Painting Bliss

Spring Flower Trees and Watercolor

 

The flowers that usually bloom in May are blooming now. The world is just exploding with color and today I wanted to show you what's blooming here in New York. Inspired by the foliage, I took out my watercolors and created a compilation of the flowers I photographed.

 

Flowers... are a proud assertion that a ray of beauty outvalues all the utilities of the world.  ~Ralph Waldo Emerson, 1844

 

I perhaps owe having become a painter to flowers.  ~Claude Monet

If you love this piece and would like to give it a good home you can find it here in my Etsy Shop.

Shrink Film Necklaces a Creative Process

 

Remember shrinky dinks? I do! my first set was given to by my dad :) I remember coloring in the smurf figures and watching them shrink down to less than half their size... I was captured right then and there by the magic of shrinking plastic. Well, did you know you can still by shrink film? you can! I purchased  a package myself a few weeks back and had some fun yesterday creating a necklace.

The first step with shrink film is lightly sanding it in different directions with a 300-400 grit sandpaper. I only had 220, and it worked out just fine!

 

From there I colored in my image with colored pencils being sure to shade and make it look just right. When the shrink film shrinks the color condenses, becoming vibrant and eye catching. You have to remember that if  you are using your image as a charm, to punch a hole into the film before shrinking, otherwise your stuck!

 

 

Lastly I outlined with sharpie marker and a finer tipped black pen. For some reason the shrink film doesn't like marker and I had to re-activate the tip on paper; going back and forth between shrink film and paper. Completion was achieved by cutting out my image carefully and using an exacto knife in tight spaces.

Into the oven it went where in about 3 minutes the film curled, shrunk, and layed flat. Upon removing from the oven, while the plastic was still somewhat soft and hot... I pressed it flat just in case, with a spatula.

 

 

Some jump rings, swavarski crystals and a ball chain and my necklace was complete! I plan on working a bunch of these necklaces up to bring with me on our family vacation to Connecticut. We like to visit some cute shops, and perhaps they will be interested in selling some wares from a talented artist ;) if they don't, into the Etsy shop they go.

I have never approached a shop owner about my work before, so it should be a learning curve and a little bit of excitement all rolled into one!

 

 

If you have an idea for a necklace or would like to custom order one email me here. I would love to create a piece for you or someone you know! Items made for gifts can be hand wrapped on request.

For all of you that visit every day or even just find me by chance while web surfing I love to read your comments and resond below! feel free to write me a little note or hello :) go ahead, make my day! I look forward to it!

 

Tutorial Thursday - Corked Bottle Necklaces

 

 

So I'm pretty enraptured by these necklaces... and Etsy shops are just exploding with them! They are called Corked Bottle Necklaces and I just LOVE the endless possibility of creating a very unique and personalized necklace for you or a friend... neighbor, mom, etc! They are super simple and self explanatory, so here are 4 corked bottle necklace tutorials and you wouldn't believe how hard they were to find, even though they are incredibly popular right now! these little tiny corked bottles can be found in your local craft store in the mixed media scrap-booking section or here on Amazon. I bought a set of 8 different shaped glass corked bottles by Jim Holzt Idea-ology today and with my coupon made out great!

 

{{ Terrarium Vial Necklace }}

Oh you know I LOVE terrariums! can't help myself really, they are so lovely and a plant I can take with me everywhere is just precious?

 

 

{{ Wishes Glass Vial Necklace }}

These "wishes" can be collected from dandelions all summer long :) search your local craft beading dept. for an inspirational word bead to attach.

 

 

{{ Treasure Bottle Necklace }}

I plan on making something similar to this one but with my own spin on it (of course). My family and I will be visiting our favorite spot in Connecticut in just a few short weeks. When we make our way to the beach I will fill my tiny bottle with sand and other found objects so I can always have my favorite place close to my heart.

 

 

 

{{ Message in a Bottle Necklace }}

What could be more lovely then a secret message or a word of inspiration around your neck or as a gift to a friend?Another idea would be to put an encouraging self motivational qoute or message so at the times you need a reminder to "stop and breathe" you can read it... then STOP and Breathe... ahhhhhhhh :)

 

 

Ok, go... do... make!! GET YOUR CRAFT ON :)

 

 

 

Custom Portrait - Spring Giveaway

Giveaway time! it's been awhile now hasn't it!?

