Flosstube 105

January 23, 2021

It’s been a couple weeks since my last FlossTube. Kevin and I had a nice trip to Florida to visit Mom and Jerry. We ended up coming home after 11 days and didn’t go to Siesta Keys for a few days as we had planned. I explain it all in the video.

Kevin and I recorded a Q & A video and uploaded to my Patreon page. If you are interested in learning more about Patreon, you can do so at patreon.com/teresakogut

Sarasota FL at a “pet friendly” beach. Kevin, Me, Mom and Jerry 🙂

Athena (Teeny) had her first ocean experience. She thought she was at the lake and took a big ol’ drink of salt water 😂

Mom and I at Siesta Keys public beach. We couldn’t take the dogs on the beach so we only stayed a little while.

My WIPS & FINISHES

On the way home from Florida I worked on a punchneedle from my Celebrate punchneedle book. This is “This Chick Love Flowers”.

In my online painting class, Creative Whims Live (CW LIVE) we started a new painting called “Save the Bees”. Here is our progress from Tuesday night’s class.

WE HAVE A FINISH!!

I finished “Carry No Burdens” angel painting that I’ve been working on for the past four weeks during Whatcha Paintin Wednesday. I have a full article with lots of photos here. I also have all of the videos for you to watch if you’re interested.

Join my BFF Kristin of Shabby Perceptions and me on Wednesdays at 2pm eastern time to chat with us while we paint. You can join us on YouTube or Facebook.

YOUR FINISHES

Here are the finishes from some amazing stitchers!

Happy Bunny from my Celebrate Punchneedle book. Punch by Doreen Brannan using Ultrapunch set #1 – 6 strands floss

Pilgrim Turkey from my Celebrate punchneedle book. Punched by Doreen Brannan using 6 strands with Ultrapunch set at #1

Stu Snowman stitched by Lori Holt and finished so cute on a red sled.

Honey & Wool Farm stitched by Betty Ulan.

Magic of Christmas stitched by Kathy Osborne (missharrietsparrow on IG)

Home for Christmas stitched by Shelly Nichols. Love this house!

Home for Christmas stitched by Terri Whisler – Cornhusker State Stitcher on Flosstube.

Check out Terri and her daughter on Flosstube here.

Heaven & Nature stitched by Tonya Hartnell

Merry Christmas Freebie stitched by Becci Lund

This chart is free. You can get it here.

All Good Works from my Punchneedle book punched by Karen Johnson.

Go here if you want to purchase my punchneedle book.

If you would like to have your “Teresa Kogut finish” featured on my Flosstube, please email a photo of your fully finished photo to teresakogut3@gmail.com Please use good lighting and make the photo as clear as possible. It will show better on the video that way. Thank you in advance!

Current Whims

Dream Home Makeover – Shea and Syd are an adorable couple with two little daughters. Shea has amazing style. You can check it out on Netflix.
Skinny Dipped Almonds – So yummy! Check them out here.
Hopper app – This app will watch airfare for you and let you know when it’s an optimal time to buy your tickets.
Tile – This will help you find your keys! Check it out here.

Those are the highlight from this week’s Flosstube! Thanks for joining me!

Blessings,

Teresa

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Carry No Burdens

January 20, 2021

I started this painting on Dec 16, 2020 during Whatcha Paintin Wednesday which is where my BFF and I paint together at 2pm Wednesday live on Facebook and YouTube. Kristin lives in Tennessee and I live in Michigan. We love spending time together painting while chatting with people who join the live stream.

If you watch all the videos in this post, you will see this painting created from start to finish.

WEEK 1

Here’s a photo of the beginning stages of the painting. I like to start with a red base color so after I have layers and layers of paint when I do the sanding the red can show through in areas.

WEEK 2

To be honest, I didn’t have a clear vision of how I wanted this painting to look in the end. I just kept working at it until I got it to a point I liked the colors. This week I made BIG changes. Adding the blue made a huge difference but then I decided to make her hair white (which is a first for me) and I feel by doing that the painting changed completely.

