Nesting

Last summer I created one of my favourite paintings and sent it off in trade to Alice. I was a little sad to see it leave and so I made plans to create something along the same lines for myself. Shortly after giving my studio a thorough cleaning I discovered these wooden nesting dolls in their box begging to be decorated. Sidebar: How awesome is discovering treasure hidden away in your old boxes?

I had one failed attempt at recreating my layered watercolours with acrylic paint so I went back to watercolour for these. On top of the washes of colour I used Sharpie Paint pens to ink in triangles and trees.



I'm really happy with how they turned out. Working with bright, vibrant colours improved my mood each time I would paint or draw this piece. I think I will pick up more wooden nesting dolls so I can create another set of three for the other end of my mantel. I also think I'll be using a similar style and colour palette in more of my future work.

For the Tooth Fairy

My daughter's recent trip to the Dentist led to the discovery of her first wiggly tooth! On our way home we stopped at a craft store and I let her pick out the felt and ribbon. That evening I made a simple tooth door hanger so we'll be well prepared when the Tooth Fairy arrives.

There is a small pocket on one side for the tooth and a large pocket on this side for money. What's the going rate for the Tooth Fairy? I believe I received twenty-five cents, but there has been a tiny bit of inflation since the 80s. Is a dollar enough and perhaps a little extra for each tooth thereafter?

~ jeannine

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Two for Tea

Remember the Tea Box storage bins I made? Well I made two more. They are part of a pretty set of three sitting on a shelf in my studio.

One is filled with stamps

One with postage

One with tape

and they all still hold the scent of lemon verbena

~ jeannine

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Mail Art: Hand Painted and a Poem

This is a long overdue post about the packages I sent to my very patient friends since this past summer. I see that I am in need of another session in the studio putting together envelopes with art, images and letters.

Barbara received my first of several hand painted envelopes. Inside was a collection of pictures and handmade treats.

Kimi received another hand painted envelope and a hand painted card along with pictures, a postcard and stickers.

Sumi received a sketch on handmade paper which shares a similar colour tone with the photos. Gold letter, hand painted and space stickers rounded off the package.

Marcus opened a package to find our next trade. A BC sunset and two pressed sweet pea blossoms along with a painted cardboard postcard. At the time our prolonged summer was coming to an end and we were about to hit 80 days without a drop of rain. A few days later it began to rain with a vengeance.  I found a beautiful quote online and created an illustration to match.

The rain began again.
It fell heavily,
easily,
with no meaning or intention
but the fulfilment
of its own nature,
which was to fall
and fall.

- Helen Garner

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Handmade Gifts Part 2

I have several kinds of lavender plants in my garden and so I planned to put together some scented bath salts using my flower buds and some essential oil. I was hoping to find a local shop that carried the oil and in my research I discovered that I live a mere 20 minute drive from an organic lavender farm! Huzzah!

A quick stop turned into a family trip and a small purchase turned into a gift of pumpkins for each of my girls from the generous gardener, Lynda. We roasted the pumpkins and made several batches of pumpkin pancakes and pumpkin cookies. She asked us to return in the spring and she'll give each girl their own tomato plant. I foresee several more varieties of lavender in my garden in the coming years.

The recipe for the bath salts was simple. Epsom salts and a dozen drops of oil. A few buds and a hearty shake to mix them up. Top of the jar, seal it up and package as desired. I stamped the kraft paper with a snowflake stamp and white ink and finished it off with a small drawing on each jar.

Making these gifts has inspired me to continue making handmade presents each year. Do you make any of your gifts? Please share your story! I'd love to hear what you made.

jeannine

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Handmade Gifts Part 1

At the end of each holiday season I resolve to start making my gift list as soon as possible and finish shopping in the summer. By Halloween I realize I forgot to make said list and panic while cursing my unorganized habits. This year was much the same (why break with tradition, right?) with one small change -- I made a few of our gifts.

The first handmade gift was seed sharing. I successfully saved a large envelope full of shelling peas and I still have a jar full of seeds from my gorgeous False Indigo plant from Ottawa. I dusted off my InDesign software and combined a sketch of the plant with some well set type. I printed it onto heavy kraft paper and used a seed packet template I found online.

Did you make any of your Christmas gifts this year? Please share in the comments, I'd love to see them.


The next Handmade Gifts post will be about the bath product I made using a locally sourced treasure.

jeannine

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Hello

I hope you had a really great Christmas with just the right balance of supreme laziness and goal accomplishment. Those were the two items on my list during our holidays. Check and check. We all slept in, drank too much coffee, played with our new toys and finished a deep house cleaning and organizing. There was art, reading and eating and were were merry most of the time.

I've been busy with artwork, crafts and cooking lately and I'm looking forward to sharing these with you. I'm hoping that this creative momentum will continue and that I'll be able to carve out enough time for regular posting until the next wave of busy sweeps me away.

