Blog Giveaway - Original Mixed Media Artwork

My studio is full and you reap the benefits! This week's giveaway is for one of my original mixed media paintings.

The painting, entitled Traction, is 4" wide x 5" tall x 1/2" deep on canvas. Various mediums were used to create three dimensional texture and can be yours if your comment is selected next week.



To enter just leave a comment at the bottom of this post
by Saturday, February 5th at 6pm Central Standard Time!

Want TWO chances to win?

Just copy the code in the box below and paste it in a new blog post on your blog. Once it's posted come back here and leave a separate comment with the exact link.

<center><a href="http://www.blueskysunburn.com/2011/01/blog-giveaway-original-mixed-media.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i613.photobucket.com/albums/tt213/blueskysunburn/a766fce0.jpg"></a></center>
Rules of participation: Giveaway is open to everyone. All residents (USA and overseas) are welcome to apply. If the chosen winner does not reply within 7 days a new winner will be selected.

Good luck to all who enter!

Now, onto the the winner of this giveaway.

The winner is...



Congratulations Bryanna! I will be contacting you this evening for your address. I hope you enjoy your prize!

Also, a big thank you goes out to everyone who took the time to stop and leave a comment.

WIP Wednesday - Watercolor Journal Page

We've just started our first lesson for Jane LaFazio's watercolor class. Our first assignment was to draw keys.

As you can see in this post I was doing little sketches in my new journal but I didn't have all too much detail.

When Jane was teaching us how to start out with our sketches she really emphasized the importance of the details in your sketches. This is something I'm not that great at since I lack patience.

Still...I did it as best I could. Looking at the sketch now, I see I forgot to add the edges of one of the keys. I wonder if I will start getting better at noticing those sort of things up front.



I really like how it turned out. As you can see I'm not quite done with the sketch on the left.

I've been doing my sketches while I listen/watch my paralegal class online. If I didn't, I'd be falling asleep. I'm not very good at sitting still for long periods of time.

I'm having trouble getting good scans of my pages since the watercolor warps them a bit. If anyone has any suggestions how how to do it I would really appreciate them.

30 Things: Fix Leaky Faucet In Master Bath

I'm currently listening to what sounds like Cory attempting to saw through the wall on the other side of my desk.

After months of the faucet in our master bath leaking it began to leak more, this time with hot water. Now not only do we have to listen to it dripping all night long we now have green algae growing in our master bathtub. Nice, huh?

I went in to check on him and to take this picture and was greeted with "I gotta hurry 'cause I gotta poop." Yep, that's my husband.

There were times I became a little concerned in the next hour as I listened to more sawing and then some high pitched whining followed by pounding on the walls but we now have a leak free facet!



Once I clean the tub we'll be back to normal.

Isn't it great that the internet can teach you how to complete just about any household project? Instead of having to pay a plumber tons of money to repair our leak we were able to get it done for $70.

Reminder: Don't miss our on our current giveaway! You can find more details here.

Friday Favorites - Bones

It may be old news to some of you but I've recently started watching the television series Bones. It's in an instant queue on Netflix so I've been able to start from the pilot episode.

The first thing I noticed when watching (aside from the god awful haircolor they have actor David Boreanaz wearing in the first season) is the beautiful jewelry they have the actress Emily Deschanel wearing!

I'm not big on wearing jewelry personally but I am drawn to it like it's calling out to me. I have to go look at and touch jewelry no matter where I go or if I'll wear it.

The necklaces she wears are just - WOW. I've always had a thing for the more ethnic jewelry and I've yet to see one she's worn that I haven't liked.



I wasn't able to find the best pictures for this post. Most are clips from videos so the pictures are a bit pixelated. I was able to find this awesome video on YouTube though!

My favorite necklace of the 1st season in shown 23 seconds in.

In reading the comments it sounds like there was suppose to be music playing in the background but it doesn't. Not a big deal though - Look at the eye candy!

Oodles of Doodles

Jane LaFazio is offering a watercolor journaling class that starts up this week that looks really interesting. If you haven't seen her watercolor sketches before you might want to take a moment to look at them here. I think they are just beautiful!

