Purple and Sugar

We have a dancer in our house. 

She is affectionately called my Sugarbean...Sugar for short. 

Her end of the season recital is this weekend and we are very excited because they put on quite a show. This year she has been taking ballet and their costumes are to die for beautiful. 

They are the prettiest shades of purple. 

So when Kristin chose purple as this week's color for The Summer of Color challenge, I knew I wanted to use the coming recital as inspiration.

At dress rehearsal I had taken a lovely picture of her looking back at me over her shoulder. It is the sweetest picture and it takes my breath away every time I look at it. I can't believe that the gorgeous girl looking back at me in that picture is my sweet little baby. Melt my heart. She is growing so fast!

I had an old 12 x 12 frame that I no longer used, so I thought I'd try a straight forward scrapbook layout to frame and hang in her room. Can I tell you that I drool over the whole scrapbook thing. I love the idea, collect all kinds of things to use, have really good intentions, have lots of friends who have "scrap parties" - but I have not finished my daughter's FIRST YEAR scrapbook. 

Hello! She is six!! Please, tell me I am not alone? :)

I really love how it turned out. 

As a bonus challenge we had to use some "bling." OK, twist my arm - this girl does not have a hard time adding sparkle at all! I used scrap paper I already had on hand, ribbon from my stash, the best crystal swirls, sheet music, pretty flowers left over from a cupcake stand I made, and some fun ABC stickers. I left some space to the left of the picture so I can journal a bit after the recital.

 

The best news - my pint sized ballerina loved it and can't wait for me to hang it up. Sweetness, pure sweetness.

Of course, there was painting too.

I had a canvas that definitely needed some help. 

I am still working on it.

But she went from this....

To this...

Work in Progress

I love all the purple touches. I must have still had red on my mind... look at those lips. Some of you mentioned red lipstick - 

so thank you for the inspiration. :)

XO,

Jen

Playing with Modeling Paste

 I was walking through Joann's...looking for something to use my 40% off coupon on. (I can't just let these little coupons go!) Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted all these red tags in the art department. Lucky me! They had all kinds of things on clearance! Yippee! It was like they were trying to clear their shelves. I found some 2 oz. Liquitex paint for $1.97. They are usually $7.99 or something. But, the best part...I scored a bottle of modeling paste for $4.99! It normally goes for $18.99. That was definitely going in the basket. :)

Look at my loot!

I have been wanting to use some modeling paste for the longest time, so I couldn't wait to play in my journal and add some texture to some canvases too. I got some little stencils on my trip as well and they worked brilliantly. I know I have said before that I have a serious addiction to clear stamps, and they landed in my collection of goodies too. I mean, look at those little birdies! I can't pass them up. Anyways, look at that texture...makes my heart go pitter pat. :)

Yummy texture!

These journal pages are a work in progress, but I am loving how they are starting out. I have been thinking a lot about change and not limiting myself, so butterflies seemed like a perfect addition. I am seeing tons of blues, greens, whites, and creams turning up in the things I am working on. Somewhere....somehow, they always seem to work their way into my palette.

Journal 2011 "Fly"

WIP canvas

I am excited to continue working on these and to find more ways to use modeling paste. Do you use it too? I think I may search my house to find interesting things to stick in it! You know you "have it bad" when you get more excited about paste then a pair of shoes. :) Oh well, what's a girl to do!

I hope you have a beautiful, creative weekend. I am hopefully finishing some house projects that I am very jazzed about. It is AMAZING what a little paint can do!

I am linking this up to Paint Party Friday. I am SO looking forward to seeing what everyone else is up to. My goodness there is inspiration and serious talent everywhere I turn.

Hugs,

Jen

The Summer of Color - Red

Red is so BOLD!

I love it. 

It is all about strength, confidence, love, and fierceness.

I am a pretty shy person, so attention freaks me out. Red screams, "Look at me!" Right? I think secretly I want to deck myself out in red shoes...or maybe a red dress...or a red coat. Totally fabulous. My friends and family would probably pass out from shock. ;) I looked in my closet and I am not kidding...I have one - ONE red cardigan sweater that must have been my attempt at being "bold" for Christmas. 

