Happy Mail

We were SO excited when this package showed up on our doorstep last week.

In "we" I mean my daughter and I. 

A couple of weeks ago I was one of the very lucky winners of Michelle Allen's giveaway on her blog. In winning, I got to choose something from her fabulously colorful shop. I knew I wanted to choose something for my daughter's room which we are going to begin redecorating (goodbye princess pink... I am sad to see you go). So, my little Sugarbean and I had a great time looking through all of Michelle's wonderful designs. 

We fell in love with her "Love First" giclee canvas art and couldn't be happier. It goes perfectly with her new room colors - turquoise and white.

I think it is pretty cute that after looking through Close 2 My Art, my little budding artist felt inspired to create this....

Owl stencil art by Sugarbean Randall

...and told me to blog about it.

She is a little budding artist who likes to be in the lime light. :)

XO,

 

Before and After

I love seeing Before & Afters...don't you?

It is so interesting to see a  fabulous transformation.

In my head, I am picturing those makeover shows
that take someone from drab to fab.  

Better yet - shows on HGTV...where they redecorate or reorganize a room. LOVE! 

Oh MY gosh - have you seen some of the retouched Photoshop pictures of models or celebrities for magazines. Yikes! Every young girl (and guy!) should see what the "reality" really is. The sad part is that they take already stunning women and create these crazy perfected images. Now don't get me wrong - I love a good photo filter, but magazines are getting a bit nuts! 
Google it! It made me feel better. :)

Sometimes when I am working on a journal page or canvas I like the "Before" (pencil sketch) so much that I am afraid that I will mess it all up. I am afraid that once I add color and pizzazz to it, I will not like it as much. But, I have to believe that when interior designers or stylists are revamping their subjects they are not saying, "I am going to make this worse." If they are...just like us...you just work through it. Throw caution to the wind and PAINT. Pick up that brush (or pen, or make up brush, or scissors, or whatever!) and GO! 

Face #23
Before & After

I really, really liked my sketches for my next two faces. Even though I had a wee bit of fear...I went for it. I am still working on them, but love how they are turning out. You can see that I am inspired by an orange and pink color palette right now.

Face #24

Before & After

Only 5 more faces to complete for my 29 Faces in May Challenge! I am pretty proud of myself for keeping up with it. I usually have a hard time keeping up...Life Book, Project Life, Laundry, Organizing the Pantry, etc. - I am coming for you! ;)~

I hope you are having a beautiful weekend. 

I am off to a birthday party and then some relaxing, movie time with my handsome Hubby. 
I am pretty lucky - He loves me "before" and "after" with no retouching! :)

Joining Sneak Peek Friday & Paint Party Friday on Saturday. See...hard time keeping up!
Happy Creating,

Little Minis

When I am trying to keep up with a challenge and 

a certain adorable little boy needs lots of attention...

my 29 Faces in May go mini. 

They are not perfect. But they are small which makes them kinda cute. :)

Face 17

Face 18

Face 19

Face 20

Not the best face & a blurry picture. Sweet! :)

XO,

Bloom and Grow

Yes. You.

That's right.

It is time for you to bloom.

Face #16 for 29 Faces in May

Find what makes your heart swell and 

creates a smile so beautiful, it is infectious.

Take that passion and tend to it like a garden.

Nourish it, cultivate it, cherish it.

Then step back and watch yourself bloom and grow.

5x8 Strathmore Visual Art Journal

Happy Monday Lovelies!

Number Fifteen

The funny thing about creating 29 Faces in May is that I am sketching, drawing, and painting so much that I am losing count on which face is which. (Note to self...write the number ON the pages AS you work on them. It would be a lot easier!)

Here is face number #15.

She was drawn in my Idea Journal. 

I apologize for all the pen you can see from the other side. 

I was practicing artsy lettering with Tam.

So fun! Have I mentioned how much I am loving the exposure to all the different instructors for Life Book? Love!

Quick sketch in idea journal

As I drew her I was thinking of one word ... Beloved.

Beloved: dearly loved : dear to the heart

I pictured a girl surrounded by hearts. Hearts in her hair. Hearts on her face and little heart wings. Hearts in the background. 

I think I will create her again on canvas.  

I hope you are all having a beautiful Friday.

All I can say is TGIF! I am ready for the weekend. 

How about you?
XOXO,
I am also stopping by Studio JRU's Sneak Peek Friday. Come take a look! :)

Pencil Sketches & 11-14

I am really enjoying 29 Faces in May. I am definitely challenging myself to draw or paint a face each day, but I am not going to have a daily face post. That is just not possible for me right now. These four little cuties were drawn with pencil over the past few days. I like how they look in pencil, so I am curious to see how they evolve with paint added to them...

if I even add paint. :)

Face #11 is the little doll in the top left corner. I like how her eyes look up into the distance. Someone (Hi, my fabulous friend Diane!) had asked me if I base my girls on anyone in particular and where I get the inspiration for them. So I really thought about that for these four portraits. I find that sometimes I start with a general idea of what I want...for this girl I was thinking sweet, stylized, and something I would paint in "springy" colors. For other faces, I sometimes start with a background - and then see what story or figure develops from the beautiful mixture of paint, ink, watercolor, & paper. The faces usually come straight from the colorful little land in my head. I know I also do not try to make the faces look realistic. I prefer stylized, folkish, doll faced portraits. :)

Face #12

OK. Number 12. What can I say? I was sad. Face 12 is a pretty literal interpretation of what I was feeling when I drew her.

Me sad = face with tears. 

The morning started out fabulously glorious and then 

Eeyore's black cloud came in and settled on me. Lol.

