Another Maggie

This is Maggie, a cute Yorkie I've been painting over the past week. This is actually the 2nd Maggie I've painted in a row. I painted her in pastel (sticks and pencils) on Ampersand Pastelbord.

 

This painting was a challenge for me because my wrist has been bothering me a lot. After the last 2 pet portraits I did I was experiencing a lot of pain. I fear that it's carpal tunnel. I've been trying to rest it as best I can, and have been wearing a support. Hopefully I can avoid any kind of surgery, but ultimately I'll do what I need to. I have to be able to paint! :)

 

I hope you all have a great week!

Remembrance II

"Remembrance II" - Pastel Painting, Size 5 by 7

 

Today we remember the tragic events that took place on this day 11 years ago. Do you remember what you were doing when you first heard? I bet you do. I was in 2nd hour, Advanced Biology class, my senior year. We spent the rest of the day watching the news. It was this event that fueled my desire to join the military.

 

Last year I painted "Remembrance" in honor of the 10th anniversary. I think I may paint one every year.

 

Please keep those affected in your thoughts and prayers today.

Photo Quality for Photo Quilts

One of my speciality quilts is a memory quilt with photos. It's really important to provide a good quality photo for printing on fabric. The color is most important. The colors shouldn't be too dark and should all be roughly the same value. Here are some examples of good quality photos:

 

 

 

 

The following photos are poor quality because the colors are too dark. It doesn't matter what precautions are taken, photos with a lot of dark colors will bleed.

 

 

 

It's a good idea to provide several alternate photos just in case. 

Charitable Item for September

This fun baby quilt is my Charitable Item of the Month for September. 100% of the sale will be donated to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. My first ever charitable item was also a baby quilt and I was happy when it sold and I was able to donate the proceeds to St. Jude. I hope to be able to do it again!

 

This offer is good until the end of the month at which point I will choose a new item and a new charity.

 

Hope you had a great weekend!

 

 

Heidi - Custom Pet Portrait

"Heidi" - Custom Pet Portrait in Pastel

I've been working on this cute pet portrait for the past few days. Luckily the customer supplied me with a great reference photo (which makes my job a lot easier). It was a pleasure to paint this beautiful dog. I did tweak the painting a bit after scanning it, but you get the general idea.

The customer actually commissioned me to do 2 pet portraits so I am starting the second one today. Another beautiful Golden Retriever.

I hope you have a great week! Please send me your good vibes, I have an interview for an internship on Thursday! :)

Beautifully Imperfect

"Beautifully Imperfect" - Watercolor Painting, 8 by 10

I've been working on this somewhat larger watercolor painting for the past few days. I think "Beautifully Imperfect" is a perfect title for this piece. Sometimes we artists only paint perfect and flawless pictures of nature, but we forget to include the imperfections. This rose was striking to me even with those discolorations and spots. In fact some of those spots were accidents, but they work with this piece.

This painting is available on Etsy.



Charitable Item for August

This completely adorable Meadow Friends quilt is my new Charitable Item of the Month. 100% of the sale of this quilt will be donated to the Wounded Warrior Project. The Wounded Warrior Project actively works to raise awareness of the needs that injured soldiers have, help to give aid to these wounded service members and even help them connect with each other. I think we tend to forget that even though a lot of military members have come back from Iraq and Afghanistan, many of them are coming back injured and are not receiving the treatment that they deserve.

If you know someone in the military with small children, this would be a perfect gift. Please spread the word! I'd love to make this donation.

Falling Hearts

"Falling Hearts" - Original Watercolor Painting - Size 5 by 7

I've been working on this painting the past couple days. It's not a mini, but it was supposed to be. I just thought it would be too difficult to do that small. I'm thinking about doing some larger paintings too. Perhaps some 8 by 10's 11 by 14's and maybe bigger! Eek! :) I'm not sure why I always paint so small. I guess it's because it's just easier with realism. But I want to branch out and try something new.

"Falling Hearts" is available on Etsy.

