Tolentreasures

Wow, my pictures are blurry, blogger won't let me make some of them smaller, there are issues making them centered and so another week begins.   Because last week wasn't weird enough.   But, back to the snowman face.   Base with any country looking blue around the edges, blending to the center with an off white.   I like Bleached Sand. You want to make sure that your off white is not yellowy. We don't want green snowman faces. Then sketch your face on with chalk and side load shade to the left of the eyes and mouth.   I like Deep Midnight mixed with the blue background color.   Keep the paint against the pattern line and let it blend out away from it. Drybrush some cheeks in. Then paint the eyes, nose and mouth black.   With the black that is already on your brush, pick up some of the off white and lay in a little sideload of gray on the eyes and mouth pieces of coal.   Reme...

You know how sometimes you just don't know what to write about. I just go blank sometimes or nothing interesting is happening.   I have been madly working on items for the Fall Open House.     Click above  or go here https://www.facebook.com/FallOpenHouse   Painting away, staying out of trouble, mostly.   The  boys are drawing these everywhere! Of all the crafts and drawings that I have shown them... Papa shows them these in church and now twisted lines are EVERYWHERE!    And the regular stuff, work, getting Kendall to pre-school, the day to day madness and then... Yesterday morning happens.   Shawnee calls, Mom has fallen and she says that she can't get in touch with me.   Not sure how that happens, but we won't go there today.   I call Mom, I talk to her, she is going to the ER.   Now, here is the question. Do I go to Ohio...

We just returned from the   Bloomsburg Fair in Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania. It is truly one of the nicest fairs that I have attended.  The needlework and handcraft displays are always my favorite. But this is also a great display. The garden clubs create them around a theme. This year was Kaleidoscope. Each wedge was the handiwork of a different garden club. the mantel was red, one pedestal green, one pedestal yellow, the table blue, the door purple and orange, well, that was in another area.   They are judged and what I like best is reading the judge's critique.  The dahlias in the historic garden were awesome.  This was our little group. What a fun time!  Beautiful displays of fruits and vegetables.  My first horse pull. And really...? It was way more interesting than I thought it was going to be. Pulling here is another friend of ours.  Giant pumpkins And ...

Someone asked me about the pumpkin faces last week. Here are the steps that I use to make the faces. First of all, base coat whatever you are using with shades of orange.   You can read about how to do the background here or http://tolentreasures.blogspot.com/2011/01/star-and-berry-vine-tutorial.html   (Somewhere on this blog, I posted a whole tutorial on backgrounds, think I can find it?  Of course not.)   Then trace on your face. I use chalk, freehand it! Honestly, they are all different.   One little word of caution. If you are using pan lids, I drill the hole before I paint them and make sure that hole is at the top when you start painting.   All mistakes that I have made and that we are not going to talk about. Just trust me.     I paint the faces with white first. Yellow just takes too many coats.   Then Yellow and yellow again. Paint the noses (handles) black...

  Who? Kendall, the one on the left asks a lot of questions.  Gracelyn, the one on the right is more , let's say, ethereal.  She makes up her own stories... and answers. Kendall is literal, grounded in the who, what, where, when, why and how. They love to play in the tailgate while we are waiting on the bus in the morning. Makes me have to keep it cleaned out. What? That is not an easy task! You will see why later.   Where?   This is my attic.  This is open house stuff! I have painted and knitted and sewed and, wait for it, Priced Nothing!!!!   So, I spend a lot of time sitting up here doing inventory and pricing.   When? Early morning. The Great Grout Experience See how bad the grout looks? One morning I tried Baking soda, Vinegar, Lemon juice, Toilet Bowl Cleaner, Ammonia, Clorox, (not mixed of course, I am not that dumb, well... to tell you the truth at on...

You will need: A surface (of course) I find that it is easier to do a wet on wet blending technique on canvas. Anything with a "tooth" will work though and canvas suitcases are a great surface to work on.  Wet on wet blending on smooth surfaces gets a little trickier so when you are starting or practicing this technique, look for something that will make it easier.   Those inexpensive canvas boards are a good way to start. Now back to what you will need: Circle Template (or two) Pencil, of course Chalk pen or chalk (not pictured) Paint and Brushes.   Ok, so I am pretty loose where it comes to paint colors. Look for ones that blend together nicely and experiment. I have done these in browns also. Light Cinnamon, Bleached Sand... White.   Brushes. I really like a filbert for these. It is already rounded and doesn't make hard edges in your blending as a flat would. That being said, I have painted a l...