Happy New Year!

        Can you stand one more Christmas image?  :) I sat and watercolored a drawing i made of a pointsettia... there's some gold in there too that doesn't show up... It was fun... Its in a handmade sketchbook that CJ sent me a few moons ago.. The paper in it is nice for water color i'm finding out.. I used different brands of water color pencils... fun and relaxing after a crazy Holiday season.. 

Christmas is getting packed away... tree is down.. now all the bits and bobs i will work on today and hopefully get done today... and if truth be told there is alot of bits and bobs... my little village of houses , my snowman collection,.. stained glass votive tree collection.. But... they bring me joy and probably long after maybe the tree has been downsized i will still have my collections.. 

The weather here has been crazy warm.... windy... dry... They say last year we had 6" over our normal rainfall... couldn't prove that by me.. I think what it was is when it did rain... we got ALOT at a time... but there were loooong stretches between...so it didn't feel like that much... 

So sorry for the lack of pictures in this post... Wanted to make a post but hadn't taken alot of pics... The GrandLittles had a wonderful Christmas.. Sleepovers at Grandmas with Christmas all around.... Eldest GrandLittle has almost found her balance on her bike without training wheels.. Woot woot! The expression on her face is priceless when she gets a good stretch of balance going.. :) 

Wishing you all the best for this new year. Lots of whatever brings you joy... :)  Thank you for stopping by.  I so enjoy when you leave a comment,say hi... wave... lol  Hugs! deb

Amaryllis , Cards and Santa....

 

                                    This.... 

                         Has become THIS... but no flowers....will have to think how to remedy this for next year... Either A... they need more light during the year....(totally possible) or B I'm not letting them be dormant long enough .... Either way it will be fun to make some adjustments and see what happens... but bummer... 

I made a sketch of an Amaryllis in a vase since i LOVE them so much and decided to make it my Christmas cards.... 

I painted each one individually so they are all a little different and unique... i did some gold embossing.. 

Used a wood inspired scrapbook paper for the background......

This was waaay more involved than last years triangle Christmas trees..lol! so .. i should have started waaay earlier .. but apparently i can't produce unless i'm under pressure... lol go figure.. So maybe it got a little tedious near the end but really i enjoyed it.  I probably ended up doing about a 12-15 cards.. It was fun to see how i loosened up as i went along... i found i was willing to add more colors a ,especially in the bulb... and just be more experimental.. 

I wanted to share Mr. and Mrs Santa with you.. They are 39 years old this year... i painted them while pregnant with my daughter...  the GrandLittles enjoy putting on the little light up pegs, you can see here they are still working on it..lol  Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to everyone!! So glad you stopped by! See you next year!!! Hugs! deb

And Now We Wait.....

Last week i did the satisfying job of pulling my Amaryllis out of the closet they have been sitting in for 2 months and replanting them with fresh dirt..I took this picture soon after repotting.. Its been a week and 'Red Lion' has won the race for who puts out the first growth... now it looks like its putting out a leaf and not a bud... and that has been my problem... I can get them to 'regrow' but i've been having problems getting them to rebloom... We'll see how it goes this year... if no blooms i see two courses of action i could take... but we'll get into it then... 
 

You can't tell in this picture but the 'Magickal Beans have been UV coated and Satin Clear Coated AND glitter put on each bean AND I found this yellow frame at HL that my daughter assures me is perfect... I'm more of a stained wood frame person myself... but i do see how this brings out the colors... Thoughts?

Did you ever sign up to paint something and then struggle with it... I picked up two wooden suns like this at the Dollar Store and painted one for myself in yellows/oranges/gold  with the other for my daughter... and i struggled with her color scheme of green /brown/copper....  I don't think i could ever paint on commission .... If it doesn't inspire me i have a difficult time making myself do it... You? 

Well good news we scored some rain and cooler temps... Warmest November in my recent memory... Yesterday i finished up trimming all the grass and making it look neat... Firming up Thanksgiving plans and menu.... tomorrow i start cooking.. I get to make a pumpkin pie and deviled eggs... Thanksgiving Day Hubby makes turkey breasts and i will do the mashed potatoes and daughter is bringing the stuffing... If you celebrate i hope you have a lovely day with your loved ones... Thank you for stopping by! Hugs! deb

Lazy.......

 I just couldn't seem to pull a post together for what ?..... almost 2 months...As a result i have way too many photos to show you and a scattered post but i hope you'll bear with me and scroll.......

