Summer of Colour Week 4, A Tag and a Landscape

The new colour palette for this week on the Summer of Colour challenge blog is Pink & Apple Green with a Smudge, Splash or Pop of Dark Green. What a luscious combination! 'Thank you' to our lovely host Kristin :D

 

Now before I show you my submission, I would like to thank everyone for their comments on my page last week, they are all so wonderful and very touching, and more so those about Wee Man's Index Card art. You made us both smile from (o ear to ear o) So, Thank you ((hugs))

I used a large tag which I covered in Apple Green Inktense pencil and then wet it down.  I mixed a nice shade of pink with my luscious Koh-I-Noor paints and drew some balloons on top of the green but it didn't show up very well so I drew some on card, painted them and then cut them out to layer onto the tag instead.  I painted on the strings with a darker green.  I stamped some bunting to the top of the tag with pink Pixie Dust ink from Memento, (what a lovely name ~ Pixie Dust). Unfortunately tho', that didn't show up very well either, so I painted over it with the dark green. I used my pink Wink of Stella brush to add some sparkle to the balloons, a ribbon tie, and to add some details on the bunting. I also used it to stamp some tulip heads and then painted some dark green stems onto them. 

I am also linking this to Tag Tuesday, as the theme there this week is Garden Party and I think this fits quite well into that.

I hope you aren't bored yet, because I have been a very busy crafter the past couple of days and been very fortunate that what I wanted to acheive has gone to plan.  That being said, I would also like to share my submission for the Craft Barn's 13th Q & L Challenge with you, where the words this week are Path and or Horizon. We have to use one or both and use a quote and or a lyric in our work, whatever that may be. I am using a quote that has both words in it, and I'm quite chuffed about it, as it is the first time that has happened for me. (I think)

I did a very light sketch in pencil which I erased as I went along with my chalk pastels.  A lovely selection from Pebbles, called Basic Bright Shades. I applied and blended with cotton buds.  I drew the fence and sheep with a fine micron pen, which I also used for the lettering.  I 'fixed' it with cheap hairspray.

That's it, you can relax now, and if you stayed this long, ((extra hugs)) and thank you all very much for looking, and until next time..................

............thanks for popping by to say 'Hi' *hugs*

ps - If you have the time, maybe you could click on the links above and see what other people have been doing, spread some love, and perhaps think about joining in yourself. Thanks again, *hugs*

Another Two-fer - starring Creative Tuesdays & Summer of Colour, Week Three

I have managed to combine two challenges again this week and will continue to do so as much as possible.  It saves me time but also gives me a sense of acheivement.

The newest theme over on the Creative Tuesdays blog is, 'Pig'!

My initial reaction was ...........okaayy...... then my little brain ticked over............and then I thought ........ Squeeaal!  Yess!  Happy happy thoughts!  Lol :D

For the other challenge, the new colour palette from Kristin on the Summer of Colour blog is Lavender & Grey with a smudge, splash or pop of Plum.  Gorgeous colour combo in my opinion ;)

Now, my litle boy has been taking part in the Index Card A Day challenge and some of the characters from the Hundred Acre Wood have made their way into crayon colourfulness.  His work inspired what I did on my page.

Can you see where I'm going?  

Got it yet?

Yes.......

It's Piglet of course!  I had so much fun creating this page with my Neocolour IIs and my home-made fun-foam stamps.  If you could touch the page you would feel the texture created by my stylus having been scrubba-dubbed over a polka dot stencil I held under the page. I used a babywipe to smoosh around the grey crayon and I added the purple directly to the stamp which I then sprayed with water before stamping.  I painted Piglet with my waterbrush directly onto the crayon and my 'pop' of plum is on Piglet's cute wee nose and the centre of the flowers.  The thought bubble, was also inspired by my Wee Man's artistic speech bubbles.  I am so proud of him; so far he has done 21 cards.  I intend to show them all on here when the challenge is finished, but if you'd like to see more in the meantime, you can have a wee sneak-peek on my flickr page. 

So until next time, if you want to know about the challenges, please follow the links above, and..............

....................thanks for popping by to say 'Hi' *hugs*

Pay It Forward Art-making Project for 2014

I saw this on Tracey's blog back at the beginning of April.  Yikes, that is just about three months ago!  How time flies, but luckily there is still seven months to fulfil the commitment I made back then. 

What did I commit to do? Well read on.......

