Artistic Accents by Darla

New Year…New Me! (again?)

2012-01-05T20:07:00.002-06:00

Well, after fighting a stubborn chest cold, I’m bound and determined to get going on my plan to get healthier this year and stay that way! I’m going to try the Eat Clean Diet by Tosca Reno. It’s more than doable for me since I LOVE fruits, veggies, chicken and fish!

My problem is going to be with sweets, pasta and salty snacks I also have a love/hate relationship going with them! ha

I’m excited to receive my new Creative Essentials package from Sue Walters! I decided (after much thought!) that I would treat myself to a Christmas gift!! It’s a pyrography package and I’m hoping it will be as much fun to experiment further with wood burning as I think it will be! I’m looking forward to trying anyway!

I’m late, but I want to wish you all a HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

From my home to yours….

2011-12-24T09:34:00.001-06:00

and from my heart…..to yours

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

Are we all swamped?

2011-12-18T17:19:00.002-06:00

Or is it just me? Boy, the past 2 weeks has been crazy busy, but I guess, this just comes along with the season I seem to be one that rushes and rushes to get things done at the last minute instead of taking my time and learning to enjoy it more. That’s my goal next year. I’m going to start much, much sooner!

I’ve done a little more pyrography/painting and I’m really getting hooked on it!

Here is a 12 x 16 Pine board that I’ve done for an upcoming charity auction.

I actually sketched and erased so much on the wood that it was throwing me off as far as putting together a new design, so I covered the entire piece with 1” squares of scrapbook paper and then started over. I burned the whole design onto the board and then painted her. The message on the house is from Hebrews 13:2

“Do not neglect hospitality for through it, some have unknowingly entertained angels”

I love that verse!

Here is another, 12 x 12 piece of pine:

I need to seal her and then she’s going to my Etsy store.

Hope everyone is doing ok, sorry I’ve neglected my blog visits and hope that everyone else is so busy they’ve not been able to update much anyway Then I won’t feel like I’ve missed so much!

I’m hoping to get back soon, but if not, MERRY CHRISTMAS to one and all!!

Darla

12 x 12 Wooden Canvas with BEESWAX :)

2011-12-04T09:59:00.001-06:00

It’s so scary to take a piece that I already really like and put beeswax to it, but I did it and I LOVE the dreamy, hazy look it gave this piece! I’ve been working on this one a little at a time and finally decided to just finish it up! I think I’m the queen of procrastination these days?

Below is an example of what sketching on a ‘low self-esteem’ day can bring out of me I don’t know but lately I swear I see a new wrinkle, a new age spot and more hair in the sink after styling. It’s quite depressing! I’m getting the ‘why even bother!?’ mentality. When I feel bad about myself, I don’t take care of myself very well either. The diet is full of crap, very little healthy, good stuff these days. The worse I treat myself, the worse I feel about it. I see therapy in my near future if I don’t snap out of this and get a grip!

This year's Christmas Card

2011-12-03T09:34:00.002-06:00

I know people like receiving photo cards at Christmas but when your kids are grown and out on their own, it's just easier to paint something than to try and line everybody up for a picture :)

This is on watercolor paper and I punched little snowflakes out of some tin foil to adhere.

I ordered through www.vistaprints.com Their prices are pretty reasonable and you can pick from so many designs! Also....they take payment through paypal so that was a nice bonus!

I've been fighting an awful head cold this past week. I don't know which is more chapped~ my lips or my nose! ugh :( I'm starting to come around and hopefully I'll muster up enough energy to decorate for Christmas sometime this weekend.

Hope you are all enjoying a cozy, lazy Saturday morning like I am :) I LOVE my weekends!
Darla

Hard to explain....but

2011-11-27T19:46:00.002-06:00

There is something fun and totally 'freeing' about painting these drippy girls. First of all, I know I'm just playing......so bye-bye pressure and expectations! Second, it's only paper...who cares what goes right or what goes wrong? Not me! There's blotches of color where there shouldn't be and I'm totally ok with it :)

I highly recommend trying this if you've found yourself in the same boat I was in. Get out some watercolor paper or bristol paper if you like acrylics and just sketch and play and drip and make a mess! It's so fun ....really!

Hope you all have a great week!
Darla

A special order

2011-11-26T11:21:00.001-06:00

My son’s girlfriend has a very special relationship with her grandmother and wanted to give her a painting for Christmas. My first attempt, actually my first 2 attempts made me so frustrated so I switched to trying a watercolor and I like it much better

Quote: A grandmother is a little bit parent, a little bit teacher and a little bit best friend.

I also painted a friendship painting this morning. I love this quote: Friendship isn’t about who you have known the longest…it’s about who came, and never left your side’

I also painted up a couple of paintings for another order. She only cared for one so I’ll show you that one

This one’s on 8 x 10 canvas. The little girl plays the piano…oh, that’s probably pretty obvious? haha

Anyway, after all my orders are done I think I’ll back away from special orders for awhile, if not forever. It’s much too stressful on me. I enjoy just painting whatever comes to mind so much more than trying to create something that someone else has in their mind, ya know? Make sense?

Hope you’re having a wonderful weekend! Time to hit the shower! I get busy painting and forget the day is moving right along. ha!

* FREE SHIPPING *

2011-11-25T07:22:00.003-06:00

I've decided to jump on the BLACK FRIDAY frenzy wagon and offer FREE SHIPPING on all items in my Etsy shop! Domestic sales only :( but I can definitely give a great deal to international sales too!!

Coupon Code: BLACKFRIDAY

I just heard on the news that a lady sprayed pepper spray at people at a Walmart in Los Angeles. Good God! I think that's just terrible!

Stay safe and shop online :)

Hope everyone had a nice Thanksgiving....mine was quiet and different than normal, but nice just the same.

Take care,
Darla

Note to Self:

2011-11-20T16:05:00.002-06:00

Don't cry in the wind..... hehe
Another drippy girl, I guess that's pretty obvious huh? :)

I needed this!

2011-11-19T10:47:00.001-06:00

After struggling with some custom orders, I just needed to play, to create, to use my imagination with no restrictions, no expectations and no worries. I LOVED it and maybe now I can go and finish the orders

Here is something new…

As some of you may or may not know…I tend to putz around and try to keep things ‘inside the lines’ too much. This was fun, to the let the colors drip and go where they may. See the green leg on the lower right? Maybe I’ll ‘walk away’ from being so anal, this was fun!

Here is a streamer girl…odd, but fun!

Today marks the 30th anniversary of my mother’s passing. It hit me last night that if I went to heaven today to be with her again, I’d be 52 and she’d be the age when she left so she’d be a youngin’ and 8 years my junior. How awkward! ha! Love and miss you Mom!

Have a great weekend filled with color and love and fun!

Darla

Confusing times…..

2011-11-13T11:34:00.001-06:00

This year….oh boy, so many things it seems have been tossed at me that I did not expect. I can spend hours, days, weeks trying to make sense of things and I’ve finally realized I can’t.

