Beach Memories

For about 20 years, our family lived within walking distance of a beach. We went to it in all seasons--not just the bright, sunny, peaceful days of summer--but on the days that it was freezing, and there were big chunks of ice cluttering the beach...or the crisp fall days when it was too cold to swim and the leaves were golden and covered with frost. In any weather, the beach was a place to rest, gather our thoughts, meditate, and recharge.

Now we live in a small city apartment and that beach, on the eastern end of Long Island, lives in our memories. My daughter was recently redecorating her city bedroom. The gauzy curtains and green plants she chose reminded me somehow of that serene beach. I realized that her walls were bare, so I thought: "Why not gift her with a painting of our favorite beach?"

I didn't want to start with a plain white canvas. To add texture and color, I used my go-to supply--recycled turmeric teabags. (I save all kinds of teabags, dry them, empty out the contents, then flatten the teabags and use them in my paintings and mixed media projects. You can see my tutorial on using teabags by clicking here.)

First, I chose a 12"x12" stretched canvas. Next, using a spatula, I covered the canvas with matte medium, added teabags, and covered them with a layer of matte medium.

 

 

I like to use the tops that are cut off the teabags to create visual interest, forming X, L or + marks. 

Next, I pulled out acrylic colors that reminded me of the sun and sea and sand, and a whole bunch of StencilGirl® stencils. I looked for designs that would hint at waves, rocks, clouds or the sun.

The lacy lotus design by Jessica Sporn and Gwen Lafluer's decorative medallion gave the feel of clouds.The golden ochre of the turmeric background gave a sense of sunshine.

A design from the September 2018 StencilClub® set by Carol Wiebe was perfect for rocks--since the beach is on the bay side of Long Island's South Fork there are quite a few rocks mixed in with the sand.

 The painting was starting to shape up!

 I added layer after layer until I got the look I wanted.

I wanted to create a feeling of the little hill on the right side of the beach and the rocky paths leading to the shore. When I added the dark teal wavy marks, I realized it was too much. The color was too dark, and the shapes to obvious. So, I just stenciled over it with a lighter color and the dark teal receded into the background.

There are also wooden fences here and there to help prevent erosion, and also to keep people from trampling delicate beach grasses and flowers, so I used brown paint with a medium sized StencilClub® mash up set from January 2019 designed by Seth Apter and Mary Beth Shaw to give the worn fence effect.

 Another StencilClub® set, Mary Beth Shaw's February 2019 private collection, was used to add the feeling of rocks and water.

A final touch was adding little brush marks and dots with the dark brown paint to make the viewer's eye follow the Z shaped path from the sand and rocks, through the fence opening, and down to the waterline.

I hope she'll love her new painting. I'm pretty sure it'll look great on the wall of her newly decorated bedroom!

Be sure to hop over to each fantastic project and leave a comment for the artist! 

The more comments, the more chances you'll have to win $50 worth of StencilGirl® stencils! Good luck!

Sue Plumb's Cookie Jar and Art Bag

Claudia Neubacher's Tote Bag

Sunila & Aditi Mahajan's Treasure Box

Peg Robinson's Necklace

Shel C's Journal Set

Jennifer Gallagher's Paper Mache Gift Box

Linda Edkins Wyatt's Beach Memories Painting

Jill McDowell's Twisted Treasure Pouches

Carol Baxter's Advent Calendar

Contest closes 10-8-19 at 11:59 p.m. CST.  Winner notified by email 10-9-19.

Turkmen and Fabric Boho Necklace

 I'm crazy about fabrics. Crazy about beads. Crazy about Turkmen jewelry parts, crazy about lapis. For weeks--maybe months--I had been trying to create a necklace with some of the gorgeous Turkmen parts that Gwen Lafleur carries on her website.

One day I accidentally placed a length of orange ribbon by the parts I was puttering with on my jewelry tray and decided that I just HAD to combine orange with the dark blue lapis Turkmen pendants, Turkman Waziri and Kuchi Pendants, and silvery Turkmen jewelry parts.

The Turkmen jewelry pieces looked great together on the design tray, but were too heavy when all used together.

The problem was that the orange ribbon wouldn't thread through the Chinese blue and white beads from my jewelry stash that I had incorporated into the design. So, off I went to the Garment Center to find orange beads or thin orange cord.

When I got home, neither the new cord nor new beads worked. And they didn't have exactly the size or color I wanted so I ended up with red beads and turquoise beads.

The red and orange beads weren't quite right with the Turkmen coins and Chinese blue beads.