WEEK 3

This week I worked on the wings more. Adding a layers of lighter colors of cream and white to give them dimension. I also worked on the hands and nest more. I did some dripping and washes of watered down white paint in the background. I also used a brayer with red paint and rolled it on the painting. I did the same using blue paints.

WEEK 4 – It’s Done!

In this final week of painting “Carry No Burdens” I added text. First I added the word Angels using stencils. Then I added “Angels can fly because they carry no burdens” by Eileen Elias Freeman. I added Psalm 91:11 ” For He will command His angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways.” I used watered down red and let it run down the painting. Using a brayer, I rolled black, blue and teal paint to create a “grungy” effect.

I love how this painting came out. It’s very different for me and I truly enjoyed the process.

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Flosstube 104

January 7, 2021

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

This week’s Flosstube video is a fairly quick and uneventful. I’ve recovered from strep throat that I had the week between Christmas and New Years and now preparing for our trip to Florida to visit Mom and Jerry.

Even though 2020 was a strange year and full of uncertainty, our business grew leaps and bounds! I believe stitching was a comfort for many during the pandemic. Not to mention retail therapy is a real thing! I mean who doesn’t love getting something new delivered to their home? Kevin and I are grateful to everyone who supported our business by purchasing our patterns.

We not only kept busy shipping orders but we did several things to improve our business.

In March after the Nashville market, we rented a dumpster and purged the other side of the studio to make room for the pattern business.
Kevin hired someone to insulate & finish the workshop side of the studio which was being used for storage since 2001.
A window put in (there was no natural light on that side)
New entry door…I’d wanted one for YEARS….the old one was ugly and had rust on it.
Several trees removed around the studio.
A new roof and eavestroughs.
Kevin moved all the patterns to the other side of the studio which is way more efficient for packing and shipping orders. There’s also room to have more inventory.
Kevin was laid off in July and is now retired from the sheet metal building trades and is working full time helping me run the business. Kevin’s responsibilities include building inventory, pulling, processing and shipping orders which has freed up 1-4 hours a day for me.
I released a total of 104 charts and patterns in 2020!!

Plans moving forward for 2021 are as follows:

Whimsy365 – about 4 years ago I challenged myself to do a sketch every day for a year. I’m still pulling from those sketches to create art, punchneedle and cross stitch designs. Well, I decided to challenge myself to do it again in 2021.
Now that Mr Whims has taken over the processing and shipping orders, it will allow me more time to create art and tutorials.
Create LARGE paintings and sell them.
We plan to have a pattern release the end of Jan/first of Feb, March, May, July and September. We are flirting with the idea of having a small release each month from July thru December…..we’ll see.

That’s it for this week. When we return from Florida, we’ll get back on a weekly Flosstube schedule.

Wishing you a healthy, happy and safe 2021!

Blessings,

Teresa

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Show Notes From Flosstube 102 & 103

December 27, 2020

MERRY CHRISTMAS

I hope you had a blessed Christmas and were able to spend time with your family. The past two weeks have flown by as I work on designing a fabric line in the midst of all the Christmas shopping, wrapping, cooking etc.

Creative Whims Live

We had our last CW Live (Creative Whims Live) class this past Tuesday. The new session starts January 5th. If you’re interested in painting with me live in a private Facebook group, please do! I supply the PDF for each lesson so no previous drawing or painting skills needed. Pictured below is the last lesson of Session 3. Learn more about CW Live here.

Whatcha Paintin Wednesday

I started a new angel painting and here is the progress…

Week 1-

Week 2-

NEW CRADLED BOARDS ARRIVED!! Large circles for painting angels.

Thursdays with Ellery & Easton

The Thursday before Christmas…..

