color my world

today's post is brought to you by the color red...

and yellow....and a little blue and green!

have a great weekend!!

*chocolate orange (notice how i put that first?)

*soft and fuzzy yarn

*brush markers

*rose pin from a special kindred sweetie

*ribbons, ribbons, ribbons

*favorite hand soap

pocket card

i call this the "pocket card". it has four pockets and it's made using one sheet of paper, with no gluing or taping....just folding! and, it's super easy to make! i made this how-to video that you can watch here, or over at you tube (i recommend you tube since it was filmed in wide format).

i didn't spend too much time decorating the card in the video, so here's a photo of the finished version. i hope you enjoy making these and filling the pockets with all kinds of goodies!!

one more grey day

i know that there are lots of sweet people out there in blogland.....and i'm wondering how in the world did i get so blessed that all of the sweetest-of-the-sweet bloggers....the sweet-elite.....come to my blog?!! i appreciate you SO much!! your encouraging and heartfelt comments never fail to put a big 'ol smile on my face.....thank you, thank you, thank you for making my world so colorful!

and with all of that color floating around, you'd think that some of it would have made it into my journal today! here's another project from my shades of grey online class......and while i've been a little homesick for a colorsplash the past few days, i must admit that i really love the way these turned out! pam has shown me how much fun going back to the basics can be....and for this lesson, she proves her point by using rubber stamps and watercolor crayons. using the crayons is a ton of fun, and they give a fabulously soft, cozy, mottled, artsy result!

these images were stamped and then painted using black, grey and white watercolor crayons. the outlining and checkerboard frame was drawn using an extra-small black pitt marker, and a 4B pencil was used for the shading (pam uses an 8B, but i didn't have one of those). then i used my trusty micron pens to give the images a title, and presto.....coloring for grown-ups!!

black, white and grey all over

this is a little doodle that i came up with, trying to use the shading exercises that i'm learning in pam carriker's shades of grey online class. i must admit that using a black, white, and grey palette is quite different than what i'm used to.....trying to create the same doodle whimsy without using my rainbow stash of watercolor pencils has been a bit of a challenge! and this is probably the only time you'll ever see me color a heart grey!

journal page finished using pitt brush-tipped pens, micron pens, pencil

inspiration monday

as i sit here and listen to the pounding and banging due to the repairs that are going on in the house, i'm reminded of this cute little illustration by mary engelbreit......proving that humor and inspiration can be found in just about anything.

even shower floor tiles being ripped up.

winter interrupted

we interrupt this regularly scheduled

winter moment to bring you

an absolutely stunning day!!

happy saturday to you!!!

going backwards

i've decided that if i want to go forward with my artwork.....i'm going to have to backwards (huh?). i'm not really a "rule breaker" by nature, but i've noticed that when it comes to my artwork, i seem to be breaking the rules before i really even know what they are.

take drawing, for example. i took some instruction from a very talented local artist over a year ago. we started by drawing a matchbox.....and then shading it in. our only tool was a pencil. that was fun.....for the first lesson.

and my impatient side started urging me to skip over all of those "shading in the sphere" exercises.....i wanted to draw! why spend time stippling, blending and crosshatching when i was so eager to get to the "serious stuff"?

and now here i am today still trying to draw.....and wondering why they always look so flat and unsparkly when i'm finished. could it be that they need some stippling, blending and crosshatching?

uh-huh.

so i'm going back to the drawing board, and this time i'm going to follow the rules so i can learn what they really are. and i figure that pam carriker's online class, shades of gray, is the perfect place to start.....bring on the stippling, blending and crosshatching!!

journal page finished using pitt brush tip markers in three shades of grey, pitt XS black artist pen, uniball signo white gel pen, pencil

reach high

here's to standing on our tippy-toes and reaching higher than we ever thought we could reach!

doodle finished with micron pen and watercolor pencil on arches textwove paper

inspiration monday

we were out with some friends this weekend and ended up in our favorite little neighborhood french-bistro-style restaurant for dinner. now, for those who know me, the food in a place like that is more than enough to inspire me....especially when they bring that dessert-board-on-the-easel over to the table! but it wasn't until after dessert, and we were browsing in the gift section of the restaurant, that i spied this sweet little box......i absolutely couldn't take my eyes off of it.

the first time i saw it, i picked it up, inspected it, and noticed that the price was very reasonable. but i put it back, continued to look in the shop.....came back to it for the second time, picked it up again and noticed how good it felt in my hands. then i started to think that thought that we all think when we see something fabulous in a store....."hey, i could make this!". so, i put it back, and while the wheels were turning in my head, i continued to look in the shop......

and of course came back to it. and when i picked it up for the third time, for further inspection and still noticing how very reasonably priced it was.....this time i saw that little name in the bottom right-hand corner of the box......and that was all i needed to confirm that this sweet little trinket was coming home with me!

i have been a sarah lugg fan for-ev-er. she injected artful new purpose into the every day shipping tag when her artwork appeared on the cover of Victoria magazine some 12 years ago. her use of color, seashells, leaves found on a hike, stitchery on paper, and box/grid layouts makes my heart beat fast every time i think about it!

oh yes, this is inspiration at it's very best.....and once again i'm reminded that it can be lurking anywhere.....even in your favorite little neighborhood restaurant!

