Making Time For It

With the weather turning nice here up north, and school coming to a close for the year, I am finding it challenging to carve out time to create. Many days I am just far too tired, uninspired, or even still busy with daily life to just sit down and make anything. That said, there have been a few rainy weekends that I’ve managed to sneak off and get few things done.

Back in May, I managed to whip up four more background canvases to try some paint pen patterning again…

This time, I tried to visualize a bit more ahead of time what I would like to see in the final products… and while I feel like I got closer to what I am wanting, I think I still need more practice. 😉 Even just having a theme in mind (i.e. “flowers”, “ocean”, “the 60s”, “stones”) helped a great deal. I’m just not quite sure where to go from here right now. Hmm…

I also made a *bunch* of linen aprons for Mother’s Day…

I discovered that I would much prefer to sew things on my own time and offer them up for sale as they are ready, rather than than take several orders and have to work under the pressure of a deadline. I mean, I kind of got an inkling of this when I was making face masks, but the aprons really brought it home. I wonder if this is true for most creatives?

Finally, in June I signed up for an online summer solstice event which requested that I bring a butterfly object with me. I immediately thought about one of my photography canvases that had not turned out the way I had wanted (it was supposed to be gauzy and ethereal looking, but the printer had overblown it to match the other canvases I had ordered at the time). I had been meaning to try and salvage it somehow, and this seemed like the perfect opportunity to try.

First, I mixed some warm white acrylic paint with some glaze and swirled it on top of the canvas with a rag. When I was happy with the results, I let it dry and spray sealed it so I could experiment on top of it without wrecking it.

Next, I dug out my scrapbooking papers and cut out some nature bits and bobs that I felt went well with the butterfly. I played around with the pieces until my butterfly looked all fanciful and pretty, then I decoupaged them in place with Mod Podge.

Finally, I brainstormed some sayings to go along with the butterfly, chose my favourite, and looked up some font styles. I really liked the lettering Katie Daisy used in her calendar, so I tried to copy it using my Posca pens. Sadly, it came out kind of wonky… just like me I suppose.

To balance the lettering, I added some swirly clouds to the “sky” (in reality, this butterfly was actually a found/dried specimen from my collection, merely sitting in a blue ceramic bowl).

Totally NOT what I had in mind when I thought of “salvaging” the overblown photography piece… but I am very happy with the results! It is a wonderful reminder to dance with whatever life may throw at you – even if at first you think it is a “mistake”. ♥

Anyhow. That’s pretty much it for the last little while. Unless you count gardening… but that’s a whole other post. 😉 Hope y’all have a lovely summer! And always remember… to dance. xo