Last spring, I had an idea to make gnomes for an annual craft show hosted by my sister and held at my brother in-law's restaurant and golf course in Sandy Creek, NY.  Even though I'll be missing it this year, I'll have my gnomes for sale at my BIL's table.

The top two are Christmas themed and the bottom two are Winter themed.  They will each come with a tag that shows their special gnome name and a sweet sentiment about gnomes being mythological creatures and that bring good fortune to your home throughout the year!

Get on up to The Elm's event October 29th!  It's a fabulous craft fair and vendor show.

Thanks for stopping by!  

XOXO

LYN

I am officially six days from my next doctor's appointment where I will be getting a walking boot and can finally get off this couch and say goodbye to a walker!  Meanwhile, life on the couch has been creatively productive and today I am all about posting a montage of what has kept me engaged.  

My grandson, Liam, turned one on August 30th and I wanted to make him a special card.  Having limited supplies to work with, I figured a sketch of my precious little guy could work both as a card and as something to display in his bedroom.  I had to defer to Pinterest for a clever sentiment that I hand lettered with a dip pen.  

I absolutely love painting fall pumpkins (it needs splatters)!  This 5x7 size is also suitable for sticking in an inexpensive frame for a seasonal display.  Again, no sentiment stamps available here on the couch so I have forced myself to hand letter.

Had I access to my Distress inkpads, I'd have used them for this Studio Light stamped scene.  I first stamped the birch trees.  The pine trees were stamps as well, but I water colored the tree line and "stamped" them using The Misti!  I painted in additional darker pigment here and there to add more contrast.  The trees behind the birch trees were hand painted to fill in the area.  I'll stamp a sentiment once I can walk on my own to finish this Christmas card.  I love the hint of a setting sun.

For Liam's birthday, I knit him a beanie!  He was such a wiggle worm, we were lucky to get it on his head!  So glad it fit (he has a big noggin).

Life is good on this ole couch!!!

Thanks for stopping by!

XOXO

LYN

I am excited to announce that I am now a member of Happy Little Stampers Watercolor Design Team!  I'm sure looking forward to being a part of this fun challenge site.

​It's a new month and a new challenge!

As many of you know, I literally had my foot surgery last month on the day I was notified I was selected for the design team!  Because I can't put any weight on my foot while the tendon heals, I am basically confined to the couch.  Fortunately, I had the forethought to gather some watercolor supplies prior to my surgery and have been able to paint and sketch.  I miss my stamps (including sentiments!) and my craft space, but I am just not taking the stairs to the second floor right now.

Today's post is a 5x7 card (Strathmore) that is intended for a friend who had a baby girl last month.  The baby's nursery theme is woodland animals and even though I started a 9x12 forest painting awhile ago for the baby-to-be, I hit a creative wall and didn't finish it.  That roadblock led me to imagine a section of the unfinished painting to create a design for today's card!  I used Kuretake Gansai Tambi Watercolors (the only paints I have here on the couch!) and a round brush (Wonderforest #6).

First, I sketched the scene and then I used a narrow tip dipping pen and ink (Winsor Newton) to outline all the sketched areas.  After the pencil marks were erased, the painting began!  A double sketchy border finished the scene.

Thanks for stopping by!

XOXO

LYN

Back in July, I posted about painting from a photo of the Salmon River HERE and taking the opportunity to work with a dip pen.  ​Dip pens emerged in the early 19th century, when they replaced quill pens and, in some parts of the world, reed pens. Dip pens were generally used before the development of fountain pens in the later 19th century, and are now mainly used in illustration, calligraphy, and comics. (Wikipedia)

​Taking the chance with the dip pen opened up an amazing creative opportunity that goes way beyond using a Micron Pen!  It pushed me to try something new and reinforced the benefits of going beyond a comfort zone.

