Ms. Isabella Prims

This is Ms. Isabella Prims. She likes horses and is partial to two sugars in her tea :)

She was done in acrylics on a stretched 5"x7" canvas and is available in my shop.

And some super-exciting news...

I cannot wait for Vanessa Valencia's Mad Tea Party!!! It will be my first time participating this year :) If you are interested in participating or just looking at all of the wonderful parties, the info is here.

Have a wonderful day! :)

Snow White in the Little Cottage

Here is my new painting, "Snow White in the Little Cottage." I did this one on an 8"x8" stretched canvas. I tore up some of my "Once Upon a Time" scrapbook paper and decoupaged it onto the canvas to try to make it look like a cottage. I painted Snow White in acrylics with a bit of colored pencil too, then added a paper butterfly! This is my third Snow White I have done now, each in a slightly different style. I just can't get away from the classic fairy tales, I love them! She is available in my etsy shop.

I also wanted to show you these two beautiful pictures which my mom and her friend Tanya found for me at the thrift store on Saturday. I love them so much!!! Just have to find a good place to hang them :) They came in such pretty frames and mats too. Oh, and don't mind my reflection wearing my ugly grey sweatpants, oops!! He he :)

I really love the lady below in the blue dress with multi-colored accents. And what a great hat!

I may just have to try to paint one of these fancy ladies. I hope you are having a nice Monday, and I'll see you soon! :)

Cinderella Fleeing From the Ball

Here is my new mixed-media painting, "Cinderella Fleeing from the Ball." I had a ton of fun with this one! It was sort of an experiment in adding more paper and mixed-media elements to my work and getting a little bit out of my comfort zone.



I covered the entire canvas with vintage sheet music, and added tissue paper to the edges (as well as using it for Cinderella's dress). I covered the tissue paper with acrylic washes, and added some fine blue glitter to her dress. I cut her face, arms and hair out of cardstock and added her features with colored pencil and acrylic. Then I added a paper butterfly and shoe.

For this one I was hugely influenced by Vanessa Valencia's work. Wednesday morning I came across this January/February 2008 issue of Somerset Studio magazine where I first came across her beautiful paintings. Reading the article again, I instantly started cutting and gluing! Of course my work could never scome close to her's, but it's fun to try! :) I did mine with some Fair Rosamund tweaks to make it my own. Her blog was the first I started reading, and her shop introduced me to Etsy. Ever since then she has been a huge influence on me, as she is for many people. And I was thrilled to learn that she lives in Arizona, like me! I'm sure that many of you follow her fantastic blog, but if not check her out at www.vanessavalencia.com.

I am working on a different Snow White painting today, which I will share with you soon. A foot injury I got while running last week has slowed me down considerably, but the up side is that its forcing me to really slow down and take my time with my paintings. I've been spending 2 or 3 days at a time just deciding on the right little embellishments to add.

Its so hard to choose, isn't it? I hope that you are looking forward to a nice Friday evening and a wonderful weekend! :)

The Daydream

She stares out into the horizon, small thoughts and sweet little memories fluttering about her head...

This is my new painting, "The Daydream." This one is a little different from what I have been doing lately. I was starting to feel a tiny bit bored and wanted to see if I could change things up a bit. I love that feeling when you get so excited about and so lost in a painting that you forget that you are starving and need to eat lunch (which takes a lot for me, believe me! :) So I really enjoyed doing this. I painted her in acrylics, then added some paper butterflies and hearts, and drew on some embellishments with colored pencil. Unfortunately the pictures came out a little blue-looking, the background is actually a lighter aqua green.

I have also been enjoying these beautiful pink tulips which my very sweet boyfriend brought home for me on Saturday. They have been blooming open a little bit more each day. Gorgeous!

Of course my little Rosie girl had to check them out, and she decided that they smell quite nice :)

I hope that you are having a lovely day, I will see you soon!

Belle

Hello everyone! Here is the little gal I painted yesterday, "Belle" from Beauty and the Beast. I painted her in acrylics on a 5"x7" stretched canvas. She is available in my Etsy shop. I was itching to paint another fairytale character yesterday and realized that I didn't have a Belle yet! I was a little disappointed that I didn't have the story at home (surprisingly). I like re-reading the fairy tales before painting each character. But I was happy with how she came out :) I haven't done much of a blue-yellow combination before, I really like these two colors together!

Today I have been majorly cleaning the house. Not my favorite thing in the world, but it needed to be done! We have all tile floor, so sweeping and mopping every square inch can be quite a pain, but it always makes me happy afterward :) I hope you are having a wonderful day, and I'll see you soon!

Little Pink Bloom

Here is a little tiny 4"x4" painting I did yesterday, "Little Pink Bloom." I really like working on small canvases, I think they're so cute! I had this idea of the flower-head girl in my mind for a while (partly influenced by the garden of live flowers in "Through the Looking Glass"), and this little square canvas seemed perfect.

This one is called "A Conversation with the Moon." She is telling the moon all her hopes and dreams! I made her little dress out of some pretty scrapbook paper. I thought it looked very celestial, like there are golden stars on it.

Unfortunately I do not have prints in my shop yet as promised. I am learning that it is quite a process, and I want them to be just right! :) I will let you know when I do have some available.

I hope you are having a wondeful day, and I'll see you soon! :)

Her Favorite Dress

Hello! I'm sorry that I've been absent for a few days. Truth be told I was not feeling terribly inspired to paint the last week or so, I don't know why. Maybe I just needed to recharge my creative batteries :) Luckily the inspiration came back yesterday and I finally finished this little gal I have had sketched out for a few days. It's called "Her Favorite Dress." I've decided that her name is Caroline and she just loves how fancy she feels in this dress! :) Also, I am very excited to say that I should have a few prints in my shop soon too, hopefully by tomorrow! I will keep you posted :) I hope you are having a wonderful Friday, see you soon!

Two Little Fairies

Hello, and happy Saturday! I hope you are having a nice relaxing day. I thought I would pop in and show you the two little fairy girls I painted this week, "The Little Garden Fairy" (above) and "The Little Woodland Fairy" (below). They are both fluttering about bringing cheer and beauty wherever they go! They are both available in my etsy shop. I hope you have a simply lovely Easter tomorrow! :)