Lots of shoveling here, 3x (should’ve been 4) with 3 of us out there.

Grateful for my kind neighbor and his snowplow for the brutally heavy end of the driveway today! Made them some cookies.

Ruby Claire, what a darling tree- the perfect design for a gift tag!

I’m seeing a GW painting gtg take shape! Ellen Crimini-Trent has several each year in different locales… Spain, Canada, Scotland…

Legomom, I do most of my ”work” on 5” x 7” watercolor paper pads from Hobby Lobby. As much as I dislike the owners it is the only place near me to buy art supplies. I order all my paints now but HL has a range of sizes of paper in pads that I buy all the time.

I’m seeing a GW painting gtg take shape! Ellen Crimini-Trent has several each year in different locales… Spain, Canada, Scotland

I'll go! And maybe stay

I was not a fan…. the pins…

@Kswl Neither of my butterfly collections, or the one DD has so far, have noticeable pins. I would not/could not catch live ones for a collection. The only exception might be a first or second generation Luna Moth. Lunas do not eat in their adult form, and live only a couple of days.

@njmomma DD has spent the majority of her adult life working in medical fields.

My snow-crafting has been trying a new recipe.

Picture posted with the recipe:

Mine:

I thought it was rather unappetizing looking, but the kiddos loved it. I doubt that I’ll ever make it again though. It is basically a cross between boeuf bourgignon, hash, and shepherd/cottage pie. Took all day. I think similar results can be had without as much folderol.

I’m at DD’s, thank goodness. I had the handyman come and shut off the water to my house before I left, another thank goodness. My house has no heat. The best guess is that the gas line regulator froze. A repairman is going to try to get to the house today but roads are still slick and trees are down everywhere. Neighbors went in yesterday and took everything out of my pantry that might burst if it froze. Anything they wanted (soft drinks, mostly) they took home. Things they didn’t want (olives, capers, etc), I asked them to put in the bathtub. At least the mess will be contained - ish.

My neighborhood has electricity. I’m told it is because we are on the same grid/network as the hospital.

@bbstx I'm glad you had the water shut off. When we lived in on the lake, an older couple that lived in the neighborhood went out of town and came home to a second floor water pipe that had burst. The entire first floor had to be remodeled.

I almost didn’t have the water shut off. I’ve done it before, but I didn’t think the storm was going to be this bad!

At our old house, the new owners of the house next door turned off the heat and left town for Christmas. DH and I left town for Christmas too, but we didn’t turn off the heat. There was a freeze. When we returned, there was water running out from under the front door of the house next to us. We had no idea who the new owners were. DH called the city and they turned the water off at the street. It was a huge mess on the inside. The new owner sold it as-is for pennies. The newer owner gutted it and started over.

The one thing I really wanted the neighbors to get out of my pantry was a bottle of clam juice. If that were to burst and soak into the walls/floors, I’d have to sell the house to get rid of the stink! 🤢

bb, we’re on a hospital grid, too. We never lost power in ’21.

we’re on a hospital grid, too

One of those things I’d never think to look for in a house, but I’m so glad I stumbled into it!

We always turn off the water at our lake house when we leave. We have a well, so we just flip the breaker to turn off the power to the pump. In the winter we drain the lines.

I never thought about food items freezing and bursting! I don’t think it’s likely in the south, but it‘s not an impossibility.

I'm very impressed with everyone's energy! I sit around and harrumph about being cold and drink tea : )

Today was another cold one that began at 6 am when I left the house to drive 45 min to DD’s to get the boys to daycare. (SIL leaves very early to go into his office in the city two days a week.) I stayed out and about for a hair appointment and a few errands, then came home and painted by the fire. Two more paintings and now I just have to do a penguin and the set is finished!

Andy chose a wizard frog over a fox 🤷‍♀️

All your characters have such geat expressions, kwsl.

What a treasure you are building for your grands!

Just catching up on this thread and I am very impressed with the artistic talent here. I am lacking in that area!

