I'm gonna work some more on the tree!

Go Enjoy Something!

FC