I loved making the last angel so much that I had to make another one in my Strathmore 5.5″ x 8″ watercolor journal. I lightly sketch her on the paper, and once I liked the design I wet the paper and added bright watercolor paints.
I let the colors flow and mingle on the paper. While the paint was still wet, I added a little sea salt and let it dry. Next I brushed off the sea salt and painted her halo with gold acrylic paint and let it dry. I added lines and doodles with my white Posca pen, and more detailing and shading with watercolor paints and colored pencils. Last for a little bling, I added Stickles.
I hope she inspires you to create your own magical masterpiece. Thanks for stopping by!
I saw a painting online which inspired me to create this beautiful bright angel in my Strathmore 5.5″ x 8″ watercolor journal. I started by lightly sketching her in the journal. Once I was happy with the sketch, I wet the paper a little and added my bright watercolor paints.
What I really loved about creating her was letting the watercolors mix and mingle on the wet paper. You never know what the paints will do and that’s the fun part. There’s a certain sense of freedom with that. No instructions, no rules to follow. Just have fun and let the process unfold in front of your eyes. It’s simply magical.
While the paint was still wet, I added a little sea salt. Then I waited patiently for it to dry. Next I brushed off the sea salt and using a white Posca pen, I added lines and doodles. I wasn’t happy with her face so I added more detailing and shading with watercolor paints and colored pencils. I finished her off with a little bling and added Stickles.
Hope she inspires you to create your own magic in your journal and in your life! Thanks for stopping by!
I created this fun whimsical girl in my Strathmore 6″ x 12″ watercolor journal. It’s an odd size journal which makes it quite a challenge to create in. I started by doing a light sketch and then I painted her with watercolor paints.
After the paint had dried, I outlined the sketch with Sakura Micron 005 Pen. Next I added a few highlights to her hair with a white Posca Pen and shading with a gray Stabilo Pencil. I also added a little bling to her hair with pink Stickles. Last I filled in the word Dream with Inkssentials Glossy Accents to give it a little texture.
I really love her wild pink hair. Thought it was perfect for the season Lol!
Hope she inspires you to create your own whimsical girl. Thanks for stopping by!
Researchers have found that smiling, evokes a feeling of happiness and has many positive effects on our overall wellbeing. On my morning walks I’ve encountered many people on the road especially these days. But to my surprise, a lot of them were, well, grump misers. I would smile and give them a nice “Good Morning” a few would respond but a lot would just grunt and keep going.
My parents always told me stories of how I was the happiest baby, always laughing and smiling and I still am. Truth be told, it just makes you feel good. Sure, life isn’t perfect and things go wrong for all of us, but it comes down to what are you going to do with that curve ball life just threw your way. Are you going to be miserable or are you going to make the best of it and find something to smile about. Personally I prefer to find that silver lining in the cloud.
With all these morning grump misers, I thought I can’t let them be this unhappy, because happiness and positive energy is contagious. So I upped my game. I started giving everyone a big smile with a resounding “Good Morning!” And if that didn’t work, the next time I’d add in a twinkling little wave along with my big smile and greeting. I was determined to share the happy!
Funny thing started to happen, even the grumpiest people would get happy when they saw me coming their way. The happiness and positive energy has been so contagious, that they are now, seeking me out for that “Good Morning” smile and it’s just really nice to know that your smile and positive energy has the power to brighten someone else’s day.
We have unusual circumstances these days where many of us are in environments where we have to wear masks a lot but you can still see a smile in a person’s eyes and you feel the positive energy radiating from them. So don’t use that as an excuse not to smile and share the happy. Imagine how different the world could be if more people would share a smile and positive energy.
Who did you share your smile with today?
“Sometimes your joy is the source of your smile, but sometimes your smile can be the source of your joy.” Thich Nhat Hanh
I read an interesting article written by Chip Gaines in the Summer 2020 issue of Magnolia Journal. In the article he posed a good question: “If fear wasn’t a part of the equation, how would your life look different?”
It really got me thinking. Fear always plays a pretty big role in all of our lives everyday. We don’t move forward with projects out of fear of failure. We hold back on meeting new people because we’re afraid of being rejected. We don’t sing, create art or dance to our hearts content because we’re afraid of being ridiculed or laughed at.
But ultimately, we end up hurting ourselves. We lose out on life, by sitting on the sidelines allowing fear to grip us tight and hold us back. I’m not saying that fear is bad, it’s also a good thing because fear keeps us safe. But often times we let it get out of control when it isn’t necessarily needed. We need fear but we also need to keep it in check. We need to be sensible but when it comes to living our lives and being in the present moment or sitting it out on the bench, please choose to enjoy life! It is so much more fulfilling and it’s one of the reasons we’re here. So live your life to the fullest everyday!
“In the end, we only regret the chances we didn’t take.” ~ Lewis Carroll
I found this wooden cut out in the Art and Craft store and thought it would be fun to make it into a Halloween Decoration. It’s fairly easy to make with minimal supplies and would be a great project to make with kids, supervised of course 😉
Supplies:
Wooden “Spooky” cut out with hanging wire
Gesso
Folkart Crackle Medium
Acrylic Paint: Red, Black
Acrylic Paint Pens: Red, White
Stickles: Xmas Red
Inkssentials Glossy Accents
2 Black glitter pumpkin bell ornaments
Instructions:
Paint the wooden cut out with gesso. Let dry.
Paint cut out with red acrylic paint. Let dry.
Paint cut out with Folkart Crackle Medium. Let dry.
