Mama wolf

Here comes mama wolf, protective of her little baby, don't mess with her!
Sometimes I hear a song on my youtube play list and an idea pops into my head, that is where this one came from. I wanted to show a little forest girl holding a baby wolf...now that I think of it I probably should have drawn some trees in the back, oh well! it's kind of a shabby textured painting, I'm trying to let go of having to control all my art, and paint more loose.

A few years back I was journaling every day, I don't know why I stopped, but one thing for sure, the pages I do now are disappointing! they just don't have the cohesion of my older journals...back then I was also taking classes, and working on backgrounds daily. See what happens when you skip a few days, they turn into weeks, then months....and getting back into it is not so easy!

So the only thing to do is put paint to paper, and see what comes out. This below is a page from my journal, I  used ink sprays first, and randomly applied paint. It ended up so ugly that wanted to cover it up so drew a face overtop, and as you can see, the ink below is bleeding through, which is fine by me. It's just practice, but if you want to paint a face over a background, just be careful not to use those dylusion ink sprays...they are impossible to cover! they are perfect for playing though......
The flower is a sticker I picked up at Michaels from their new gorgeous tropical line. 

Next up is a little fairy painting I'm working on, which is in the ugly stage at the moment, lol!
Will post when done
thanks for reading!

after a long break.....

hi all! well, that sure was a long break since my last post! I had the best intentions, but never followed through so here I am trying again, and I hope blogger hasn't made any more changes! I was frustrated last time as things looked different, so I gave up too easy.

When I started my blog a few years back, the idea was to just have an online diary for myself, so imagine my surprise when people started reading  it! I was so thrilled, and intimidated...but I kept at it, grow a lovely following of the most wonderful people around and enjoyed reading my friend's posts. I don't know what happened, I guess life got in the way....and I did something I swore I would never do:  join Facebook. The only reason I did so was because and art class I was taking was going to be hosted there...so naturally I thought I would only use it for this class, now it's been a few years, and anyone who has been on Facebook knows how much time you spend on it, lol!


The last couple of years have been terrible art wise, too much was going on in my life and I kind of lost my spark...I had little desire to paint, and would force myself to do some work, but weeks would go by without creating anything. I'm sure many artists understand how frustrating this is, especially when art brings you so much joy.

I may not have been creating, but that didn't stop me from buying art supplies and other fun things to use in my journals! the pic below shows some of the Jane Davenport mixed media collection I picked up from Michaels early this year, and that really helped to motivate me to just do something!
I have found myself addicted to washi tape, and must admit I have enough to last me a lifetime, lol! it works beautifully not only in your art journals but in decorating planners. In future posts I will show what I've done with some of the tapes.

 

I don't want this post to go on too long, so I will end with my latest big eyed girl painting, this was created on mixed media paper, I used various papers in the background, did some stamping and decided to draw a girl over top, incorporating the colors beneath, and of course I love words on my art, and this seemed fitting.

thanks for reading!

 

 

Shopping and some art

I can't help myself when it comes to art supplies, no matter how many I already have, there is always something I must have! I went to Michaels the other day to pick up some of their greeting cards, and wouldn't you know it, that had a big sale going on. This is some of the stuff I picked up, I also got a couple of canvases for 60% off.  You may want to take a trip there if you want to stock up on art supplies. The Strathmore journals are also on sale but I already have a lot, so only bought a small pack.

This gorgeous scrapbook paper was $10 - keep in mind I'm in Canada so our prices are always higher than the US.
I got some washi tape which I love to use in my journals, and some embellishments- the butterflies and flowers. I have an idea to use in a mixed media painting, so we shall see...I may go back and pick up more.

The last couple of months I have been making mostly ACEOs, rather than larger paintings. Trying to get back into the swing of things after taking over a year off, and only creating a minimal amount. Boy it sure is tricky painting that small, lol! I need glasses to do them now! 

I've been wanting to restock my Etsy shop with more of these illustrations on vintage book pages...Below are a few of the ones I have, and normally they will be fastened to black cardstock for easy framing.