It looks like a great way to learn to loosen up your drawing skills and to learn something new.

I still need to go pick up my supplies for the class but in the mean time I have been playing around in the watercolor journal I bought. I started playing around in it on New Year's Eve while Cory and I were watching the The Last Airbender.

You can tell I did the monster by memory instead of while I was looking at him. It looks nothing like the monster in the movie!

Since then I've been doodling here and there while I've been watching tv. I've been in a little bit of a painting rut the last few weeks.



I'm really enjoying playing in the watercolor journal too. This type of journaling is putting little or no strain on my hand so it doesn't hurt me at all to paint! I can't begin to tell you how happy this makes me.

You can sign up for Jane's class here if you are interested in joining me. Just don't take my little doodles as examples of what it offers. ha ha!



I still have a long way to go and much to learn about watercolor. It seems very easy to work with but I'm just not sure how to work with it much.

My favorite part of playing with it is the drawings look fine if they aren't perfect. It's okay to go out of the lines just a little bit. It makes them look...I don't know, kind of whimsical.

If you decide to do the class I would love to know! It's always more fun to do classes with a group rather than on your own.

Reminder: Don't forget to sign up for our current giveaway. Find out more about it here.

January Blog Giveaway - Artistic Fitness

Want to learn to draw but not sure how? Make learning easy with our newest blog giveaway, Artistic Fitness: 50 Quick Exercises to Shape Up Your Drawing Skills by Ed Tadem.

"Your very own “artistic fitness” instructor will show you the ins and outs of getting off the couch and exercising your artistic talent. From an apple to a penguin and even that omnipresent garden gnome, you’ll learn how to draw absolutely anything—just by following a few simple steps.

So stop hiding behind those lame excuses and get your drawing skills into shape now!"

To enter just leave a comment at the bottom of this post
by Sunday, January 30th!

Want TWO chances to win?

Create a post on your blog or facebook mentioning this giveaway and leave a separate comment here with the exact link.

Good luck to all who enter!

Rules of participation: Giveaway is open to everyone. All residents (USA and overseas) are welcome to apply. If the chosen winner does not reply within 7 days a new winner will be selected.

Now, onto the the winner of this giveaway.

The winner is...



Congratulations Lynda! I will be contacting you soon for your mailing information.

Memoir Monday - Oh Crappy Day

Photo credit: Photography XO!
Today has just been a crappy day.

It started off getting woke up by the dog needing to go outside about an hour before I needed to get up.

Once I was up I went into the living room only to discover the dog had eaten the entire contents of my purse, including a $150 prescription. Thankfully I had left my wallet on my desk to pay a bill last night and my phone was on my desk charging. I checked to make sure she didn't actually eat anything that would hurt her and then went about my way.

I went to grab my Ipod before I left to meet the CIB panel at McDonald's to review applications only to discover I was getting the same error message Itunes was giving me before I fully restored it and resynced it last night.

On my way to McDonald's I plugged my Ipod into my car only to discover this time there was no music on it at all. I can see the lists of songs but no music.

I was a little worried about being the last one there because a I was running a few minutes late. When I arrived I found I was the first one there and figured at least I had that going for me.

So I waited...and waited...

About ten 'til ten I started texting members that I had in my phone. Then I looked up numbers and started texting but got no response. Turns out two of the numbers I texted were landlines.

I sent an email asking where everyone was waited another five minutes or so and then left. I was thoroughly ticked but figured I would at least be able to go get my shot this morning instead of having to drive back across town later in the afternoon. That was at least a plus, right?

As I was leaving the McDonald's paring lot I scraped the hell out of my air dam. It hit HARD! I didn't realize the dip was as steep as it was.

A few minutes after I arrived at the doctor's office I received a call from one of the girls wondering why I was asking where they were and why I wasn't there. I told her no one was there when I left and I had waited for half an hour without anyone showing so I left.

Turns out I read the email incorrectly and was at the wrong McDonald's the entire time. I told her I was at the doctor's and for them to just finish up without me. As I hung up I realized my tone was a little harsher than it should have been. It wasn't her fault I didn't read right.

