Accent

To stress, single out as important. As applied to art it is the emphasis given to certain elements in a painting that allows them to attract more attention. Details that define an object or piece of art.

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This card will be entered in:

Paper Smooches - Anything Goes Wk. 1 challenge

I love my whimsical bear...I think the "giggle" is the perfect accent to bring out the humor of the colorful zentangled bear and zen dangled heart leads you right to it.

Paper Smooches - bear stamp

Darkroom Door - sentiment

- giggle

Sakura Glaze pen - heart

Faber Castell - watercolors

Sakura pens - doodles

Dean Crouser

Dean Crouser creates vivid watercolor paintings of wildlife. His animal portraits are made up of bright splashes of color that give the painting a lively, fun appeal. Gone are the days of boring true-to-life animal paintings; Crouser’s abstract style is a creative, extravagant which reflects the energetic essence of nature, bringing the busy-ness of wild animals indoors.

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 Design Memory Crafts, Mou Saha challenge:   Pick an art piece and let it inspire you to create.

I figure I need to loosen up and try a new style and I love Crouser's work and I happen to have taken a photo of this cardinal on Christmas day, so I thought I'd give his style a whirl. Also, Journal52's prompt is Up,Up and Away -  things that float or fly through the air - and as best said by the character,  the infamous cigar-chomping leader, Colonel John “Hannibal” Smith on the A Team....
"I love it when a plan comes together."

Dylusion Sprays

Faber Castell watercolor crayons

Faber Castell Gelatos

Trying to pick out which quality of Crouser's work that I wanted to emulate was easy but trying to replicate it was very hard...I couldn't make myself get that loose and carefree, I kept wanting to outline and to contain my image. I am a line artist...I am in a box.

Abstract Expressionism

Art that rejects true visual representation. It has few recognizable images with great emphasis on line, color, shape, texture, value; putting the expression of the feelings or emotions of the artist above all else.

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entering my 6 x 12" Blue wall hanging in:

Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge - Blues

 I love my little lady balancing on the telephone wire with her crow friends, sometimes it's fun to

 think abstract.

Of course, getting a few zen dangles in also makes me smile! 

I enjoyed all the different layers, the molding paste rain drops, the painted and inked girl with her puffy paint hair, the layers of lace, twine and buttons and the doodling: are all my favorite elements in one piece.

Sakura pens

November Frosted Designs kit - buttons, lace, flower

October Frosted Designs kit - pattern paper

Golden - Molding Paste

Crafters Workshop - raindrop stencil

Deco Arts acrylic paints

Faber Castell PITT pens

crow stamps - misc. ( old )

Abstract

Art that looks as if it contains little or no recognizable or realistic forms from the physical world. Focus is on formal elements such as colors, lines, or shapes. Artists often “abstract” objects by changing, simplifying, or exaggerating what they see.

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entering my baby congratulations card in:

Constellations: Trendy Star Power Challenge in the Moxie Fab World 
Simon Says Wednesday Challenge - Something New

I used again, the December Frosted Designs kit papers to create a baby card. I don't think it looks Chritmassy at all, do you? These are all the die cut stars that came in the kit, I outlined them with my Sakura pens. The sentiment is my own, I had to think of something since I searched the internet and couldn't find what I liked....go figure! 

I printed out each word/word set in a different font except for the first 3 words. The word strip "A baby is" has 3 of the fonts altogether which I hope ties in the other fonts and keeps it from looking too abstract.

Sundays with Sandee - art journaling your word of the year

Everyone is picking their word for the year...so let's journal it!

Pick one word that sums up who you want to be or how you want to live. One word that you can focus on every day, all year long. Some word ideas:
Forgiveness, Blossom, Focus, content, Still, Health, Believe, Reborn, Resolve, Unselfish, Accept, mortal, Breath, Dependence, Energy, Appreciate, Coffee, Complete, Constant, Trust, Innovate, Persevere, care, determination, Write, Broken, kind, journey, connect, responsibility, Renewal, Renovate, Wait, Respond, Bold, Change, deliberate, inspire, adapt, Let Go, Selflessness, perseverance, Weave, Rock, Adventure, present, plan, Selfless, Engage, renew, refresh, Self-Respect, Discover, Patience, Survival, Breathe, Purposeful, Mission, submit, Gratitude, epiphany, Ubuntu, motion, love, Solve, Passion, Moments, Move, Positive, listen, Steadfast, Happy, intentional, Flourishing, Improvement, Intersection, Enough, Risk, Words, Presence, Well-Being, Invest, less, Happiness, Discipline, assiduity, welcome, Be, Survive, new, forgive, Encourage, Create, strength, Restore, joy, integrity

My word for the year is: Alacrity

I wanted to take the one word idea a step further by asking yourself: Why did I pick this word?

What will this word change for me if I follow it every day?

What are some synonyms of this word so that I can best understand it?

My friend Tamiko asked me to incorporate a mandala into my journal page. I am not sure this is what she had in mind, but I became fascinated with all the mandalas in nature.
This Pinterest page is full of nature's spiral mandala's....check it out and be amazed.

( Look for something with a circular center with a pattern radiating outwards and you have found yourself a natural mandala. )

You can visit the Frosted Design Blog to see the video I have up, and I sure hope you enjoy making your Word of the Year Journaling page, and then share it with us over on the Frosted Designs Face Book page.

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Random thoughts:

I cannot pronounce synonym without it sound like cinnamon.

My chair needs to be oiled.

Who the heck was the gray haired lady that snuck into my video?
Hitting the camera with your elbow is NOT a good thing to do, for you or for the video.

ABC art

 ABC art - A 1960′s art movement and style that attempts to use a minimal number of textures, colors, shapes and lines to create simple three-dimensional structures. Also known as minimalism.

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Okie dokie....Sandee is having to learn more about making boy related "stuff"...why, you ask? Because Sandee is going to be "grand" aunt in a month and my niece is expecting a boy, so I had better start gearing up in the boy categories! I may need help with this...just sayin'...

 So when I saw Cath's Constellations: Trendy Star Power Challenge in the Moxie Fab World  over on her Moxie Fab World blog, I thought it was perfect to create a baby card with. It almost has a cow-boyish charm to it, I guess it's the colors that give it that giddyup essence?

Frosted Designs December Kit 

Deep Red Stamps - Heart Flourish Splash

Quick Quotes - Powder Puff chalking ink

Frosted Designs January Kit…. Love is in the Air!

I love our new kit...you can now choose how you want to customize your kit....want to get inky and messy or do you prefer some nice clean fun? YOU GET TO CHOOSE!

Here is a short slideshow of all the BFF coupons and quotes I used ♥ 
Afterall, our best friends need to be shown some love too!
And who best to appreciate your snarky side than your best friend?

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Frosted Designs - Sketch Challenge

 We are challenging you to use ink, paint and/or mists on your project while using this sketch: 

what fun!! 

So I took the LO sketch and used it to create a card!!
( Love the dark smudgy edge from the Quick Quotes Powder Puff ink! )

This Kaisercraft Stamp - 36 is just too cool with the collage mixture of text and vintage imagery. I love how it layers on top of the large scalloped printed paper.

I stamped the Kaisercraft Stamp - Sheet Music onto the die cut heart.

I LOVE mixing my spray inks to get colors that match my papers, and I cannot believe how easy it is to do with the Inkssentials Mini Misters and the Pipettes...and totally fun! 

After mixing the color up, I sprayed it onto a sheet of paper and then I stamped the Steampunk Sparrow onto it, and filled it in with Sakura Glaze pens.

Also entering my card in:

Simon Says Wednesday Challenge - Something New ( love )