Lover of all things creative.
We have had a lot of changes in the last year. Last fall I went to Italy with my friend Shara Reiner and we taught at Franca Marzi’s. It was a first time for me, and I enjoyed seeing some of the sites in Italy but mostly I enjoyed making new painting friends.
Shara Reiner and myself will be presenting another Zoom class on November 15, 2020 with this Woodsy Santa and his friends. Santa has just gone into the woods to get the perfect tree and meets up with his woodsy friends, a sweet little bunny, a cute raindeer and a very wise owl friend. They look so cute on thier cart. This is a sculpting and painting class. We will be recording it and will have a private facebook group for you to share with the other people in class.
Last spring Shara Reiner and I were all set to have a retreat in California and Pennsylvania to make our Santa when Covid hit. We were able to have the retreat virtually. One of the things the ladies said they would like to see in the furture is something for fall/Halloween. So we put our heads together and came up with a series of ornaments.
We are offering three classes where you will make 3 ornaments in each class. If you sign up for all three of the classes we are not only offering discount pricing, but a free week of class with three more ornaments.
The first class will be Sunday October 11th from 1- 6 ET (12 – 5 CT, 11-4 MT and 10 – 3 PT). This is a great beginner class if you have never sculpted. Meet Sylvester, Corny and Hooty.
The second class will be Sunday October 18th at the same times. This class will add a few more skills to your sculpting resume . Meet Rosie, Special Delivery and Hilda.
The third class will be Sunday October 25th at the same times. You will be an old pro with sculpting by this time . Meet Squiggy, Acorn Hair and Sam.
The classes are $55 a week, but if you buy all three classes it will cost $155 and you will get the forth free. The kit for all 4 classes is $72 and for any of the weekly classes the kit is $27. shipping is inculded in the kit prices. The kits include the supplies you need to make each of the ornaments (Quikwood, Styrofoam, wire and asorted dodads).
The free class will be November 1 at the same time. By this time it will just be a sculpting party. Meet Button Boy, Harvest, and Boo.
The classes will be Zoom classes, but they will also be recorded. There will be a private FaceBook group that they will be posted in, plus you will be able to share all your creations in the group. The patterns also include a link to a facebook page with step by step photos for the videos.
Today Shara and I did a live chat to introduce the project and also share some ways that you can decorate with the ornies, such as putting them in a basket, on a tree, a cone or a container. During the classes we will be sharing other creative ideas to do with them. You can find our live chat on our FB page Shara Jane & Friends We would love to have you come over and join us.
Shara showed another creative idea on making holders for the ornaments out of toliet paper rolls. She also used the inside of a coffee pot for the other holder. Check out the video replay to get the full scope on these.
You can purchase the classes and kits by going to my web site www.janeallencreates.com and clicking on the menu item Shara Jane, Zoom Classes, Fall Ories. You will then find a list of the different class and kit options and any additional supplies you might need for class. Here is a direct link to the page Fall Ornies
When you finish purchasing the classes there will be a download box so that you will be able to download the pattern. If you miss it contact me and I will email it to you. (alandjanie@msn.com).
Here is a sneak peak of another blog class that we will be doing Nov 14, 15. We will provide more details later.
Shara and I want to thank you for coming out and chatting with us. We are loving all the positive response from you.
Big Hug,
Shara & Jane
PS. Some people were asking about our headpieces, you can find them at Grandinroad.
The checked garland on Shara’s Tree was from Hobby Lobby.
I got my pom pom garlands from Etsy.
The one on this tree I got from Gracie and Marie, in which I picked custom colors: Orange, tangerine, goldenrod, chartreuse,turquoise, camel
This one below is from the Rainbow Barn.
When I started thinking about it, I realized I have been making this pie for over forty years. When I was leaving my first job with state government, one of my co-workers, Bonnie, made this pie for my going away party. Her husband was a chef and she got the recipe from one of his French cookbooks. Needless to say it was a big hit and I have been making it ever since.
One morning after my devotions I looked over at this project that was in the May issue of the Pixelated Pallette and as I looked at the mermaid the words Wave after Wave came to mind.
I have always enjoyed flowers. My mother always had big beds of flowers and now my husband keeps me in paradise, as he likes to say, by planting lots of beautiful flowers in our yard.
As an artist I have enjoyed painting flowers and I am drawn to a loose style. I also love to decorate my home with my art as well as other peoples art. I recently discovered C Brooke Ring’s art on Pinterest. At the time she had many paintings for sale and I bought this one for my family room:
Here is a time lapsed picture of her painting “my painting”. I love seeing all the layers and details as they are added.
