ONE LITTLE WORD 2016: Grow with Patience

This year, Tony and I each picked a word. 

I initially chose Faith...then changed it to Grow which seems more suiting for my year. 

Tony chose Patience....which works for his path.

I had already started working on this ampersand symbol by wood burning and coloring various elements. Tony even drew our names on the board which I embraced into the design.

And gradually the design filled up all the space.  I made sure to incorporate our OLW's for the year as well as others meaningful to us.

The final detail was adding watercolor to parts of the symbol. 

I'll let you play Search & Find for all the little symbols, drawings, and words.

creativeGIRL CLASS: rainCHILD

I dreaded the weekend of creativeGIRL class ending, but we were fortunate to take a piece of Danielle Donaldson home with us with an extra lesson and supplies.  I couldn't wait to dive right in...

So without further ado, let me introduce rainCHILD...

love her hair!!!

ABC BOOK: Layout, Cover, Title, & Table of Contents

Danielle Donaldson's Storybooks class is phenomenal....JOIN, JOIN, JOIN.

Layout:

table of contents:

Sketches:

 

Cover:

Title Page:

circusGIRL

From a sketch to reality....I used a prepped wooden board with tissue paper, watercolors, acrylic paints, and paper clay elements.  I truly love Danielle Donaldson style so used a bit of it in my design...nothing compared to her gorgeous work, but I like it. 

I started by drawing around a character of hers that I copied to get a feel for what I needed to do.  I also used Danielle's method of naming her. (hopefully she doesn't mind)  I just truly love her style and philosophy.

Then I began...trying to let go, but also trying to stick to my design.  Along the way, I hit some bumps and changed the layout...but found it worked to my advantage.

Enjoy the process!

Baby Shower Gifts

My sister had a baby shower over the Thanksgiving holiday. Since I live out-of-state, I was not in attendance.  However, I wanted to send a personalized item versus purchasing something from a store.  So... the wheels began turning when watercoloring and drawing in my art journal.  I knew I wanted to make a framed artwork that was simple, delicate, and CUTE!

So I began by preparing my work surface.  Simply cover two(2) 5x7 flat canvases with blue paper (She's having a boy!)  Apply gesso in area of drawing as well as use punchinella to make dot details.

Once dry, I sketched out the images.

Next, I applied Neocolors II Watercolor crayons to the picture ...and watercolored.  I, then, let it dry overnight before applying a coat of ModPodge to avoid smearing.

Final step is to simply add in details and whimsical charm. 

When complete, you can place in a frame or simply add a piece of ribbon to hang.

Simple handmade idea with heartfelt sentiments behind it.

Happy Creating!