Christmas tree O Christmas tree

Before the tree comes down signifying the end of this years Christmas season, I thought I'd post a picture. The picture is mainly for me to remember what a beautiful tree we had this year. It was the perfect size for our living room. I'll keep it up until the 1st so I can enjoy it for a few more days. I love then Christmas and like to enjoy it for the whole month of December. I especially like to keep up the tree and other decorations through my birthday, which is tomorrow. It has been my tradition for as long as I can remember.




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Poinsettia

I did this Poinsettia in watercolor. My poinsettia plant had lost one of it's stems, so I used it as a guide for drawing and color. I was also influenced by Lindsay (thefrugalcrafter).

I want to mat and frame it but cut the paper at an odd size for commercial mats. Guess I'll have to cut one myself.









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Vintage Santa

I requested Lindsay from the FrugalCrafter do a Vintage Santa. She did one on tan toned paper and used Pastel Chalk pencils to draw him. So I decided to try it, too. Here's my version. He was so fun to draw and thought he turned out so cute. I still want to do a watercolor one but decided to try this first. Wouldn't have thought of the pastel chalk pencils without Lindsay. I have learned so much from her and really enjoy her videos.

Her link is www.thefrugalcrafter.wordpress.com






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Tags

Thanks to Lindsay the FrugalCrafter for this idea. I painted watercolor tags to attach to gifts for friends. They can use them as ornaments or bookmarks after they open their gifts.






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Christmas Wreath

It's beginning to feel like Christmas!

I made this wreath from Frazier Fur branches the tree lot guy gave me when we bought our tree. I have enough left to do a smaller wreath. I love making wreaths and usually do a fresh one every year for my front porch.





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New art course

http://jeanneoliverdesigns.com/blog/2013/12/03/brand-new-art-e-course-and-a-huge-art-supply-giveaway/#comments




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Experience each day

I didn't set out to do another thankful page but it just happened so I thought I'd share. I did this watercolor earlier in the month but knew the page wasn't finished. I hadn't found a quote that I felt fit this page. But this morning I saw this quote and felt it was perfect for what I wanted. Now the page is finished and I am happy with it.




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All you need is love

This art journal page was inspired by our church bulletin. The minute I saw it, I knew I had to do a page with it. It is based on I Cor. 13.




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Thankful

I've done quite a few things lately but I just haven't posted. This art journal page was a result of a challenge. I love fall and all the beautiful colors of fall. The challenge was to do something about being thankful. I have so much to be thankful for in my life, I just wanted to express that thankfulness.




I used alcohol inks on parchment paper to make the leaves. The bigger background leaves were inspired by some real leaves I found in a store parking lot. They were drawn, painted and cut out to collage on the background. After collaging I added some more color with pan pastels. The three oak leaves were die cut on some book paper and paper towels used in cleanup from another project. I used my black stabilo pen to give depth to the leaves.
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Fly

Time to spread your wings and fly




Inspired by a challenge to use three diecuts.


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Junelle's new class

Just watched the open house teaser video for Junelle Jocobsen's new class. Here's the link :
http://yesandamenblog.blogspot.com/2013/09/the-art-of-goodness.html

She's a great teacher and her videos's are fun to watch. She has such a sweet spirit. I've enjoyed every class I've taken with her.

She has an open house this week and is posting some samples to get you interested. Here's a quick and I mean quick, like three minute watercolor I did from watching her open house video. For this one, I decided to use water color pencils.




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Falling Leaves

This art journal spread was really fun to create. It was inspired by a page that I saw where the artist used manilla tag's as the base to create the leaves.

This jump started my creative energy and off I went. I love this page!

I used Manila tags as the base to cut the tags, acorns, and pumpkins. The media included in these two pages were distress stains. Inks, gelatos, paints, Pitt pens, gesso, thread, stamps, TH tissue paper, glossy accents and grunge letters.




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Mrs. Pumpkin Man

An oldie but now a classic Fall decoration. I did this one back in 1999. It is acrylic done on slate. I love her and display her every Fall!




