See the Birdie?

I have been working on quite a few things lately, but I am trying to post every few days, so I did a few more Tangles last night and decided to share this one.  As with everything, I hope to get better with practice.

Zentangles anyone?

I wanted to share two books I purchased recently, as well as a few Tangles I created from inspiration in these two books.  Zentangle 2 by Design Originals is wonderful and a great book for a beginner.  Totally Tangles by Sandy Steen Bartholomew is also a wonderful book, but a bit much more challenging.  Zentangles are very relaxing and quite a lot of fun.  Here are a few Tangles I created recently.... I used the standard 3.5 x 3.5 size here, but I have also done a full page Tangle, and that is a lot of fun as well.

What I've neglected for Watercolor

My past few posts have been about my newfound love of watercolors.  If you have read my blog in the past, this emotion was also given to acrylic paints.  I guess you could say I am a bit fickle when it comes to art..lol  Anyway, I have spent a few hours in my sewing room the past few days, weeding out old scraps, you see I believed that I should save all scraps , no matter how small, because I could find a use for them.  Ha!  Over time I accumulated a large "stash" of scraps.  Since my taste for fabrics change almost as often as my love of art mediums, some of the fabrics made me wonder what I was thinking when I purchased them.   So the past day or so was spent purging and (gasp) throwing away bits of fabric.  Wow, did it feel good to see the trash man take away those bags of scraps, that I knew in my heart I would never use.

Well, the whole time I spent cleaning and purging my sewing room, there was something haunting me on the wall...a big UFO (unfinished object).  Can't quite remember when started this quilt, I think it was January.  I have viewed it from afar, (my art studio is adjacent to the sewing room), but it never nagged me unit a few days ago.  May have to stop painting for a day or so and get her done....or not!

Luckily for me, the blocks are not sewn together just yet, because once I took this picture, I think I want to shuffle the blocks around a little bit.   Just think, this UFO has been waiting for me on the design wall all this time while I pursued acrylics, watercolor, journals, drawing, pastels, calligraphy, and Zentangles.  How awful of me to neglect this cheery quilt!  Bad girl!  Oh well, at least it makes the room colorful and happy....

Pan Pastel Storage

Wanted to share a great new way to store your pan pastels, in case you didn't know.  The storage trays come in two sizes..storage for 10 or 20 pastel pans.  Before buying the trays, I had mine stacked on top of each other which was great for storage but not so great when it was time to use them.  With the trays, now I can see them easier.  Love these creamy pastels.  Have a great weekend everyone!

More watercolor painting

I am so in love with the watercolor book I purchased last week.  I am feeling more confident with this medium each day, although I know these are baby steps.

Watercolor Flowers

Spent part of my day yesterday painting......good times!

Great Inspiration!

Today I am sort of all over the place with ideas of things to do, and am working on several things I hope to share in the next day or so.  In the mean time, if you haven't had a chance, check out Teesha Moore's blog today with videos on a really cool journal/sewing/quilting idea.  I made a tiny purse with this method years ago and if I can find a photo of it, I will share.  I see more quilting in my future.   Good thing I have all day most days  to play because I am in idea overload!
Here is some of the beauty in found in my backyard today.......

More Watercolor

A couple of days ago I mentioned the workbook I found on watercolors.  Stayed up way too late last night reading several chapters.  I am so pleased that I found this jewel!   Anyway, I went back to this drawing I did several days ago and painted it with watercolors, also adding a few flowers that are not drawn.  What fun and how relaxing.  After I do a few chores today, I am going to try painting a few more flowers.

I am also taking several portrait classes (again) this time from Suzi Blu.  I love her teaching style as well as her painting style.  Martha Lever mentioned taking one of her classes on her blog, so I decided to check it out.  What really drew me to the class was the subject matter.  We are painting Henry the eight and his wives.  Don't know about you but I LOVE The Tudors on Showtime, and I love that era.  Hope to have some decent painting to show soon.   Well, chores are calling....

Leaping into Watercolor!

Martha Lever (MarthaLever.blogspot.com) has a wonderful blog which I visit daily for inspiration.  Martha and I have taken a lot of online classes together, though we have never met in person.   I have taken two calligraphy classes from her and have always loved her combination of calligraphy and watercolor.  Today, I was happily surprised to see that she had done a watercolor tutorial.  She is such a great teacher and makes everything seem so easy.   I was so inspired that while out running errands today, I stopped at Borders to check out their water color books.  I found a cool book/workbook/course.  Here is the wonderful book, and my first attempt at Martha's 5 minute flowers.

Watercolor and Pan Pastels

Okay first off,  I am NOT a watercolorist, have only tried it a few times.  So I decided to draw a few flowers and use my watercolor pencils (which I rarely use) to color in the drawing.  I decided to use my pan pastels (rarely use) for the background.  So in the end, although my drawing is very childish, I at least used some of my art supplies that are gathering dust, and had fun to boot!  Oh, and the butterfly is my new Martha Stewart punch.  All in all it was a good day. 8-)
Would love to take a water color class online.  Think next time I will eliminate the drawing and go straight to the watercolor pencils or pans and see how that works out.

Happy Easter

I searched my photos for a shot of a lily or other spring flower to share with you on this Blessed day, but couldn't locate one.  So I decided to share these two backgrounds from my online class with Wyanne instead.... and a quilt I finally finished binding....sort of spring like, huh?