Home Alone

I've read a few postings from people about how they are dealing with being confined in there homes with their families. How to keep their kids busy and about how to deal with working for home. 

Not seeing as much on how to spend these days with no one but yourself. (nothing personal Olivia) I know many people live alone, and these days will test our strength. I am lucky that I don’t have to look too hard to find plenty of things to fill my days. At the beginning of “stay at home”  I did go threw a lot of anxiety. It overcame my daily life. As the weeks passed it did become a little easier. I'll admit of being afraid of getting sick. So staying in most of the time is best for me. 

I can't say "My house is cleaner than it's ever been", or I've completed several long term projects. I seem to be just floating threw my days with no firm plans each morning of what I will do. I figure it's ok for now. Etsy sales are very low and I understand that so the need to make more jewelry is gone. Now I just fiddle around and play with it when I want that creative outlet. 

"Is it over?"

watercolor pencil, ink

I have also been drawing a lot. That really takes my mind off everything and keeps me from wandering off into worries that can’t be fixed by thinking about them. Keeping my mind busy is my best direction. 

Craft Droid 

watercolor pencil, ink

 Monster

watercolor pencil, ink

Of course I’ve been watching a lot of tv. I draw while I’m watching some shows, but I can’t get a lot done while watching a really good show I’ve not seen, like the Mandalorian. I’m sure watching this will create even more interesting drawings. Several of the creatures and aliens are on my list to draw already and I’ve just started the series. 

Do what makes you happy and try to stay at peace. 

My Creative Process

Adding Patina to Metal and Clay

I’m one of those people who take the scenic route to develop different techniques. I check out the usual suspects for inspiration. Mostly Pinterest, with a dash of mindless wandering on line. I do really like to experiment. You can stumble across combinations of materials and techniques that I wouldn’t even know how to look up on line. So when I get a new product such as a medium to create a patina on metal, straight away I play with it. I try different surfaces and try to apply it in different ways. After I get a sample of how this looks on say 3 different metals then I experiment with different overlays of different colors, or applying the patina differently.

You can use so many different products to add a patina and I want to try them together to see if they blend. What happens when they are mixed. Just trying everything that comes to mind. Play!

So here is one of my favorite mediums and it works great on almost any surface I’ve tried. Alcohol Inks - and my favorite are the Tim Holtz brand. You can find these packaged in sets of 3 at most craft stores. They will most likely be hanging out in the paper crafting section. I get mine at either Hobby Lobby or on line. 

   

I keep all my inks in a box on top of my work bench. 

I have the blending solution and glaze there also. 

There are also places on line where you can buy just one bottle This Etsy shop has a good selection        https://www.etsy.com/shop/MarkerPOP  

You might want to wear gloves if you get messy. I just scrub it off afterwards. As much as we are all washing our hands now it may not matter. I am a messy crafter and think little of having blue and green fingers.

Here is a shape of baked Sculpty clay before and after applying the inks to the surface. I like to add mine on top of each other quickly while the base layer is still wet. It’s magic to what how this develops. 

This is a one color clay in a bright green with just one color of brownish ink applied and then quickly wiped off and only left a small amount on the surface. If you only want the ink in the lower or recessed areas you will need to seal the clay prior to adding the ink. I suggest using the sealant made by Sculpty for best results. Let this dry prior to adding the ink. The excess ink will wipe off better if this is the look you want. Here on the green leaves I wanted it over the whole surface. 

This Sculpey glaze is wonderful. Before I found it I must have tried 10+ things and none worked. They left the clay item sticky and it wouldn't ever seem to dry. You can use lots of other sealants on metal thou. 

Also here is an example where I used the inks on a very textured surface and pulled a paper towel over the surface before it dried. This left a little on the surface but most in the lower indentions. I love this look. 

Well go play with some inks and I’ll be talking

about a few of my other favorite patinas in the next few posts. 

Olivia said to remind you that you might want to keep a small fan on your work area to keep any lingering chemical smells away from you. This will be more important with some of the other materials I will be using later. None of these are kid safe, so keep them put away from little fingers grasp. Setting up a little area in the garage works great too. 

Home and Happy

I am one of the few people who will never be bored or get cabin fever staying at home. As long as I have a phone I’ll never get lonely. I have everything I need to stay productive and happy inside these walls. Here is where my comfort zone is perfect and my anxiety is kept at a good level. My home is my safe spot. Thou I have to admit that this virus has added to my anxiety quite a bit. I did go out to the grocery store 3-4 days after the official announcement was made that this is serious. Thankfully I didn’t need any paper products! The stores still had everything I needed. I was quite shocked at the photos I saw on line of people buying 12 gallons of milk or 8 family packs of toilet paper. What is this, Y2K all over again. I didn’t stock up for that either and it was all fine. This sadly will not be all fine for many people. I am not in a high risk category myself, but worry for those I know who are. 

We hold hands when I'm reading or watching tv

Social distancing isn’t a new concept for me being an introvert. So not seeing another person for days is quite normal. Who ever thought that would come in handy? 

When I have gone out I’ve made quick trips doing only the buzz in and out of the store. I’m saving money by not buying spontaneous items which were almost always junk food or sweets. So now I’m at home with no cookies! I hope the fig newton stock will recover. 

My assistant at the jewelry bench

I am at ease being at home. I have several hobbies and they will keep my days filled with creative happiness. I love to read and had just gotten a few used books from on line. I do have my Etsy shop which I’m sure will really slow down but that is fine too. 

If I do have sales all I have to do is walk to my mail box. 

Quite time at night watching tv

So I know how lucky I am. I thank God for my life very often. 

My life has not been any easier or harder than most people. I do however want this part of my life to be slow and easy. To get up each morning and just do what I want as many days as I can. For this I am very grateful. 

So enjoy the simple things in your life and take time to relax. 

Try to push anxiety away and take a deep breath.

Most of all please help each other all you can. 

Someone near you may really need your help but can't ask for it. 

Keep in touch with your family and friends. 

A New Sculpture and the Sketch Book Project

At Christmas Jack gave me a sculpture he did and I was so pleased. I asked him where did you get the idea for this. He looked at me kinda funny and said it’s one of your drawings. Oh well so much for my memory. This is a special gift I will treasure always of course it was made just for me and from one of my drawings. So special.

This did get me thinking about my stack of sketch books I had laying around. So how to minimize this stack of books into a much smaller collection of my sketches? 

Here are the only hard back books I had. One had almost no drawings

 in it and the other was 3/4 used. So these will be the home

for all the other drawings from the multiple little spiral bound books laying about 

I gathered a few of my mixed media supplies and started 

ripping apart all the spiral bound sketch books.

2 days later

So now every drawing I have done in the last 15 years that I wanted to keep is in those

2 hard back sketchbooks. I used old sheet music and scrapbook papers to cover old drawings I wasn't too fond of. 

Even thou I try to keep my ideas for jewelry or other projects out of my daily sketch book sometimes that isn't handy when I want to sketch something out before the idea runs off into never land. So my sketchbooks end up with a lot of different things in them. They tell a story of what was going on in my life at that time. I try to date everything, but don't always. When I looked back over these drawings it brought back a ton of memories, that had more to do with the time I drew the drawing than the drawing itself.  

Enjoy each day and keep close to your heart what is

really important in your life. 

God, Family and Friends

and a good comfy box