I'm back online again

Well I've had no computer for months...which has driven me crazy...but I'm finally back online and pretty much set up again.

I started an online art course that some of you may be interested in. It's created by Mindy Murphy Lacefield & it's called 'Paint Your Story'.

Mindy teaches us to learn to loosen up...learn to feel the freedom and enjoyment of when you were a young child painting & drawing. In stead of getting bogged down with all of those hang ups so many of us have. (<~My biggest problem)

Anyway, I have to say that I am thoroughly enjoying this class and I'm enjoying painting more now than I have for a very long time. So Thank You Mindy for that. ♥

I plan to do another of her courses in the near future which is called 'Neat Stuff'. It sounds very interesting.

If you have the same kind of hangs up I do (ie- you're a massive worry wart about everything you create!!) then you should seriously think about trying Mindy's courses for yourself.

Well here I thought I would share some of the facework that I've done for the class. Here it is...
All the best
Shirley   :o)

'Here I am' - Mixed media

Sketching faces - Pencil

Masked Finch

Wow! I must be on some kind of roll or something! 

It's not like me to do something so quickly (one afternoon). Normally I have to think about it...rethink it...and then think about it again..and thats just so I can decide whether I'm actually going to do anything arty today! hehehe ;)

I do have to say though that I'm rather proud of myself for doing this...the thinking, the choosing, the application all in one afternoon. Believe me when I tell you that this is some kind of record for me! & I'm rather pleased at how he turned out.

He's a Masked Finch. Acrylic on watercolour paper.

'Masked Finch' - Acrylic on paper

Words of Wisdom

Hi to everyone out there in internet land. I hope you are all keeping well.
I mentioned in my last post that I had been working on something lately, well that something is now all finished and in the hands of its new owner so I thought I would pop on here and share some photos.
It's another handmade book. This one is called 'Words of Wisdom'. It was a commision for a friends daughter who was turning 18. In it are a collection of quotes and little bits of wisdom that friends and family were given as children, or that they have found useful/inspiring over the years. Along with a long lovely letter from mum to her beautiful daughter. It certainly is a special keepsake that I think will be looked back on with a lot of fondness and happy memories as the years go by.
Well here are the pics... Hope you like it.

Words of Wisdom - by Shirley Dawson

(((Hugs)))
Shirley   :o)
xxx

'Sister'

Oh my! I've been seriously slack lately haven't I! My last post was Dec 31 2011! Since then I haven't done a lot really, been busy working, living life, but also doing a book project for a friend, which is not finished yet so I can't share right now.
But I do have a little something that I made for my beautiful sister so I'll share that instead. It's another box canvas 12 x 12 acrylic painting along the lines of my 'I Spread my Wings' painting that I did a while ago. This painting is called 'Sister'.

'Sister' - Acrylic on canvas

I also wrote a poem which I have hand written around the edge of the canvas. I'm definitely no poet thats for sure but I think it expresses how I feel about my sister perfectly. :o)
Well I'd best get back to working on my book project.
Have a happy day everyone!
Shirl   :o)
xx

Gingerbread House

Thought I'd share the Gingerbread House I made this year. My very first gingerbread house ever in fact. I had a lot of fun making it and am even contemplating selling them next Christmas. We'll see...
Anyway, here it is.. It measured 32 cm tall (undecorated) and weighed an absolute ton! lol We had a lot of fun smashing it on Boxing Day! (Dec 26th for those of you who are not familiar with it)

Shirl   :o)

Well I finally got around to finishing my 'Countdown to Christmas' tree!
here it is...

Kaisercraft Countdown to Christmas Tree - Lights on

Kaisercraft Countdown to Christmas Tree - Lights off

Products used..
Kaisercraft Countdown to Chrissy Tree
Kaisercraft paper blooms
Kaisercraft wooden flourishes (star & word 'christmas')
Basic Grey paper (old one..Blitzen was the name of it I think)
Winter white paint (semi gloss)
Cricut with 'Sure Cuts a Lot 2' (to create numbers and words 'days til')
Gold ink pad (to colour words 'day til')
Silver plain eyelets
Silver Snowflake eyelets
Set of battery operated LED lights
Drill to create holes for lights

Hope you like it :)

Christmas is coming!

Only 7 1/2 weeks people!
Scary thought hey. Well for me anyway because I haven't even started my shopping yet..which is a bad thing considering I have 4 kids, 3 of whom have birthdays in December! Yes..it's true...I am a completely unorganised person and no matter how I try I don't seem to be able to improve on that.
...sigh...Maybe next year I'll finally get my act together ...doubt it ;o)

Anyway...in the meantime I have got around to doing some Christmassy Craft! yayyy!
Thought I'd put together an Advent Calender...not that I needed one...I already have a few...but you can never have enough advent calenders I think! lol
This one was made using the wooden kit from Kaisercraft (a local company who's made big). The kit comes with all the peices you need to build your calendar. After it's all glued together you then decorate it however you like. I went with a bit more of a mature theme...roses and Silent Night. You could do some adorable kiddy versions if you have younger kids.
Pretty much all of the items I used to make my calendar are from Kaisercraft. They have some lovely papers and embellishments. Check them out.

Silent Night

Side detail

Top detail

More Christmassy items coming soon...and you never know...maybe even a painting or two!
Have a lovely day everyone
Shirley :o)

Just dropping by...

Well it's been ages since I last posted and seen as how I ended up here today (via a friends blog) I might as well update at least a little.I thought I'd share a little gift box that I made for another friend a little while ago. It was made to house a badge for the place where she had worked...a little momento for her to remember the place by.

It measures approx 3" x 3". I used some of my old TLC papers and cardstock. The rose on top is made out of cardstock.
Here's a few pics of what it looks like opened up. (I've blocked out the info on the badge for obvious reasons)

Shirl   :o)

Charcoal...

Okay..until last week I had never used charcoals before in my life so its all very new but I think I'm doing quite alright with them considering.
I started an art class 2 weeks ago and am thoroughly enjoying myself so far.
Our assignment last week was to colour a massive sheet of paper completely in charcoal and then use paper and paper sticks to take the charcoal off and 'hopefully' create a picture. I highly doubted I was going to be able to achieve this!! lol But in the end I'm really quite happy with how it turned out. The photo I had to copy was of an old statue of Jesus.
What do you think? I like it! :o)

Jesus - Charcoal 60cm x 81cm

Cordyline Fruticosa

This is a painting I started quite a while back but got distracted with lots of other things along the way so I never got around to finishing it...until now that is! :oD
Yayyyyy!!!! Finally!!!
Its going to sit on an easel in my family room. I love the colours...they're so bright and vivid.
I got the idea for this painting from a photo that was in a garden magazine years ago. The photo was so eye catching I knew I had to paint it. Anyway, here it is...hope you like it.
Shirley   :o)

Cordyline Fruticosa - Acrylics - 90 x 74

Closer view