Recently Brooke has offered painting classes. They are about two hours and you can paint along with her. They are a Zoom class so you can ask questions during the class. Once the class is over she posts them on YouTube. If you are having trouble keeping up you can go back and paint and pause at your own pace.
You can find the classes here: https://cbrookering.com/collections/workshops
I took the two flower classes and I am thinking about taking the other two. I also have a feeling that she will be posting more in the future,
The first flower class I had sign up for was after the Zoom class went live so I just painted it using YouTube. I thought I would show you how it went for me.
This is how my under painting looked after the first hour of class.
After the second hour of class this is how my painting looked:
The next day I went back and worked a little more:
I set it on the mantle in our family room and kept looking at it. So I made a few adjustments. I would still like to keep working on it, maybe even paint it again.
The second class I was able to do it through Zoom. So here is my painting after the first day of class:
The next day I made some adjustments. I would like to do a little more with it as well. I think adding a few more layers makes a difference. Also taking a break and just looking at it helps. It is not so much about making my painting look like Brooke’s, but it is about me being happy with what I am doing and finding my own style in the process.
Please note these classes are for your own practice and enjoyment, and are not to be recreated for sale or distribution.
Brooke is a very generous artist and offers many tutorials and videos on her YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCIJI_65DmDZPXWEwWp05IrQ
I do not work very much with tube acrylics, but I enjoyed the classes and learned a lot. I encourage you to check out her classes. They are a lot of fun.
Hugs,
Jane
Ps. Here is another picture of my painting on my mantle. Notice the same picture in front of it. I got it from Bethany Joy. I definitely like happy colors.
Sometimes life gives you lemons and you have to make lemonade out of them. That is what happen to Shara Reiner and me. Over a year ago we got together and designed this Santa:
One of the things my husband enjoys is going out for breakfast. Since we are sheltering in place this is one of the little luxuries he has not been able to do. So I have started making blueberry pancakes for him. Since I don’t get up as early as him we usually have them for brunch or dinner.
During these scary times we don’t know where to turn, but I have turned to God’s word and pray Psalm 91, the Psalm of protection, over myself, my family and friends, my neighborhood, my church, my town, my county, my state, my country and my world. Continue reading “Psalm 91” →
In the evenings I like to sit with my husband and watch a little TV. Probably like most creatives it is hard to just sit there, so I need something to do with my hands. I wanted to find something that would keep my hands busy but not over stimulate my brain and keep me from being able to sleep.
I admire Michele Palmer’s art work and am friends with her on Facebook. She was advertising a punch needle class that she was teaching in Mumford, NY. I immediately loved the projects because she took her designs and use of color and turned them into punch needle designs. I convinced my husband that this would be a perfect birthday gift for me and how far could Mumford, NY be from Harrisburg, PA, anyway?
I enjoy decorating for Christmas. One year I had put up 15 full size trees and a number of smaller ones for a total of 23. I have not topped that record; in fact, some years I go very minimalist.
Would you like to spend some uninterrupted creative time with like minded artsy ladies. Well Shara and I have just the thing for you. We are planning two retreats in April 2020, one in California and the other in Pennsylvania. The main project for the retreat will be this 38″ wooden Santa that is embellished with Quikwood. We will also have some other goodies to keep you busy.
Isn’t it funny how spending time with friends creating can turn into something new and wonderful. Last summer Shara Reiner and I got together to play. Our plan was to create some of her birds dimensionally using Quikwood along with other things. The first day started off a little slow with each of us trying to see the others vision, but the next day that all changed. We were sculpting angels, Santa’s, and snowmen. We had so many ideas that we couldn’t keep up with ourselves. We sculpted from morning to night – it was a creative high. And then Shara said we should turn these into patterns and Shara Jane was born. We came out with our first set of patterns last fall.
