Flown the Coop.....

Today I thought I'd share two little (A4 size) paintings I did of a hen and a rooster.  They were originally done as doodle drawings and a customer saw them in my sketch pad and asked me to paint them on canvass for her.  She sent them to her daughter in the UK.

(If anyone is interested in commissioning one or both of these paintings I can paint them for you in any size. Email me for details: craftyad@gmail.com)

"Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished."
-Lao tse-

Week 4/52 (Create)....

This is already week four of the 52 weeks of Art Journaling Challenge-
can you believe it?
This week Dianna chose the word "CREATE".
I created a simple, fun and unlaboured journal page for this weeks word.

I covered my pages with some very bright scrapbook paper.  Then made a panel on the left page to put the message of my page "I live to create".   I painted over the scrapbook paper with the "credit card" technique using Primrose Yellow and Lime Green acrylic paint, leaving some bits of the background pattern peeking through.  I stamped the word "create" all over both pages with black ink.
 To the right hand page I added strips of scrapbook paper and wrote some of the creative things I enjoy doing onto them. I emphasized the words by coloring around them with Tangerine watercolor pencil.
I then added sketchy black lines to the corners of the large panel and the words .

I love how this page turned out! That's the thing with Art Journaling - its unpredictable - you just keep going with the page until you are happy with the results - I never start with a set idea or picture in my mind- I allow the page to develop and decide on its own personality.
This takes away the "intimidating" part of  starting with a blank white page - You just add one element that you like (eg: the scrapbook patterned paper that I added to the background) and then just let it flow from there. So relaxing - so free- so FUN!

See Dianna's beautiful "CREATE" page HERE.

Have a happy, creative and blessed weekend!
much love
Angella

Little Hearts.....

I am making these gorgeous little crochet hearts.  They are made with Elle Premier 100%cotton DK yarn.

They are 4 x 5cm big.  The colours available are:  white, orange, fuschia , purple, pale pink,  red, turquoise, blue, lime and yellow.  You can email me for further information if you are interested in purchasing some.
My email:  craftyad@gmail.com

There are so many things you can do with them. Let your imagination run wild.....

Week 3 of 52....

Dianna gave us the word "FRIENDSHIP" for this week's art journal challenge.  I decided to do a layered mixed media page. The first layer was some beautiful patterned paper.  I then added pieces of a paper doily and pieces of pages torn from an old atlas. I covered with a wash of pale yellow and also some turquoise acrylic paint. I stamped images and text onto the page with black ink and also some with white gesso. I stamped on the word "friendship" and I printed the quote on my PC and cut it into strips and added to the page.  Had lots of fun with this one!

See Dianna's  "Friendship" journal page HERE.

"What we are is God's gift to us. 
What we become is our gift to God."
-Eleanor Powell-

My GOD Journal....

Hello all you lovely creative people out there in Blog Land.  Today I am sharing some pages from what I call my GOD journal.  It is a journal I bought which has one plain page and one lined page throughout the book.  So I decided to use it for my spiritual journalling.  One the plain page I do some artwork and on the lined page I write my spiritual insights for the day.  Never done one of these before and I am so enjoying it.  It's really a rather empowering exercise.

 

"There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a MIRACLE. The other is as though everything is a MIRACLE."
-Albert Einstein-

Week 2 of 52 .....

Well, for week two of 52 weeks of art journaling,  Dianna chose the word: SING, which was quite a challenge for me because, as I told her, I cant sing.  I dearly love to sing but I am totally and utterly tone-deaf - even my dogs run away when I start singing (true story!)
So I came up with this quotable quote (my own) and I really had fun doing my SING page.
See Dianna's SING page HERE
Its not to late to join the challenge.  Come on - just DO it!

"I may not be able to sing but I can always keep a song in my heart."  -Angella- :o)

I used purple acrylic ink and a stencil (again) for the background.  I pasted on strips of offcuts from scrapbook paper.  I cut a heart out of an old church hymn book page. I coloured the heart with Inktense watercolour pencils from Derwent. I added a sticker of a grammaphone. I added the word SING with alphabet stickers and also the quote.  Added a bird and swirl sticker from my scrapbooking supplies and some washi tape (of course). Then to finish it off I added black sketchy outlines to both pages for a bit of ooomph!

What I'm Lovin' Right Now. . .

 The multitudes of birds in my garden and hearing their beautiful birdsong in the morning when I wake up....

Washing hanging on the line in the sunshine....

A project completed !

Beautiful moonlit nights....

Shadow at her daily task (mission) - catching butterflies (and other little flying creatures)....

An awesome book to read.....

Arrangements of Hydrangeas from my garden bringing beauty  everywhere in the house....

the lush greenness of my garden after all the rain we've had....

