Happy Thanksgiving 18

Happy Fall to my North American crafty friends! Although the temperatures are still in the 90's here in Phoenix, Fall is still in the air :) The morning temperatures are a bit cooler so when I go for a bike ride, I don't have to hit the road by 5 am, I can sleep in until 6:00 am. Today I have a couple of Fall inspired projects to share kicking off the official start of the season. First up is a Happy Thanksgiving card:

Using an assortment of Distress Inks, I inked up a piece of watercolor paper, spritzed with water, dried then using a Prima die, die cut the elegant Maple leaf. The sentiment is from the PTI Fall Elegance stamp set:

For the sketch inspiration, I joined along with the current MOJO Monday sketch challenge:

and for color inspiration, I joined along with the current ColourQ Colour challenge:

It's Day 20 of 30 in 30:

Today I have a fall themed painting featuring a sweet Black-capped Chickadee:

One of the many things that I would like to learn how to paint are various birds so I recently purchased a few how-to books authored by the talented artist, Sherry C. Nelson. Sherry is a decorative painter and her style is much more detailed and precise than I am striving for but I am learning the basics which is my personal goal. I was inspired to paint more impressionistic leaves by one of my other favorite local artists, Krista Eaton. 

Here's how my painting began with my sketched leaves and bird:

I'm linking my painting to the Paint Party Friday site:

Thanks so much for stopping by!
Be Sweet ;)