Hello March!

Happy March!

I think it's safe to say we all want winter to go away!

The green is cheerful from all the St. Patrick's day decor!

It won't be long before the first signs of spring will be here.

I heard birds chirping like crazy the other day... it was beautiful.

I made another phone/tablet calendar for you!

Click here to download it.

The theme is a mouse with shamrocks.

I painted these using acrylics. 

Click here to download the desktop calendar.

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Now onto some more serious content.

I've decided to simplify my life more 
and post LESS on my blog and newsletters.

I have been working hard on these throughout the years...sometimes stressing out about getting it done  and making all the content. 

Since having a stroke and other health complications back in 2020....I have had to really change my life.  My health is number one and of course... my family.

I am not going to stop creating....just changing a few things to make life easier.

I love creating art and making patterns... they really feed my soul.

So  I think I will just occasionally post on my blog and newsletter.

I will continue to post on Instagram and Facebook!

Please follow me there and get daily content....

about things I have been doing, art, designs, and more!

I will stop making monthly calendars.

Freebies will be an occasional thing. 

I will have all my designs on Etsy for instant download

ETSY

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and if you prefer a printed and mailed pattern ... please go to my website.

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I created a new set of collage sheets...celebrating St. Patrick's day!

They are easy and fun....make them into these cute decorations!

These 2 collage sheets are perfect to create your Irish home decor, use to create tags, journaling, ornaments for an st. patrick's tree, art for your planner and more ....they are just plain fun!

I drew all the artwork. There are shamrocks, frogs, a mouse, a sweet lassie, a fun doggy, clover plant, flowers and sayings. The second sheet is a ice green background paper to make your creations. I have a small tutorial on my Instagram.

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Stitch up this sweet St. Patrick's day design ... a Fast, Easy, and Fun embroidery project.
I drew up this kitty cat design....I thought it would be sweet having the saying about pinching... that was such a big deal in school.

It measures: 5 3/8" wide x 4 3/16", but could be enlarged or reduced.
This pattern sheet comes with embroidery instructions and tips for embroidery (my secrets).

*There are color suggestions listed , but you can stitch any colors you like.

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I want to share some of the art I have been doing lately!

I have been taking an excellent class from Mindy Lacefield called :Illustrated sketchbook.

It is pure FUN!  

It's childlike, easy, inspiring, and makes you feel like a teen again!

Above is a page I did....sort of random drawings and doodles.

There are lots of lessons in this.... 16 lessons and lifetime access to it!

Here is my rain puddle...this pic doesn't show all the magical glitter in the rain.

There were lessons on cute characters like the peanuts gang too.

This one was super fun...a rain drop girl.  Adding stickers is fun too.

I loved the poodle and working with these Marabu art crayons.... that deactivate with water and paint brush.

I love working with watercolors and markers. It is very satisfying.

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I love making raggedy ann... I got a wonderful pattern from Sweet Meadows farm.

I made the small doll with fun fabric from my pal Kat... I love the shamrocks. 

She turned out so cute.

I made a cat apron for her.

Her hair was variegated green yarn.

I made another with vintage sheets... she is pink!

It's always fun to have some time for play.

Have a great March...

.and I will see you on Instagram and Facebook

with an occasional newsletter or blog post.

 

Life has no remote...

I made a new sign...."Life has no remote...get up and change yourself".

I love the blue!

The background is my zinnia surface pattern design...and I just love this saying.

Looks cute in this dollar store frame. 

Here it is in my pink Deflecto frame....brings a slightly different look depending on the frame.

Do you have a favorite saying?

Comment if you want to share it.

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Summer .... so far.... has not been very productive yet.... I see my cat Trix doing crazy things after getting into the catnip.  I then am distracted over and over.

My daughter is home....always wanting to be doing fun stuff.....but she does have driving school to occupy some of her time.

But I do love to doodle....this is a zen doodle. 

There is a really cool magazine about it from Cloth, paper, scissors magazine.

Very fun and addicting!

Have you seen my summer time preemie flash cards....these are tiny.

There are 27 lil flash cards on one college sheet....all you have to do is print on cream colored cardstock and cut out.

These are great for your decor, tuck in a card, MAKE AS TAGS, great for scrapbooking , sweet in a dolls hands, use in altered art or collage art, bookmarks, and much more. 

The words you get are: Popsicle, vacation, beach, lazy days, bees, barbeque, surf, cracker jacks, smores, picnics, roses, strawberry, flag, iced tea, summer, sand castles, hamburger, camping, swimming pool, garden, school's out, suntan, baseball, hot, sea shells, hotdogs, and lake.

Each one comes with a number. 
They measure: 2 1/2" x 1". 

Have a wonderful ...magical day!

Come to What to do weekends!  Come to the Party bunch!   Come the pin me linky! 

Grape Hyacinths....so flowery

Hello ladies!

I have been busy with a number of things...one thing is practicing these surface pattern designs.

Above are some doodle I did in adobe illustrator.

There are alot of random drawings here....but I picked out the grape hyacinths and a few other items for my design.

All these are the exact same pattern design...only in different color combos. 

It is amazing to me how different they can be. 

Ooohhh...I love this one!

]

Changing the colors is totally addicting! 

I love how soft it can look... 

and then how earthy it can be. 

Purples... 

This is a favorite too 

Always attracted to lime green 

I tried to add patriotic colors for this one.

Black and pink! 

Seems like the look is never ending.... 

This one reminds me of summer....and Popsicles!

Plum goodness!

Here is a screen shot of my program I work on.

The pattern is developed with my drawings ...on a square.

Everything must match up exactly on the outer lines of the square.

It also has to be where you can't see where it repeats on the finished project.

I recommend the Bonnie Christine surface pattern class on Creativelive....if this is something you want to do.

I do think you have to be computer savy...otherwise it will all be way to hard.

Come to Thrifty Thursday!  Come to the Pin me linky party!

Working with doodles & illustration

I wanted to share what I have been having fun with lately.

I have been doodling and illustrating (in adobe illustrator).

I guess I am really practicing my skills and playing....lol.

Above is a repeat surface pattern design I made using my doodles and drawings.

These are screen shots of my computer....sort of a work space with art boards, but it is on the computer.   Sometimes I doodle on paper with pencil and then scan it into the computer to retrace my drawings.  I can color them on the computer and place them anywhere I want and change colors anytime too.

Here are vases of hearts....different colors and made to repeat over and over....for wallpaper or fabric

This shows a closeup of the vases on the computer.

This is the same design as the top picture...just using different background color.

Here I used the main flower in my repeat pattern above ...to make this Valentine sign!

This cute sign is now in my Etsy shop.

Now I can't get enough of what I learned....I can play with this all day, everyday!

so you know what I will be doing all winter long...working on my new found skills and making some pattern collections.