Thoughtful Thursday – Give Mom a Gift that Touches her Heart 💖

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Posted on May 11, 2023 by Maria - FlowingWatersArt

Mother’s Day is this Sunday, May 14th. Often we take for granted all the wonderful things that mom’s do for us everyday. Like the pile of clean clothes that magically appear in your dresser or the sweet love note with encouraging words that are hidden in your lunch bag. What about the breakfast or dinner that’s ready to go just when you’re starving, in a rush and don’t have time to make anything for yourself. Let’s not forget all the love and support they give as the biggest fan of our lives!

This Mother’s Day give her a gift that touches her heart. Here are some ideas to get you started:

Spend the day with her doing her favorite things.
Serve her favorite home cooked meal on a beautifully decorated table.
Create a themed meal from a place that she wants to visit.
Bake her favorite sweet treats and serve them up bistro style.
Plan a walk or hike in her favorite park and enjoy the great outdoors.
Go to the nursery with her and get a few flowers to plant in her garden.
Take her on a picnic and spend a quiet afternoon talking.
Go on a nice bike ride and stop for a light bite.
Spend an afternoon at the local museum.
If she has a lot of responsibilities offer to pitch in and give her the day off.
Serve her breakfast in bed or cook a morning brunch.
Watch her favorite movies with her and bring all of her favorite snacks.
Take an art class with her, whether online or in person and create something together.
Make a scrapbook filled with all of your favorite memories and photos of her.
Make her a handmade card or mini book with special photos or memorabilia.
If you’re computer savvy, create a video slide show of your favorites times spent together.
Make her a spa basket with handmade treatments (plenty of recipes can be found online).

Get creative, put a little extra thought into it and give her a special gift from your heart!

Thanks for stopping by!!

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“When you look into your mother’s eyes, you know that is the purest love you can find on this earth.” ~Mitch Albom

Family Art Journaling

Posted on November 19, 2022 by Maria - FlowingWatersArt

With Thanksgiving just a few days away, I thought I’d share these special journal pages with you. They were created by my family 😊

It was a fun time talking and laughing as we passed the journal around. The idea was that each person takes a turn drawing a line in the journal. You keep passing it around and adding more lines until it’s mostly filled up. It’s pretty funny to see the images that emerge from all the random lines. You can add some color if you like and you’ll end up with a fun family art journal that you can keep as a memento for your special day.

Hope this inspires you to create some fun memories this Thanksgiving. Thanks for stopping by!!!

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Thoughtful Thursday April Fools’ Day

Posted on March 31, 2022 by Maria - FlowingWatersArt

April usually marks the beginning of Spring but this Friday is April 1st also known as April Fools’ Day. It has been the day of countless practical jokes. Some funny and some not so funny especially if the joke’s on you. Here’s how it all began…

In 1563 France was called upon by the Council of Trent to change from the Julian calendar which recognized the new year beginning with the spring equinox around April 1st to the Gregorian calendar which recognized the new year beginning with January 1st.

Historians believe that the people were either slow to get the news of the change or simply didn’t care that the start of the new year was moved to January 1st and they continued to celebrate the new year from the last week of March through April 1st. As a result the jokes were called April fools. Some pranks even went so far as to have a paper fish placed on their backs symbolizing an easily caught fish and a gullible person. Wouldn’t want to be that person, definitely an incentive to stay up to date on changes 😂

I hope you enjoyed this little history snippet. Thanks for stopping by!!

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“April showers bring May flowers.” ~Unknown

Art Journaling

Posted on January 22, 2022 by Maria - FlowingWatersArt

When I was a kid and the teacher would bring out the scissors, paper and glue I knew it was going to be an awesome day because we would create some type of art. Sometimes it’s fun to go back to the basics and cut out pictures and simply glue them in a journal.

I’m not a textile artist but I look in awe at the quilts others make. I came across these photos in Quilting Arts magazine and decided to make journal pages from them. These were images of quilts created and designed by Jean Impey. They were simply stunning!

