Tuesday, April 2, 2013

What I've been up to

I'm back. Back in Etobicoke, back to work, back to the usual routine. It seemed only fitting that I got back into blogging as well.

I spent all of last week up North - we traveled Saturday morning and stayed until Easter. Pumpa's wake and funeral were Tuesday and Wednesday... it was hard. But so many people came to show their support, it was really nice. So I visited with family, went out for lunch (and a bit of shopping) with my mom, saw the edge of my parents' new property, had two delicious Easter meals on the same day and visited with more family. It was nice... but after a week, I was ready to come home.

During all that time, I didn't get around to pulling out my paints like I'd wanted to, but I did almost catch up on my 2013 Woodland sampler:
I foresee a lot of stitching this month: not only did I get the April pattern to fill that next square, but I also signed up for a spring sampler that runs throughout April. The first week looks extra cute! My kit should be in the mail today or tomorrow - I can't wait to get started!

I was lucky enough to have Easter Monday off - I spent the day stitching and painting. I was working in two different journals (my Art of Spring and my altered Amber books) to allow layers to dry before moving onto paint.

In my Art of Spring journal, I started by laying down a layer of fiber paste. This paste adds a lovely texture similar to handmade paper... it sort of reminds me of stucco. Once dried, I squeezed out some paint - permanent red violet and anthraquinone blue - directly onto the page and blended it together until I was happy with it.

While I was waiting for the fiber paste to dry, I worked on a collage in my altered Amber book. I chose papers from a bundle I'd collected of spring designs (scrapbook, handmade, magazine and tissue papers). Once this collage was dry, I added some paint to blend the pieces together (permanent red violet, anthraquinone blue, naphthol red light).
Now I should start getting ready for work. I've been away so long, I hope I'm not too rusty!

Have a nice week everyone - it's finally April! Spring is here!

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