Live in the Moment

Here I am with another one of those little sayings.   LIVE IN THE MOMENT.  I am thinking what does this mean to me?  Eldon and I agree that it means live for today, not to worry about tomorrow or yesterday.  Kind of like the present?  The little gift you give yourself.  Today is your present.  He says I live more in the moment more than he does.  I do wonder about if I could have changed anything and I think not, what it is -is what it is.  I just try to live day by day, even when I was growing up and a teenager I never really thought, but once, what was I going to be when I grew up.  I figured I would do what I was suppose to do.   Now you are asking what in the world brought this little subject up to Annette?

Well, remember the Artful Gathering class I am finishing up with?  The bottles and textures ?   I thought alright lets do a cute bottle for grandaughter, she loved the one I did first, not her colors but the whole concept of it.  So I created this bottle , showed it to her and she loves it.  I feel like pleasing a busy little 19 year old was like hitting the jackpot at Vegas.  To me anyway, probably cost me a lot less dollars also that going to Vegas. 

I drag out the paints and all the goodies to create this beautiful bottle, paint, glue and things go to flying like a mad scientist building their whatever they build.  I have a wonderful 2 foot by 3 foot matt, they call it a misting matt by Tattered Angels.  It is pink, which is a good color almost as good as red or yellow, right up there anyway.  It is a silicone matt that our glue doesn't stick to or the paint but remember it is not a cutting board.  I keep the newly discovered error at the back of my work table now. 

Here you go, the bottle.   The sunflower is from a painting I did earlier here on the blog, the jewelry goodies is from a bracelet I cut apart and the little medalion at the bottom is stating to  LIVE IN THE MOMENT.   Now you know where my saying came from I put other words around on it also.  This was fun and Zinnia might have created a monster here, making these pretty little things. 

 

This is the next bottle I created.  Lace, ribbons, flowers, charms,metal dragon flies and words.  I also added a painting I had done of grandaughter during her Senior year of high school.   It was an antique bottle we picked up earlier.  The saying on this one is in the garden of life you are the rarest of flowers.

There you go and now you know what I have been up to the last few days.   Thanks for stopping by and seeing what is going on in my world.  xo

The Three Lighting Effects

Hello, been out of pocket for a while but I am back.  Funny saying isn't it ? Out of Pocket.   Not sure where that saying comes from, we have so many sayings now days.  Some of them do mean differently today than they did years ago.  OK, enough of reminiscing.

I took an online class, ---it is a wonderful way to take classes I do believe.  You can sit in your jammies and be on the computer anytime of the day or night and be in class and not be tardy or have to walk a long way or sit by someone that you don't care to sit by.   I am loving all of these classes that I am taking nowdays.  They give you new wrinkles in your brain and keeps it functioning well I do think. 

OK, back to the class.  It was with Karen Bonaker and a digi painting class about lighting.   The effects it has on a subject. So I took a photograph of the same subject at three different times of the day.  Very interesting and was fun doing these little sketches of it.  the softness of the lighing, the harhness of day lighting and the coolness of the evening.  Well the colors weren't to cool at the evening painting but it sure was while taking the photo. 

This painting is in the early morning.  Yes early morning.  It is not my nature to get up early but for Karen and a class assignment I did it.   I really like the lighting on this and how soft the colors were.

Can you tell when this one was taken ?  Pretty much in the heat and I mean heat of the day.  Like in the 100's, sort of toasty warm.  The warmth of the colors were really pretty here and the shawdows of course were stronger and more pronounced in the bright daylight .

  

This was a night- who would have thought it ?   I lit it with just the outside light on the patio.  Certainly did change it totally the colors and the mood and just the whole nine yards of the painting.    I thought it was an interesting assignment.   I did do a painting of a village in Italy our daughter took while she was there and turned it into night and added a little creature that isn't alive any more, I think.   Whew, that was a excitement there about the next painting.   Enjoy.

OK, my imagination did go a little wild here but it could have looked like this years ago.  

There you go, just wanted to share these with you and thanks for stopping by and seeing what is going on in my world. 

The Wind Does Blow

The wind does blow here.  A healthy blow it is and even to the point that one of the decorations on the walls of the freeway  is a beautiful statue thingie of the Blowing Wind.   I forget what he is called but you know the man blowing the wind.  Some people objected because it might be Pagan.  In fact they had to put a new statue up and higher up on the wall someone destroyed the last one.  Pagan?  I don't think so.  Give me a break it is Mr. Wind.  Now we are talking 20-60 miles per hour here, not a gentle breeze.  Some days more and very very few days less plus 100 degrees of nice warmth.  But that is West Texas and we have great people here so we just have grown to take it and go on about our business.