My healthy pumpkin plants in the back yard ..... and .....

the yummyness of home grown (organic) pumpkins.  (especially roasted pumpkin!!!) ...

 Art journaling and joining with Dianna to do the 52 weeks challenge.....

This beautiful clock I bought as a bedside/alarm clock .... makes me happy every time I see it !

Crocheting while watching my favorite TV shows......

"Whatever your LOT in life - build something on it."

Quick Creations....

Today I had to share these  two little frames with you that  I made to add to my very skew recycling project that I blogged about earlier this month.  I put these together in a few minutes from some items I had crocheted a while ago and two inexpensive white plastic frames.  I stuck them up on the wall slightly skew , next to the skew recycled project, in my bedroom. Now it looks less lonely up on the wall and it has two skew friends to complete the look. :o)

Have a happy creative week.  And CONSIDER:

52 weeks of Art Journaling

I have decided to join with Dianna at 365 Days of Art to do her prompts for 52 weeks of Art Journaling. She is doing a journal page a week using one word- a different word for each week. .  The word for week number one is "Beginnings" - u can see her page on her blog HERE.
This is my page for WEEK ONE  using the word "BEGINNINGS":

for the background I used purple acrylic ink and cerise Inktense watersoluable pencil (yum).  I used an actual crocheted doily as a stencil on the background. The little pink arrows are Post-It notes (so cute!). The butterflies are glittery stickers and I used some of my new Washi tape too. I stamped the word "Beginnings"  with an alphabet stamp set and black Stazon ink. This page was a "quickie" page but  FUN!

Visit her blog and join in with Dianna - "no strings attached"  - and at the end of the year you will have 52 pages of  fun to look back on! (quite an achievement).

Please leave your comments so I can know whether you are enjoying my blog and/or finding inspiration here. Thank you to all my followers and "secret fans" for keeping up with me on my  blog and sharing in my creative pursuits and other doings :o) you are much appreciated! Lotsaluv to you all.

My WORD...

Most of you have heard of choosing a WORD for the year. If not click on this LINK.

Well my word for 2013 is IMAGINE. 
My word for 2011 was STRENGTH (it was one of the hardest years of my life) and my word for 2012 following on from that was POWER.

Why IMAGINE ?  Well when you have had a chronic illness for 16 years it gets very very difficult to picture your life any different.  I truly cant remember what it feels like to have a normal amount of energy to get through the day.  I wake up exhausted and drag myself through till lunch time , when I have to have a rest for 1 or 2 hours , in order to be able to function properly for the rest of the day. I also experience pain in my body 24hrs a day. This amongst other symptoms.  I feel strongly that this is the year for my complete healing. But in order to really have enough faith and belief for that to happen I have to be able to SEE myself healthy.  So therefore my word is chosen to remind me to meditate on health not sickness, to keep my mind focused (imagine) on  what it will feel like to be completely healthy again. NOT an easy task - I cant remember what "normal" feels like anymore.  I have to go way back and imagine myself 16 years ago. But - I believe if I persevere I can do it !

This is my Life Organiser Journal which I am using to work through Jennifer Louden's Book THE LIFE ORGANISER. To start off my Journal I put in My word for the year and my colour for the year. (Orange for Optimism). My name for this year is GRACE.  Because this is the year of God's Favour.

And now for some lighter, FUN stuff.  Here is my Art Journal for 2013.  The artwork I did on the cover was inspired by the work of the lovely Tam from Willowing.ning.

And here is a little painting I did using the colour ORANGE:

"Courage doesn't always roar, sometimes courage is the QUIET voice at the end of  the day saying: "I'll try again tomorrow".    (unknown)

Inspiration Recycled...

A very quick little recycling project for the first week of 2013.  I used a lite wooden box which my mom received as a Christmas gift with toiletries in it, a page from a magazine and a flower that I crocheted.

 Using the box (already painted white) as a frame I cut the piece of  the magazine page that I wanted to use - to fit into the base of the box.

 Then glued it down firmly   with double sided tape.

 I tore out a word from the same magazine page and glued it onto the back ground page, then I glued on my fabulous layered 3D crochet flower (which I am sooooo proud of!) :o)

I have hung the frame in my bedroom . I put it up nice and firmly with double-sided mirror tape - you know how that sticks!!!  and guess what?  It is sooooooo skew - and I cannot remove it without removing  the paint and probably some plaster from the wall - eeeeeek!  Now I have to stick up two other items next to it and purposely make them skew to make it look like a "style"  :o)   
O well .... New Year - New "Style"    COMMENTS PLEASE.......

Wishing you all the greatest year ever in 2013!