click on photos for larger view

the postcard artwork by sarah lugg can be seen in the book "paper quilting" by bridget hoff (page 65)

stop, drop & pray

for the men, women, and children in haiti who are suffering.....

for the men, women and children in haiti who have lost their lives.....

for the men, women and children in haiti who are giving of themselves to help those in need.....

for the brave men and women who have travelled to haiti to offer medical help....

for the brave men and women who have gone to haiti and are protecting those in harm's way.....

for the men, women and children from all over the world who have made donations to help those in haiti......

let's remember to stop what we're doing, drop to our knees, and say a prayer.

it's the most powerful thing that we can do!

pure play

i have a sweet bloggy-kindred-spirit (she actually has sugar-coated-heart-shaped-wool-felt -wings adorned with beautiful beads, sequins, and other fabulous sparkly things!) who has given me some fantastic advice to help me through this creative-tough-spot that i've been in.......take out some of my favorite supplies, don't worry about doing a "finished project", and just play.

so i took her up on that little gem of wisdom, and had a ton of fun trying some things on fabric that i normally would have done on paper. i didn't use any new techniques, i just played!

here's what i used:

*the fabric is called "drill 40"....i bought it at joann fabrics (it's sold by the yard on a bolt with the muslin fabrics). it's a little heavier like canvas, but tightly woven so it's easier to write on.

*a round foam stamp

*ink pads (i used dye ink, but any would probably work)

*micron pens

*watercolor pencils (i used derwent inktense)

*watercolor brush

*pilot fine point fabric pen (sold here)

on a different note.....thank you SO much for your sweet encouragement and fun comments (you always make me smile!!) about the water challenges that we're having in our house right now. after extensive plumber-type-testing, we've been told that the problem is due to a hole in the shower pan.....which is plumber speak for "we're going to tear up the tile, replace the pan liner, re-tile, re-grout, patch up all the holes in the wall, patch up all the holes in the family room ceiling, repaint the wall damage, repaint the ceiling damage, re-stretch the carpet that's been pulled back, clean said carpet, and get lots and lots of dust and other construction-type goo all over the house".

the silver lining: it's all covered by warranty....woo hoo!

the silver lining, part 2: looks like i get to go shopping for more chocolate....woo hoo!

better than a plumber

this is the fan that's drying the dampness that remains.....

after using this.....

to remove the water that was coming up under the baseboard and soaking the carpet, carpet pad and subfloor.....because the shower in the master bathroom is on the other side of that wall.....and it's leaking.....

but not just leaking into our bedroom.....

this is an equal opportunity shower leak.....

it's also joined us downstairs in the family room.....

which is why i always, always keep an emergency stock of really good dark chocolate....

to give me something to do until the plumber arrives....

inspiration monday

i've been a little inspiration-challenged lately.....not quite sure what i want to do, or which direction i want to go in. so i decided to take a look in my overflowing box of partially-finished-projects, and this is what i found: a piece of curtain lining stamped with hand-carved flower and leaf stamps, and then decorated with a piece of rick-rack and some embroidery floss.

even though this was created several months ago, i'm reminded how much i truly enjoy working on projects like these. it's simple, it's colorful, it's cute, it uses lots of different techniques......and it makes me really happy!

if you're looking for some inspiration today, take a look into your creative past.....you might just find some artistic treasure that you've forgotten about!

throw paint

life is a great big canvas,

and you should throw all the paint on it

that you can.

danny kaye

artwork finished using an esterbrook 048 nib,

dr. martin's bleedproof white, and

craft cardstock

winter wimp

the temperature gauge in my car gave me polite notice this morning that it was only 30 degrees outside.....and i live in florida!!! now i know that all of my friends who live anywhere north of the georgia/florida state line aren't exactly rushing to play a sad song on their violins.....you peeps up north know what cold really means.....but keep in mind that my floridian skin gets a little nervous when the mercury on the thermometer starts dropping past 50! i'll admit it.....i'm a winter wimp. and i'm oh so thankful for every mug of hot chocolate i can get my hands around (and those mini marshmallows floating around on top sure do make the package complete).

baby, it's beyond COLD outside.....so get out your winter coats, gloves, mittens, long underwear, scarves, ear muffs, those gel handwarmer things that the roving beer and peanuts concession men at football games carry around, electric blankets, and favorite slippers.....make a big pot of hot cocoa.....throw another log of wood on the fire.....plug in your favorite movie....and snuggle up with your sweetie.

being a winter wimp definitely has its advantages!

they're not just for breakfast anymore

i have a chip obsession.....and not just of the potato variety. these little ghiradelli goodies pack a chocolate punch that i just can't get enough of. i've promised my hips that i'm going to try to enjoy fewer of these in 2010.....but how could i possibly resist the chocolatey happiness that each little chip provides?!

the main challenge is that they're only five calories each....which is a good thing.....but maybe a little too easy to eat more than i should.

and these little 60% cacao gems not only satisfy my bittersweetness craving, they also offer loads of antioxidants.....so it's really for "my health" that i can't give them up completely.

now if i could only find a way to justify eating potato chips......

inspiration monday

new year......

new ideas......

new goals......

new expectations....

new lessons learned.....

new(ly) cleaned work table

to complete the.....

new projects.....

inspired by the....

new year....

new ideas.....

new goals.....

new expectations....

new lessons learned....

and so on.....