I made a doll :)

It's New Year's Eve and we're waiting on Blizzard #2 to arrive. Yesterday was pretty awful, not a lot of snow, but horrible winds and icy roads. There was a 100 car pile up about an hour or so south of our area. Luckily nobody was hurt too badly!

So today I'm playing. Dale most likely won't venture into town so I will bring in the new year most likely like I did last year. Sawin' logs! haha zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz Just can't seem to stay up very late when it's just me here, but that's ok!

I've been a little slack in the 'healthy lifestyle' department and hope to also get back on track with that in the new year. My son and I are going to try the Paleo solution diet. Have you heard of it? It's basically lean meats, fruits, veggies, nuts.......no grains, pasta, beans or SUGAR! My goal is to try it for AT LEAST 30 days to see just how much better I can feel. I'm tired of being tired and sluggish, suffering from bloating and heartburn too. And the holidays did NOT help :)

Anyway, as 2010 ends here tonight, I will have coffee and some homemade Irish Cream and relax and reflect. Thank you all so much for being a part of my blog world and I've enjoyed being with you in yours. May 2011 bring much happiness, creativity, love and miracles your way!

Bless you all♥

Darla

Thank you for a wonderful 2010!

(Dale & I, Christmas Eve)

Still trying to catch up after all the holiday festivities but wanted to pop in and tell you that
I AM STILL HERE!
We had a lovely Christmas surrounded by family and great memories were made! I hope to post more pics soon.
Hope you had a Merry Christmas too and wishing you all
A VERY HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! Thank you for being a special part of 2010 for me!

Bring on 2011~ We are ready :)

8 Inches

Just wanted to share our beautiful snowfall last night! It just seems so much more magical this time of year :) ♥

Christmas baking and a little painting!

What a busy time of year! I feel so lost and out of touch with all my wonderful blog friends :(
I'm just hoping you are all happy and healthy and busy too so you may not have noticed my absence?



Yesterday I had my youngest granddaughter over to do a little holiday baking! It was fun and she was so cute!

Here we had just made our little 'turtles'. Believe it or not, I couldn't find Rolo candies at Walmart so I ended up getting a store brand chocolate covered caramel candy and it worked just great! Fun and easy treat to do with a 7-year old!

I ruined 2 canvases this past weekend :( One, beyond repair due to gel medium, beeswax, etc. so I actually had to cut it off the frame! The other one I can paint over but still.........it's so disheartening to paint and have it all be for nothing. I think that's why sometimes I love the freedom that art journaling gives me. No pressure, no expectations, no worries!

I did manage to try another one and this one turned out ok I think :)


Around her halo is reads: 'His eye is on the sparrow...so I know he watches me'

Anyway, I hope you are all enjoying the getting ready for the holiday! Isn't it nice this time of year? People try so much harder it seems to be a little more kind♥

Before I leave you, I'd like to share with you a video of Nora's message to Santa yesterday. I love it.......and I love her!

20% OFF Etsy Sale!

I've decided to hold a little 20% off sale in my Etsy store. I activated a coupon code and I've never done this before so I sure hope it works!

I did a little painting over the weekend and will try post some pics later. Last night I was just in the mood to chill in my chair but the 'crafty-must-keep-busy' part of me decided to crochet a winter cap. It's more of a baret I guess.
I found the online instructions here:


I had a little trouble determining when it was big enough for my head so I think I quit a little early. I made Mieko model it this morning and did he like doing that? :) Not so much!


I'm hoping to finish up some shopping this week! I can't believe how fast Christmas is sneaking up on me this year!

Have a wonderful week!
Darla

Good Morning~ Happy Friday!

'Good Friends Keep Me Warm'


'I LOVE cream in my coffee'


Still working on some Christmas orders but I just HAD to take a break last night and paint for ME! I seem to be able to enjoy the other so much more after a little painting with no expectations :)

Here are a couple of ACEOs that I did up last night. They were fun!

Hope you all have a great weekend! How's the Christmas shopping coming along? I'm about half way there. I hope!

