100 Day Project - What will you do?

So I decided to join in with the 100 Day Project which started on the 31st January. For my project I decided to learn Embroidery stitches.  With some of the fabric pieces that I have been creating I wanted to add some new stitches, so this was an ideal time to support my daily creative practice and learn some new techniques.

I have had this book of embroidery stitches but never committed to learn any of them so it just stayed in my bag that I keep my machine threads.

I have had embroidery hoops for as long and they too just sat around as I never found the time to try them out.  These are my first embroidery stitches and you can follow me on Instagram to see which ones I complete.

I am looking forward to learning all 100 stitches and the emphasis is on learning new stitches.  I know they are not perfect but the whole thing about the 100 day project for me is the following:

• Committing to the 100 days
• Learning a new skill that I can apply in my creative work;
• Remember that I am still learning the stitches and I can't compare myself to someone who has been doing it for years;
• Showing up for myself;
• Reminding myself that it doesn't have to be perfect for me to share what I am doing;
• Congratulating myself for every day that I do show up
• Have fun!!.

So if you are up for doing a 100 day project come and join us #100dayproject

Looking forward to seeing what you decide to do, remember there is no pressure, just continue to show up for yourself, don't compare yourself and have fun!  Check out the last 100 Day project that I did a couple of years ago where I use pastels for the first time and I have created a few videos of the process - 100 Days of Pastels HERE

Stay blessed and be a blessing!

100 Pastel Paintings - I Did It!!!

I have got to the end of the 100 Day Project, where I posted daily pastel paintings on my Instagram.

Check out the video below and see all 100.  I also share about the course I will be running, register your interest HERE to be notified.  And I also have the link to prints below if you would like to order prints, cards and more

It feels weird coming to the end, though in comparison to all the things that I had to do it was a small percentage, it actually feels like a big chunk has gone.  Anyway, the work continues.  I had a lovely time working with the pastels, and would love to try some other brands at some point.

The pastels that I worked with were:

Conte - hard pastel pencils

Rowney - soft pastels, Nouvel Carre - hard pastels

Rembrandt - soft pastels

Royal Langnickle - hard pastels

You can check them out on Amazon and see a range of other brands of pastels there as well.  Here are the paintings in the Series. 

I am very proud of the paintings from the very first one where I was just playing to the last painting where you can see the confidence in the pastels. 

I am working on a course for those who want to learn some beginning hints and tips for working and playing with pastels.  Register Your Interest HERE and I will let you know when the course will be ready.

 I have Prints available of the images, so you can get the images in a variety of forms to suit all price points.

Check out some of the designs this is the print, which can be different sizes

Pastel Prints

On some of my art I have created prints on clothes and other merchandise.  Check the link above.

Moringa Seed Design 

This is a new journey for me so I look forward to welcoming you along with me.  Stay blessed and be a blessing.

100 Day Project - Playing with Pastels - 65 - 72

Playing with Pastels

As part of the 100 Days of Pastels I have been creating a daily painting with pastels.  I am amazed at how far I have come and that is just through being consistent and trying to have some organisation.

I have been saying all along that you don't have to do 100 days you can do 3 if you want and build up, it is all about what you want to do in your creative practice.  It is a practice to be able to do something consistently, so you have to remember not to measure yourself with anyone else.

Here are days 65 to 72

If you would like to follow the daily images you can do so on my Instagram

100 Days of Pastels - Day 49 - 64

Welcome to blog today, I have officially passed the 50 pastels and as it stands today I am on painting number 65, so you are in for a treat today if you haven't managed to keep up on the daily posts.

As I look back I can definitely see my growth, and affection for working with pastels, it has become part of my routine now and it will be interesting to see how I feel at the 100 day mark.  Here is an overview of the first 50 pastels

Here are images 49 64

Day 49 - 56

Video 49

Day 57 - 64

Here is video 57

Check out some of the videos produced so far on the Video Playlist of the process on my YouTube channel which I hope will inspire and encourage you.  Remember to subscribe to the channel!

You can also check out my Pastel Ideas list on Amazon, with a range of pastels for you to choose from.

Creative Live are running some Free Live and On-air courses. They have over 1,500 curated classes in Photography & Video, Money & Life, Craft & Maker, Art & Design, and Music & Audio, there is something for everyone. You can watch on-air broadcasts for free or buy a class and own the content for life.  You can check out the courses HERE

Stay blessed and be a blessing!

100 Pastel Sketches 1-8

The 100 Day Project is well on the way.  I started a week late so will be completing a week later on the 18th July.  Here are the first 8 pastel sketches.

It has been great getting to grips with working with the variety of pastels and also working on different pastel papers which give you different effects and finishes.

Here are the first 8 sketches, I will share the next 8 tomorrow.

It has been great fun getting to know how the different supplies work, and it is lovely to see all the sketches together and see how much I have grown over the.

I am using a selection of 5 pastels and you can find a great selection at varying prices to suit all pockets on Amazon  and I have brought together a great selection of supplies on my Amazon Store recommendation that you can take a look at.

I hope that you have joined in the #the100dayproject2019 and are having fun in what ever you have chosen to do.  Take it at your own pace and don't allow overwhelm to set in and enjoy.

If you are interested in taking classes and working with pastels then check out Creative live

They currently have a series of online FREE Classes and discounted courses to suit your needs and each week they have several Free Live classes as well, so check them out.

Let me know how you get on and what challenge you will be doing yourself.  Take care and be a blessing

100 Day Project Challenge - Time for a Change

I decided to do the 100 Day Project, which officially started on the 2nd April, but I started slightly late, but will not stress over it, just carry on and get my 100 posts complete.  What I probably will do is do an extra sketch at the end of each week and catch up and the last week of my challenge I will create some videos sharing some techniques learnt while I was doing the challenge.

I decided to work with pastels for my challenge, and use some of the ones I have sitting in my studio.

So I took them all out so that I could get a better look, and I was pleasantly surprised when I saw what I would be working with.  I found the Conte Pastels which I totally forgot that I had, and allows you to use them without getting your hands dirty.  These are a had pastel

Rembrant soft pastels

Rembrant Soft Pastels, and a box of 60 half pastels.  I brought them along with pastel paper when I decided years back these have some very vivid colours and as you can see break really easily

Royal Langnickel

The Royal Langnickel are hard pastels and will definitely take some getting used to

Rowney and Nouvel Carre

I also have a set of Rowney soft pastels and Nouvel Carre hard pastels, so I think I have a good variety to be getting on with.  

I think that it is a good idea every once in a while to see what supplies you have sitting in your studio/creative space so that you don't have supplies sitting unused for years, and depending on the supply can get hard and unusable before you get to them.

I encourage you to get your materials out and play, that is what I will be doing with these pastels and see just how well they work on their own as well as with other mixed media supplies.

Here are the sketches that I did for my first 3 days

1/100

2/100

3/100

I will be sharing the images on the blog and on Facebook weekly and daily on Instagram

If you would like to purchase any of the supplies you can check then out on my Amazon Supplies list

I hope that you can join the challenge and do something that you have always been putting off