Dolls Carved from Soap

A friend sent a PowerPoint slideshow that is amazing. Amazing because each doll has been crafted from a bar of soap. See below for the first slide in the series.

Here is the link to the slideshow of  15 intricately crafted soap dolls in its entirety:

 French Dolls in Soap

FloralArtOilsandWatercolors - A new blogspot for artwork

Yesterday was the day for art clean-up, including creation of a new blog for cataloguing my paintings.

The new site is called Floral Art, Etc. and will focus only on art and displaying what I am currently painting.

Most of the oils and watercolors that I saved to computer files are displayed here.  Some are for sale, some have been gifted, but all can be more or less replicated.  Many of those pieces have been blogged about on Nancy's Arts Crafts and Favorites on blogspot, and the references are duplicated there.

Please visit it and offer constructive criticism, if you will.  Thanks!

clean up picture courtesy of this site by Anjum

Multnomah Lace Shawl (modified)

Just off the hooks is a fab shawl pattern that took about a month to knit.  It is the free download pattern available here from HelloKnitty.

Socks that Rock by Blue Moon Fibers, 100% merino wool, was the yarn choice in the lunasea colorway:

Modifications were made to the original pattern, thanks to cheepskate on Ravelry. 

Here is a picture of the completed lace shawlette.  It knitted up to 66" x 23" on size 4 circular needles.

It was an interesting pattern, and the lace repeats (feather and fan) kept my interest, along with the modifications to the upper part of the shawl.  (Again, thanks, cheepskate and HelloKnitty.)

Portrait Painting Tips on the Web

Painting in watercolor to achieve a portrait?  A web search turned up this site by Margaret Crowley-Kiggins, FWS.  She gives step-by-step advice including the selection of equipment and palette colors, to preparation of the canvas, all the way through completion of facial features and background.

At another site located here, the same artist goes through similar steps on another portrait.  The steps are basically the same, with minor modifications.  This is a guide which will prove worthwhile to save in the computer Art-Favorites toolbar.

Several years ago, I attempted painting a copy of Madonna from the original by Murillo (see below):

Here is my poor rendition of Madonna in oil, completed in 2007:

(The Madonna looks about 40 in my picture, and her chin needs some touch up, obviously.)  It's a start.

Friend Shirley is an accomplished artist, and is currently painting a portrait of a beautiful young woman (it is in its first stages):

Here are two portraits she previously painted:

The Open Tomb

Living in a Saturday World before Easter

The following is taken from Christ in Our Home, a Lutheran publication:

What do you do on Saturday? Catch up on work around the house? Make a trip to the grocery store? In our culture Saturday is an in-between day. It's wedged between the work week...

What do you do when your world has fallen apart? Late Friday afternoon, Joseph of Arimathea made sure the body of Jesus received a proper burial.  He sealed the tomb with a large stone.  I can imagine that once Joseph's work was done, he -- like the other disciples -- started wondering what to do next.  The Saturday between the first Good Friday and Easter was an in-between day.  It was a day of unspeakable sadness.  The hopes of the disciples had died with Jesus.  There was little for them to do but wait.  They could not fix the situation.  Only God could.

We live out our days on Saturday. It's a day of waiting for God to come and do what only God can do. Philip Yancey tells a story of a grandmother who lies buried under 150-year-old oak trees in a cemetery in Louisiana. In accordance with the Grandmother's wishes, only one word is carved on the tombstone: "Waiting."

(From Augsburg Press, p. 7, April, May, June 2010  issue)

Good Friday: Images

Christians gather at Rome's ancient forum ahead of Good Friday's Stations of the Cross ceremony, commemorating the crucifixion of Christ.

From Photobucket:

From Apologetics:

Is Christianity True? Introduction by Brian Auten (series of essays)

Is Christianity True? Introduction by Brian Auten

Today's essay can be accesses via audio here.

Posted using ShareThis.

Feather and Fan Pattern for Centerpiece

From the beautiful coffeetable book Knitter's Stash (2001) by Barbara Albright, I found her intriguing patterns for elaborate lace washcloths.  She has eight different lace patterns, and suggests using linen as knitting yarn for these small projects.

Knitting a smaller piece is a good way to see which lace pattern repeat you prefer from the eight discussed. 

Using a bright wool/polyester fiber with slubs, here is the completed project called "Feather and Fan":

And here is one use for this little jewel:

It is a canvas for a terrarium placed beneath a painting on an entryway table.  Those bright colors just make me happy. 

And now I am ready to complete a shawl with the same "feather and fan" lace repeat on its edges.  This smaller snippet of lace was helpful in familiarizing myself with that particular pattern repeat.

Needlepoint Facts and Pictures

It's time to use some old pieces of needlepoint that I've stashed for years, waiting for a good use.  Most of  this intricate handwork was performed by long deceased family matriarchal members.

From this source, Marie Reidelback, Curator of the Needlepoint Museum writes:

Every needlepoint is an astonishing achievement, when you think about it.

They take tons of work--even a small needlepoint the size of a business letter has about a 100,000 stitches and took someone maybe forty-five hours just to stitch--an incredible investment of time and energy.

And when it's finished? Needlepoint is amazingly durable, colorful, lustrous, and rich--a needlepoint bag will last for years of heavy use, as strong as leather. And from the canvas to the finished piece, it's made completely of strings. Remarkable.

This same Museum of needlepoint oddities shows dozens of "odd" pieces in its gallery.  Nudes, flowers, landscapes...all are included in their library.  Here are just two of the differently abled displayed needlepoint pieces shown at their website:

Needlepoint is one of the oldest forms of needlework and has long been associated with church vestments, kneelers, and wall hangings. During the 19th century this method was known as Berlin work and is now sometimes known as canvas work. The needlepoint technique is worked with needle and yarn on a strong canvas background.

Below are a couple of pieces of old needlepoint that I previously re-purposed (the rose was completed about 100 years ago by a great aunt and now used for a footstool cover.   The monogrammed "M" on the leather folder and the framed lemon were sewn by my late mother).

This is the last piece of needlepoint that needs to be used.  It is about 9" x 7" with a geranium motif on an ivory background. 

What do you think? Should it be used for a knitting yarn bag?

Lauren Burch has beautiful, hand painted needlepoint designed canvases if you want to create a 21st century piece of needle art that will last for centuries.  It is worth a click to see some of her beauties.

Create Your Own Color Palette using Colourlovers.com

Project:  Guest bathroom needs a paint facelift. 

This has been on the to-do list for a while.  Color choices: narrowed down to reddish hues.  Where to go for color guidance in paints? THIS SITE is excellent!  Colour Lovers opens up a plethora of choices in helping select a paint palette. 

Here is the scheme I made in about five minutes using the software on the site, without downloading anything:



Two walls will be painted in the darker red, and the wood trim will be painted in a very light hue of the purplish grey, similar to this color:

What a fun, easy way to choose colors.  You might give it a try.

On second thought, the red is too dark.  Back to the drawing board for a lighter shade of brick red.

Now to get the paint and do the work.

Color by COLOURlovers