I'm A Bad Blogger

Ok, so it has been forever since I have posted anything...sorry about that!! I feel like I spend so much time on Facebook and Pinterest that I seem to have little time to blog. If you would like to follow my Facebook page, please click here. I post most of the things I am working on there.

I have been working on Christmas ornaments like crazy since September. I sold some of them at a craft fair and the rest of them I have listed in my Etsy shop.

Here are some of them:

Ho Ho Ho!!
Shonna
 

You Matter!

Ok, so life totally got in the way of my art these past few weeks. My son had different things going on at school that I volunteered to help out with and then he graduated from Kindergarten!! I'm kind of sad about it to be honest, he is growing up way too fast. We went camping for a few days at the beach and my son had closing ceremonies for little league. I also just completed a 10 day kick start to weight loss challenge through a trainer at my gym. Last year I lost 65 lbs. and was doing really great!! (I still had about 30 more lbs. to go) Then I had some issues with my heart (so they thought) that I let derail my weight loss efforts. I could use my health as an excuse, but I'm not going to. My Dr. told me to stop working out until they figured out what was going on, but I stopped watching what I was eating as well and gained back about 20 lbs. within a 6 month period. Eating healthy is 80% of the battle, Exercise is 10% and genetics is 10%. So I totally had the control and chose not to use it. Anyway, I digress...after the 10 day challenge, I lost 6 lbs. and 2 1/2 inches all around. I feel like I am on the right track again. As far as my health goes, they performed every heart test you can think of and couldn't find anything wrong. I feel fine, so I am going to continue to exercise. I'm one of those strange people who actually enjoy it. :)


                      Camping at Carlsbad State Beach. How about the ocean as your backyard!!

                                     Closing Ceremonies (Escondido National Little League)

                                           "Spring Sing" performance at Jordan's School.

            I went with Jordan's school to Legoland Sea Life Aquarium. It was a lot of fun!!

Sorry about the rambling. Today I finally finished the art journal page I was working on in my last post. I decided to write little messages to myself on this page so I can look at it and be encouraged to keep working hard on my health! If any of you are struggling with weight issues, I hope this page will inspire you. "You Matter" enough to be the best version of you that you can be!! You are strong!!! You are powerful! Believe in yourself!! You can do anything you put your mind to!! Stay the course! And Don't ever give up!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Work In Progress

Here is a picture of an art journal page I am working on right now. I started out by sketching out a portrait on some paper I use to soak up the ink on my stencils when I am using them. I have a problem with the "white" page, so it helps me to loosen my mind a little by sketching on something with color. I then collaged her on a 9X12 piece of watercolor paper and then took some scrap pieces of paper and collaged them around the rest of the page. I stamped a "Chevron" design (a stamp that I made myself) in turquoise all over. I used a little bit of Gesso over some of the stamped areas and the edges of the paper to help blend them into the page (I used my index finger to do this). This is all I have done for now, but I thought I would share the process a little with you. This is something I want to do more often, but I always seem to forget to take pictures. I guess I tend to get in the "zone" and I don't think about taking pictures until it is too late.

Art Journal Page and Pic Monkey Does It Again!

Here is another super whimsy page...

 And Pic Monkey has added a new Collage feature. If you want a great "Free" photo editing site for your pictures, I highly suggest Pic Monkey.

I've Got The Doodle Bug!

Here is my latest page for the online class "Life Book." I have found a place in my heart for doodling!!

Do you Doodle in your artwork???? I would love to know.

Accomplishments

If I haven't mentioned it before, I am taking the online course "Life Book" hosted by Tamara LaPorte of Willowing. Every week is a different Artist, teaching a different technique. Each month has a different theme as well. I am a little bit behind and I just finished the lesson from February which was "Celebrating your accomplishments." This was a little difficult for me. I don't feel like I've done anything great and wonderful as far as accomplishments. But then I started thinking about my family and what I contribute to it. Especially when it comes to my Step-daughter. I have helped raise her since she was 5 years old. If any of you are step parents, you know how difficult and complex it can be. She is now 18 years old and there have been many ups and downs throughout the years. But overall I think our relationship is great and it is only going to get stronger as the years go on. My life is forever changed for the better because she is in it! I hope she would say the same about me.

Here is my Journal page "Accomplishment."

New Commissioned Piece

I was commissioned to paint a piece for a middle school aged girl who is graduating from 8th grade this month. She really liked my other recent piece "Soar" and wanted it to look similar. The concept was the same, but I changed it up. She also wanted the Bible verse Hebrews 11:1 on it. So here is the finished piece. It is on 8X10 cradled wood. I used a Sharpie marker for the doodles and colored pencils and Caran D'ache water soluble crayons on the face (I really love how the shading came out). I also used watercolor for the background and acrylic paint to color in the doodles and shirt. I then finished the piece with hot beeswax (which I haven't used in awhile). I hope you like it...