Happy New Year!

jeannine
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Doodling on Coffee Mugs

Looks pretty good, right? Well, it almost turned out.

I found various links for Sharpie drawings on mugs or plates and gave it a try. Instead of using the regular markers, I used Sharpie Paint pens. They're oil-based and for some reason I thought it might work better than office-use pens. The mug lasted through the bake time to set the colour but didn't hold up with a light hand wash. After a gentle scrub there were scratch marks and it was apparent it would wash completely away in the dishwasher.

The marker investment won't be wasted. I'm currently using them for my nesting dolls. If anyone else plans on using this method for a gift, make sure it's on an item that won't get regular use. I think I'll put this slightly imperfect mug in my studio as a holder for my new pens.

I know showing a craft idea that didn't work out isn't a new thing. I think there are several other blogs dedicated to botched Pinterest & Martha Stewart crafts. I'm curious, though. Do you have a post or story to tell of a project gone awry? Did you keep trying until you got it right or give up?

jeannine

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Mail Art Monday: Autumn Edition

Did September and October run past you as well? Mine ran past in a screaming blur of school, birthday parties and yard work. Here's what's been arriving in my postbox over the last few months.

In my postbox...

Dana also returned to mail art with a lovely Bert's Bees envelope stuffed full of nautical inspired goodies as well as items with watercolour washes. I am completely smitten with her recent photos of the Praying Mantis on her Echinacea. Aren't they amazing?!

Sarah has a knack for making small envelopes full of interesting ephemera. Her Daffodil drawing was an instant hit for me and the Aurora stickers were quickly confiscated by a certain princess obsessed wee little.

I was in a state of serious Olympic withdrawal when Jill's delightful package arrived and satisfied my British cravings. We are a Lego obsessed house and Jill sent us a Mr Bob Lego. Now I just have to think of an interesting photo shoot for this little guy.

Jessica continued our postcard exchange with an island predator scene. An interesting selection of new material for my turn was included along with some cool stickers and a clipping about my town.

I have several packages on their way to my friends and I'm putting the final touches on a couple more.  The next mail art post should be all about the happy mailboxes across the country and across the ocean.

jeannine

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Returning

Well, it certainly has been a while since my last post. Where have I been? What have I been doing?

Since late this summer I have been exercising vigorously and consistently five days a week. Aerobics progressed to strength training and then running. I have caught the running bug that always seemed to elude me in the past. I started off in the evenings when the kids were tucked into bed. Once school started for my oldest child, I exercised in the afternoon which eliminated my studio time. When evening rolls around after homework, snacks, meals and cleaning, I am worn out and can only muster a few pages of a book or a TV show. I usually fall asleep during both of those activities, too.

There was also a subtle shift that happened in the summer where I began viewing this blog as a chore. One that took me away from the garden, fresh air or my other activities. I know myself well enough to know that if something feels like a chore it's time to step back and take a break.

Several months have passed without any significant time on here or in my studio and I do finally miss it. This weekend I spent my extra hour (due to daylight savings time) in my studio cleaning, organizing and purging. I discovered a few items and supplies I had purchased years ago and never got around to working with. Starting this week I am spending more time in the studio and I'm working on some of these forgotten projects. I have a set of Matryoshka dolls that I am prepping for painting, a family Christmas card to design, several mail art replies and an acrylic painting that I may or may not repaint.

Am I alone here? Do you ever walk away from your art or design to renew your creativity or do you create until you feel renewed? Thank you for waiting patiently. I hope you'll enjoy the posts and projects on here in the next little while.

jeannine

Tradesies

The first time I visited Futuregirl's site I had been searching the internet for tips on hand stitching felt. I wanted to make a couple of small toys and dolls for my first daughter and found some very easy-to-follow instructions on Alice's blog. I lingered on her site for quite some time, reading her past posts and getting to know her through her writing. When I started this little blog, one of the first posts I wrote was about the felt projects I completed using her tutorials. I ignored my shyness and sent her an email with my link. She replied and featured my bag in a post about projects from her tutorials.

Several months later she wrote a wonderful piece about blog comments and I left a reply. I told her about how thankful I was for her encouragement and kind words for my fledgling blog and artwork. We've kept in touch since, via our blogs and twitter.

Another few months (or maybe a year) later, Alice asked me if I was interested in a trade. A painting for some embroidery, knitting or crochet. I may have made an audible 'squee' sound while I replied YES! After exchanging a few emails in which I showed her links as to what type of cowl I might like and colour, I got to work on her painting.

Actually, I had a few moments of panic first. Ohmygod, what have I agreed to? My painting's going to blow and she'll wonder why she ever asked me to trade. Can I get out of this without embarrassing myself? No, no, no, it'll be fine. Just going to do one quick Hail Mary before I tuck this into the postbox. FINGERS CROSSED! While she may not have done the same desperate internal dialogue, it turns out she too gets anxious over trades and was hoping I loved the cowls.

