Mini Flowers

Here's a greeting card I painted with watercolors on Arches 140 lb paper.  I mounted the watercolor to the beautiful Paper Temptress Whip Cream paper and the fun Jellybean Green paper. 

Thanks for stopping by today!  :0)

Lollipops

Last Thursday was the start of an online class I'm taking in watercolor pencils with Dion Dior.  Like so many people I've had some of these pencils stashed away for several years unused and unloved.  Out they've come with the start of class and here's my first project for week one:

Thanks for stopping by today.  :0)

Free Shipping and $5 Off iPhone Case

My rose iPhone case available at society6 is currently eligible for free worldwide shipping as well as $5 off through September 14 ~ discount is available through this link:  phone case


Thanks for stopping by!  :0)

Owl Friend

It's been a while since I've pulled out my Copics for a card; shown below is a digi image from Tiddly Inks that I colored on Cryogen White paper, a long-time favorite of mine.

Framing my image is a gorgeous paper called Copper Metallic Glossy; I recently purchased two sheets of this paper, and already feel like I want to purchase more backups since I cut into one.  Does anyone else have this hoarding tendency with art supplies?!  Paper Temptress was kind enough to send me the beautiful Autumn Leaves screenprint that I've used here.

There's a lot of shimmer and shine to both the papers, and these photos give some idea of how the brilliant colors change with the lighting.  Thanks so much for stopping by.  :0)

Mandala Card

I'm taking an online course with Dion Dior on using Twinkling H2O's, and this card is my interpretation of one of her lesson plans.  It's an abstract Mandala but my husband thinks it looks like a roulette wheel, lol.   I used 100# paper to frame my painting; the paper is called Whip Cream and I ordered it during the Paper Temptress summer sale.

It's difficult for me to capture the sparkle of the paints, but there's a bit of twinkle throughout the painting.

Thanks for stopping by ~  Ann  :0)
Posted at:
Creative Every Day
Paint Party Friday

Thank You Notes

It's been a while since I've posted here; I've been making some things, but I keep forgetting to take pics and post to my blog.  I'm currently taking a class in wire wrapping jewelry with my creative friend Beth.  :0)  This wire wrapping is not so easy. The instructor has us working with half hard silver, and I'm wondering if it would be easier to start out with dead soft silver as a beginner ~ anyone know ~ what do you think? .......  I've made a few cards using some paper that I just purchased during the Paper Temptress sale, and I may have to go back to get some more of the Avalanche White Linen; I love the texture and the shade of white.

****Paper Temptress Sale****

There is a sale going on now over at Paper Temptress  30% off everything from now through Monday, July 7, 2014!!!! It's the perfect time to stock up!!!   Go here for sale!

A Little Art Everyday

Like most people who enjoy art, I get the urge to create something almost every day.  However, many days I push aside that urge because I feel too rushed, too tired etc. to create my idea of how a final work should look.  I'm taking a cue from so many people in social media who encourage people not to worry about the final outcome but to create without regard to the final result.  So today I pulled out some watercolor pencils and one of those water brushes (I forgot what they're called but the nature of their in-preciseness makes them an ideal choice for a loose watercolor painting).

I got slightly distracted during the sketching when I spotted these two outside and had to run and take a snapshot:

Have a good day; thanks for stopping by.  :0)

Post your artwork to:
Dion Dior Friday Sketches
Creative Every Day
Paint Party Friday

Happy Father's Day

For many years while growing up our family took a two week summer vacation to Castleton, Vermont.  We would stay on beautiful Lake Bomoseen, swim in the crystal clear water and go for boat rides.  I have wonderful memories of those family vacations and painted this watercolor card for my father with those memories in mind.  I hope all the Dads enjoy a peaceful, relaxing and joyful day.

Share your work at:

Paint Party Friday

Creative Every Day

Love Owls

I was sent some fabulous paper by Paper Temptress and I made an anniversary card for my parent's with it:

I used Laser Gold Glossy Lustre and Blu Rasberry and added some Glossy Accents to the hearts.  Thanks for stopping by.  :0)

Watercolor Pear

......More practice for me in improving watercolor skills........I've been meaning to post this painting for a few weeks and kept forgetting to photograph it.  I painted it on Arches 140 lb. hot press paper using watercolors:

I'm taking online watercolor classes with Anna Mason and this is my painting following her class called Watercolors with WOW.

Share your work at:  http://creativeeveryday.com/    :0)

Cupcake Greeting

I love cupcakes, looking at them, painting them, decorating them and eating them.  I painted a little cupcake the other day following mixed media ideas from Dion Dior's class in Twinkling H2O's.  Then I used some gorgeous paper from Paper Temptress to play up the metallic colors in the paint.

The decorative papers used are Laser Gold Glossy Lustre, Razzleberry, and Avalanche White Linen.  

I used watercolors and Silks acrylics on Arches watercolor paper:

Friday Sketch Day

Page two of my sketching journal has been filled!  Yayyyy, I'm really liking this art journal for getting paintings accomplished quickly (well quick for me anyway).  I'm entering this in Dion Dior's Friday Sketch & Giveaway.

This was painted using watercolors in a Stillman & Birn Zeta Sketchbook.  Thanks for stopping by.  Ann  :0)

Also posted at:  Creative Every Day
and Paint Party Friday

Super Sales at Paper Temptress

It's a great time to refill your supplies at Paper Temptress; head on over to see all the specials going on now!  Here's a card I made using beautiful Vintage Silver Lustre:

I also used Paper Temptress' Sour Apple for my card.  Here's the link to the sale:  Paper Temptress; have fun!!!  Thanks for stopping by!  :0)

Watercolor Pencil Class with Dion Dior

My favorite online instructor has a watercolor pencil class launching in September of this year.  Dion Dior is very thorough in her instruction; always including plenty of videos and feedback.  I've learned so much helpful information about use of products from her classes in mixed media, as well as, shimmering watercolors and acrylics.  This week she'll be giving away 5 spots for her Watercolor Pencil Class ~ here's a link to get all the information, sign up, and have a chance at winning a spot ~ Link for Giveaway Good Luck!

