A Couple of Pastels and a Surprise

[smallhobbit]

As I said in my 'Goal' post I haven't been doing any craft recently, but I did purchase some items to attempt Christmas cards for the family this year:



I used my pastels to draw one of the trees I had sketched in the summer:



And I attempted an art contribution for fan_flashworks 



The Challenge was Green, so these are the Greenwoods where the outlaws are hiding.

In the summer one of the Art Card fortnightly emails including a free competition which I entered, not expecting to win anything, but I won a prize:



I have never used oil paints, so clearly I need to learn!

If only I could retire now, there's so much I want to do.

Comments

[badly_knitted]

What are you going to stitch on your cards? Any ideas yet?

I'm not going to have time to make Christmas cards this year, I have two 60th birthday cards to do, and they're going to take a fair bit of work.

Good luck with your oil paints, it's so cool you won them!

[smallhobbit]

There's a simple snowflake pattern I'd like to attempt. Not sure what the kids will make of it, but I think my mother will like it.

I've never made cards before, so I thought I'd start with something easy. Good luck with the 60th birthday cards - will you post pictures once they've been given?

The oil paints will have to wait until I have some time to spare, but it's very nice to have a new project to look forward to.

[badly_knitted]

Snowflakes make for great cards! You'll need to get some double-sided sticky tape, preferably acid free, to mount the stitched piece in the cards. I get mine off ebay, it's not expensive.

Yes, I'll be posting pictures, probably before the cards go to their recipients because the people they're for don't lurk on these sites. It's just a case of stitching them and turning the stitching into cards. The first one is started, that's for December. The second is for my sister next April, but it's a more complicated piece so it'll take longer. It's also on 20 count which makes it harder with the low levels of natural light at this time of year. The one I'm working on is on 18 count, which is a little easier on the eyes.

I'm sure you'll have fun with the paints when you can find the time.

[smallhobbit]

Thank you for telling me. I used Ebay for the rest of the items. Do I go for clear or red - and what width would you suggest: 3mm/6mm/12mm/18mm?

I'm delighted you'll be posting pictures - I look forward to seeing them - although I still think you're mad to use 20 and 18 count!

[badly_knitted]

Ebay is the best, I get all my cross stitch fabric from there these days - not that I need any more (eyes big trunk full of various colours and counts*

I'd probably go mid range, 6, or maybe 12 for sealing down the edges of the card. 18mm is too wide for most projects. I think I mostly use 6 or 10mm, which is available if you look around. Clear is always the best option, it can be used on anything without showing through. I often fray the edges of my stitched piece and mount it on the front of a single fold card, clear tape is invisible through the holes. Try this one:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2-x-Double-Sided-Tape-Dovecraft-6mm-x-12m-adhesive-acid-free-easy-tear/222565935399?epid=19012064303&hash=item33d1f6a927:g:ZvgAAOSwvflZV3xx:rk:13:pf:0

Each roll lasts forever and can be used for lots of other craft things too.

To make big designs small enough for cards, the higher counts are essential. Plus I can stitch way faster with a single strand of thread than with two. The one I'm doing now is a long panel, 60 stitches by 110,so on 18 count it's 6.1 inches long instead of getting on for 8 inches using 14 count. I thin I've got some big enough card blanks...

[smallhobbit]

Thank you so much for that - I've ordered the tape. I'm slowly making a great collection of crafting materials. When I was doing my cross stitch I ran out of a couple of the colours - partly because of using 14 count instead of 16, also because of the way I was doing the pattern, so I ordered the colours I needed through Ebay - so easy just to get one colour (even if the temptation was to buy several!)

I can see why you'd want to make designs small enough for cards - still sounds very tricky to me :)

[badly_knitted]

I get my threads off ebay now too - it's cheaper than the shops and I can just get whichever colour I'm running short of. So convenient.

Crafting is addictive and there are so many fabulous things out there to use!

Good light - and reading glasses - help me see what I'm doing.

[stonepicnicking_okapi]

Very nice. I like the cards. And you're branching out into all kinds of media.

[smallhobbit]

Thank you. I hope the cards work out. Yes - it's been interesting finding all these different things.

[howsmyenglish]

I find it amazing that you're so... flexible - i mean, had i got a present like that, i would have said, I don't need it. but you just accept it as a new challenge. I do think it's wonderful of you. maybe, being your online friend and reading your posts, I'll get infected with this flexibility, too... i really might use some of it.

[smallhobbit]

About 18 months ago I would probably have been dubious, but then I decided I didn't want to get stuck just doing the same things all the time, and therefore asked the people on my friends' list to come up with new things I could try. So every months for a year I tried something new - sometimes the new crafts took longer than a month, but I interspersed them with activities which took less time. I discovered there were lots of new things I enjoyed, which I would never have tried otherwise. I also found some things I wasn't as keen on, and those I won't repeat, although there's nothing I regret trying.

From that I started drawing with pastels and doing cross stitch, both of which I've continued this year. And I've learnt that it's never too late to try something new.

[howsmyenglish]

it's never too late to try something new.

this is a sentence that I'd like to put on a number of walls..! :)

[vix_spes]

Such a lovely idea - good luck! And congrats on winning the prize!

[smallhobbit]

Thank you - we shall see how it goes! I was rather pleased with myself :)

[shaddyr]

So much cool stuff! The cards will be lovely, I'm sure. And oils! I find them intimidating - have fun!

I hear you about retirement - I need more time off to do my crafty things!

[smallhobbit]

I shall no doubt post a picture of the cards when I've done them. I have no idea about oils, except that I need more time than I have at present.

This earning a living is so tedious!

Well ...

[ysabetwordsmith]

I'm not an artist, but I have experimented with paints. The awesome things about oil paints include intensity, blendiness, and you have all the time in the world to screw with them before they dry. That last is also a disadvantage, so you have to learn to work with it.

I highly recommend that you print out some art exercise sheets, pencil them on a cheap canvas, and kill a few afternoons just playing with the paints. Learn what they can do, learn which techniques you find fun.

https://drawingninja.com/show/oil-pastel-lesson-worksheets.asp

https://www.thoughtco.com/art-worksheet-gallery-4122671

https://oldmasters.academy/old-masters-academy-art-lessons/old-masters-academy-worksheets-and-templates

https://www.smore.com/8rjzn-portraits-mixing-skin-tones

https://blog.udemy.com/oil-painting-techniques/

https://garybolyer.com/2011/08/11/top-6-ways-to-create-texture-in-oil-painting/

There are some ways to make rather awesome art even without a lot of skill, such as geometric abstracts -- you can make a fun one just using masking tape and filling in the blanks. You can even make practical projects such as sound-absorbing panels.

Re: Well ...

[smallhobbit]

Thank you very much for these - I shall keep a note of them. I know at the moment there just isn't the time to devote to oil paints, but it will be something to look forward to.

Re: Well ...

[ysabetwordsmith]

I'm glad I could help.

Yeah, learning oil paints -- or any paint, really -- takes time. Maybe you could make it a holiday activity.

[moth2fic]

Just a warning - I made cards for all my nearest and dearest while I was still working, then once I retired, well, they all had at least one, didn't they? Now I have boxes of craft stuff and have recently been culling the contents to send to Jamie's school - I wish I knew a brownie troop nearby.

[smallhobbit]

Yes, I can see that might be a problem :) Primarily I'm intending on doing a card for my mother - the others are more incidental in that I shall have the materials so might as well use them. My collection of craft stuff is already beginning though ...