​Which leads me to the point of this post:

Salmon River Fine Arts Center in Pulaski, NY ​is a wonderful community center that offers workshops and classes as well as hosting events in their gallery space.  One of their annual events is a juried art show celebrating the Salmon River (Sept. 9-Oct. 22).  Once I saw the word "juried," I immediately thought that wouldn't be a show I could participate in.  However, something told me to read more about what was involved.  I had taken several wonderful photos of a lovely area on the Salmon River last year and would refer to them from time to time imagining about painting for this show.  

Not only did I finish the 9x12 painting, it was accepted into the art show!

When I look at this painting, I see so many things that I would never have tried had I stayed in my comfort zone.

Thanks for stopping by!

XOXO

LYN

Still here on the couch convalescing from foot surgery and making the best of it.  I dream of the day when I can be in my craft room (on the second floor) and have all of my supplies at my fingertips!  I did send my husband up there for a couple of items recently (not without making a comment about what he considered chaos in there) and he was able to locate them with no problem.  Working with the same paints (Kuretaki Gansai Tambi) is making me wish for my tube paint pallet, but this will have to do for now.

So today, I worked on a few pieces and got frustrated trying to sketch baby hands on a pen and ink piece of my grandson.  Then I added a palm tree to a beach scene on a card that didn't wow me.  Finally, I grabbed a big mop brush and a 9x15 size Canson watercolor pad and decided to loosely paint what I call my "blob" flowers.  I had a weird attitude while painting this (in 15 minutes) that bordered on I don't care.  I don't like having this attitude, but for this one time, it turned out okay.  I have yellow flowers on my mind because my DIL wants me to paint sunflowers for her laundry room.  Maybe she'll like this as well!

While convalescing from foot surgery (for the next 6-8 weeks!), my creative time is taking place on the couch in the form of watercolor.  It was easy to pack a bag of watercolor supplies prior to surgery so that I could have something to do that fills my creative spirit.

Today's piece is in three parts because I wanted to show the evolution of a simple 5x7 watercolor (Strathmore) and my thoughts on each phase.  I call these "blob" flowers because they start out by using water only to "paint" a random flower shape and then drop in watercolor.  The water blob dictates the flower shape.

The first photo shows the five "blobs" of random flower shapes in various positions using a (#12 Wonder Forest) round brush.  I dropped in light to dark paint (Kuretaki Gansai Tambi) and (maybe) overworked them a little bit while they were still wet.  It's hard to wait for layers to dry sometimes!  Next, I lightly painted in the stems and leaves with a (#8 Wonder Forest) smaller round brush.

When it was dry, I began the (agony) of determining whether to ink, wash in the background, or splatter.  I decided to ink first with a dipping pen and (in hindsight), I could have used a smaller pointed dip pen.  I'm new to using a dip pen and actually love it!  I've been a diehard Micron pen user and finally pushed myself to try something new.  So glad I did!

Next, I had two thoughts with this second step.  Cut it down to A2 size (not an option living here on the couch) or splatter.  Splatter won and it was next a decision of what color to use.  Black would be very grounding and overall, not a bad choice.  I channeled CeeCee's Creations, who I've followed for years, and went with gold to add subtle highlights.  Now it feels finished.

Hope you enjoyed today's "Painting From the Couch" and thanks for stopping by!

XOXO

LYN​

Today I'm posting on two challenge sites:

Seize the Birthday #244 - No Stamping
Shopping Our Stash #SOS476 - She Sells Seashells

As someone who is currently laid up on the couch having had foot surgery, I had the brilliant idea prior to my surgery to pack a bag of watercolor supplies while I convalesced on the couch.  Much to my delight, the above challenges fit perfectly within my limited resources for card making! 

After I finished the piece, I decided to hand tear the edges for a distressed vibe.  Since I can't actually stamp a sentiment and finish the card with cardstock (my craft room is on the second floor and I can't get there on crutches), I simply laid it on some hard kraft board for purposes of posting. 