I know you are asking what kind of flowers grow here?  I did forget to add that our water, we have a well, is a tad salty here also.   If the wonderful cool and most needed H2O hits the leaves you might as well say grace over whatever it hits.   BUT-- Eldon has devised a watering system for our patio plants where they get plenty of water and none of it hits the leaves or blooms and the plants and the water go hand in hand.   The plants bloom their little hearts out.  

Here are some of the tough guy.  Forgive me but there are several of them here. 

The Geranium always a good heat soldier.  Tough guys but no water on the leaves please.

Our little oasis here, the Bougainvillea love the heat and we keep these in the fur babies tropical hideaway in the winter.   In the background you can see some new Desert Willows we planted, but that is another story.

Close up of the Bougainvilleas, they come in all colors to white and peachy orange and purple. 

Another view of the tough warriors.

Crepe Myrtles, oh what beautiful plants. From bushes to tall  guys.  Now they also come in several colors and we planted a giant one in the backyard this year.  Had to get one tall enough so the water won't hit the leaves.  I tell you it will kill them dead.

The Gerber Daisey.  Such happy little things and wonderful bright colors they come it.  I love them but they do die out in the winter.  A good little Annual for us here.

Roses love the heat here but not the water on the leaves.  This is a climber where it doesn't get hit by the sprinklers so it just laughs at them, the sprinklers, and says ha ha I am safe from you. 

The day lilies, we have several colors of them and such cheerful and blooming plants. They named them perfectly thought.  The flower only lasts for one day, but they do bloom well.

There are some of our beautiful flowers that we have that can with stand the sun here.  Now I use to have beautiful plants like fox gloves and bleeding hearts but that was at a shadier home.  What you say?  Nothing for the humming birds?  Yes we do but that is another post.  I don't want to wear your eyes out.  We had a shade garden but even the 3 hours of sun it got was to much for the delicate plants.  We will try again next year and see what happens.

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

Summer, Art and the Internet

 August is here and to me that means Fall, my favorite season is nearly here. When all the flowers are still pretty and the grass is green, well not this year with the terrible dry spell for here but usually it is green.   Some how the Internet reminds me of the season changes.  It has  lots of changes here and there  and so many beautiful things going on with it, well in my part of the cyber world at least.  

I have discovered new friends, lots of art of all kinds out there and now getting to know some of my family across the pond.    Only thru the Internet would this have happened.  It just makes so many things happen in your world.

With the help of Ancestery.com  we have discovered new family members that we have been looking for a long time. It is just so exciting to find out who they are and what they are doing and to know you have kin across the waters that have been lost to you.  I know this will be good for the heart as well.  

I am also taking online art classes, stretching my mind and keeping my art muse on the ball and maybe panting along the way.  She is probably saying "OK Annette, enough is enough, slow down some".  She doesn't know that I have a lot of catching up to do in the art world.   I guess like the busy little ants gathering their food for the winter, I am gathering up all the knowledge I can. 

I am taking a class from Zinnia on the Artful Gathering.  What a collection of talented artists, sharing their knowledge with different classes of all kinds to interest so many different people.   It is winding down now but bet next year will be just as good.  Zinnia also has the Roses on My Table site and so much to share there also.   She is teaching textures right now on the Artful Gathering.  Well textures I am learning. 

               Be sure and double click on the images to see all the texture. 


Now this little bottle has a story, we needed a bottle to make pretty with textures and whatever you could think of.   I loved doing this project all the way from the photo on it to the tippy top of the bottle with the bead.  My friend Bev suggested some silver or gold on the cork so I have to go back and do that.  I needed a bottle  and thought I don't want to go buy a bottle.  Well in our cabinet was this little thing holdimg Peppermint Schnapps  that I used for the yummy chocolate cake last year.  So I just poured the remaining part into a water bottle and labled it  and taa daa I have a bottle.  Sort of free of charge.   Sort of.  Well in Annette logic anyway. 

We also made this cute little book and learned lots of tecniques with the inside pages.   Here is the cover of it.  I did get carried away but gave me lots of food for thought with it.   Hummm maybe I am like the little ants getting ready for winter ?   If we have a bad one here this year I can play to my hearts content.  

