I bought one of Jane Davenport’s 6″ x 9″ Mixed Media Journals a little while ago and thought it would be fun to fill it with whimsical girls. I created Amelia, my little movie star using watercolor crayons and watercolor pencils. Since DickBlick.com is still accepting submissions for their Watercolor Art Challenge until 7/31 I thought I would enter her. There are a lot of beautiful paintings that have been submitted, but you never know.
To create this whimsical girl, start with a light pencil sketch. Once you’re happy and she resonates with you, start painting her. With watercolor paints, you always want to start with a light color wash and build up layers as you go. The more layers you build, the darker your color will be. When she is completely painted and dry, you can outline her with a Sakura Micron 005 pen.
I created highlights with a white Posca pen and added a little more detailing with colored pencils. I finished her off with a little bling on her collar with Stickles.
Thanks for stopping by! Hope you enjoy creating your journal page!!
With a little more extra time at home these days I’m paying attention to my surroundings more. I’m really noticing how looking at certain things can make you feel.
A few years ago a good friend introduced me to Feng Shui and I thought it was interesting but was very skeptical. The more I looked into it, the more it caught my attention. There are many books on the subject. But a lot of them get too technical and I just wanted a simple place to start. I have a few favorites that I’ll share at the bottom of this post. The main idea is to have good energy flow in your home. “Yes, this is a real thing.”
As we go through life, we collect lots of “stuff.” Whether it’s gifted to us, purchased as I’ll get to it some day, or a memory from a special time in our lives it really starts to accumulate. When too much “stuff” accumulates in our home, energy can stagnate. The funny part is most of this “stuff” we never even use or remember having because it’s simply put in some corner of the house and forgotten.
As I’m walking through my home, I see certain areas where the “stuff” has accumulated and I don’t like how it looks, much less how it feels. So to get the energy flowing again I’m decluttering those areas. I’m working on either giving away the “stuff” in good condition that some one else can use or tossing it. I only keep the what makes me happy.
You can easily get overwhelmed when starting this process, but take small steps. Divide a room into sections. Do one part of a room, then move to the next part and so on. If you have more time, keep going and knock more of it out. But by breaking it down into sections, it makes it more manageable and thereby more doable.
The most important key is to keep things decluttered and organized once you finish a section. It makes you feel good and keeps the positive energy flowing through your home and ultimately through your life.
I was on my walk/run the other day and completed my best time ever for 2 miles: 24 minutes, 34 seconds. I was ecstatic and amazed at what I accomplished.
When I was little, I suffered from respiratory illness. The word “running” was not in my vocabulary since my lungs could not handle it. I was constantly told “you can’t do it.” I eventually adopted this mindset and when things would get a little tough, I’d give up because I believed everyone was right.
Fast forward to now, I just read the book “Breaking the Habit of Being Yourself: How to Lose Your Mind and Create a New One” by Dr. Joe Dispenza. He talked about rewiring your brain to change your body. An idea that sounded impossible but I’ve come to realize is very possible.
I loved what Dr. Dispenza wrote so much that I’m continuing to read another one of his books titled “Becoming Super Natural: How Common People are Doing the Uncommon.”
I also started meditating this year. I have to say, it seemed odd at first, but the more I practiced, the more I grew to love it. It truly is a wonderful reset!
This morning I went on a walk, and I noticed something. The running segments that I had been doing were getting longer and easier each time. I also noticed that when I start my running segment my mind switches gears. I go into a kind of meditative state and instead of saying to myself “Oh this is hard, I just have to get to my marker and I can stop.” I now say “This is easy; I got this; no problem.” My focus is no longer on making it from one marker to another, but rather the act of running and the ease of it. This helped me to break my negative thoughts and now I end up running past my markers without realizing it!
I made a decision to silence these negative thoughts because if I can reprogram my mind to make my body stronger (something I was told my whole life wasn’t possible) what else can I achieve? The possibilities are are endless!
What I’ve learned from Dr Dispenza has been mind blowing. I highly recommend you check out his website: drjoedispenza.com and his books. They’re amazing!
What would you like to achieve or change in your life?
I love how certain scents can take you away to another place or time because of how they make you feel when you smell them. There are many aromatherapy diffusers on the market but you don’t need to spend money on these to enjoy the healing benefits of essential oils. The easiest way is to simply put a few drops (a little goes a long way) on a tissue and slip it inside your pillowcase. This is a sure way to relax and drift off into a blissful night of sleep.
I have to say that Lavender is my all time favorite with Chamomile as a second runner up. However, you may find these scents don’t necessarily appeal to you. I would suggest going to a health food store and test a few scents to see which ones you like best. You can also create blends, but for starters I would recommend going with 1 or 2 oils and see how they make you feel.
Flowing Waters Art 