I don't know about you, but I am very sensitive. For some reason I think our society sometimes views sensitivity as weakness. I am not weak. I am just a girl who feels with her whole heart & can get crushed very easily. Not in a "can't get out of bed" way...but, a 

"Wow. That really hurt my heart" kinda way.

There are times when oodles & bunches of people (wonderful, sparkly, loving people) surround me...but, I feel alone. Like they just don't really "get" me or listen to me or how can they not see how wrong that was or shouldn't my feelings count. I am in no way saying I am perfection - far from it - but sometimes I have to wrap the bandages 

pretty tightly around my heart. 

 Thank goodness for a God who loves me (who promises to never leave me!), my little munchkins who chase away dark clouds, and art that saves. :)

Close up of  Face #13

Face #14

Faces 13 & 14 were my attempts to work on face proportion & shading. I curled up on the couch with my journal, pencil, eraser and caught up on some TV shows. After I had the basic sketch of the face, I added some details. I determined where my light source would be so I could start shading in the right spots. I shaded the faces lightly with my pencil, then I rubbed it a bit with my finger to soften the lines. I think I need one of those blending stumps. (Of course I need it! Add it to the list. :) Oh, how I love art supplies!!) I also used my kneaded eraser a lot to bring some white highlights back. I am still going to continue working on these girls then add some paint. 

I think they are pretty cute. :)

I know portraits can be done in many different ways...

• sketched with pencil onto surface & then background created around it
• background done first & portrait "pulled" from the background
• drawn onto paper, cut out, & glued to another prepared surface
• created with just paint
• drawn with pen...no pencil involved
• painted over collaged image
• and the list goes on

If you like drawing faces, what method do you like to use?

Happy almost Tuesday friends!

I hope your week is beautiful and dark cloud free :)

XOXO,

Paint Over Collage & Face #9

I decided that I would try something new for my face #9 for 29 Faces in May. I would try a paint over collage technique. I have seen this technique several times and have really felt inspired to try it. Tam taught a lesson on this style in Life Book. So far on that lesson I chose a picture and glued it down. Yes! It's a start. :) I guess I could have finished that lesson for girlie #9. For some reason the smaller size of my journal was more appealing. So I gave it a shot in my little journal.

If you are not familiar with paint over collage - don't worry...it's a cinch. Chose a fabulous picture from a magazine. Glue it down using your gel medium. Then paint over the top. The image from the magazine (or from anywhere really. You could use regular pictures from your camera too.) acts as a guide. The intention isn't to look identical to the picture - add some arty fun!

Here is the face with just some gesso. Sorry I don't have the image before I laid the gesso down. I totally forgot.

I just continue to build layers and color.

I added a little crown from the messy craft paper I line my work table with. I love saving that paper because it always gets so perfectly grungy.

I am loving how she is turning out and this process is loads of creative fun. I am going to continue adding layers and see what develops. (oh, and I will be finishing that lesson of Tam's too!) If you want more info about paint over collage visit Tam or Sharon Tomlinson. :)

I am heading over to see the fabulousity at Paint Party Friday 
and Ayala Art. Come join in!!

XOXO,

29 Faces #5 - 8

This will be a quick 29 Faces catch up post. 

It needs to be quick - I have dinner on the stove and kids nipping at my heels. A mother's work is never done! :)

I created all these faces in my new favorite - the Strathmore Visual Journal.

This one is small - @5 x 7. 

I didn't think I'd like that size very much for portraits.

But I do!

Face #5

Face #6

Face #7

Face #8

 When I decided to start this May challenge, I promised myself that I would post the faces even if I didn't like them...even if eyes are lopsided and they look crazy. I want to make sure I focus on learning, growth, and the journey - NOT making things perfect. That can be a real challenge for this self proclaimed perfectionist. :)

Happy Creating!!

29 Faces

I have seen the 29 Faces challenge from Ayala Art on several different blogs and thought, "What a great idea. I should join in. Challenge myself to create  29 faces in May." I then talked myself out of it because I didn't think I had the  time. Valid excuse, right? Well, of course. But, I DO have time. The last couple of days I have been finding little bits of time that were not there before to sketch and paint some faces. SO...

even though I am late to the party, 

I am joining in. :) 

Here are my first four faces. I will be back tomorrow with four more, 

and then I will be caught up. :)

Face #1

Instagram pic of sketch in my journal. I love her glamorous eyelashes. :)

Face #2

I drew & shaded this face in my idea journal that I keep with me - 

just a plain old composition book.

Face #3

Quirky face sketched with my left hand! With my right hand I traced her 

with black pen, added flowers & painted using watercolors. 

I need to remind myself to relax and "be free!"

Face #4

This is a WIP on some manilla tags I had laying around. 

She still needs some more shading. 

I am using white acrylic & watercolor crayons.

I will be back with more faces tomorrow (I know! What's going on here? Two days in a row!) In the meantime, pop on over and see all the faces being created. Well, and you could join in...so I am not the only one so late! :)

May Flowers

I am loving flowers...

quirky, non-realistic, whimsical flowers.

Maybe I am influenced by spring, or the beginning of May, 

(Um, hello. Where in the world did April run off to?)

or the planting we are doing around the house,

or just the ease of doodling flowers.

I am not sure, but I like how they are popping up everywhere.

Instagram - WIP

  I found this inexpensive wooden canvas at Michaels.

The start...laying down pretty paper & color!

 I really prefer working on wood rather than canvas.

But I don't like having to add all the business to wood for hanging.
I think this is really meant as a tray type thing. (Like my technical language, lol)

I love the size and that it is ready to hang.

I don't have to add a hanger and it does not have a hefty price tag. :)

Into the shop it goes!

I hope you are having a happy Monday & first day of May!
(You can always find me snapping away on Instagram @sadieinspired)

XO,