I have way too many ideas for art, that I can't seem to focus on just one, that's why you see such a variety of artwork on my blog.  I can never be like those artists that finds a niche and sticks with it...oh well, at least I won't be bored!  

that's it for now.....thanks for reading!

betty

Mermaid art and new art goodies

Hello all, This is a whimsical little mermaid I finished a few days ago...rather than printing out the words like I normally would, I thought I'd embrace my somewhat messy handwriting. It seems to work in this case

What do they say about best laid plans? well, after finishing her, I was eager to continue with a little flower fairy. I was so excited to get home from work and paint, and then life happened. One of those unexpected things that you need to take care of, which took my entire night and left me mentally exhausted...unfortunately it carried on throughout this past week. It's so easy to want to give up sometimes, or to just sit in front of the tv and relax after work. That's the easy way out. I'm tired of taking that road, because I have very little to show for last year, and I'm still pissed at myself for my lack of discipline. This year must be different, I need to push through the distractions, and the lack of motivation, and at least do something every day.
Otherwise what is the point? I know I'm not alone in this, as many artist suffer from the same thing. I feel for you working moms out there, it must be hard fitting in time for yourself when everyone else is screaming their share.
So, I will paint, tonight, don't care how late it is, but once I finish this post I will work on the fairy- or whatever else may show up. You can't always choose what characters will appear in your art!

On a happier note, I am a certified art supply junkie, I love supplies, can't get enough! and now that Amazon has a really good selection of stuff, it's very dangerous for someone like me, especially when I'm bored and wasting time on the computer, lol! someone on Facebook happened to mention some Posca paint markers at a good price, and there I was, clicking 'buy now, lol!

These beauties in this pic were just delivered to me, most of them are Ranger products I got on sale, and being absent minded I ordered the same color ink pad! oh, and I thought I was getting a bargain with those distress ink pads in front, but note the size of them, they are munchin sized!! hey at least I didn't pay much for them, that will teach me to click without reading the small print.

 If you have a Michaels close by, they have the spring bargain section out, and I got those two cute writing pads in the back right side of the photo...the new spring line is adorable! I picked up some greeting cards as well, and of course more scrapbooking paper as you can never have enough.

I'm off to play with my new paints, thanks for reading!
stay creative!
betty

Happy New Year!

 Hello fellow bloggers! it's been a long long while since I updated my blog. Been thinking about it lots, but never got around to it and I want to change that and be more consistent. Last year was wonderful in a lot of ways, but art wise, I would call it a failure. After starting the year off strong, I slowed down, until months were going by with barely touching my paints. Near the end of the year, I did a 30 day painting challenge to kick start myself into creating daily, and it worked beautifully!
The above painting I think, was created during that time.

 This year will be about art for me. I haven't chosen a word yet- I know a lot of you like to pick a theme/word for the year, but nothing has come to me yet.
 I think last year's was 'discipline' for me and that obviously didn't work out well, lol!

...So, the problem with letting so much time go by is now Blogger seems awkward....and I am afraid to sign out because I have no idea what my password is :-D
I will also have to  figure out how to change the look of  my blog, and find something that works...oh, I hate that sort of thing! I just want to paint and write and forget all that other stuff!

It will take a bit of time to get re-acquainted with blogging, and to start reading my favorite blogs again, but I am really looking forward to it!
I will leave you with my first painting of 2016.
thanks for reading!

Art and Poetry

Another finished painting, and this time, it is just acrylic...no mixed media, no texture, just paint.
And words of course...I love to add words to my art. This one sat on my floor for a week, deciding how much of the poem from David Wagoner called 'Lost' I wanted to add.
Finally decided on just the last lines. I think they are enough.

So far I believe I created more paintings this year than all of last year, that's pretty sad! but it is what it is, and I hope to never get in such a bad slump that I let a year go by without doing the thing I love most in life, Creating.
These are my characters, my whimsical little girls, and this year, they need to come out and play. So that's what I will let them do. Now, on to the next one :-D


 Lost
Stand still.
The trees ahead and the bushes beside you Are not lost.
Wherever you are is called Here,
And you must treat it as a powerful stranger,
Must ask permission to know it and be known.
The forest breathes. Listen. It answers,
I have made this place around you,
If you leave it you may come back again, saying Here.

No two trees are the same to Raven.
No two branches are the same to Wren.
If what a tree or a bush does is lost on you,
You are surely lost. Stand still.
The forest knows Where you are.
You must let it find you.

poor, poor neglected blog

hi friends, yes I'm still around. I feel bad for neglecting my blog, but 2014 wasn't exactly a wonderful year. I barely created anything, too much stuff was going on in my life and the last thing I felt like doing was art....which is strange, because alot of artists like to lose themselves in their art when times are hard.
All my plans for the year were derailed, I neglected yoga, eating healthy, and journaling daily.
Well, it's a new year, so let's not dwell on the crapola that was 2014, lol!

So, here we are in February, and I'm loving this winter. It gives me an excuse to stay in and paint, which I have been doing. I'm a bit slow on the journaling at the moment, but did manage to get something done for Valentine's Day...