​I think the name of this shell is a shark eye and I was inspired by a YouTube video by Maria Raczynska.  I used Kuretaki Gansai Tambi watercolors.

My favorite cardmaking medium is watercolor and here's my design for this month's Anything Goes challenge:

I was excited to open a brand new stamp set from Reverse Confetti called Dog Days along with utilizing a really cool Distress inking technique that creates a watercolor appearance.

​Here's my cutie patootie card:

For the background, I laid a white cardstock panel under an acrylic block that was larger than the panel so I could see exactly where to swipe the Distress ink rows of Tumbled Glass, Salty Ocean and Tea Die.  The acrylic block was then spritzed with water and flipped over and pressed onto the cardstock panel really well. The block was removed from the cardstock to reveal the watercolor-y results!

And that is how easy this watercolor technique is done with Distress inks!  I love how irregular the result is.  To add a little more texture to the sandy area, I smooshed a Distress Vintage Photo cube onto a kraft mat and lightly spritzed with water.  I grabbed a small-ish round brush and splattered just the sandy area.

I had so much fun painting the little dog (who doesn't love dog images?) and the surf board on watercolor paper (Strathmore).  Though you can't see it, I added black Wink of Stella (Zig) to his sun glasses for a fun reflection.  Starfish (Catherine Pooler) were stamped with Versafine ink and diecut and glittered with a Quicky Glue Pen (Tombow).  Diecut stitched circle (A Muse Studio) and Wonky (Simon Says Stamp) border added additional interest.  Sentiment was from my stash and stamped with Versafine Onyx Black ink.

Thanks for stopping by!

XOXO

LYN 

This week's challenge over at Make the Cards Challenge:

​Today I used something old and something new!

  I have an Altenew 3D embossing folder that I've (never used) that I chose as the focal portion of the card.  I used black Core'dinations (American Crafts) cardstock.  The sanding was done using the Core'dinations sanding block.  I can't tell you how long it's been since I used this paper and sanding tool!  The sentiment is also old (Hero Arts) and was inked with Versafine Onyx Black, trimmed and mounted with Scotch 3M foam tape.

This was a very quick and easy card yet it has a nice elegance to it.  I'm imagining re-creating this card using other Core'dinations colors of cardstock!

Thanks for stopping by!

XOXO

LYN

My post today is about practicing (or playing as I like to think of it) the art of watercolor.  Painting a piece that is worthy of your walls (or for gifting or for selling) takes time.  You need time to warm up, to sketch a design, to let layers dry, to set it aside and come back later or another day.  In other words, being impatient and wanting to just get it done is probably not the best way to start a session.

Another very interesting point to this story is that after all three of these paintings were "finished," I ended up doodling them with my dip pen!  I've seen many professional artists use a dip pen (rather than a Micron pen) and I've been intrigued to try it myself.  Because I had a good attitude about practicing and playing, using my dip pen for the first time was a perfect scenario.

The other day, I felt like practicing painting flowers; specifically, roses (which I suck at) so I grabbed a reference from Pinterest and began practicing using Strathmore 5x7 watercolor paper.  The first piece is with the dreaded rose, which I ended up not being happy with.  Adding the doodling with my dip pen was just what it needed! 

​I painted a second piece and omitted the rose!  Since I was on a roll with my dip pen, I doodled this as well.  Both of these paintings will be made into cards in the near future.

The practice piece I painted today is in preparation for an upcoming art show.  My reference photo is of a spot on the Salmon River in Pulaski, NY.  The photo shows quite a few rocks (another dreaded difficult item to paint) but as I've learned along the way, I can paint (and interpret) a photo any way I want, which is exactly what I did.  This practice piece is 5x7 and I'll be attempting this again in a 9x12 size.

​Here's my reference photo:

And here's my interpretation:

I learned a lot by practicing (and playing) and now I have a plan for the larger piece!

Thanks for stopping by!

XOXO

LYN