I had the silk paints out yesterday, it's been a long time and I was a bit rusty. I was using Mandy Southan's Flowers on Silk (from the library) and experimented with the Christmas rose tutorial - an exercise for painting in layers.   I didn't use the outline provided but copied as I wanted onto a small piece of silk 10 x 10 (cos I'm trying to make my silk last a long time!).

The colours were a challenge to replicate, the inks I have this time (Pebeo)  are a nice quality and colour mix well. Results are far from perfect but it was a good tutorial. I don't only blog about the paintings that come out well for me as ones like this are all part of learning and improving.

Lots of things I would like to improve. It was a lesson in layering so that visible outlines are avoided (petals) and much use of the hair dryer to stop spreading.

Next time though I think I will go for freestyle and something more colourful and paint for fun!

Have a good week everyone and thanks for stopping by.

P.s.thank you all for your very kind and positive comments. Lovely to  come home from a long shift to read them. X

 Wishing everyone great celebrations tonight 

and a very Happy New Year 2013

 

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.  The old has gone, the new has come!

Corinthians 5:17

Dragonflies and things...

Some dragonflies on silk.  This was inspired by a lovely gift that Nancy sent me in the post ...

It's a garden flag and certainly was the inspiration I needed to get my paints out - take a look at her blog to see her own beautiful dragonflies in oils.

Also I have something else for inspiration - this lovely vintage 'how to draw dogs' book:

it was a gift in the post a few weeks back from Nana which I haven't had time to do anything with yet ... I am on a holiday at home next week so will give it a try.

So thankyou to two kind blogging friends for sending me inspiration, you are both very kind.

Yesterday I went to Brighton for a potter.  The cafe that displays knitting (by men!) has changed their window and now has the Brighton ferris wheel and also these delightful felted sunbathers!

Back after my little holiday at home - Betty

Sunday

Hollyhocks on silk revisited, I like these colours better than the last picture I did, this one is going to a new home once it is washed free of salt and ironed. Do you long for a cottage garden, crammed with hollyhocks, nasturtium, big floppy roses, honeysuckle, maybe a pond with frogs and dragonflies?  

the nearest to a garden like this is the derelect building near the woods with it's overgrown garden, it has been reclaimed by the fields and woods but there are lots of cottage garden flowers there amongst the weeds.  The overgrown, half hidden pond had lillies coming into bud last time I was there.  I dream about this little garden and think that if I won the lottery I would rebuild it all and live there!  It's good to have dreams, don't you think.

I have developed a fascination for fossils inspired by my young nephews interest.  Am I the only adult obsessed, or is there a secret society of fossil fans out there?  I remember as a child combing the beach for stones that might contain crystals or sealife fossilised - having no means of cutting the stones, I never did find any but just kept the stones and imagined they might contain something wonderful! but we often found pieces of jet and other semi-precious stones which my mother put in her stone polisher and brought to a wonderful shine.

I have a 'holiday at home' coming up from next weekend.  Time to visit my brothers, see the seaside, visit the woods, paint, (look for fossils?).  Nothing planned so will go with the weather and have odd days out.
Looking forward to rest, sunshine and lie ins!

Jubilee Weekend

Here's a silk painting with red white and blue Jubilee colours in mind
Have a lovely weekend everyone celebrating the Queens Jubilee
We have a street party to look forward to - the bunting is going up in the garden

Back next week!

Colour

Do you get colours in your head? I do - like some people get a song going round their head, I get colours - this week it has been these ..... I have been thinking of lilac flowers but haven't really painted them, just played - sometimes it's good to just play with colour and not be trying to make a masterpiece.  It's been that sort of week - any spare moment of time just doing what takes my fancy....

Colour influences my mood more than music, weather, food.....

Do you wake up and feel you should be wearing a certain colour today and nothing else will do?  even if it isn't quite right for the weather, you just need that colour next to you?

We have a bright sunny day in Surrey, a day off work, spare time, a longing to feel salty water on my feet.....I'm off for my day out - it's a no spend day - will tell you all about it soon.

Tulips

Some tulips on silk to brighten your Monday morning. 

My youngest son has been very helpful in the kitchen this weekend - here he is making rissotto for me:

Oh yes, I'm very proud to tell you that the foxgloves I did recently were requested for a friends 50th birthday present, they will be in their natural habitat of woodland in a cosy bungalow with wood burning stove and homeliness.

Such a lovely sunny day so I'm off for a walk in the woods.  Have a lovely week everyone.

Berry Cooking and Painting

I have been painting some elderberry, hawthorn and rowan berries today...
These are pictures of the silk whilst still wet

So while it dried I went off to make more rosehip syrup

Here's the recipe for you:

1 kg rosehips

3 litres water
1kg granulated sugar

Boil 2 litres of the water

Chop the hips in the food processor and add to the water

Bring back to boil and leave to stand for 20 mins

Strain the contents through muslin to extract the liquid (messy business)

put the liquid to one side

return the left over pulp to the pan with a further litre of water and repeat the process through the muslin

Take all the liquid through muslin one more time to get it really clear.
Now discard the hips/mess and put all your liquid in the  pan, add the sugar to melt, simmer for about 15 mins

Transfer into sterilised bottles.

