Simply Sunday Memorial Day

Image from Country Living Magazine Link to Cherry Pie recipe

This Memorial Day do not forget to honor the memories of the men and women who have risked their lives to protect our freedom~While we carry on with our three day weekend and all our barbecuing or picnics take a moment to reflect on freedom, its meaning and our observance of those who fought in war to protect it. Write or draw in your journal page what freedom means to you. If you know someone who fought or is fighting for our freedom what they mean to you. What will you be doing over the Memorial weekend? How does your family or hometown honor Memorial Day's veterans? I hope you are able to keep your day simple and enjoy Sunday for all it holds for you. Join me next week for another "Simple Sunday" posting.

Freedom is never free. ~Author Unknown

Decorated Teacher's Gift Box

For those of you who don't drop by my crafty blog Msartist Sew Crafty. I wanted to share a little mixed media / paper crafting decorated box that will be a teacher's gift. I have a full post, links to materials used and other photographs on my other site. I have been working on several projects giving myself variety, it helps loosen me up for when I am drawing and painting. Hope you have a wonderful weekend~ & see you on Sunday!

Journal Page Love

I wanted to share a quick post on a journal page I did incorporating a paper bag that Sammie wrapped a gift in for Mother's Day. I cut the bag where she painted her picture and then cut out the big heart she made and painted on the bag. I colored a back ground on the page before applying with matte medium. Then I glued down her elements and I glued cut out hearts and painted around them, painted the date and journaled what she had written to me over the top of the bag and at the bottom of the page journaled what we did that day. You can do this with any gift wrap or card and then you will have a memory of that day. The above photo with the three shows the differences in what it would look like if you used a photo editing program the 1st one using gritty + 60's the, 2nd one with a color correction, 3rd one with boost. You can see the different feel it gives to a picture~ Sometimes its fun to play around with digital. I would love to learn and do more digital and incorporate it into some of my art. I hope you will give this simple technique a try in your journals it is a great way to save memories. What ways do you like to preserve your memories? Do you scrapbook as well as journal? Have you tried using digital or photo programs incorporating your art?
To look backward for a while is to refresh the eye, to restore it, and to render it the more fit for its prime function of looking forward. ~Margaret Fairless Barber, The Roadmender

Patience & Understanding

This coming week is going to be filled with patience and understanding. Hubby has to go work out of town for a full week and then who knows how often as they have gotten a huge job he bid over four hours away. He will be home on the weekend. So I will do my daily routine but miss his help in the evenings and of course his company. I will need my share of patience with Sammie this week as he won't be here to help, but I am understanding this is the way it is and to accept it. I hope if I don't get to posting as often this week you will understand, but I will try my best~Journal about somethings you have had to deal with that had to do with patience and understanding~Whether it be everyday things or to do with your art. Do you find you have patience with your art and how it progresses? Do you understand when you hit road blocks they are only temporary? Do you feel with most situations that patience and understanding helps? I hope you are able to keep your day simple and enjoy Sunday for all it holds for you. Join me next week for another "Simple Sunday" posting.

You can learn many things from children. How much patience you have, for instance. ~Franklin P. Jones

Variations Of Trust

I wanted to show you the original journal page and the variation which I posted first. I am looking for the better photograph of the original but wanted to show you so you could see the differences. I need to organize my photographs, another thing on my to do list. What I love about the first one is the bird and what I love about the second one is the writing in her hair. (listen to your heart, trust and follow your dreams) I may try doing another variation of them until I find one I love for the whole painting. Which is your favorite? Why? Do you ever use a piece of artwork and build it on variations of a theme? What kind of art, photography or writing have you created with using variations? Maybe if you haven't tried it this would be a good exercise ~
To me I think artists in general make a statement - and for the rest of their lives - every album, every book - are variations on a theme.~ Mark Mothersbaugh

