Being a very whimsical person I thought it was time to finally create a miniature garden or two…or maybe a bunch!! Sharing a few pictures of my first two miniatures gardens using swan planters.
To see more whimsical art I’ve created please visit one of my online stores:
https://www.etsy.com/shop/RecycledBySkattur
https://recycledbyskattur.zibbet.com/shop
Swan 1
Swan 2
Both swans together
My garden art is found at:
Etsy: https://www.etsy.com/shop/RecycledBySkattur
Zibbet: https://www.zibbet.com/recycledbyskattur
My garden art is found at:
Etsy: https://www.etsy.com/shop/RecycledBySkattur
Zibbet: https://www.zibbet.com/recycledbyskattur
Sunflower Blues Garden Flower Plate
Sunflower Blues Garden Flower Plate
Resharing a WordPress blog about Jewelry Artist Lord and Poppy Copper Jewelry.
Copper spiral wire-wrapped necklace, copper necklace, statement necklace
Sharing our recent Home Project. We have a hallway upstairs that runs between the bedroom and bonus room. It’s a balcony hallway and the balcony looks down into our living room. Anyway, to me it was just wasted space and it’s always bugged me!
It’s always been a goal/dream of mine to make some built in cabinets for extra storage. I drew up some plans to show my husband and he made it happen, as he always does! I think he did an awesome job and we have wasted space no more! It is now a reading nook, that can be used for extra sleeping space and tons of extra storage!
Home Project Hallway. Wasted Space! Before view 1
Home Project Hallway. Wasted Space! Before view 2.
Our mission in progress!
After view 1. Complete built in cabinets, tables and couch.
After view 2. Complete built in cabinets, tables and couch.
After view 3. Complete built in cabinets, tables and couch. All that’s left to do is to add a railing for security reasons. I love how it all turned out!!
ok…as I’ve mentioned before, it’s been my theme to write a little about our group members craft, as I promote them and next up we have a painter. Sooo I do some research on “history of painting” and “styles of paintings” etc and HOLY MOLY ~blinks~ There is sooo much about painting, no wonder there are college courses for art. There is no way I could cover it all in my little ole blog!
So let me just throw out this little fun fact for you: The oldest known paintings are approximately 40,000 years old. Now we know why there is so much info on painting!
Also here’s a brief excerpt from Wikipedia regarding the History of Painting:
The history of painting reaches back in time to artifacts from pre-historic humans, and spans all cultures. It represents a continuous, though periodically disrupted tradition from Antiquity. Across cultures, and spanning continents and millennia, the history of painting is an ongoing river of creativity, that continues into the 21st century. Until the early 20th century it relied primarily on representational, religious, and classical motifs, after which time more purely abstract and conceptual approaches gained favor.
Painting, as an art form, is basically using a colored pigment of some sort and applying it to a surface of some sort. I think most of us think of painting in the traditional way of using a brush to paint on a canvas, but painting has become much more than that and it seems that the sky’s the limit when it comes to painting techniques.
Chris of Gallery Musings is an award winning artist that paints in an impressionistic style. An excerpt from Chris’s Zibbet profile page:
I’ve been a Fine and Commercial Artist-illustrator my whole life. Dinosaurs were my first drawing subjects, then I moved on to horses and then I had to get a job. Yes, it happens. I am self taught and love to paint. I also paint with watercolors and acrylics.
At Gallery Musings you’ll find original paintings, by Chris, of birds, cows, flowers, landscapes and seascapes. I love the soft focus style of Chris’s paintings! I’m posting a few of my favorites, I hope you’ll visit Gallery Musings and pick out a favorite for yourself.
I know I’ve talked about both knitting and crocheting here on my blog but I haven’t talked about their differences.
Both crafts use yarn/fiber to create projects such as sweaters, shawls, wraps, blankets, afghans, scarves, hats, mittens, socks. Both crafts use patterns. Both crafts use hand-eye coordination, an eye for color/design, and project planning.
So what’s the difference? The tools for one. Knitting requires pointy needles most times in sets of two, but more needles may be used for certain projects. Circular needles are another type of knitting needle and are connected by a cord. Looms and machines are also used for knitting.
The crocheting tool is a single crochet hook and is always done by hand. There is no machine(that I know of) that can duplicate the crochet stitching.
Another difference is the structural difference of knitting and crocheting. The tools are used to weave the fiber into loops and join those loops together. With knitting each stitch depends on the stitch below and can unravel if a stitch is dropped.
With crochet, there usually aren’t many active loops at one time, or possibly a few loops. Since stitches build on top of each other, the active loop is the only spot from where the fabric is susceptible to unraveling.
I feel there is no “best” between the two crafts. I say try them both and see which you prefer. Knowing how to do both is best! I’ve knitted a scarf before and added a frilly crocheted stitch to the ends rather than a fringe. I love how it turned out. Anyway you can read more about the defference between knit and crochet from my source at About.com
This week our group is promoting Kathy, who is very skilled with both crochet and knitting. An excerpt from Kathy’s Zibbet profile:
I am 50 something and currently live in Jackson WY close to the beauty of the Teton Mountains and Yellowstone National Park.
Throughout my life there has always been one constant and that is working with my hands. My goal is to help make life cozier for you and those your care about. I love to make shawls and scarves but I appreciate the utility of a simple cotton washcloth so I make those too.
I have tried many different forms of needlework and crafts over the years. In the past I have poured greenware in a ceramics shop, learned how to do western carving on leather, dabbled in tole or folk art painting along with sewing clothes, embroidery, the basics of tatting and quilting. I love needlework best of all the creative outlets I have explored. The work you will see here reflect that love and will be knitted or crocheted.