New Quilts

While I was on break from school I got these four quilts made. I needed a little break from rag quilts and my long arm machine was gathering dust. :)

 This quilt was made with fabric from the "Sunny Happy Skies" line and has applique flowers. This is actually my first quilt with applique!

 This quilt was made with fabric from the Fox Trails line.

 This baby quilt was made with fabric from the Sew Cherry line.

And this super cute quilt was made with fabric from the Puppy Park line.

I really enjoy making these more traditional style quilts. I've been asked quite a lot lately if I enjoy quilting more than painting, and I always say, "no." Honestly I enjoy them both very much, but being an accomplished artist is more important to me than being a quilter. I'm a true artist at heart, but I enjoy doing anything creative.



New Studio Assistant

Ok, so maybe Milo isn't the best studio assistant, but he has been enjoying flying around my studio. :)

 Training has been going very well. First he would sit on a perch and eat out of my hand, then he started climbing onto my hand to eat. He's definitely getting more comfortable in his new home and with his new mommy.

Having a bird for a pet has certainly been different, but he's a lot of fun. I think the most difficult part for me has been making sure that I don't spray any perfume, cleaning solutions, or burn any candles. I'm even afraid to use fabric softener sheets. Anything scented could be potentially dangerous to his health. For someone who likes to keep a clean home and burn candles every day, that's been the toughest part to get used to. But Milo is a sweetie and he's worth it. :)

Purple Stripes - Mini Watercolor # 3

"Purple Stripes" - Mini Watercolor Painting

This cute little purple and white tulip is # 3 in my mini watercolor series. This one was a lot of fun. That purple was a lot of fun to mix up and is so pretty!

I was initially planning on doing 50 of these little paintings, but I'm not sure if I'm going to continue to do them or not. I'm enjoying them, but they don't scan well and I'm always disappointed by the way they look on the computer. I can't express enough how much better these look in person. That being said, I think I'll save these little ones for the gallery.

I do have plans to work on some larger watercolors and will hopefully begin working on them soon. The to-do list is just too long! :)

Have a great weekend!

Cigar Boxes

A selection of my hand painted cigar boxes (and other hand painted items) are available again in my Etsy shop.

I have debated about whether or not to relist these items in my shop because I already have a variety of items for sale, but these boxes have given me some really incredible opportunities and I don't want to miss out on the possibility of more.

Just a little update too.. my break from school is over and that means it's time to hit the books again. I intend to keep up on quilting and painting as best I can, but with graduation on the horizon I need to focus on school work. So I will be in the studio working Monday - Thursday and the weekends will be reserved for school and family.

I hope you have a great week and are keeping cool!

Purple Fuschia - Mini Watercolor # 2

"Purple Fuschia" - Mini Watercolor Painting

Mini watercolor painting number 2 is complete! I so love Fuschia flowers and I have to do a larger painting of them at some point.

This is only the 2nd mini painting I've put up, but I'm very disappointed in how they appear on the computer screen. Scanning them and blowing them seems to take away their beauty. These look SO much better in person.

Anyway, I'm going to continue doing them and remember, they're only $15!

Have a great Friday!

Inside Look - Watercolor Mini #1

"Inside Look" - Mini Watercolor Painting

I'm finally starting that painting challenge/series. I'm calling it "50 Mini Watercolor Paintings for $15 each." I so love painting these little mini watercolors. They're 2 1/2" by 3 1/2 (artist trading card size). I just thought this would be a fun way to get back into my watercolors and these little paintings will make good studies for larger pieces.

At $15 each these are completely affordable! And what I love to do with these minis is to frame them with a big white mat.

Isn't that cute? The outer dimension of that mat is 8 by 10 (I have these for sale in my Etsy shop as well).

These little paintings will be available for purchase in my Etsy shop but we can make other arrangements if you don't have an Etsy account. Just send me an email at - angela292@hotmail.com

Have a lovely weekend!



Charitable Item for July

It's now July which means it's time for a new item to be chosen as my "Charitable Item of the Month." This month I chose my Spring Fever baby quilt. Photos simply do not do this one justice. The colors are so vibrant and fun!

