Black Friday Shopping??

  For those of us who celebrated Thanksgiving on Thursday, the day after, known as  Black Friday, has become a tradition that is sadly now beginning to creep into Thanksgiving Day. It's a day when people become literally crazed trying to find the best parking spots and bargains for the gift giving Christmas holiday. I've only done it I think twice some years ago and decided it was in no way worth it! There's always online shopping. I plan on spending a relaxing day home after a wonderful but tiring Thanksgiving Day which I hosted for our son, my Mom and Bill's great Aunt Betty. Big thanks to Todd and Bill for taking care of all the dishes and clean up :)

  So on to art! First I will share the journal page I finished which I shared as a WIP last week. Thank you for your suggestions on finishing it!

 I chose a glitter rub-on butterfly which was in my stash and the perfect size, coloring and shape! I wrote in the words with a Micron pen and glued on some punched  black hearts. "Grace" is also the theme/word for the month in the 52 Weeks of Creative Abundance class and so I created my page and tag using the above inspiration.

  The page was painted with a light blue and lilac acrylic paint. The leaf border (Magenta) was stamped with Cactus Green Staz-On ink. For the tag I sprayed it with Dylusions ink sprays in Bubblegum Pink and Pure Sunshine. The image was resized and printed from my original journal page. I added some black splatters (which I think mucked it up and should not have done), and a bit of glitter glue to the butterfly wings.

  It is almost December and so I have finished my calendar spread for Kate Crane's 2013 calendar challenge. This is the second year I have participated and completed every month! I love looking back on my spreads but may do something a bit different next year.

  The background was done simply by placing a 12" x 12" snowflake lace cardstock on the pages and spraying with Dylusions Bubblegum Pink ink spray. December was stamped using a Making Memories foam stamp set and Folk Art acrylic paint in Fresh Foliage. It was outlined with a green Sharpie pen. The weekdays were stamped with  studio g alphabet set and Forest Green Staz-On ink. The numbers are from a Hero Arts set. A variety of glitter rub-ons and stickers were used and the squares were outlined with a green crayon. Here are two more views:

 

  I do wish you could see how sparkly it is!! I do NOT like the winter one bit so I needed to do something bright and cheerful (not that I don't usually do that anyway :)

  I received my first Christmas card and along with it-this gorgeous ornament!!

 

  What a lovely surprise-thank you so much Nancy!! And if you like Nancy's art and her gorgeous vintage style you are in luck! I mentioned it before but it's definitely worth mentioning again-

 " Speaking of Christmas if you love vintage style, if you'd love some beautiful projects to create as gifts for your friends and family, then please join me in the festive fun at Sugar Lump Studios where my friend Nancy Maxwell James is hosting  "A Very Vintage Christmas" Dec. 1 - 7 !  Nancy's gorgeously detailed projects are guaranteed to delight and inspire you to make your own! You can click the above link or that sweet  badge ( the" vintage" jar) on the sidebar. Hope to see you there!"

  Linking this week to Paint Party Friday, Art Journal Every Day, the 2013 Calendar Project, Glue It Tuesday. Please do visit these inspiring places, and even share your own art!

    "No-one is useless in the world who lightens the burden of anyone else."   Charles Dickens

Happy Thanksgiving

  For those of you celebrating Thanksgiving in the USA I wish you a lovely day of  good food, family and fun. And let's all say a little prayer of gratitude for our blessings.

  I am linking the card I made to the Simon Wednesday challenge blog. This is the second card I made for the theme of "use Heather's sketch". In my last post I made a Christmas card.

 Here's the sketch:

and here's my card close up:

 I'm also going to share a close up of the beautiful teacup in my table setting:

 

    Isn't it just elegant? As you can see it on the table above it's very small. It was gifted to me but unfortunately I don't know anything about it. Here's the mark under the cup and saucer:

  I am linking this post to Mandarin Orange Monday; Inspiration Avenue (the weekly art challenge this week is Gratitude Show and Tell); Simon Says Wednesday Challenge; T Stands For Tuesday; and Teacup Tuesday.

