Happy New Year!

Holy moly...this was written before Last Friday. The highest it has been has been 32, and that was yesterday!

It is so warm today, the heat kicked off and has been off most of the day! 

We have spent most of this year in the single digits at night.

I have spent most of my time sitting inches away from the heat and watching painting videos.

I have watched Laurie Speltz 12 days of Christmas videos--painting them in your head counts, right??! 😁😂🤣

AND now they say we are in for a wintry mix on Friday! 🤤

Today, as I made Veggie Soup from my leftover Sunday's roast, I was thinking of how good it was going to be with a pan of hot crunchy cornbread.

Charcoal ate 3 wedges of cornbread! He thought It was so yummy, too.

We played a little fetch outside in CELEBRATION  of the warmer day.

I was sitting on the back porch in my no drama lama pajamas without shoes, enjoying the 60s.

I giggled at how "warm" the 40s felt after the past 2 weeks. It is all perspective, after all.😁😂🤣 

I thought I needed to share SOMETHING with you, since it has been awhile.

I have enjoyed "piddlin'" around with mixed media. I like how it gives a creative outlet to those who haven't learned the strokes of decorative painting.

I enjoy shading with the water soluble pens and Charcoal pencils.

I really like peeling off the DecoArt Decoupage glue from my fingers. I know, I might have a bit too much of an inner child.😉

I found the coolest stencil from www.stencilgirls.com.

Nope, I am not compensated from them. It is just a very cool stencil.

I reinforced my knowledge that I cannot stencil with a cosmetic sponge! 😲

I just played with this until I liked it.

I used a 6 inch wooden canvas and painted it with Indian Turquoise.

I used copies of recipes from my Great Aunt Jenny's box of recipes. Most were written on the backs of things--it must be a family trait. 

I am sharing a pdf file of these copies.

Click here to download some backgrounds for mixed media

A note about the copies: IF you have an ink jet printer, you will need to spray the copies with a matte or Satin Varnish before you apply any kind of glue (decoupage) to them. Just a couple of light mists...If you have a laser printer, they are ready to use.

I added the papers with Decoart Matte Decoupage.

I smeared some Indian Turquoise and Titanium White down the front with a palette knife, and then wiped most of it off with a babywipe, because I really wanted the background to show.

The stencil was added with Tuscan Red. I LOVE this stencil!

Using a Soft Charcoal pencil, I outlined around the stencil.

I added the word "remember" with the Decoupage. I bought that word in a package of other wood veneer cutouts at Joannas, about 3 years ago --imagine THAT! 😉

I colored the "remember" with watered down Indian Turquoise, but it didn't show as much, so out came my container of DecoArt Metallic Lustre in Gold Rush. Mine is dried up, but adding a bit of water worked perfectly for me to smear it over the top of the word with my finger. I smeared some lightly around the canvas, too.

A helpful hint when painting is to include colors from your design in your background to help lead your eye around the painting. I figure that philosophy is true in Mixed Media, too! 😁😂🤣

I used a Black Sennelier oil pastel to outline the edges. They are so creamy!!

Payne's Grey was used to stencil some background words and numbers.

Well, of course, I had to use my punchinello to add a few Bleached Sand circles, and dry brushed areas on the red.

So, I pulled out my fudeball pen to again, outline the heart and circles. I used my finger to smear it...so cool to play with!

Since many of the things I used are water based, I  will have to spray it to set everything in place. If I add a brush on varnish, it will smear everything! 😲

This is aged perfectly for my taste. I can still see a lot of the background, and I like that.

The word "remember" is perfect, as I recall all of the baking and cooking that was done in this 100+ year old home.

It is good to REMEMBER our past, but important to live in the present.

I am so thankful for my heritage, and hope that I would make my parents proud.

I hope you will CELEBRATE your life, creatively.

I am simply blessed to create~charlotte♡