Garden Pond With Flowers

Garden Pond With Birds & Flowers

This spring we had a robin’s nest attached to the 

front porch light on our house. 

There were four baby birds inside the nest.

It kept mommy and daddy robin very busy

feeding and protecting their young.

I watched as the adult birds took turns 

sitting on the shepherds hook 

in our flower garden. 

One of them would sit there all day

keeping a watchful eye on their nest,

while the other would be attending to the babies 

or out in search of food.

This loving scene inspired me to paint a new notecard.

New Bird Series

I never stopped painting,

I just took a break from posting.

Black-capped Hummingbird

Black-capped Hummingbird

This is another painting that I just finished.

When using them for greeting cards

I leave some empty space so that I 

have room to add my salutation.  

Butterfly Painting

Butterfly on Garden Flowers

I just finished this watercolor painting.

The little  butterfly was busy landing on 

 my pretty flowers so I grabbed my camera

to take a few reference photos.

It does pay to keep your camera handy!

  

Zentangle Daisy

Zentangle Daisy

As you can see

I am trying to learn how to

do a new form of art 

called Zentangle.

It's  a fun way to practice your

drawing skills and be creative.

Anyone who loves to doodle

should give it a try.

Barn Painting

Barn Painting

I spotted this barn 

while driving along 

a country road and thought it would

be a wonderful subject

for a painting. 

I made some artistic changes

 to the color of the barn siding, stone foundation 

and background trees ...

and this is how it turned out. 

On the actual greeting cards, I glued on 

a few handmade fall colored leaves

 around the oval mat. 

  

Still Life Watercolor Painting

Delicious Apples Still Life

I decided to try my hand at painting this

bowl full of delicious apples.

It didn't turn out too bad for

my first still life. 

Keep watching ...

as I learn and improve!

Yorkshire Terrier

Yorkshire Terrier

I painted this lovable little Yorkie

for a special friend in our neighborhood.

He has the cutest personality!

Painting this portrait was easy

because he posed so well 

for my reference photos.

Desert Outlook

Desert Outlook

This view was captured while hiking 

through an opening in the rocks

of an Arizona mountain.  

DorrieBoo

DorrieBoo

One BEST FRIEND that will never be forgotten!

Desert Saguaro

Desert Saguaro

As you can probably guess by now 

this is one of my favorite places to see.

I love the cactus, mountains, beautiful sky

and wonderful weather.

It's a magnificent site to see!

Birds-Eye-View

Birds-Eye-View

Here is a little note card that I painted

 while out in Arizona.

This little quail was fun to watch

 as it scurried around 

from here to there.

It had colorful markings and

made a very distinctive sound.

As I watched

 the daddy, babies and mommy

 followed each other in a straight row 

as they traveled around the area.

This was a view to remember!

   

A Great Little Dog!

Reggie

This is one cute little dog!

She is so sweet and lovable,

yet always ready to play.

Reggie was adopted from an animal shelter in New York City

and she turned out to be 

the perfect companion for her owners.

Christmas Card 2013

Merry Christmas

and

Happy New Year

 

I have enjoyed sharing my paintings and craft ideas with you .

I'm looking forward to another fun and exciting year in 2014.  

 

 

 



Rainbow Sky

Rainbow Sky

One of my dearest friends requested

that I try my hand at painting a note card

based on "Nature's Masterpiece."

 I gave it some thought, picked up my brushes

 and this is how it turned out.

Please take a moment to just look around and appreciate

all of the truly beautiful natural surroundings

 that have been given to us by Our Creator! 

Vesper Hill

Vesper Hill

I remember as a young girl

 belonging to the wonderful organization 4-H.

Each summer club members were allowed to

attend a fun-filled week at 4-H Camp.

Each evening everyone would hike up

to "Vesper Hill" where they would quietly

give thanks for the day and enjoy the beautiful

countryside and evening sunset.

It was truly the highlight of our camping experience.



Whitey the Chicken

Decisions - Decisions

Which one will it be?

 

After painting these note cards

I can not decide which one is my favorite.

 

So ...

I will just show all of them

and let you decide!

 

 

 



Betsy the Cow

Betsy the Cow

Betsy was raised at The Pennyroyal Farm in Johnstown, Ohio.

Being one of the most loving animals on the farm, her owners commissioned

me to do a special painting of her.

She was about 20 years old.

Just about 1 1/2 months after I got the painting finished, Betsy passed on.

The timing of that painting could not have been any better.

Betsy will be lovingly missed!

 



Custom Craft Projects

"Custom Craft Projects"

Besides just painting greeting and note cards,

I do enjoy creating many other crafts (as I will show you in future blogs).

I love using my imagination

 to design items that involve various crafting skills.

One example being:

This pretty floral arrangement!

I used a beautiful ceramic vase, added my new "Bird and Basket" painting

 design - which I laminated and tied around the middle of the vase,

created a colorful silk floral arrangement and finally accented it with

a cluster of tall feathers, small feathered bird and a straw (raffia) bow.

This made a wonderful wedding gift for two "very special folks" in my life.

As my tried and true motto goes:

"The easiest tasks are those... done with love."

"Birds and Basket"

"Birds and Basket"

Once again ...

Spring has sprung

birds have come

with songs of joy and cheer.

We're happy to see them

return to our yards

year-after-year!