Mixed Media Mermaid

As usual I have left it so long between blogging.  I always think it's only been a week or so when it's usually closer to two weeks!  Time just seems to pass me by without me noticing at all.  Especially since I started working on Snow Bunnys Knits pretty much full time.  I'm super busy and always have a to-do list as long as my arm but because I enjoy knitting and crochet time does go a lot quicker than when i worked in retail.  I do worry about time though, that I'm not getting things done quickly enough, that I'm not updating my shop enough, that new ideas take too long!

Anyway, in a Blog a few months a go I wrote about starting a mixed media mermaid class that was taking me ages to do because i never had enough time (there's that phrase again) to do it.  I finally decided to dedicate a fixed day and time slot to art and I'm so glad I did!  I finally managed to finish her!

I didn't actually have all the right tools or colours but I just went for it anyway and despite the fact the paper is curling up like crazy (pretty sure I shouldn't have used cold pressed paper) and I went crazy with the spray ink at the end and covered her face in a light mist of blue, I'm very happy with the result!!

This is where I last took photos, i forgot to take photos as I was going though DUR!

 Adding colour to the background

 I probably should have left it at this point but I decided to add more colour!

I don't know if you can tell from here but her face is now darker where I tried to get rid of the blue spray :-P

Here is the finished painting.  It's terrible lighting so I will try and take a better one at some point!

I'm going to be starting a new class this week but I will most definitely be going back to the mermaid at some point, with better paper and different colours!  At least I can finally say I finished it though which is the main thing as I never seem to finish any of these personal projects at the moment! So I'm giving myself a pat on the back for that!!

I've also been trying to teach myself crochet and that's going very well indeed!  I'm trying to come up with cute amigurumi animals that i could maybe sell one day (looking in to CE testing has scared me slightly though :-P).

Here is what I have so far! You can't really tell in these pictures but the one on the top has come out a lot bigger because his body is fatter! I really like the big head of the bear though! I'm planning to use the same body and head so they all look similar even when they are different animals.  Which combo do you guys like best?  Ah decisions decisions!

Watercolour paper....my new nemesis!

Hello all :-)

Ah I'm blogging again.....go me! So first things first, those of you who have seen previous posts will know I've been working on a Geisha cross stitch for a little while now! I've managed to make some real progress in the last week or so...I'm pretty pleased!

I say real progress....I guess it's not that much rurally but it feels like it to me haha! I've actually done a little bit more since this photo was taken. It will be finished one day.....one day!

I've also managed to get some time on the mermaid that I've also been working on for an age! She's just been sitting there on my desk for weeks and weeks! Well it was finally time to start the colouring....

This was the first stage.....this was the point that i realised i didn't actually have all the colours it was suggested that you use...damn :-P I had to improvise slightly which is why my Mermaid has been on holiday and now has a lovely tan (ooopppssss). The first stage was to put a thin layer of water soluble wax crayon down and then go over it in watered down acrylic.  I must admit i don't think I've ever used a water soluble crayon in my life and I think it showed! I had no idea how much water was too much or not enough, I basically just jabbed at the page with the brush and hoped for the best!

Then we had to add shading and colour.....yeah it was at this point that I wanted to cry! I didn't have the right colour for the cheeks and when I first put the pink i had on she looked like a clown! I ended up having to add more white and more water which lead to the paper starting to warp......there is such a thing as too much water then!  I was using water colour paper but the last time I used this stuff was about 12 years ago when i was doing A Level (that made me feel incredibly old).  I didn't give up though, I shaded some more and just thought screw it I'll use my own colours.  This was in no way a reflection on the class, I had just got to the point where it was so completely different than the mermaid on the screen I had to wing it haha!!

It's a little better! I still think the cheeks are a little dark and the edges not soft enough and I'm not sure of the browny red colour around her hairline but it really could have been worse! I'm quite proud of the eyes, eyes have never been my thing.  If you click on the image I think it will go bigger so you will be able to see the detail a little more.

So the things I learnt from this are.....water colour paper is not my friend, I am not very good with water soluble crayons and I really need to check what colours I'll need to use in future :-P

Just before i go here is a picture of a zebra I knitted (Zooey to be precise) for my friends little girl.  She made it safe and sound and is now taking selfie's with her new friends :-)

You can see all my knitted things in my shop Snow Bunny's Knits.  I don't have any toys on there at the moment but you can always email me or leave a comment on here as I'm happy to help wherever I can!!

Well anyway that's it for now! See you all again soon!

Mermaids, tangles and knitting OH MY!

I was supposed to be getting better at Blogging but I have in fact gotten worse! I tell myself I will Blog every other day but every other day I seem to have a million and one things to do!!

Well anyway here I am now! I've had a nice couple of weeks, met up with a few friends, watched the Tour of Britain (cycling) as it whizzed past the bottom of my street. I seem to live in a good place for events.  I live close to two parks...events always happen in parks, and off a really long straight road which is good for carnivals and the like.  I really enjoy going as its a nice community feel!

This is us waiting for the Cyclists and then being amazed by how fast (and how close) they were going!! It was pretty cool! I don't know if you can tell but I've also had my hair done! It's not reddish anymore! It's not staying like this either, this is just the colour it went after I stripped the hair dye off my hair! I like it though so that's OK!

I've been working on a few commissions and secret knitting projects lately too.  It's been fun but stressful as I really want to get it right!!

The top one is a monogrammed pair of booties for a friend! I really enjoyed making those because they didn't take too long and it's a bit different than what I usually do.  The second photo is for a secret project that i can't reveal just yet but it's for too gorgeous little girlie's :-) The third photo is a hand warmer I made yesterday.  The wool is so soft and I LOVE the colour! I'm tempted to keep it myself but I'm hoping to add it to Snow Bunny's Knits soon!

I have also managed to squeeze in some of my art classes from Willowing which I'm very happy about as I've been dying to do them! I'm currently working on a mermaid, I've literally never attempted a mermaid so this is new ground for me and I'm really liking it!

I feel like she looks better in person but I'm pretty pleased with her so far! I'm just trying to decide on the best way to cover up her boobs :-P I could do a typical seashell bra or a friend suggested star fish! I'm not entirely sure how I would manage that but I can give it a go.  The next step is to add some colour...exciting! Speaking of colour, I added some to my tangle picture I've been working on. 

I haven't quite worked out what I'm doing with it yet but it's getting there! I'm hoping to work on more complicated tangles in the future, I LOVE entangles and any doodle style drawing when there is loads going on!

Anyway that's me for now! Hopefully i will get better at Blogging one day :-P