                                                                 Have a beautiful week.

"Best of all is it to preserve everything in a pure, still heart, and let there be for every pulse a thanksgiving, and for every breath a song."    Komrad von Gesner

Happy Mail/Art!

  I love a good mail day don't you? Last week I received two complimentary magazine issues in which I have been published!

  In the newest issue of Somerset Studio Gallery I have two whole pages of art -

  I had sent in this series for SS Winter Wonderland theme.

  And this series was sent in for the Bordeaux theme. The vintage images and words are from ARTchix Studio. Although they weren't used for the challenges I am honored to have all six pieces I had sent in published. And I know I'll find myself in good company once I really sit down and see some of my blogging friends names in it too!

 This is the card that was published in the Just Holidays magazine:

  Funny but true- I had not sent anything in in quite awhile so when I received this issue and paged through it to find what I had in it- I didn't recognize anything. I didn't remember this card at all -lol. Good  thing my name was on it :)

  Speaking of cards this week's challenge at Simon Wednesday's Challenge Blog is "Use Heather's Sketch". Here is the sketch:

  I've had my Christmas themed materials on hand so why not use them and get another Christmas card finished?

 

  Products: white note card (Recollections); white, green, red card stock Bazzil); patterned papers ( Basic Grey and Paper Pizzaz); rubber stamps ( PSX and Magenta); Colorbox Fluid Chalk ink-Warm Red (Clearsnap); Marvy Matchables ink #64 Plum (Uchida); rhinestone gem (Recollections); felt glitter tree ( New Image Group); Grand Calibur die cut machine and Big Scalloped Circles Lg die (Spellbinders); 2 3/4" circle punch (Paper Shapers).



  Speaking of Christmas if you love vintage style, if you'd love some beautiful projects to create as gifts for your friends and family, then please join me in the festive fun at Sugar Lump Studios where my friend Nancy Maxwell James is hosting  "A Very Vintage Christmas" Dec. 1 - 7 !  Nancy's gorgeously detailed projects are guaranteed to delight and inspire you to make your own! You can click the above link or the badge on the sidebar.

  My last bit today is a WIP in my watercolor journal. I began on a page that had been previously painted and stencilled:

  And here's what I have so far:

 

  I already have a title and theme "Amazing Grace". Grace is the word for the month of November in my 52 Weeks online class and I have not been able to get "amazing grace" out of my head.

  A magazine image was used for inspiration. I drew the image first in pencil then went over it with a black Stabilo pencil. I sealed the pg with several light coats of Workable Fixative (Krylon). Once completely dry I took a tiny (spotter) paintbrush and with Apple Barrel Creamy Peach acrylic painted around the pencil lines. A combination of brown acrylic paints was used for the hair along with a coat of Twinkling H2O in Yellow Rose. Sky Blue twinkling H2O was used to paint in the dress.  Still thinking on whether I want to give her an angel's wing or a butterfly on her shoulder. and I somehow want to add the title. Hopefully I'll have it completed soon but with Thanksgiving coming next week (and I'm cooking) I'm not sure. 

  Hope everyone's had some time for art this week. I'll be looking for you :)

  Linking to Art Journal Every Day, Creative Every Day, Paint Party Friday , Simon Wednesday Challenge , and Glue It Tuesday.

                 " Attention energizes, intention transforms."  Deepak Chopra

Card Challenges and Journal Pages

  Before I get to the art I just wanted to share two photos of a very special occasion. I mentioned I had a busy weekend last week. That's because hubby and I went to a destination wedding! The service and reception was held at The Cork Factory Hotel in Lancaster, PA-just over 1 1/2 hrs. drive from us. We had a great time, and Lynn and Andrew thought of everything-from having tote bags filled with goodies and drinks for all the guests upon arrival to the sumptuous Sunday brunch before check out! The renovated hotel was positively charming and rustic with exposed beams and displays of the materials and tools used when in fact it was a cork factory.