It’s time to accept and move on, it’s the only healthy thing to do.

It’s going to be one. long. day.

2011-11-06T10:07:00.001-06:00

Oh boy, this time change thing is so hard on me. I even stayed up a little later last night to make sure I could sleep in this morning but nope! 3:35 a.m. and I was awake and couldn’t fall back to sleep. As all the Norwegians in my area would say, ‘UFFDA!’

Soooo, I watched some youtube. I learned a lot about my Plantar Fasciitis and some exercises to help

I also painted 3 ACEOs.

Here is the first:

I call this one ‘And yet, she dreams’ Notice the grey hair Yes, as old as I’m getting I keep dreaming that someday, somehow I’ll be able to do what I love whenever I want. Wouldn’t that be wonderful? I suppose that’s what retirement is for but I’m not close enough to that just yet. ha!

Here is the next:

This one is called ‘Bracing Myself’

I don’t like winter….nuff said.

And finally:

This is my little attempt at a Picasso inspired piece. It was actually SO VERY FUN to do! I call this one ‘Rise Above Negativity’ My thought process was the more we believe in ourselves the smaller and more insignificant the negative voices (even our own) will become.

It’s 10:00 am, I’ve been up for 6.5 hours already so it’s either time for a shower or a nap!

Have a great Sunday!

Darla

Another video : Anger amongst Angels

2011-11-05T12:48:00.000-05:00

Ok, my editing skills still stink! Sorry about that….If I could just master the ‘trim’ option I could get rid of so much of the putzin’ I do sometimes

Anger amongst Angels

Art Journal

2011-10-26T21:05:00.000-05:00

I made a video!

2011-10-24T12:20:00.002-05:00

And what I learned was 'OH BOY!' It is time consuming for newbies!!! Painting was easy and recording it was easy but editing it and getting things 'ok' to share? It about killed me! I have such an awesome respect for all the lovely people who share on You Tube. I don't know how you do it!? Maybe if I do another sooner I'll remember the 15 different steps I had to take to get here. haha

Hope it doesn't bore you to tears, but here it is:

http://youtu.be/uLWW3o_e8sg

Sorry, but I also can't get the embedding thing to work decently anymore either! I think I've lost all of the limited technical abilities I once had!

Have a great week!

Darla

Ok....another :)

2011-10-21T18:52:00.002-05:00

I know I missed the boat on mermaids....other artists have been painting them for a long time but I just started and they are quite fun. The first one was acrylic on 12 x 12 (yesterday's post). Today I've done a 9 x 12 watercolor. I'm just lovin' watercolors!!

Another thing I've never done and most everyone else has.....Frida! I guess I'm just slow and perhaps I'll try Frida someday too.

Have a wonderful night!

Darla

A Mermaid!

2011-10-20T21:33:00.000-05:00

I wanted to do a whimsical little girl mermaid when I found the bubble sticky sequin thingys at Michaels but somehow she turned into a bit of a seductive underwater vixen?

How’s everyone’s week going? Mine has flown by. I’m looking forward to the weekend! My granddaughter competes in the State Cross Country event in Fargo so I’ll head there to watch. She’s doing so great! Proud of you Cailee!!!

Have a great weekend!

Darla

Thank you Serena!

2011-10-18T05:38:00.000-05:00

I installed Windows LiveWriter and this looks much easier!

This is a test….I’ll see now how I can get it over to my blog! ha

I need some help?

2011-10-17T18:50:00.003-05:00

Can someone help me figure out how to post somewhere else and transfer it here? I can't move photos around, I have so much trouble posting what used to be a simple blog update. I'm not sure if Blogger has just changed things and I haven't kept up or what???
I'd love to post more and share more but it's getting so frustrating that I end up starting and leaving because I can't get things the way I'd like.

I remember someone posting awhile back about a nice place to prepare a post and then just come to blogger and post it. That's what I'm looking for :) Anybody?

Some watercolor paintings

2011-09-28T05:25:00.005-05:00

I just love Rascal Flatts song 'Stand'....I can SO relate to it this past year! This is a little watercolor about 4 x 8. I think I'll mount it to wood or something and make it into a fridge magnet....a BIG fridge magnet :)

Sorry for the glare......need to mount this one also so it will lay flat so I can get a good pic! It says 'Friends are kisses blown to us by angels' It's about 6 x 8

Another 6 x 8ish watercolor. She has glittery wings and the way her hair turned out, I think she resembles a dragon fly :)

Here's a little Rascal Flatts for you :) Enjoy and STAND!

http://youtu.be/vm8711y6ILU

Angel sisters

2011-09-25T10:12:00.002-05:00

Verna Ann and Lily Arielle

Two little angel babies given to Ross and Allison briefly before flying back to be with Jesus.

Rest in peace ......

Saturday morning fun :)

2011-09-24T12:20:00.008-05:00

A little 5 x 7 watercolor/ink....'She Said, He Said' :)

I had to do another version for Dale. This is a funny story from one of our first dates. We went to Applebees and I can't remember what sandwich I ate but as we sat there for an hour or so, I worked on it and finished the whole thing. Later Dale says, 'I can't believe you ate that whole thing. That was one #$&*! BIG sandwich!' So romantic........but I guess I am still with him 5.5 years later :)

This is a 7 x 10

And another little 5 x 7 shown here in a matte

Close up

Have a wonderful weekend! It's beautiful here....I LOVE FALL!

Darla

Auction donation piece

2011-09-21T06:48:00.003-05:00

Here's a close-up of the 16 x 10 canvas I'm donating to the Mayville State Farmers' Bowl auction this weekend. Not sure how to categorize it....children's art? It's rather dark in color for a child's room, but it's a young girl/angel and I can see it in a young girl's room? Oh well, hopefully someone will bid on her :)

The wording around her halo says 'His eye is on the sparrow...and I know he watches over me'

Here's another 9x12 watercolor painting. She's too funny....young face and old, witchy hands. I titled her 'Not so sure'...because she's just not so sure I captured this one right :) haha

Have a great Wednesday!!

Darla

Make the most of your gifts!

2011-09-18T10:02:00.002-05:00

We all have our talents.....God gives them in many forms to each of us and I love this quote by Erma Bombeck reminding us to use them!

Happy Sunday!!

Busy, busy, busy!

2011-09-12T05:03:00.007-05:00

I'm just not quite sure where the time goes lately, but it's been flying by! My new job has me putting in about 45+ hours a week and I'm really hoping once things settle down I'll be able to find those precious extra moments to check out my favorite blogs again. My wireless router isn't working so I can't even lounge on the couch and try catch up anymore :(

I've had a great, GREAT couple of weeks on Etsy as I mentioned in my last post. It's been shocking in such a wonderful way! Here are a few things I've painted this week. The first here is a 5 x 7 fun little watercolor illustration.

