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Mini Christmas Tree Part 2

12/16/2015

I finished decorating my mini Christmas tree, so I thought that I would share. I made a shimmery star for the top and some simple ornaments.

I painted a piece of watercolor paper with twinkling H2O's and acrylic inks. Then I cut out circles and doodled designs on them. I glued two circles together with a piece of colored thread for a loop.

I also have a couple of sunrise pictures to share from last week when we had clear skies and gorgeous sunrises.

Have a great weekend,
Janelle

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Mini Christmas Tree Project

12/7/2015

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This year my family is in a small space, so we can't have our traditional tree for Christmas. We do have space for a tiny tree however, and I have a tree that is 12 inches tall. I don't have any ornaments that will work with a tiny tree, so I am making them. I am planning on making aluminum foil balls that are painted with alcohol inks to hand from the tree. I am also making mini felted ornaments. I'm adding bits of stitching to these. I am also going to paint some watercolor paper and make tiny ornaments our of the pretty painted papers.

I'll share some pictures of my progress so far and continue to share as I get the ornaments done.

I have a mini set of LED lights that are perfect for this tree. Thanks to my mother-in-law for giving me these.

I stuck the foil balls on toothpicks to paint them and for the drying. This avoided making my fingers into a rainbow as well.

These aren't perfectly round balls, but I like the variations.

The felt balls are all ready to be felted. I tied each ball in a length of nylon and tied them tightly, so that they would felt easily.

The felted ornaments after being felted and dried.

After adding a hanging loop and some stitching. These are too small to do really detailed patterns, but adding a bit of stitching jazzes them up.

The tree so far. It's getting much prettier already.

Next I'm going to make a few paper ornaments and a star for the top. I'll share that part later after I make some more progress.

I'll also share some Alaska photos with those of you who are interested. It is cold and frosty here with snow covered ground and more on the way.

Have a great week,
Janelle

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Happy Thanksgiving

11/26/2015

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Janelle

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Trash Journals

11/19/2015

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I recently took a free workshop by Carolyn Dube called "Permission to Play". It is all about letting yourself play with your supplies without worrying about the results. Play is vital for keeping your creativity going, coming up with new ideas, and keeping it fun and not just work. I have slowly been working on two journals, one larger and one smaller. They both have cardboard as the base and then I built from there. I added collage, paint, stamping, stencils, ink sprays, and drips. Now I'm starting to add marks, words, and other elements to make these pages have meaning. I'll show you some of what I have done so far.

I'll share more as I work on more of the pages. In the meantime how do you play creatively and what uplifts your spirits?
Janelle

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Weekly Pattern Wednesday

11/11/2015

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Today I thought that I would share some of the patterns I have created in my hand dyed fabrics. Many of these are still in my stash of fabrics, but some I have used up. That is the wonderful thing about dyeing your own fabric, you can always dye more. You can created any pattern that you want, and allow for happy surprises too. I never get tired of the sometimes surprising results, they are wonderful too.

Have a wonderful week,
Janelle

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Weekly Pattern Wednesday

11/4/2015

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This week I haven't gotten a new pattern made. I have a cold which is making me feel a bit rundown. I have been putting my energy into other projects which will be ready to share soon.

I'll share a mandala that I created a while ago with you today as inspiration. Stay inspired even when life is slower and you aren't being as creative. There is a time for slowdowns in every persons' life as well as high energy creative times.

This is what greeted me outside this morning when I was taking my kids to school. It's cold but beautiful all the same.

Have a wonderful week everyone.
Janelle

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Weekly Pattern Wednesday

10/28/2015

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This week I did get a pattern done. I have been playing around with my compass making mandalas. This week I was feeling the oranges and teals, so that's what I used to color it in.

I hope that you enjoy my play today. Now you go out and do something creative too.
Janelle

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October 21st, 2015

10/21/2015

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I didn't manage to get a new pattern made for this week, although I have been playing around with making mandalas. It is a beautiful sunny day here is Soldotna, so I went out and took pictures of some mountains. These were taken between Soldotna and Kenai, for anyone familiar with the area. There are mountains to the west and the east of Soldotna that can be seen when it's clear. I hope that you enjoy these until I have time to photograph some more of my new art.

Have a great week,
Janelle

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Weekly Pattern Wednesday

10/14/2015

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I didn't manage to get a new pattern made for this week, but I did color in the one from last week. I used Prismacolor Pencils to color it in. It does take a while to fill in the design, but it is a nice relaxing process. I hope to have a new design to share next week.

I also finished a new Lifebook lesson. This page was done in my art journal. It has a lot of texture from gesso. Inside the heart pocket I have a tag decorated, in part, with some of my previous artwork. The heart is made out of kraft paper that protected my art table. I love to save that paper and use it again in projects.

I hope that you enjoy this view of my art week. Have a wonderful creative week yourself,
Janelle

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Weekly Pattern Wednesday

10/7/2015

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I was finally able to get back to Weekly Pattern Wednesday this week. I was unable to participate for a while because of my family's big move to Alaska. This week I made a kind of a mandala. I made basic sections and then filled them in with patterns. (Once I am able to find my compass I'll can make a fancier mandala.) I did have fun making all the patterns in each section. I haven't colored them in yet but I intend to work on that soon. Here is my mandala:

I took a photo first since it's too big for my scanner, and then I cleaned it up some in Photoshop.

Original Photo

I want to offer this pattern for you to download and color. I would love to see what you do with it too. Please share with me if you would like and personal use only.

pattern.pdf
File Size:	2245 kb
File Type:	pdf

Hands and Harts Blog

Mini Christmas Tree Part 2

Mini Christmas Tree Project

Happy Thanksgiving

Trash Journals

Weekly Pattern Wednesday

Weekly Pattern Wednesday

Weekly Pattern Wednesday

October 21st, 2015

Weekly Pattern Wednesday

Weekly Pattern Wednesday

Serenity Cabin

Janelle Marks

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Check out my husband's website. He is a writer and has written about our life and many other amusing stories.