I recently traded with Pixie Polly from The Enchanted Pixie. I painted her portrait, (my style of course) in trade for tweaking a few things here on my blog. She's a wiz with HTML and I am not, so a trade of talents was as wonderful deal.

Today I am offering you a custom portrait by mwau! below you can enter for this giveaway, all entries are one time only entries except for tweeting about this giveaway, which you can do once per day until the giveaway ends on April 6th. It doesn't have to be your portrait if you don't want, it can be anyone you want me to create  i.e. grandchild, friend, mom etc.

 

Portrait Created For Pixie Polly

Giveaway runs from today March 27th - April 6th - I will announce the winner on April 7th here on my blog and also twitter.

Enter Below by clicking on rafflecopter giveaway :)

Hiking the Liberty Loop - Family Happens

There are perfect moments when all of us, so used to going about our daily lives and routines converge into a perfect union of familiness (yeah I made that word up). No one argues or fights... no one asks to do something different or accuse the other of staring at him funny.

These moments are precious to me, precious to us all.

Sunday we took time out from our routine to walk a small portion of the Appalachian trail called "The Liberty Loop" . The Liberty loop is is a 2.5 mile loop that encompasses a very large marsh. A wildlife refuge the scenery changes as the seasons change and so every time you walk, there is always something new to see. The migrating song birds change as do the water fowl and even the sounds of early spring peepers to mid summer crickets.

 

 

2.5 miles is more than you think and I'm pretty sure the children only walked half of that. The rest was spent alternating between my husband and I for piggy back rides. 1 and 1/4 miles is a lot of  walking for little legs! so we were happy to help them get through their hike.

All of us love nature... we love seeing new things and exploring wildlife. Each time we do this trail it changes for us, there are exciting things that await us...

like this tree carved down by a beaver, I had never seen one in person...

 

Woven branches...

 

 

New Tree fluff, now you know why they call this color "spring green"...

 

 

In a world so big... on a hike so nice... my eldest (6 1/2) looks so small. As I watched him through the lense of my camera capturing his iamge and my thoughts... I wondered about what's in store for him and his future. All of their futures. I hope they will be as ambitious as I and their father, hope they will want more than they can see in front of them and go for it!

 

 

As our hike came to a close and we were all ready for an afternoon snooze, my middle son... my dreamer who had the whole time held a 3 leaf clover said "mommy, I'm gonna put this in water and let it grow again"... mind you the clover was a mess. It had been squeezed, played with, crumpled with little boy sweat... I assured him in my soft mommy way that his little clover probably was "all done" and that it wouldn't revive... well he proved me wrong. When he got home he put his wee little patient into a shot glass of water and by dinner it looked like the moment he had picked it. I should of known... out of all people I should have known.

I hope whatevers out there for my boys that when storm clouds gather and it doesn't look like the sun will shine... when the world is cold and vultures loom...

 

that they will be like the clover. That they won't let that affect them... that they will revive and thrive.

Take note today and be the clover.

 

 Thank you for reading today about me and my family, about the stuff I think about as a mom and parent... if you too are a parent I know you understand these special moments when all things seem to weave together just so.

 

 

 

 

Motivational Monday - Happiness

 

 

I read an amazing quote from Nelson Mandela and made it the wallpaper on my laptop... it said everything exactly right and just reaffirmed what I already feel. Part of the quote read " There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so people won't feel insecure around you" and with reading just that one line I thought about happiness and how when you are truly happy it sometimes makes others feel uncomfortable... well I say forget that and who cares! SHINE ON!

 

Brought to you by CoconutJA86

Brought to you by JJ Art World

 

Brought to you by Blimp Cat Studio

 

Brought to you by chARTity elise designs

Somerset Studio Challenge Annabel Lee E.A. Poe

 

As you may already know I enter as many calls for art put out by the amazing Somerset Studio Magazine. An upcoming challenge due April15th has an Edgar Allen Poe theme. I have always liked the poem Annabel Lee and felt it would make a great piece. Below is the poem by Edgar Allen Poe called Annabel Lee and then my version of the poem mixed media style of course...

 

Annabel Lee

It was many and many a year ago,
In a kingdom by the sea,
That a maiden there lived whom you may know
By the name of ANNABEL LEE;
And this maiden she lived with no other thought
Than to love and be loved by me.

I was a child and she was a child,
In this kingdom by the sea;
But we loved with a love that was more than love-
I and my Annabel Lee;
With a love that the winged seraphs of heaven
Coveted her and me.

