I’m working on finishing the last of the ornaments and getting them into my Etsy Shop. The latest addition is ‘Home Sweet Home’ (pictured above). This was painted on a 3×4 inch canvas and is hung with ribbon. It’s a very happy painting and is one of my favorites.
I also recently added ‘Baby it’s cold outside!’ shown in the video below. This ornament is painted on a 4×4 inch canvas with an adorable little snowman just outside the door⛄
I’ll let you know when I add more but these are included in the ongoing sale.
Hope you have a wonderful weekend, thanks for stopping by!!
Share the Happy💖
Both ornaments, “Making Spirits Bright” and “The Wonder of Christmas” are now available in my Etsy Shop if you’re interested. Stay tuned for more details on an Exclusive Offer which will be announced here and available only to you!
Thanks for stopping by, hope you have a lovely weekend!
While on vacation quite a few years ago, I came upon this delightful book by Cicely Mary Barker, “The Complete Book of the Flower Fairies.” I love rhyming poems and fell in love with her beautiful illustrations and magical words.
Cicely Mary Barker was born June 28, 1895 in West Croydon, Surrey England. Because she suffered from epilepsy Cicely was educated at home but she mostly taught herself to draw and paint. Her father was an accomplished artist and encouraged her artistic talent. He enrolled her at Croydon Art Society when she was only 13 years old.
At the age of 16, Cicely had her first work accepted for publication as a set of postcards. From there she devoted her time to painting. Pre-Raphaelites greatly influenced her and she believed in “truth in nature.” Cicely painted from life whenever possible and even enlisted the help of the staff at Kew Gardens to help identify plants. She carefully studied and painted their every detail with great accuracy. The fairies were also painted from life and modelled from the children at her sister’s nursery school. Once the paintings were complete, she then wrote a poem for the illustration.
“The Complete Book of the Flower Fairies,” was first published in 1923 and was well received by all, especially because of the fascination with fairies at the time and her vision of innocence.
Cicely passed away February 16, 1973 in a Worthing Hospital, England at the age of 77. One hundred years after the publication of her book, it continues to delight all.
I highly recommend you check out her site at FlowerFairies.com where you learn more about her and purchase giftware items showcasing her stunning paintings. Copies of this book are available on Amazon and at Barnes and Noble, however the dust jacket may be different.
Hope you enjoyed this post, thanks for stopping by!!
Share the Happy💖
Here’s a sample of Cicely’s writing from her book:
I’ve been busy working behind the scenes in my Etsy Shop. The latest update is that I’ve added 2 new photos to the shop. A beautiful mountain view photographed in Shenandoah National Park, Virginia and a stunning close up of a Sunflower Bloom.
Don’t forget, there’s still time to take advantage of the “Exclusive” Sale available only to my loyal subscribers. Original Paintings and Christmas Ornaments are on Sale until 12/6/23! Just enter code MERRY25 at checkout and receive 25% Off your Purchase.
With Thanksgiving only a week away most of us will be indulging in all the delicious holiday delights. Sadly, our waistlines will be bulging as a result 😂 But have no fear, I have a few tips to help get you through the holidays. What you want to do is limit your calorie intake the week before Thanksgiving so when you go over on that one day, it’s not detrimental to your waistline and you won’t miss out on any of the delectable food. So here are the tips:
Plan your meals for this coming week. Eat clean and lean. Load up on salads, veggies, juices and all things healthy. You can do it! It’s only for a few days😅
Eat well portioned meals and don’t over eat.
Avoid refined sugars like desserts and candies. There’ll be plenty on Thanksgiving!
Steer away from carbs like breads, potatoes and pastas.
Add more fiber to your diet so you’ll feel satisfied and full.
Schedule workouts to burn some extra calories and keep your stress levels to a minimum.
Drink plenty of water.
Planning is key to losing or maintaining your weight. After your grand Thanksgiving meal, go for a nice walk and enjoy the great outdoors. It will make you feel good and help burn some calories so you’ll have room for pie!
If you do put on a little weight, follow these tips for the week after to help bring you back down. Stressing over what to eat and not to eat doesn’t make the holiday enjoyable. So eat in moderation and savor every bite. Then get yourself back on track!!
Hope this helps get you through the holidays, thanks for stopping by!!
With the holidays fast approaching I wanted to share with you a fun and beautiful handmade gift idea. A smash book is like a scrapbook combined with an art journal. It’s a place to keep all of your memories of everything and anything that matters to you without much concern for neatness. It’s a place to keep postcards, movie and concert tickets, favorite quotes, photos or anything else you can think of. You can add doodles, thoughts or just memorabilia but it’s up to you.
The base of this was a chipboard book to which I adhered decorative papers from Paris themed paper stack. You can add fun pockets, envelopes, create index cards, tags and all kinds of fun things, just use your imagination. They’re so much fun to make and the best part is you can customize the book for the recipient making it the perfect gift that will be treasured for years to come!
Hope this inspires you to create a handmade gift this year, thanks for stopping by!!!
I’ve been working on ornaments and I’m going to toot my horn here, because I think they’re turning out really cute😊 There are so many steps involved in creating just one ornament from the painting itself, to the photographs, to creating the video and getting it all up on Instagram and my Etsy Shop. But it’s wonderful when it all comes together!😅
This is the video for “the Wonder of Christmas” and I thought it turned out pretty nice, but what do you think?
Both ornaments, “Making Spirits Bright” and “The Wonder of Christmas” are now available in my Etsy Shop if you’re interested. Stay tuned for more details on an Exclusive Offer which will be announced here and available only to you!
Thanks for stopping by, hope you have a lovely weekend!
I’m a collector of inspiring quotes and came across this one which I wanted to share with you. I added it to one of my abstract paintings with bold autumn colors. It’s a motivating quote that rings so true:
“Your success is measured by the strength of your desire; the size of your dream; and how you handle disappointment along the way.” ~Unknown
You can set all the goals you want but if your heart’s desire isn’t in it, if you can’t envision your dream or get discouraged after a few bumps in the road you can bet your bippy, you won’t be successful at it.
Hope this inspires you in some way today. Thanks for stopping by!!
Pyrography also known as wood burning is a beautiful form of art. I made this piece a while ago but love it because it’s unique and very different from my other art. I initially thought it would’ve been easy to create so when I made this I just dove right in.
I played with a scrap piece of wood trying to get the hang of it before starting on this piece and quickly learned there’s more to it! After doing a bit of research I found books on this art form and learned that not all wood is the same. I also learned that how you use the different tips in your pyrography set will greatly affect the outcome. Very important: Do this in a well ventilated area and wear a mask because there will be smoke from burning the wood.
There are some very talented artists who make super detailed pyrography art pieces that are just stunning. This is a simple piece which I loved plain, but as most of you know, I’m a bit of a color nut. So I ended up adding watercolor paints to the wood. Since wood is porous, it absorbs the paint giving it a softer look and allows the grain to show through. I finished it off with a few embellishments for more interest and bling✨
If you’re interested in trying pyrography, I highly recommend getting a book or watching a few tutorials online so you can decide if it’s something you’d enjoy.
Hope this inspires you to create art, thanks for stopping by!!
Flowing Waters Art 