Artistic Endeavors Archives | Page 26 of 55

Artistic Endeavors

knitting organization

Despite my early frustrations that involved a lot of unraveling, I am getting the hang of knitting and I am really enjoying it! I find it’s a nice way to be productive while I’m watching TV in the evenings with Jeff and the boys. (We’ve been watching through old seasons of Survivor together.) After making several hats, I moved on to socks and I’m almost done with my first pair. Their slouchy and imperfect, but they are passable socks and I’ve learned so much while working on them. I’m also getting better at managing my tension and making my stitches neat and even. I have also gained a firsthand understanding of the need for sock darning. These socks will have taken me about two weeks to make. If one of them gets a hole, I’m going to mend it! These socks have so many hours of work in them and

February 24, 2021 28 Comments

Art

Rufus Porter Style Mural & My First Paintings

A part of organizing this month has been scanning old documents and photos (I’ll share more on that in another post) and uploading old photos that were saved to a disc to an external hard drive. At first, I didn’t even know if I had a way to scan a disc onto the drive! I remembered that we had an external disc scanner, so I was able to get everything uploaded. While photos and videos were uploading, I worked on organizing some of my computer folders. Oh, man! I need to do some serious sorting on my computer. At first glance, it’s pretty organized…everything is in folders, my desktop isn’t cluttered with a bunch of documents, but my photos are all over the place! It’s from years and years of taking thousands of photos. So, I’ll slowly chip away at that when I have the time. Anyway, as I was

February 4, 2021 40 Comments

Art

creative play | sketchbook tour

I’ve shared in the past that I have a hang-up when it comes to sketchbooks. Several hang-ups, actually. I always want to be the person who is filling up stacks of sketchbooks, making notes, sketches, and drawings, capturing thoughts and ideas, practicing. I’ve gotten much better about it over the past couple of years and I actually filled a notebook with a journal and did several paintings and sketches when I went to Europe in the fall of 2019. I’ve been more consistent with getting my sketchbooks out to draw quick thumbnails before starting a painting, to make notes when I’m reading books or taking an art class, or to doodle. Here are some of sketchbook hang-ups… I feel like there is a bit of magic that happens with certain paintings that is difficult to repeat. Some paintings just end up being very special. What if one of those paintings

February 3, 2021 43 Comments

Art

January 2021 original art sale preview

I am excited that so many of you are joining me in organizing and/or no-spending in February. A part of purging for me is selling the original oil paintings that have been stacking up in my studio and I realized I had better sneak this sale in before February starts for those who are joining me! Poor planning on my part and I had to laugh when I realized I was going to have an art sale while encouraging a no-spend February. So, the sale will be HERE on Friday, January 29, 2021, at 2:00 pm CST. So you can plan and decide if there are pieces you want to purchase or not, here is a full preview of the original oil paintings that will be for sale along with the prices (ranging from $35-200.) 9 x 12 Goldfinch Study – $200 I did this study to film for an

January 27, 2021 28 Comments

a slice of life

vintage-style leather sketchbook & giveaway!

If you’ve followed me for any amount of time, you know that I love having beautiful supplies and tools. I’m always casually on the hunt for new or new-to-me things that will make working, creating, or making even more enjoyable. Well, a couple of weeks before Christmas, I found this beautiful vintage-style leather sketchbook from a small shop that sells on . These vintage-style leather sketchbooks come in several different sizes and a few color options for the leather cover. I generally like to have a larger work area, so I have the (above) and Weed Green (below.) I also have the 13 x 8 in Red Brown. Sadly, the Weed Green is completely sold out at the moment, but they will hopefully restock soon. I bought one of these sketchbooks initially because I loved the paper with the deckled edges. I was looking for some paper with deckled edges

January 22, 2021 574 Comments

All Things Home

easy crochet cat (or dog) bed tutorial & pattern

Shortly after we brought our kitties home from adoption day at our local pet store, I crocheted them each a cat bed. They weren’t interested in the beds at first, much to my dismay, but then I would find them snuggled together in them regularly. They are now a staple in front of the fireplace and in sunny spots around the house. I have received so many requests for a tutorial, but the yarn I used was discontinued. I have tried four other yarns over the past year and either they were discontinued before I could buy more to make a tutorial or I didn’t like them! Anyway, I finally found a yarn that was a winner and it’s still available. So, here is the easy crochet cat (or dog) bed video tutorial and pattern. Finally! The yarn I finally landed on was Bernat Big Blanket yarn in the color

January 21, 2021 28 Comments

Artistic Endeavors

Helpful resources for beginner knitting

Our 3-day weekend turned into a 4-day weekend due to a rare snow day here in Minnesota. We get snow, but they know what to do with it and trust people know how to drive in it, so schools aren’t often closed. (And the kids have recess outside until is below 10º.) So, I ended up doing a lot of hanging out with the family this weekend and only did a little work yesterday. It’s catching up with me today, though, and I’ve been running a little behind. In today’s blog post, I’m going to share all of the resources that have been helpful for me as a knitting beginner. | First of all, I have been reading through a few different books that have been a helpful resource. I like reading out the information and then, if I get stuck, I’ll find a video tutorial online made for

January 19, 2021 36 Comments

All Things Home

crochet vs. knitting

As I shared last week, I learned to knit over the Christmas break. I’ve been wanting to learn for a while, so I bought a couple of knitting books and supplemented them with YouTube tutorials when I needed to see someone perform a particular stitch. I haven’t knitted anything particularly useful, but have been making squares and rectangles to practice stitches, work on my tension, learn to “see” the stitches, and to play with different types of yarn and needle sizes. I’ve been asked by a lot of people who are interested in learning one or the other to share a comparison, so that’s what this post is all about – crochet vs. knitting! I will share a separate post with beginner knitting resources I’ve found to be most helpful. crochet vs. knitting – which one is easiest? I think this question is a tough one and I’ve had readers

January 12, 2021 80 Comments

I’m Marian, a painter, writer, and lover of all things creative. From art and antiques to home projects and everyday life, I share my journey in hopes of inspiring you to embrace your own creativity and make beauty in the spaces you live.

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