A Little Weenie Giveaway

Hi friends

well I have been busy painting for my shows and now and again I get itchy fingers to do a mini mixed media. This latest one is done in the theme for Hallow e'en and I am going to give it away to one lucky winner.

This is a 5x7 canvas board and is an original OOAK piece by me. Who knows maybe one day I will be famous (NOT) and you will have one of my treasured originals.

All you have to do is post a comment. If you are already a  follower or  become one, let me know in your post and you will be eligible for a 2nd chance to win. And if you also post my little button on your blog and tell others about my draw you will get your name thrown in for a 3rd chance to win.

I generally do not do much in the way of  Hallow e'en. I live in the country and we get, if we are lucky, 3 kids. We don't have children or grandchildren so it is not something I decorate for. I do like costumes and fun things related to it but it is not one event I plan for.

I will include some things along with this canvas but perhaps not Hallow e'en related but items you can use in your art. If you have seen my giveaways before you will know I like to give.

So sign up and get a chance to win.

I must slip away to get a button made so hang in and look for it along my sidebar.

Name will be chose on October 4th. I will not be doing a giveaway til probably again in December because I am busy getting things done for my shows.

Thank you everyone who follows and leaves me lovely comments.

Take care and good luck.

BOO!♥♥♥

I've been busy

Hello everyone, seems like ages since I posted.

As you all know I am getting ready for craft shows and so far I am in 2 but sometimes another one pops up, so, always good to have lots on hand. I have been working on canvases, ornaments and wall hangings. I will have some pics to follow here shortly.

Also I have been helping out once a week at the retirement home where my MIL lives and getting to know the folk over there, not to mention the hugs and kisses from the men. It is easy for them to remember one name and I am trying to remember over 20+. Each week there seems to be someone new but I am slowly getting to know them. There is always a good crowd that turn up.

I have also been doing more drawing and a few small mixed media canvases. These are for some very special peeps so won't mention who they are for so it is a surprise.

These new drawing are inspired by a blog I found called  PBS Art Studio.   I used Prisma colour pencil crayons to do my faces, watercolour for the hair, scrapbook paper for dresses and any other bits I find in my stashes. The thing about mixed media I love is just reach for something in your stash and see if it fits the feel of your project. 

This piece below is going to someone very special to me. I hope she likes it. These are mini canvas boards that can sit on a desk or bookshelf on a little easel. I love making stamps out of fun foam, dripping paint, using my texture paste and just having fun. Love her little crown and little friend that has come to visit. 

Cherish the moment.....

 this piece was totally inspired by the birdy paper in my stash and the colour blue. This little fairy has wings made of book page with inked edges and Glossy Accents then when that dried I added gold gel pen around the edges. Again texture paste, which I am still using from my original post I shared here.

There's always a song in the air, somewhere......

 This canvas was a totally blow myself away piece.....I was stunned at how it turned out. I found a blog and sorry I forgot at the moment where it is but it was from either the UK or Australia and the blogger showed how to make the flowers out of round circles cut from fun foam, paint on the circle then take a sylus or even  pen tip and draw  the swirls in the paint before stamping on your work, the area you drew in will not have any paint and makes a cute flower. I also made the leaves as well. I made an error using orange paint then when I was trying to rub it out I smeared it and liked it so I just added some more. Happy accidents I say happen for a reason sometimes. I still need some words on this, something about a garden or in deep thought. It will come to me....

 And this piece I just love and it is going to my cuz over in the UK. She is expecting her first child and I just wanted to do something fun. She is away in Venice right now with her man so I hope she doesn't come take a peek. I got a new paper pack and loved the tea stained papers in it so  I worked around them. I even stamped in white paint the 9 months starting at the top 9,8,7 and so on to the bottom but you can't see some of them because of paint or whatever is covering them up. It is very subtle. I will pop this in with a few little baby gifties and send off soon. I hope EJ likes it. Makes me smile and I have never been pregnant.

 And of course painting for shows continues.....these are dollar store frames I found. They had a burlap print on them but I tore them off, turned it over and the side I painted was nice and smooth. These are my favourite snowmen to paint, designs by Monika Brint.

 2 more with sandpaper star and corrugated paper heart attached

 And finally a John Sliney design I haven't painted in years. This is so quick and worked up nice on canvas. I used a different font for the Welcome and did some distressing to the letters.

 Today I did a canvas with a Monika Brint angel design that I started last year, well I base coated the background but never got beyond that, so ,I dug it out and completed it today so things are slowly accumulating but still a ways to go.

Thank you for stopping by and stay tuned to see my paint stick ornaments, they are so quick, easy and very economical do to. The best part for me was the paint sticks were FREE.

