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A little sunshine please!
The weather here in the outlying suburbs of Chicago has been cold, snowy, cloudy and windy.
My patience, my sanity and my creativity are slowly diminishing as the days drag on and there seems to be no end in sight.
How are you all doing?
Longest winter in decades! Longest cold spell ever! 60 inches of snow and now water damns backing up into my house and leaking in the ceilings in my foyer and living room...
Creative measures need to be taken...pots, pans, boots, umbrellas...and most of all chocolate!
I am sure you know how I am feeling. Even poor Bella has not had a good walk since Christmas!
Hang in there. The sun will come out...if not today, maybe tomorrow.
Spring is around the corner. Hugs are on the way.
Stamping conventions are starting to show up in every state around the country for those of us who need a fix of friendship, fun, and frivolous spending!
Hang in there....hang in there....hang in there, I keep telling myself.
Hang in there....
Laura Anne and the Bella Boo, hoping for better days and a long walk soon!
So here we are, the end of one year, the beginning of another.
I can't believe how much my life has changed nor how much our three grandsons have grown in one year.
They are walking, beginner talking little wonders with big smiles, big hugs and most of all, big personalities. They are my joy, my bliss, my creative muses.
They are just like their grandma.
They love to color, paint, and throw their sippy cups on the kitchen floor.
I love to color, paint and throw the ball to Bella, my puppy, on the kitchen floor.
As they continue to grow and change, I am dedicated to making more fun, more art, and even more music.
My stamping has slowed down as has my time, but this year I am dedicated to making sure that more creative time is put aside so that I have time to play and dream and make.
2014 is the year! Take the vow, make yourself a promise that you will find time to do what you love!
Life is short, so make it wide!
Happy New Year to all my friends, family and acquaintances! Thank you for being a part of my life!
Laura Anne and Bella Boo, the cutest puppy in my home
So, What is your summer looking like?
Ours is one of travel, wedding, travel, wedding, travel, wedding, travel, wedding, and on and on and on until the weekend after Labor Day!
You got it - we are on the road for weekend weddings from June through mid-September with only two weekends unaccounted for! That is only because we will be on vacation those weekends...this schedule is worse than my business convention schedule ever was!
So my workshop has been busy with making wedding cards for all the brides and grooms along with sewing rompers for the "3 Amigos" so they have matching Disney Wear when we hit Main Street USA ! Grandma sure likes to keep busy :)
If you like this card, it is about as simple as they come:
Pick a color and run with it. I chose a light lavender cardstock for the card itself.
Cut your cardstock to 5.5" x 8.5". Score down the middle of the card at 4.25"
Cut another piece of white cardstock - you choose the size*** as long as it is smaller than the 4.25" x 5.5" folded cardstock that you just did. ***mine was 3" x 3".
Stamp your pretty little image - I chose a brown dye based ink.
Copic markers colored in the small flowers. My Pink Pan Pastels did the outer edges of the dress and I used a Blue Pan Pastel for the edges of the white cardstock and some of the outer edges of my lavender cardstock.
I then used double stick tape and layered the stamped card onto the lavender cardstock.
GLITTER GLUE! The best invention yet!
Insert a piece of wax paper between the fold of the lavender cardstock and using your lavender, blue or crystal glitter glue tube***I used crystal on the white and blue on the lavender, outline your cardstock on the edges.
Let dry.
WALA! You are done and ready to put on your party dress and eat cake!
Hope this helps all of you to remember that keeping it simple, in cards as well as in life makes for a happier life!
Good words for the bride and groom as well, don't you think?
Hugs until my tires wear out, my dancing feet are worn out and my tummy is full of cake and happy memories of beautiful brides, handsome grooms, toasts a plenty and smiles for all.
Laura Anne and Bella Boo, the puppy who loves to dance to her own tune
Happy 4th Birthday to Bella Boo!
What a good puppy she is, the best ever! She puts up with my long photo shoots, my long nights stamping, my grumpy moods and still, she wags her tail at me as if I am the best thing since sliced bread.
Wish I could be more like her...
My patience has been at an all time low these days as my creativite space has been inhabited by nonsensical gremlins of various sorts. I am beginning to name these invisible time killer gnomes so that I have someone to blame when I can't do what I want to...you know them as well I am sure... "Errand Go Bad", "Casa Dull Dirt", "Laundry Be Done", and of course "Dishes Do Mount" to name just a few.
So for today, Bella and I will put away the dish towels, the cleaning rags, the vaccuum cleaner, the lawn mower and whatever else is trying to sap our energy and we will play, eat cookies and hug.
Yes, ladies (and gentlemen), I am turning off my cell phone for the weekend, telling the grown-up kids that I am busy, the hubby that I am off the clock, and all the others who "need" my attention but really don't (you know who you are), that I am busy celebrating the puppy love of my life!
Once she falls asleep, I will creep downstairs into my studio and create something worth while or not, but I will create something that will heal my soul, make me smile and is worth a cookie for both Bella and I.
Bella and I have waited long enough to share those cookies of friendship.
We have waited long enough.
Today is our day.
Here is hoping that your day is worth celebrating, your heart is worth healing and your puppy is beside you sharing in your joy as you create a life worth living!
Happy Birthday to ALL,
especially Bella Boo, who has taught me to eat the cookies of life slowly and to remember to enjoy my life regardless of what comes my way.
Laura Anne and Bella Boo
If you are looking for something simple and wonderful and don't have a lot of time, this is your lucky day!
I love making circular pictures or cards! Not quite sure why - maybe it is because I am always running around in circles and feel like I accomplish little if anything...LOL
So here you go - this is a 16" x 20" pastel (chalk) picture that I taught my students to do years ago.
It is a lesson in color theory. Hot vs Cold. Color opposites. Color analogy. If you don't have a color wheel, this would be a great time to get one so that you can truly understand what I am saying in this post.
Anyways, Here we go!
On any size paper that you would like,
- Draw circles with a light blue pencil, stopping at the points of the circle(s) where they overlap to give your peice some dimension.
- Now choose two "friendly" colors - they are colors that are next to one another on the color wheel -these are your "friendly colors". i.e. yellow and orange, green and blue.
- Now pick another set of "friendly" colors. This time make sure that if you chose two warm hues, choose two cool hues to help set off your composition.
- On one side of the circle, use one of your "friendly colors" and color in 1/3 of the circle.
- On the other side of the same circle, color your other "friendly color".
- Blend the two colors together towards the center of the circle.
- Continue coloring all the other circles in the same manner using different combinations of "friendly colors". Make sure that you don't put two of the same friendly color combinations next to one another.
- Once all your circles have been colored in, color black in all the surrounding areas that you have not colored in yet.
- WALLA! You are done!
I like to use a little aerosol hairspray on my chalks to set them so they don't smear or come off on my hands at a later date - but I will leave that decision up to you as to how you want to finish your piece of.
Warm vs Cool - spectacular color choices when making a greeting card. Use one for the images and the other for the background or vise versa.
You can't go wrong using this color theory!
Have a creatively great day!
Laura Anne and Bella Boo