8 x 10 canvas

8 x 10 canvas

8 x 10 canvas

A little 'chunkier' 8 x 10 x 1.5 canvas

And a super chunky 8 x 10 x 2 wooden canvas. I really LOVE painting on these and wish Michaels had them on sale much more often :)

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend. The weather here was gorgeous. I know these days are coming to an end soon for us in this area, so I just appreciate each sunny, warm day as much as possible!

Have a great week!
Darla

An amazing couple of weeks on Etsy!

2011-09-03T07:25:00.013-05:00

15 sales......OMG! That just doesn't happen in my world! But it has and I'm absolutely thrilled and motivated to paint more and more and more! We're heading out of town this weekend for the holiday so I won't get to paint of course, but I sure want to :)

Thought I'd share with you a few of the little things I've painted this past week.

ACEO

Another ACEO

This is a larger watercolor painting

ACEO

and another

a 5 x 7 painting

ACEO

5 x 7 watercolor

ACEO

another ACEO

and a final 5 x 7

Did I mention I LOVE my little traveling Koi watercolor kit????? I think I did :) I just enjoy curling up on the couch and sketching out an idea and painting it up without having to trudge downstairs to my basement everytime I feel like painting something.

I AM working on a wooden framed mixed media piece also at the moment. That does require some 'studio' time....way too messy to even consider doing it anywhere else. ha

Wishing you all a fabulous weekend!! Get out and enjoy yourselves before the dreaded snow flies, which will be all too soon in my honest opinion! ;)

Darla

Jack of all trades, master of none?

2011-08-26T18:58:00.002-05:00

Does that old saying describe anyone else out there? Sometimes I think I try so many different things...and I have a blast while I'm doing them....and then I move onto something else. This week it's watercolors again. And as most of you know by now, next week it might be more mixed media again! Then I'll have a new love crush on ACEOs again. I also have oil paints I'm itching to break into also but for some reason they scare me. Silly, huh?

Sometimes I really wish I could focus on one medium, work with it continually and 'master' it! But then again, it's fun to change things up a bit. I guess that's my personality and who I am and I should probably quit fighting it?

Soon, (and TOO soon) the snow will be here again and then I'll probably cross over to crocheting again! Awww, cozy winter crafts!!

I keep hoping I'll stumble upon something that will stick and I'll get so good at it and will never stray again. Oh, who am I kidding. I'll be a hopper 'til the end. And probably lovin' every minute of it! :)

Have a great weekend!!

Darla

Side by Side by Side :)

2011-08-24T17:32:00.002-05:00

A funky and colorful watercolor painting 9 x 12

I couldn't decide if these gals were up to something (no good!) or the most untrusting trio to ever land on my blog! I had sketched this months ago and just stumbled onto it last night. I didn't feel like going to the basement to paint so I sat and watched tv and used my Koi traveling watercolor kit. I had a blast!

Hope you're having a great week!! Mine's going by so fast!

Darla

Would you like a glimpse of North Dakota countryside?

2011-08-21T10:44:00.012-05:00

Yesterday I was invited out to a little area called Rockin R Ranch. It's privately owned land here where several families have made a wonderful, western themed retreat to spend their weekends. It is SO awesome and so relaxing and peaceful!

This is a friend, Allen! Serious cowboy, huh? Cute cabin!!

I went with 2 friends, Liz and Vicki. Liz' family has a cabin here and she took us out on a 4x4 to tour a little of the surrounding area. This was such a beautiful sight with the sun soon going down and the field with haybales!

Coming back down the gravel road to the ranch.

A REALLY old little house in the country, it even has a loft but the flooring is beyond unstable so I didn't dare walk around inside too long :)

Unbelievable....an old straw bed is still inside. Oh, and that's Buddy, the black lab peeking in the window ;)

This is my life long friend, Vicki in the doorway.

An old grain elevator on a hill.

Just had to snag a picture of the little pony at the ranch. It's so awesome, most people bring their horses out for the weekend. Dogs roam casually and all get along. Some of the horses are actually loose too and just wander around grazing. Just a beautiful place. I really wish I had a little more cowgirl in me....it's a place that makes you want to be someone new♥

500 Posts!

2011-08-16T18:42:00.002-05:00

Thank you all for hangin' in there with me!! I do believe it's time to celebrate with a giveaway! I'm going to work on something special and hope to post it soon!

Have a great day and thanks again for checkin' in from time to time and inspiring me and encouraging me! You are ALL great!!!

Here's a shocker!! I finally updated my Etsy store!

2011-08-13T14:39:00.008-05:00

My poor little Etsy shop has been SO beyond neglected lately, it's pathetic! Well, today I finally took the time to update it by adding some new items, some slightly changed items and renewed a couple older items. I LOVE the new listing process. Or is that not 'so new'? haha That's how long it's been for me, it was my first time using it and I like it!
Here is a little of what I've been doing:

This girl is painted on 12 x 12 paper for acrylic painting. I'm hoping to make prints and possibly apply them to wooden blocks or little wooden boxes. Need to get to Michaels soon and get inspired as to what to do with these prints!

This is an 8 x 10 canvas.

Another 8 x 10

And another

And finally a 4 x 12 chunky (1.5 inches deep) canvas. I love this little guy ♥

Hope you're all having a wonderful weekend!!

I've been busy painting and thought I'd share a few of my latest with you :)

So much for blogging more often again!

2011-08-07T17:12:00.003-05:00

I really did have good intentions of getting and staying more regular in my blogging routine but I appear to be failing miserably :) Oh well, thought I'd share with you all what I've done in the past couple of weeks. Yesterday I purchased a 12 x 12 book of acrylic paper at Michaels and I played around with it today. I've been trying to decide if I should put some wording on this one or leave it as is. What say you???

This is just a little watercolor collage piece I did yesterday morning. Whimsical and fun!

This is scary, huh? Egads! I just got in the mood to do something oddly strange and colorful I guess :)

I've got a couple other pieces that I just haven't taken pictures of yet, but I will. I got a wonderful request to put some of my pieces in a shop in Watertown, SD called Fiddlestix. I've been trying to think of things to do that won't be so expensive and then have some other original pieces as well. I'm thinking of adhereing prints to wooden blocks. Or greeting cards? I don't know. Any suggestions?? What sells well for you at shows?

I think it's time to close my eyes a little and see if I can feel a little better. I feel a little sinus issue coming on. :( NO FUN!

Have a wonderful week everyone!!
Darla

Assignment #2 in Wyanne's Paint Free class

2011-07-25T07:02:00.002-05:00

This was ANOTHER challenge for me! We were to take 4 colors and also black and white and put them out on our palette, set the timer for 30 minutes and paint. Just paint, no thinking...no preplanned ideas...just paint.

The timer thing had me almost frantic and I was painting like a wild banshee :) I realized that I was pretty much done or at least nothing more I could 'think' of to do and I had 10 minutes left. I decided to then start outlining things in black to fill my time up.