TTFN♥♥♥

Another mixed media and happy mail

Well I managed to get to the library and dropped some art off and I can't tell you how excited and proud of myself for seeing my art displayed on the library walls. It was so exciting. I can't thank all my blogger friends enough for believing in me, nourishing me with their knowledge in art and encouraging me and inspiring me to try new things. 

On that note, here is a little mixed media canvas I did  Monday night to take in and this will be displayed by my profile page the library was going to do to introduce who I am. I call this "Discover" it has special meaning to me, I am discovering my drawing abilities. I am discovering I am an artist. I am discovering I have boundless creativity. This drawing has been in my sketchbook for quite a while and I finally broke free and applied colour to it and I am so happy. This piece is not for sale but I told them at the library that I will do some on request or something similar that no two pieces will ever be the same. Mixed media is not a big thing here yet, seems  in my area things take a long time sometimes years to become popular.

 And I am so excited to receive Happy Mail from my blog friend Tee over at The Altered Paper.

As you recall from a previous post that Tee and I did an easel ATC swap. Neither Tee nor I had done such an ATC before and we both tackled it. I really like them and I see Tee does as well.

Below is a little altered notebook that ties at the side with a pretty image, I will probably tuck this into my purse for those times I need to make a note of something. The tag is a little beach them with cute shells and fish on it. Tee has added some glitz to it here and there. Click on any of the pictures to get a larger version to see all her details

 Here is the ATC easel card and a lovely little envelope it was tucked inside. Isn't that the cutest bird and girl. Tee you did a wonderful job on this. It is going to be displayed on my corner cabinet in the living room.

Next up is a bundle of tea, a Marie ATC and at the bottom are scrabble tiles altered with scrap paper then I think Glossy Accents applied and a magnet on the back. Such a cute idea. They will be put to good use. 

And here is Marie with her hair flipped up and Oh La La underneath, isn't that clever?

 

Last but not least a cute little organza bag filled with lovely flowers and goodies and some papers and a personal note from Tee that really touched my heart. Thank you so much Tee for the lovely swap.♥

I am finishing up a couple swap items then I am back to painting. I finished up 4 snowmen heads for wreaths (did I tell you that already?) and on to more projects. If I disappear for any length of time you know where I will be but I will try to pop in now and again. I am signing up for another craft show tomorrow so now I have 2 to look forward to.

Thank you for dropping by and never quit discovering what you are capable of doing.

♥♥♥

Paint but mostly paper

OK now that I have your undivided attention. As I told you a few weeks ago I wanted to get an early jump on my fall painting for craft shows. Well I had good intentions and I have been painting a bit but I got a little sidetracked. Sometimes I can't  help myself and I am drawn back to either paper or mixed media.

So here I will show you what I have been up to and will explain along the way. 

First up, another sign with houses on it for sale this fall, think I will do a few more of these and try to put the word Welcome along the bottom. This was a fun and quick pattern to do. I love these signs from the Dollar store although they were 2 dollars but hey, saves buying, cutting and sanding. Price of wood these days this is a good deal as far as I am concerned.

This picture looks a bit bright so you can't see the shading around the edges of the wood and I  shade a lot. Some patterns do not call for shading and if I see something I want to shade, I go for it. I love shading and detail. Just the artist in me I guess.

  Next up is a chunky ATC. I have seen these around blog land and on sites but never tried one. We all know that the standard paper size for ATC's is, 2 1/2x 3 1/2, which this is, but ,it is made out of a cut 2x4. I am not sure why they call them 2x4's because they really aren't if you happen to measure them, which I did ,and, to my luck it was only 3 1/2 inches in width. Anyways I covered the wood block with torn dictionary pages. Painted with washes  of acrylic paint. I stamped some designs using Stazon and added some white gel pen accents. This angel is a recent mini drawing I did. I painted her mostly with watercolours but her face is done with Prismacolour pencil crayons the Suzi Blu way. I have a lot of drawings in my sketch book, some are favourable for art some are not but it is all a learning process for me. I have found if I trace these drawings onto regular white paper as described in Suzi's book, Mixed Media Girls, I lose some of the proportions so I am scanning the images then colouring them. It is still my original drawing but the fun part is I can also make them any size I want. This Chunky ATC is still a WIP but I wanted to show you my progression. 

 And another one of my sketches, I applied to a canvas board background using a faux batik technique I found on Pinterest. You put glue onto the canvas, let it dry. Paint using a minimal number of colours, I chose my fav summer colours this year, lime green and turquoise and the white is the original canvas colour. Then when paint has dried peel up the glue. I added dots with my stylus and white acrylic paint. The large dots are glue and the smaller dots are stylus. This was fun. I just love the background, you should try this. And I did the same thing with the girl except I found in my stash come nice paper for her dress, real lace for the collar cut to fit. Grunge letters I coloured with complimentary colours. I may still bling them up with Stickles, not sure yet. This girl is going somewhere, but I can't say to whom or where yet....it is a secret.

