Merry Christmas To All!!

Merry Christmas everyone, and a happy and blessed New Year!

New Painting

I finally finished shopping and wrapping for Christmas and had some time to paint. I really wasn't sure how this would turn out, since I started with a picture of my daughter and made some changes to her pose. (Sorry Tori!) I loved the original picture but wanted to try some of the techniques I've been learning in Misty's class.

I'm on vacation from work starting Dec. 24th through Jan. 3rd. I'm really looking forward to a nice long break!!

Stage 2!!

We are so happy about the news we received this week on my nephew Andrew! The doctor reports that the cancer was stage 2 and he has removed all of it! Thank you to everyone for praying for him!
I've been so busy shopping and baking that I haven't had much time to spend painting. Hopefully I'll have time tomorrow. Meanwhile, here is a picture of my oldest grandson, Grant, on Halloween.

Is he the cutest golfer or what?
Have a restful weekend!

Painting Faces-Andrew Update

Andrew's surgery went well Saturday and the Doctor thinks he got all of the cancer, but we will not know for sure until Wednesday or Thursday. Thank you for your continued prayers! I know God is listening. :-)
I found a little time to try Misty Mawn's face painting technique. Here is one of my first attempts.

I also made my youngest grandson, Levi, a new hat and booties.

We think he is so adorable!

Journal Bag

My friend, Diane Krebs, made this cute bag to fit my purse size journal!

I just listed it for her in my Etsy shop.
Have you listed anything new?
Happy Thursday!

Update!

Andrew's doctor called about the scan he had on Monday. He could not find any signs of cancer anywhere other then the original spot in his colon. We are so relieved! Hopefully this means that the cancer is in stage 2, but I think we have to wait for the surgery Saturday for confirmation.
Thank you for your prayers!

Andrew

We just learned that our nephew Andrew, has colon cancer. He is 32 years old and has a wife and 3 children and 1 on the way. He has a scan tomorrow that will tell us more about the stage of the cancer and surgery is planned for December 12th.
Please pray for him!

My First Award!

Thank you Darlene for giving me my first award ever! I feel very honored!

I would like to pass this award to 3 others:
Tori
Myste
Martha
Please take this award with honor, girls!

A Foggy Thanksgiving

We had a thick fog on Thanksgiving morning, and I couldn't resist driving around and getting a few pictures. Here is one of my favorites:

I wanted to try and use what I learned from Misty's class so here is my first attempt:

I seem to be having one of those days I call a "looking" day. You may know what I mean...I start looking for a certain brush, finally give up and use a different one. Then I want the white charcoal pencil and can't find it either. Then I loose my glasses, and when I find them, I find the brush I no longer need. Or maybe the pencil, but don't need it either. I think I spend about 30% of my time actually creating but the other 60% is just hunting for this or that. 10% is getting food or at least hunting in the kitchen for food because I gave up looking for my white or gray paint.
I really need to organize my room...if I could find my stuff I would probably not eat while I'm painting, which sometimes makes a mess all of it's own.
Ok, now that I don't need the white pencil...

Finished Picture & New Journal

I finished the painting I started last weekend! It feels good to have completed a painting, and I'm surprised it turned out better then I thought it would!

I also finished another journal I started last week. This one is smaller then my others and the perfect size to carry in your purse.


I just listed the journal in my Etsy Shop.
I think I deserve a break, so I'm off to do some shopping. Maybe the mall or Michael's! Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

More Paintings From My Class

I found a little time to paint and here are 2 of my assignments from Misty's class. The first is a landscape which was the easiest and fastest painting I've ever done.

This is one of the paintings from last weekend that I thought was just a mess, but with the gel transfer, it has a little promise to it.

I'm working on an idea for the bottom corner, so we'll see how that turns out tomorrow! I'm loving Misty's class!
I met my sister today at Seagrove in NC, which for anyone not familiar with this area, is a town that many potters live in. Today was their semi-annual show and I was able to go and browse through 59 different booths full of beautiful pieces of pottery. I couldn't resist buying these 2 soup bowls.

I hope your weekend is going well!

A New Class

Yesterday was the first day of Misty Mawn's on line class and I've been looking forward to it for weeks! Here is my first assignment.


I don't know if this happens to anyone else, but there always seems to be a point when I'm painting, where I panic and think the painting looks horrible. I've learned that if I keep going, I usually find that the piece gets better. There were a couple of paintings that I did yesterday, that never passed that point of getting better, so I might try again with them today. These 2 were my better efforts, but I'm not sure if I followed the exact directions. I found myself just working with the paints and not thinking. Misty's painting are so soft and pretty, I hope I can learn her technique!
How is your Sunday going?

Gifts for Someone Special

I've been busy this week, not just with the usual work related stuff, but with making a few things for my newest grandson, whom we are going to visit today. Tori told me that he was in need of a new hat for the cooler weather, so I worked on making him one for part of the week.

Then I started on this painting for his new room, once the family moves later this month.

Both projects were fun to make! I also worked at getting a shop set up on Etsy. I planned to sell my book on ebay, but the cost is higher, so I guess I'll try Etsy first. I'm still trying to figure out how to make a link with pictures but I guess I'll have to work on that tomorrow.
Have a restful Sunday!

Another Art Journal!

