Happy New Year!

Time to plan.

Happy New Year! I’m back!!! I feel like 2022 flew by but I am looking forward to my creative journey in 2023. I have my design planner and calender out to set some structure to my workflow. I took much of November and all of December to reflect and begin to identify what I want my creative play to look like for 2023.

One thing that I would like to see is some enduring consistency with posts on this blog. I am thinking that I might have set my goal too high last year with three posts a week. So I am going to aim for two, sometimes might be three but definitely one a week. I want to continue to share both my Belinda’s Crafts work with Inside my Studio but I also would like to share my creative journey with various mediums. I have some new series in mind, one of which will be called, Product Play Wednesday where I will share photos, tips, trials and errors with new products I acquire in my creative space.

This year I feel like I want to dive into painting and watercolor. It is a medium that has presented a little anxiety for me in the past. I think I shy away from the unpredictable aspects but that is exactly what I want to conquer and let myself have fun. So I have acquired some great products to sink into it. I would like to learn how to use it alone and then work to combine it with my color pencils.

Another area I would like to explore deeply is papercrafting (3D and papercutting with kirigami art). I have had some really cool project ideas I put on the back burner far too long. So do come back to see me fail often but have some fun in the process.

I hope you had a lovely holiday season and look forward to some creative bliss in 2023!

Happy crafting!

What’s on Your Workdesk Wednesday – #465

Good morning my crafty WOYWW friends! For those of you that aren’t familiar with WOYWW (What’s On Your Workdesk Wednesday),  head on over to Julia’s Stamping Ground and you will find desks from all around the world for What’s on Your Workdesk Wednesday.

I have been gone for a bit but thought since I was actually working at my desk this week, I might have something to share. This morning I have pulled out my Derwent Inktense colored pencils to play.  I haven’t used them in over a year and lately, I have been enjoying coloring in adult coloring books with my Prismacolor pencils. I also saw someone online using them and felt inspired to get mine out. I am not ready to use them in my coloring books for a couple reasons. One is that the paper is thinner on many of them and I don’t want it to warp and two is I don’t feel like I have enough experience to confidently use them in my books. So I remembered I had bought come postcard coloring books and the paper is perfect for the wet medium.

First thing I did was create a little swatch on a scrap paper (postcard I didn’t like much) to see how the colors looked once activated.  The way these marvelous pencils work is you can color with them like a normal colored pencil but when you add water (activate) they can blend and move on the paper like watercolors and the color pops. The color before activation is totally different.

So I am using my water brush and a paper towel to dab off excess.  I hope to finish this one this morning so I can use it to send to a friend later this week.

The other items on my desk are my One Little Word book that I am using to scrapbook the integration of my chosen word for the year (trust). I receive monthly prompts to work on creative projects to include in this album. I didn’t do April’s prompt but will try to do it alongside this month’s tasks.

You can also see my new Ember tea mug. It is my new best friend! It keeps my tea the perfect temperature. The only thing is that I have to remember to turn it off after I finish a cup to conserve the charge. But it is wonderful for me because I am always running around to do something and I end up visiting my microwave for an embarrassing amount of times! There are also some cute notecards I picked up at the dollar bin from Target. Also a really lovely soy candle I bought at Target too called, “Paradise Palm”.

I can’t wait to see what you ladies are creating on your desks. I will be spending today outside as the temperatures are suppose to reach the 80s so don’t worry if I don’t make it to your desks today. I will make time to visit your desks over the next few days!

Have a crafty day!

Belinda

Circuits and Watercolor

circuitsandwatercolors1Apollo has a natural interest for building and creating. This past year, he has picked up a bit on the Legos building. But I noticed that Apollo wants to create something. He always talks about what if I created something that could do this or that. Then he started taking different things like springs and removing bulbs from christmas ornaments and trying to make something. So Leao pulled out a beginners’ circuits kit and this boy is so happy. He just keeps going. He loves seeing what function each creation has. Leao told him when he finishes these he will buy him the next level up. It’s like magic watching him.

circuitsandwatercolors2Then he comes and explains to me what he did and shows me what it does. I love it.

Recently while in Target I found a great watercolor pad and brush set on clearance. Since I am now exploring that medium, he has been watching and so I thought we could ride this journey together.

circuitsandwatercolors3The paper is okay quality but good for the beginner. The brush set is pretty cool. I don’t even think I own all these brush styles.

What makes me happy is that I can see what Leao is able to instill in Apollo with the circuits and I with the watercolor and crafts. I hope he keeps both interests and finds joy with them for years to come.

Have a blessed day friends!

Belinda

Peerless Watercolor Organization

watercolor1

Ok so the “hot” thing right now is watercolor.  I took a class a month or so back and have just begun to get ready to play. I found a great video on Youtube by AmyR and she showed how she organized her Peerless Watercolors. So I got to work on doing this so that I will use them. The one I have is Nicholson’s Peerless Transparent Watercolors Joanne Palette Colors which contains 15 sheets.

So I put on some rubber gloves. A good thing to use because it gets messy from the moisture in your fingers. If you haven’t use these before, they are paper that when you wet them they create watercolors. They tend to last much longer than you think so I cut small squares from each sheet.

watercolor1

Then I attached them to my Strathmore 140lb watercolor paper which was cut down to about 41/2 x 5 1/2 so that I could slip them into my clear bags that are 5 7/8 x 7 3/4.  I left space at the top incase I want to attach a ring to hold them. I am not sure yet. I adhered them down with my ATG and then realized in all of the excitement, that I glued them upside down.  AAhhhh!!!

watercolor3

So I had to redo it and then I wrote the names of the colors below each swatch and got to work with brush and water and placed a swatch below so that I could see the true colors.

watercolor4

After they dried I slipped them into the clear bags. Now I can pick it up and see exactly what the colors are and match them to my pattern papers. I think I will actually use them now.

Have  a blessed day!

Belinda

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