An eternal floral wreath - pretty in Prima and vintage

If you follow my blog, you know by now that I love flowers - in scrapbooking and in painting so I have purchased quite a few Prima and vintage flowers over the years - I have used a lot but then I end up with ones not yet used or sometimes I demolish a layout that isn't quite up to my standards and I save the bits and pieces. I used to keep all of these miscellaneous flowers in a box but then I thought why not put them on display and enjoy them every day.

So I cut some corkboard that I had purchased at a thrift store into a wreath shape and began to pin(with pearl headed pins) the flowers on in a color wheel formation.

I love it and hope that you do too!

thanks for stopping by,

Chris

Ooh la la again - the Lady in Red (and Black)

Just playing with colors and paints

She is a bit mysterious,

The Lady in Red and Black
 Chris

Ooh la la!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Prima Style

 

I created a little shadow box using the Prima Back Stage papers (formerly Moulin Rouge), flowers, and laces. I glued one of the papers into the box (found in my craft closet) and added lace to the dresses, crumpled tissue paper to adorn the dancers' hats, and a funky chandelier found a while back at the dollar store. I added a vintage crystal cuff link to the chandelier.

I cut out a dancer from another paper and added trim for a necklace, crumpled tissue paper for her bodice, and cut apart a Prima flower to get the small flower at her breast.

I gave her a skirt of a silk scrap and mounted her inside the box

and added lace to the background and to the outside of the box

I finished with more Prima flowers, some vintage velvet flowrs, some Prima bling, and a tassel.

What a fun, totally frivolous project!
Chris

Passionate about purple

to paraphrase a classic poem,

When I am an old woman, I shall paint purple

and mauve and violet rose

and a few greens

thanks for stopping by,

Chris

I am so thrilled to be the feature artist on Jane Thornley's blog

Just to let you know, I am the featured artist on Jane Thornley's blog today!!!! I am so thrilled!
http://www.janethornley.com/blog/index.php/knitting/blog_detail/knit_artist_of_the_week_chris_aiton/

Victorian roses

I was very fortunate to inherit a few pieces of hand painted china - 

the colors are so soft and tend towards pink-reds and brownish greens

so I painted my own version of Victorian Roses

Here are 3 of my plates - the bottom two are cake plates with the ear handles

The one on the bottom right came from my grandmother's family

and the other two were given to me by my mother.

Such beauty and joy!

Chris

What's your favorite piece of art?

Please join us over at These are a few of my favorite things challenge blog for our latest challenge, what's your favorite piece of art.  Picasso's "Girl in a Mirror" has been one of my favorites ever since I saw a photo of it in a magazine when I was a young teenager. I cut it out and had it on the bulletin board in my bedroom all those years and I still keep it in sight even today in my studio. I used a sheet of Stampington paper for the background and added a mix of Pink Paislee alphas, a Gecko Galz pin, a bird magnet from Michaels, and some vintage stuff.  Be sure to come over and see the super creations by our fantastic DT!!!! And then show us your favorite!!!!
Chris

You can never have too many orchids

A new mixed-media piece (watercolor orchids and background, acrylic and collaged tree, and hand-dyed and painted ribbons and fibers as roots

This was a really fun piece to create - one of those things where you get your hands dirty

or, as in my case, covered with paint and acrylic matte medium

Not too much happening right now as I spend all of my time working, knitting, sewing, or painting -

not to mention cooking, cleaning, reading, and occasionally sleeping -

there just aren't enough hours in the day!

Isn't life fabulous!!!!!!!!

Chris

Some of my favorite things

I enjoy drinking wine and eating cheese and fruit

and

I love to paint

so

I combined my love of food and painting

to create this

"Study in yellows"

Chris

June Prima picks and my layout

Playing with color, paper, paint, and embellishments

inspired by the June Prima picks

Looks like summer is here!!!!!

Chris

A rose by any other name.......