Dream

I am sharing with you a journal page I did based off a smaller acrylic painting in another journal. This is done with acrylic paints and colored pencils. I will take pictures of the other smaller pieces I have done soon. (either when the sun is back or I figure out what is going on with the flash on my camera.) I think it is common to struggle with your art goals and how to work it in to a realistic business plan or is it just me? I am planning on taking a class to help me sort out my goals and see what my options might be. I am still planning on opening an Etsy shop. I hope to do that soon!! Any name suggestions? Or should I just use my name? I will be selling prints of some of my photography, art and also some original work. I might have to give a prize to the one who comes up with a name I like! I would love you to give me some ideas!!
Dreams are today's answers to tomorrow's questions. ~Edgar Cayce

Simply Sunday

I have always wanted to do more traveling but with raising children and life circumstances I have missed out of some of the opportunities. I tried to become an airline stewardess when I graduated high school but I was turned down due to my height! Can you image if that was now!! I didn't know any better and walked away disappointed and in shock. If I would have had more life experience maybe I would have started a boycott to change things. A year later I was married and having kids and the journey has had its ups and downs. I am remarried now and still holding those dreams of travel as my feet are firmly planted on the ground and I am painting about it. I will hold fast to my dreams~
What stories do you have of travel whether in life or to exotic places? What exotic places would you like to go to? Or have gone? Journal about that in your journals. I hope you are able to keep your day simple and enjoy Sunday for all it holds for you. Join me next week for another "Simple Sunday" posting.
I think that travel comes from some deep urge to see the world, like the urge that brings up a worm in an Irish bog to see the moon when it is full. ~Lord Dunsany

Exotic Woman In Acrylic Paints

Here she is all complete my exotic woman. How I have always loved the inspiration from other cultures when creating art. The colors, clothing, jewelry and of course the landscapes of places they live in. Right now my pomegranate bushes are just starting to bloom. I love the color and vibrancy they have and how exotic they look. I decided to take my woman and surround her with pomegranates as exotic as she is. She is done in acrylic paint with very few touches of color pencil and then I did the photo collage in a photo program. I hope you are inspired to go create something exotic in color or from distant lands~
I'm an ocean, because I'm really deep. If you search deep enough you can find rare exotic treasures. ~Christina Aquilera

Blog Giveaway Winners!

I used this Random Number Generator The first three numbers are the winners! I copied the results to show the numbers order as they came up and highlighted the first three out of
28 Random Numbers* 17 13 23 22 06 25 03 04 10 20 09 12 28 08 26 01 16 27 24 19 15 07 14 21 11 02 05 18

* This table of 28 random numbers was produced according to the following specifications: Numbers were randomly selected from within the range of 1 to 28. Duplicate numbers were not allowed.

I will be contacting winning ladies via email and want to thank everyone again for commenting and joining in!

I copied and pasted all the comments numbering your comments from 1-28. Then from the generator above took the first three numbers for the winners so you could see the results too! I will be having more contests so stay tuned!

And the lucky winners are:

Winners as follows:

CARMELINA LOUNSBURY said...*17

I'm following you on facebook too!
ciao
bella
creative
carmelina

May 7, 2010 2:14 PM

Kiki said...*13

Hello, your giveaway is super-wonderful..and super-generous..I am a follower as well! Whoever wins will be very lucky!!Fabulous
Kiki~

kikiveestar@gmail.com

May 7, 2010 3:51 AM

DragonflyzDreams said...*23 I have added your giveaway post to my blog along with your cute blog logo on my sidebar.

I love the twitter mosaic and added the linked within to my blog also. I just got lots of fun ideas from you and thanks for sharing so much fun. Smiles, Cyndi

May 10, 2010 6:11 PM

I can't thank you enough for all your blog love and comments!! & don't forget there will be more giveaways! All my best for a wonderful week~ Theresa

Trust Journal Page

I thought you might enjoy seeing the full journal page. I posted it in flickr so you may view it full size too. This journal page was done in a large journal book. I am working on some larger pieces then I may take the ideas and put them on wood or canvas. I will take a photograph of a smaller version of a painting that is similar in many ways but different and has a more realistic bird. I have been busy with baby showers, visits from family and lots of to do s on my list. I need to get sketching and painting. I have my outdoor faerie project that is waiting for nicer weather and things to do in my art space. My time has been all over the place lately as Sammie's birthday is this weekend she turns 8yr. old, she is in a piano performance and also the week after going to a ceremony where children from a writing contest are being presented with certificates. Sammie took 1st place in her grade level for a story she wrote (county wide)! I can't wait to get my hands on what she wrote and read it!
Listen to your heart, trust it and follow your dreams~ Theresa Huse