You can read more about Kathy from her Meet the Seller page. You’ll see her love for both crafts in her creations, which you’ll find in her Zibbet shop, Cozy. In Kathy’s shop you’ll find a great selection of scarves, shawls, headbands, kitchen/bath cloth, and market bags. It’s definitely that time of year when you want to feel warm and Cozy!
I was asking myself this question as I was preparing to write this blog for Lynette. Lynette is our 2nd member to be promoted this week and her chosen craft is crochet.
Lately my blog focus has been to give a little information on each members chosen craft. While I was doing some research on crochet I found an article that asked the question, “Why Crochet or Knit?” Being a stitcher myself, as I read over their list, I found myself nodding in agreement.
hmmm I didn’t know that about Alzheimer’s but what a bonus! Number one on the list for me is that, knitting and crocheting is portable! Carry your project with you anywhere. 🙂 The source of that article/list can be found here.
Ok…back to Lynette! Like I said Lynette’s chosen craft is crochet and her Zibbet shop is Yarned Together. Here’s an excerpt from her Zibbet profile:
I was born and raised on a farm in Jackson County, Michigan. I learned the satisfaction of a job well done at an early age while raising sheep, beef cattle and horses. Being an only child meant finding ways to entertain myself without bothering my parents. I quickly took to my local 4-H Club to learn how to show animals, make ceramics, and help improve the area I lived in through various community service projects. This is also where my love for yarn began.
The woman who was my 4-H leader for crochet and knitting had 6 kids & a whole barn load of patience. She showed me all of the wonderful blankets, hats, mittens, kitchen towels & cloths, sweaters, and even the Grand Champion show blankets made special for the winners of the Jackson County Fair.
I remember being impressed and hoping, one day, to be able to make beautiful garments like Mrs. McMurtrie out of soft, cuddly yarn. She took me under her wing & wrote out (we didn’t have computers back then) all of the crochet terms so I could follow the pattern for the scarf that would be my first project.
Little did I know then that making my first scarf would start a life-long love of yarn. Crochet was the one thing I could always count on, no matter where my husband and I were stationed during his Navy career.
You can read more about Lynette from her Meet the Seller page on Zibbet. At Yarned Together you’ll find fabulous handmade hats, snuggly scarves and cowls. Fashionable bags and purses, beautiful home decor and drool worthy baby clothes. Pop over to Lynette’s shop and see all her unique crocheted creations!
I don’t know much about polymer clay, but I know it’s used for making jewelry as well as other things. I’ve seen beautiful jewelry made from polymer clay so I’m curious about what it is and went in search of information about this way of jewelry making. I found an article about polymer clay at PolymerClay.net
The polymer clay is sculpted, rolled, or cut into shapes before being baked in an oven at low heat, up to about 275° Fahrenheit (135° Celsius) to harden it. After baking, this clay becomes firm enough so that it won’t break easily. Artists then sculpt the clay into figurines, as abstract multi-colored shapes or whimsical caricatures of people or animals. Jewelry artists then create beautifully detailed beads, pendants, brooch pins and sculpted shapes for necklaces and earrings. The polymer clay can also be used to create ornaments, magnets, key chain pieces, plant stakes, cake toppers and many more items.
Sounds like fun to me! I may have to revisit this site and give this hobby a try.
This week our group is promoting Cate, Zibbet shop owner of Fulgorine. Cate is a polymer clay artist and makes her own jewelry.
An excerpt from Cate’s Zibbet profile:
I am originally from South Africa, but I have now been living in England for nearly half my life. I aspire to create beautiful things which is why I find making jewellery so appealing – it is unashamedly supposed to be pretty.
I have a BA in Computer Arts where I learned to work digitally with photo manipulation and 3D and I also paint with traditional media (oils/pastels) and work in other media such as stained glass.
In 2009, while browsing the internet, I stumbled across a page of intricate polymer clay millefiori pendants. I was instantly hooked and wanted to know how such colour and detail was achieved. Here was a material that could combine colour, texture and sculptural possibilities!
There is more to Cate’s story at Meet the Seller on Zibbet. Please take a moment to stop by Fulgorine’s to see the fantastic jewelry made using polymer clay. You’ll be amazed by Cate’s creations.
This week our Zibbet promotional team is promoting Haruna Marie. Haruna Marie is a husband and wife team that enjoys creating their unique art project pieces together. On their creative list of art projects you’ll find origami. Seeing the origami cranes featured in their Zibbet shop brought back memories of my son, who use to spend hours upon hours folding paper into cool pieces of paper art.
Origami, from ori meaning “folding”, and kami meaning “paper” (kami changes to gami due to rendaku) is the traditional Japanese art of paper folding, which started in the 17th century AD at the latest and was popularized outside of Japan in the mid-1900s.
I love art that dates back in history and continues to be practiced and treasured in modern day.
An excerpt from Haruna Marie Zibbet profile:
Haruna Marie is about creating one of a kind, unique pieces. What we love most about making these treasures is the little details that makes each one special. Whether it is capturing something magical in a landscape photograph, the lace trim on a sewing project or the embellishments on a paper doll, each piece is inspired and handmade with love.
We are a husband and wife team and make our pieces together. This gives an added depth to the creative process as we bounce ideas off each other and work together. We are a bilingual and bi-cultural family. Cards with Kanji are written by a native Japanese speaker who has had calligraphy training. Japanese paper dolls and origami are made with an emphasis on authenticity using paper imported form Japan.
I invite you to visit Haruna Marie and see this creative team’s handcrafted art for yourself. I promise you won’t be disappointed. 🙂 My favorites are the Paper Dolls!
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