And this was the reason that, long ago,
In this kingdom by the sea,
A wind blew out of a cloud, chilling
My beautiful Annabel Lee;
So that her highborn kinsman came
And bore her away from me,
To shut her up in a sepulchre
In this kingdom by the sea.

The angels, not half so happy in heaven,
Went envying her and me-
Yes!- that was the reason (as all men know,
In this kingdom by the sea)
That the wind came out of the cloud by night,
Chilling and killing my Annabel Lee.

But our love it was stronger by far than the love
Of those who were older than we-
Of many far wiser than we-
And neither the angels in heaven above,
Nor the demons down under the sea,
Can ever dissever my soul from the soul
Of the beautiful Annabel Lee.

For the moon never beams without bringing me dreams
Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;
And the stars never rise but I feel the bright eyes
Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;
And so, all the night-tide, I lie down by the side
Of my darling- my darling- my life and my bride,
In the sepulchre there by the sea,
In her tomb by the sounding sea.

 

My version of Annabel Lee captures Annabel after she has been chilled by the wind out of the cloud of night. It was important for me to capture the sadness of Allen's poem but also give it beauty and depth. In the background you can see a foggy "kingdom by the sea" as Annabel is taken by the waves. This pieces was created using liquid acrylic, watercolor, papers, tissue paper, micron pen, white gel pen, chalk, and pencil. 

I have had tremendous luck (fingers crossed) with sending my work to Somerset. I have not recieved any of my pieces back in rejection... I know that I will of course, but if I don't well then I repeat that I must have tremendous luck or lots of talent ;)

This piece will go into the mail and off to California, Monday morning. Bon Voyage Annabel!

Thank you for your visit today, I love seeing that you visit! Have a happy Sunday and be sure to get some fresh air before your week begins!

By the way be sure to stop by for tomorrow's Motivational Monday.

Early Spring Newsletter

 

Oh it's been a busy spring thus far! Each month near the end of the month I will begin featuring a newsletter post summarizing what I have been up to and what to expect of me in coming months.

 

Firstly I would like to thank you for being so wonderful. I know personally how much every minute of your day is precious, and I am deeply grateful for your daily visits. For the next week until Friday March 30th I am offering 10% off the item of your choice in my Etsy shop. Upon checking out use the promo code "SoThankful". My shop is filled with all sorts of beautiful items! Be sure to take note of my new 3 dimensional pieces!

 

 

You may have noticed that my blog looks prettier than usual! Well that's because the lovely Polly (from her blog The Enchanted Pixie) spruced it up! She's fast, reliable, and super friendly...as well as easy to work with! She worked with me tweaking a lil' bit here and there until everything looked just right to my artistic eye. You can't beat her prices...so if you need some graphic work done, check her out! Her blog is so much fun too! A great read and very pretty.

As mentioned in a previous post, I am now blogging for Hudson Valley Parent Magazine. Being their craft blogger I offer children themed craft tutorials that I do with my own children, photograph, then write up and post. I have already written my first tutorial, and will be sharing it as soon as it officially airs. The editor will be introducing me in her editorial in the upcoming May issue. Read more about it here.

 

Along with Blogging for my local Parent magazine, I am offering my art as prints on the amazing Eat-Art.org, where they are actively ending hunger with the profits made from selling art prints and various EA apparel. Read about it here.

I recently submitted an article, various artwork samples, and my Paintingbliss blog banner to Somerset Studio's Artful Blogging division... fingers crossed!

I am EXCITED to share that I have been accepted for the upcoming July Issue of Somerset Studio Magazine!! This is my 3rd acceptance in less than a year! While entering their calls and challenges I have also been working on a set of 4 themed pieces of art. I will soon be writing an accompanying article and submitting it to them in hopes of a spread... again, fingers crossed!

I attempted to keep a sketchbook for a whole 5 days... and have given up... well not given up because I don't give up. But realized in trying to keep one why I don't... There's no time for it! It's either create real pieces or draw in a sketchbook...there's no time for both, and I choose work on real pieces. Sometimes it takes doing something you don't usually do to realize why you don't.

Last month I applied for a  Bootcamp for Performing, Literary and Visual Artists of the Capital and Mid-Hudson Region of New York State called MARK. This is a unique opportunity for an individualized focus on the professional and business side of my creative practice. I really hope I get accepted, and I can't wait to learn new things related to my art as a successful career. I should hear back any day now!