I promise to make a small work of art for the first five people who comment on this post and say "YES, I want in".  A 'like' alone is not enough of a commitment, nor is a comment about thinking Pay It Forward is a great idea. 

You must in turn post this as your status update and make something for the first five who comment on your status. 

The rules are simple: 

- It has to be your work, made by you, and the recipient must receive it before 2014 ends.

- It can be anything art-based: a drawing/illustration or a conceptual work of art, a photograph, a knitted item, cross-stitch, papier mache - or anything in between. 

I'm paying it forward thanks to Tracey Fletcher King. Yes, you can be on each other's pay it forward lists. 

So technically Tracey is first, so First Four, GO!

PS. It doesn't matter if you think you aren't 'an artist', go try something out.  Google or YouTube 'how to make stuff'; step out of those boundaries.

To perhaps make it a little easier for you to decide whether you want to join me, I will tell you that I am making postcards. 

Until next time...............

.....................thanks for popping by to say 'Hi' *hugs*

Observation and A Childs Imagination

My wee boy called me out to the garden all excited this afternoon, "Quick, quick, come see this person in the flower!"  So of course I went to see what on earth he was talking about,.............whilst those instantaneous thoughts we've all had, flashed through my head -

Gate shut & locked, Check!  

No weirdos reported hanging about, Check!  

And relax....................

And sure enough, there it is; a person, disguised as a flower in my garden!

How observant is that!? 

My Wee Man is jsut so awesome!!!

Until next time.................

.........see what you can find

The Craft Barn's Q & L Challenge #12 Proud & Vintage ~ Also ~ Summer of Colour 2014 ~ Week 2

I've done a 'Twofer' page this time ~ that is, one page for two challenges.  Gives more time to play dontchya think?! ;)

First up, it's time for The Craft Barn's 12th Q & L challenge, for which they gave us the words Proud and/or Vintage.  I chose the word, Proud.  Also, we are to use a Quote and/or, a Lyric in our work.   My quote cannot be attributed to any one person, but is often used as inspiration in sports.  Today is another chance to make yourself proud.  I think it could be applied equally to almost any activity.

The second part of my 'twofer', is from the Summer Of Colour challenge, where this week, Kristin has given us Coral, Teal and a smudge, splash or pop, of Bright White to use.  I had problems at first, getting my head around what the colour coral was and how I could make it.  But with lots of input from the fabulous people doing the challenge and others on Facebook, I got there, (I think).  Not sure I could get the same again mind you, lol.

I had lots of fun stamping the flowers & leaves, and then coloring the flowers with my coral watercolour paint and the leaves with my teal inktense pencil, using my water brush.  I went over some of the outlines with a pen, to sharpen them up a bit.

Please click on the links if you would like to find out more about the challenges, and if you have time, it would be awesome if you could visit some of the other blogs and leave some love.

Thanks for looking;

and until next time...............
.............thanks for popping by to say 'Hi' *hugs*

Creative Tuesdays - I Want To Go To.............

Hi there :D I hope you can join me on some virtual journeys around all the different places people want to go to during the current theme over at the Creative Tuesdays co-op, hosted by Michael.  The theme this fortnight is, 'I Want To Go To [------fill in the blank------]!

I am not well travelled, by many peoples standards these days; and as I don't have a passport I've never been abroad.  But as my 'Wee man' states, (think the literal side of his ASD here), at least I have been to a different country!  Well of course I have; I live in Scotland and we have been to London. Twice! Hahaha! Anyway, although there are indeed, many cities across the world that I dream of visiting, maybe, one day, the place that I choose to go to, whenever I can, is, the beach.

I love the sounds, and the smell, and the whole visual impact of it.  Especially on a breezy day.  It's a calm day in my picture, but that's only due to my lack of drawing skills, lol.  I also think the shadow isn't right.  It's in the right place, just not the right shape?  Can anyone please advise as to what shape I should have done it?  Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining about my picture!  In fact I'm quite pleased with it. (Shock!)  LOL.  I just need some pointers that aren't above 'simple', as I tend to have found watching videos can get quite complicated.  I really did enjoy this.  Thanks Michael, for the challenge.  Also, thanks to Michael for this; my prize; ((cheesy grin))  which I just happened to use parts of, to create my picture.  I also used watercolour paints and Inktense pencils.  Thank you very much for coming to look.