We had the grandkids on Christmas Eve and exchanged gifts with Bri and Eric when they came over after work. It was so fun! Little ones make Christmas magical.

Christmas morning after mass we exchanged gifts with the boys.

Christmas Day

Top to bottom: Ryan, our youngest (22), Kyle (27) and Mr Whims (aka Kevin)

Your Finishes

Here are a couple of finishes from some amazing stitchers:

“Happy Birthday Jesus” is a Patreon chart stitched by Cristi Wiley Vanderslice

“Happy Birthday Jesus” stitched by Mendy Russell

“Pet all the Dogs” / “Hug all the Cats” was beautifully stitched by Žydrė Stankūnaitė

I finished another punchneedle from my “Celebrate” punchneedle book. I plan to make it into a pillow. The book is available at my Etsy Shop.

If you’re like me, you like physical photos, not just on your phone. I purchased this Kodak photo printer and I really like it. I downloaded the app to my phone and can print that way or I can hook my phone to it. It makes 4×6 color photos. You can find it on Amazon here.

STREET TACOS

We made street tacos last week and I can seriously say I could eat them every day! So delicious. I have the recipe here on my blog.

Artist Spotlight: Kolibry.Art

“Embroidery for the Soul”

follow her on Instagram here

I have my order in the queue. She’s embroidering one of my angels! Should be done in March 2021 🙂

Whims of the Past

The past two Flosstube videos, I’ve shared my watercolor paintings. The next video I should finish them up. I’m curious how many I have. I may have to count them and let you know in the next post. Lots….let’s just say that!

See you next week!

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Studio Update

December 19, 2020

Flosstube Weekly Studio Update

“Madonna and Child” Acrylic Painting. Thank you Jesus for coming to save all humanity! Happy Birthday ❤️

My goal from here on out is to update my blog at least every time I post a Flosstube video. It’s a way to share in more detail what I’ve talked about on Flosstube and also make any corrections or add stories that I may have forgot to mention.

This week’s Flosstube video started off with a video of my small Christmas tree that we have on the main level of our house right next to my chair where I sit and work on my laptop designing new patterns, work on punchneedle and now do a little cross stitch.

Can you believe it’s been two years of making weekly Flosstube videos?!?!? It was also my 100th episode. Woohoo! Thank you to all of you who support my channel.

In case you haven’t heard of Flosstube, here’s a brief description. It’s an online community of women and men (but mostly women) who love to cross stitch. There are also designers and needlework shop owners who do Flosstube videos. Many cross stitchers also do other needlework projects and share them too. Basically, the videos start with a “life update”, then we show what we’re working on, any finished projects and more. It’s a fun, kind and very generous community within YouTube. Warning….it’s addictive. I love having Flosstube videos playing as I work on punchneedle. My channel can be found here: www.youtube.com/c/teresakogutscreativewhims

I also love to share photos, videos and funny stories of our sweet grandkids, Easton and Ellery.

This week’s announcements:

Newcastle Bouquet SAL (stitch a long) with Lisa Smith – Kindred Stitcher. If you join the SAL use #ncbouquetsal on Instagram. Follow Lisa on Instagram here and Flosstube here.
Our Live Christmas Party has been moved to January. Stitching with the Sisterlies and Niecie Lynn and I will host a LIVE Holiday party on YouTube in January so watch for that. It’s a total blast and we’ll have lots of give aways.
The Vitrine and the Berkley Library virtual art show is now available to watch and you can also purchase any of the paintings you see in the video by contacting The Vitrine Gifts and Gallery at (248) 629-7329.

Patreon is going strong!! I think of Patreon as a fabric/floss of the month club. Each month I design 3 cross stitch patterns that are exclusive to Patreon members (patrons). I also give three coloring book pages that can be used for needlework of any kind; wool appliqué, embroidery, rug hooking etc. There are different tiers you can join. You can move from one tier to another and you can leave any time. The patterns and coloring book pages are available for three months at a time and then will be taken off Patreon. You can learn more about it here.

