Gorgeous Art and More in The Mail!

  Happy Friday everyone! I am so excited to share this post today as it was GRAND mail week for me! I won several giveaways recently along with a GC I redeemed and it all came this week:)  My art is at the end of this post.

 I received this canvas painting from India after winning it in a giveaway by a beautiful artist, Deepa, on her blog HuesnShades:

                                             
  This hand painted canvas is breathtaking!! Deepa not only paints images depicting stories of her Indian culture, she also shares art, history and lots of information about her culture. It is always a treat to read as India is on my bucket list (yes, along with many other places! ). This canvas is about 5 " x 5 1/2" and the tiny painted lines and patterns are amazing! She also sent me a note explaining that this is a story about a mother and her son, which means even more to me because I am very close to our grown son and always have been. Truly a blessing to own this.Thank you Deepa!

 Funny thing about receiving this at this time is that I have recently purchased a book on Southern Indian healthy cuisine and went out to shop for the basic ingredients and spices I will need for my new culinary journey! I decided to give it a whirl because I know the spices used have many health benefits and most of the recipes are vegetarian. I decided to purchase the cookbook after watching the author (Alamelu Vairavan) make some of her dishes on her cooking show on Create TV. I started to print out the recipes but after collecting a handful I thought it was right to just go for it whole hog! I am not familiar with Indian cuisine so this will definitely open my palate to a whole new taste experience. It was so much fun shopping both in a local grocery store and stepping into an Indian grocery store.

 This is only some of what I purchased. I have just completed labeling and putting everything into jars (not shown). I am excited to begin making some of these recipes!

 Tracey Fletcher King had a fabulous giveaway (actually several giveaways) and I won the biggie:

 A RED (my fave color)!  steeping teacup and lid along with a packet of loose tea (Bolder Breakfast-black tea, pu'erh and chocolate) to try from The Tea Spot!! It just arrived so I haven't even taken it out of the box yet. It came along with a lovely note, tea info and card. Tracey painted a brilliant illustration of the mug and you can see it and read more about her involvement with the company in this post. Thank you Tracey and the Tea Spot! Oh, and Tracey has started her "Cuppa with Friends" project again which you can read more about here.

 Another very generous and talented artist Kirstin of Lillibean Designs sent me her 2015 calendar:

  It is GORGEOUS!!! I have always admired her  paintings of big eyed girls and and own some of her cards from another giveaway she had. I won a GC from her some months ago and chose to use it for her calendar so I will have a different beauty to look at each month! Am I one lucky girl or what? Thank you Kirstin! Oh, and she may have a few of these left in her Etsy Shop along with other gorgeous offerings.

 If you're still with me thank you! And now for my art contribution this Friday. A journal page inspired by Klimt. It began like this:

 I opened my book to a page that already had torn text papers glued on. I added some squares of patterned paper along with yellow and gold tissue papers.

 Layers of paints and glazes were added in yellows orange and gold. More tissue paper squares were glued on. Then I stamped the background using Dylusions Basic Backgrounds (dots) with Staz On Mustard ink and a Magenta rubber stamp with black acrylic paint.

 This is my finished (I think) page:

 

 Linking to Art Journal Every Day, Art Journal Journey (this month's theme is to be inspired by the masters), Mixed Media Monthly (theme this month is to use stamps), and Paint Party Friday!

 Have a fabulous weekend everyone!

    " Creativity lifts you out of difficulties, over the edge of fear, and on to the wild side of new possibilities".                                  Carole Watanable