I have not been out of the house in days. Today is the first day since last Friday’s storm that I would feel comfortable going anywhere. Im kind of enjoying being forced to face some neglected household projects.

The shutters I ordered for my bedroom should be installed soon so I repaired some dings in the window molding and painted them. I did a good job, if I say so myself!

That and a big pot of beef vegetable soup were my accomplishments.

It’s the cutest one of all ❤️

Aww, such a cute expression! Love it.

Is that part of an Andrea Nelson series of images? How many animals does she have? Is there a reason you like her stuff? I mean is is paritculalry suitable for the medium? Any other artist you'd reccommend?

I like her personality and the way she walks you through the process. Her designs are very easy for beginners and the animals are really perfect for kids’ rooms. She is around 50 and is just a big kid herself. She’s very into rainbow color schemes— which I’m not— but you can always use whatever colors you like.

I follow:

Ellen Crimi-Trent *

Mallery Jane

Shayda Campbell

Anthony- Watercolor Affair

deWinton Paper Co

Emma Jane Lefebvre

Kristin Van Leuven

Tania Miller

Yong Chen

*also subscribe to her Patreon

I started following some of these artists during the Christmas season for their Christmas card ideas. They all have strengths and weaknesses and I like them all for different aspects. Shayda Campbell, for example, does the absolute cutest people. Chen is the only one in the bunch I consider a serious fine artist and I can only aspire to his level of excellence. I’m trying portraiture and he is an expert with watercolor portraits.

adding, that she doesn’t really have a series of animals per se. She did some of them in her sketchbook and some on postcards and none sequentially. DD asked for some paintings to hang in the kids’ playroom and I immediately thought of Andrea’s cute animals.

Yay to Ellen Cremini Trent and Shana Circe. Not tutorials but love the FB posts and paintings by watercolorist Sarah Yeoman particularly her watery landscapes and birds.

I also appreciate all the crafty artiness on display here 🙂

Not trying to be snarky, but we might actually get snow flurries on Saturday, according to today's forecasts - all the way down to a low of 36F! 😄

And @ mtnrd, et al. - a 2 inch circle punch isn't very expensive. I have a number of paper punches I use often for crafts with the kids. EK brand are the best ones, IMPE.

I love seeing all the interest in arts and crafts, and am surprised by how many chose watercolors as their medium. I’ve dabbled with it, but always prefer working with acrylics. :)

I’m doing all the snow removal for two different locations, during another bad winter, so I only had time for crafts on Friday when the winds were 30mph. I decided to weave and made a small basket with a Japanese weave base, then added a footer. Nothing fancy.

^^ Love! I’m so honored to own a party_music basket. ❤️

My trinket dishes were a big fail. I’m too embarrassed to post them. I did learn a few things, though, and will try a different method next time.

@party_music50, love your basket! I treasure the ones I have.

@carolb_w_fl_coastal_9/10, I was going to make the same comment to @mtnrdredux_gw. I am the least crafty person you know, but I have a 2” circle punch. It is very handy to have and doesn’t take up any storage space. I bought mine to make cupcake toppers for DBIL’s birthday one year. He and Sister were at my house for a baseball game on his b’day. A 2” circle is perfect to make a baseball. I’ll be dragging it back out to make Christmas tags next year!!

@Kswl just saw the picture you did for DH. It just made my heart melt❣️

I’m not crafty, but i do sew. Not nearly as much as I used to, but I've gotten lazy in my old age. I made matching sleepwear for my almost 4-year old grandson and his 3 month old brother.

I made pajamas for Leland and a sleep sack for Chip. When Leland saw the sleep sack, he said, ”I remember that! I had one, too!” Indeed he did—very same yardage I intended to use for their cousins but never got around to doing. We got a good laugh. I should have consulted my notebook before I got busy.

Hub is a writer. He’s been filling notebooks for weeks now. It’s been very quiet here lately, also lovely. Our house is filled with things our grandparents made and used, and i imagine them spending these long winter days being both useful and artistic. I love seeing what you all have made.