In no particular order we'll start with another 'Boo' ... Granddaughter loves to cheer and i thought this would be right up her alley.. :)Lots of glitz and sparkle on there you can't see...

I've been sketching pumpkins and moons and spiders... tis the season i guess.... 

Well that turned into a Birthday card for my blog friend Kathy over there on the Lake... It was so much fun to do.  So much fun infact i plan on using that technique for a few more pieces... 

There's been so much drawing going on... and alot of it has been flies! 

Of all things FLIES.... eeek! lol   Now i'll ask you the same thing i asked my husband and daughter... with hair or without hair.... hmmmm... 

               See what i mean.... so many flies.... 

So many ideas with what to do with them... Here are some in my art journal... 

                  And more... ok.. i'll stop.. :)

Hubby wanted all his passwords written in a book... we just went through some computer problems and his passwords were locked up with the computer...grrr... if you know what that is like ... So i wrote them in a book for him... and you KNOW i had to decorate the book somehow... lol 

And last but definitely no least  CJ from CJ and Ink sent me a Halloween bookmark!!! I just love her lettering... 

And the stamp!!! I totally missed out on this stamp .... I wonder if the postoffice has any left over???  Thank you so much CJ!  Kathy from over there on the Lake sent me a lovely card too but i didn't get a picture of it... Thank you so much Kathy.. Time flies and here it is almost Halloween... I didn't get any cards made for Halloween this year... i hope Christmas i will do better... If you made it through this whole post thank you for hanging in there... Much love and hugs! deb

 

A Sunset and a new coffee mug..............

 

This was so incredible in person.... It looked like a Sunset Tornado the way the clouds were swirling around... Wish you could have seen it... I've lived many places in my life but where i live in TX has the most beautiful skies... You can see a storm coming from miles away...or puffy clouds with gray flat bottoms marching off into the distance.. they never fail to amaze me .... 

Ah -Oh... looks like i will have to make room for another coffee mug...lol Daughter and GrandLittle came walking in with a gift for Grandma... they said it was screaming my name...lol Yep i think they are right... 

Black Cat and a Crescent Moon... definitely me... lol!  I hope you are getting a dose of cooler weather where you live and at least a chance of rain... I think tomorrow morning i may have to get up early and put a sweatshirt on and sit outside and drink my coffee and try to conjure up some Fall weather...We are getting some  cooler nights and early mornings but days still hitting 90F except for tomorrow.. highs in the 70's!  Hugs! deb

                                                   I made another Boo! I had to cross out GrandLittle's name. I asked her what color bow she wanted and it was Rainbow! 

Meet Francis and Florence... sorry for the terrible lighting.. I don't know if you can tell but theres glitter there!  

Close up of Florence.... It's been fun finding places to leave them... Ofcourse my Grandlittles want them ALL.... lol So that was a set of twins.... 

Next is a set of triplets.... Princesses in fact... 

                        Princess Margaret

                      Princess Mildred

And Princess Mary before she gets her crown and extra bling... Its been alot of fun... taking a little break from the ladybugs to concentrate on something else but i'll be back! 

The Magic Beans painting is finished.. All except the glitter.. I have a family member who may be able to put it on a tshirt for me.. 

I'm pretty sure the glitter will throw it out of focus so i don't want to put it on until after we've taken a 'proper' photo or scan of it.. Hopefully he can get to it soon ... i don't know how long i can hold off glitterizing it... lol  

              We had a little shower here yesterday... otherwise its been hot and dry... Hoping the forcast is right for next week with a cool down and rain.. Rain is a double edged sword around here .. we need it... generally want it but it makes the grass/weeds grow... uuughh.. Our rain is usually feast or famine... too much or too little.. Take care! Thanks for visiting! Hugs! deb

Ode to a SunFlower....

             Sadly i had to cut down my first SunFlower this year... 

            First to Bloom , First to go .... 

                 Brought so much life to the yard... 

                 Have a beautiful weekend!! Hugs! deb

My Yard..........

 

                                            Is now a Nursery.... for many, many baby Horny Toads also called a Horned Lizard...I have honestly never seen one so tiny.. They are adorable in my opinion... They are a 'Protected' species here in TX.  I've learned the construction companies have to have a special permit and make certain protections for them and even stop construction during breeding season... I learned that and it made me wonder about my housing development.. did they do that? Are the doing that with the continuing construction that is going on... ? I think i'll dig a little deeper... They do hold a special place in my heart...💓Hope your having a great week! Hugs! deb

Long picture heavy post........

