If Ladybugs Fell into Paint Buckets Coloring with Flair

Where to begin explaining the process?  Converted children's coloring book page to adult fun with crayons.  Oh my, complicated little bug.  Straight lines off the spots that stop only if they hit the bugs edge or another blue line worked from top to bottom.  Simple lines on its face bumped up over the eyes to intensify the bolging effect.  Swirls from the lines within the body to the outer border.  For color I used 7 trippy colors with 4 cool and 3 warm.  Imagining a ladybug playing in buckets of paint, happy bug.

Spectrum Fish Tank Converting Kids Book to Adult Coloring

For this little fishy I added back and forth lines with blue ball point pen from top right corner to bottom then again from top left corner to bottom slowly and deliberately the way a fish swims.  Then I tackled the tank from the yellow center to the deep purple bottom.  Like light refracting through water.  The bubbles are complimentary to pop and the fish reminded me of goldfish so an orange top to bottom was in order for him plus it draws your eye down to the purple corner then back over the bubbles again.  Complex kiddy coloring page and great adult fun!

Turtle Squared Breaking Down the Coloring Barrier

Remember these fun childhood grid transfer activities?  This book had a turtle, I transfered him then took him to the next level with color.  Instead of standard coloring why not treat each square as its own unique piece?  Each square in a diagonal fashion has a choice of three colors.  The background, first character color and second character color.  This would be great with all cool or all warm.  In this instance I went bold with neutrals and red tones.

Hippo Smiles Adding Complexity to Simple Coloring Book Pages

Adding lines to kids coloring book pages adds interest and movement to the page.  With a blue ball point pen I added entering and exiting swirling lines.  Then colored the hippos background with a muted set of pinks and purples.  The smiling hippo herself got the lighter set of pinks and purples with hopes that it would pop her off the page a little bit.

Pink Lizard Adult Coloring Adding Highlights and Shadows

Yellow for energy to the potentially non moving object and cool aqua to hint at the movable objects tranquil stationary position.  To give the character overall depth I added darker shades and layers of blue to the shadow areas and yellow to the sunny highlight zones.  How complicated can we make an otherwise simple children's book coloring page?  I'm curious to find out.

Fire Breathing Dragon Adult Coloring Classic Kids Color by Number

Who says we have to color in adult coloring books with professional grade media?  No one!  No rules more fun, or in my case make the rules as you go along.

Inspired by the joy my children had picking out coloring books and supplies I dove in with them.  I chose a color by number $1 and crayola crayons.

To get started and make my adult spin on this childhood classic I adjusted the color palette darker and added simple shading.

Surprise Rose Happy Mother's Day

This was a pleasant surprise!

Sunglasses Pen Drawing

These are my favorite sunglasses when I read out in the yard.  I'm one of those funny people that has a different pair of sunglasses for every activity.

Pen Drawing Vintage Sears Kitchen Sugar Canister Art

I hunted high and low for canisters that weren't just the standard plain styles of the box stores.  These were fun and different and I've drawn the art on them a few times.

Loose Sketch of the Kitchen

While I'm waiting for the fried chicken and french fries to finish in the oven a loose sketch from the kitchen.

Any time is a good time to capture the feeling.

Pen Drawing with Color Fur Real Friends Poopin' Pup

EDM DAY 3

Sketchbook page with toy

Drawings are a great way to capture cherished memories.

Isabelle wanted the Poopin' Pup more with each day that passed getting closer to her birthday.  Someday when the toys are gone we'll have this drawing to remember.

Bubby Boy Line Drawing with a Little Pencil Color

Our puppy boy Bubby Schnauzer/Poodle.

Pen Drawing - Froggy

This is Froggy he is a character in my daughter's library book that forgot his underwear when he went out to play!

Oh My!

Coloring with the Kids

After their Grandmom colored with them one Saturday they began asking me daily to do it too.  I conceded and decided I'd play around with some of the color techniques I learned over the years.  It was fun...I'd welcome the chance to add color to line work any day!

Finished Project Two Twin Crochet Blankets

Details

Side by Side

Twin crochet blankets I made with lots of love for Isabelle (7) and Aurora (5)  Every night I put them to bed then sat down thinking about our day together and adding a row for each.  Both exactly the same until the last two rows.  I made a row mixing pink and purple then a pink end row for Aurora and a purple end row for Isabelle.  It brings me joy seeing them enjoy these colorful treasures.

Adirondack Evening 20" x 14" Acrylic Paint by Number

As I painted this I imagined sitting on these chairs feeling the sun on my right arm, walking down the stone path barefooted to the waters edge, breathing in the sounds and aromas of nature. 

I love the fully submersible feeling an art project can take us.  Whether hobby art or professional artistic ventures we should always take the time to feel our work.

Colorful Triangle Crochet Throw with Link to Pattern

If you enjoy making individual pieces then joining them at the end you will love making this throw.  Little achievements that turned into a nice sized warm throw. 

The triangles were made with single crochets and decreases, whip stitched together.  Then against the suggestion of the pattern I HDC two border rows. 

Happy crocheting!

Link to Free Pattern

How to Weave in Ends to Finish Crochet Projects

Let's begin by saying I hate to sew.  For me crochet is peaceful and soothing, sewing is slave labor intensive.  I've found a way to finish my crochet project that doesn't feel like sewing, it is as enjoyable as the actual crocheting.

I start by leaving a 6" tail for each end that needs to be finished.  Referring to the picture below and using the big pink one on the far left for my I hook worsted weight DC projects.  Basket weave on the bottom of the wrong side of stitch over/under 7 across then turn and go back through the other side of each.  Snip ends.

Fun and easy.  You can choose to weave at the end of your project or as each tail becomes available.

Finishing needles:

Double Crochet Blanket Without Flipping

Started basket weaving ends into seven stitches 

Left hand corner is the wrong side

This is one of the two twin size rainbow stripe blankets I'm making.  Instead of flipping my work for each row I'm getting a more uniform right side and wrong side.  To do this I chained then did row one the normal way.  For row two I ch3 skipped a space then DC between each stitch adding one stitch into the top of the last stitch.  Row three is ch3 with DC in between every stitch.  And repeat.

Basicly each row that skips one on the left adds one on the right and every row that adds one on the left just goes between only.  It's easier than it sounds. 

If you decide to try this technique I would suggest you do a sample square first to get comfortable.  You could also use stitch markers to distinguish which row is which as I did for my first project like this.

Happy crocheting!

Petals and Trinities with the Starburst Hotpad Crochet Pattern Linked Within

My kitchen has a bland white tiled area just above the dishwasher that always needs a splash of color.  It's a perfect place to display a new crochet project every few months.  For this quarter I used the easy and fun Starburst Hotpad.  With cotton in deep black and warm brown to help ward off chilly nights.  It worked up fast in one evening while the kids watched their cartoons.

Starburst Hotpad Pattern