My Paper Dolls

I wonder if girls play with paper dolls anymore?  You know the kind that you cut out so patiently around the little white tabs that hold the clothes onto the paper dolls ?  Their paper shoes, dresses, hats and scarves?   I use to love cutting out all the high fashion clothes and using my imagination and seeing what kind of lives my dolls would lead.   I remember having an Elizabeth Taylor set and a Doris Day set of paper dolls.  We would play with them for hours and having their imaginary boyfriends and dressing up these little pieces  of paper dolls.  I do wish I had those dolls now, but alas they  probably got torn and wrinkled and tossed away in the trash.  Maybe even one of their arms got torn off when we were dressing them in a hurry to go on a paper doll date.

On my art journal journey with Zinnia, on Roses on my Table, we are doing paper dolls.  Yep you read right.  Well not exactly like Elizabeth and Doris but still dolls.  We are making queens but my dolls just sort of wander and not sure what they are.   I have one set that are kind of frumpy and the other set I am pretending they are the daughters or grandaughters of the frumpy ones. 

 I am having fun with the art journaling and learning lots everytime I play with it.  Of course buying new supplies certainly does not hurt my feelings.  I am surprised how many of the supplies I already have though with scrapbooking and my photography supplies and the art supplies I had from years ago.  

Here you go the frumpy ones.  Now the sweet ladies here are not the frumpy part, I do believe it is their clothing.  My fashion of lace and paper I suppose.   Still they are paper dolls and had so much fun playing with them.

Here are their daughters or grandaughters, beautiful lawn gowns for the garden tea party made out of fashionable tissue paper and a tiny bit of lace.  Something every young lady needs in their closet for the garden party. 

There you go,  Annette's paper dolls of 2011.   I am fixing to start on a larger version of these little treasures soon.  So will see how much I have progressed with them. 

Thanks for stopping by and seeing what is going on in my world.

The Blue Door

This being the last day of March, I thought one last post for the month.   It is March and what is the saying ~in like a lion out like a lamb ?  Well here in our part of the world it is a beautiful day.  The wind isn't blowing a million miles an hour, which is so West Texas in the spring and the temperature is perfect for most people.  The golfers, the yard workers and just the walkers should love it all.  I know our fur babies, Jewel and Libby love it also.

My sweet friend Mandi took this photo and I just loved it.  It is colorful and just says Santa Fe, New Mexico to me.   She is a great photographer and has such a wonderful career ahead of her.  I remember when I had such enthusiasm  about it as she does.  She is such a delight and she wants to be the best and I do believe she is certainly getting there.  She has been gracious enough to let me use any of her photographs and I am sure you will see more of them down the line.

The painting was done in Painter and I added lots of colors stroke by stroke to it.  The top part of the gate door,  I think called a header possibly,  did bother me composition wise but it is so traditional to have the top piece going over it I just let it stay there.   

So here it is and thanks again Mandi for a beautiful photograph. 

                                                                   The Blue Door

I hope you enjoy the painting and seeing what is going on in my world today.

The Kite

This young man was about 5 years old when this photograph was taken.  We were at the beach on a little vacation and he wanted me to take his pictures.  I have taken his photographs his whole life and now he is 22 and still he will pose for me and just smiles and thinks "Nana " !  Every once in a while he was growing up he would say "no more pictures".  Even for his 21 pictures,  we photographed when he graduated from college, he as so patient. 

I loved it because he had his little hat on, way to big being as it was an adult size but he didn't care  and neither did I.   It was grandson and the grandchildren can do now wrong in any grandparents eyes.  His colorful swim trunks were just him.   I remember when we bought the kite, oh he was proud of it and came strutting out of the store with it in hand.  I do wish I had it today, I am sure it got thrown away during the past years, to put on the wall with this painting.  I wouldn't care if it had an elephant on it at all. 

I have made limited editions of it and it was featured on a calendar that Karen Bonaker makes every year and I used it as my favorite painting when she honored me as one of the featured artists on her forum.  I got to share with all how warm this painting makes me feel.   It is done digitally with pastels as the media, stroke by stroke it was painted and remembering all the little things we use to do together.

So here it is  and please enjoy it and the little story that goes with it.

This is just a close up of part of the photograph of how the sand and how all of the sea weed had washed up on the shore.  Didn't smell to good either and of course being on the beach the wind was blowing quite well.

There you go, that is what is going on in Annette's world at the moment.  Thanks for coming by and looking forward to see you again.

My sweet little Owl

I belong to the Journal Journey group on Roses on my Table.  My friend Bev encouraged me to do this and it is fun and I love it.  No pressure just play and mess and gob all  you want. 
This time the prompt is Owls.   Now still being new at this fun art technique I have watched several videos and didn't realize this is a going thing.  The art journaling and mixed media art work.  Remember I have been in a sheltered world for the last 24 years and just now immerging  like a butterfly I suppose out of it's little comfy home.   Well, I am certainly not a butterfly but you get the picture.