I finished another art journal, with the nice thick paper for painting, stamping, and collaging. Even though I love this one as much as my blue one, I've decided to sell it, probably on ebay.

I'm excited about a possible sale, but it's a little scary too!

Now I just have to figure out how to set up an account on line...Have a fun Saturday!

Altered Book

This past summer, I wanted to make something special for my daughters son, who was born in Sept. I took an old children's board book, and papered over each page. Then I started painting a story I had told Tori when she was a child. (My sister had told me a version of the same story when I was 6!) Here is what I gave my daughter:








There were many other adventures in purple land...maybe someday I'll have time for another book.
I hope you're having a good weekend!

LTS Book

Well, it took a while but I finally finished the book Julie calls the long tall skinny journal. It was a lot of gluing, but I think it turned out really well. I'm enjoying this class and the art journaling class that Julie is teaching. Here are a few of the pages from the journaling class.


I hope everyone is having a peaceful weekend!

Graduation!

I finished the final project for the Layer Love class I've been taking. This painting was called the Big Gel and for a good reason! I put 2 layers of gel over the whole canvas! I love the look and have other ideas of ways to experiment with the gel.

We are off to see my newest grandson for the day. I hope you have a wonderful Sunday!

Back from the Beach and New Arrival!

I finished book 1 from Julie Prichard's online class and took it with me to the beach. I love it! You can paint lots of layers, journal and glue on the pages without any problems. Here are the first 2 pages I finished.

While we were at the beach, my daughter went into labor so we rushed to Pinehurst at 2:30 am! Our newest grandson, Levi, was born at 1:53pm on 9/17. He's 8.7 lbs and 21 inches long. We already adore him!

More Blue and Green

I skipped around in my class with Julie, and finished the 8th project yesterday. It was the longest one yet but worth it. I love the different colors of blue and green I used and the finished project looks nice in our bedroom.
My grandson, son and his wife were here Saturday for dinner. Isn't Grant a cutie?

We are so blessed and this month, my daughter's baby is due! Another blessing!!
I finished the first blue green project and decided to give it to Grant for his room.

It looks cute in the white frame I bought.
This post seems to jump around from subject to subject, but I guess that's how my life has been lately. Jumping! Has anyone else been busy too? Or are you taking it slow, and enjoying the last few days of summer?

Another Layer Painting

I'm on a roll! I finished another class with Julie Prichard, and I'm really having fun! Here is the latest painting inspired by colors in a napkin I found in one of my drawers.

The weekend is almost here and I'm planning to complete at least 1 more painting. Have a nice holiday weekend all!

Lovin' the Layer Class

I finished 2 more pages in the Layer Love class. I thought the blue/green page was my favorite, until I finished the gold class. I love the colors and texture which were hard to capture with my camera. I still need to finish each with a focal, but here is what I have so far.

This feels like a water page, but I'm also thinking butterflies, birds, fireflies?

I haven't any idea what to add to this one...any suggestions? Maybe a face, or just some calligraphy??
I hope your weekend is good!

The Red Page

I'm taking Julie Prichard's Layer Love class and finished my first project. There are 9 in the class, so I still have a ways to go! Here is the "red" page. (paints courtesy of my daughter and son-in-law!)

There were several steps and I had to watch the video 3x's but I really learned some new and fun techniques. And now I'm off to do the blue page.

Pencils and Calligrafun!

I'm still reading Lee Hammond's book and tried another of her drawings. This one is a little brighter, due to the fixative I sprayed once I was finished. I'm really having fun with my pencils!

I also finished Martha Lever's class "Calligrafun." She named it right! It was fun! I've really been practicing but still have a long way to go. Here is a start anyway...

Martha's flower pots were so cute, I had to try her technique!

Well, back to my craft room to practice some more!

What I've been doing lately...

I went to Ohio for a few days around July 4th, and when I got back I bought a book called "Lifelike Drawing in Colored Pencil, by Lee Hammond. I had been playing around with pencils in my prayer journal, but when I bought this book, I decided to try something new. This is one of my first attempts...

I had not idea what burnishing was and was surprised at how different a drawing can look once you add this technique. Has anyone else tried colored pencils lately?

Gratitude

I was blog hopping 1 day a couple of weeks ago and found the Gratitude Community. I loved the idea of writing down all of the gifts that God has given me so I too have joined and I hope you will too! Here is my list from last weekend:

33. colored pencils
34. magazines
35. craft books
36. phone
37. cell phone
38. running shoes
39. bottled water

The list keeps growing and i keep realizing how much God has given me...how blessed I am.

Fish!

I painted this background several weeks ago and just didn't know how to finish it. Over the weekend I saw a picture in a magazine and knew the fish would be perfect!

I'm glad I had something ready to go when inspiration hit! Hope your week is going well!

"Taking Flight"

I bought Kelly Rae Robert's book, "Taking Flight" recently and really loved it! I created the painting below, from her inspiring techniques in chapter one.

If you haven't read this book yet, I really recommend it.

We had such a nice weekend with our family as we celebrated my husbands 50th birthday.
Here is an updated picture of my daughter Tori, and her husband Dean. I can't believe she is almost 7 months pregnant!


My son Chuck, his wife Amy and my grandson Grant, spent time with us too.

I hope your weekend was special too!