(all paintings by Rita Maria)

I LOVE her abstract paintings- don’t you? Vibrant, luscious, and inspirational. 

I love them so much I bought myself a print (above, on windowsill) which arrived today- HURRAY!!! It’s gorgeous, the print quality is beautiful, and I cannot wait to get it framed and on the wall. This is going to be my mascot towards unlimited artistic freedom (and possible madness. Although someone around here remarked recently that that milestone has already been achieved)

As I paint, I’m pushing my own boundaries as to what I “can” and “can’t” do (it’s extraordinary how your head can make you pause indefinitely, making you believe that something like sloshing paint is something you can’t do), and, even though I start off with extraordinary energy and excitement, halfway through, I feel as though I have cycled almost to the summit of a hill and whilst pedalling furiously I am slipping backwards down that same darn hill. The struggle, therefore, is to keep going onwards and up!! Not a particularly easy task. In fact, it is frankly terrifying. But good and energising and fills me with horror and delight at the same time

And so I am experimenting: I’m using mixed media (goauche, watercolour, inks, acrylic) on Fabriano rather than oil on canvas (sometimes things out of your control can be a great thing: I usually have baby in the room or relatively near my while I paint so I don’t want any fumes from the process) The whole struggle not to paint in oils has been hideous and has caused sleepless nights (I know. Sad) (Maybe not as sad as dreaming of lichens every night for a week. Thats Very Sad) but painting in unfamiliar territory is teaching me more and will, I know, feed future oil paintings in great ways. And I’m starting to get the hang of these other mediums- wow, the freedom is extraordinary!!- and I just have to take a great big leap into the unknown. (I’m sure there is a fantastic quote that I could put in here to finish on a more succinct note, but no, couldn’t find any- a little difficult when a cute, bald baby is bashing a singing Cookie Monster toy on my knee!!)

(When I get my camera back- I have had to borrow one, and can’t use it properly- I’ll take decent photos- have a few more paintings on the go too!!)

We have been inundated with visitors and last minute things to do (let me put it like this: my cards will be late, late, late and many hand-delivered this year!!), so the shortbread I was to post today didn’t get photographed…

So I decided to link to a few Advent crafty things I made last year.

Our kitchen this Advent Eve…

And the papercut village, I made a tutorial for the papercut church here

Christmas baubles: So easy and a great last minute Christmas Eve craft for kiddies and adults alike!

Gorgeous tea-light holders: I can’t have enough of these… the tutorial here

Or a spot of baking… Nothing like brown bread for tea with meringues after!! 

Tomorrow is Christmas Eve… our last day of Craft♥Advent: see you then!

I am a a hoarder (“what?!”, my family and friends cry, “it cannot be true!!“) so I have all manner of lovely boxes just waiting to be made into something lovely and useful again. This box was a box of aftershave that my wonderful mother (knowing my penchant for such things) saved from my (delightfully-smelling) brothers’ bins.

I covered it in old vintage book-pages, covering any sign of its former life (note the bottom outside half had lovely deep green sides unblemished by logos, so I left that unpapered in contrast)

Then I started adding papers, laces, old maps, buttons and ephemera on top; here is a series of photographs I took as I made the decorative top:

Before I added the buttons, butterfly anything else 3-D, I covered the whole thing with PVA/mod podge to seal it all (this also makes to “sit” down together.

I scripted “Keepsake Box” on the coffee-stained card and it’s ready for gifting!

Another frame idea: a bit of a mad idea, but I have to say I love the eccentric look of it!!

Start with a plain frame (if not white, paint it first). You need glue, ribbons, lace, buttons and some decorative paper flowers. I decided on a faded-vintage-y look and dyed some lace in tea to give them an “old” appearance.

Decide on your arrangement and then glue down (I think I need to make little Youtube videos for these, a picture saying a thousand words etc etc)

I then put one of my mixed media collages into the frame…

but a much simpler photo with a plain mount would be just lovely, (and would tone down the eccentricities of this a lot) (!)

This year, it would be really nice to actually post some Christmas cards rather than write them a couple of days before Christmas and see them into the New Year languishing on the dresser (I did consider changing the date before you ask)

Anyway. A year later and I am now starting my Christmas-card-making far too late to send out of Ireland, but terminally late I shall have to remain yet again.

I believe, the only way to make any sort of cards for an occasion is in bulk. That means being prepared, having your stacks of materials ready, and having a production-line process going on.

The materials I used here were those useful old book-pages (feature heavily in all I do!!), beautiful paper napkins, green tissue paper, buttons and stars I cut from old Irish books (with Gaelic script)

I lay out my cards and with a glue stick stuck down the book-pages, tissue, napkin, star and two buttons on top.

I had my little helper making and creating at her end of the table

(I just LOVE the cards she made for her brothers)

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