Easy does it !

Last night I had a call fom a friend to say it was her mothers 100th birthday this Sunday,tomorrow !I would have dearly loved to spend time on making a special card,but had to choose from my already made stash.........this is it.
I am an admirer of Joanna Sheene,well known cardmaker on TV etc,and at one time bought her CD,s,which I then made up a few cards,this is just one.

If you want a quick easy card,where you dont have to think,but still be a little bit creative,this is the thing for you !,must say i did enjoy,making it,although not my thing,i like to be in charge start to finish lol.

This is just a matter of printing off the backing paper and imagine from the PC and assembling them,layering up etc.
The only thing i did do to finsh it off was add the butterfly,which I glittered also the rose image I covered with Dimensional magic,to give it a glass ,gloss feel.
The 100 No, was added last night using my cuttlebug machine. soooo one quick and easy card for a lovely lady.

Poppy Sketch

I painted this today,I dont know why but I have this need to just paint this week.but nothing on a serious note just to pick up the brush and paint whatever comes into my head.
So chose the ATC size,never having painted on this scale before,I really enjoyed it ! although saying that I have done a few this year when I was on holiday in Portugal,just packed my travel paintbox and small brushes and some bits of w/color paper,didnt take up much room and boy was I glad I did ! the evenings were so boring lol.

I look around my craft room and think,what on earth have I got all this stuff for when really all i need is a box of paints and i,m happy !!
Trouble with me is ,these ideas keep popping into my head,I must alter that or WOW thats a lovely image,i can do a lot with that.........I get inspired quite easy these days,it could be retirement,boredom,I dont know but I can say I enjoy my life,just to potter about doing what comes naturally haha.......
Dont get out so much these days either,not to just walk the countryside and paint whatever took my fancy,Like i used to do, life changes ,one door closes and another opens as they say...so most things I do now are from memory.

The other thing that helps is teaching others to paint,just one day a week, I think thats what did it for me this week,when watching them painting,I have this bad habit of grabbing the brush and doing it lol, always getting my hand slapped ! This week the lady was painting poppies,I was itching to do it haha.....so hey presto I got it out my system today !! not from real life though,just trying to capture from memory.

Playing with Pastels

Watercolour and Pastels experiment on ATC size.
Titles= River Mist & Summer Mist........

Just had to blog these as they are my first Pastel paintings I have done on this scale,I,m pleased with the experiment and may do more.

Always with my Pastel paintings I lay down the watercolour first its more as a sketch or guide for the finished painting,but nice to see the watercolour show through the pastel,hence ,light and shade.

The Pastels add more brilliance and colour to a watercolour making it more vibrant,I find.

I have always worked in these two mediums together,I love to move the pastel about and love the misty effect.

Tree of Life Birthday Card

This card i created for my Grandson's 23 Birthday

Over the years i have given him cards i created with Music and His favorite group themes,this year was difficult to come up with an original idea,thoughts running through my head,and knowing he was coming up against difficult times in his life,and i was in the middle of altering dominos lol,the idea came to me "The Tree of Life" !!

Soooo this is it !..I will give him some sound advice haha.

Starting with Ivory card stock.

I used my cuttlebug birthday embossing folder in gold,layered it up on dark green card.

Then using an ATC size watercolour painting i had done,I triple layered up onto that an altered domino,which i had used alcohol inks,then stamped and drawn the tree.

The rest was easy,finishing off with a poem i found,this is part of it=

Take the Life that you have and give it your best...
Think positive, be happy let God do the rest...
Take the challenges that life has laid at your feet...
Take pride and be thankful for each one you meet...
To yourself give forgiveness if you stumble and fall...
Take each day that is dealt you and give it your all...
Take the love that you're given and return it with care...
Have faith that when needed it will always be there...
Take time to find the beauty in the things that you see...
Take life's simple pleasures let them set your heart free...
The idea here is simply to even the score...
As you are met and faced with Life's Tug of War.

I was pleased with the outcome,just hope he likes it,bit different lol.

Time Flies Birthday Card

Old watch parts bought from Ebay,fixed onto stampbord which was embossed with mica powders first ,then painted the parts with gold leaf. The watch face i used dimensional magic to give a glossy finish,butterflies cuttlebug,lettering PC program.

Princess Gothic Page

Starry Starry Sky

Another page for my book ! i cant wait to get this project finished,i am planning the cover in my head !

Gothic Arch Page

Still working on my Gothic Arch book up to page 5 now,this one is called "All that Glitter's is not Gold "
The background is my own homemade inks which shimmer with mica powders,then stamped,lady collaged,her dress is coloured in with Stardust pens, with touches of glitter glue.

Altered Jigsaw Pieces

This is an ATC .......Altered Jigsaw pieces,coloured,rubberstamped ,the gold is coloured with Stardust pens,feather added .

My Claim to Fame

Here is another one of my watercolour painting,people have been asking to see more...so here is my claim to fame !

I was commissioned by Royal Doulton to do this scene for a plate,i dont know whether they used it,but they did buy the copyright !

I did four of these depicting cottage scenes with flowers they chose this one,the others have been sold.

I still have this one,which i would'nt part with partly because they have the copyright,also its nice to keep for my grandchildren.

When you work for publishers they just buy the copyright of your work not the actual paintings,i think they make some kind of printers plate from the original,i never went into all the details.
Its nice to be able to keep your original artwork

I also did cottage designs, for displaying on mugs.they kindly sent me the finished mugs lol

Watercolour ATC's

These ATC's I painted in Portugal,perhaps i was homesick as they are all scenes in Essex where i live,actually i painted them in the evenings,through boredom,Portugal TV i,m not into haha......... 2 have been traded,hence the gaps !

Button Fairy ATC

My first attempt !,little bit tricky than the normal,i decided to string the buttons first then stick on.This one is for a swap,i need to get busy and do 3 more !there is no end of possiblities,i have loads of idea's,just got to find the materials to use like pretty buttons haha.