Simple thank you...

I am really enjoying playing with the many ways to use watercolor. This card was inspired by some pins on Pinterest.

watercolor exercise: trees

watercolor exercise: the pear

FYI Guy

FYI Guy...I assist him in this episode!

Jeremy Rabe is fabulous! Crafty, entertaining...the whole package. Look him up on FYI Guy You Tube channel  or http://www.fyiguy.com  He has tons of great ideas.

Sharpies & Eggs or what my husbands calls "Monegg".

I zigzagged two different colors of Sharpie markers on an egg. Then I swiped and dabbed with a Q-tip dipped in rubbing alcohol. Since I'm not going to eat this, I used a hair dryer on low to speed up the dry time. While I was "painting" it, I used a condiment cup to hold it.

Asian inspired decoupage project

This was the class sample for a class I taught several years ago. Haven't made anything like this in a long time, but am thinking about giving it a go once more. Beacon's Liquid Laminate is the product I used to adhere the stamped tissue papers. After all pieces were adhered on the reverse side of this plate, I painted it with Lumiere paints in several colors. After it was dry, I sprayed with Krylon Triple Coat to protect it

Adventures with Tyvek

I have been playing with painting on Tyvek this weekend. If I understand it correctly, this is basically the same as Yupo, but I already had this on hand from some old office envelopes. I painted on this panel with Derwent Inktense blocks and randomly dropped alcohol on it while the paint/ink was still wet. I also dropped some large chunks of sea salt in random spots. When it was dry, it looked a bit dull. After looking around my art room for something I could use to give it some shine, I found an old bottle of Beacon's Liquid Laminate, so I brushed some on. I quite like the effect and would like to do a larger piece now that I know the look that can be achieved.

Watercolor rose: first attempt

Not great, definitely have not mastered it, but the "how to" videos on youtube are wonderful.  This was my little art exercise this morning. Not enough definition, not shaded correctly, but fun to do never the less.  Doing this clears my head in a wonderful way before work.  

Learning to use watercolor...

I have never been able to sing. Has nothing to do with this post, but thought I should put that out there. No matter how much I try, I don't think I can "learn" to sing. I sound like a cat in a dryer. Not going to happen. I have never been able to draw. This is why I have loved using rubber stamps. However, lately I have been playing around with watercolor. I love this medium and want to get better at it along with simple drawing. Unlike my failed singing, there is something so freeing about even trying this. The first and third photo are what I would call "scribble flowers". The second one is just a little exercise in painting flowers freehand. I got the tips & instructions for those flowers from a website: http://annikalikes.blogspot.com/2013/03/watercolor-tutorial-and-giveaway.html   I love it when an artist is so generous with their knowledge. The flowers in the second photo were painted using regular tube watercolors. The other flowers were painted using a combination of those same paints, Derwent Inktense blocks and Distress inks.