@ Jilly - was it the clay? I've been very disappointed in Crayola's air dry clay. It's way too soft when dried and cracks/crumbles much too easily. Also dissolves when wet, so painting or applying anything water based basically melts it.

You might try a papier mache clay, which should dry hard and not crumble or dissolve after drying.

And surprisingly, good old Playdoh dries quite hard without cracking/crumbling.

Thanks, carol, I’ll look into that.

I didn’t have an issue with the clay itself, although I might roll it a bit thinner next time.

Beyond that it was just getting used to decoupaging again, especially using such thin papers. I tore quite a few during gluing and had to start over. The ones that didn’t tear ended up extremely wrinkled. And I didn’t pay attention to making sure the edges were sanded correctly, so the paper overlapped on some of them.

I also forgot to mold the bottoms of the dishes better so they’d sit flat. Just very sloppy work on my part!

I found a few videos I think show much better ideas than the original one I watched. I might try again this weekend.

(My DH is so sweet — said he loves them and the wrinkles give character and look Folk Art-y.) :D

Two of my favorite winter projects.

Love both of those Sue! And partybasket’s basket is fabulous!

I admire everyone’s beautiful arts and crafts! I, instead, like to organize, so I have taken advantage of a rare couple of hours alone to work on my disaster area without spousal commentary, and put away the last of the Christmas decorations (leaving some winter decorations). But to keep me company, one last listen and singalong to holiday and wintry music, including this sweet one, Snow Day.

Nice cathead, Sueb20!

Thanks Jilly, bbstx, and Kswl!

Love your baskets, party music! The only basket I can make is the paper kind!

Sueb, thank you! These are the kind of little baskets I make when I have no plan. And then I give them away. I love watching someone choose one of my baskets from a pile. They always zoom in quickly and grab the one they want. If I suggest any different basket they always decline. lol! I couldn’t tell that your basket was paper from your photo. You did an excellent job!

Baking! Bagels and Pizza. I made 16 rye bagels. I use a lye bath to get the perfect crust and flavor. The pizza is Italian sausage and mushroom with Fresh Mozzerella and Romano. The crust is one I make and parbake and freeze. I make 2000g of dough and make different size crusts. They are thicker but extremely light and crisp due to the 2 different levains I use. Sourdough and Apple Yeast Water.

Back side see how light full of air

Toppings!

Bagels. I slice and freeze. They stay so nice just put in the toaster.

Yum!

Wow! Amazing, C! 😋

Those look absolutely delicious!!

@Kswl, @Jilly and @njmomma wish I could send some to y’all! 🙏🙏🙏c

Looks yum, Caroline. Cville has a good bagel bakery but due to alphagal we are not enjoying pizza and boy do we miss it. Dr. Ho’s in North Garden is great if you are ever driving north.

I painted Valentine’s cards for my grandchildren today and this card

it was a lot of work but a good brush control exercise. I will save this to give someone for a special occasion!

adding.. the card is 4” x 6” and for some of the detail I used a very small liner brush.

Beautiful! Now I need to see the Valentine cards!

So adorable ❤️ they are lucky to have you

Thank you, I really love painting those little cards!

Thats easy to see, kswl!

LOVE your umbrellas, k!

I love your umbrellas too! Very clever. I can see the brush stroke work. I think I've reached the point in my watercolor experimentation where I could really use a legitimate lesson of some sort:) I did a youtube video yesterday on loading the brush and it was helpful. I did the Otter card but it took me three tries - I kept messing up the brown - too much or too little water. I haven't tried the other animals - but moved back to wreaths today with a Valentine twist - the abstract with lots of fillers works better for my level:)

❤️the heart wreath. So sweet

oh that wreath is so pretty! My Andrea Nelson kit, a gift fort DD2, arrives today

PS such cute umbrelllas!

Ooh, Legomom, LOVE the wreath and your otter ❤️ I am doing the Watercolor Affair lessons now as brush control is my biggest hurdle (after the question of how much paint to load in your brush!).