 Not everyone has a significant other, so I wanted to remind people that the most important person in your life, is you.

This next one I couldn't decide if she was going to be a witch or fairy...in the end I didn't want to ruin her hair with a hat, so I threw some wings on her :-D
 Lots of layers and texture, it felt great to get out my gold leaf and glitter and just play.

I miss blogging, it feels much more real here. I'm on Facebook, which I had sworn I would never do, but had no choice as one of the art classes I wanted to take was going to be held there, and eventually, after trying to be 'anonymous' just gave up and took full part in it, but I find it harder to write stuff.. Everything moves so fast, and it's just not the same as blogging. So whether anyone reads this or not, I think I would like a place to just document my year, and maybe share some interesting information I find that may benefit someone.
If you are still reading, thank you, and bless you.
.

New mixed media painting

Hi friends. It's a rainy, dreary day here. Has been cold the last week or so. I wonder when my magnolia tree will wake up from it's long slumber? I can see buds starting, so that's a good sign, but everything else seems to be a few weeks behind, thanks to the insanely long winter we had!

 I finally finished this whimsical girl mixed media painting. The girl was no problem, but the background was such a pain! I swear I spent several hours playing around with it, and debated whether or not I should add text. Anyone who has seen my work knows I like to put words and quotes in them, for this one I kept it simple. I've got these cute butterfly embellishments that I really wanted to use, but since they create problems when you try to scan the painting, I opted to cut out my own butterflies from one of my punches. Those things are handy!
It's really hard to balance all the things we do in our daily lives like jobs, family obligations, online social media, workshops, etc...and then try to work on your own art. Glad I got this one done, now I'm debating if I want to do a mother's day painting, or work on one of the art classes I am very behind on....and yet I can't stop joining these classes, lol! I guess it's nice to be among like minded individuals, you know how art peeps just 'get' each other?
anyway I will keep this post short and sweet.
Stay creative and blessed!

Hello friends

It may seem like I haven't updated in since Christmas but it's not so! I know I had at least one, maybe two posts in the new year, and I have no idea what happened to them. Has blogger been having issues?
How on earth did my posts vanish???

Anyway, I'm still here. Obviously posts are few and far between as I haven't done much art lately, other than ACEOs. My latest painting is shown above, and it felt good to just paint. In fact, come to think of it, it's the only one I've done all year! Wow, that's pretty shameful!
Considering I used to live and breath art... It's time to get off my butt, and create. There is no shortage of sketches though, there are piles of ideas on my desk, waiting for me to pick one. Still struggling with the old 'indecision'. Can't seem to decide what to work on, so I end up on my computer wasting time, watching videos, and on Facebook (yes, the site I swore I would never join!)  My word for the year was 'discipline' and obviously that has not worked out too well for me yet, lol!

This year is already flying by. It's April, and I am looking forward to spring and summer, especially after the winter that would not quit!
Someone please tell me, what the heck was that all about?? several months of record colds, ice storms, and tons of snow, higher than me, it became a hazard trying to back out of my driveway!  Even areas in the Southern USA got to enjoy a little taste of what we call winter up here in Canada, lol! How did you like it folks? I'm sure you'd rather it stay up here where it belongs :-)

I do hope to update more regularly- which is what I said in the post that has vanished....now If I could figure out how to change my background, that would be great. Blogger has changed some stuff, and I'm not exactly computer savvy.....

well that's it for now...it's Monday night, and my favorite show is on: 'The Voice'. I rarely watch tv, but this is one show I love!
thanks for reading!

Twas the night before Christmas...

now how did it get here so fast? I'm not ready yet! On Saturday we got hit with a bad ice storm, which made going out very dangerous.I thought the roads were clear enough yesterday to do last minute things, but surprise! all my car doors have a half inch of ice, so I couldn't open them. Will have to try today using hot water. Well the good news is we finally are going to have a White Christmas after a few years of now snow. Now this is more like it!

One of my favorite things about the holiday season is taking time to watch my favorite Christmas movies, so I thought I'd mention some of them here.

First up, a new classic, Elf. It's hilarious, and something young and old can enjoy. Will Farrell plays an elf who goes to New York to search for the father he never knew he had. I've watched it every year since it came out.
(I can't seem to figure out how to put a link right on the images, I know I was able to do this when I blogged regularly..if you click on the titles though, it will take you to Amazon.
)

Another movie that's been my favorite is Prancer. This one stars a little girl who lost her mother, and lives with her father and brother. She finds an injured deer which she believes is Prancer. This movie is perfect to watch with your kids. There is a movie called Prancer returns which is also pretty good.

