Hi, lovely peoples!
As you may or may not know, I have had an extra hard time of it with my illness this year. I am glad to report, however, that for the past few weeks I have been feeling a lot better! I have been able to create art and craft, play games, and even walk around a bit!
Anyway, as I was sick for most of this year, I have been a little neglectful of my DeviantArt profile and journal (and pretty much everything else) - sorry about that! It can be really hard to keep everything together when you are seriously ill - especially when that illness is ongoing, but I promise I always try my best!
Below is a bit of an update on what I have been up to this year - during the precious times when I've been able to be creative!
Nail Art!
Back in January, I started learning and experimenting with nail art stamping.
I wrote a blog post about it here 
, and I have also uploaded some pictures of my experiments to my
Make-up and Nail Art gallery here on DeviantArt, if you'd like to take a look
. Although it can be tricky (and messy) at first, once you get the hang of stamping, it is really fun! Here are a few examples of designs I have tried so far:
I have also been been experimenting with non-stamping nail designs:
Stitching, Painting, and My Mini Chest of Drawers!
In addition to Nail Art, this year I have also done a lot of stitching and embroidery. It is a fun and relaxing pastime when you are stuck in bed with very little energy! I have been primarily focused on two major projects - a big ship cross stitch, and draw liners for a miniature chest of drawers I am making. To take a break from these large projects, I have also stitched some smaller kits - including a small seaside scene, and a flower vase. I tend to stitch less often when the weather is warmer, but I still hope to get my drawer liners finished by the end of the year. (Finishing the big ship cross stitch may take longer! It is the largest cross stitch I've ever done - in the over 20 years that I've been stitching!)
The designs for the draw liners for my miniature chest of drawers took some planning. I wanted to represent my pets and other things that are important to me within the designs. I made the patterns for each draw liner using a mixture of trial and error - and graph paper. I am happy with how they are turning out so far
. Some of my patterns and planning can be seen below (and there are some more in
my Patterns and Plans gallery here on DeviantArt, as well):
The miniature chest of drawers I am making features a glass mosaic on the outside with Pebeo Fantasy special effects paint on the inside and around the edges of the mosaic. I don't have good pictures of the mosaic parts yet, but I have taken some in-progress pictures of the painting stages. It is a work-in-progress at the moment - but when it is all painted-up and finished, it will have cross stitched draw liners inside the drawers, and will (hopefully) look amazing!
I have been experimenting a lot with Pebeo Fantasy special effects paints the last few weeks.
I wrote a blog post about it here, and
another here. I just love the way it mixes to create such amazing effects - with very little effort on my part! It is almost magical! I even made an eyeliner pencil holder using it. It works brilliantly
.
GISHWHES!
Earlier this year, I participated in GISHWHES - the Greatest International Scavenger Hunt the World has Ever Seen - for the fist time. I was lucky enough to be placed in a fantastic team of extremely lovely, talented and enthusiastic ladies (and one very shy gentleman!) It was an amazing experience! I really enjoyed it!
One of the list items I completed involved papering the walls of my room with a couple of hundred pictures of my nose... I decided to make the pictures a little more interesting by working "nose art" into them
. Some of my nose art designs are featured in my
Make-up and Nail Art gallery here on DeviantArt - and I have included some examples below - because I know you will love looking at my nose!
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I also did a few other GISHWHES items - including making a collage, painting a picture in honour of bees, and drawing an illustration for the fairy tale, 'Trumpunzel'
. It was a fantastic event to be a part of, and I will definitely be participating again next year!
Beads!
Last, but not least, I have become addicted to bead charms! I feverishly collect different beads, and I love rearranging them to create unique bracelet and necklace designs! Even when I am at home, lying around in bed - I still wear my pretty beads and feel like I'm all dressed up! I just like looking at them
. They are treasure! Some of my designs can be seen in my new
Charm Bead Arrangements gallery here on DeviantArt .
Anyway, I hope that I will continue to feel better for the remainder of the year so I can create even more art and craft to share with you!
~Adrielle