I added a series as you probably noticed call Motivational Mondays! Everyone seems to really like this, and I do too! Mowgli the cat has also started blogging for me on days I just can't stand to be inside. He's a real life saver!

 

Last but not least, I guest posted for the lovely Miss Suki of The Owl Club, and offered Marie the Owl as a giveaway. Marie has flown the nest all the way to Prague in the Czech Republic! Good thing she took her nest with her (hand crocheted by yours truly). Along with guest posting on The Owl Club, I have sponsored The Enchated Pixie for the month of March where I guest posted an interview and offered a one of a kind piece of artwork as a giveaway.

Phew! Now that's a lot, now isn't it! And you know what? I probably forgot something! Along with all of this I am taking care of my home, husband, and 3 young boys aged 1-6! Oh and I sometimes sleep! HA HA! I'm in my studio each late afternoon and after dinner, and more so on the weekends.

If you are interested in commissioning a piece of artwork please contact me here. I LOVE the challenge of creating a beautiful image from someones idea. It's a thrill :) Mother's Day is coming and it's always nice for mom to recieve something truly personal and one of a kind.

 

As always you can find me here....

 

Facebook * Twitter * Hellocotton *Eat-Art*Spoonflower*Email*Etsy

Just a note about following me on Twitter... I share a lot more photos on Twitter than I do here... I am constantly sharing updates, my day to day thoughts, and fun on the spot pics. So if you're on Twitter, follow me! :) I often share works in progress as well!

Thanks everyone for your dedication, daily visits, and general interest in my artwork and the things I do!  You're all the best!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mowgli the Cat Meow-ZA!

 

Mommy sed it wuz 2 mice outside to be inside bwogging today, so she pointed at me and sed "Mowgli... blog"....

Bwog?? huh? MEOWZA!

 

 

Hmmm... so wut duz a kitty doooo da da doooo when mommy's not around? well... I spend a lot of time staring at the kitty in da window.... funny thing... he looks a just like me!

 

 

He duzn't tawk tho, so I gets bored ... and when I'm bored... and there's no birdies to watch either...

 

I haz to clean myfelf. Personal hygene is a big passion of mine. I spend some extra time on my bitz, but mommy says I do it for attention. Cleanliness is close to kitty godliness, and I knowz it.

 

Cleaning takes a lot of my time... I'm very soft.

Mommy says I is gonna bwog a lot more now dat da weather is nicer so get used to seeing me. If you have any questions you need answering, I am very smart... please send your questions to mommy's email and I will answer them in my next bwog post. I will also share with you my drawings... I is a good artist! I has many talents and it's about time I gots to share them! Mommy steals all da spot light!

I want da light!

 

 

Have a meow-rific day!

 

 

Mowgli would like to thank his technical team for assisting with this post...Mowgli dictates while his assistants assist!

Pixie - Photographer

Tee Tee a.k.a "Thumbs" - Typing and Coding

 

 

 

 

 

Tutorial Thursday - Flowers Inspiration!

 

Another Tutorial Thursday and I can't help but bring the garden with me. All this week I could be (and can be) found knuckle deep in my garden moving plants around. It has been a wonderful couple of days full of getting dirty and late evening baths getting clean!

This week I offer you 4 Flower themed tutorials for your 4th day of the week

This Thursday's tutorials are brought to you by:

GardenMama * How About Orange * Couch House Crafting * From Glitter to Gumdrops

Go ahead, get your craft on!

 

{{ Mason Jar Hanging Flower Vase }}

I love the simplicity of this project and the calm colors of the decals.  Hung anywhere, fresh blooms can bring the scent of spring indoors...

I think they would look lovely hung on a garden's fence posts!

 

 

{{ Terracotta Flower Pot Wreath }}

Any gardener would love this hanging on their front door, just one thing missing though... chunks of either real or fake moss tucked into each pot! lovely right!?

 

{{ Fabric Covered Flower Vases}}

A nice and simple sewing project that can bring instant color into any room. A project easy to complete in an afternoon!

 

 

{{Space Saving Plant Display}}

I am WOW-ZA over this one! It's everything I love all in one... gardening, recycling, use of old objects, and something I have never seen or thought of!

A round of applause for this one! I am so on this! Me and the hubby that is... wink wink sweetheart!

 

Get those craft supplies out, replenish at your local craft store and feel the season!