In the garden...

Whenever I get around to blogging I just can't believe how much time has gone by!  All my intentions go out the window when work and constant day to day things get in the way.  But I do get my daily practice in however small of a time slot I have.  My watercolor practice has changed a bit and my acrylic floral abstracts have taken a back seat.  The challenge will always be that I have two loves,  watercolor and painting abstract florals.  

Until I feel that draw again I'll paint leaves and bouquets until I tire of them, when might be awhile.  Sketching is such a therapeutic process.  Sometimes I fill my kitchen table with a few paper pads and pull out all my watercolors, along with a coffee and music, and waste away the time in my own world!  

I wanted to share a current page I finished up this week!  It's quite a garden of fun florals!  Oh why can't I be nearer to peonies, and ranunculus, and wisteria... such wonderful flowers. I'm always a tad bit giddy over them in their lovely bunches!  This page is a ode to them!  

Happy Fall to everyone!  

My Happy...

I'm a big lover of watercolor as well as sketching and I adore making my own elements for scrapbooking.  It allows me to use whatever is swirling around in my head at the time. Right now it's all about the rich and fun colors of fall.  Mixing reds, oranges and gold the last few weeks has become a habit.  Every element of fall is inspiring to me from the golden leaves to chai lattes to the cooler temperatures!  

Lately I've been sketching away at some new things.  Things that are making me want to learn more about scrapbooking elements and how to create more of my own.  It's a little daunting to think about but I love creating and we will just have to see how it goes. 

This page was creating using a lot of my own little elements as well as some Maggie Holmes chipboard stickers.  I love the minimalist watercolor feel, so light and airy.  I did forget to scan some of these elements first so I will be creating them again. It's been fun getting to the point where I can say that I like my style of illustration, there are so many awesome painters and illustrators out there. 

I printed this photo onto a piece of vellum a long time ago and never got to use it, and it's been just sitting in my stash.  I love the letters over the photo.  I thought it was just right beneath the watercolor leaf frame. 

Most of the elements I create are pretty random, I use whatever colors I have still sitting in my watercolor palette. Of course it's alway a little sparkle and iridescent medium added to my paints. Then when I'm inspired to make a page I cut the pieces out.  I'm working on a set of elements that might coordinate well with other scrapbooking supplies out there.  I'll share a few from time to time and also my progress along the way.  Hoping to start a newsletter and get a good idea of some things that people might be looking for.  Any good ideas, leave a comment!

Thanks for stopping in today...

Watercolor moments...

I'm slowly adding more and more Scrapbook pages and paper art projects to the blog.  It was slow going at first but I usually get a lot more done once the summer months are over.  Thank gosh for routine and the chance to get back a since of normalcy.  Normalcy for me is having that balance between day to day things and my art practice as well as making times for photos and editing.  I did quite a bit of travel over the summer and that was exactly what I wanted but that means that some of the things I love to do get pushed back a bit.  

Today I'm sharing a soft pink page I made using some of the Maggie Holmes Carousel collection elements and my favorite go to item "tulle"!  I enjoy adding an unfamiliar item sometimes to pages, especially this one because it lets me dust off my sewing machine which I just seem to ignore for months at a time sadly.  

I wanted a lot of weight on the bottom of the page and I new the dark colored tulle wouldn't quite do it so of course I added a little wash of color using one of my gelatos.  Once it was dry I cut a few strips of dark grey tulle and flesh colored tulle into short strips slight longer than 12 inches. As I attach them with my machine I scrunch them a little while I'm sewing to get that soft ripple effect. That was meant to be the main impact of the page along with watercolor flowers.

A few watercolor flowers from my stash and some cute thickers from the "Carousel" collection was all I needed to create a simple fun page.  

Some other things I like to explore with are hand-drawn elements, fabric, tissue paper, sewing patterns and paint!  Why not throw something fun in that's not usually meant for this medium!  The outcome is always so different and fun.  I'll be sharing another page very soon!

Flowers always come after the rain...

This week has definitely been filled with every emotion with hurricane Irma making its way up Florida. I have to retreat to my paper and paints as much as possible. Sometimes watching too much news causes a lot of anxiety that can really mess with you sense of calm and balance. Most of the time for me maintaining that balance is something I strive for everyday. Everyday I'm thankful for just a little bit of simplicity and calm that creating brings for me. Everything turned out ok for me and my area with just a few downed trees and a few days without power.  My prayers go out to all that were effected during all these crazy storms we're having.  

For the most part this week I finished up a few projects and sketched as much as possible. There was a time when I wanted to dive further into illustration and then moved a little more into my watercolor practice and then acrylics. Sketching has been a constant in my life even when I'm not thinking about it.  I doodle on scrapbook pages, at work and whenever I feel like feeling that lightness of my pencil connect with paper. About a year ago I started a sketchbook with lots of little floral bouquet watercolor pieces and color swatches and kind of got out of that practice for some reason.  Since I'm sort of all over the place most times it made more sense recently to try to bring sketching and watercolor together. Some things I've learned with my practice this week. 

I love that oooh aww moment when I try something new and love it. 

I love playing around with the colors within my sketches. 

Iridescent medium is the best thing ever!

Gold and pink are the most gorgeous color!

I've started on another path of learning something new that I don't know how to do yet. 

I can paint for hours and not even notice!

I am trying to learn how to create a small set of watercolor printables perhaps after I dive into photoshop a bit more.  I'm taking notes on some things that people might like.  If there is anything new you would like to see in the scrapbooking world please let me know.  I feel like everything has been done but there is always room for more flowers and watercolored elements. They are my absolute favorite things to play with while scrapbooking.

 Take care guys...

FReedom in art

I’ve always gravitated to things that make me feel free.  Free from all the boxes and constraints of normalcy.   Freedom from the hows and whys.  I was the one asking why all the time, “can’t we do it this way”, “why do I have to put that with that”, why, why, why.  Why is there so much space between freedom and normality? 

And here comes art, this vast ocean of “whatever you want it to be”, and that is where I find my freedom.   And I love it when others find their freedom too! 

I find a lot of freedom in collage.   I love to have a big ole pile of whatever to create with.  It’s where I am most free from the order and coordination.

 And when I’m in a certain groove I never ask “what next”!

I’m sharing a few art pieces I created a few years back.  Lately I’ve been feeling that pull to create new pieces and reinvigorate my illustration skills.  I love al the gold a glitter splatters and this one was really fun to create!

I know some find freedom in running or swimming… whenever I feel like climbing out of the boxes the world tries to fit me in I just run to my first love!  I know there I can do whatever I like!

Watercolor florals...

I'm most definitely a fan of keeping lots of things in my stash and never throwing anything away unless I know without a doubt that I won't use it.  That's the same for watercolor water.  I find that the washes from an used cup of water can make the prettiest backgrounds.  I think I started with an old grey tone here and then worked in a little blues.  

Another thing in my stash is watercolor flowers, and lots of them!  I try to paint them different ways and use different brushes and techniques, and they always go in my stash for later!  

What I have as far as scrap booking tools is very limited so I try to use what I do have as much as possible!  For instance I have a few screens and they get used quite often.  I have an obsession with this floral one by Heidi swapp that I just adore!  I need more of them.  There are so many outcomes when you swipe a bit of paint over one of these amazing things!  My screen doesn't even stick anymore but I make it work!  

I've had quite a bit of craft projects to finish up on and hopefully this week I'll get them all added to the blog.  Creating is an everyday thing for me but a lot is done late at night when I'm not working or in tiny spurts in between daily activities.  

Be back soon...