I choose joy ~

Hi sweet friends ~

I hope you are doing so good and staying cozy this winter.

It's been quite frigid here in Georgia lately and

you know good and well, we do NOT do cold around here!

I've stepped out of my comfort zone lately and began drawing a little.

I've always loved sketching and have been wanting to try out

a new set of watercolor pencils too.

I drew the little girl first then

used a fine black pen to outline my drawing.

Next, I scanned her into my computer because

I loved her so much, I thought I'd better save her at that stage.

I didn't want to take the chance of ruining my original when
I began painting.

After scanning the original, I printed out a copy.
Then I transferred the copy onto some wonderful,
heavy watercolor paper.

Next I outlined the drawing again with a thin, black art pen and
after that she was ready for painting!

I even had to add a bit of inspiration for the new year for us all...
Choose Joy!!!

Here she is in more subdued tones:

And here in a little stronger, brighter tones:

An in-progress photo as well...

So I've scanned and saved just the little girl and balloon drawing

into my computer as a blank slate.

I can re-create her again just by printing a copy out and

transferring my original drawing onto

a new sheet of watercolor paper.

Now to decide what to do with my finished painting.

I think this image would be adorable on some note cards!

And so, I'm on to something new.

As I was going through my fabric stash

I found the most beautiful quilted pillow sham

that I had purchased a few years ago.

It's white with little pink roses all over...I'm thinking I might

make a few pretty needle books from it, we'll see!

Thank you always for stopping by to see what I'm up to ~

Wishing you a wonderful Monday my dear friends,

hugs and love,

Dawn

A little trip, a little art & a new tutorialat Lessons from The Nest

I took a little trip out Wednesday afternoon to make a run to the post office. My chubby bird is on her way to North Carolina! I have to make my standard Books-A-Million and Michael's run. I did find the new MaryJane's Farm magazine ~ I still have to sit down to enjoy it! I love all of the vintage images they use inside and such wonderful ideas....

I happened to have my camera in my purse and when I saw these beautiful apothecary jars at Michael's, I had to snap a few shots of this isle. Just look at all of these beauties! Very mercury glass-ish, don't you think? I didn't purchase any today but wanted you to see how beautiful it all was ~

Being the bargain shopper that I am, I did buy these wonderful metal stars for about 40% off each. They are on sale this week ~ they measure about five inches from side to side. They look adorable in the rust finish that they have but I want to play a little and give them a makeover!

When looking through the closet in my art room, I came across a couple of small drawings that I had made for my grandmother and grandfather one Christmas. I must have been around 12 years old or so, I just loved to draw. You can so tell that I was a young teenager in the early seventies as these little characters look very similar to some that were out back then. They've both passed on now but I'm so glad that I have these to remember my sweet grandparents ~

Click any of my photos to enlarge them :)

And lastly, I finished my new tutorial for the Nest Assemblage!! I've listed it for sale at my Lessons from The Nest blog too ~ This is a wonderful start to get you to creating these fun projects. I share the products that I like using and show step-by-step photographs on how I go about making one. This will be just the beginning of making assemblages for you. You will want to make many more! The themes are endless and you can build them inside all types of objects. I love to have mine "say" something or have a message ~ just as a visual reminder....

Click HERE to visit the store ~

I have a few tutorials that I've provided for free here on my blog ~ they're way back in the archives but I'll get together their links and list them in my sidebar for you.

Do you ever have so many ideas swimming in your mind that you can't even decide what to do first?? I am just about to bust with ideas right now!! I want to make a tiny fairy shoe, crafted from paperclay and adorn it with something...I'm not sure yet what..wouldn't they be lovely as Christmas ornaments???..I'd like to make several little snowman heads from paperclay to hang on the Christmas tree, paperclay over styrofoam balls....I'd love to start making a sock monkey for my soon-to-be-here granddaughter.....and what about trying an altered book! Plus, I have these great canvas totes that I found somewhere...I want to adorn them with images that I've printed out on fabric ~ ugh! You get the idea....I'm absolutely nuts!

Thank you always for stopping by to see me ~ I love your kind comments, your uplifting words and most of all your sweet friendship!

Wishing you great Thursday ~

xxoo, Dawn