Spring

Spring has arrived early here in Central Texas. Birds are chirping, bulbs are blooming, perennials are emerging, and butterflies are visiting our garden. There is no doubt that Spring is my favorite season and although birds will always be my favorite subject to paint, butterflies and flowers are probably my favorite subject to photograph. I took a step outside my box this week and painted butterflies on my journal to go along with a beautiful quote I came across.

"The butterfly is a flying flower, the flower a tethered butterfly"

You will forever look up

I have this bad habit of creating something, whether it is a journal page or a piece on canvas, then sharing it on Facebook rather than posting it here. I can't figure out why I do this but I know that I need to do better. So, here is my attempt, once again, to be present here, more often.

I have been taking Lifebook 2012 (Tam's Version) and although I have yet to create a page from the course, Tam has definitely inspired me. I love that girl! She is so fun and honest. I definitely recommend to take one of her courses or, at a minimum, watching some of her videos on YouTube. You can find out more about Tam here.

After watching a Lifebook lesson today, I was inspired to pick up the brush. As you know, I love birds and so a bird had to be on my page. There is a quote that I love by Leonardo da Vinci and so I created the page below around it. I used gesso in combination with acrylics to create the background. Once dried, I sketched the bird and then used watercolors to add color to him. I stamped the background and used sprays to add texture, then added the quote with a micron pen. This page makes me happy ♥.

Have a wonderful weekend!

“once you have tasted the taste of sky, you will forever look up”

Smell the flowers

Since I discovered art, I have less trouble stopping myself from doing all the have-to-do items on my list so that I can do the want-to-do's. I want to paint all the time and I think one of the reasons is that painting lets me enjoy the moment. The moment of the color floating on the water and doing what it wants to do rather than what I make it do. Watercoloring teaches me to let go. When I came across a photo of a bunny smelling a dandelion on Pinterest, I knew what words I could add if I watercolored it. 

Giraffe in Waiting

My brother and his wife just had a baby girl! And for me, that means that I get to crochet little girl stuff for at least the next few years! You see, when I had my little girl, I unfortunately did not know how to crochet. My baby girl is now 16 and somewhat picky about what she wears. My first crocheted item for baby Belen? A stuffed giraffe - she has been waiting for the baby to arrive for several days now. The pattern was fun and easy to follow and you can find it here.

Lemons

I believe in eating healthy meals prepared at home and although the benefits are tangible, it is always hard to want to spend 2 hours in the kitchen when I would rather spend two hours making art. I am always looking for shortcuts that help speed up meal preparation and one of those tips that I always wanted to try but didn't until a few months ago was juicing lemons and freezing the juice. I finally invested in a good juicer (pictured here is my made-in-the-USA NEMCO juicer) that allows me to juice an entire bag of lemons with ease. After juicing them, using a tablespoon measure, I pour juice into an ice cube tray (1 tablespoon per cube). Once frozen, I pull out the cubes and put them in a freezer safe plastic container. Healthy meals often call for lemon juice to brighten up flavors and now a tablespoon of juice is just a few steps away in my freezer. Added benefit: lemons no longer go bad in my fridge when I don't use them. 

Happy New Year

"Write it on your heart that every day is the best day in the year"

-Ralph Waldo Emerson

Happy 2013 to all my friends and family!

Crochet Crazy

I am the first one to confess that when I was younger, I never liked anything crocheted. My great-grandmother had taught me how to crochet when I was little but after she passed away, I never picked it up again. That is, until a few years ago, for whatever reason, I got the itch to start chrocheting again. I bought some yarn and hooks, subscribed to Crochet! magazine and did it off and on, especially in the winter months. This year it has been different. Perhaps it is because I am older and my tastes have changed, perhaps the availability of free and beautiful patterns right at your fingerprints on Pinterest has something to do with it, or, perhaps it is the fact that crochet is all of the sudden cool again. Whatever the reason, I am loving it and I can't seem to stop...that is all I want to do.
Here is a picture of a crocheted snowman ornament that I made for a friend of mine for Christmas. It was fun and quick to make and if you are interested, you can learn about the pattern here.
Merry Christmas!!