Darla

A few special orders

These are 17 pound cement garden stones...12" in diameter and 2" thick. This is a garden scene with birdbath and two little birdies. Kind of hard to see, but they're there :)

The second is.....obviously not North Dakota. haha

Here are some of the slice black walnut ornaments I'm working on. I had to take pics at an angle because of the super fine glitter.

I have a canvas to finish, a lake home sign and 12 more ornaments and possibly 2 cream cans. I need to double check on those to see if they were Christmas gifts! ha I work best under pressure I guess.

When this all gets wrapped up, then I can play again! I have new oil paints and I'm dying to experiment with them. I almost returned them but decided.....NO!

Thanks for all your KIND comments on the polymer clay ornies. You're all way too sweet :)

Polymer clay just isn't my 'thang'

These are sad, huh?


I think I may just have to leave the cute polymer clay ornaments to the pros like my good, sweet friend Lori Allberry of Sugarberry Sensations! She's so awesome her designs are on huge posters in Michaels!

See? THIS is cute! She's amazing!!




But......I tried. I made 11 of these little dudes for this years gifts to all the grandchildren. I have 3, Dale has 7 and another one in the 'oven' ♥ They won't care what an amateur I am (I hope!) haha!

I've been busy trying to get some special orders wrapped up. I also picked up all my items from the gallery art sale that didn't sell. Basically, I picked up all but ONE item :) I will work on listing them on Etsy in the next few days. I put 2 up today and will hopefully get the rest up soon.

Hope you all have a wonderful week!!

Good Morning!

'Morning Ritual'

Another little ACEO card. I LOVE my coffee....a little too much I think. And if I have flavored creamers in the house? Well, it's down right dangerous :)


Happy Friday to you all!

Just a little journal page

"May today there be peace within.

May you trust that  you are exactly

where you are meant to be.

May you not forget the infinite possibilities that
are born of faith in yourself  and others.
May you use the gifts that you
have received, and pass on the love that
 has been given to you. 

May you be content with yourself just 

the way you are.
Let this knowledge settle into
your bones, and allow your soul

 the  freedom to sing, dance, 

praise and love. It is there for

 each and every one of us."


I received this lovely message in an email 

yesterday. I love it 

so it is journaled!

Hope you are all having a wonderful week!

It's December......where has
this year gone???????

New ACEO Team

'Memories of Happy Times'




'Constant'




'Glorious Garden'






'Much Room in my Mushroom'






'My Happy Place'

'Tears of a Clown'

Hoping you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving with family and/or friends! We had a great day, lots of family, laughter of kids, and yummy food!! :)

I was recently asked to join an ACEO group on Etsy called ACT. I haven't done any new aceos in awhile so I spent the last couple of mornings playing with my watercolors! So fun :) I sealed all these with beeswax too.

Anyway, I better hit the shower and try get some other stuff done today. No black Friday shopping for this girl. I would go CRAZY!!

They say Blue Jays are mean

I think I've captured that :)

This is a 12 x 12 wooden canvas that I had applied texture medium to and planned to do an abstract painting on. Well, those are much harder to do when you set out to do them, it seems (for me anyway) it's easier to do them by accident.

I decided to just paint a Blue Jay design from one of my Ros Stallcup books. I was lucky enough to attend two of her painting seminars in Virginia Beach years ago and we mostly painted fruit and florals so it was fun to try something different.

Hoping to get to Michaels today, we have a touch of snow on the ground but hopefully roads are just fine.

Hope you're all having a nice weekend and doing what you enjoy surrounded by those that make you smile :)

It's a slippery slope

When I'm good.....I'm very good, but when I don't care it's downright dangerous!

I spent most of the year totally focused on getting healthy, losing weight and changing my thinking on food. It was simple! Eat healthy, make good choices and move my bod. I lost 25 lbs and then we got busy with harvest here at work and I opted to quit my membership at the Y until things settled down again. BAD MOVE! For the past 2 months I've been basically inactive and eating pretty much whatever I crave :( For some reason I feel if I'm not giving 100% I shouldn't give it anything? I am the queen of self-sabotage!