 

  Lynn loves the twenties era, thus the poster her mother had custom made, and Lynn's elegant lace dress and hairstyle. They were positively radiant! Congratulations to Mr. and Mrs. Andrew Greenspan, a beautiful young couple we are blessed to have met and become friends with.

  Simon  Monday Challenge theme is "Got Ink?" I decided to play with some spray ink and a "stencil".

 The "stencil" is actually a 12" x 12" card stock pattern usually used for scrapbooking. Ever since I first tried this some months ago I have been looking for more of these to play with. They hold up very well and I haven't had one tear yet after multiple uses! I simply set a piece of white cardstock under the patterned paper and sprayed with a combination of my own custom made spray ink and  Lilac spray ink.

  Products: white 5" x 7" notecard (Canvas Corp); black, white, purple cardstock (Paper Studio); Black Stars Lace cardstock (ki memories); Turquoise Pthalo Fluid Acrylic ink (Golden); Lilac spray ink (Inkadinkado); die cut star shape; clear stamp (Waltzingmous Stamps-Season Of Love Set); Onyx Black Versafine ink (Tsukineko); Pearlescent Sky Blue ink (Brilliance-Tsukineko); Blue Lagoon Bakers Twine (We R Memory Keepers); metallic floss; gemstone stars.

  For the Simon Wednesday challenge theme of "Thanks/Thanksgiving" I made a card which will be my Thanksgiving cards this year.

  Products: black, white and ochre cardstock (Paper Studio); patterned paper (Provo Craft); Onyx Black Versafine ink (Tsukineko); rubber stamp (Inkadinkado); paper flower (Recollections); 2 3/4" circle punch (Paper Shapers); Grand Calibur die cut machine and Big Scalloped Circles Large dies (Spellbinders); rhinestone (Recollections).

 

  This journal spread is in my moleskine journal and was made for the 52 Weeks of Creative Abundance online course. Each month we have a word/theme to focus on and create a tag around it. For October (yes, I got a bit behind) the word was "DARE". The challenge was to dare ourselves to do something we've been longing to do, to "engage the youthful rebel inside yourself that desires to be set free". I thought about this often throughout the month and realized that I needed to push away/push past the fears and that inner voice of negative thoughts... to rise above it and DARE to succeed in filling my hearts desires.

  The silhouette was created from a magazine image I cut out, resized and printed onto cardstock. And since I had the cut out portion and another silhouette I decided to create another journal page:

 The background is a page in my watercolor journal next to the page I used for one of the  projects in this post. I simply sponged some black paint around the cut out  then painted the silhouette and glued it to the page. The quote was added digitally.

  Besides the Simon Monday challenge and Simon Wednesday challenge I am linking to Art Journal Every Day, Creative Every Day, Mandarin Orange Monday, Glue It Tuesday and my favorite party place- Paint Party Friday!

  "We cannot escape fear. We can only transform it into a companion that accompanies us on all our exciting adventures."  Susan Jeffers

The Red Gratitude Tree

   My apologies for not getting back to everyone last week. First, I inadvertently deleted a bunch of comments instead of posting them, and then I deleted a group of them from my email. That's what I get for thinking I could read well enough with some sunlight-but no reading glasses!

  Here's the journal and paint part of my contribution for Paint Party Friday and several other challenges this week:

 

  This tree was done very similarly to the abstract tree I shared in this post recently. It was done wet on wet using acrylic paints in yellow, pink,  orange, red mixed with a bit of Golden raw Sienna along with touches of Golden Fluid Acrylic Payne's Gray. Paints were applied with a brush, sea sponge and my fingers. I always think of the word gratitude especially in November and I found the perfect quote I wanted to use with this particular painting. It was added digitally.

 I love when I can come up with something to fit the weekly themes at the Simon Says challenge blogs-especially cards. I've been making cards for a long time and am constantly working on new designs in most every style. This week on the Simon Wednesday blog the challenge is  "keep it clean and simple". I already had a Christmas card idea sitting on my table so I chose to work with it. 