Dreams are illustrations... from the book your soul is writing about you. ~Marsha Norman

Simply Sunday - Mothers Day

Credit for photography in previous post Artwork & prose by Theresa Huse

I am glad to have fond memories of my mom, her help, her visits, playing games of scrabble over coffee while chatting, her encouragement and support. She passed away almost 3yrs ago. It was her voice that helped lead me on my new path to follow my passion's and although I took the leap after she passed I feel her support and guidance today. In 2000 she gave me a book Affirmations For Artists and wrote in the cover to me; "I remember all the lovely things you've created and thought this book is for you! Keep using your talent.
Love, mom
As a mom I try to be as encouraging and even remind myself as time is fleeting and to ~ Listen to your heart, trust it and follow your dreams~

Mother love is the fuel that enables a normal human being to do the impossible. ~Marion C. Garretty, quoted in A Little Spoonful of Chicken Soup for the Mother's Soul

Springtime Simplicity

1. Painted Toes and Jeans ~ 11/366 self, 2. Yellow May, 3. Yellow flowers, 4. Yellow Eastern Tiger Swallowtail...

I don't know if you knew this about me, I grew up in the city. I was raised to respect nature, grew up gardening, had tons of pets, trips to the ocean down windy roads were frequent and we spent summers traveling around our country or camping. I even got to stay on a farm for a whole summer in Wisconsin when I was young. I think that is why I am simple at heart, love the outdoors and am most comfortable in jeans and bare feet! Today my color inspiration is yellow, green and blue. A creative thinker drawing on simple roots~

The trouble with simple living is that, though it can be joyful, rich, and creative, it isn't simple. ~Doris Janzen Longacre

Faerie Garden

Some plants we will plant around the area for the faerie garden~
To see images larger click here
I made a little photo collage of the faerie garden mural that Sammie and I are working on. I used this wonderful book "How To Draw And Paint Faireies" by Linda Ravenscroft for some inspiration. I am not using her painting techniques as this is on concrete board and then going to be sealed to be outside. We are using acrylic paint after priming the board with gesso. Here is our painting in progress. We have quite a bit of painting to do still, but are having so much fun doing it. The weather is very spring like. I heard it is going to rain again soon so we are going to have to work on it and get it sealed or move it so it doesn't get ruined. I have some new journal art and other things to share with you too~ Don't forget to leave a comment for the giveaway, I would love to see all the readers get a chance to win, enter at the giveaway post from Friday April 30th! Have a creative day~

Faeries, come take me out of this dull world,
For I would ride with you upon the wind,
Run on the top of the dishevelled tide,
And dance upon the mountains like a flame.
~William Butler Yeats, "The Land of Heart's Desire," 1894

Simply Sunday

Its important to create memories. Even the simple ones. I am creating a small faerie garden with my youngest daughter Sammie. We are taking a simple large piece of concrete board and we sketched our scenes on it. One side done by me and the other done by Sammie. Today we started to paint it. We are doing it outdoors. Not only did we get to enjoy being outside we spent time side by side chatting and painting. Last weekend we staged how we would set the board and planted little plants and started putting little figurines around. All things from around the house or yard. Sometimes the simple things can make the most fun memories. I encourage you to journal some memories and create images in your journal that have memories and meaning to you~ I hope you are able to keep your day simple and enjoy Sunday for all it holds for you. Join me next week for another Simply Sunday posting.

What are some of your fondest memories? What memories do you want to create for your children / family / or friends?
Memory is a way of holding onto the things you love, the things you are, the things you never want to lose. ~From the television show The Wonder Years

Don't forget to visit the previous post I am having a blogging anniversary giveaway!! All you have to do is comment and there is a list of extra things you can do to get extra chances!! And have your friends drop by for a chance to win too!