For example: flavored coffee creamers! When it gets cold outside, I love nothing more than to have a nice, hot cup of coffee and if creamer is added, well......it's pure heaven for me. It just takes the edge off of winter and tells it to 'back off!'. But if I put a little creamer in every cup I have, it really adds up during the day. NOT GOOD! I know better, yet I make this poor choice.

I need to get back on track before I regain it all :( Believe me, I've done this over and over in my life and would once...........JUST ONCE........like to learn to live without being obsessed with this issue.

With the holidays coming, it will be hard but I can do this! :)

Wishing you all a great weekend!
Darla

p.s. This is a journal page where I used water soluble crayons and watercolor pencils, acrylics, fabric (dragon flies), graphite and ink. Oh, and there's a cute little metal embellishment that says 'HOPE' but it's impossible to read ;)

Time flies!

I hope I'm not alone here but do you find yourself, on Sunday evenings, thinking.........'ugh, Monday again!' I do! Not that I don't enjoy having a job to go to but I just love my time at home being able to do whatever I feel like doing! It might be cooking, baking, but usually~it's painting :)

Then before I know it, it's Thursday and the weekend is almost here again! Where does the time go? I need to stop wishing for the weekends and just try to enjoy each day and make the most of what it brings. The days go fast, the months go faster and before long the years have flown by as well and I'm left wondering 'how did this happen!?'

Here's to slowing things down a bit and appreciating each day...even Mondays♥

I adore Erma Bombeck

I admire (and miss) Ms. Erma! She was so wise and shared so much but with a lovely and unique sense of humor!

One of my favorites is this one:
"When I stand before God at the end of my life I would hope that I would not have a single bit of talent left and could say 'I used everything you gave me'!"

Here are a few more of her precious gems:

“When your mother asks, "Do you want a piece of advice?" it is a mere formality. It doesn't matter if you answer yes or no. You're going to get it anyway.”

“It takes a lot of courage to show your dreams to someone else.”

“I haven't trusted polls since I read that 62% of women had affairs during their lunch hour. I've never met a woman in my life who would give up lunch for sex.”

“In two decades I've lost a total of 789 pounds. I should be hanging from a charm bracelet.”

“Never lend your car to anyone to whom you have given birth.”

Oh my, there are so many! You can see for yourself here!



Thank you Erma.....

What inspires you?

I received one of those beautiful emails today with the power point pictures and wonderful wording to go along, you know, the stuff that really makes you think.

One of the phrases/quotes was: 'Aspire to inspire before you expire'

I just love that!

It got me thinking about all the things that inspire me. I'm inspired by a smile or friendly gesture. I'm inspired by someone's committment to something they believe in. I'm inspired by someone's thoughtfulness and kindness. I'm inspired daily by all the artists who share their work, talent and time via the internet.

I'm inspired by others intelligence and knowledge. I'm inspired by others' ability to forgive. I'm even inspired at funerals when I hear all the wonderful things that the late soul did that touched so many and I hope there will be something nice to say when my time comes :)

I'm inspired by others' courage when facing things in life I'm just not sure I could handle.

My children inspire me. My 3 beautiful grandchildren inspire me. My friends inspire me.

Oh boy, the list is endless!!

What inspires you?

Cassidy is still on my mind

I did this last night on a 9 x 12 piece of watercolor paper.
I found it and many other quotes she had listed on her facebook page. You'll have to click on the photo to enlarge it enough to read the wording. If you missed the post regarding Cassidy, you can read about it here

You can visit a page dedicated to her also.


Did I tell you I thought my computer at home crashed last Thursday night? I thought it did and I thought I lost EVERYTHING!! I headed to Best Buy and got myself a new one! A LAPTOP!
I'm so excited to be able to take it and sit in a comfy chair in my living room and visit blogs, write emails, etc. Of course, I've been too busy and haven't done this yet, but I will!!

On Saturday I cleaned the office really well and was going over the old system accessories and was trying to decide what I should keep (monitor, processor) and what I could toss (mouse, keyboard, etc.) I noticed there was QUITE a bit of dust built up in the fans of the processor so I gave it one good vacuuming, said a little prayer and plugged it in. VOILA! It came on! I'm so excited that I didn't lose 5 years worth of photos! I'm still happy to have a new computer and I will definitely get a backup system in place in case this should ever happen for real. It did once and I should have known better :)

Have a Happy Hump Day!! It will soon be Friday :)
Darla

Experiments

I tried different colors while doing this girl's face last night. I did a VERY light coat of watered down dioxazine purple on her face and then shaded with raw sienna. It was kind of scary to not start out with 'normal' flesh tone colors but it worked in the long run I think!