 Another canvas board skinny. I painted her hair with watercolour and just dropped in a tiny bit of blue here and there. This is computer paper I did the girl on so I couldn't soak the paper like w/c paper but I got the job done. I used stencils, acrylic paint, marker, paper, pencil crayons, texture paste so this is truly mixed media and I have so enjoyed it. I found the word "Fraulein"in the dictionary, it jumped out at me,  so,I cut it out and put it on her dress. Rubbed some metallic paint over it to tone down the white paper then traced around it with white gel pen. So much fun. I am in a trade with a girl from Eastern Canada and she got Suzi's book but has not done much drawing yet so I hope I can inspire her to do some more. Once you let go and say I can do this....you will be amazed at what you can accomplish. I know I did. This is not part of our trade just an added something. 

 And I am also into these ATC easel cards. I made a few of them and just can't stop. Mona is printed on canvas paper to give it a more artistic feel. I cut out a frame from black c/s and ran through my Cuttlebug, then I inked it with gold ink heavily. then I made the easel and thought more about what to do. 

See that mini paint brush...I made that. I used a round tooth pic, cut a bit off one end, I cut a tiny piece of foil  duct tape for around the ferrule, then I cut an old paint brush and use the hairs, the brush was toast anyways and I reused the bristles, added some glue then wrapped the tape tightly around and the hairs are in there good. I found some paper gears, and then I looked for a hand charm and glued that on to make it look like Divinci just completed Mona. Behind Mona is a dictionary quote. Oh love how this turned out. Someone is getting this and if she comes by for a visit don't look Amy......

 and here is a close up of the bottom. This took some thinking but I pulled it off and I am so pleased. 

Oh and a bit of news...I was called this week from the librarian of our small local library which I frequent every 3 weeks and have been asked to be their artist of the month. Now this came about because the library organizes the craft show in the community and I left my name, blog addy to check out my work. 

Well the craft show is filled up but they would like me to bring in some artwork of mine to showcase it for this month. Now this month is almost over but hey I am willing so why not. Who knows someone may want to buy or get a look at what I make. I am a little excited

Yippee Skippee dance here.

Well I have some snowmen on my table that are almost done...big BBQ on Sunday with my MIL and it is supposed to be hot and humid again. 

Have a wonderful weekend and thanks for stopping by

♥♥♥

Summer of Colour 2 Week 3-Baseball Nut

Sounds yummy doesn't it? Well Kristin has done it again with the flavour or colours of this next week. Here is a peeky at what the colours look like together in an ice cream cone....

Baseball Nut

"A smooth, vanilla flavored ice cream swirled with a black raspberry ribbon and loaded with cashews"

-Baskin Robbins

 And here is my girl wearing her raspberry beret with cashew hair and swirly raspberry and vanilla background done in watercolours, acrylic paint and paper. 

Her dress looks more purple here but it is more of a black raspberry and I gessoed over it a bit to tone it down. I used my fingers to paint the watercolour background with my new watercolour crayons. 

Next week's prompt is Strawberry Lemonade Punch....oooo can't wait to do something with these colours. 

Thanks for dropping by. Don't forget to go to Kristin's blog to check out all the links to those who are participating in this wonderful colour challenge. You will be amazed at the beautiful artwork that is around the web.

Til next time......I have a wonderful frugal art technique to show you....you will want to make some and try it out yourself. I will be supplying a recipe and you more than likely have all the ingredients, all 3 of them. 

TTFN♥

Hot Humid and sketchyl

Well the title says it all. Today is a real scorcher, almost 40 Celsius and 98 F, needless to say hot hot hot. We haven't put the window rattler in, hubs is working evenings and doesn't get up til later in the mornings So I have been trying to keep cool but it has been a little too warm from my liking.

I have been working on next weeks Summer of Colour and it is coming along quite nicely. Not sure how I am going to work a touch of cashew colour in yet but I will figure something out.

Anyways I have been doing more whimsy girl sketches and although it is nice to see them in colour, I am really enjoying the sketch stage. I found some tortillons or paper stumps to blend my sketches and I love them. They truly transform a simple flat sketch into something a little softer and more realistic.

These are just a few sketches that have come to life in the last week or so, I have a couple more but they aren't quite finished and a little less favourable. 

I am working on some characters to put on canvas boards and have so many ideas and another idea I will keep a secret til I can get at it and show you my newest idea, maybe a selling feature this fall for my craft shows.

Anyways here are 3 sketches, thanks for looking and keep cool and remember your pets too, they get heated up so make sure they stay cool and have plenty of water. 

 These girls haven't been shaded yet. They just make me smile and I hope they make you too!

♥♥♥

Life quote canvas

Today I had a bit of time to finish up this canvas that started out a totally different colour, thanks to gesso I was able to cover all the paint layers up to make a new background. I have been playing a lot with layering with paint and making my own stencils to produce some pleasing and interesting visual appeal. 