WIPS (works in progress)

“Americans” has been a work in progress for nine weeks. I painted it during Whatcha Paintin Wednesday with my soul sister Kristin. We go live every Wednesday at 2pm eastern (1 pm central) and paint together. She’s in Tennessee and I’m in Michigan so it’s a fun way to spend time together and chat with folks as we paint. You can catch our live video on my YouTube channel or my Facebook page.

Cover photo of Kristin and I from this week’s Whatcha Paintin Wednesday

2. “Merry Christmas Whimsy” – this punchneedle design is in my newly released punchneedle book which features 15 designs. Available at your local needlework shop or my Etsy shop.

This Week’s Finishes

In CW Live, we finished our “Joy” painting project. We only have one more project this year. We’ll be starting Session 4 January 5th. If you want to join Creative Whims Live and paint with me LIVE on Tuesday nights at 7pm eastern in a private Facebook group, please do. It’s a lot of fun and the ladies in the group are so supportive and kind. Go here to learn more.

2. My next finish is “Gentleman Crow” which is also from my punchneedle book. I plan to make it into a pillow. Although in this photo it’s not quite finished but I didn’t have a photo of it completed.

3. Last but not least! I finally finished “This is the Day” punchneedle. I’ve ordered a beautiful frame for it and can’t wait to see it all put together.

Your Finishes

Newcastle Bouquet stitched by Cynthia Harding

“Tis the Season” punchneedle by Charlotte Pender

“Merry Christmas” freebie chart stitched by Mendy Russell (Missouri Stitcher on IG)

“Candy Cane Snowman” punched by Jo Wick.

If you would like to have your “Teresa Kogut” finish featured in my Flosstube video and blog, please email photos to teresakogut3@gmail.com. Also let me know the fabric and floss you used and how you finished it so I can share that with everyone on the video.

In closing, I just want to share some Christmas eye candy with you. This small tree has a collection of mostly handmade ornaments that I’ve collected over 26ish years. Each one is so unique and special. I hope you enjoy!

At the bottom of the post is the Flosstube video. If you like the video, please go to my Flosstube channel, like and subscribe and click the bell so you’ll be notified when I have a new video. Thank you in advance.

Easton loves the ornaments too!

Briahnna gets the best shirts for the kids. So funny!

Ellery in her Elsa dress checking out the ornaments. She loves the Grinch ornaments.

Blackened Beeswax Angel Ornament

“Jesus is the Reason” cross stitch ornament. Stitched by Amy Loves Toads, finished by Vonna-The Twisted Stitcher and designed by me 🙂

“Santa Star-Shaped Ornament” cross stitch. Stitched by Amy Love Toads, Finished by Vonna – The Twisted Stitcher and Designed by me.

“Dec 25 Star-Shaped Ornament” cross stitch. Stitched by Amy Love Toads, Finished by Vonna – The Twisted Stitcher and Designed by me.

Schneeman Folk Art handmade folk bird ornament

My favorite folk artist is Debbee Thibault. This is her blown glass ornament. It clips on the tree…..just love it!

Flosstube 101 – recorded Sat, Dec 12th 2020

My next Flosstube will show my big tree we have downstairs and will be sharing my Christmas art from my licensing days.

Hope you’re enjoying the Christmas season and staying healthy!

Blessings,

Teresa

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Recent Angel Paintings

January 28, 2020

Recent Angel Paintings

I’ve been a little behind on keeping my blog updated. I want to share with you the two angel paintings I’ve recently finished.

I’m doing something a little different than you are use to seeing from me. Most of my angel paintings start with a thought in my head, then I sketch it in my sketchbook, transfer to canvas and then paint it from my imagination. No photo references are used in those paintings.

However, for the past couple of years, I’ve been collecting images of models in interesting poses that I think would be great for angel paintings. The photos are used for reference but I don’t necessarily try to make the painting look like the person in the photo, but the paintings do look more realistic than my earlier stylized angel paintings.