I love painting flowers - each one is like a face with a personality

This group of roses just couldn't be contained within the confines of the mat

and exploded with blossoms, buds, and leaves -

I enjoy this type of painting - it is all watercolor but I have taken roses from 2 different beginnings

and layered them to create a whole new garden

thanks for stopping by,

Chris

Sewing a new purse

I will be going on vacation for a couple of weeks this summer and wanted a new and very noticeable purse/tote to take along so I decided to make one myself out of things in my fabric stash -
(have I mentioned that I am on a very strict budget this year - oh yes, I know you say - but you are going on vacation - yes, but it was planned and budgeted for a while back - and - I have been a miser so far this year in anticipation of it - plus - not to mention - there have been so many increases in our expenses, like home insurance, car insurance, my health insurance, having to pay the whole amount for my skin cancer surgery - believe me, you do not want me to get started on the insurance industry!!! - but I digress.)
So I dug through my scraps and came up with some Heather Bailey 5" squares that I had bought several years ago, a big-enough piece of a yellow/peach stripe for the lining (this was hard and took some forethought), a leftover apron string made from HB fabric and enough of a similar fabric to make a second strap (pieced), several pieces of leftover quilt batting sewn together for internal padding, some scrap velcro, and a piece of cardboard for the bottom.

I sewed the squares together in rows of threes and then the rows in fours to create a back and front prox 14 x 18. I pieced and cut batting to fit and then quilted in the ditch. I sewed around 3 sides and then did the cross the corner deal at the bottom corners to create a bottom when you turn it right side out. I cut out the lining to fit and added lots of pockets to hold various things. I sewed the lining together leaving a space for turning at the bottom. I made the 2nd strap to match the apron string that I already had (I have no idea how I could have had one left???). I then sewed them to the outsides and finally sewed the lining to the outside at the top edge, right side together. I turned it all through the opening in the bottom of the lining and topstitched around the top. Finally I whipstitched the lining. I cut the cardboard to fit into the bottom and covered it with scraps of the lining, and then finished the purse with a velcro closure. I made this without a pattern but I have to admit that I had made a similar tote/purse a few years ago as well as a much larger fabric tote, and really this kind of project is super easy. 
thanks for reading and hope you give this a try!
Chris

Right now...........................

Right now............

I have been painting like a fiend the past couple of weeks and have finished paintings for both exhibitions coming up and then some that I will put on etsy later this summer.

I have been reading guidebooks, reviewing maps, and making notes about places to go when I am on vacation this summer - I will be traveling to Seattle, Vancouver, and Portland with a few other stops in and around northern Oregon and Washington. I can hardly wait!!!!!!

We had dinner last night at a great restaurant at the beach - the Polo Grill. I had trout while DH had flounder, and I have to say that the complimentary mango sorbet might be the best that I have ever tasted!

I have cast on a new knitted piece - it will be a tabard done in a color scheme inspired by the Alma-Tadema painting of The Favorite Poet - lots of creams, taupes, tans, ivories, and soft pinks.

I won a couple of things - a GC from Jenni Bowlin for a Sunday challenge (the "Counting my Blessings" layout) and some badly needed adhesives from Jamie Dougherty's blog - Yay!!!!! It's amazing how you start running out of supplies when you don't buy anything - funny how that happens!

Hope all is well with you and thanks for reading,
Chris

My chartreuse muse - lots of photos

This little book is what the collage artitst Mary Delany would call "promiscuous assemblage". It started with a challenge to create something using the color chartreuse and then took on a life of its own. I played with words rhyming with chartreuse, beginning with French words and then quickly degenerating into English. I made little rhymes and came up with pages that sort of illustrated the rhymes.

I used ephemera from Gecko Galz and Stampinton Art-to-Borrow. I hand painted the flowers, fabrics, and seam binding. The metal clasp on the cover is from Gecko Galz and the chipboard butterflies are old K&Co. The laces are Prima. I cut the book pages from a faux Victorian photo album (I did a previous Gratitude book from this same album) and sprayed them with lettuce Adirondack color wash.

 Sweet Julie T-W sent me the most wonderful treasure jar of scrapping and gaming toys, and I used some of them here on the back cover. Thank you Julie - I am so happy to have you as a friend and boss!!!!!

Thanks for looking and hope you like my creation. If you have any questions about how I did any of it, please leave a comment and I will respond.

Have a great week!
Chris