Going With the Flow

More watercolour painting for me this week, as I picked up one of my library books on watercolour painting and gave one of the exercises a go. It turned out much better than I expected. I really enjoyed doing the background and loved the flow and ease of watercolours. It is by no means an easy medium but I like the smoothness of it and the versatility. That actually surprised me how versatile it was…can’t wait to try a few more exercises.

 

As much as I love really ‘polished’ photos, when it comes to art and blogging I love to be able to share the ‘realness’ of creative expression- note the paper towel and the Shrek like green water on the right. This was step 1, to lightly sketch the flowers and then do the wash for the background.

Step 2

Once the paper was dry I could go to step 3 which was to paint in the stems and petals, adding a soft grey over the white to get the shading. This was the final product.

This is always the sign of a good day.

I hope you have all had a great week and have been able to take the time to do something creative. Check out what other people have been doing at Our Creative Spaces.

Lights

I must be getting the Christmas vibe because this week I bought some solar lights to decorate my balcony. They are really sweet and I love the fact they are solar.

I also put up some lantern lights in my house, so coming up to Christmas I can enjoy lights around the place. I love lights, they are such a simple way to make you smile and feel good. 

I also finished off my texta doodling which I really enjoyed.

 

My Creative Space

I decided to pull out the knitting needles and start again on the blanket I am making for a hospital in Africa. The last one I did was three shades of blue which I loved, but I am excited to be doing different colours. I love the process of knitting and it is special knowing it will be going to such a good home. Check out what other people have been up to at Kootoyoo. 

My Creative Space: Beauty

This week I have focused on trying to clean out what is not necessary in my home and finding ways to bring more joy and beauty into my space. I love flowers and love them scattered around my place, so today I bought a gorgeous big bouquet and broke it up into a few vases. I also had some dried natives from a few weeks ago that had seen better days so I revived them in one of my favourite vases which uses a spike to secure the stems of the flowers. It is a really easy and fun way to play around and arrange flowers. Seems flowers and nature have featured strongly in my last few blog entries- I must be getting excited about summer getting closer.

It has also occurred to me this week that there are a lot of simple pleasures in life that can be easily overlooked. After having a gorgeous communal dinner with some friends over the weekend and enjoying some lush dates, my love of dates was re-ignited. Since the weekend I have found myself enjoying a cup of tea and dates on my balcony as the sun goes down. Life could be a lot worse I suspect!

I have started a ‘doodling’ project which I pick up every now and then. I remember doing this in high school art class and I loved the end result and the ‘mindless’ place your brain goes into as you make patterns and use colour. So easy and so relaxing.     

I hope you have all had a lovely week- how quickly they fly by. Check out what other people have been up to this week at Kootoyoo.

Creative Space- Garden Growing

With all the unexpected rain Sydney has been getting over the past week, my little garden is going very well indeed. These are a few pictures of my Mandevilla and miniature roses.

My Buddha isn’t bigger, but I think he is big enough! 

I hope you have all had a great week. Check out what other people are up to at Kootoyoo.

My Creative Space- My Garden

This week my creative focus was on my balcony. As the weather gets warmer and summer is fast approaching I decided it would be a good idea to get my balcony as bright and colourful as I possible with some potted plants. During summer I spend a lot of time on my balcony reading, eating, drinking, and generally watching the world go by so I want it to be a really lovely space. This is the before shot;

This is the after shot;

And my all time favourite- orange and red floating lotus flowers made from fabric and foam. So cute. I love the contrast with the blue bird bath. 

It’s a work in progress but I have a few more ideas involving more colourful plants and some fairy lights, so I will wait and see how it evolves. If you are playing along this week, check out Kootoyoo. I hope you have had a great week. 

My Creative Space

I have a great book that teaches you how to draw and so I have given myself a challenge to try something out of the book at least once a week. I have also put a limit of 10 mins and I try to use the eraser minimally- all to re-train the perfectionist in me! Imperfections are oh so important…right. Well that is the message anyway. So this is a cute tree frog, maybe next week it will be a lizard or a snake…oh the possibilities. I am seriously hoping that I will begin to see improvements as the weeks go by- you can only hope. Happy creating this week. Check out Kootoyoo…

Little Mr’s Blanket

I proudly gave Little Mr his blanket today. Little Mr is the gorgeous son of some friends of mine- lucky parents. I have been working on his blanket since he was born so it was a very exciting moment for me, not sure he totally ‘got it’ but his parents loved it :-) It is a cute little blanket 1m x 80 cm so will fit his cot and as his dad suggested, it may be his blanket for day care when he finally gets there. He is one cute kid and the thought of my blanket accompanying him on his first days in school is oh so adorable.

Always exciting to see the final product all laid out, after it being in pieces for so long.

Nothing better than feeling the weight of a blanket finished.

All ready to go…

Creative Space

For the past few years I have been making blankets for charity, which has been so great but I haven’t moved past plain stitch.

So the time has come when I have decided to mix it up with an additional project- a scarf in rib-stitch for the approaching chilly weather.

Surprisingly easy and looks pretty cool. This is my project for this week (any maybe next week as well at this rate!). Happy creating…