I did this during a week when we had temperatures in the 90's, T-storm warnings daily and unbelievable humidity and even though I didn't paint anything in particular, for some reason I see lots of the week's flavor in this painting. I see summer flowers......I see twisters, funnels and lightning bolts :) Weird, huh?

Hope you all have a great week! My next assignment in the class is to paint something special from my childhood memories. I think I'm going to try paint my great grandmother's porch swing♥

I'm taking a class!

2011-07-14T20:34:00.002-05:00

And this is my first exercise.......coloring :)

I have to admit, it was fun to try this, but I realized I didn't enjoy it much. Maybe if I had followed the directions and actually used COLOR CRAYONS instead of what I had at hand (Crayola markers) I would have liked it better? I LOVED coloring as a child! Nothing made me more giddy than a new box of shiney, sharp 64 fabulous crayola crayons! Anyway...I found the busy design and all the blank spaces that needed color a bit challenging and exhausting. I guess that part I already knew about myself: I like to paint as I go and let the design come to me rather than sketching out a design or tracing a pattern and having to have everything just right.

I'm hoping this class, taught by Wyanne and found here will be just what I need to ignite a new kind of creativity inside of me. I've normally taken seminars and online classes to learn to paint 'just like' someone else and learn their style. Of course, the goal is to take what you learn at those classes and develop your own style, but for some reason my work always looked way too similar as did others' and we could all tell that we'd shared the same experience. That's ok too....but I'm really hoping this class will help me find something deeper inside that I haven't been able to quite set free just yet. Does that sound corny? OH well.....I'm corny sometimes! haha

Come join me! It's an E-book available NOW or you can wait until August 22 and take it as a group if you like!

Thank you!

2011-07-10T10:44:00.002-05:00

This is the first time I've felt like painting in over 4 months and it felt good to try again.
The quote around her head reads: 'And when you thought you were alone...I was always there with you'

The bird showed up in the background painting stage so I went with it :) Thanks for all the wonderful greetings and support on yesterday's post! I've missed you!

Hello...remember me?

2011-07-09T06:59:00.003-05:00

I want to thank you ALL for your wonderful concern and support over the past 4-5 months. I miss you all and am finally at a place now where I feel I am returning to my old self.

After 11 years of employment for a company, I was 'let go' on Feb. 16th. I was told I did nothing wrong and that they were just 'making changes'.
If you'll look back at some of my art journaling pages prior to this event, you'll see sadness, worry and frustration in a lot of my projects. I knew I had big life changes coming my way, I just thought I'd be able to have more control over them. The last 8 months of employment were very difficult for me. Someone new and related to management was brought on board and slowly my duties started going to that person. I was left in the dark and not included in any of the discussions, decisions or day to day events as I had always been in the past. I felt invisible and I knew it was someone's way of making me 'want' to quit and move on. I think one of the biggest 'hints' I received was before Christmas when it was bonus time. I cut the bonus checks and my boss deliberatey gave me less than the others, when in the past I was one of the highest. I started looking because nobody wants to stay where they're no longer wanted. I guess I didn't find something quick enough for him.

I have never, NEVER been relieved of my duties at any job so it was a soul crushing, humiliating and hurtful experience. In fact, during my 11 years there I was contacted 3 different times to go to work for someone else but I remained loyal....I liked where I was. The last year was different. VERY different and I was praying for one of those calls :)

I spent 3 months on unemployment applying for jobs, getting some interviews and getting ignored as well. It's hard to start over at my age, but I found myself in exactly that position. I had 4 weeks severence pay and 4 weeks vacation pay to help but it was dwindling away fast as I had to suddenly pay my own health insurance ($425/mo) on top of my other financial responsibilities.

I finally landed a job about 40 miles away and the job itself was interesting, but I felt alone working in a new city, with new people I didn't know and away from family and friends and I also had to count on my little granddaughter to help put Mieko out once a day. I was up at 5 and on the road a little after 6 am every day. I did not want to commute, especially during the winter months and NOT with the price of gas right now. I worked hard to get my home ready to sell. Weeks and weeks of sprucing up, fixing things I should have done earlier and was about 2 days away from listing it and I got a phone call from a business locally and was offered a job right here, back in town :)

I am so relieved! I've been at my new position 2 weeks now and I think it's going to be great! The offices are nice with a clean environment (no bugs or mice like the last!), the people are wonderful and friendly and I'm going to give it my best!

I know this is long and most of you may have not made it to this part yet, ha! Anyway, one of the things that I learned during this whole process is that I let someone zap my spirit and I will NEVER do that again. I didn't want to exercise anymore. I didn't want to go out with friends. I didn't even paint. WHAT? How can anyone take that away from me? I never would have thought it possible, but I let it happen. I had 3 months to paint all day if I wanted, something I thought would have seemed like heaven, but it was, in fact, hell. I had NO desire. I felt worthless in every way possible and I turned to watching Lifetime movies and comfort food. 10 lbs later....I wish I had done things differently ;)

Anyway, I just wanted to pop in and update you. I'm sorry it took me so long. I was scared to post much of anything publically on the internet until I had let most of the bitterness go. I have. I'm still hurt and angry but I know in time it will pass. I just signed up for an E-book painting class to see if I can get some creative juices flowing again :)

Thanks again for being there for me and I hope to be able to share again and visit your blogs again regularly and get my life back to where it was♥

Blessings to you!
Darla

A bump in the road....

2011-02-19T11:22:00.002-06:00

I'm going through a tough time at the moment, and I will tell you about it after I can let it all sink in myself. Just know I appreciate your visit and your friendship!!

I'll be back :)

Hugs and happy vibes to you all!

Happy Valentine's Day!

2011-02-14T14:25:00.003-06:00

I was going to go and buy little holiday chocolates for my grandkids but then remembered that I LOVE TO MAKE CUPCAKES! And why not use the holiday as an excuse to do so?!~
I tried a whipped cream recipe for the icing this time and it's so much lighter and not so mega-sweet like buttercream can be. I think I'll use it again!

Yesterday morning I also worked in my art journal a little bit. This time I did the background completely and then pulled out an image from it. It's fun how the face shape and body shape come together in spite of it all....not necessarily how I would have drawn them, but somehow they still work I think. That's what I love about my art journal...I don't expect things to look great or 'realistic' by any means, but they give me the opportunity to play with colors, napkins, stamps and stencils! It's like a little bit of artsy heaven :)

Hope you all have a great week!!

11 x 14 Canvas

2011-02-08T07:30:00.004-06:00

Last night I just felt like trying something new....different in a way. I put all kinds of paper on this canvas, mostly for texture and then added color....LOTS of color :) I was thinking of painting a girl or angel but I took a left turn and I enjoyed the trip. haha

I love painting with these colors but at this point it doesn't really match my home and decor. I think my next home will have white or off white walls (ick?) and then I will fill it with pops of color from artwork.

I hope to get more pics taken and get this on Etsy this afternoon. There is a part of me that wants to keep it though ;)

Have a great Tuesday!!