OF COURSE I loved the cowls! They are warm grey, soft and all around beautiful! Plus, I was only expecting one. Imagine my delight when I open the package and find two; one crochet an one knit. I can't wait until our weather shifts just a little bit more so I can wear them.

When creating Alice's main painting, I layered several washes of colour from light to dark. I drew the triangles and filled them in with gouache then outlined them with ink and drew the trees. Alice mentioned she was reading The Hobbit, so I did a little research and pulled a quote I thought was appropriate for life in general. The very last item was four sheets of hand painted watercolour stickers for her correspondence.

The only detail I left out was a title for the main painting. If I had waited to mail it until I could think of a title, it would still be sitting in my studio. I managed to name two little humans, but when it comes to artwork, I'm always stumped. Any suggestions?

This has been a fantastic summer project. One I'm hoping we'll keep up over the years. It's also inspired me to finally tackle the large canvases I have in our main living space. Lots of colour and forest themes are in order!

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Mail Art Monday: Summer Edition

I looked back on my last post and could barely believe that well over a month has past since I last wrote about mail art. What can I say other than the lure of warm weather and time spent in my garden or around beaches took me far away from my computer most days.

In their postbox...

Jill had sent me a few pieces from her side of the ocean and so I sent her pieces of my garden in return. I also tucked in a few pictures from my region along with paper a postcard and a few more lovely chickens.

Sarah received a few photos from my visits (or time living in) BC, Nova Scotia & Ontario along with a few Canadian stamps. A petal from my garden, watercolour pieces and handmade stickers were tucked inside with a local postcard.

I returned Belinda's watercolour card with my fish drawings. The white circles reminded me of bubbles and so a few goldfish popped into mind when I started sketching. I returned the favour with a watercolour sheet of my own along with some handmade stickers, petals, a butterfly sticker and the twenty cents I owed her son for his lovely drawing.

Thankfully, the postcard I made for Jessica turned up while she was unpacking after her recent move.
This time I drew a fan on a scrap of paper and cut triangles out of the paper she supplied to create a colourful breeze cooling the air.

In my postbox...

Barbara spoiled me rotten with two lovely packages this summer. The first was sent during her summer holiday and included a sketch, a gorgeous flower photo, British Columbia paper clippings and the most delightful sprout bookmarks.

Barbara's second amazing package was all about waffles! My family has a tradition of having homemade waffles every Saturday morning. Not only did she create an adorable waffle pop-out illustration with a my very own logo, she went so far as to show me pictures of her own waffles... that she used for printmaking! I'm also assuming she saved some to eat.

Kimi sent me pieces of the Arthouse Sketchbook tour to me with her latest package. She was kind enough to check out my sketchbook while she was visiting (and nicking their paper ephemera for me). A print of a recent colourful and happy painting as well as a clipping of a sweet anchor dress were also included. If I ever came across this dress, I'd have a hard time passing it up!

I'm hoping that I'll post about mail art a little more often than seasonally in the coming months. The idea of spending a few hours tucked in my studio on a cool rainy day sounds like the perfect fall day.

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Watercolour Washes

Before I start sharing a few process shots of a painting I'm creating (for a very exciting trade!!), I thought I'd show you the small studies I created. Testing ideas, materials and colours I whipped up a few quick paintings.

Triangles

Trees

I created a few thumbnails of my ideas in my sketchbook then started adding splashes of water and paint onto the small sheets until something interesting formed.

I've rarely done studies or tests before painting. I'm more of a jump in and wing it kind of girl. I'm pleased with what I was able to figure out with these small paintings and it's been handy to have a colour reference right in front of me while I draw or apply layers of wash.

What about you? Do you plan ahead or wing it?

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From Tea to Storage

Over this past winter I became a regular tea drinker. Every Wednesday night I would brew a pot of Calm Tea and drink it all while catching up on Downton Abbey. Next to my Friday night bottle glass or two of red wine, it was my favourite part of the week.

Once the tin was emptied I tried to peel the label off to use it for stamps and stickers but quickly realized it wasn't going to be an easy endeavor. The solution was to slather on some glue and stick some of my origami paper onto the label.

Cardinal & Owl admiring the pretty tin

The best part, other than having pretty storage for my collected stamps, is the smell of lemon and mint that wafts up every time open it up.

On a slightly related side note, I looked at the list of ingredients in the tea and I have many of the plants growing in my garden. Perhaps I'll try my hand at saving leaves for tea.

Have you reused a coffee or tea tin for storage? Send me a link, I'd love to have a look!

