Miniature wildlife watercolours

Miniature wildlife watercolours - that's a bit of a mouthful to say - but it was what I was painting last month. Some little animal portraits of a rabbit, puffin and badger. Like the paintings I mentioned last time, they are 2 inches square on 4 inch square rag moulded watercolour paper. They are such a good size to paint as they can be done quickly when I am trying to fit in painting time. I particularly like the scruffy badger.

As always, they can be found on Etsy or my own web site.

Button Making Online Course

You might have noticed that I like making thread wrapped buttons. There are just a few of my attempts displayed on Passementerie Buttons tab at the top of the page. Well, exciting news! Gina-B Silkworks now has an online course in making thread buttons. I learned my button making skills through Gina's DVDs but now it is available to anyone regardless of where they live in the world. The DVDs actually led to Gina asking me to join her design team and my projects are on UK national television regularly. So you never know where those skills will take you.

Although the buttons look complicated - believe me, I thought it would be impossible to learn how to make them - but it is actually a straight forward process that can be taken to all kinds of heights once you learn the basics.

I don't want to do the hard sell. I'm not a sales person. I want people to be inspired by what I make rather then talking them into buying new stuff. However I am VERY excited about this. I love making buttons. It was one of those totally unexpected hobbies that I never thought I would take to with such enthusiasm. And the cost is very reasonable - just £17.99 (roughly $23.84 US according to the currency converter on 22nd June 2018). Take a look at Gina's web site to find out more information - and prepare to become obsessed!

Hand painted badger pendant

I tried something a little different this week after seeing the cutest little painted stone on Pinterest. I found a tiny stone in the garden that would suit my needs and decided I wanted to make a pendant with it. I wanted to add a little badger because, well, anyone who knows me knows I like to paint badgers. This is the final result:

The stone is only 2cm in width at its widest point. I added a little gold plated bail and strung it on some of my apple green silk cord. 

This one isn't for sale. I made it just for me.

Watercolour paintings of Scotland - again

I was painting a bit more last month. It was so nice to sit down and get some paint onto paper for a change. Usually I am kept so busy with beads that I don't have time for much else. With Dad being ill I had to take some time away from work and painting was easier to get done than moving my bead making equipment around.

Three little landscapes were first on the board. We have been having some stormy weather recently so these little paintings all have stormy skies. They are 2 inches square on four inch square rag made watercolour paper.

I don't think I have every tried to paint the sea before - and I have to admit, it wasn't easy for me. But I gave it a shot and came up with these little seascapes with two of the volcanic islands that I grew up seeing - Ailsa Craig on the west coast of Scotland and the bass Rock on the east. Both are rich in history and are now havens for local sea birds.

As I mentioned before, all of them are available on Etsy.

Paper beads again

Just some new beads for this post. It has been rather quiet around home. My father took unwell two weeks ago so it has been all hands to the pump since then. He's doing better now but, as the saying goes, old age doesn't come itself.

I wanted to make some summery beads, which I think I did with the floral and Greek fish designs. But when I saw the dogs in military uniforms I knew I had to try and make beads with them. I have to say, they are my current favourites. The last set is called Moroccan Jewels - some nice strong, vibrant colours for summer.

As usual, the beads can be found on Etsy where I have also listed some new paintings. More about those to come soon.

Little Scottish landscape watercolour paintings

Well, colour me stupid! It has just occurred to me that I didn't update the blog with details of my little landscape paintings. My head does not seem to be in the right place recently

For some reason I have wanted to paint the surrounding countryside since the start of the year. Even more strangely I have seen fellow artists on Facebook saying the same thing. Maybe there is something in the air.

Each is 2x2 inches square painted on 4x4 inch pieces of rag watercolour paper. Three are already sold but you can find the rest on Etsy or on my web site.

New!

Yes, those new products I mentioned a few weeks back are finally in stock and in my Etsy shop. I wanted to try and expand what I sell while getting back to my art. So I have started with some little items to judge the pulse of what people are looking for. Hopefully, later in the year, I will expand a bit more with some paper based products like greetings cards and notebooks. But I'm a great believe in great things growing from small seeds.

At the moment there are button badges, fridge magnets, zipper pulls, and two different styles of keyring in a choice of nine different designs, from animals to plants. Do pop by if you would like to take a look.

More new paper beads for spring

I finally got them photographed. Hooray! For a change, we have had some bright weather which allows me to get brighter photos too. Some pretty Peacock Feather beads are first up. Years ago I made some hand painted peacock feather beads that were very popular. Sadly, I had to stop hand painting my beads due to time constraints. But I always wanted to bring back some feathers.

Next we have some flaming red beads called, strangely, Flame. It has been a long, cold winter here (although not as cold as in some places) and I think I was inspired to create something with a bit of warmth. These ones have a grungy, distressed and abstract design.

As usual, they are in my Etsy shop.

Butterfly beads for spring

This hasn't been the easiest weekend. I learned never to place a bag of jelly sweets next to patchouli and sandalwood incense - the sweets taste dreadful after that. I hurt my wrist while doing some spring cleaning (is this an excuse not to spring clean?). It is now bandaged and looking very sorry for itself. And my Ottlite blew up. Yes, it blew up with a futt-ing noise and flames. It is nearly seven years old and was used all day, every day for those seven years so I will make excuses for it. But I did get a bit of a fright.

However, I did manage to get some new beads designs finished. This is the first of them - Butterflies. Of all the designs I have made over the last ten years of bead making I don't think I have ever made butterfly beads. Mmmm, strange! You can find them in my Etsy store - if they haven't sold out already (did I mention I am trying out positive thinking?)

An update for early spring

Just a quick update on what I have been doing since I have obviously not been writing blog posts. There are some new moves afoot at the moment. A bit like the mad scientist, I am trying out some new things. I have some new bead designs in the pipeline. They should be available soon. However there are some new products that I am working on that focus more on my art. I don't want to say too much right now as I am getting some things finalised before the big announcement - but there is a certain cuteness factor. More to come soon. In the meantime, here is a look through the mad scientist's microscope.