Coffee Lover Series

2011-02-06T19:23:00.005-06:00

A couple of months ago I did a little coffee girl on an ACEO card and after it sold I had several requests to do larger ones. I totally forgot until a friend mentioned it again recently.
So today I enjoyed the whole day painting up some new girls!

Are you watching the super bowl? I'm flipping between a Lifetime movie and the bowl :) Halftime was 'lit up' but now that it's over I'll go back to finding out how the new wife proves her husband is a killer :) Lifetime movies....they're all the same pretty much. haha

Have a great week everyone!

She's just not ready

2011-02-02T21:04:00.004-06:00

Boy, sometimes I start out with what I 'think' is a soft, gentle look to a girl and then something subconsciously (?) bitter takes over and she develops her own personality. This one's an icy one for sure :)

He offered her his heart as others have before him, but she's just not ready to trust that it's for real....again.

Will he hurt her too? Is it even worth hangin' around to see?

Bee Patient

2011-02-02T07:29:00.002-06:00

I sketched this little girl the other night and really took my time in thinking how I'd paint her up. I got started and things were going so well until I speared black on her white translucent wing and had to change them up a bit. Then..........JUST as I was putting finishing touches on her, she got a HUGE black smudge on her face! I took the end of my paintbrush and dabbed spots on the bee's antennae and somehow my sleeve caught it before it dried, smearing them and landing on her face :( Grrrrrrrrrrr

This is the point where the heart stickers (bandaids) came into play. Since this is in my art journal, there was no way of really correcting the smudges. I tried but they got worse and the paper started to tear away.

Oh well, lesson learned. PATIENCE, Darla............patience!

Happy Ground Hog Day! I hope he gives us what we want...........EARLY SPRING!!

Art Journal page

2011-01-31T08:18:00.004-06:00

The weekend flew by yet again. Why is that? :( Makes me so sad because I just LOVE being home, painting and playing around .

I am debating selling my home in the spring...it makes me so sad because I've worked so hard in this life to build up to the home I have right now and I love it. Maybe it won't happen but at this point, in my heart, it seems inevitable that changes are coming. Perhaps it's time to embrace them?

have a great week everyone!

Angry girl revisited

2011-01-30T11:16:00.004-06:00

I took a little time this morning to paint up the 'not amused' girl I had sketched previously this week. Ya know, after trying to paint sweet, angelic faces it was very fun and challenging to paint a different look :)

Here is a close-up.

I also did a little something in my smaller art journal. I adhered some colored papers to the pages and this face kind of appeared so I went with it. Some days are hard and lately I've been worrying about so many things and I TRY to keep telling myself NOT to worry and trust that everything will work out the way it's meant to.

Hope you are all having a wonderful weekend, mine is flying by much, MUCH too fast!

It's my little grandson's birthday today. He is 4. Happy Birthday big boy!! Grandma loves you!

No 'real' art supplies close by........

2011-01-28T11:35:00.003-06:00

Sharpie markers, highlighters, pencil and liquid correcting fluid.

Happy Friday everyone, enjoy the weekend!

Felt like playing last night

2011-01-26T06:27:00.004-06:00

This is just a sketch in my larger art journal and I manipulated the color and added text. She looked so angry when I set out to make her look sexy. haha I was also very disappointed in some news I received last night so I think my subconscious artist took over?

This is thinned down acrylics on watercolor paper. I did this prior to the news....she's at peace it seems. Funny how our moods reflect our artwork isn't it?

Oh well, today's a new day and life is good! Only a couple more mortgage payments until SPRING and we all know how quickly they come around, right? Yippeee!! I'm ready for it!

Darla

Angels

2011-01-23T14:46:00.002-06:00

It's 2:47 pm and I'm still in my jammies! But I just ended up having too much fun painting this one. It's larger than most for me. 16 x 20 :) My plan was to just create a background on the canvas and then go back to it later but as most of you know, it's sometimes hard to walk away when you're in the groove. haha

I'm heading to the shower now, I'd die if anyone were to stop in to visit!

Hope you're all enjoying your weekend!

Darla

A journal page

2011-01-20T12:38:00.003-06:00

I tried to do this one with almost ALL watersoluble crayons but have to admit, I added a couple touches of white and gold. It was a good challenge for me though :) She's loaded with busy 'extras' and covered with beeswax too. This album (journal) is almost complete and I think it will be so fun to put it away and take it out in a few years and look at it again. I often wonder how these will hold up over the years and where it will end up when I'm gone. I would hope one of my children or grandchildren would keep it and never toss it in the 'she's gone now, we can throw it' pile :)

The first of the year, you may remember, I mentioned I was going to try the Paleo diet. I've come to realize it really isn't a diet, but rather a new way of eating and I.LOVE.IT.!! I feel SO good! No longer bloated, no stomach issues, less joint paint, sleep better and I've also dropped 5 lbs.

I'll continue to eat this way and keep you updated as to how it's going.
I'm off to an art auction tonight. Those are always fun!!

Darla

My weekend painting & and a fire!

2011-01-15T12:54:00.009-06:00

I finished the large mailbox for SewBatik. The employees are chipping in as a gift to the owners. Oh my, they make beautiful fabric! I tried to create the look, but it was time consuming and difficult. Oh well...it. is. done. :)

Then I painted up this 11 x 14 canvas on Saturday. When my middle son spends the weekend, he usually crashes on my sofa so, in order not to wake him up too early, I go to the basement and paint a little. I found this angel quote last week and knew I wanted to paint something to go with it. "Each of us are angels with only one wing, to fly we need only embrace each other"

Yesterday, Ryan spent the night again so yep.......off to the basement to play. This is a 6 x 14 plaque. "Go confidently in the direction of your dreams, live the life you have imagined'
I love that quote!!

My oldest son, Derek, spent his Sunday fighting a local fire :( He is a volunteer fireman and I'm so proud of him. My Dad and uncles were firemen, my ex was one and 2 of my sons. In these small towns, it's all based on volunteer work so these guys get nothing in return for what they do. Only our admiration and respect and it's the least we can do♥

Have a wonderful week!
Darla

Charity Auction Donation

2011-01-11T14:30:00.004-06:00

Hello everyone.........REMEMBER ME? I feel horrible about how I've been neglecting my blog and my friends' blogs :( I thought as we got older we're supposed to find more time to play but lately it seems there just aren't enough hours in the day to get it all done.

I made this mixed media piece (9 x 12) for a charity auction here next week. The theme this year is 'Kaleidoscope' so I wanted to do something colorful :) It started with watercolor paper, watercolors, acrylics, ink, graphite, antique ledger paper, napkins, regular paper, tissue paper and gel medium. Oh! and some glitter hearts and stars! Then I mounted the paper to a 9 x 12 canvas board and framed it. Whew........lots of stuff and texture too and she turned out pretty cute I think :)

I'm also working on a custom order. A large mailbox and I. AM. STRUGGLING. I already messed up the one they brought me and instead of all the work involved in stripping it and/or sanding it down I went and purchased another one. $23.98! Yeah, this art stuff is not paying well. haha

I just need to get things done, get them out and find some time to play again. I really thought I'd be able to do that after the holidays but so far, not so good. Hopefully soon!

