Home is where the Heart is

I needed a card for an Open House today. Some friends of ours bought a house here in Cottage Grove. We are going over to see the house this afternoon. I again copied the images from Paper Artsy. I am in total love with these images. I painted old book pages with gesso - been having fun with this. I stamped the heart and the line across the grass. The sun is drawn on the watercolor paper and the house and bushes are drawn on an old book page. I watercolored everything. The alpha is suppose to look like labels from a Dymo Label Maker. I am not sure about the little flowers. They were a last minute thought or I would have drawn some in.

Thanks for stopping by.

Annie

Branching Out

I have want to try painting with acrylics. I have done a couple of things but it was always over a stamped image, nothing that I actually drew myself. Went to Dick Blick's the other day and they had a pack of small canvas boards on sale. Decided it was time to take the plunge and give it a whirl.
I did copy the images (the trees and the scroll) from some new stamps that I got from Paper Artsy - Squiggly Ink. I drew them instead of stamping them because I really wanted the images to be bigger. I changed them around a bit so they aren't exact copies of the images. I also drew the star. The Merry Christmas is a stamp and was stamped on an old book page that I covered with gesso, then did a light wash of brown.
This one started out as a forest scene and ended up as Christmas some how or another. Just kinda fit. Not really pleased with the outcome. I haven't figured out how to include shadows appropriately with the paint. It kinda reminds me of something that a 2nd grader would do but not as good.
The part I do like is the snow under the trees. I used Diamond Dust. It gives it a sparkle. That turned out kinda cool.

This second was a a bit more work. Lots of little areas to paint. Again, I used images from the Squiggly Ink Stamps as inspiration. I did a little better with depth here. I went back and added black shadows. I haven't figured out how to blend the paints well enough and I have limited colors so the shading needs work. To finish this up, I did a very light wash of a brown color hoping to create an affect of aging. It didn't really work as well as I wanted. It just muddy the blue sky.
I do love the little lady bug. She turned out cute. I didn't have any silver for her wings so she got gold wings. She is a very special lady bug, which is why she has her own house.
Trying to keep my hands steady enough to do the small details in black was interesting. Thankfully I had a really really tiny paintbrush. That helped.
This one turned out a little better and I am encouraged to try again. I still want to take a couple of classes. Just haven't found any near my house. I will keep on practicing.
Thanks for stopping by - Annie

A lazy Sunday

Today was a lazy Sunday. I didn't do anything constructive. I was suppose to do some house cleaning, which I didn't. I did take a little nap. So here it is 7:00 pm and I am still in my jammies. What a great way to spend a Sunday. The only thing I got accomplished today was a couple of cards. This first one is just me putzing around. I didn't stamp anything on this one. Hand drew everything and then watercolored. The scalloped edge is some left over book pages that I had covered with a watered down gesso.
This card I am going to send to a great friend for her birthday. I lifted it from a lift that I did earlier. Changed it around a bit. The alpha, Purple Onion Design, is the only thing that is stamped. This one is watercolored also using watercolor pencils. I had forgotten that I had a really nice set of those. I have been using watercolor crayons. Same deal here for the scalloped edge, used some left over painted book pages.

This card is for a monthly image swap. You get sent an image and make a card using that image. I colored the image with pencils. The background is watercolored. The flowers are tiny little prima's I think. I always have an image of an outhouse with those tall flowers next to them. Sitting here trying to think of the name of the flower. It will come to me after I have finished typing here. Isn't that always the way.

Thanks for stopping by.

Annie

A New Home

Not for me, but for a dear friend. They just purchased a second home in Florida. It was something they had wanted to do for quite awhile. It is a beautiful home. To make this card, I used watered down Gesso on book pages. Most of the elements on the card were hand drawn and then painted with watercolor over the Gesson. Tried to capture the house. Not the best job. The tree is a die cut. The alpha is Sixxix, Girls are Weird.

Thanks for stopping by.

Some Fun with Flowers

It has been awhile since I posted anything here. No good excuse, just haven't done anything that I felt was worth sharing.

Finally got a chance this weekend to do some putzing. I had a couple of cards to make. This first one, is for my youngest sister. Wanted to say hello.

The only stamping is the Believe. Made the little center for the flower with Shrinky Dink stuff. The alphabet (Olivia), the leaves and the grass are all Quickutz. The little lady bug is Heidi Grace. Thank you Cheryl for thinking of me and sending me the rubons. They are adorable.

The green and orange paper is some of the new 3M post it notes papers. They are really cool. Work great for die cuts.

This second card was just to play. I got the flower at a stamping show I went to in May. The little lady bug is from the Heidi Grace rubons.

Used Quickutz for the leaves and the grass. I also used the 3M post it notes paper on this one.

Hopefully, I can do some more putzing tomorrow.

Thanks for stopping by. It is always appreciated.

Hugs

Annie