I discovered the magazines from Somerset Studio magazines, oh if you haven't discovered them and want to play with the mixed media or any of their many subjects RUN to the book store.  These magazines are a treasure to behold.   Several years ago, I mean several, a sweet friend--Lynn, gave me one of the magazines.  I was so busy with photography then I just glanced at it, thought it was pretty and then put it up and thought one day I will have time to look at it.  Well I did and oh what a treat it was, so wondered if they still printed it.  That was the discovery of the century to me.  Now nothing like Christopher Columbus did but in my mind it was.

I was looking at one I purchased and there were the cutest owls in it.  So I looked and read the article and thought I might use it one day.  Well lo and behold our journal prompt for this time is Owls.   The artist is Juliette Crane and she gave wonderful  directions on how to paint these little guys.   So this is what I did for my prompt.  

There are lots of layers on text, paint of all kinds on here  including acrylic, oil pastels, water soluable wax pastels and the wonderful words I added   Someday I will fly.  

I drew the little owl and painted her and she was the last thing I applied to my journaling pages.   I hope you enjoy it.  Oh be sure and click on the picture and you can see it larger.   Have fun if you try it. 

Thanks for stopping by and seeing what is going on in my world.

MIss Tiny Feet

We went on a shopping trip with our beautiful granddaughter, I know now I sound like a Nana, but hey I am one.    We surprised her with these beautiful shoes.  The store here in town had not even put them out on display yet.   We were hunting around the store like a couple of raccoons,  digging and looking everywhere hunting for a treasure.   I have been painting some shoes and she said Nana I don't have any cute shoes.  Well little Princess I think you forgot about these. 

I did the method of paper painting, just love this way of painting and found some rice paper to play with it also.  The paper was hiding in a cardboard tube and I released it to the world so now it can proudly be of good use.  So painted the paper and just had fun.  I added a few notes to her in the painting and a couple of hidden images in the painting also.  

Now these shoes had studs all over them and I thought how in the world am I going to get this effect.  I did buy some liquid silver leaf but that just did fit the ticket.  So I dug around in my scrapbook supplies and lo and behold there were these cute little hole punchers.   I am talking tiny little holes.  Found some of my grey painted paper and just punched to my little hearts content.  It was kind of relaxing as this whole method is.  I then sprinkled some of them on the painting. Some landed grey and some white but I think it worked---Sparkles or as granddaughter use to call them when little "Lights".    Granddaughter after my heart there, you can never have to many "lights"

So here they are.  I have done a few more tweaks with it since I took this photo of them but can't you see her prancing around in them?   I put a glossy black frame on them and she will be getting them soon.

She has tiny feet and such a wonderful personality.

Well, that is what is going on in my world at the moment.   Did clean the front windows after our last sand storm but don't think that is why you came to see what is going on in my world.
Thanks for stopping by.  

Three Zentangles of March

I am finishing up a sketchbook of zentangles.  It had 100 pages in it but I think I have used some of the pages for other things, but I would think at least 85 pages are zentangles.   I am doing a little larger ones now.  I have colored some of them and they seem to be evolving into something.  No not like a caterpillar into a butterfly but just evolving.  I really can't explain it but looking at my first ones compared to these they are doing  the job.  Hummmmmm maybe they are turning into a butterfly.  

I need to figure out something to do with them I suppose, the sketch book is enjoying them and I enjoy doing them.  They are good therapy also, so calming and you just forget about things of life while doing them.   

I hope you enjoy these and we will see where they go the next time I post them for you to see.

Here you go, I think part of the fun is looking at them and seeing so many things and shapes in each one.  Each zentangle seems to have a personality of their own. 

Thanks for stopping by and seeing what is going on in my world. 

The Wonderful Shoes Show Up Again !!!

First I would like to welcome March into 2011.   Here in our part of Texas March means WIND and lots of it.   It has not let us down,  with gusts to 60 miles an hour I think March has arrived.  March does bring spring so that is absolutely a plus.

I hope you remember these wonderful shoes from a few posts ago.  I love them but unfortunately they don't fit, they are to wide and way to long but Eldon said keep them anyway.   One of my young artsy friends Suzanne Clemm Wheeler said  " Annette just paint them " So I did  keep them and the sit proudly on top of my scrapbooking cabinet. Taunting me with their splendor and saying ha ha you can't wear me.  They are from England and European sized but I have had some before but I just guess it is not meant to be.  

My sweet art buddy Marilyn Parigian gave me a prompt of shoes---so shoes it was and this pair was the ones that would be immortalized.   Paper paintings would be the media.  Thanks to Elizabeth Nelson for the inspiration.  I know I have said this before but I love this method of painting, it is just to fun.  Well, most of the art is fun to play with and just doing it right or wrong is good for the soul and helps you not think or the trials of everyday life. 

The sketch done with a mere pencil.  I am recycling a canvas that was a blub up of a printing job.  Gotta do the recycling bit, use to call it just making do  but now has a fancy smancy name.  

The blocked in stage of the painting, do have to remember not to fall in love with the blocked in stage. 

The finished beauties.  I did change the blue part of the shoe to a less green color and added some cute polka dots that were on the bows. 

There you go THE SHOES !!!!!!!

Thanks for stopping in and seeing what is going on in my world today.