Hope you are all doing well, and I'll try visit your blogs in the next couple of days. Again, I apologize for being absent!
Darla

p.s. I've also challenged myself to try the 365 Project! Here is my page if you'd like to see 11 days of photos so far.

I made a doll :)

2010-12-31T13:45:00.002-06:00

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!

2010-12-30T11:58:00.002-06:00

(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

2010-12-21T16:03:00.001-06:00

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!

2010-12-20T09:24:00.005-06:00

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!

2010-12-13T09:43:00.005-06:00

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!

2010-12-10T09:20:00.003-06:00

'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

2010-12-07T12:13:00.005-06:00

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'

2010-12-06T15:50:00.003-06:00

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!

2010-12-03T05:55:00.001-06:00

'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

2010-12-02T10:06:00.006-06:00

"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

2010-11-26T10:18:00.007-06:00

'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

2010-11-21T08:19:00.002-06:00

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

2010-11-19T05:49:00.003-06:00

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!

2010-11-17T21:43:00.002-06:00

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

2010-11-17T06:08:00.004-06:00

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?

2010-11-15T22:01:00.002-06:00

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

2010-11-09T21:24:00.004-06:00

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

2010-11-09T06:17:00.005-06:00

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

2010-11-07T16:45:00.007-06:00

'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

2010-11-05T07:49:00.002-05:00

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

2010-11-04T06:36:00.008-05:00

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

2010-11-02T20:07:00.004-05:00

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

2010-11-02T06:51:00.003-05:00

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

2010-11-01T06:39:00.002-05:00

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

2010-10-31T10:00:00.002-05:00

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!

2010-10-29T06:02:00.004-05:00

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

2010-10-26T20:10:00.004-05:00

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

Kinda busy huh?

2010-10-23T09:24:00.002-05:00

This art journal page got away from me a bit :) Super busy but still fun!

I'm off to do some shopping today and get a manicure. Much needed I might add. haha
This mixed media, mushing and squishing with paints is hard on my nails but I refuse to wear rubber gloves ;)

Have a great day friends!
Darla

I'm so touched!

2010-10-22T13:47:00.003-05:00

This morning I was watching the Regis & Kelly show and Kelly's guest host was Olympic Snowboard Champion, Shaun White. Anyway, they started talking about Halloween and he talked about some of his costumes as a child and thanked his mom for making them♥ For a moment, I got a little sad thinking back on the days when my boys were little and how much fun and excitement filled not only Halloween, but every holiday and how those days are gone....just sweet memories.

I wanted to remind all parents of young children to cherish each and every day they have because they have absolutely NO CLUE how quickly they will fly by. I started wishing I could do some things over. I wished I could go back and read to them more, cuddle with them more, and play with them more. My inner critic was rearing her ugly head again except THIS time she was judging my abilities as a Mom and usually she just picks on my appearance and artistic abilities :)

Well............then the most absolute, wonderful thing happened! I came back to work from my lunch break and these flowers were waiting for me!! I didn't know who had sent them!? I rarely get flowers!!!

I can count on one hand the number of people who know what I've dealt with this past week so I really wasn't sure who had taken the time, care and concern to let me know they were thinking of me today. Guess what.........it was my SON!

I guess I DID do something right as a young mom after all! I raised a beautiful, kind-hearted soul and I love him so much. Thank you Ryan♥

Lucky, LUCKY me!

2010-10-21T06:57:00.002-05:00

I won a recent giveaway!!! The very sweet and talented America Alcala created this lovely Virgencita and I won a print!

Thank you so much America (Meri) I love her!!

Please stop over and visit her blog......fabulous stuff!

Kelly Challenge #6

2010-10-20T05:35:00.002-05:00

Here is this weeks challenge from Kelly Berkey. Kelly posts a photo of herself weekly and those who would like to challenge themselves to sketch her are welcome to!

This week I took a much more whimsical approach and had fun :) I struggled horribly with her hands, so I have her holding stars to toss down on us. I know I'm not fooling anybody, her hands are bad!

To see the original pose, just click here

Happy Wednesday to you all!

There are just days........

2010-10-19T21:23:00.002-05:00

Do YOU ever have days when you feel so beaten down? I do. I sketched this out last week and I felt so tired and frustrated and to the point of acceptance. Acceptance of things I'm not happy with, things I feel aren't what they could be, aren't what I deserve. I was thinking that maybe it's just time to let go of the hopes and dreams and muddle through life being 'ok' with what is.

Then something happened. As I painted this little slightly beaten down, sad little girl tonight........

I got mad :)

Why let anybody else define who I am or what my lot in life is? I'm in control of this little life of mine, my future and my own happiness!

I feel stronger and I will no longer be that fly banging against the window getting nowhere. Things are going to change. If it is to be, it is up to me, right? (Love that saying!)

Hopefully I can fill you in on what's going on in time, but for now all I can really say is things are going to get better. Much, much better :) Thank you all for your wonderful comments and support. You all mean more to me than you know♥

Have a great night!

Tam's class

2010-10-19T12:25:00.002-05:00

Tam's Art, Heart & Healing class started yesterday and I just loved the first lesson! I SO needed this right now. My girl's nose is a bit too shaded with pencil......she looks like an aardvark and she's been sniffin' out ants in the dirt! Oh well, I had fun :)

Remember...........if you want to join, it's FREE! It's fun and it's fabulous! Just like Tam :)
Just click on the link to the right side>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
and join us♥

Sing Out Loud

2010-10-17T10:10:00.003-05:00

Another 10 x 10 canvas. I keep painting over older designs and I can't remember what this used to be? Anyway, I've used molding paste to give it texture and also hide a little of what was underneath before. I've used antique handwritten school paper for the wings, a bird from a wine label, a button and some fabric.

Sides are painted black

close-up

I was able to get a lot done yesterday! I cleaned up all the crab apples in my yard and there are still about 100 on the tree that will fall as it gets colder, but I can keep up with them now. I bet I've raked, shoveled and hauled away almost a million so far :)

I think today I'm going to putz a little more in the yard, freeze some wintersquash and maybe even bake a little something. I love the coziness of fall, don't you?

I hope you can all do something today that makes you smile :)
Darla

Hold on to your Dreams!

2010-10-16T09:32:00.002-05:00

Don't let anybody mess with them!

They are yours and yours alone♥

Tough week

2010-10-15T17:34:00.007-05:00

'Gratitude'

I painted up a couple more of the wooden canvases my son made for me inspired by Kelly Rae Roberts designs.

