Bird In The Hand Primitives

Primitive Folk Art Designs and Finished Items
By: Robin Leuschen

" Who you are is God's gift to you........ What you do, is your gift to God !"

Thursday, June 25, 2015

new blog * Artsy Nest Studio *.....




Just a quick note to say I opened my new blog just for my art and artsy fun..Artsy Nest Studio
I'll still be around here with more primitive folk art and designs for rugs, needle punch etc.....
I'm thinking ahead to Fall / Holidays....mmmmm??lol

Friday, May 29, 2015

Original Folky Americana Animal Paintings for sale



Hello Everyone ! It's been awhile ....You all know from previous posts, how I am on a new creative journey....painting .... I'm loving it so much, but just had to submerse myself in some primitive folk art...
So....I based these 4 original mixed media paintings...These are all Cute Americana themed with a whimsical folky animal in each...
Two of them are painted on Paint board...a thick cardboard with water color paper coating...
the other two are painted on canvas...
all are 8" x 10"..... 

Original Mixed Media Americana Elephant Painting on canvas
SOLD THANK YOU Original Mixed Media Americana Whale Painting on canvas
SOLD THANK YOU !!

Original Mixed Media Americana Cat & BeeSkep Painting on paint board

     SOLD THANK YOU
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                             Original Mixed Media Americana Rooster Painting on paint board
just a little before pic....first thing I did was added gesso to the sub surface ....then I added gray paint and with the end of a small paint brush, I etched a patriotic saying into the paint
I love painting !! Thank you for taking a peek !!

Monday, April 13, 2015

Working on some new art journal pages and a new Folky Doodle

This folky doodle for sale as a pattern was actually inspired by an art journal page that I finished ...
 
Spring Bird Sampler Doodle

Spring Bird Sampler Doodle


Cute primitive folk art bird doodle , for rug hooking, punch needle wool applique or stitchery.

Price: US$3.00

Click for details

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I modge podge old papers to the background, threw in some folky colors and started to draw a chunky bird...
I used all water soluable oil pastels for this.
I love being able to smudge and blend the pastels around....
 this one I also did all in my pastels....not Primitive or folk art but i'm loving the brighter pastel shades and even purple....lol


Then here is another page i did on Saturday.....
That's it for now.....I need to get outside on this beautiful 70 degree Spring day...
Hope you are all enjoying pleasant weather and creativity......
Robin

Wednesday, April 1, 2015

Two new Art Journal pages and having fun with paper and fabric art ....

I"m seeing a bird thing happening...lol ...I LOVE birds anyways...I love to draw them and have them in my doodles/art.....
My second one was done using wax paper and acrylic paint to print the leaves....I painted the leaves on the wax paper then etched the veins with the end of my paint brush...gives them a nice textured look.
I love working with fabric of course, so I thought I would try this...Sewing fabric and paper to create a collage....

The middle of this is a design of mine that i printed off and cut into pieces. I chose this section to use as the base..... I'm going to make a smaller journal full of more pieces like this one...
So, there we have that...I've kept busy...
Have a great night..it's late, so you are probably sleeping and wont see this till morning, in that case....Have a great day !!!
Robin


Sunday, March 29, 2015

Incorporating my beloved primitive with the whimsical aspect in to my Art Journaling.



I'm trying to incorporate my more primitive/ folk art style in with the whimsical almost abstract that is commonly identified with this wonderful art journaling. 
The term " art journal" is appropriate  for what I'm doing. I'm on my own little art journey , having so much fun and keeping it recorded in my pages. 
Love what you are doing ...
Robin

Friday, March 27, 2015

New pattern new doodle booklet, new art journal pages...im loving it all !!

I have been keeping myself working, doing all the businessy things needed to get my patterns on patternmart and sold,,,,not fun like drawing, stitching, hooking or punching,,,,lol
Here is my first new doodle booklet

Spring Fancy Doodle Booklet

Spring Fancy Doodle Booklet


Folky Spring flowers, Beeskep, and a Scherenschnitte design included in this 4 Doodle booklet. ...

Price: US$7.50

Click for details


 I just finished up this little beauty of a doodle booklet , its called...I included the pattern from my Sherenschnitte in the booklet....

Then i completed the Fraktur Tulips Pattern for Punch Needle...

Fraktur Tulips Punch Needle

Fraktur Tulips Punch Needle


In the style of the lovely old German Fraktur painting, Ive designed this doodle and punch pattern ...

Price: US$7.50

Click for details

a few more art journal pages,,,

Enjoy your weekend...I will be painting and drawing.....


Saturday, March 21, 2015

Art in any form .... I'm loving it.

I've worked on all my art. Feeling so free.

Yesterday was the Primitive Handmades Mercantile update. Here were the offers I posted and both sold immediately. Thank you Lord !