 

.......Real quick.... those that wanted to know how i did this.. I don't have step by step pics but i can tell you.... Started with a hardcover sketch book and put texture paste through a feather stencil then painted the whole thing shades of blue... then used sandpaper to reveal the feathers... easy peasy... 

Let's start off by showing you my Halloween themed Belated Birthday Tea Party pictures! See the Witch Fingers? I made those! I think the pink 'nail polish' really made them great.. lol

Everyone had their own special tea cup... sugar cubes were a big hit as you can imagine... 

I spent an entire day and a half pulling out Halloween decorations and setting it up... fun but i was pooped by the time the party rolled around and i had to put it all away after... 

Found the perfect pumpkin color roses for the occasion.  

I had a skeleton sitting by the front door holding a sign that said 'Knock three times for the party'... That was a big hit... 

And this guy sitting at the table with us was a big hit too... They loved to go over and make his jaw move and pretend he was talking... lol ! Had me laughing alot...lol They both showed up dressed like the most adorable little witches... :)

The littlest Grandlittle is very much into little boos..So i tried my hand at painting her one... I think it came out adorable... I'm more into a scary Halloween but the Grandlittles like cute so hey i can do cute...lol

If your still hanging in there thought i would show you how tall those plants are getting! I didn't crop it in close because i wanted you to have something to compare them too so you could tell how tall they are!!! 

And they have produced a few flowers... Wasps are crawing all over them... so i guess thats who will pollinate them.. .I hope to collect the seeds.. 

Wow you made it! If you made it to the end thank you so much for hanging in there!  Its hot and humid here but we've had no rain since that BIG rain and flooding event.. The grass that sprouted with that is beginning to die back .. thank goodness.. We seem to be back to our typical hot dry conditions at least for the moment.. with some humidity thrown in .. Hubs is doing well ... he's been off playing alot of golf.. does my heart good to see him out and about and active.. Right at the moment he's in his shop building a bird house.. :)  Take care till next time! Hugs!deb

 

Scattered........

..... picture heavy post... in no particular order of photos.... Me and mine... we are all safe from the flooding here in TX... We did get ALOT of rain.... some parts of my city are flooded... WE live on a hill... and never been so grateful to live on a hill.... I think no matter where i live i will always live on a hill... 😳My heart goes out to everyone involved... Really can't stop thinking about the girls at the camp... so sad..  Above is my ArtJournal you may remember... If you want to know how i did those feathers let me know and i'll tell you next post..  
 

             Here are my latest sketches in there. With room to write... 

I've had a Birthday since we last spoke... getting waaay too close to 60 for my liking... Above is the present i asked for.. Now i just have to be brave enough to go out and paint in front of people... 😱

Had some scraps leftover from projects and made a bookmark that my daughter claimed... 😄Love it when she loves something i've made... 

Day out with eldest granddaughter...Dinosaur museum had these cool virtual reality set ups... She loved it and i LOVED watching her love it...lol... 

Since we visited..... theres been time for hobbies... This coin thing was 'supposed' to me hubby's hobby....in retirement.... well its become my hobby... lol

Another hobby i've had time for since we last chatted .. is repairing Liliput Lane and David Winter houses... they are collectibles.. I'm getting quite the collection of them... but i tend to get rundown, derelict, in need of repair houses for good prices... then i spruce them up where the paint has chipped or pieces broken off... I match colors... I only take the ones i feel confident i can make look like new.. I use air dry clay for missing pieces... lots of fun. I enjoy the challenge... 

Do you think only girls pick a bouquet of wild flowers from the yard before they mow it...? lol 

My petunias were awful this year... buggy and just not holding up their end of the deal so i replaced them with Purslane... so far so good... Now i have to remember these do better if i neglect them a little.. :)

You would have no trouble finding my house... I'am the only one in the whole neighborhood who embraces the SunFlower weeds around here and i have one right out front... lol  I keep it trimmed up and the dead flowers taken off... I think they are beautiful , require almost no water from me.. Until i can afford the water bill for roses these make me happy... 

Are you still there? Are you making it through this long post?? Thats what happens when i post once a month...  I've tried another craft... Introduced to me by Kathy on the Lake... She gave me the correct link to purchase flexible wax that will go through the mail... 

I've made my first few and it was alot of fun!! I've seen a video where you can make multi colored ones and i'd like to try that.. Getting the image centered will be a challenge i think.. 

And last but not least is my sketch of a frog... remember the flies from an earlier post?  They might go good together in a painting... :)  Take care everyone... thanks for visiting... and be safe! Hugs! deb