  Here are three versions of the same design. First up-the Christmas card:

  Products: white note card (Canvas Corp); vellum (Hero Arts); patterned paper-Winter Twig (Little Yellow Bicycle, Inc.); rubber stamp (PSX); Vivid! Olive dye ink (Clearsnap); glittery foam stickers (source unknown); sewing machine and silver thread.

 A feminine birthday card:

  

 Products: white note card (Canvas Corp); vellum (Hero Arts); patterned paper - Take Note Set (Studio Calico); rubber stamp (Hero Arts); Jet Black Staz-On ink (Tsukineko); felt butterflies (Michael's); sewing machine and green thread.

  A more masculine version:

  

Products: kraft note card (Canvas Corp);vellum (Hero Arts); metallic patterned paper- The Natural Matstack (DCWV); rubber stamp (Hero Arts); Jet Black Staz-On ink (Tsukineko); butterfly stickers (Studio Calico); sewing machine and black thread.

  Simon Says generously offers a $50 gift voucher to one contributor chosen randomly each week on their Monday challenge and their Wednesday challenge! Not just that, but they don't require that you use products from their store-now how generous is that??? I for one appreciate it so much since I certainly don't have the means to constantly purchase for specific challenges.Thank you Simon Says!

  That's it for now. We have a busy weekend ahead which I'll let you in on next time. With my gratitude for your kind comments and for sharing your inspiring art too. XO

  Linking up to Art Journal Every Day, Creative Every Day, Mandarin Orange Monday, Paint Party Friday, and Simon Wednesday Challenge.

" The tree which moves some to tears of joy, is, in the eye of others, only a green thing which stands in the way. As a man is, so he sees."  William Blake

Art and Teatime!

   It's gotten pretty cold here and it must have inspired me to create some Christmas themed projects along with a good cup of hot tea to warm me up!

   Simon's Monday challenge theme is "patchwork". I decided to make three Christmas ATCS for this challenge:

    Products: cardstock; patterned papers; images and text (ARTchix Studio); Distress inks in Salty Ocean and Vintage Photo (Ranger); Colorbox Fluid Chalk ink in Warm Red (Clearsnap); and a variety of dimensional stickers from my stash.

   For Simon Wednesday challenge the theme is "anything goes". For this I made two Christmas thank you cards:

 

   Products: white cardstock; Christmas washi tapes ( recollections); clear stamp-Think Big Favorites 2 (Papertrey Ink);  Colorbox Fluid chalk Ink-Warm Red (Clearsnap); flower (Prima).

 

  Products: white cardstock; Christmas washi tape (Recollections); clear stamp- Think Big Favorites 1 (Papertrey Ink); Colorbox Fluid Chalk Ink-Warm red (Clearsnap); rhinestones (Recollections).

  I'm also linking my Christmas projects up to Aimee's Glue It Tuesday challenge at artsyville.

  Now for the tea. A little while ago my friend Terri at Artful Affirmations  had a giveaway - one of the giveaways being a collection of Buddha's Herbs teas. And I won the teas!! Terri also hosts "Teacup Tuesday" on her blog and shares a different teacup from her fabulous collection, along with information about the pattern and markings. After all the times of visiting and enjoying her beautiful posts I finally will link up one of my vintage cups along with a photo of the tea collection I received. Thanks SO much to Terri and to Buddha's Herb Teas!!!

  the mark under the cup:

  And my display of teas and cup:

   In all I received 4 varieties of tea- two boxes of each-what a generous gift!! I am enjoying each of the flavors but my favorites are the two green teas with herbs. One has rosemary, oregano and lemon peel in it and the other has chamomile, thyme, and peppermint in it-YUM!!!


  I'm also joining in on Glue It Tuesday and  "T Stands For Tuesday" hosted by Bleubeard and Elizabeth for the first time. I found it thru Patty's wonderful blog-thank you Patty!  Won't you join me?


  " Drink your tea slowly and reverently, as if it is the axis on which the world earth revolves- slowly, evenly, without rushing toward the future."  Thich Nat Hahn