Messy? fiddly? yes - to be honest, very!

I added a dash of culinary rosewater essence  at the end this time so it smells yummy too.

and then back to my silk which has now been washed and finished:

(sorry about picture quality, am using mobile phone camera for a while)

Elderberries

Some elderberries and Autumn colours from the woods.

I am putting some of my silk paintings on pea sticks so they can be used as flags in our  church praise service (a service for people with 'special needs', some people are not mobile so this is a nice way for them to join in our singing and happy clappy stuff).  They float about very nicely when waved in the air and are being put to good use. 

 

Sorry if this is popping up in your reader again, but I had a type error.

Lavender Bags

Lavender bags for some friends to scent their drawers - I had a lot of lavender hoarded and decided it needed using up - they were painted on silk and backed with muslin. 

Hm, that seemed a bit short and grumpy - just thought I would add a bit of chatter.  The last few days have not been so good and so today, feeling much more cheery and chirpy am off to Brighton with my 12 yr old for a bit of sea air ... I aways try to look at my favourite town differenty each time I visit so who knows what we will see?

Foxgloves

Me again, I have been asked to paint foxgloves on silk and so this is a practice to see how the colours feel together.  I found a new silvery green shade by mixing my green with white thinner and water.

Good news: my embroidering foot has arrived for my sewing machine... a bit scary as it involves removing bits from my machine and using a screw driver - this could be tricky.  Also,  I had a little try with my felt pieces - I don't like the wet/soapy process, too messy for me! don't like the feel of it - am I strange? ... so am thinking maybe the felt will work in a sewn picture - has anyone tried using it that way I wonder?|

Roses

I have had a lovely time painting out in the garden - I haven't done this before.  The ink dries more quickly and behaves differently in the sun, so this is not a masterpiece, more an experiment - I tried using sugar instead of salt and got a much softer result and also a silver highlighter which I mixed with the ink this time.

it was much more enjoyable being out of doors, I could see the colours more clearly and was able to copy the roses in the garden from where I sat. 

It has been all about roses for me today. I am getting through notebooks fast and had some left over pretty tissue from a recently wrapped swap. I had a go at paper mache and covered my little £1 booklet, I think it's quite pretty.

 

After lunch in the garden the prospect of cleaning windows doesn't seem half so bad.


Bettyx

Autumn Colours

It's me again ... I have been trying out some Autumn colours and this is my colour experiment. 

Above is how it looks before washing and below is the finished result .....

There's a lot going on here - I got carried away...

Don't you just feel all Autumnal and long for browns, reds, greens? you can see I do today!

Beautiful pumpkin colours, leaves turning russett and red, natures colours are at their richest in Autumn.

Teachers Cards

Youngest boy made cards this weekend for his teachers:

He drew his outline on silk with silver gutta, painted to his own taste, experimented a bit with salt, ironed, washed, ironed and then mum made them up into cards, It only took an hour or so and he has something really nice to give the teachers with our gifts that he can proudly say he made by himself:

If you don't have access to silk paints, I think you could use photographs or drawings just as well. 
We made it to the pub this weekend - will show you tomorrow. xxx

and the winner is ................

I wish I could work fast enough to make a silk painting for every one of you ... but first of all I have to be in the right mood to make one, then it takes the best part of the day to do start to finish, so this is a real labour of love.....

and the lovely winner is...... Mrs Mad of the Madhouse!!!!!

I am very pleased to give it to a good home and hope you really enjoy it.  If you would email your addres it's on the way. Betty xxx

Crafty Sunday

Lavender bags for teacher thankyou presents.  These were scraps of silkpaintings that didn't work out for my swap as I was aiming for specific colours.  I made them about 4 inches square. 

pictures taken before stuffing

 
The beads were from the lovely selection my neighbour brought back from her cruise for me.  You could use silk scarves if you aren't into silk painting.

A Swap for all Seasons, to Lou

My parcel to Australia for the swap has now arrived safely so I can show you:

Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue:

These are the things I made for my partner in the swap

who is Lou in Queensland, Australia.  Lou is a nurse, loves shabby chic, is an expert paper crafter and has taught her crafts.  I found she likes the same things as me.

I made Lou a silk painted neck scarf of carnations in her favourite colours pink/aqua.  It is bigger than the ones I have done before so challenged me a bit.

That was the something new, then something blue:

that's the lavender cushion I made her, I painted butterflies
on silk for this one and then made the back with a vintage linen hanky I found in a thrift shop.  I had stuffed with lavender but had to remove as Australian postal rules state no dried seeds/pot pourri, grrrr ... hope Lou can fill the bag from her end.


I used decorative trim, a bead and ribbon to finish so it will hang from a coat hanger.

Then a couple of purchases - the something borrowed was a vintage style heart found in a tea room near me and it is the same as the one on my dresser which I love, see..... hence 'borrowed'.  I was so surprised to see one the same and knew it was just right.

I can't tell you how much fun it has been doing this swap.  Lou has alreaady sent me the most beautiful necklace that I posted about  and is busy finishing another item for the swap at the moment so will show you later.  Lou is really unwell at the moment - have a restful weekend Lou and get well soon, sending healing thoughts your way. xxx