Happy Holidays 28

Hi! Today I had a chance to sit down and create so I made a couple last minute Christmas cards featuring a beautiful cardinal inspired by a Ginger Cook on line painting lesson. I painted two versions, one with a darker background and one with a blue background. Both were painted using acrylic paints and the sentiments were stamped and embossed using a MFT stamp.

Many thanks for visiting ~ I hope you have a great weekend!

Be Sweet ;)

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merry christmas 26

Hi! I'm so happy when I am able to combine painting with card making! Today I have a christmas card to share featuring a sweet and chunky black capped chickadee. I'm studying various painting techniques and styles under a few different artists with an effort to develop my own. I was inspired to paint this little guy by a painting lesson I took from Ginger Cook.

 He's my first attempt to paint a bird. He's a bit fluffier than I had anticipated but overall, I think he's pretty cute ;)

 I'm not thrilled with the heavy tooth (texture) on the canvas page. It's a bit too much so now that I've learned my lesson, I'll have to take the extra steps to smooth out the canvas prior to painting. I just want to jump in!! :) LOL

 I'm entering this card in the current color throwdown challenge:

Thanks so much for stopping by ~ I hope you enjoyed my little bird!
 Be Sweet :)

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Merry Christmas 25

Hi! Today I have a set of rather clean and simple cards to share featuring a pretty wreath from a PTI stamp set. I stamped the wreath then die cut using various dies from my stash. The background was dry embossed using an embossing folder:

 I found it a little challenging trying to line up and stamp the berries in the correct spot.

 For color inspiration, I joined along with the paper players challenge:

 and for sketch inspiration, I joined along with the CAS(E) the Sketch! sketch challenge:

Thanks so much for stopping by ~ I hope you have a great day / evening!
Be Sweet ;)

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Pink Poppies 29

Hi! Lately I've been struggling to create much of anything. Maybe it's because we've been in our new home now since April and I still have a few blank walls that are crying for some artwork. I really want to paint a few pieces to fill the spaces but I need to practice, practice, practice. So I think I need to limit the time I spend papercrafting other than the few design team commitments I have and focus on painting. 

Here's my first oil painting in a canvas paper type art journal. Actually, the background was created using a variety of acrylics then all the flowers and foliage was painted using oil paints. I recently discovered the wildly talented artists Gary and Kathwren Jenkins whom I'm learning how to paint beautiful florals from.

For color inspiration, I joined along with the current and final Scrap Around The World challenge:

Thanks so much for stopping by ~ I hope you have a great week!
Be Sweet ;)

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