Oil Painting With Bill

Hubby always wanted to learn to oil paint and I bought all the supplies get him started a few years ago but we never got into it.  We loved watching Bob Ross (His videos are still on now and then though he has passed on) and though he painted in Acrylics, we loved his easy style.  Also William Alexander who was so dramatic with passion for his Oil Paintings that he finished in a half hour per program!!  So yesterday was our day for finally getting to it!  In the 70's I taught drawing and painting to adults and children at the local YMCA in our home town.  I have painted almost all of my life.  But I have let it go by the way side as there never seems to be enough hours in the day...
  But here are the pictures of our basic "putting the colors on" from yesterday:

We are painting a lighthouse using a photograph that Bill found in a Country Magazine.  He tackled it with zest and although he has never oil painted before seemed to know instinctively how to mix colors.   Being a carpenter and woodworker, he eyed the canvas up and divided it for horizon line.

 I really loved the way he put the sky in, blending Cobalt Blue with Cadmium white and using a dabbing motion with a half inch brush to blend.  Lookin' good!

In no time he had the lighthouse roughly painted in and the rocks at its base with a pool of water at the bottom.  Much to my surprise, he needed hardly any instruction on my part at all!  He found it very interesting that we could both be looking at the same picture and see it differently.  But that is what makes YOUR painting yours and mine-mine.  When I taught, I never touched the other person's canvas, I always painted side by side and showed how to do it on my own canvas and the student painted from watching on their canvas.

I realized that what I thought was a rock in the pool of water at the bottom of the photo was really a reflection of just the top of the lighthouse - ha! ( I am sitting farther away from the typing page size model we are using)  I have not decided yet if I will change my "rock" or not-ha!

But after a couple of hours, this is what we accomplished for our first day and we were both pleased with the results so far.

And while we were painting, my Mallard Couple who always visit, did not come together, she was alone under the den windows and I panicked not knowing what happened to her lifelong partner! She was making a sad little noise and fluttering her wings in this wonderfully beautiful pattern as I have never seen before.  For more photos and video, see my Kerrie's Korner, SC blog site.

I plan to definitely draw or paint her from this beautiful picture!!  So Mr. Mallard never did show up and though it was pouring rain all day, Mrs. Mallard stayed close to the house under the den room overhang as if waiting and watching for her spouse.  By supper time she had left and I will be anxious to see if she returns this morning.

Thank you so much for visiting today and please come back soon.  We love having you over to see what we are up to and also for how-to's now and again. Have a most blessed day,

♥KERRIE♥

My Krafty heart to yours...

Easter Craft Quickie

MANY Years ago I used to make bouquets of tulips using egg cartons.  I bought stamens for the middle of each tulip, pipe cleaners for stems and crepe paper leaves.  I now came up with a simple, less than an hour way to make tulips from foam egg cartons and this craft can be made with children or grandchildren.  I love the results!!

You will need:

Some pastel ribbon
Colored Egg Cartons
Straight scissors
Curly edge scissors
Glue stick
Buttons
Craft paint or colored markers

First cut a cup from the carton.  Outline 4 petals with a marker following the curves of the egg cup.

Cut out with straight or curly edge scissors.  The petals will not all be the same size but it does not matter.

When you have your cup cut out, poke a hole in the bottom with the pointed end of the scissors.  Take a strand of ribbon (about 18 inches long) looped in half by the 2 ends and push the loose ends into the opening until you can pull the strands through from the bottom leaving a loose loop on the top of the cup.  Do this with the other 2 strands of ribbon.

This one has been cut with the curly edge scissors and give the tulip a lacy look.  These can be set loose on your Easter dinner table or a cluster of several will look nice in a short clear vase.

Optional, you can tip the edge of the petals with craft paint and put an initial on the side of one petal if using as place cards.

This is one of my own hand painted egg shells set inside for a different look.  Plastic eggs from the dollar store look great in them, too!

This one has a blue flower shaped button glued to the center with stick glue and then one strand of ribbon is laced through to the back.   Below is the kind of paint I used to tip the edge of the one tulip petals and for writing an initial.

And here is a real egg I used to demonstrate how your own boiled and colored eggs can be made to sit up in the cup by pulling the strands of ribbon around the base to steady it.  It will stand up very nicely next to a plate.

Curly Craft scissors can be found even in the Dollar Stores.

I really hope you will make some of these really easy Egg Carton Tulips!!  If you do, I would love to feature your creations!  Thanks for stopping by and come again soon.

♥KERRIE♥

My Krafty heart to yours....

Just a Little Twine...

  I saw in someone's shop that they make little baskets and I immediately thought that I could make those from baling twine! 
   I found this roll in the good old Dollar Tree Store!  I used a size K crochet hook and began crocheting with a circle as when you make doilies.  When I got the size I wanted for the bottom, I stopped adding stitches and just continued the rows going around until the sides were the depth I wanted.


Twine and Needle size K



Next I crocheted 2 rows from one side of the basket to the other for a handle.

And this is the result!  I just love it!  Who knew twine could be so pretty!  I am going to try it with the finer macrame cord next time but this worked up so quickly.  It was a little coarse on the hands though.  And when I finished it I had to trim off some fly-away "hairs"-ha! 

1. The basket was all stitched in single crochet stitches.
 
2. I increased by crocheting 2 stitches in each row every chain stitch around 
until I had the desired size for the base like you would when making a coaster.
 