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4x6 Trade: Sedna & Landscape

Remember my 4x6 trade with Marcus at Lucky Jack Press? Well, I'm happy to report that there is another set to tell you all about.

A blanket of trees over the mountains.

I replied to Marcus's glimpse of the North with an illustration of my new surroundings as well as the landscape that I am much more familiar with, the prairies. The larger half is 4x6 and the smaller, folded bit was around 3 inches. I split up the scene by using only ink on one side and marker on the other.

I find the mountains covered in trees to be comforting in the winter as it looks like a warm blanket of green. In contrast, it also seems crowded and compressed, and limits the amount of daylight we see.

Mostly sky

It has taken me nearly 20 years to truly appreciate the large sky and limitless horizon I grew up with. Seeing a thunderstorm brewing miles away while sitting in a spot of sunshine. The crunch of the dry grass and the smell of sage in the air.

It's not that I don't love my new surroundings, it's a true treasure to live so close to the ocean and the rainforest. It's simply taking a bit of time for me to settle. I imagine an islander would be equally perplexed during the long Prairie winter.

A gorgeous collection of texture. Excuse the thumb placement.

Marcus kept his promise and rewarded me with some amazing Sedna imagery. The mythology is fascinating, but I prefer the version in which her father is trying to help her rather than intentionally sacrificing his daughter. Perhaps I'm biased as a mother of two daughters.

The trade came in the best envelope, SHIPS! There was also an amazing aerial texture postcard with a note attached.

It's my turn to send a reply. I've been stewing on my ideas for a bit, but I think I may have something in mind shortly.

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Mail Art Monday: Swaps and Space

The lazy days of summer have officially begun around here. With the end of school, we find ourselves moving through our days at a slower pace and not realizing we're still in our pajamas at 2pm. My list of mail art replies is growing, so I will have to carve out a little bit of time away from my garden and back in the studio.

In their postbox...

Emily received a few more of my origami envelopes full of stamps, prints clippings and punches.

Kelly put on a paper swap recently and I put together a package for Jodi full of postcards and bits of paper from my studio all nestled inside a sea otter envelope.

In my postbox...

Belinda's package arrived with a piece of art from her son (with a note that he is charging $0.20), stickers and a collaborative piece. I'm to draw on the watercolour image and send it back. I think I'll nick that idea and send one back in my next reply.

Jessica's adorable change of address postcard arrived from sunny California.

Jodi's package to me for Kelly's swap was stuffed full of of wonderful bits of paper, stickers and stamps.

Sumi's sea and space themed package was a delight! The ship illustration on the magazine is stunning and the old watch faces are intriguing. The best bit was the 3D paper with glasses!

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Poppies

It's poppy season! The delicate orange California poppies have filled all the available ditches and meadows in the area. I've also spied a few special varieties in neighbour's yards. I was inspired to paint another page in my watercolour sketchbook.

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Mail Art Monday: A Three Week Surplus

What happens when I wait three weeks, rather than two, to post about mail art? I play catch up with an enormous post!

In their postbox...

Belinda received another colourful package which included art prints, stamped sheets made with cork stamps, paper ephemera, stamps, stickers and a few prints from my first arthouse sketchbook.

Catherine recently had her first child. I rifled through my collections and found a few paper bits that had images of a mother and child. I also included a few of my art prints, stickers and some Canadian stamps.

For my next package to Sarah, I changed things up a little and sent her mail art supplies along with a letter. Several sheets of colourful stickers and a few sheets of my kozo washi paper were tucked inside a handmade envelope.

Barbara has been sending me beautiful drawings of flowers and this time I returned the favour with a poppy painted using gouache on canvas paper and a columbine with watercolour. I pressed a small flower from our yard (a buttercup, perhaps?) and found a couple of flower postage stamps. I was finally able to print some of my photographs so I tucked those in along with washi paper, watercolour circles and a bumble bee sticker.

In my postbox...

Jessica's next postcard arrived along with a new set of material for my reply. Her nifty envelope included mini scrabble letters affixed near the address. I'm nearly finished her reply and should be able to send it off this week.

Jill's delightful package arrived with a bit of the ocean tucked inside. A piece of pottery with smooth corners, a full, tiny shell and pieces of another shell were all tightly wrapped inside a small envelope with a ribbon. Postcards, stamps, stickers, paper ephemera and drawings were also included. I will have to go on a beach combing trip to find a few small bits from my side of the pond for my reply.

Sarah is featured again! Her royal-themed package arrived in a flash. Upon opening the union jack envelope, I was greeted by a personalized, engraved jubilee medal. This girl is crazy generous. The whole family is a big fan of Wallace & Gromit and, frankly I'm a fan of the royals in general, so this package was an all around hit.

Gardening seems to be at a manageable level these days. I'm going to squirrel away a few hours this week to work on mail art, a new painting and a very exciting trade. What are you up to?

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