It's been just ONE OF THOSE WEEKS! You know where nothing goes the way you had hoped, where you feel nobody cares and you wonder if there's any hope at all things will ever change. I'm so glad it's Friday. Next week has GOT to be better :(

This one says 'Surround yourself with good people'

These were fun and it really helped take my mind off of the not so fun areas in my life right now.

Not to worry, I know these things pass and tomorrow is a new day ♥

Wishing you all a weekend of happiness, love and support!!
Darla

Michele Lynch Giveaway!

2010-10-13T11:21:00.002-05:00

I just have to share......Michele is having a giveaway and you can enter to win a chance at this fabulous Steampunk turtle! Click on her photo and you'll fly through cyberspace and be there in no time :)

Good luck!

Another donation item and more

2010-10-12T06:01:00.004-05:00

Here's is a second 12 x 12 canvas I painted up in a Kelly Rae Roberts inspired design for another charity fund raiser. It will be used as a door prize. Both fundraisers are for the Susan G. Komen 3-day walk next summer so I decided to do both donations very similar.

I had some old 8 x 8 and 10 x 8 thick canvases that I originally did designs with beeswax on them. I didn't think I could repaint over that even with melting as much off as I could so I completely ripped the canvas off the wooden frames. They're NICE frames....1.5 thick sides so I kept them. My son was awesome, he mounted 1/4 inch hardboard to them so I have 7 new canvases to create something on. This one has lots of texture, some writing stamped and a tree. Simple and fun.

I've been invited to put somethings in a local art gallery for a Holiday display so I'm trying to paint up some items that might be 'gift worthy' for anyone who decides to possibly shop there for Christmas gifts. We shall see what happens with this :)

Have a great Tuesday!

Art journal pages

2010-10-09T17:13:00.002-05:00

This is in my smaller art journal, the one I mostly just sketch in. I watched J.K. Rowling being interviewed my Oprah last week and she was so awesome! She made a comment similar to this and that stuck with me and it's so true. I remember when I was pregnant with my first son, Derek. I would worry about all the 'what ifs' and the writing around her is what my mom told me.
"Why worry? 95% of what you think MIGHT happen never does and the other 5% is never as bad as you imagine"

"Take the time to play every day"
This one is just silly......Somehow I ended up with a more mature face on a little girl body. See the stripes in the background? That's my Michaels receipts. Their paper roll was getting to the end so the BRIGHT, BOLD pink stripes printed out as a warning. I just thought they'd make cool paper backgrounds :)

Speaking of Michaels.....making a trip today. I best get busy and get some things done before we leave.
Hope you are all enjoying a beautiful weekend!

Happy creating!
Darla

Girls gone wild?

2010-10-09T10:15:00.002-05:00

Just a little face doodling in my small art journal. I didn't gesso prior so the paper
didn't take the color all that well, but it was still kind of fun and funky.

I went to bed at 9:00 last night! It was a beautiful evening and I should have been out and about but as the day went on, my head felt so full, my eyes ached and I was just exhausted. I think the head cold that's been hovering is seriously trying to settle in.

Feel good today so I'm going to get moving and try accomplish something before the blahs come back. Maybe if I think positive, they won't? :)

Have a nice and enjoyable Saturday!

It's Friday!

2010-10-08T13:36:00.001-05:00

I think I'll go dancing! :)
(mixed media on watercolor paper 8 x 10)

It's UNSEASONABLY warm here.......80's! Remember now, this is North Dakota and it's OCTOBER! Lovin' it!!

Have a great weekend everyone!

5 x 5's and my Kelly Berkey Challenge of the week

2010-10-06T05:58:00.007-05:00

When I don't know what to paint......no real vision....I go to my 5 x 5 little canvases! For some reason, something so small takes all the pressure off of trying to reach perfection :) The last couple of nights I did these three. The first is a girl......not sure what to title it. She kind of looks sweetly pissed :)

Mixed media with antique ledger paper wings.

A couple of whimsical birds :)

This is my Kelly Berkey challenge for this week. I thought instead of putting her in my sketch journal I'd go ahead and draw her on watercolor paper and try to color her in. Well the photo ended at just below the knees and since I didn't know how to draw feet, I put her in the ocean. ha! This is such a great challenge for me.....trying to get proportions right. I'm still a work in progress obviously as it appears I've given her one big blue diaper! Oh well, it will be fun to go back and see some of these beginning sketches after I (hopefully) get better at them.

Want to join me? Hop on over to Kelly's blog and jump on it!

About my trip to Michaels

2010-10-04T11:21:00.002-05:00

As I said in my previous post, I ordered DVDs to push myself and my art on to the next level.

So I was all excited to get me some oil paints and start my 'at-home' class! The brushes I needed were 40% off so that's great. The paints I wanted were 40% off but still.....to get all the ones I needed would have cost me SO much. Like $150+
They also didn't have all the colors necessary so I would have to order more online. I guess I need a little more time to digest this. Or just pick up a little at a time. The Michaels store is 40 miles away so I usually try to get it all at once while I make the trip but this time, I'll be calling on something that I'm sure I have somewhere but rarely use.........patience ;)

What does Darla want for Christmas? Michael coupons I imagine... again!

So for now, I've added 2 colors to my collection of Goldens and some polymer medium and will take the lessons using good quality acrylics. So far, the lessons are great. I'm just watching them and will go back again and do them step by step. She REALLY covers color theory well which is something I needed to learn and something I probably considered b-o-r-i-n-g before so I didn't think about it.

Take care,
Darla

Honor the Gift

2010-10-02T14:15:00.002-05:00

(Journal Page)

Kelly Berkey recently did an awesome video on youtube (and also posted on her blog) about the Learning Legacy painting dvd set that she was studying and it inspired me to try it myself!
It's called LEARN AND MASTER PAINTING and it's on sale for even less than I just paid for it!
Regularly $249 and on sale right now (thru the weekend) for $124.50! (I paid $149) There are 20 DVDS with painting instruction and 3 CDs of music to listen to and also an instruction manual. Oh, and by the way......EXCELLENT customer service! I ordered Tuesday and it arrived Friday!

Anyway, I'm anxious to get some oil supplies and give it a go! We didn't have art class in high school so I've never had any proper training so this will be good for me. I'm so thankful for all those that share their knowledge and skill on the internet as I've picked up bits and pieces but this appears to be a step by step guide that will (hopefully) get me started on the right foot in oils! They scare me a little.

At the beginning she talks about our workspace. And how it's important that we give ourselves the proper space and dedicate time to our talents. She says 'HONOR THE GIFT YOU'VE BEEN GIVEN'......boy, did that hit home. Sometimes I think I forget about the gifts I'm given and am constantly wishing I could this better, or do that quicker, etc. etc. I want to quit thinking of me taking a whole afternoon to paint as wasteful or selfish and more as honoring my gift :) Sound ok? Good! Cuz that's what I'm going with ;)

Hope you're having a fantastic weekend! It's sunny and beautiful here now, but there was frost on the ground early this morning. Oh no......you know what's coming?!