This year my friend Mark Vickrey, who owns Blooms by Vickrey, asked me to do some glitter houses for his shop. I did some traditional houses like other years, and I also did some beach houses; but I wanted to do something different. I decided to do some white houses with gold roofs. I painted them with DecoArt Warm White and the roof and base with DecoArt Dazzling Metallics Emperor’s Gold. I then used glass glitter on just the houses and used a red ribbon on my wreaths. For more details on creating glitter houses you can go to:
My husband has a friend Gary who likes chicken pot pie, so I have been trying some different recipes. One day when I was cleaning up my studio I found an older copy of Cook’s Illustrated magazine folded open to this recipe. The magazine was dated February, 2006. The intro said that it is a lot of work but worth it. Since my friend Shara was coming that week, and I knew that she liked chicken pot pie, I thought I would give it a try. Funny how things work out. 🙂
This past weekend my painting chapter, Penn’s Woods Painters, Amy Mogish and myself did a seminar to bless Wendy and Kevin Young. Wendy is a very talented, sharing, sculpting artist and many of us have been blessed to be able to learn from her. In February her husband Kevin became ill and is now disabled. It has been financially devastating for them and as fellow artists we wanted to do something to help them.
With the start of summer I am always looking for recipes for good salads. My criteria is something that is somewhat healthy, tasty and of course looks good. I found this Tortellini Salad with Asparagus and Fresh Basil Vinaigrette in “America’s Test Kitchen – Make -Ahead Cookbook”. I took it to my cousins for Mother’s day and it was a big hit. It was so good I made it again this weekend.
I am loving spring with all the beautiful scents and colors. I love seeing the trees budding and all the beautiful spring flowers popping out everywhere.
All the beautiful spring flowers have me playing with Quikwood again (see Flower Canvas). I thought it would be fun to create these flower hearts. They are a sweet little gift for mom and/or anyone special in your life. They would also be fun to hang on someone’s door as a little surprise.
Not too long ago we talked about keeping a sketchbook which is an invaluable tool for an artist to keep quick sketches of ideas, resources, and to just practice. Another thing that I do is keep a photo reference file. I tear out pictures from magazines, and sales catalogues that inspire me. I organize them into folders so they are easy for me to find when inspiration strikes.
When I was playing with my other Egg Bunny and Egg Peep, I thought I should do a couple that are simpler like I did for my Egg Nativity and Egg Snowies. So I came up with a couple for you.
I know what you are thinking. Even though these are quick, Easter is a day away and I have a lot of other things to do. But they are not just for Easter. Think spring, or favors for a wedding or baby shower or a tea. They could be painted in other cute colors and you could easily add the place card holder/ornament hook like we did in the egg nativity.
Well I guess if we are going to have “Egg Peeps” for Easter we need to have an “Egg Bunny”. For this bunny we are using a 4″ Styrofoam egg, dowel sticks and Quikwood. To make it easy for you the project steps are demonstrated through a series of how-to videos.
Egg Peeps might seem a little strange unless you have been following my blog this year. Earlier in the year we made nativity ornaments / place card holders out of paper mache eggs. Then we made snow people also using the paper mache eggs. If you would like to see the older posts click below:
I always enjoy spending time with creative friends. These times usually involve food and catching up with what’s going on in our lives. Some of the things I really about being with my creative friends is sharing ideas and creative brainstorming. My creative friends help fill my well when it is dry, they encourage, and they get/keep me excited about my art. Sometimes we have so many ideas I think my head will explode…and I love it!
The other day I was with my creative friend Glenda Payne and she suggested each of us do a large floral canvas. One thing lead to another and we decided to do 10 floral canvases and hold each other accountable.
A number of years ago I bought a book where the artist painted the picture in acrylics and then went over her picture with a few accent lines in oil pastels – I loved how it looked both because of her happy colors and the looseness of the added lines.
Even though we are all looking forward to spring, especially those of us in the Northeast, I think our love of snow people will allow me to sneak in one more project. I think the flower in her hat means she is a Spring Snow Lady at heart. 🙂
Who doesn’t like a good cookie bar? These are just the right combination of shortbread buttery sweetness with the tanginess of cranberries. I have not made these for a while and forgot how good they were. In fact they were so good I made a second batch a few days later. And yes, I shared them.
Do you keep a sketch book? I have been keeping one for years. When I finish one I put it on a shelf with the other finished ones and start a new one. I take it with me almost all the time. Even if we are going around town I have it with me. You never know when an idea will pop in your head and you need to document it.
Nothing says “Love” like a dozen roses…so I thought I would give them to you this Valentine’s day in the form of a pattern…and also a video on how to paint them.
If your valentine loves chocolate and peanut butter then these are the perfect cookies to make for him or her. They are a favorite with my family and friends….and they are easy to make.
This is a fun little project inspired by those little heart candies that come out for Valentine’s Day with the sweet messages on them. It is a project that can be enjoyed by any age.
