Dreaming of Spring

Crocus

 

We can all use a lift these days.  Never mind, spring will soon arrive!

Hydrangea

 

Who cares if it is raining or even snowing outside?  I'm having fun making spring inspired cards!

A Flurry of Card Making

 

I have been taking a course called Learn to Make and Even Sell Greeting Cards taught by Nicki Traikos at Life I Design.  This has led to a flurry of card making as I play with supplies and art bits I already have.  I'm having fun and filling up the card box for the spring birthdays at the same time.

These two were done with Finetec metallic watercolors.

Also a Bit Reckless

 

Here is the second card I made on Wednesday when I was feeling "strong and brave".  It turns out I was also a bit reckless with respect to the size.

I painted these on 1/4 sheets of card stock, and by the time I mounted them they grew to a tiny bit wider than 5".  Finding envelopes will be a challenge.

Note to self:  Plan just a little bit before cutting.

Strong & Brave

 

I woke up yesterday feeling strong and brave and decided to cut into some precious paper.  (Yes, I do know it is only paper, but knowing it with my head and feeling it in my heart are two different things.)

I made a couple of cards out of pieces I did in the Flat Brush Flowers course with Violet.   I'll string you along and post the other one tomorrow. LOL

Snowdrops

 

This was a piece I did in the Flat Brush Flowers 5 class with Violet Smythe.  Snowdrops are one of my favorite flowers; the first flowers that I see signaling the coming of spring.

Flat Brush Grasses

 

Our homework assignment last week was to play with flat brush grasses.  Violet is such a good teacher, and you can follow her on Instagram.  Search @v.smythe to see her marvelous calligraphy and painting.

Allium

 

This is my homework for Week One of Fabulous Flat Brush Flowers #5 with Violet Smythe.

Flat Brush Flowers

 

 I'm looking forward to the next session of Fabulous Flat Brush Flowers next week so I painted a bouquet of posies in my journal.  I'm happy to say that after some warm-up strokes I found I had enough muscle memory to pick up where I left off a month ago.

Violet, the instructor of the courses, starts each class with a page of  warm-up exercises, and I may have finally learned how important this is.  It isn't something that comes naturally to me, but I find when I don't know what to paint that making some simple strokes also gets the creative juices flowing!

Church Bulletin

 

Our minister has retired, so it is all hands on deck to put on the Sunday Zoom service.  I have agreed to provide pictures for the weekly bulletin.  This week I added some calligraphy to a flat brush tiger lily.

Gladiolas

 

It's a little early for gladiolas, but come August, I'll be ready! LOL  We're having more fun in Flat Brush Flowers.

Red Hot Poker

 

Bottlebrush

 

 The bottlebrush bush or tree, native to Australia, is a new flower to me.  We're in Fabulous Flat Brush Watercolour 3 now, and still learning new things!

Lettering for Love

 

The Westcoast Calligraphy Society's latest project is making bookmarks for residents and staff at one of the local care homes.

Participating is a chance to say hello, give thanks, and practice skills all at the same time!

Lilies and Irises

 

It is snowing outside, but inside it is all flat brush lilies and irises!

Fabulous Flat Brush Flowers 2

 

The second series of Violet Smythe's Fabulous Flat Brush Flowers classes includes tulips, my favorite flowers.  And if that wasn't tempting enough, my sister, Dianne, agreed to take it with me.  Yay!

These tulips are actually hot (opera) pink; the picture doesn't do the colour justice.

Watercolour on Coated Cardstock

 

Following Violet's lead, I have been painting on scraps of cardstock.  During this process, I have found that coated cardstock is a fun surface to paint on.  (I discovered this by accident, when I pulled a scrap of a pearlescent cardstock from my stash.)

Watercolour paper is traditionally sized with gelatin, so that the paint does not sink immediately into the paper, but floats on the surface.  Coated cardstock performs in the same way; uncoated cardstock soaks up the paint immediately.

Artists who create a lot of art and break the rules often speak of "happy accidents".  This was one of those!

Two for the Price of One

 

You can get two 6 1/2" x 5 1/2" flip flop fly cards from a single sheet of cardstock, so I made a second one.

Flip Flop Fly!

 

This is called a flip flop fly card; Violet taught us how to make these in our Fabulous Flat Brush Flowers class this week.  They're hard to photograph, unfortunately.

We also learned how to paint daffodils - such fun!