Darla

Donation and a journal page

2010-09-30T20:38:00.005-05:00

I've been asked to donate an item to be used as a door prize in two separate upcoming fundraisers, both for breast cancer. A few local gals here are trying to raise money for the Susan G. Komen 60 miles/3 day walk for a cure. Here's the first one. I thought I'd do a little Kelly Rae Roberts inspired mixed media piece. It's loaded with texture and is on a 10 x 10 canvas. The words say:
'He is with me! How can I be afraid?'

Yesterday I had a bad day.........felt like some in my life were trying to push me to the edge. I got a little down, ok~ a LOT down as I sketched her out and painted her. I felt so much better after a good nights sleep :) Tonight I added strips of previously colored watercolor paper and gave her a new attitude. GAME ON! Bring it on. I can handle it.

Wishing you all victories in your struggles, big and small♥

A trip down memory lane

2010-09-28T22:05:00.003-05:00

A trip back in time to when I painted almost nothing but roses! I just wanted to try something a little quicker tonight and see if I retained any of my movie editing skills. I did.....somewhat! I do have to add that I've gotten a little rusty in my rose designs! Good grief......but it was quick and it was a piece of cardboard so I guess it's close enough for now.

It still took me awhile and I have NOTHING fancy on my videos, but here it is :)

Journal Page

2010-09-28T05:50:00.002-05:00

Do you ever find yourself complaining......whining.....and being a 'glass half empty' kind of person?
Sometimes I do. I think it's lack of sleep, stress and maybe just a little depression that slips in when summer comes to a close and I know a long, cold winter is on its way.

I need to start focusing on the good things, the pretty things, the happy things because they really are all around me. Every day.

Have a 'glass full' kinda day :)

Art journal page, a sketch challenge and more

2010-09-26T21:16:00.011-05:00

I painted a sketch in my art journal that I had drawn quite awhile back. I added a phrase that I saw somewhere this week that I loved! I'm sorry, I can NOT recall where I saw the phrase but it sure stuck with me :) Be yourself, Everyone else is taken!
***Too funny! How can I paint something and look at it over and over and not notice something SO obvious? Look at how her shoulders go higher than her neck! hahaha**** That's the good thing about art journals. They're for fun, right?

I tried the beautiful Kelly Berkey's sketch challenge this week. Thanks for inspiring me to try Cathy! I struggle with proportions so this was a good exercise for me and I look forward to pushing myself even more.

On Saturday we went to a 30th birthday party for Dale's niece, Lisa. We had a nice meal, a hayride in the country and then sat around a campfire and listened to some guitar music and singing. It was pretty awesome!

This is the birthday girl!

This man, I believe his name is David, can really sing and play the guitar! What was really cool is while this man was singing, we all say a HUGE shooting star go across the sky behind him. It had a beautiful blue/green tail and seemed to last longer than any shooting star I'd ever seen. The whole scene was somewhat surreal, like something in the movies and not my normal life, ya know?

Dale and his grandson, Carson sitting around the campfire :)

And lastly I wanted to share a little something I tried this past week. I put some beef cuts in the bottom of my crock pot one morning and topped them with FF cream of mushroom soup and added a few potatoes. I decided it would be nice to have a vegetable to have ready at the same time but I didn't want RED gravy or gravy on my beets so I put foil on top of the meat/potatoes section and the beets on top. I drizzled with a little olive oil and put salt & pepper on, covered it all up and headed to work.
When I got home for lunch (I invited Dale and my oldest son, Derek) everything was done perfectly and kept it's own color and flavor. Maybe this is an old trick, but I had never heard of doing it this way and thought it was very cool :)

Have a great week!

Are you ready for a video?????

2010-09-25T22:05:00.003-05:00

OH. MY GOD!
I painted for an hour and spent at least 8 hours trying to teach myself how to edit the video. I have an even greater respect and admiration for all of you who share your talents on youtube!!!!

I have to say......painting it was fun! I'm hoping to do another fairly soon so I don't forget the whole editing part. I started with my Flip software which I found out wasn't so great. Moved on over to Windows Movie Maker which doesn't take flip files (grrrrrrrrrrr) so off to youtube for help!

I ended up downloading a free version of video pad which converts my flip videos to wmv files and was able to do it all there. I'm frustrated just typing all this again! haha

Anyway, here's my first painting video. Hope you enjoy :)

I used watered down acrylics on watercolor paper.
G'night

Reap what you sow

2010-09-23T19:57:00.002-05:00

This is how she started, just watercolor blobs.
Photo is much darker as I used my cell phone. The finished piece
of course has added colors and was scanned so it's more vibrant :)

Can you see her arm raised up, her braided hair and her flowing gown?

I have my tripod back and I actually started filming a different painting tonight and then my batteries went out! Now that I have it set up, I'll get better prepared and hopefully have a little video soon of me painting something. I'm excited and nervous!

A girl I hope to paint up soon

Artistic Accents by Darla

New Year…New Me! (again?)

From my home to yours….

Are we all swamped?

12 x 12 Wooden Canvas with BEESWAX :)

This year's Christmas Card

Hard to explain....but

A special order

*** FREE SHIPPING ***

Note to Self:

I needed this!

Confusing times…..

It’s going to be one. long. day.

Another video : Anger amongst Angels

Art Journal

I made a video!

Ok....another :)

A Mermaid!

Thank you Serena!

I need some help?

Some watercolor paintings

Angel sisters

Saturday morning fun :)

Auction donation piece

Make the most of your gifts!

Busy, busy, busy!

An amazing couple of weeks on Etsy!

Jack of all trades, master of none?

Side by Side by Side :)

Would you like a glimpse of North Dakota countryside?

500 Posts!

Here's a shocker!! I finally updated my Etsy store!

So much for blogging more often again!

Assignment #2 in Wyanne's Paint Free class

I'm taking a class!

Thank you!

Hello...remember me?

A bump in the road....

Happy Valentine's Day!

11 x 14 Canvas

Coffee Lover Series

She's just not ready

Bee Patient

Art Journal page

Angry girl revisited

No 'real' art supplies close by........

Felt like playing last night

Angels

A journal page

My weekend painting & and a fire!

Charity Auction Donation

I made a doll :)

Thank you for a wonderful 2010!

8 Inches

Christmas baking and a little painting!

20% OFF Etsy Sale!

Good Morning~ Happy Friday!

A few special orders

Polymer clay just isn't my 'thang'

Good Morning!

Just a little journal page

New ACEO Team

They say Blue Jays are mean

It's a slippery slope

Time flies!

I adore Erma Bombeck

What inspires you?

Cassidy is still on my mind

Experiments

The Golden Rule

My first 'realistic' portrait attempt

Margaret Irene dreams of flying

Day 3

Day 2

Commissioned Work in Progress

Zumba Fundraiser

5x5 canvases and a pumpkin carving!

Art for gallery and a journal page

Kinda busy huh?

I'm so touched!

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