sign language

just when you're feeling your paint palette has

a little too much blah and too much blue....

i'm here to remind sweet, artful you.....

that you are a shining star, 

a-okay awesome, 

and majorly magnificent.....

and the signs are all around you to confirm it!

{p.s. and by-the-way.....you rock, fabulous art-girl!!} 

xox

{supplies:  walls notebook, faber-castell polychromos colored pencils,

micron pens, graphite pencil, white pastel pencil, uni posca white pen}

mini-doodle stamps

not too long ago, we brought home our sweet little two-month-old
mini-goldendoodle puppy, Gidget…..

and it's hard to believe, but this weekend 

we're celebrating her first birthday already!  woo hoo!

she is just as sweet as she can be, and some of her favorite pastimes are

playing, eating treats, playing, barking at nothing, carrying big sticks,

going outside so she can try to eat some mulch, playing, stealing socks….

and running in the field.  

she absolutely loves to run in the field.  she's a very normal puppy.

  

well….normal….until i mention that she also loves to go to the post office 

with me.  i know.  that's a little less normal, and kind of a long story. 

but, the other day i was thinking about how we've got a  

less-than-normal-puppy-who-loves-to-go-to-the-post-office….

and inspiration struck! 

i was thinking how the post office likes to commemorate big events with
 a series of new stamps, and since Gidget's first birthday is a big event

{and me actually surviving the first year is an even bigger event!},

i've decided to create a series of illustrated faux-postage stamps 

for our mini-goldendoodle who loves to go to the post office!

so, the first thing i did was start sketching lots of different stamp shapes…..

 and then i created a template of the stamp sizes i liked the best

by placing a couple of strips of packaging tape 

over my drawings and cutting out the "middles".  then i trimmed the 

tape around the edges of the paper, and now it's nice and sturdy,

and the paper won't tear as i'm tracing around the inside to create my stamps.

the next step was to draw the "stamp" template shape onto my paper,
then i added some drawing and coloring…..
and here's our Gidget with her very own faux-postage stamp
to commemorate her big day!

and here's a sweet little "initial tag" for her to wear on her collar!

i have lots of fun ideas for more "mini-doodle stamps", 

now all i need is the time to create them…..

when there's a puppy around, finding creative time is the 

biggest challenge of all!  :))

{this faux micro-postage stamp is about 1/2" wide, and was created on

fabriano artistico 140 lb. HP paper using prismacolor verithin pencils,

and a 0.5 mechanical pencil}

color me an artichoke

our little art group got together for a play day, and our sweet friend rynda shared some of her tips, tricks and vast wisdoms about colored pencils!  she loves them, and i wish you could see her artwork.....it really is spectacular (think botanicals, seashells, sunflowers......oh my goodness, colored-pencil-happiness all over the place!).

the other thing rynda loves is artichokes.  

i don't think i've ever eaten an artichoke, but i thought maybe i could try to draw one......

and send it to her!
(and now i love them, too......colored pencils, that is!)

{artichoke card created using prismacolor pencils, 3B pencil,
 bristol paper, scrapbook papers, glue stick}

***
rynda, you inspire me, sweet girlfriend!
thank you SO much for sharing your creative gifts with us!!  xoxox