A classic, Miracle on 34th Street was redone a while ago, and I must say, I love the new version! I know people think the classics can't be improved on, but this one is pretty good. I'm sure everyone knows the story line, it's another great film for young and old.
Ok I will just come out and say why I prefer this version: Dylan McDermott. There, I said it.

This next one is for a more adult crowd as it's a romantic holiday movie, called The Christmas card..
It's not a well known movie and I came about it by accident, but what I love about this one is the wonderful scenery! If you love winter, snow, and log cabins, this one may be a nice surprise. It's about a woman who sends cards to the armed forces abroad. One of her cards ends up with a man who immediately is drawn to go find her.

I will leave you with 'The Christmas shoes'.  This is what I plan to watch later on today. If you haven't seen it, it's a sad story, but very well done. I'm sure you've all heard the song so you know the premise. If you haven't seen it, give it a try! The acting is good and you get caught up in the drama.

Other than watching movies, or  listening to Christmas music, I've been working on some seasonal ACEOs, my usual owl ones. It's fun to look back and see what I was painting a few years ago and how I've changed. Here are a couple of new ones that I like:

For the most part, 2013 was not a good year for me art wise, but I hope I can get my act together for 2014, and work through the times when I just don't feel like creating. No one expects to go through such a long drought when it comes to art, I guess the secret is to try and push through it, or maybe just make yourself at least work on backgrounds. I was doing this for the first few months, I just let it go too long, so needless to say I have a few dozen backgrounds in my journals for me to play with, lol!

Thank you for reading! I want to wish you all a Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, stay safe, and enjoy every moment. May santa be good to each and every one of you.

Believe it or not, I'm still around

hello blogging friends, yes it's been a long, loooong time since I posted. I had good intentions of blogging regularly, unfortunately I stopped creating art for a while, and felt like I had nothing much to say. Summer came, and there were other things to work on. Besides, it felt like everyone had disappeared and gone to Facebook.
Well I caved and joined -had to, there was an art class I wanted and it was the only way I could join.
I'm there now after swearing I'd never do it, lol! and if you want to join me there, look me up and friend me...you can search 'Pinkglitterfae Art'.

So what have I been up to? not much until the last couple of months when I started painting again. I'm working on my Christmas ACEOs , and managed to do a couple of original paintings for the holidays, including the reindeer you see up top, inspired by a workshop by Christy Tomlinson..
Below is a folk art madonna and child I finished, with lyrics from the song 'Mary did you know'.

I'm not sure about the direction of this blog, I just know that I miss it, and I will try and post my art and anything else I feel like whether it's read or not. The whole point is to create an online diary right? I also miss reading my favorite blogs, as Facebook moves so fast you can't keep up!

I hope my friends are still out there creating and trying to make the best life they can. I know the holidays can be very stressful, but I hope you are at least taking some time to nourish yourself. Everywhere around me I see people frantically running from one place to the next, trying to fit in all those errands, not really paying attention to the moment. I've also noticed some crankiness going on, lol! ah well, gotta love the holiday season right, lol?
thank you friends for reading my late night ramblings, I will be back soon with some of my fave Christmas movies to put you in the spirit.

Journal pages, and an art supply haul

hey friends, how did time get away from me again??
I love art journaling, but have had a hard time doing it over the years. I tend to want everything to be perfect.
The best thing I did to get over this, was have an journal just for backgrounds. No pressure to paint anything meaningful, it was just somewhere to throw some spray down over a stencil, drip a little ink, add some torn paper, and so on. I used to hate backgrounds, but now I look forward to them. Anything goes! and I must say, Youtube is a treasure trove of ideas! it's almost hard to pry yourself away, lol!

So finally I thought I'd draw some of my quirky girls on them. For the one shown above, I used dylusions ink spray, added a bit of paint, some stamping, yellow washi tape, and on top, my own handmade moustache washi tape, lol!
I did a bunch one day, and they are super easy...put several rows of tape on a non stick craft mat, or even wax paper. Use markers, paint, or you can use rubber stamps to create your own patter. Here is a pic of some I did when I was bored one day. Most of the time they will be covered in your journal, so don't worry if they are not perfect, because mine are certainly not! I was just getting the hang of it, so these ones were my first tries, next time I will lay some white paint on the tape first.