And another item 
This Fraktur Tulips Punch Needle pillow , is actually a brand new design and will be a new pattern in the next few days. 
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I've been delving into painting, mixed media art and art journaling. What fun and freedom I fee doing this. But in the second new page it may be too hard to see, but I used my sewing machine and stitched her little flower on and I also sewed her collar to the dress. 
It's fun learning new techniques ( I never took 1 art class) so this is ALL new to me. 

Here are my newest pages:



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Last week I cut out another piece from paper , practicing the German Art of Scherenschnite (paper cutting).

I also played around with making my own stamps or even screen plates for printing designs ony art journal pages. 
Here is a sample of that. 
I
 drew a new doodle as a freebie for the PHM newsletter but I wanted to share here if anyone isn't signed up for the letter. 
Here it is :




Oh I have one more drawing I did up for my art journal last week. Here it is. And read the quote I added to it. 

This is the beginning sketch of the face. Here is the finished piece. 
All in all it has been a very busy few weeks. But oh so enjoyable. I want to just eat, breathe and sleep art. 
Whether it's my primitive folk art or my crazy mixedrfis with my daughters , who both by the way love it and will be giving Me some stuff competition in the art world soon. Lol. 

Friday, February 27, 2015

Expanding my Artistic horizons .... Lol


Yes I added an "lol" at the end of the title sentence. I'm not getting very far , but I have the " want to"..... That counts for something doesn't it ???
I've posted about this in FaceBook and was thinking that maybe I shouldn't have ??
I've been doing my beloved primitives for at least 12 years now. I've watched tons of talented successful primitive artists , doll makers, quilters, punchers hookers,,,, suddenly stop doing primitives and go down another path to pursue another love.... Shabby chic, vintage, Victorian......modern even, in their artwork , home decor etc... And years worth of a fan base or devoted customers and followers drop like flies. 
Soooooo.... Before that happens , because I know I've been uuuuber blessed with so many friend and supportive customers and followers,,, please don't think I'm abandoning my primitive style. 
I do know , though that many if my blog friends here and followers are from many different creative genres. I like that !!
I like being we rounded. One look at my physique and you'd know that !!! ( always have to add my little morsel of self deprecation... Just in fun. 
But... In to my subject for today. 
I've always kept some kind of " art journal" or notebook with sketches, notes ideas, pattern directions and daily thoughts. I'm not consistent though. I have 6 months between some writings. 
But I always go back to it. 
Here are some of my first ones That I covered with some decoupage or fabric and trinkets. 

Then I did my last one in a wool Applique cover I had made. 


Ok. If any of my friends see what I pin on my Pinterest, they know that I've fallen in love with Art Journaling. Lol
I've been pinning everything under the sun that has anything to do with art journaling. I started years ago gluing ideas I doodled for designs , into composition notebooks .... 

Well, I fell in love with what I call REAL Art Journals about a year ago. 
I have 100's of pins on my Pinterest. I've watched videos and read tutorials on materials to use, techniques etc.  
I never pretended to have a talent for face drawing either. Not my FORTE....
But I watched s few tutorials on face drawing , not necessarily realistic faces but artsy types. 
I decided to try my hand at that and a basic art journal page. 

I had fun for sure. I like playing around with paints and colored pencils and I even used bubble wrap to do ghe little yellow circles for background. Lol
I'm going to keep learning and having fun. I like the freedom this art venue has. I get to use mixed mediums. It's just.... FUN !!
Seeing that I've actually been in a real FUNK lately.... I was hoping going in a different direction would help me out of the winter blues. It's slow but I'm at least getting some enjoyment. 😊
I've also always been drawn to German Scherenschnitte ,,, I love some of the old images I've seen. So primitive and not perfect. That's my style !!! Lol 
So here is a little something I drew up and cut out. I pasted it into a piece of scrapbook paper that I distressed and framed it with a cheapy $5 wooden frame that I used an old broken screw driver to gouge a design into the edges and I painted and distressed. 


I cut out another design I will post a pic of next time. 

Monday, February 2, 2015

A new design...and....WINNER !!!


 I have been drawing a bit lately and came up with a new design I am going to use for a pattern, but have not decided exactly what to do with it yet......
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 Well, I managed to only be a few hours late picking the winner , rather than a week .....lol
I had 76 entries for the giveaway..... 3 lovely folks commented but opted out of the giveaway, being seasoned wool rug hookers and hoping to give a chance to someone newer to the fiber arts...
So that left me with 73....I love Random.org ....the number the generator gave me was #23...

RHONDA  SMITH !!!
I'll email you in a sec Rhonda, and get your info to send this and a few other little goodies out to you !!!
Thank you everyone for the super sweet comments ...it means a lot to me to have supportive followers !!!
Robin

Saturday, January 31, 2015

I am an air head......extending giveaway....

