She Believed in Herself...

I love "she" statements. She believes, she hopes, she dreams, she can...and the list goes on. Especially on days when you feel a bit overwhelmed, your list of "To Dos" is beyond ridiculous, you've got a wicked case of the blahs, and you're feeling pretty small... a "she" proclamation can feel pretty good.

Today's phrase comes from some left over goodies collected from The Brave Girls Club - Soul Restoration class I took awhile back. I love these words. She believed in herself anyway. That word anyway is so important, isn't it? It could read simply...She believed in herself. Positive. Affirming. Fabulous. But...when you add the anyway, it takes on a whole new meaning, right!? Despite the circumstances...the mountains to climb...or the feelings...or the negative stuff that may be floating around - she believed in herself, anyway!

So no matter how your day is going...believe. 

That's right. Go on. Go conquer the world! :)

Happy Friday & Sunshine

 

I love Fridays!

I love Fridays especially when school has started.

My little sunshine just finished her first full week back to school 

and I miss her.

That little face is the best piece of sunshine when I pick her up.

She brightens everything up!

 Sunshine Girl - 

8x5 Journal Page

acrylic paint, NeoColor II crayons, Inktense pencils, Faber-Castell pens

What has brightened your days lately?

Art Journaling & Fabric Spray

 A couple weeks ago I was walking the 5 trillion aisles at Hobby Lobby and came across Sei Tumble Dye fabric spray. I have been wanting to try some ink sprays like Dylusions, but just haven't ordered any yet. So with an inexpensive $2.99 price tag, I thought I would give these a try. Now, don't be shocked. I bought one bottle to start. Can you guess which color?? Yes, I am a complete creature of habit - turquoise. :)

I am loving them...serious BIG fat, sparkly love. 

I went back and bought a pink one too. After using these two for a week, I am sure I will be back to get some other colors. ($2.99!! Score!)

They work beautifully with stencils, come in an assortment of colors, dry quickly, claim to be non-toxic, and don't cost much! Perfect for my art journal, creating layers in mixed media backgrounds, or tie-dyeing a 60s inspired Halloween costume. :)

Have you used ink sprays? What do you recommend? I'd love to hear!!

Until next time, happy creating!

Insta-Love Thursday

Oh, how I love Instagram. 

It has been such a fun, quick way for me to grab some cute pics day to day.

I also LOVE photography blogs. Sooooo, when I saw Deb's (LOVE her blog!! Great inspiration for Project Life too.) series called This or That Thursday, I decided to join in. I LOVE sharing my Insta pics, (I know some of you have seen them! Thank you for following me on Instagram!!) so I was thinking this would be a fabulous way to share my little bits of photography on my blog. :)

Here are some of my favorites lately...

School started this week (goodbye lazy days of summer...sigh) so I couldn't help snapping away on my little Sugarbean's first day of second grade. I did whip out my big camera too, of course. But, here are some I captured with my phone. Um, in all seriousness...how stinkin' cute is that superhero drawing. 

 Some art, some gorgeous sky on a bike ride, one very cute little boy playing on the porch, and a sweet treat on a hot day. :)

Insta-Love!

Recycled Trash Canvas

 I guess that is kinda a funny title...but, I am going to go with it. Last week I was opening a package, getting ready to toss the cardboard into our recycle bin, when I caught myself. One of the pieces would make a perfect little recycled canvas. (It is amazing how much "stuff" companies use to package their things...especially children's toys. Yikes! It can take hours to free a Barbie.)

I find that "trash" is freeing to paint on. Lol. It is not a canvas I bought, so playing with what I create on it comes much more naturally. :)

I am finding myself really drawn to aqua (of course, not a shocker there), oranges, yellows, and pinks together. It is such a pretty color combo. So, I decided that I would work with that color palette and whimsy little abstract flowers.

I used acrylic paint, pen, and my fingers. I am not sure if I am finished yet. Sometimes I struggle with knowing when to stop. Does that happen to you? 

For now it is hanging on my studio wall, which is much better than the recycle bin. Yes!

Do you have any recycling projects in the works lately?

DO tell! :)

Find some wonderful inspiration right here and here!

Hotel Art

For the last couple of days my Hubby has had a conference in San Diego. Lucky me got to tag along and enjoy some relaxing, kid-less days (Oh, they are OK...Grandma & Grandpa took them to Disneyland). Downtown San Diego is such a fun town with so many things to see and do. We went out to celebrate a friend's birthday, saw a Padre game, and spent some time in the Gaslamp District with fabulous friends - but I knew during the day I was going to be on my own. What a perfect time for some hotel art!

I wanted my art packing to be easy, portable, and hassle-free. Right!? So, here is what I brought along....

1) Pencil bag (pink and glittery of course) filled with all my writing essentials: Micron pens, mechanical pencils, Gelly roll pens in various colors, my waterbrush (a must have for travel!) and a black Sharpie. I was also able to fit 2 clear stamps, a black Staz On stamp pad, a glue stick, and 2 bottles of the Liquid Pearls.

2) A 2 pocket folder to hold all my fun papers and rub ons. I just grabbed a few things from my scrap bin, tore out some book pages and stuck them in there. Easy peasy!!

3) My gorgeous Inktense pencils. These are SO great to travel with. They have such vibrant color!! I was able to stick a small bottle of white Liquitex acrylic paint in this pencil bag too, but I forgot paintbrushes so I didn't use it. Small stencils fit in here nicely too. :)

4) I used a small plastic soap container to hold my Neocolor water-soluble crayons. It is a perfect place to keep them protected. It doesn't hold all of them, so I choose some of my favorite colors.

One of my favorite things to do while I am arting and traveling is to doodle with a black Sharpie. It is super relaxing!

After I doodled away, I colored it in with the pencils and crayons. Then let the waterbrush do it's magic.

Some Instagram love... Find me @sadieinspired

Of course, while in San Diego I couldn't stay up in my hotel room all day in creative bliss (well, OK...maybe I could!!). Sunshine was calling my name, so some pool side reading was in order. :)

So the next time you take a trip, throw some arty stuff in a bag and do some creating. You never know when you might have some down time! :)

Come find some creative inspiration right here!

 PS I have had to turn on the little comment code thing. I was being hammered by spam mail - yucky! I hope to turn it back off soon to see if the problem was solved. But, please still come leave a comment...I BIG puffy heart LOVE them! :)

Painting Dolls and Life Book

This weeks lesson for my Life Book class is from artist Adriana Almanza. She creates big eyed, luscious lashed dolls...very whimsical and very cute. As I watched this week's video lesson, I grabbed my little portrait journal (getting close to finishing) and sketched along with her. The Life Book lessons that I have been doing (so many to work on still...yikes!) have been completed on 9x12 paper. But, I thought I'd create something small and add a portrait inspired by Adriana to my collection of faces.

 Here is my sketch, shared on Instagram.

Love her. :) 

I was super excited to have my package from Kristin arrive Saturday too! I knew I wanted to use these colors. I had never used Liquid Pearls or Stickles before, so I was dying to try them.

Have you used them? 

I had fun adding color to her.

 

 Adriana usually paints huge, black lashes on her girls. I decided to keep the lashes smaller and not as dark. I did stick some Liquid Pearls on the end of each lash. I painted over the green wings and her purple dress with it too. It is so pretty, but hard for the camera to catch (especially with these iPhone pics!). The colors are so iridescent and shiny. I added Stickles to her eyelids and headband. I LOVE how fine the glitter is when you apply it with a paintbrush. So fun! 

 You can kinda see the sparkle in this picture. I will definitely use them more and now have some new products to obsess over. :) Thank you Kristin! 

XO,