Today is my birthday and I would love to bake a cake so that we could celebrate together, but since that is not possible I thought I would do the next best thing and make a cake that you can also create.
Each day is a gift and deserves to be celebrated…so paint this cake and use it to celebrate each day.
This year at Christmas we created Nativity characters made from paper mache eggs and Quikwood. If you want to see them you can go here – Egg Nativity. They were fun to create and we added a hook at the top that could be used as a hanger or a place card holder. On that post I also had step-by-step videos.
As I was packing them up I thought this same concept could make some great snow people…and so I started playing.
Well the holidays are over but if you are like me and still craving something a little sweet I think you would enjoy these rolled sugar cookies. They are from the book “Great Cookies” by Carole Walter. I would recommend this book. I have already made many wonderful recipes from it.
I like to think that they are a cookie for every season because you can change them up by the shape of the cookie cutter and the color of the sugar you use on them. I also like that they look special without a lot of work.
If you are like me you make resolutions each year and many times they are similar to the previous year. One of mine is that I always want to improve and grow in my art. This year I realize there are two things that I have to do first if I want to grow in my art.
If you are like me you have been eating too many rich, sweet, heavy foods and are ready for something tasty that is healthy. This seafood chowder is a nice light meal, but still seems like you prepared something special for your family and guests. It would make a great New Years Eve dinner, pared with a salad and some nice bread. I often make this chowder for Christmas Eve.
Well it is hard to believe Christmas is almost here again. Normally I would be giving you a tour of my house, but I realize that my home doesn’t look much different than other years.
Yes, every year I try to bring out different trees and decorate them a little differently, but I find I keep going back to my favorite things. So I thought I would give you a little peak into my home, a couple of new things (or at least arranged differently) and those favorites.
I was talking to my cousin about her Christmas dinner and how she would like to have the “Reason for the Season” somehow on her table. As we were brainstorming, the idea popped into my head to make nativity characters out of papier mache eggs and Quikwood. The characters could be place card holders for dinner and then be taken home and hung on the Christmas tree. Each year that ornament would stir the memory that was made with it.
This lasagna recipe I got from an old “McCall’s Cooking School” cookbook. I have tried other recipes but I keep going back to this one. It seem to be a favorite every time I serve it.
Words are powerful. They can encourage, inspire, and help us to believe in ourselves. So why not put those words on a Christmas Ornament where they can be seen over and over.
During the holidays there are lots of little parties and events that we get invited to where we would like to take a little gift to the hostess. To be prepared I like to keep a few of my favorite things on hand so that I am ready when I need a little gift. These can also work great for those little gifts you need for teachers, co-workers, and personal service providers, i.e., mailman, hairdresser, or massage therapist.
Do you know someone who is having a hard time this holiday season? Maybe they are having health problems, experienced a loss, are not able to get out, or are away from family and friends for the holidays. I think we all know someone who could use a little extra love this year….maybe even someone we don’t know.
Getting away with other like minded creative women is not only good for your heart, mind and soul but also a great boost to your creativity.
I found this recipe in Fine Cooking magazine a number of years ago and it has become a favorite of ours. I usually make it with crab cakes because they both can be prepared ahead of time and they both cook quickly.
A number of years ago I wanted to create a stone glitter house for our niece Emily and her husband Phil since they had just moved into a new stone home.
I was just with a group of fellow decorative painters. We were talking about painting and creating and how they like to change colors and different elements in a project moving things around from the original pattern or even combine two different patterns. They then said they could never design….but isn’t that the beginning of designing?
Now that it is getting a little cooler it is always nice to make comfort food. One of our favorites is meatloaf with mushroom gravy.
Today is the last day of the Ornament Exchange this year and Sandy, Deb, Lauré, and Wendy have wonderful designs for you. If you have not had a chance to see the other designs from Day 1 & 2 please stop by each of the artists blogs – you won’t be disappointed.
Today is the SECOND day of the Ornament Exchange Blog Hop.
I think some people are confused by what we are doing. We have a group of 12 artist who also have a blog. Each of them have designed an ornament and have put the instructions on their blog so that you can create the ornament.
I am so excited to be a part of this Ornament Exchange Blog Hop with all these other amazing artist. I hope you will take the time to check out all of their wonderful projects.
When I was making the last glitter houses (See Fall Sunflower Glitter house and Fall Pumpkin House) we wanted to have some fall trees. I was just going to buy some that come with the Department 56 or similar villages, but when I started looking they were either really expensive or I just didn’t like how they looked.