I got so distracted and busy...Stressed is more like it...this week I was preparing for a visit from my baby sister from North Carolina....it was kind of a surprise..I wasn't sure she was coming, and then when she confirmed she was, I went in to chicken with head cut off mode.....lol
So...I forgot about picking the winner of the giveaway...Let's try for Monday morning....AGAIN !!!....lol

Saturday, January 24, 2015

Newest Doodle Booklet ...Giveaway news.....some rambling.....






I am so excited about my newest doodle booklet !! Mainly for this reason....The cover !!
I've wanted for so long to be able to make my doodles look a little more like...watercolors, when I color them in on my computer...this program I have , is about 10 years old.....I thought I knew everything there was to know about it......
Well....I've been praying alot lately, about going in a different direction this year....not changing my style or anything, but teaching myself some art techniques....I never had an art lesson except for required art in middle school and flunked it....I hated art !! wasn't fond of the teachers either, shame on me !!
I don't know how I ended up drawing.....I know it is a blessing from God !!!
And now, discovering some new techniques in this editing program I've had forever, is truly answered prayer !!
Of course, i want to actually PAINT some of my doodles also, but for the sake of graphics and Pattern Covers, this is great !!!
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I forgot to mention in my post about the Giveaway when I will be drawing a winner ....
I will do that sometime Monday morning ....That's a pleasant way to start out the new week , isn't it ???
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Well...it's getting late....If interested in my newest pattern, just click on the button below the picture of it, in the right hand column under My Patterns For Sale....Thank you !!

Tuesday, January 20, 2015

On To Spring ..... And a Little Giveaway..





Spring is still many weeks away, but we all know, time passes so quickly...it will be here before we know it !!
My creative spirit has been lofting up and away to Spring time.....later sunsets, warmer temps, green grass, flowers poking out of the soil....ahhhhhhh.
Here is one of my newest Spring designs...I call it, "Mistress Rabbit Fraktur".... More are coming ...flowing from brain to paper...lol
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Now....I'm going to have a tiny give away here on my blog.....I have this Valentine Angel Fraktur Doodle all  mirrored  and printed off on Weaver's cloth  for you.... I don't have specific directions for it since this doodle was offered as just a doodle in a booklet, but you can use the colored drawing for a guide , or do whatever colors you wish...The design on the cloth is approx. 6 1/2" x 5" ..I will throw a little something extra in for a surprise as part of the giveaway....
All you need to do is comment to this post ,,,make sure that I can contact you using your email from your comment.....
Thank you for your support and encouragement constantly !!!
Hugs to all,
Robin

Monday, January 12, 2015

Valentine's Day Freebie and working on PHM Update ....

   
I've been working right along but oh my I am so slow... 


                                                    Problem always , is I'm working on so many things at once....
But, im ok as long as I keep going back to these and punching a little or stitching a little...Not sure yet what I'm doing with the hearts on burlap....????
The Primitive Handmades Mercantile update is this Thursday evening at 9pm ....So I guess I best get busier,,,,lol
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Here is a Valentine's Day Freebie doodle for you to hook, punch, applique or do a stitchery ...I never did get around to making this one in to an actual pattern, so go ahead and have fun with it ...



Have a great rest of the day,
Robin

Thursday, January 8, 2015

After Christmas...back to some renovations and a *new* doodle booklet

This is what happens when I get some creativity and ambition again !

                                                                       I have been busy with a few different projects going on at once.I know alot of you can identify with this. I'm also organizing and re-newing user names and passwords that have been just jotted down here and there..getting them all in the same place and checking to make sure they are still good , etc....
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                                                                  OK, on to some new stuff around the house.
          When we started working on this house , one of the first things we did was to take all of the doors off and stack in the basement where some of hubby's wood tools would be.
it's taken all this time to get to them. We kept the bathroom door on, and had a curtain for our bedroom and some closets....sadly I didnt take any pictures of the doors still in place before we took them down but I did find this one with the front entry way closet door open so you can get the idea of what they looked like.
They were plain, 1960's hollow core interior doors. UGHHHHH !!
                                                           Here is what they looked like ;
ok....Hubby sanded...added cheap trim to make it appear as though there are 2 panels on the door, painted them and hung them...He did all the work on these...I love Him so much !! And I love my new old doors !!
    oh, i would like to get new handles also...just one or 2 at a time...they arent cheap ....lol I'd like the rubbed bronze, almost black look.
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                              And....here is my newest Doodle booklet  !! Just in time for Valentines Day..
                                                   Thanks for peeking !


Valentine Fraktur Doodle Booklet

Valentine Fraktur Doodle Booklet


Three doodles/ line drawings all together for you to punch needle, rug hook or wool applique, the ...

Price: US$7.00

Click for details