Some People Make It Look So Easy

Recipe: Tasty Timeline

Just before I began my "lay-low-for-Advent" time out with Facebook, I found this recipe for "Cracker Candy" posted there by one Lori Nolan.  In the video -- complete with fast-forward -- she makes this stuff look oh-sooo-easy to make.

I had the ingredients around the house, so I thought I'd give it a try.  If it worked out, I reasoned, I'd take a batch over the the Mirror & District Museum's Open House tomorrow afternoon, and maybe make a batch for the kids at Christmas, instead of my (traditional) 5-Minute Fudge.

Well...it really is pretty easy -- but you have to work really fast to spread the brown sugar and the chocolate layers, and I was really worried that the bottom -- the crackers -- moved around on my greased tin-foil, so that some of the brown sugar topping seeped under them.  In the end, my 'taste test' showed that that was really -- as Martha would say -- a Good Thing.  The stuff is delicious, and is now boxed up in the fridge for delivery tomorrow.  Batch #2 will come closer to Christmas.

Another person who makes "it" look so-o-o easy is my friend Mary Wilton, with her fabric painting.  You'll recall from an earlier post that a week ago I took her Friday evening/all day Saturday class...with mixed results.

Not being one to waste materials, on Wednesday I 'set to' figuring out what I'd do with them, as well as doing up some more mono-printed pieces for more wintry miniatures.

First, though, I relegated the "trees positioned on background 3" to the 'sample' files.  No matter how I played with it, I couldn't see how to make it work.  The brown trees are just too clunky -- and positioned in just such a way that I can't work around 'em.  At least, not right now.

That decision made, I turned to the other backgrounds, and the other painted trees, which had fusible web (Mary gave us Steam-a-Seam Lite) applied so were ready to cut out and fuse where desired.  In the end, I used only three more of the trees I'd painted -- all "birch" -- and I cut off the main part of one of the background pieces to make this new miniature composition:

Old Birch at Dawn (C) 2016
5" x 7" matted to 8" x 10"

Old Birch... - Detail

The bottom of the piece was replaced (as you can likely tell) by a piece of unpainted fabric for the 'snow', because the original just didn't 'work' for me. :-)

The remaining background I'd painted had that weird grey stuff going on along the bottom from a failed experiment, but I really liked the top of the piece so again, I separated the two.   That crazy grey stuff had something to it, though, once it was standing on its own.  It kinda looked like foggy evergreens.  So...I fussy cut it along its top edge and auditioned it in various ways against that background.  The result is another mini...

Foggy Morn (C) 2016
5" x 7" matted to 8" x 10"

Foggy Morn - Detail

Last but not least, I'd painted a piece of that white-on-white fabric, and outlined an evergreen with blue gel glue on the right side.  Wednesday I painted the tree; once it was dry and heat set I washed out the glue, so that today it was ready to stitch.

I confess I don't think this one is quite as 'strong' as the night-time version, but I offer it here for your consideration anyway.  :-)

First Snow on the Prairie (C) 2016
5" x 7" matted to 8" x 10"

First Snow - Detail

I hope to present these to Denise at the Bonavista Fine Art Gallery in Sylvan Lake on Wednesday, along with these ones that need hand stitching before they're ready...

You'll notice one is...ahem...smaller than the others.  That's because while I "measured twice and cut once", I...um...still cut it a bit too small.  Not to worry! I have a mat that will work...so stay tuned for a "finished" post within the week.

Meanwhile, as I have some hand-stitch to do, I'd best be off!  I'm linking up to Nina Marie's Off the Wall Friday (on time for a change!) and settin' to work.   I'm thankful for her faithful platform, where I can meet up with so many wonderful creative people!  And I remain thankful that all of you, Gentle Readers, continue to read the ramblings of this Crazy Canuck.  :-)

Have a great weekend, eh?

Tracing Trees

Earlier this week I finished the second of the minis I made as part of the Master Class theme of "Mood". 

EB agreed with us, Gentle Readers, about the 'Becalmed' piece she preferred:

Agree entirely the second one is much more interesting...one can sit on the seat and enjoy the distant view...I would make sure the white carries right through to the right hand side even though it's just a speck...and probably not quite so lumpy...sand wouldn't be I don't think, unless it was dunes and they might be much bigger.  Decide what you want to draw attention to - at present the highest value contrast is the sand and the grass...and that might not be what you intend....
very nice little image with the dominant blue green...very calm and restful.

So I created a finished piece, thus:

Becalmed (C) 2015

For my "blocked" version of the bird-feeder piece, I described my process -- tracing on laminate and auditioning fabric.  This was EB's feedback:

Thank you for showing us your process...it give you a great idea of how the finished piece would look - of course it wouldn't be so easy with a bigger piece!   As long as you get that lovely black outline all stitched on the finished piece just like it is in the middle photo on the laminate I think it will work really well.

The bird feeder makes a focal point and the little birds are active all around - put one or two above the large branch as well as below to help balance out the interest...and you could also have some seeds that have fallen and birds that like to peck up from the ground down there.  Pretty!!!  I think these little postcard vignettes will sell really well....

I'm not sure to what she's referring by "that lovely black outline"...I did stitch in the branches and stitch on the tree trunk, but no outlining in the finished piece, so we'll see what she has to say about that!

Autumn Lunch (C) 2015

I confess I have my reservations about this one.  It borders on "cute"...but then again, as I told EB when I sent it to her, I was aiming for "calm delight", so I suppose I managed it.  I auditioned petite beads for the berries on the tree but they seemed too large compared to the leaves, so I let it go.  Ditto for the idea of French knots.

I've now turned my attention to wintry minis, two of which are to go along with the 'calm' pieces to the same gallery in Ponoka.

I began by tracing trees onto paper-backed fusible web.  Having the templates drawn out on clear plastic -- off-cuts from the laminating machine at my daughter's office -- works a treat for this, as I have to do it the reverse of how I want the tree to look in the picture:

Once transferred to my chosen fabric, I had to cut these out.  The two large trunks were a piece of cake, but the evergreen took a bit more doing:

The evergreen before cutting

Close-up of cutting the bottom edge

And here's the three, sandwiched and ready for quilting, thread painting and embellishment.

Shown with photo inspirations (left)

The two large tree trunks will sport a bird house, snow, more branches and berries -- they reprise "Gone South" and/or "See You in the Spring" from a year or two ago.  The evergreen has been adapted from "Sailor Take Warning" and/or "Sailor's Delight" and will have another tree -- deciduous, bare of leaves -- next to it and some snow on its branches.

And so...to bed.  Tomorrow is a day at The Shop; work will resume in earnest to finish these Friday and/or Saturday for Monday delivery.

Meanwhile...I'm linking to WIP Wednesday over on The Needle and Thread Network.  Do drop over and see who else is there!