Here are two I recently painted using a photo reference.

First is “Amour”

Acrylic on 18×24 stretched canvas

Next is “Serenity”

Acrylic on 18×24 stretched canvas

I had an absolute blast painting these angels! Hoping to create one a week.

What do you think? Do you like these paintings better than my stylized angels?

Blessings, Teresa

PS – You can watch speed painting videos of both of the above angels at my YouTube channel here.

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Recipes Added!

January 13, 2020

Recipes Added!

I share my favorite recipes on my Flosstube channel and put the recipe in the description box for you to make and enjoy with your family. However, it makes it very difficult for y’all to find the recipes because you have to remember which Flosstube episode I mentioned it in…..a chore nobody has time for.

The solution was to put them all in one place! I’ve added “recipes” to the menu bar at the top of my blog so I can share with you our family’s favorite recipes. Hover your curser over recipes and a drop-down menu will appear. I have drinks, main dishes, appetizers, side dishes, instant pot deliciousness, breakfast, polish dishes and sweets.

Some of the recipes our handed down for generations in our family and some we’ve gotten from Pinterest or elsewhere on the interwebs. I give credit if the recipe is from another website.

I hope you’ll try our family’s favorites and incorporate them into your family’s meals as well.

Blessings,

Teresa

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New Finishing Section Added

December 27, 2019

New Finishing Section Added

I added a new tab to the menu bar above “Finishing Tutorials” where I will post photos and videos showing different finishing techniques. I decided to do this instead of changing my patterns to show the fully finished item on the cover. With much feedback from my customers, the overwhelming response was to keep my pattern covers as they are because they are easy to see and the color is accurate to how the finished piece will look.

Soooo…..when I fully finish my punchneedle and cross stitch, I plan to record myself doing it and posting it here on my blog under the Finishing Tutorials tab. There will be a web address on the patterns that have a finishing tutorial available. I can’t promise every finish will be posted but I’ll do my best to keep you in the loop.

Pictured above is the first finishing tutorial posted. These four punchneedle ornaments come in two patterns and will be released Jan 2020. Click here to go directly to the finishing tutorial or hover over the tab in the menu bar.

I hope you like this addition to my blog. Let me know in the comments your thoughts.

Blessings,

Teresa

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Flosstube 55

December 17, 2019

Punchneedle Ornaments FFOs, Quilting Fabric & 25 Interesting Christmas “facts”

Be sure to subscribe to my Youtube / Flosstube channel for weekly studio updates where I share an inside look at the goings-on in the studio…art, needlework and otherwise, hence the name “Creative Whims”. Also click the bell so you’ll get a notification when I have a new video or I go live.

Create Every Day!

Teresa

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Experimenting with Texture

December 17, 2019

Experimenting with Texture

It’s always good for an artist to try new products and techniques and then implement them in to their art. That’s exactly what I did for this painting, “Glory Be Angel Wings”. I started with Golden Molding Paste and used tools to create groves and texture in the paste. I let it dry completely. Then I layered Golden acrylic paints using brushes, a palette knife and a brayer. Here is a list of the colors I used:

titan buff
titanium white
carbon black
raw sienna
burnt sienna
raw umber
iridescent gold

The words “Glory Be” were typed on my computer using My Underwood font and printed on a heavy cream colored paper. I tore the paper around the words and used black paint to grungy up the edges.

Screen Shot 2019-12-16 at 5.17.40 AM

Screen Shot 2019-12-16 at 5.17.51 AM

Screen Shot 2019-12-16 at 5.18.02 AM

I learned a lot painting in this way and plan to implement some of these techniques into my angel paintings so stay tuned.

Tell me, what tools do you use to create texture in your paintings? If you’re not an artist, would you like to learn to paint online? Would you like to paint this particular painting?

Blessings,

Teresa

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