WEEK IN REVIEW: March 2 - 8

This week I finished up my sewing inspired jewelry series, and worked on painting a bag for my mom. We had nice weather on Sunday, followed by a snow storm on Monday. Thankfully Alex was able to go back to school on Wednesday. After so many recent snow days, she didn't bother playing outside, because she's tired of the snow. Hoping the snow is finished for the season. Today is such a nice day outside. Most of this post is going to be a breakdown the bag that I worked on. In case you are curious about the painting styles I used, check out my Mexican Floral Sunhat and Sugar Skulls and Marigolds Sneakers tutorials. I worked on writing a few Milan Fashion Week posts too, but mainly focused on painting.

1) Sunday I had band practice. Alex had a sleep over with my parents Saturday night. I picked her up and hung out with my parents for a bit. John had gone grocery shopping and to the gym. Since it was so nice outside, we met up at Conch Republic Rocketts for dinner. This restaurant overlooks the James River. Sadly, a storm was brewing, so I chose to get a table inside. This is a view of the river from the balcony of the restaurant.

2) Getting to the restaurant was a bit frustrating, as my GPS wasn't working well. Next time, I'll take my own route. To de-stress, I ordered a frozen drink...pina colada and strawberry. My husband took this photo of me as I reacted to something he said. It captures me well.

3) Monday I finished the thimble tassel necklace with matching earrings. I haven't made fancy jewelry in a while, so this was a nice project to create. I got the idea from a few thimble necklaces on Etsy. Many had fabric and ribbon coming from the thimble. I'm sensitive to what fabrics touch my skin, so I chose chain and beads instead of fibers.

4) Since Tuesday was another snow day, Alex amused herself by dressing up like a pirate. This is one of many things she did, but the most hilarious by far.

5) Wednesday, I took Alex to dinner and Five Below. I saw that Five Below had restocked their tablet bags. Mom liked the one I bought a few months ago and have been using since. I bought it for her, and on Thursday, I started painting flowers on it, as requested. I have to basecoat the full design in white, so the colors will pop nicely. This is the front with one layer of white. It got several, for a smooth opaque base.

6) This is the back of the bag.

7) Friday, I added color to the bag, which took a while. For a look similar to Mexican oil cloth, I have to leave a white boarder around each design. This comes from the white basecoat. This is the front of the bag...

8) ...and the back.

9) Mid-day, I took a break for lunch with John, at our favorite restaurant Mi Hacienda.

10) Saturday, I finished up painting the bag. This painting style takes several layers, adding details as I go. This is the bag with darker shades of the previous colors. I defined the centers of some flowers, and added wavy petals to the marigold ones. I changed the buds to match the big flowers, as that made more sense.

11) This is the back of the bag with the same details.

12) For the next layer, I added veins to the leaves, and lighter tones to the flowers. It's hard to tell, but the ones with defined centers, got more center definition. The marigolds got definition on each petal, along their inner edges. I could have done this reversed, which would have made more sense realistically, but these aren't realistic flowers, and I didn't feel like mixing more paint than needed.

13) This is the back of the bag with the same details.

14) I finished up the bag by adding black details with a paint pen, white dots, and highlights on the leaf veins. I cleaned up some of the white boarder too.

15) This is the back of the bag with the same details.

I'll be painting a lot more, as I have a jewelry project planned, and perhaps a bag one too. I'm working on learning more flowers and creating my own designs. I've already painted two beaded necklaces, which you will see soon.