Birthday Giveaway

Today is my birthday and it is a milestone year.  I have been contemplating my life the last few weeks as often happens to me when I hit a milestone birthday.  The last decade I decided to go back to college and finish my degree.  I am not planning anything that life changing this time around, but there are some things that I have been working on changing.  I want to make sure that I stay healthy and prevent the health problems that are prevalent in my family.  I need to evaluate my eating habits and my exercise routines to make sure that I stay healthy and to encourage my husband to do the same.  I want us to be around for many more years so that we can enjoy each other's company.  I also want to make sure that I am spending money wisely so that we can enjoy our retirement years and not leave debts to our children some day.

I am really enjoying my life now for the most part.  I stay home with my youngest and work on my art in all the free time that I can carve out of my daily life.  It does take some time to raise five kids, but it gets easier as they get older.  I want to work on my art the most this year.  I want to keep learning and perfecting skills and I want to grow my new baby business.  I really enjoy creating things that can add beauty and meaning to daily life and sharing them with the world.  I have a lot to learn about the business side as well.  That is the hardest for me as it is for a lot of creative people. I have set some goals for my business this year and I am currently planning out how I am going to meet those goals step by step.  One of the things that I want to do is to share a bit of art with my readers.

I am going to give-away two pieces of art just to show you all that I appreciate you reading my blog and supporting me.  I am going to take all the comments from both of my blogs and put the names into a pot and have my little one take out two names.  I will send you a small piece of my art. The first one will be for a bookmark created out of bits of my painted papers.  The second one will be for one of my ATCs.  I will let the winners pick out their favorite from the category that they have won.  

Here are the bookmarks.  I have shown both sides of each one.

Here are the ATCs.

In order to be put into the drawing please leave a comment on one of my blogs about what you like about my art.  Please check out my Etsy Shop and my art that is available for prints on Fine Art America too.
I will leave this open for a week and draw the names on Thursday, January 24th.  Please leave an e-mail address so that I can get in touch.  Then I will contact the winners to get their mailing information.
I hope that everyone enjoys my birthday give-away and I wish you all a peaceful day.
Janelle

Textured Flower

I thought that I would share a small piece that I just finished recently.  I took a small wood panel, 3" x 3", that had a wire hanger attached to it and I covered the panel with patching plaster.  When the plaster was completely dry I sealed the whole piece with several coats of gesso.  After that was dry I painted this really simple flower with Golden Fluid Acrylics.  I was using these flowers that grow in my garden as inspiration for this piece.  I went with a different color scheme, but I always enjoy seeing these flowers brighten up my yard each summer.  I wanted to bring a little color out this winter.  I added this to my Etsy shop which you can find by clicking on the link on the right side of my page.

  

I added a little more detail to this painting. 

Have a wonderful creative week,

Janelle

A Give-away

Go and check out these gorgeous beads that Sam Bonney is giving away at her new blog.  You can see them  here.

Journaling and Lifebook

I thought that I would share some of my journal pages and my Lifebook lessons as well.  I am looking forward to a great and creative year this year.  I hope that you all have the same in whatever you do.

 In my journal I have still been playing with sprays and Artistcellar stencils.  I'm having a blast with them.

These are the first two Lifebook lessons for 2013.  I'm glad that they are both happy pages.

Have a great week,
Janelle

Happy New Year

I wanted to share a piece that I am working on right now.  Tomorrow a whole new year starts, so I have a chance to do a whole new batch of art.  Have a Happy New Year and enjoy these progress shots.  I made this little quilt last summer, but I wanted to add something more to it before it felt complete.  I took a piece of rust dyed cotton and used a new stencil from Artistcellar that I won recently.  This is one of the texture stencils by Jill Berry.  I cut out little birds using this cotton and some more of my hand dyed cotton.  I fused these pieces together and then to my quilt.  Now I'm in the process of adding stitching and some more elements.  Hopefully I will be able to share the completed quilt with you soon.
Have a great holiday,
Janelle

New Journal Spread

I finally had time to finish a new journal spread.  I used stencils that I won from Artistcellar designed by Jill Berry.  I also used Silks acrylic glazes and a humongous Sharpie marker that my daughter got me for Christmas.

I have some more projects in the works using stencils that I will share when they are done.  I have been spending a lot of my time sewing for family members this break and hanging out with my family.  I am enjoying seeing my daughter who is back from college and spending time relaxing.
I hope that everyone has a great weekend,
Janelle

A Lifebook Lesson

I have done a little bit of art among all the sewing for Christmas.  I started this lesson a while ago, but I just finished up the lesson yesterday.  This was done for the on-line class Lifebook which is a wonderful course and well worth the money.  This particular lesson was taught by the talented artist Jane Davenport.  I had a lot of fun learning how to draw mermaids. 

Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year along with whatever holidays you celebrate at this time of the year.

Janelle

Wordless Wednesday

Busy Mom

I thought that I would let my readers know that I might not be posting a lot of art until after Christmas.  I have been busy sewing gifts for my kids and nieces and nephews and now the rush is on to get everything finished by Christmas.  I also have some baking that I want to do, even though kids make the kitchen messier and more chaotic I still like to bake with my kids.  They make everything more fun.  I will get back to art after Christmas, because I love to create during the school break.  My littlest boy has siblings to play with, so I can get more done.  Have a very joyful and blessed holiday season.
Janelle

Our Lady of Guadalupe

I wanted to do this spread in my art journal in honor of Our Lady of Guadalupe.  It was her feast day yesterday.  I used a bunch of goodies that I got from Artistcellar to create this spread.

I hope that you have a great week and can enjoy this holiday season,
Janelle

Star

I made this star ornament this past weekend.  I used two pieces of mixed media paper cut into a star.  I sprayed the paper with turquoise Dylusions spray.  Then I stenciled with one of the new Artistcellar stencils by Jill Berry and Inka gold.  Next I glued the two pieces together with a piece of hemp cord in the center.  I sealed everything with gloss gel medium and sprinkled on some glitter.  It is very shimmery and sparkly when you see it in person.

Have a happy holiday season,
Janelle

Winter Fairy

I just finished painting a winter fairy.  I'm happy with her sparkle and I'm happy that I learned how to draw these wings.  I used this art

by Anne Stokes as my model, so that I could get the body position down.  I wanted my fairy to be in a wonder winter land scene.  I am still hoping that we get some snow before Christmas.  I will show you some pictures of my process and each layer.

My beginning sketch on Strathmore mixed media paper

This layer is Derwent Inktense Pencils

This layer is Prismacolor Pencils

This layer is oil pastels

This layer is the first layer with acrylic paint

This is the final layer with more acrylic paint and glitter

I hope that my fairy makes you happy today.
Janelle