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Door Challenge

I was challenged to do a door, any door, any medium. I chose a rust door done in watercolor and some mixed mediums elements thrown in. Just playing and having fun.




I decided to take this piece and make a journal page. I love to use created background pages to enhance the artwork.




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Think FALL

I am thinking FALL today!

I love the colors and smells of fall. All the reds, yellows, oranges, greens and rust colors immediately bring fall images to my mind. This is the time of year when I get my ALL things pumpkin fix. This year they have a new pumpkin flavor of M&M's. had to go to two Target stores to buy what ended up being the last bag. Very good!

Pumpkin flavored coffee and creamer is my favorite coffee. I always buy enough to get me through the year because it is usually only sold in the fall.

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Breathe

This page was built around the orange/rust colors in this girl. She was on a piece of junk mail that I got. When I saw her I knew I wanted to create a page in my journal around her. I just loved the colors.




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In the Meadow

I enjoy working with alcohol inks on Yupo paper. This is another of my first attempts at this process.




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The Unknown Bird

I painted this bird in watercolor on canvas paper. I used Dr. Ph. Martin's hydrus watercolors. They are so intense. They have such a different effect than the traditional pan or tube watercolors. I'm trying to get used to painting with them.

The canvas paper has a different tooth than the watercolor paper. It soaks in the paint faster and doesn't pool as easily. I like working with it, but it is taking some getting used to.

At first I wasn't very happy with this bird, but now that it has dried I think he's ok. My inspiration was a picture I found and now can't even remember where I found it. Hence the title, the unknown bird.

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Alcohol Ink and Yupo paper

Last week, while traveling, I went to Cheap Joe's to get some art supplies. They have things that our local stores don't carry. I always spend too much when I'm there, but since that isn't very often, it's ok.

I picked up some watercolor paper, and a Golden paint I hadn't seen before. But my big purchase was a "set 2" of Dr. Phil Martin's hydrus watercolor paints. I love working with them because they are fluid and the pigments are so intense. I have " set 1" but hadn't seen set 2 anywhere. I had to get them. I just had to!

I'd heard about a paper called Yupo. While walking down an isle, I saw a pad of the paper. Having no idea what medium was used on it, I asked the sales person. Not much info from her. But as I was checking out I saw a lady that was buying a pack. So I asked her what was she going to use it for. She opened up a whole new line of mixed media to me. She explained that it was a synthetic paper and was used mostly with alcohol inks. Yay, I have lots of those. Told me to search on you tube and blogs, that it was all the rage. Well, once you know what to look for, it is everywhere.

So all that said, I started playing. This is one of my first attempts. It is fun and just like gelli printing, it is addictive.




I think they look just like flowers. But then again, it could be my imagination!

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Egg-tastic

Chicken eggs in a nest influenced by the Frugalcrafter Lindsay. Her site is thefrugalcrafter.wordpress.com
This was done in watercolor. I love to watercolor!




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Quote

Saw this quote today. How true!

"Every artist dips his brush in his own soul, and paints his own nature into his pictures."

---Henry Ward Beecher

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The Farm

My friends live on a farm. We love to go and spend time with them. Since I was playing with watercolors today, I decided to do this scene of the barn and the mountains on canvas paper. It was from a photo i took last time we went to see them. It's small but I love it. Think I'll frame it and hang in my studio. Looking at it makes me happy!




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Flowers fever

I've worked in my journal a lot this week but haven't had time to post any of the pages. It is more fun to paint than to post. LOL
Here is a page I did in acrylics and used some Pitt pens and charcoal for shading and outlining. I love to feel a page after it has been painted in acrylics and coated in gell medium.
This is a technique I saw Donna Downey do and I wanted to try it. You create a wild background, paint your focal points and then paint over your original background letting some of it show through. Add some textures for interest and you!re through.
I think I'll try this again. It was fun.




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Art is good for the brain.

Art makes you more observant. Leonardo da Vinci said, “Painting embraces all the ten functions of the eye; that is to say, darkness, light, body and color, shape and location, distance and closeness, motion and rest.” Creating art helps you learn to “see” by concentrating on detail and paying more attention to your environment.