There you go this is what is going on in my part of the world .  I do thank you for stopping by and seeing what is going on here.   xox

Paths that Cross

Sometimes something can be so simple but beautiful.  It doesn't have to have bling, which I dearly love, or any frills.  Even like a wonderful friendship that you have had with someone close or far away, dear ones that you have met face to face or one of my  beautiful new friends that we have met on the art halls of the Internet.  It is funny how art does bring us together, be it in an art gallery or just sharing classes or sharing the same fun and struggles of creating art or life to be exact.     I do believe we all cross paths in life for a reason and so glad you have crossed my path.

I painted these sweet little flowers many ways and then used a simple and fun approach to them.  I painted them in Corel Painter program and used a fun brush called leaky pen for the splashes of blue color.   No frills with this little painting.  They are just sweet and simple but certainly tell a little story. 

There you go, July is almost over and the toasty days of August will be upon us.  I just thought these sweet little flowers would be cooling for the heat that is upon us.  Now I know my Australia friends are in winter right now, so keep this post and just look at it in the summer. I will post something snuggling  warm for you soon. 

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

Sparkles

You know sometimes when something just catches your eye and sparkles and looks like so much life is in it ?   Like a little drop of dew in the morning on a leaf of a plant or the sparkling of the stars at night when the sky is clear and they just look like diamonds?  Or even some one's personality across the room or when you are shopping somewhere. 


I was on a quest the other day, one of those things you need to do and just set out in the morning and say OK I am doing this today even if it hair lips the Governor?   There are several fabric stores here in town and I needed some of the brass looking buttons for a blazer that  I was changing buttons  on for Grandson.  I went into one that was higher end that I use to shop at all the time.  Well, it is now a quiting shop, nothing against quilting and quilts I own several of the beautiful things.  I asked about the buttons and the lady took me into the back room  and she said we don't reorder buttons any more, people just don't sew like they use to.  We looked in several boxes and found nothing that I could use.  BUT --- TaDa, there in one box were four beautiful buttons, sitting there in their boring little white box for who know how long.  Thinking, if buttons think that is, is no one ever going to find me and take me home ?  Well, being the soft hearted soul that I am I picked one of them up, they were pricey but thought why not ?  I closed the box and then thought better of it and just took all four of them.  I didn't want one to say ha ha she took me and cause problems in button world.   What am I going to do with them you ask?  I don't have a clue but I bet when I do create something it will have some beautiful bling on it.   I have been surfing the Internet, trying to get inspired and in the back of my mind I do have a couple of ideas. 

I did go to another store and found the buttons I needed and what happened when I was walking down the isle?  Yep you guessed it another little package just called me  -ANNETTE-  peek over here.  So they now join my beautiful buttons.  With the Art Journaling that I am dong now, I know I have a perfect place for them. 

Here they are the whole little collection I purchased, the bling ones, the two art deco looking ones and the sweet little package of vintage looking ones.

The bling ones just need a photo  up close, so you can see all the sparkles in it.  they were made in China and I don't know if they still make bling for us now but here it is shining and still talking to me.   Be sure and click on the pictures so will be larger, don't want you to miss any sparkle at all.  Our beautiful grandaughter use to call them lights when I put them on her clothes or bought any new outfit for her, need lights.   

That is it for today and thanks so much for stopping by and seeing what is going on in my world today.  xoxo

Horses of Many Colors

It is funny how names are used on items.   Like in the Wizard of Oz the Horses of Many Colors were some pretty ponies and they changed colors as you watched this wonderful movie.   A coat, as in Joseph's coat of many colors in the Bible. 

 I know little about horses, and don't mind telling you either,  except they are wonderful  and majestic group of animals.   Now I might have told you before that my Daddy use to raise Appaloosa horses.  Indian horses I called them and I checked and sure enough they were Indian horses.  The Appaloosa horse, spotted horses were on the earth before prehistoric times I found out.  Pictures of them can be found in many caves across Europe.  They could be found in China as early as 206 B.C.  That is as close to knowing about horses as I get, well besides baby sitting our grand horse for a few months.  That was a delight for me.  The smell and just watching him was a joy for me, looking out our windows with his tail swishing and just ambling across our back 2 as I called it.   

OK, below is my painting of horses of different colors.  I think my imagination did run a little wild  there, but I did draw the horses , free hand and then just played with color.  

There you go my rendition of a horse of a different color.   Be sure and click on the painting to see it bigger.  

Thanks for stopping by and seeing what is going on in my world.  I have been absent to my blog but you know  sometimes life just doesn't let us play when we want to.