I've decided to put together my own 5 x 7 watercolor paper journal. I think I'll experiment more and on the back side of each piece I might do a little multi-colored background and do a little journaling as to what is going on in my life (head) at the time I painted the front.

We have ZUMBA locally in town again and we had our first official class last night! Our new instructor, Kate, did an awesome job! She's newly certified to teach these classes. There were 30+ people there and I just know it will grow even more! She may need to even find a new location if it gets too crowded. What a wonderful 'problem' that would be, huh? I was driving 80 miles round trip to take classes for most of the summer but had to quit during harvest time as I was busier at work and it was harder to get there in time. It will be nice to have classes right here but I will definitely miss the wonderful new friends I made up at the Y :(


Have a great Tuesday!!
Darla

p.s. Thank you for the wonderful comments regarding yesterday's post. It was sad and I really do want to keep things positive here but sometimes~ well, things just happen that need attention too♥

The Golden Rule

'Do unto others as you would have them do unto you'

Last Thursday a 16 year old girl in our area took her own life. It was the morning she was going to meet with her parents and the principle to discuss a bullying problem she was experiencing. She never made it to the meeting :( She said her goodbyes on facebook and hung herself.

I thought about her a lot this weekend and my heart breaks for this family. My journal page girl was meant to show sadness, but she almost looks like she's physically ill and I guess I am in a way. The cruelty that kids today display is unreal! Many times I've wished I could be young again and have my whole life ahead of me, but lately I have to wonder why? Why would I want to be young in these times? I wouldn't. I just don't remember behaving like that in my day. Sure, we may have talked about each other or muttered something not so nice, but we never harassed, bullied or made a point out of making someone feel just horrible. That just wasn't done and I don't know when it became common practice?!

If you have young kids in high school or heading into high school, please talk to them. We can't control what others do to them, but we can teach our children NOT to bully. Let's bring back the Golden Rule and make it a part of our kids' lives today. Adults can lead by example so we must also make this a part of our everyday lives.

You can see Cassidy Joy Andel's obituary here.

You can see Cassidy's facebook here

There is also a youtube video about this but for some reason I'm having trouble posting the link. You can search ' BK & Co Bully Busters' to see it if you'd like.

Sorry for the sad post but this blog is about my life, my world, and my art, but life is not always rainbows and puppy dogs :(

Rest in Peace Cassidy♥

My first 'realistic' portrait attempt

This is little Caitlyn. Her picture was included in the reference photos for use in creating the whimsical 'couture' painting I just did. She is 9 now, but I absolutely loved this photo of her as a toddler. I wanted to push myself to try doing a portrait that actually would resemble an original portrait photo. I'm pleased with my first attempt, even though I know she's not perfect nor 100% accurate :) It's a start!


I'm going to give this to Caitlyn's mom, even though it was practice, I'm hoping she'll enjoy having it.

HAPPY FRIDAY EVERYBODY!

Darla

Margaret Irene dreams of flying

I recently purchased some old books at a sale. One was a General Biology course which belonged to Margaret Irene Anderson. She was quite the doodler! She was a sophomore in 1939 and from the looks of her biology book, she wasn't really 'into' the class :)
I took bits and pieces of her doodling, mostly airplanes and applied them to this wooden 8 x 8 piece.


Here you can see her signature. She LOVED to write out her name. I've written in gold 'Margaret liked to doodle in biology class'
There's also a skeleton image from the book that's hidden in her dress. She had written 'BOO' by it :) I tried so hard not to cover that part up but it happened before I even noticed :(



Here I've written 'She dreams of flying'


See her airplanes? just left of center is an airplane heading straight towards you :)


I feel a bond with Margaret Irene. I always have been and always will be a DOODLER!
Go doodlers.....past, present and future♥

Day 3

Tonight I worked on her hair, shading around her eyes and shading on her dress. I put a second coat on the background and lettering also.