3. Then I crocheted without adding stitches for 8 rows until the depth was the desired size to hold small objects, candy, or even dried flowers.
 
4. Next, I crocheted 2 rows of single Crochet from side to side to make the handle.

I hope you enjoyed seeing this project and that it inspires you to make some baskets!

Thanks for coming and do come again soon!
♥KERRIE♥
My Krafty heart to yours.... 

Yard Project done

Just love the way this came out, we will have many enjoyable hours here...
Hubby redid a mosaic table top that broke and made a wood insert for it so we can place it between the chairs.

Hope you had a good St. Patrick's Day, Come back again soon!    Good old Dollar Store, I decorated some for Easter on the front and back door.

I bought the basket, 4 tulip flowers,a bunch of plastic eggs and filled the basket and added the bunny from last year's decoration.
I got all those pretty flower and butterfly reusable stickies on one large sheet for a dollar.  This was so much fun!

And here is the back door with a little felt bunny hanging decoration on the door.  The hat on the window is one I bought at the dollar store a few years ago and stapled fabric flowers all around the brim.

Thanks for coming, love your visits.  Happy crafting!!
♥KERRIE♥
My Krafty heart to yours...

Yellow Chairs

Well, here it is, OUR SPOT with the two new Yellow Vinyl molded Adirondack chairs!!  It looked so neat as the sun was setting....

Now all we need are a couple of nice pots of flowers and a little table for lemonade in between.....

This will be so much fun all summer to have a nice place to sit near the lake and not be balancing our chairs on the grade.  This was a great project!

Bye for now from we two and have a wonderful St. Patrick's day tomorrow!

♥KERRIE♥
Come again soon!

Outdoor Living Project...

Hey Crafters!  Today we are featuring our outdoor project.  We have a very uneven back yard where we observe all the wonderful wildlife here.  We have been wanting to make a level place near the water where hubby could stand and fish but also so we could sit level to enjoy the water.
  Hubby helped and supervised the project as I and my daughter's friend helped with the more physical side of the project.  First Bill made a sort of a frame after digging out a 4' X 6'  oblong in the bank.
Next we moved some stone and soil from another area of the yard with a small lawn cart.  Hubby cannot do any lifting so our friend and I did the shoveling and dumping until we had the space filled.

As you can see, the bank tapers down to the lake at a 2-3ft. grade by the time you get to the water's edge.  Next we bought sand to lay the 24" patio blocks on (it took 6 to fill the space) and then we put a row of bricks on either side to hold the sides stable.

Bill filled the cracks with more sand and after 2 days of working, the patio space was finished!  It is a great little spot and we are buying the chairs tomorrow and will show A picture when they are setting there.  With a good friend, you can make this project  at a minimum of spending and a maximum of enjoyment for the rest of the year!

And this is a tip for you ladies:  The best lettuce Keeper I ever had is a plastic ice cream container!  It is an oval "Blue Bunny" brand Ice Cream container.  I break the head of lettuce in half and the two halves fit side by side in the oval.  This is the very first one I have ever used as a lettuce keeper that actually kept the lettuce fresh so that I used it to the last leaf!  No rusting, no spotting, just crisp lettuce!  Better than Tupperware!

Thank you for coming to visit and please come again soon. 

♥KERRIE♥

My Krafty heart to yours!

FUTURE CRAFTY TEACHER....

Our granddaughter, Jessica, is a freshman in college and she is going to be a teacher.  At present, her courses are for teaching children pre-school through 3rd grade.  There is a tremendous amount of creating involved in her assignments and she came to Grandma's to help her put her creations together.  I am so proud of her and all the little crafting together times when she was little have come to fruition-LOL!
  She needed to make a display board with the subject of potty-training and a touch and feel book.  She had everything ready and I just helped with gluing and I did make the whiskers for the Kitten touch and feel-ha!

She scanned the cover of potty training books, laminated them and put them on the tri-fold display board.  She used real pull up diaper cutting it in half, boys and girls panties  and glued them around the book cover in the center.

This is the first page of her touch and feel flip book.  She cut the shoes out after coloring them and put real laces on them.

This one was really fun!  I suggested veggie skewers for the swing frame and she placed them.  She used chain lengths for the swing chains and craft foam for the seats.  I just love its dimensional look and the brightness.

Next, she took plastic life-like grass and cut it into short lengths and glued them down at the bottom.  She turned some sideways and glued them horizontally at the base.  Then grandma thought a lady bug would be nice-ha! So she cut out and drew spots on a piece of craft foam and glued it down.



I love kitty!  She cut him out after coloring him and then used button thread for his whiskers glued on with hot glue.

This is her fence from painted Popsicle sticks, I think it is so cute!  And she cut grass shapes to place be placed in back and front of the sticks...
When the project is completed with a cover and back piece, she will punch the top of the pages with a paper punch and join with rings used for car keys from the craft store.  Then her touch and feel flip book will be complete!

Jessica has wanted to be a teacher from the first moment she went to  pre-school and played teacher all through the years.  I have featured her before as she has an Etsy shop where she sells her home made beaded jewelry.  Thanks for stopping by and do come again.  I think this project would be great for Moms to make when they are potty training, also!  Kids love bright colors and are so proud of themselves when they finally "get it".

TODAY IS JESSICA'S BIRTHDAY!  HAPPY BIRTHDAY JESSICA!!!
♥KERRIE♥
My Krafty heart to yours...