Neither the red nor turquoise beads really looked right, so I took them away. The orange silk cording didn't seem strong enough to support the heavier Turkmen parts. Then I came up with a design that looked good on the tray, but when I strung them on the wire, it didn't hang right, it was waaaay too heavy. I also realized that I already had a necklace (created a few years ago) that was very similar sitting right in my jewelry box. I put the tray and beads away and slept on it.

This design looked pretty, but was almost identical to a necklace I had made previously.

Then I decided to start over. I puttered and puttered, adding and subtracting beads.

 

Finally I pulled it all apart, pulled out a few lighter weight Turkmen pieces, mixed it with the red and turquoise beads, added some rolled fabric beads I had made years ago, and decided to aim for a festive look. (Fabric scraps were cut into long triangles and rolled on a skewer to create the beads. They were hand-stitched and a few decorative seed beads added for accent.)

The handmade fabric beads were a lightweight, colorful and refreshing addition.

While deciding what to string it on, I remembered some colorful Spice Market Yarn. I "auditioned" it next to the beads and it seemed just right. The colorful "warm base" twisted fibers were just the thing to unite the fabric beads and lighterweight Turkmen elements.

The spice market "darn good yarn" went nicely with the handmade fabric beads.

Some lightweight Turkmen jewelry parts were mixed with the fabric beads.

I wanted the cording to show, so I decided to try tying the beads and baubles on with knots. I tested a small piece to see how it worked.

Small silver beads were used to keep the Turkmen parts from sliding off the knot.

To keep the Turkmen pieces from sliding over the knot, I added a few silver-colored spacers.

The colored beads had a tiny hole and the cord wouldn't go through them. My solution was to use a small headpin and turn a loop so the bead would hang off the cord.

A closeup of the bead with a turned loop, and the blunt needle used for stringing the necklace.

Several closures were tested, but a simple knot worked best.
The necklace is long enough to slip over the head without requiring a fancy closure.

The question, once all the beads were on and knotted, was how to create the closure. The cord was too thick for the silver closures I had on hand, and the little crimps were also too small.

I decided to make it long enough to go over my head and tied it closed.

The "Darn Good Yarn" was tied securely before being stitched to hide the ragged ends.

I didn't like the raggedy edges so I wrapped them with a pinkish-red thread and stitched it down neatly...well, not perfectly, but my wobbly stitching blended in pretty well with the colorful cord.

An blanket stitch was used to secure the loose ends of the closure.

The finished necklace is lightweight and fun, and makes me think of summer...maybe it is because the central Turkmen part that hangs down reminds me of a fish, or maybe it is the gingham check and calico prints that the fabric beads were made from. I picture myself wearing the necklace with a summer tee shirt, a flowing gauze skirt, walking barefoot along the beach boardwalk, watching the waves break on the sand, and feeling totally relaxed and recharged.

In Love With Aqua

Aqua has been speaking to me lately. When people ask what my favorite color is I usually say yellow. Then I say pink, then lime, then turquoise. But aqua...the color of the sea, the color of calm...that color is calling to me. It was the color prompt to go with the Paper Traders Altered Rolodex card trade this month, along with the theme of Beach.

I used some painted deli paper and gelli prints for the background, a leftover scrap of layered painted deli paper, a small printed beach photo with the words "we are here" on it, and a strip of commercial scrapbook paper. In the corner I added a bit of an Artistcellar chakra stencil with crackle paint, and smudged a little sepia ink around the edges and over the crackle.

I liked it too much to give it away, so I made another for my trade partner. I was out of the beach paper and painted scrap, but had another printed paper quote: sandy toes, salty kisses. It needed something more, so a scrap of a cutout heart felt just right.

Still on the aqua theme, I made a bunch of ATCs, and one will go to the Paper Traders "winner take all" monthly ATC lottery. The ATC incorporates painted deli paper, gelli prints, stencils, washi tape, part of an old dictionary page, ink and words printed on clear Avery mailing labels.

So the question remains, why is aqua calling to me? Pale blue-green. Why aqua, why now? It is a combination of two chakra colors: blue for the throat and green for the heart. The throat chakra is something I have been working on for years, learning to speak what I am thinking, and suffering through throat constriction and sore throats if I don't voice my thoughts. But green, the heart chakra? Maybe it is that I am at a time of change in my career, shifting to a new location and new responsibilities in my job...and it is a job I love, but there are new responsibilities and expectations. And why the pastel shade, the soft aqua? Could it be telling me to be gentle with myself, not to be such a critical Virgo, not to listen to my inner critic?