You know what makes me want to create art? New supplies!! oh yes! you can never have enough, especially if you do mixed media work. Just when I think I need to slow down on spending,  something new shows up. I am excited to try the gelli plate, after hearing about it for months. I thought it was some sort of printing machine, but it is the easiest thing on the planet. I picked one up recently, along with a few other goodies, including some gelatos, more stencils, and some sprays. It was like Christmas again, lol!

 For anyone wondering if the Faber Castell Gelatos are worth it, I would say absolutely! I've got alot of the Caran d'ache water soluble crayons which I use regularly, so didn't think these would be any different, but after buying a set at Michaels with a coupon, and trying it out, I would say it feels like you are smooshing lipstick on a page. They are very soft, and easily blended, so if feel inclined, give them a try. They are awesome rubbed around the edge of a page, to give it a dreamy look.

For any Canadian gals out there looking for a reasonable place to order mixed media products, I would recommend The Art House Studio in Cambridge, Ontario, they ship Canada wide, and their shipping is reasonable. They also have alot of the specialty products that mixed media artists love. Until I found them, I was buying from Michaels, or Ebay, which can be quite expensive.

Are there any must have art supplies that you'd like to share? please feel free, it's one of my favorite subjects :-D

thanks for reading
betty

More folk art, and a great link for Health conscious people

hi folks, well I finished the second primitive style painting a few days ago. I like how she turned out even though this isn't my normal style. It's nice to try different things to keep you fresh. At one point I was ready to just give up, I had white paint on my brush and was going to eraser her, but I pressed on, until I got a face I was happy with.  So now, maybe it's time to incorporate this loose, and colorful style, with my usual big-eyed girls I am used to doing...?
I'm starting to find that I absolutely love doing backgrounds now! that used to be my weak spot, but now it's so relaxing to glue bits of paper down on a canvas, and cover it over, add more paper, add more paint, and on and on. This is the sort of thing you can always do when you are not in the mood to paint. Just put 3 - 4 canvases on your table, rip up various bits of paper, and start gluing. Then put them aside, work on them when the mood hits you, and when you finally feel the urge to do a full painting, you've got part of the work already done...no need to wait for stuff to dry either! 

I also wanted to recommend to anyone who is interested in their health, to join this free 'summit'.
You simply sign up with your email, and will be getting links to these really great interviews which you can phone in to, or what I do is listen after the event, through the internet. Each interview is available for 24 hours. I just finished listening to one by a Dr. Michael Kloper which was really fantastic, and wanted to link you all up before it's done.
this is the link to the Food Revolution Summit:
http://www.foodrevolution.org/summit#.UYJtQ8rotJQ

I've listened to many of these type of broadcasts in the past, and gain so much knowledge from each one.  Sorry I didn't get this post up yesterday when I wanted to!
thanks for reading!

My medinilla plant, and some Art

hello fellow bloggers, yes I am still around, and I feel so bad for neglecting my blog! I've wanted to update many times but felt I had nothing really to say. On top of that, I haven't been creating much art lately, in fact, this one above is the second painting in a few months. Just haven't been in the mood.  This winter has felt like the longest one ever, so depressing and dreary. For some reason, the sky has been white, overcast and grey, rather than the clear blue skies I am used to seeing.
No matter, it is almost May, and today was a gorgeous day, so here I am saying hello to my blogging friends. I am so looking forward to the warmer weather arriving.
It gets even harder to create when you want to be outside, but if I can get organized, I'd like to take my art journal outside with some supplies, and just play. I've been reading some of my fave blogs all along, and am happy that I am not the only one who has slowed down on posts, I don't feel so bad now. Hopefully I can at least be more consistent. The secret for me, is to look at this as just an online diary, rather than feel I have to be clever.
Now I would like to show you a gorgeous plant I picked up at a home show called a Medinilla. I believe it is only grown in Ontario right now, and is shipping around North America. This plant is stunning! and after it almost tipping over a couple of times I found the perfect pot. This is definitely a centerpiece among all my plants, and I do have lots, lol!

Click on the pics for a closer look.

Well folks, that's it for now. Next post I will show you some of the journal backgrounds I've done.
thanks for reading!

Happy Holidays!

 

hey everyone, this is a short post just to wish you all a Merry Christmas, and Happy Holidays.
I appreciate every one of you who comes to my blog, time is so limited I realize, and the fact that you spend your precious time reading my blog, or even skimming, means alot to me.

I want to say that I wish for all of you lovely people to have a very blessed 2013. May the new year bring you much health, happiness, peace, joy and all the wonderful things you desire.


Stay safe this holiday season, and fill your days with beautiful memories. Time is precious, so make it count!

peace,
betty