My Happy Friday Sketchbooks

Have you ever put something away in a 'safe place' never to find it again? 

I thought that happened to me and some of my sketch books, I couldn't find them and my worse fears were I had put them in a carrier bag and thrown them out in error, something I'd never do, my sketchbooks are precious and I often refer back to them and I'm always adding to them. I'd even taken photo's of the books and lots of the pages to keep as reference on the computer.

But this week....

I found them.

My Sketchbooks

 My books are important to me, I make notes, not just in writing but in paint, oil pastels and ink.

A selection of pages

 I jot down ideas, compile and compare colours. 

Colour Board

I play around with tissue paper, chalks and paint. I occasionally use a bit of gold leaf.

Playing with the colours

And a couple of Tree Frogs just because they are so cute.

Cute Tree Frogs

I hope you have enjoyed looking at some of my sketchbook pages. I'd love to know if you keep a sketchbook, diary or some sort of journal. 

I've linked this post to The Planet Penny Happy Friday link up

Jan x

 

Planet Penny's Happy Friday....

Motorway service stations are not the best of places but occasionally we have to make a stop or two. This week hubby and I stopped for a break at a M6 service station. It was a lovely sunny day and we chose to sit in the sunshine beside a lake in a lovely picnic area......

The Geese are so used to people walking around they completely ignored me.

Even the Duck was happy to stay put while I took the photo's, I love the colours of the feathers in the sunlight.

I'm linking this post to Planet Penny's Happy Friday Link up

Have a great week

Jan x

A Unicorn & Fairy Doors

This week I've been painting some of my favorite things, Fairy Doors, what's not to love about bringing smiles and joy to those who receive my doors as gifts. These three were for one customer who wanted three Fairy Doors, two of them needed to be Tooth Fairy Doors, they are a great way to keep Fairy Tales and Magic alive.

A Trio of Fairy Doors

These are my Small Doors, they are approximately 2x3 inches, or if you prefer metric it about 5x8cm

A Fairy Door with Daisies

They have a Blue Dragonfly painted on them and can you see the little worm or caterpillar in the grass?

Purple Tooth Fairy Door

The Tooth Fairy Doors have a painted tooth hanging from the door handle.  There is also a snail and a ladybird on each door.

A Door for the Tooth Fairy

Keeping with the Whimsical and Magical Theme I painted a new canvas to put into my Folksy Shop
It's painted in acrylics and the mane is painted silver with a shimmer of sparkle, I've also painted a bit of sparkle on the butterflies and daisies. What little girl doesn't like a bit of sparkle. 

The White Unicorn

It's been a happy week and Friday was also the International Day of Happiness so with that in mind don't forget to pop over to the Happy Friday Link up over at the Planet Penny Blog 
and
Lucy Blossom Crafts



Jan x

Spring ACEO's and a Kids Kabin Plaque

Spring is such a lovely time, the birds are chirping and the flowers are growing, some of my favorites are...
snowdrops

Snowdrops

the lovely daffodil

Daffodil

and pretty bluebells

Bluebell

These flowers are miniature paintings generally called ACEO's, which is an acronym for Art Cards, Editions & Originals, sometimes known as ATC's Art Trading Cards. They are small works of art measuring 21/2 x 31/2 inches. They are great fun to do.

With the weather improving, it is also the time for children to play lots more in the garden. I was commissioned, via my Wow Thank You shop, to make this hand painted plaque for a children's garden shed. I love the jungle theme.

The Kid's Kabin, Wooden Outdoor Plaque

 
I've linked this post to...

Planet Penny Happy Friday Link up
and
Lucy Blossom Crafts Handmade Monday Linky Party

Have a great week

Jan x

Owls on a Key Plaque

I love watching the birds on the feeders, I have lots of regular visitors and enjoy taking photo's of them, but I don't always get great pics, I take the photo's through the window so sometimes they can be blurry or the glass is full of raindrops.  The birds often fly in and out so quickly all I get is a blur of wings or a birdless feeder. Sometimes I'm lucky enough to get a decent shot, here are a couple of my daily visitors.....

Bluetit on the feeder

Robin Redbreast

While on the subject of birds, do you want to see one of my latest commissions?

Go on, you know you want to.....

This is it, it's a key plaque with 5 hooks, made for a family of five.

A Family of Owls

After a few emails and sketches done, we decided on this design, can you tell that my customer loves owls and rainbows?

5 Hooks for Keys

She's very pleased with it and I got some great feedback. I love this little the row of owls so decided to use it for a while as the banner on my Folksy Shop 

That's all from me for now, I'm linking up with ......

Happy Friday at  The Planet Penny Blog

Handmade Monday at Lucy Blossom Crafts.co.uk 


Take care

Jan x
 

Happy Friday with Friends & Blue Birds on a Heart

I popped over to a lovely blog full of wonderful colours and happy posts and thought I'd like to join in with the Planet Penny Happy Friday Link Up

 I love saying hi to friends when I'm out and about on my walk.....         

                                                                                         

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 Sometimes I feel close enough to wave to the pilot.....

                                                                   

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 Watching the birds on the feeder..................

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Painting Bluebirds on a Heart

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 Wishing you all a Happy Week

Jan x