Just a tip for all of you, to make your own stencils just use a light weight card stock or even cracker box chipboard, use your die cuts and cut out shapes in your Cuttlebug or Big Shot or whatever you use. 

Use the piece that you are about to throw out and use that as a stencil. I also use various round punches and punch designs using various sizes to make patterns. Cut shapes from fun foam or again use your die cut and cut flower shapes, stars whatever you have. I have a stack of different things now to use. Some of them get a little worn out if you use too lightweight of card stock, but, you can always make another. 

I even used Tim Holt's flourish die and they make wonderful stencils. Just take a peek at my background and see what you can find. You can even use corrugated cardboard, swipe some paint across the ripples and press onto your canvas, so many neat ideas all ready at your finger tips. Oh and one more. Look at doilies and see if there are sections you can use to stencil onto your backgrounds. I had some heart doilies and I saw an interesting medallion and cut it out. Take your stencilling to new heights, see what you already have instead of investing a ton on more stuff.

OK enough gibber. I was on Pinterest the other night, love Pinterest and I found some interesting quotes. I am not good when it comes to journaling and saying what I feel on paper, some things you wouldn't want to know or read. I can write letters and I can be diplomatic when it comes to expressing something I feel strongly about, but, I have never been good with words.

I saw this quote and thought it would be fitting for my little girl. 

So here she is, one of my Suzi inspired girls that I drew last week and could not wait to put her to canvas and make her come alive.

But first of all.......here is the quote.... 

 And here she is with her pouty lips, I haven't named her yet but I just adore her. I am so please with her except she has a bit of a crooked nose, oh well, it's all practise and I am really pleased how far I have come. I don't even draw my facial grid anymore. I just got the paper recently at Michaels, it has an oriental feel to it and so I cut some flowers from it and put them in her hair and added Stickles to them. 

The canvas board is painted in acrylics, the face is done in Prismacolour pencils.

Well I have another small one in the works. Thanks for dropping by and can't wait for Monday to reveal my Summer of Colour Week 2.

♥

Some whimsy and more sketches

I haven't posted in a while not because I didn't want to just been on here later in the evenings and catching up on some blogs I follow. Sometimes you can't visit as often as you like and seems my Internet is better later in the evening, pages load faster and I can actually leave a comment.

Well I have been playing with watercolours and acrylics and watching vids on these whimsy faces that seem to be a big hit all over the Internet.

I have made a few designs to put on cards and then I found some mini canvases in my stash and thought I would do up a couple of those. These are fun and very addicting. Besides doing sketches in my sketch book at night I also, when in a whimsy mood, add these as well for future reference.

So here is a collection of whimsy.....

This was my first whimsy face and not sure I really like it but it's just fun to play and paint.

 This dragonfly girl is not really finished yet, I am not sure if I should leave the background, sometimes too much can... be too much...

Loving the bright explosion of colours, a nice change from my grunge.

Oooops I forgot her eyelashes, I just noticed....

 I think I know someone who might like ladybug girl....

 And the bottom 2 are mini canvases from the ole Dollar store, I think I might do a few more of these soon. I love using many layers of paint. Can you see a bit of sequin waste in the background? I used it as a stamp....

 This one below I love.....it started out with Twinkling H20's already painted background for something else. I didn't care for it so I put a layer of gesso over it first because being water soluble the Twinklers get all smudgy. So many and many layers and soft blending and slapping paint layers on and drippy paint, boy this was so much fun....a lot different than the old standard painting I am used to...
I also am having fun with coloured hair. They just make me smile.
I am thinking of making some painted pages for a dear Aunt in England who is having some health issues right now, I thought some cute whimsy faces would brighten a tough day....maybe put a smile on her face...

And remember my first sketches I showed you....well I have been at it again, and every night I put pencil to paper and I sketch before I read before I go to sleep. I can't seem to stop.

Mind you, I am showing you the better of them, there are some pretty horrendous ones in my book too but these ones I am rather proud of.

I am not going to show one I plan on painting as it is my most favourite of all, she is an " angel" of a sketch...he he...

Meet Rebbecca.....she reminds me of a good friend...you know who you are....

 This is Clarice....

 And the name has not come to me on this one yet.....I love how her hair turned out....and don't you love these luscious lips....I have been working on noses now....next hair is going to be a hard one.....seems I struggle with it but it will come in time...just have to keep sketching away. Like anything, the more you practice the better you get.

So thanks for stopping by.

I am now finished all the ATC backgrounds for Jenxo's ATC Technique book Woo hoo, I did 4 sets of 16...you do the math. It was fun. I am glad I don't have to do that many ATC's complete, but you know I would if I had to...but I don't.

Stay creative dear friends and thanks for stopping by.

♥