Thoughtful Thursday – Earth Day

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Earth Day is being celebrated this Saturday, April 22, 2023. It’s origins began in 1970 as a way to change the public’s outlook and bring awareness to environmental issues plaguing our beautiful planet.

Almost 7 billion people share this amazing planet with 10 million animal species and 300,000 plant species. That’s a lot of inhabitants when you think about it. Plus the entire surface of the earth is a series of connected ecosystems that provide precious resources that sustain all life here on Earth. So it’s imperative that we take care of our planet.

We live a world of plastic and although it was a great invention because it made so many things possible, it may also be our undoing. Stats show that in 2021 there was 363,762,732,605 pounds of plastic polluting the world’s oceans. Plus microplastics which are tiny pieces of plastic can be found in almost all water systems around the world including rivers, lakes, streams and oceans. It is said that there is more microplastic in the ocean than there are stars in the Milky Way. These are very scary stats because where does that leave us in 10, 20 and even 50 years from now? Will this planet be able to sustain life at all?

We all need to pitch in and do our part to reduce, reuse and recycle. We need to work together to come up with better ideas and solutions to reducing our footprint on this planet. So that life will continue to thrive.

What are some of the things you do to help make a better tomorrow?

Thanks for stopping by!

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“We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children.” ~Unknown

Source: Earth Day Fact Sheet

All photos in the slide presentation above were taken by Maria Vidaurre

Watercolor Bird Angel Journal Page

Creating these watercolor angels is simply magical! This is my latest angel that I created in my Strathmore 5.5″ x 8″ watercolor journal. Like my other angels I started by lightly sketching her and then painted her with bright fun watercolor paints. While the paints were wet, I added sea salt and let it dry, then brushed it off.

The next step was to add some doodles with my white Posca pen. I added more detailing and shading with watercolor paints and colored pencils and of course a little bling with Stickles.

I tried using gold leaf for the halo this time. It didn’t turn out the way I expected. Getting it into the small areas is hard but I like it much better than the gold gilding flakes I used in my last angel. It’s no where near as messy and easier to work with. But this is something I have to tweak a bit.

I hope she inspires you to create your own magical masterpiece. Thanks for stopping by!

Share the Happy!

Earth Angel Journal Page

I’m truly enjoying making these watercolor angels. This is my latest, earth angel. I created her in my Strathmore 5.5″ x 8″ watercolor journal. I start by lightly sketching her and then painting with bright fun watercolor paints. While the paints were wet, I added sea salt and let it dry, then I brushed off the salt.

Next I added doodles with my white Posca pen. I also added more detailing and shading with watercolor paints and colored pencils. I couldn’t resist adding a little bling to the stars with Stickles.

The last step was her halo. I wanted more gold so I tried using gold gilding flakes but it was really hard to work with. What I disliked most is it would break down into small particles that would become airborne and you could potentially inhale it. I can’t imagine that would be a good thing, so you really should wear a mask, but the instructions don’t say anything about that. It also sticks to everything so you have to clean your surfaces well after you’re done using it. Bottom line is it looks beautiful but isn’t user friendly. I have one more product I’m going to try on my next one and I’ll let you know how that goes.

I hope she inspires you to create your own magical masterpiece. Thanks for stopping by!

Share the Happy!