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Colorful Tag

Challenge for this was to make something colorful. Use the neons if possible. I love birds so I decided on this colorful little tag.




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First video

I made a short video on the Gelli Journal I finished this weekend and posted yesterday. I've watched a lot of videos on artists showing the finished project or how to tut's. I thought I'd give it a try on this project. I had to hold my Ipad in one hand and try to turn the pages with the other one. It's not as easy as they all make it look. When I reached for a couple of products I wanted to show, the video picked up the sounds of my moving. Sounds like a train coming through. I don't have a way of editing this video, so I'll just post as it was filmed. I'll be able to look back at my first video and laugh. If you can't laugh at yourself, what's the point? At least I'll have a record of the completed journal.

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Handmade Gelli Journal

I made this Journal using the top lid of a Krispy Kreme box. The inside pages are all created with the gelli plate. I like it so much that I probably won't even alter the pages inside, at least for awhile.








The texture on the covers were created with wood filler, stencils, paint, varnish, sanding between layers and then a final seal using Dorland's cold wax medium. The signatures were bound with a pamphlet stitch. The beads from my stash were added as a decorative element.



A couple of examples of the inside pages. There are three signatures with seven (8 1/2 x 11 inch) folded pages in each signature. That comes out to 86 different half page surfaces to either continue to alter or enjoy. Right now I'll probably leave them as is and just enjoy. The designs that you can achieve with the Gelli plate are so pretty that sometimes it is hard to even consider doing something else to them.
This was a lot of fun to create and done over a period of time.
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Mail Art Swap

Joined a mailart swap. The theme was use one color. So I decided on pink. You could use white and black also. Mailed off my little pig today. I hope the recipient enjoys her.




This is the comment from the girl that received her mail art. "Hi! I received my mail art today, too! Well, actually, it may have arrived sooner, but I just went to get the mail today, so it was a great surprise! It's so colorful, and I love the texture! Thanks for all of your hard work. Yes, it's funny we both chose pink! Great minds think alike! Haha!".

Of all the colors to choose from in the color palette, we both chose pink. Thought that was kinda funny.

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Day at the Beach

This AJ page was inspired by a background page I did earlier this summer on book paper with paint swirls. Sorry I didn't remember to take a picture before I got started. Today when I looked at the background it reminded me of water. Using a picture I took of my daughter earlier this summer at the beach as my inspiration I created this page. I was sitting behind her on the beach and thought this would be a cool angle for a photo. I did change her hat to something from my imagination. It was done with more book paper pieces and painted with heavy body acrylics. I love my little seagull. He has such dimension I feel like he's going to fly off the page.




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Today's Bounty

Today's bounty! What a busy day this has been. I made a dozen banana blueberry muffins, two loaves of zucchini bread, froze eight 2 cup bags of shredded zucchini, roasted a pan of cherry tomatoes, and made 15 cups of tomato sauce. Now I have 5 frozen bags ready to use for spaghetti, pizza, chili or lasagne. I also had two pints of tomato juice to put in the refrigerator for this week.

The roasted cherry tomatoes were so good. I toasted a Hawaiian sweet roll and topped it with flavored goat cheese and the roasted tomatoes. I think I'll make a pizza with the rest of the roasted tomatoes this week.

All the zucchini and tomatoes are from the garden. I am tired but will be glad this winter when I enjoy the summer bounty.



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Farmer's Market

Watercolor sketch of imaginary trip to the Farmer's Market. I love to go to our local farmer's market. I love all the fresh veggies, fruits and breads. They have a wonderful selection of flowers and plants. We have a large one and you can find about anything you want.




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Jeanne Oliver Course sale

If you want access to some great e-courses then go to Jeanne site. Great sale on her courses through today. I highly recommend. Also having a great giveaway.
http://jeanneoliverdesigns.com/blog/2013/07/15/i-want-to-celebrate-with-you-huge-giveaways-and-sale/

Rainy Day Fun

"Children will not remember you for the material things you provided, but for the feeling that you cherished them."





We played with paint this morning. She painted a dozen masterpieces.