I onced used a hand wipe to clean inks from my studio table and it looked pretty cool at the time so I kept the wipe and let dry so I could use it for my art. It ended up finding a home in my journal 😊 The leaves and the heart were made using the recycled wipe. I thought they went well with the images and background color.

Hope this quote and happy journal layout inspire you in way today.

Thanks for stopping by!!

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Santa’s Workshop Joy to the World Christmas Wreath

Posted on December 14, 2021 by Maria - FlowingWatersArt

My latest canvas, Joy to the World Christmas Wreath. It’s painted on a 5×5 inch square canvas with acrylic paint and is accented with red glitter. It’s sealed with a matte finish and comes ready to hang.

Available for purchase in my Etsy Shop.

What do you think? Would love to hear your thoughts.

Have a super weekend!

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Santa’s Workshop OMG it’s Christmas already !?!#

Posted on December 11, 2021 by Maria - FlowingWatersArt

Most of you may recognize this little guy from my journal. He looks like he’s not quite ready for the holidays, sounds like me this year, lol.

I brought him to life on a 6×6 inch square canvas. He’s painted with acrylic paints and sealed with a matte finish. I added a little glitter for that Christmas magic and is is available for purchase in my Etsy Shop.

What do you think? Would love to hear your thoughts.

Have a super weekend!

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Angel Daniela – Watercolor

Posted on September 7, 2021 by Maria - FlowingWatersArt

Meet Angel Daniela, my newest angel in my Strathmore 5.5″ x 8.5″ watercolor journal. I really like the bright green and doodles at the bottom in this one. Hope you do too 💖

Have a wonderful week!

Thanks for stopping by!

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Angel of Promises

Posted on August 31, 2021 by Maria - FlowingWatersArt

My latest angel from my Strathmore 5.5″ x 8.5″ watercolor journal, Angel of Promises. I tried a playing with the wings a bit more. I kind of like how they turned out. What do you think?

Would love to hear your feedback.

Have a wonderful week!

Thanks for stopping by!

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Save Our Oceans and Turtles Journal Pages (Part 2)

Posted on August 24, 2021 by Maria - FlowingWatersArt

The other week I posted Page 1 of this journal spread. For my focal point on the second page I used a tag that I made a while ago and stashed away for later use. I love this tag because it was embossed with a stamp that reads “My heart is at home by the Sea” which really resonates with me.

I made the little turtles using the same stamp as in the tag, colored them, cut them out and glued them into the journal. I wanted a little texture for the turtle shells so I used Inkssentials Glossy Accents.

I had a lot of fun creating this journal layout and hope you will too!

Supplies

9″ x 12″ Journal
Torn pieces of tissue paper or pages from a book
Gesso
Mod Podge or Gel Matte Medium
Acrylic Paint: Aqua and Royal Blue
Fiber Paste
Wave Stencil
Palette Knife
Assorted ocean themed stamps
Staz On Black Ink
Inkssentials Glossy Accents
Assorted ephemera and embellishments
Ranger Distress Ink – Black Soot
Glue
Scissors

Instructions

Paint your pages with gesso. Let dry.
Tear small pieces of paper and glue them to the journal pages with Mod Podge or Gel Matte Medium. Let dry.
Paint your background in your favorite acrylic paint. Allow the torn pieces of paper to show through the paint a little. Let dry.
Mix fiber paste with a darker contrasting acrylic paint and apply using a palette knife and wave stencil. Let dry.
Stamp sea life images to the pages with the Staz On Ink and add ephemera you have that will go with the ocean theme. You can also stamp or draw images, color them with paint, cut them out and glue them to the pages like I did with the little turtles. I also added a little Glossy Accents for more texture.
Distress the edges with Ranger Black Soot.
Add your quote.
Add any shading and highlights where needed. Add a little sparkly glitter and that’s it!

Thanks for stopping by!

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