Paint cut out with black acrylic paint. Note: While this layer dries, the paint will start to crack and you’ll see the red paint underneath show through. Make sure to let this completely dry before moving on.
Using the white and red acrylic paint pens, outline the letters a little to make them stand out more. Note: If you don’t have the pens, you can also use a liner brush dipped in white and red acrylic paint to make the thin lines.
Add drops of blood to the letters with the red Stickles. Let dry.
Using the Glossy Accents, go over the Stickles blood drops. Once dry, this will give the droplets a 3D effect.
Last, tie on your pumpkin ornaments to the ends where the wires are and that’s it!
I am a collector of quotes. They inspire and motivate you and touch your heart and soul. These are a few of my favorites from “Inspirational Quotes illustrated” by Lesley Riley.
This book quickly became one of my favorites. Lesley did a magnificent job collecting 130 quotes and paired them with beautiful illustrations by various artists. The pages in the book are perforated so you can easily tear them out and frame them if you like.
Click on the above image to go directly to Amazon
“We are not human beings have a spiritual experience. We are spiritual beings having a human experience.” ~Pierre Teilhard de Chardin
“The most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched. They must be felt with the heart.” ~Helen Keller
“Your living is determined not so much by what life brings to you as the attitude you bring to life.” ~Khalil Gibrain
“Some days there won’t be a song in your heart. Sing anyway.” ~Emory Austin
“We have a tendency to obscure the forest of simple joys with the trees of problems.” ~Christiane Collange
Not sure if you read last week’s Thoughtful Thursday Post but I entered a virtual challenge for the week from Garmin, competing against 9 other runners. The goal was distance. It officially ended on Monday and I walked 33.9 miles and took 1st Place!! That was such a milestone for me. I was never able to do this when I was younger, much less win 1st Place but I was determined. I wanted to throw in the towel a few times but I had to reach down deep and find the courage and perseverance to keep going. Everything in my body was starting to hurt. But I really wanted to win.
I had no intention of walking this much but Jon, who was in 2nd Place was absolutely relentless. Every time I tried to put a little more distance between us he up’d his game and closed the gap. I am very thankful for Jon because he pushed me to do more and more. More than I ever thought I was capable of. Almost 34 miles in 1 week!!! It was unbelievably hard and I’m so glad it’s done because I’m exhausted.
After finishing this race, my confidence in myself definitely went up a few notches. I now know that that I have the drive and ability to tackle what may appear as a monumental task and come out victorious. Even if I don’t know how to go about it, I’m more than capable of figuring it out and that’s a very good feeling.
This wasn’t an official race. There were no trophies, no one cheering you along from the sidelines. It was just me and my Garmin, tracking my miles. But I’m very proud of my virtual win because for me this was so much more than just winning.
What area of your life do you need to boost your confidence in? Take on that monumental task and prove to yourself that you CAN do it!
I never thought I would like competing as much as I do. I guess it drives me to do better and that’s why I’ve grown to like it so much. I got a Garmin Watch from my hubby for my birthday a few months ago. I had no idea what missing until I got this watch. I really, really love it! One of the cool things is that you can install the Garmin app on your phone and sync it with your watch. Garmin has different challenges every week and month. So I entered my first challenge last week.
The goal of this challenge was to walk 25,000 steps in a week which is about 12.5 miles so you can advance to the next level. I entered it a few days in and was excited to see I was in 6th place out of 10 other people who also entered. I moved up to 4th and sadly dropped finished in 7th Place. The other walkers had way more steps than me, I didn’t even come close. The winner of the group completed about 29+ miles. Very impressive to say the least!!
After losing that challenge, I entered it again for this week. I’m determined to finish in 1st place so I’ve been doing a lot of walking, much more than usual. The hardest part is the South Florida heat. The humidity has been really bad lately. It definitely slows down your pace but I refuse to give up. Today I walked the furthest yet, a whopping 5 miles. It took me 1 hour, 20 minutes. I really started to fizzle in the end but I persevered and reached my goal! I’ve walked nearly 13.5 miles in 3 days which is not bad considering I would normally have anywhere from 6 to 9 miles for an entire week.
As of this moment, I’m still in 1st Place. But the others are closing in fast. It’s going to be a tough challenge but I’m seeing it through. Wish me luck!!
What is something that challenges you and drives you to do better?
Last week when I went on my walk, I was saddened to see a squirrel that had been hit by a car. About 3 days later, I went on another walk with my husband. We almost didn’t go that morning because a very bad thunderstorm was moving in.
To our surprise it moved in much faster than expected and we had to cut our walk short and run most of the way to get back home before it started to pour rain. As we came around the corner, we saw something small in the middle of the road and didn’t know what it was at first. But as we got closer we saw it was a baby squirrel which was a few feet away from where the adult squirrel died a few days earlier.
We carried the baby home and put him in a box. He was so small that he could fit in the palm of your hand. The poor little thing was very weak and we knew he needed help fast. So we made a few phone calls and found the Florida Wildlife Center would take him in.
We debated taking care of him ourselves but he was in such bad shape and needed lots of care so we thought he’d have a better chance with them. We drove him across town and dropped him off at the Center. Their policy is to rehabilitate the animal and once they’re ready, release them where they were found which made us happy.
I just received news today that the little guy is doing well. He was malnourished and dehydrated but other than that, he is recovering just fine. From what I read online, orphaned baby squirrels can’t make it in the wild until they’re around 4.5 months old because their survival instincts aren’t developed yet. I’m guessing, this little bambino has a few more months to go before being released so I’ll keep you posted.
Flowing Waters Art 