le jardin

i hope you have a magnificent weekend......
filled with lots of time to dream creative dreams as you're
 walking through secret gardens.....

enjoy!


p.s.  my sweet aussie friends elaine and lisa at destination art invited me over for a little chat today!  you can read it here.....and while you're there, treat yourself to a look around at all of their fabulous artwork!  thanks again,  elaine and lisa!!

sweet magnolia

the magnolias have started to bloom here in north florida.

they smell so sweet and dreamy that i'm absolutely convinced
this must be what heaven smells like.......

 sweet magnolia!

journal supplies:  koi watercolors, derwent inktense w/c pencils, 

micron pens, 6B graphite pencil

inspiration monday

"One thing life has taught me:
if you are interested, you never have to look for new interests.  They come to you.
When you are genuinely interested in one thing, it will always lead to something else."
Eleanor Roosevelt

you know that great feeling you get when you see something and you just have to know more about it?  or you just have to get out your art supplies and start creating something similar?
that great feeling is your sweet inspired heart talkin' to you.....
listen closely, and it will always lead you to something fabulous!

this journal page was created using micron pens, derwent inktense watercolor pencils, 
pan pastels, 6B graphite pencil

happy Easter!

wishing you a very blessed Easter!

this egg was doodled using watercolors, watercolor pencils, itoya permanent finepoint pen, alphabet rubber stamps (hero arts), staz-on ink pad

youer than you

it's wednesday......

 an absolutely perfect day for bein' you!!

:))

this journal page was created using watercolor pencils, pan pastel, 

micron pens, 6B graphite pencil, hand-carved thumbprint stamp

inspiration monday

i love using watercolor pencils, but one thing that i noticed right away is the color of the pencil isn't always the exact color that goes onto the paper!  so here's a paint-chip system that i've been using for a while now.....they're super easy to make, and all you need is your paints, scraps of watercolor paper, your waterbrush or paintbrush and cup of water, a pencil, scissors, glue or double-sided tape and some popsicle sticks.

draw a square for each of your colors onto your watercolor paper.  paint each square using one color.  i like to put more color at the top and less at the bottom so i know how the color looks both as a dark and a light.

label each color.  you can leave your swatches as they are, and you'll have a great color reference......

but i like to cut mine out......

and mount them onto popsicle sticks using a dab of glue or double-sided tape.  this way i can mix and match and see exactly what they look like right next to each other.  it makes choosing your color palette really fun, and you'll be amazed at how many fabulous color combinations you discover!

plus, your entire collection will look so cute all tucked in a glass jar......

kind of like a rainbow-paint-chip-inspiration-bouquet smiling at you!

you can use this technique for your watercolor paints, acrylics, watercolor pencils, watercolor crayons, and any other color media you enjoy working in!

list du jour....and some notes

i hope your weekend list is filled with fun things to do......

some things you might just want to do more than once!  :))
happy weekend to you!

*********

{sweet julie over at balzer designs invited me to be her guest blogger today!  woo hoo!
you can read my post here......thanks a million, julie!! xo}

{my brother jeff the master jeweler (remember when he created this heart-in-hand surprise for me?), has designed an absolutely gorgeous 14K white-gold koala bear pendant as a fundraising effort that will help send my niece alyssa to australia this summer as an ambassador with the people-to-people program!  
please click here for more information about this stunning pendant......the raffle is tomorrow!!}  

this journal page was created using micron pens, 4B graphite pencil, and pan pastels.

vita-happiness

  i discovered several months ago that i need to eat dairy-free and gluten-free if i want to be a healthy person......and it hasn't been so easy changing my culinary habits.  sometimes a girl just wants a toasted cheese sandwich to get things right again. 

{thankfully, lindt makes a dark chocolate bar with no milk.....or i'd really be in trouble!}
so, if you thought you heard mysterious-jumping-up-and-down-squealing-with-excitement-woo-hoo noises earlier this afternoon, that was just me after seeing the ups man leave this on my front doorstep! 

the other night, qvc had the vitamix as their special value of the day, and since i've had my eye on it for quite a while, well, one thing led to another, and well, you know how easy late night shopping can be.   of course, it's a really big investment......and will most likely be my birthday/Christmas/anniversary present for the next ten years......but now i'll be able to put healthy, preservative-free whole foods in my body (i can make my own almond flour with this thing!).  and it's such a luxury to have this i almost feel like i should put it out on display on the dining room buffet.  heeheehee

click here to see everything that this little baby can do.......it's so much more than just a blender!

inspiration monday

sometimes all it takes to get started is to sit down with your favorite art supplies

and call on inspiration to help you fill those journal pages with 

the breathings of your heart!

this journal page was completed using a lime colored pencil, watercolor, micron pen,

uniball signo white gel pen, 6B graphite pencil

daisy daisy

i just love daisies, don't you?
they're about the happiest little springtime message i can think of.  and daisies are my mom's favorite flower.....that makes me really happy too.
 i arranged a few in a cut, scooped-out lemon and then placed it down into my favorite little creamer pitcher.  i saw the idea on this pottery barn video......

oooh, daisies and pottery barn......super springtime happiness!!

inspiration monday

i can't think of anything more inspiring than getting together with my art buddies and spending the entire day playing with letters.....and this past saturday we did just that!  we talked, ate a bit of chocolate, laughed, and learned a lot about graphite.   our instructor was eliza holliday.....and if you're a letter geek like me, then you probably know her work, and you're probably already drooling over the thought of her gorgeous, gorgeous letterforms!  

eliza taught us a lot about shading and blending......

and then she encouraged us to really play for a while.
{this started out as a capital letter A......i'm not really sure what it is now, but i think he's kind of cute.....in a strange-creature-on-two-wheels kinda way.}

this was the best saturday i've spent in a long, long time!  many hugs to eliza and my sweet special art buddies for a fabulous day of graphite play!  and thank you mr. yellow papermate sharpwriter #2 automatic pencil for providing so much inspiration!!

you can see eliza's beautiful hand-lettered graphite book here!

hunny-funny-bunny

when i see carla sonheim's artwork, it makes me smile.  really big.  

so when she offered her little rabbit tutorial, i just had to get out my journal.......

and start drawing some bunnies.......

of the hunny-funny-bunny variety!

these little sweeties are so quick and easy to draw......
join in the fun and hop on over to watch carla's tutorial!

journal bunny pages:  black staedtler mars graphic 3000 watersoluble marker, 

4B pencil, niji waterbrush, pan pastel