But, that's it. 

Are you a red wearing girl?

If you are, I totally admire you! :)

I mean, look...

Source: tumblr.com via Mars on Pinterest

Or what about this.... just a little something to wear to Target. :)

Source: citified.blogspot.com via postcardsandpretties on Pinterest

Oh my goodness! What about a red shoe? 

Source: goldandgray.blogspot.com via Julie on Pinterest

I think I need to wear more red! And, have you checked out Pinterest? I could spend hours, but, I won't! :)

So this week the lovely Kristin inspired us to work with red. It was quite fun & I ended up with, of course, another girl (I promise I will try something different!). I had an idea in my head about what I wanted to create in my journal, but started working on another piece of cardboard. I was having tons of fun working on textured backgrounds. I used Mod Podge and some napkins I had on hand. I loved the texture of the napkins & it looked great on the surfaces I was using once it dried for a bit. I love using napkins, tissue paper, and paper towels to add some visual interest to the background. 

I hope you can see it in the picture.

She was Brilliant

I used acrylic paint, Faber-Castell PITT pens, napkins for background texture, watercolor crayons, Sakura white Gelly Roll pen, black Pentel for details, bible pages for wings & crown, and pencil.

See the yummy texture!

Have a beautiful, creative week. I am looking forward to purple this week. I already know what I am doing. :) Come join the fun!

Hugs,

Jen

The Summer of Color - Brown

What to do with brown?

I use it a lot, but when I was "specifically" faced with using it in this week's challenge, it took me awhile to get with it.
Brown makes me immediately think of fall, coffee, and OF COURSE chocolate.
Drool.
I have recently tossed out all refined sugar, processed food, & dairy...
so the thought of chocolate right now is giving me withdrawal jitters! :)

So, last night (with visions of chocolate dancing around me head) I grabbed some discarded cardboard I had in my stash & just started painting. I love using old pieces of cardboard boxes or food containers...
makes recycling very beautiful!

She has nothing to do with chocolate, but I had lots of dreams floating around my head too. I am working on goals & dreams in Melody Ross'
Soul Restoration 2 class. I am loving that course - LOVING it. I have realized that I often don't even allow myself to "dream big" due to a long,
varied list of things I am afraid of.
That is NO way to live right girls!?

This week I had a great time working with brown and finding truth
about the freedom of letting go of fear.
Fear is a pretty heavy burden to carry around.
Let it go...

It is not too late to join us in The Summer of Color.
It is time for red! :)

Also, thank you for all the sweet comments & especially to new followers! I could seriously start busting out some somersaults -
I am so happy.
I love all the artsy new friends I am making!! :)

PS I had a wonderful time on our mini vacation. Spent a few days at a golf resort in Indian Wells (Palm Springs). It was HOT, but very relaxing!

Keep Creating & Dreaming!
Jen

Summer of Color - Yellow!

When I think of yellow, I think of....

And when I think of sunshine I think of these two little cuties...

The song "You are my Sunshine" was the special lullaby I would always sing each night when I put my kiddos to bed... so even though I have heard it a billion times - it still puts a sweet smile on my face.

Besides using yellow this week, Kristin challenged us to find a way to incorporate anything metallic into our work. You can't really see it in the picture, but I used some gold and bronze metallic paint in the background. I really don't bring out the metallic paint until Christmas time (we are half way there already! Can you believe it!?) so it was fun to use.

I have been working my way through my Canson Mixed Media journal and I have found that the pages like to buckle a lot. I mean, I don't mind it that much and it is holding up a bit better than the black sketchbook style books I have picked up at Barnes & Noble. 

Anybody have journals that they just love?? Do tell! :)

The Summer of Color has been super inspiring. I am loving all the different color challenges & I love visiting all the lovely blogs...SO fun!

I am off for a much needed little vacation with my hubby.

Be back Sunday to check in & see what everyone is up to.

Have a wonderful rest of the week. :)

XO,

Jen