Now I will stare at her for a day or two to see what's missing or what needs fixing. It's funny how you see things later than you just can't see when you're working on a piece!

Day 2

Still needs work! The hair is freakin' me out a little, want it to look soft and layered with color, yet still very blonde...I will work on that tonight. Also need to shade her dress and add more depth to her skin tone. I'm thinking of adding touches of lavender and oh yes, eyebrows! I think I'll put a light coat of matte sealer on first so if I muck it up too bad, I can fix it more easily.

The dress she is wearing in the photo is red sequined ....I'm contemplating using mica flakes or glitter on the dress but there is a huge part of me saying...DON'T DO IT! What say you?

Also........the black background~ does it need something? Is it too blah? Would some tiny twinkly stars work or should I leave it? Ultimately, I'll leave that decision up to the customer, but I would love to know your opinion. Any and all opinions are welcome :)

*******ELECTION DAY*********
(Just a subtle reminder to my fellow Americans to go vote)

Have a wonderful Tuesday!

Darla

Commissioned Work in Progress

I'm painting a whimsical 'couture' girl as a special request. I almost didn't post this because she is SO far from completion but thought I would anyway :)
She will have a black background with 'C O U T U R E' spelled out on top. I was going to originally do the lettering in a dark fuchsia pink to match one of the color swatches the customer sent but there are many more colors to choose from too that we can incorporate here so we'll see what happens.

This is a 24 x 24 x 1.5 canvas.

Zumba Fundraiser

I had a fantastic time last night at a Zumba fundraiser for Breast Cancer! I painted her up this morning in my journal page and as much fun as these fundraisers are, we need a cure so these events won't even be necessary anymore :(

I highly suggest if you have a Zumba instructor in your area that is willing to help you out, this is a great way to get people out to support your cause! People pay a donation to take the class. We dressed up since it was Halloween. I didn't have my camera but lots of pics were taken so maybe I can snag one soon and share it. If I dare! :)

HAPPY HALLOWEEN TO YOU ALL!
Darla

5x5 canvases and a pumpkin carving!

Here are a couple of 5 x 5 canvases I did last night. I sealed them this morning with beeswax and I must say.....they are yummy! :) I forgot how fun beeswax can be.


I just have to share this, since I'm a proud momma and all ♥

My oldest son, Derek, has always loved Halloween! He, along with his 3 kids and his wife all dress up for the occasion. It's just so cute! I'm hoping to get pics and will post them next week.

Have a safe and happy Halloween weekend everyone!
Thanks also for your well-wishes. I'm finally feeling back to normal :)

Darla

Art for gallery and a journal page

I painted up another piece to take to the gallery this weekend. I think I've got a good assortment now and I hope it sells because in a way, I'd LOVE to be listing some of it on Etsy :(
We shall see! The gallery 'Holiday' event ends November 30th so maybe I can still list some things later. I hope something sells! ????????
This is a 12 x 12



Tonight I did a journal page with different things I wish I could have told myself as a young girl. Kind of like that Brad Paisley song where he's singing to himself as a young boy? (Letter to Me)
You'll see I've written 'you don't have to say yes' and 'you can say no', etc.

Obviously I've spent a good portion of my life trying to make everyone else around me happy, living in fear of hurting them or alienating them if I spoke up for my wants and/or needs. I'd want the young me not to do that so much. Not that I'd want her to grow up selfish and indifferent to others needs, but a nice balance would be good :)

I've been a little under the weather since Sunday so I'm sorry if I haven't visited your blogs. I don't know if I have a slight flu bug or what. Two nights had me running a low grade fever with chills and that is gone, but this is the third day with stomach cramps. It seems to come in waves and subsides. Hopefully this will pass and I can be 100% again soon.

We are having our first winter storm warning right now. Wind gusts up to 60 mph and the rain we're getting now is supposed to turn to snow by morning. Can you say DEPRESSING? We've had such a gorgeous fall and this is a smack in the face for sure.

Have a wonderful rest of the week!
Darla