100% of this sale will be donated to Susan G. Komen For The Cure. I'm sure you're all familiar with this foundation. They offer support and resources for those suffering from breast cancer, and raise a great deal of money for cancer research through their "Race For the Cure" events. I had the chance to participate in one of these events while serving in the military in Texas. It was a great experience and one that I will never forget.

Meet Milo

Meet Milo, my new English Budgie (Parakeet). It took me a day to settle on a name, but I think the name Milo is cute.

I've been researching Budgies for a while and I thought one would make a great pet. They're just beautiful birds and they have such unique personalities! People often don't think that way about birds, but they're actually highly intelligent.

He hasn't been hand trained at all, so I'm beginning to work on that now. It shouldn't be too difficult though because he lets me put my hand near him outside and inside the cage already. I even managed to lightly brush my finger on his belly today. He started to get a bit nervous after that. Some Budgies will panic if you just put your hand in their cage.

This little cage of his isn't big enough for two birds, but in a few months I might get another one to keep him company.

Just a few other personal things - my husband and I celebrated our 1 year wedding anniversary on Sunday. He surprised me with a hot air balloon ride but it was canceled due to weather. We rescheduled for this Thursday evening. I'm quite nervous about it, but

Also, my twin sister had a baby boy, Noah, yesterday afternoon and he's not doing great. They had to take him to another hospital and now she's there alone. Please keep them in your prayers!

New Mini Quilts

I've been working on these little quilts the past couple days and I love them!

 A photo of my dogs with the new Puppy Park fabric by Riley Blake.

 Two photos! Love this one.

I've been doing some with embroidery too! This one is for my sister who is due to have a baby any day!

These little quilts are so much fun and I have a TON of ideas for more! All three of these will become custom listings in my Etsy shop. I think they would make completely adorable (and affordable) gifts!

Hope you have a great weekend!

Perfectly Pink

"Perfectly Pink" - Original Watercolor Painting, 5 by 7

I just completed my first watercolor painting of the year! Isn't that terrible? :) Although, I have done a handful of pastel paintings. I've been working on this painting for a few days and I can't tell you how good it felt to be using my watercolors! I simply have to make more time for painting even if it means getting up earlier or staying up later (which I have been doing). Painting is my one true love and quilting has been just taking over around here (but I enjoy that too).

This painting is available in my Etsy shop if anyone is interested. Meanwhile.. I'm still working on that painting challenge. I will post about that in a couple days! :)



Optimist's Creed

I just thought I would share this with you today. It's The Optimist's Creed written by Christian D. Larson.

I promise myself

To be so strong that nothing can disturb my peace of mind.

To talk health, happiness and prosperity to every person I meet.

To make all my friends feel that there is something worthwhile in them.

To look at the sunny side of everything and make my optimism come true.

To think only of the best, to work only for the best,

and to expect only the best.

To be just as enthusiastic about the success of

others as I am about my own.

To forget the mistakes of the past and press on to the

greater achievements of the future.

To wear a cheerful expression at all times and give a smile

to every living creature I meet.

To give so much time to improving myself that I

have no time to criticize others.

To be too large for worry, too noble for anger, too strong for fear,

and too happy to permit the presence of trouble.

To think well of myself and to proclaim this fact to the world,

not in loud words, but in great deeds.

To live in the faith that the whole world is on my side,

so long as I am true to the best that is in me.

I keep several copies of this all over my home and like to have it as a reminder of the kind of person I hope to be.



Break Time

I am so happy to say that my finals are finished and I'm officially on break! I get a whopping 4 weeks off! Usually it's only 2, so I'll take it. :) I'm very much looking forward to getting a lot of painting and quilting done.

The other night I cleaned my watercolor palette and loaded it with fresh paint. Something about squeezing out that fresh pigment got me really excited! Ha ha. Just love that color! I've already got a drawing ready and some plans for a painting "challenge" maybe. Details to come!

Have a nice afternoon!