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Rainy day at the farm

We spent last weekend with our friends at the farm in the mountains of Virginia. It was a rainy day on Saturday so we just enjoyed the rockers, the birds and the view. These two quickly painted watercolor were done to remind me of the day and the sheer joy of spending time with dear friends.







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More pages for handmade journal

I added some pages to my handmade journal. At the suggestion of a friend, I documented how special some of the features of this journal are to me.
















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Handmade Journal

I handmade this journal. I used the covers from an old hymnal that I altered.

The cover: I cut out a niche in the front cover to place the gelli printed girl. The binding piece is an old paint brush with beads wired around the handle. The binding fabric I used is from a negligee I received as a wedding gift so many, many years ago.

I made the frame out of pieces of cardboard I cut with my Cuttlebug and dies. I covered them with molding paste and aged with paint. I also used some lace pieces given to me from a friend.

The crystal piece on the bottom of the frame is a crystal from my mom's old chandelier that had been ruined in hurricane Bonnie. The jeweled piece for a closure is from my grandmother's broken earring. Since neither my mom or grandmother is still alive, both of these pieces make the journal mean even more to me.

The papers: I cut pages from various types of papers. They were old book pages, used envelopes, water color paper, music pages, library cards, tags and anything else I could find to use if it appealed to me.

One of the pages is a color copied portion of a letter that my father wrote to my grandmother when he was stationed in the Pacific during World War II. You can see the edge of the letter in the picture.

Many of the pages have already been gelli printed and ready to use. Some of the pages have already been completed.

I'm very excited to work in this journal. I love so many things about this journal. It makes me smile every time I pick it up.
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Supporting the mixed media economy

I heard this today and decided it fit me like a well worn shoe. "I've had many , many years of SELFLESS spending to help support the American economy for the mixed media world.". Did you see I emphasized the word "SELFLESS"? Yes, I'm a true patriot!
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Findings and Trinkets Challenge

Marianne from PAO inspired me to try a Finnabair technique. So I looked at her tag video again and attempted to make a tag sort of like hers. Learned a few things that would make it better next time. First picture is how it looked before the spray, spray, spray process. I should have let the spray layers dry a little more before adding more. Oh well.







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Indian Princess

Did another two pages in the journal. Drying time again. Just couldn't get the shine out of the picture but will be gone once it's dry. I'm really liking the journal. The background started out as a gelli print. This is in the challenge journal.




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Challenge Journal

I did this little journal to practice one of the binding techniques. It is the Coptic binding technique. This binding is done with dental floss. It was a little slick but I wanted to try the technique. I have some heavier and better binding thread for the next journal. This one began as a practice journal, but is coming together very nicely.

The cover was gelli printed and then I used the same stencil with some tinted molding paste for texture. Every page is gelli printed. There are 18 pages so I'm not taking pictures of all of those pages.





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Front and back of challenge journal

Here's the back and front covers of the journal. The whole journal is gelli printed. The cover is on the right side of picture. It is opened out for drying. I may go back later and add a quote. Haven't decided yet.




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Altered box

I was cleaning the other day and came across my Gypsy box. I needed another straight edged box to hold inks and thought this would be perfect. The bottom has a divider. I altered the bottom with gelli printed deli and tissue printed papers. Covered with gloss medium. I will do the top the same way and use for something else. Recycle and reuse!

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Walk by Faith

AJ pages using gelli print background and sentiment. Her dress and hat is also a gelli print. Saw this quote posted by a friend and decided I wanted to use it in my art journal with this girl.

"She is one of those people with a bright smile on her face, a light spring in her step, and a true sweetness in her spirit. Walk by faith."


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AJ journal challenge

Ok, so this is my first attempt at a page following the directions in our PAO challenge. You just can't hurry the drying. I probably would get a very different effect I had waited between stages for the drying. But a gal has got do to go what a gal has to do. I don't have much time to play so I just went for it. Pam said if we like it then it's alright. I am satisfied with the result. BTW, the background started as gelli prints.

The paper across the bottom is from a color copied letter my dad wrote to his mom during WWII while he was in the Pacific.




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