Loving the small

Today I painted small and I loved it. So quick & easy. Now I know how painting ACEOs can become addicting! This little guy was painted on a card from one of my daughter's games. Yes, Sleeping Beauty is under all those layers. :)

I used acrylic paint, book pages, watercolor crayons, pen, and various stamps. 

I had love on my mind. The love of art. Isn't it amazing how something can reach your heart and just take hold?

I hope you have a beautiful weekend!

I am joining all the lovelies at 

Paint Party Friday.

Small Spaces

It's all about the first day sparkly shoes. :)

 OK. Can I see a raise of hands...who else has been knee deep in Back to School?? Anyone? My goodness...it takes a lot to get back on the "school wagon." :) Whew (wiping brow)... now I can find time to get messy!

I have a little space on my wall...some space between some frames on a picture wall I am putting together at the top of my stairs. The frames are black with hints of turquoise. I was tempted to spray paint all the frames white. I still might. (I am so in love with all things white! If I didn't have 2 young kids, a huge golden retriever, and a ton of things not white - I think I'd live in a Scandinavian house with white washed floors, white or cream slip covered couches, painted shabby chic furniture, things worn, distressed, & chipped - totally yummy & vintage & white!) SIGH.....

Source: madeinpersbo.blogspot.com via Marianne on Pinterest

Anyways, after way too much deliberation, I stuck with black frames. (We'll see how long they last. Anyone else a schizophrenic decorator?) If the frames were staying dark, I needed something that would brighten it up a bit and add an artistic touch.

I already had some fairly small wood boards that had been cut laying around the garage. I grabbed those and started putting some modeling paste on them. I stamped in it, added some flowers, used bottle top lids to add texture, scraped, scooped, drew in it, wrote words....just had fun. I let it dry and then painted them using watered down acrylic and my watercolor crayons. I used greens, whites, yellows, and of course turquoise.  I added some words... faith, love, hope, and joy. Perfect. Now they are ready to hang. :)

Such a super cheap & quick way to add some interest to a standard picture wall.

Have a beautiful end of the week.
I'll let you know if the frames remain black!
Oh, and let me know if you are schizophrenic too. I'd like to know that I am not alone. :)

XO,

Jen

Best Friends, Flowers, and Orange

This last week the color challenge (the last one!) for The Summer of Color was the color orange. It has been such a busy, crazy week....back to school is in full swing in our house. I just got a chance to work in my journal yesterday for a bit. I knew earlier in the week what I wanted to do, but just had a tough time actually doing it! 

When I think of orange, I always think of my BFF Lisa. She loves orange and in high school (looong ago...longer than I want to admit) it was all about orange. She also loved gerber daisies. So for me the chain of inspiration led me to wanting flowers somehow involved and a quote or poem about friendship. I just wasn't exactly sure what I wanted to do. Enter Christy Tomlinson. I love reading her blog and her post yesterday (she shared a video too!) was inspired by Alisa Burke. I have always admired Alisa's style and immediately grabbed my pens and started doodling away. SO fun!!

 First, I doodled some flowers in pencil. Next time I will be brave enough to just start with pen. :)

Next, traced over pencil with my 05 MICRON pen.

Time to fill in with watercolor crayons and pencils. I wanted lots of orange with pops of blue.

Then added water.

I found a quote about friendship and added it to the page. I just glued it down with a glue stick. But, with all the water I was using, I think gel medium or Modge Podge would be a better choice.

I love the bright colors and it makes me happy...

...exactly the same way I feel after spending time with my soul sister Lisa. She is the best of girlfriends...the ones that are always there, love you no matter what, know you inside and out (and stick around), have so much "dirt" on you they could fill a land fill :), jump for joy in your successes, and are the first ones there when you fall...you know the ones...the sisters by heart that only GOD could have placed in your life. That is Lisa. GOD smiled down on me and said, "Here you go." I am a lucky girl. :)

I hope you get a chance, if you haven't already, to check out Kristin's
Summer of Color, Christy Tomlinson, or Alisa Burke - so much inspiration.

Have a beautiful weekend,

Jen

"Plant a seed of friendship; reap a bouquet of happiness." 

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