Artwork Below is Dion Dior's:

  Thanks for stopping by!  :0)

Sketching Bananas

I finally started a sketchbook which I've been meaning to do for the past couple years.  My first entry is very basic because I think it'll take some time to improve my drawing skills.  So here's some bananas that I've done in a Stillman & Birn Zeta sketchbook:

A wonderful artist Dion Dior has a Friday Sketch posting on her website here; so you may want to stop by and join in, or just browse the artwork.  Thanks for stopping by.  :0)

Spring Colors

When I was in the early grades of elementary school, girls wore dresses to school.  All throughout winter I endured itchy, uncomfortable tights because of the colder temperatures.  Back then, one of the exciting changes spring brought was wearing knee socks or ankle socks to school once again.  I wonder if anyone else associates this with spring?!  Well spring has arrived and with it the urge to use the beautiful colors of the warmer months.  I pulled out a variety of Paper Temptress paper that reminds me of spring and flowers.

The shimmering border is Amethyst Mica, and the following are the colors used for the flower background:  Razzleberry, Orange Fizz, Sour Apple, and Blu Rasberry; all as delicious looking as their names sound.  My Michelle Perkett digi image was colored on Cryogen White card stock and the die-cut paper is a wonderful thick card stock called Classic Avalanche Linen White.

Have a beautiful day and thanks for stopping by.  :0)

Slumber Party

Recently, I've become a member of the Paper Temptress design team; an online store that sells an abundance of gorgeous paper.  Maybe this will finally get me to take some photography lessons, as photographing the wonderful textures of the paper can be challenging.  Here's a little close up shot of a memory box die:

The silver metallic glossy paper has a very soft metallic sheen and the paper is extremely smooth, and you can see the beautiful sheen in this photo of the rose quartz mica metallic paper.  In this photo the white feltweave color isn't accurate, it's more of a soft white, but you can see some of the texture here.  I really love the color Blu Rasberry; it's scrumptious!

   My stamped Gilli image is on Cryogen White which is one of the easiest papers for Copic coloring because of the smooth blending.  Thanks so much for stopping by ~ please have a look at Paper Temptress site for more inspiring paper projects!

Strawberry Watercolor

Lately I've been determined to improve my watercolor skills so I'm taking online instruction from Anna Mason.  Her site is called Watercolors with WOW in case you're interested in watercolor painting;  I've found her instruction very helpful.  I chose to paint a strawberry for lesson one, and who would think that this could be so difficult, eeeeekkk but it was.  Fun, but required much concentration for me, hopefully with time it won't be such a brain strain.  Here's my painting:

My watercolor was painted on Arches 140 lb Hot Press paper, hot press is new to me, but I like the smooth surface.  Thanks for stopping by!  :0)

Happy Birthday Mom

Happy Valentine's Day!

     Hope everyone's day is filled with good things!   For the above I used a Tiddlyinks digi image and colored with copics.  :)

Valentine's Day

     In elementary school, one of my favorite holidays was Valentine's Day.  Every year our class would spend some school time designing our Valentine's mailboxes.  Oh my goodness I loved this, all the construction paper, little scissors,  smell of rubber cement, crayolas; and things haven't changed all that much as evidenced by my craft room.  We have a *love challenge* going on over at Oozak Blog and would love to have you enter.  With my husband in mind, I've designed a card using Paper Smooches Word Salad stamps.   The font designs of these stamps come out crisp and sharp, and think I'll also be able to get a lot of use out of them for mixed media projects as well as cards.

          The always beautiful Memento Inks were used for stamping, and Copic markers to color in the stamps.  So the words that were colored would stand out more, I gave them a coating of Rangers Glossy Accents.  The little hearts on the envelope are included in the Paper Smooches Salad ~ so cute.  Hope to see you over at Oozak!

Treasure Chest

          Happy New Year!!!  My first blog post is a repeat project that was one of my more popular projects.    I'm re-posting it to include the steps I took to create the chest.

  

Beginning with a 7 ½” x 5” x 5” paper mache box from a craft supply store, I spray painted the entire box using a metallic (oil-rubbed bronze) color.  Next I spray painted 16 brass brads with the bronze paint and set aside to dry.  After letting the box dry thoroughly, I brushed acrylic paint in a gold metallic color onto the raised bands.  I painted one band at a time because I immediately swiped the paint with a paper towel while it was wet.  I applied 2 coats to get the look I wanted.  

           Next I cut design paper to size; I used Crowded Attic by Tim Holtz, distressed the edges of the paper with the Zutter Distrezz-It-All and sponged Distress Ink in Antique Linen and Tea Dye onto the edges of the paper.   I used Mod Podge to adhere the paper to the box.   The design paper is nice and thick so there was no buckling, but I did need to lift the edges of the paper and apply some additional Mod Podge in areas that were not laying flat.    

           

    

    

                 Using jewelry pliers, I cut the chain to size.  I bought the chain necklace on clearance at a craft store.  Next, marking off the areas for the brads with chalk, I used an awl to punch the holes then dabbed some glue around the holes for the brads.  The brads and chains were inserted into the marked areas and glue was added to the brads from inside the box.  The last step was decorating the box!  Thanks so much for stopping by today.  :0)