And until next time..................
...............thanks for popping by to say 'Hi' *hugs*

Lucky TwinkleToes

Well look what lucky Twinkle got from Mr Postie, sent all the from Mr Toast(ie) Haha!  Sorry, I couldn't resist!  :D  (I wish blogger did proper emoticons, I love them)

Anyway, the lovely Michael gave all his particpating co-opers the chance to win this amazing haul when he reinstated the Creative Tuesdays fortnightly challenge last March. Click on the link to find out more about it and maybe you will be inspired to join in.

Thank you so much to Michael for such a wonderful prize and for all the encouragement on each and every challenge. I look forward to taking part and am inspired every time to stretch myself to try and create something I can be proud of; and to visit everyone else's blog is always such a treat.

To see what you're missing, why not pop here and follow the links to see what everyone did for the last challenge, which was Bird House/Cage.

And until next time.............

....................Thanks for stopping by to say 'Hi' *hugs*

Summer of Color 2014 ~ Week 1

I am participating in this colourful challenge, hosted by Kristin Van Valkenburgh of Twinkle Twinkle Like a Star blog. This is her fourth year of hosting the challenge and my first time of taking part. Each week Kristin will give us a colour prompt with which we have to create something.  Anything; from painting, to papier mache, to knitting with old carrier bags.  Anything goes, so long as we use only the colours in the prompt, and, if we wish, black & white.

The colours this first week are, Aqua Blue & Yellow and a Smudge Splash or Pop of Hot Pink

I went blank.  Completely and utterly blank.  I love the colour combo.  Not a problem with that.  My brain just seemed to close down.  I know I've got a week for this, but if I leave it, I know I will just feel worse.

Get a grip!!   

I got out my sketchbook, my oil pastels and went for it.  *Eeek!*  What a mess I thought.  I was going to scrap it and try to do something 'better'.  Something more in line, (yeah right), with the lovelies I had already been looking at, so quickly posted, but so perfect. In my eyes.  

Sod this, I thought!  I enjoyed scribbling away with the pastel, rubbing my fingers in it and scratching away with a broken gift card to make water, fish, birds & clouds!  So what if it's not my idea of 'perfect'!?  Just post it and move on!  

So here it is. 

Until next time, if you'd like to view some colourful loveliness, visit here..............

.............. and thanks for popping by to say 'Hi' *hugs*

The Craft Barn's Q & L Challenge #11 Mountain & Mistake

The Craft Barn has given us Mountain and/or Mistake to use in the Q & L challenge this time around and we are to use a lyric or a quote.  I used a quote, but I'm afraid I cannot find any attribution for it, so perhaps I created it myself; I do hope that's ok.

I created the background using a doily stencil and various paints. Then I did a bit of stamping and a bit of colouring with other paints.  I wrote the quote, cut it out and outlined it with some ink. This isn't what I set out to do, but I think I like it.

I'm looking forward to seeing all the other entries; the diversity is always so inspiring and everyone is always so supportive. If you would like to learn more about the Q & L Challenge just visit here for the rules and how you can participate.

Until next time...............
..........thanks for popping by to say 'Hi' *hugs*

Creative Tuesdays - Birdhouses & a little bit of crochet

June already?  Gracious!  How time flies when there's fun to be had :D  And I do hope you are having fun, whatever you are doing.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who takes the time to 'pop by' and leave such lovely comments on what I post here in my little part of blogland.  I do hope you don't think I 'Twaddle' too much, lol ;)  You are all so lovely, and kind and encouraging.  And I am so very grateful to all who choose to follow me on here.  Thank you all so much **hugs**

Now, the main reason for this post is to tell you about the current theme on Dotty Hill Creative. Our host, Michael, has chosen Bird House or Bird Cage this time around.  Hmmm......... ((thinking))............
Then, whilst looking for inspiration, I was reminded of some crochet I did over two years ago.

Gosh I'd forgotten how many I did! Lol :D  Anyway, I decided to see if I could draw one in a similar style.  I was quite pleased to find that I could!  And using different shapes to represent the crocheted stitches, I coloured it with watercolour pencils and I did a very light wash of blue in the background.

I am mostly happy with it, but disappointed that the Micron pen, (supposedly waterproof), muddied the large yellow area slightly *sigh*.  However, if you would like to join us at the co-op you can find all about it here. And we would love it if you can play along.


For now, until next time.................
..............thanks for popping by to say 'Hi' *hugs*