I tried to mellow out and force my mood to be better as much as possible before I went in to get my shot. I was not going to be a piss pot to the two little old ladies that administer and monitor it.

I decided since it will be too late by the time I get done with the doctor to go back across town to help I would pick my spirits up and go see a movie.

I stopped for gas before going to the theater and discovered someone had scraped against one of my front fenders leaving a mark. At this point I was ready to just cry.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The movie, The Season of the Witch was so-so but sort of helped me snap out of it. I decided since it was so pretty out I would go to all of those little art galleries and shops I've been wanting to go to but just haven't.

Turns out, most of them are closed on Mondays. *Sigh* I decided to call it quits and head home.

Now I'm ranting to a computer screen and as always surprised at how much better it makes me feel.

With that, I'm going to leave you (assuming you're still here after all my whining) so that I can go watch Bones and eat some chips and homemade guacamole.

30 Things Before I Turn 31

Found this on Photography XO! It's a good thing she doesn't have continuous scroll or I'd be there for hours.

I originally started this list with the traditional 2011 goals but the thing is I never keep them. The only thing that seems to keep me on track is that I'm getting older.

I came across this type of list on Michelle's blog and I thought it would be a cool way to hold myself accountable.

Besides, we all know that at the end of the list you panic and rush to complete as many things as possible before your time is up. It's just not feasible for me at the end of the year to do that.

Below is my list of 30 things to do before I turn 31 on May 24th.

1. Focus on POSITIVITY - trying. it's really hard!
2. Visit the local galleries I never make time to see
3. Learn to use my sewing machine
4. Lose 15 pounds
5. Make curtains for my studio
6. Develop habit of walking Dixie three times a week
7. Take a watercolor class
8. Continue making A's in my paralegal course - in progress
9. Install hardwood floors
10. Make curtains for the kitchen
11. Submit artwork for publishing
12. Start and finish one art related workshop
13. Submit work to a gallery
14. Repaint hallway
15. Take a group painting class
16. Fix leaky facet in master bath
17. Finish reading "Creation in Death" by J. D. Robb - in progress
18. Make a habit to routinely visit and comment on more peoples blogs
19. Host a creativity night
20. Have friends over for dinner
21. Figure out decor for Kitchen
22. Finish reading "Such a Pretty Fat" by Jen Lancaster
23. Have three (home) internet free days per week
24. Have dinner out with friends once a month
25. Declutter my studio
26. Host a monthly giveaway to help with #25 - in progress
27. Enlarge my blog readership
28. Discover a wine I like
29. Make curtains for the living room
30. Finish at least one unfinished painting - in progress

I know I won't get to the majority of the things on my list since I only have a little less than 6 months before my birthday but it's nice to have one all the same.

Color Palette

As I had mentioned in this post earlier in the month, I'm taking an online class, Texture Town, that's all about - you guessed it, texture.

I'm still in the first three lessons. I worked and worked on the class that first week and then couldn't bring myself to pick up a brush. In fact, I spent the entire day Saturday watching Bones instead of painting while Cory was out at a gun show.

This is the last project I worked on and finally finished last week. Instead of dealing quite so much with texture this lesson was about learning to extend your colors with a limited color palette.



I was suppose to do it on three 4 x 4 canvases but I didn't have those. Instead I quartered a canvas panel and added my favorite color of green into the mix.

I had a heck of a time getting a decent shot of this panel without the glare too. I had to settle for slightly out of focus.



I'm glad they are teaching this in the class. While I know how to create glazes for transparency I've never really thought about the different tonal qualities.

Thinking about it, it's probably why I get frustrated a lot of time with the depth of my paintings. I'm hoping to play around with this before moving onto the next lesson.

REMINDER: Don't forget to sign up for this month's giveaway. Find out more details here.

Dream

I need to stop going to be while my husband is playing video games…

We were being chase by zombies. Somehow we ended up in a fast food Mexican restaurant with Ernie after we had gotten arrested.


Then we were at my mother house and we were hiding from zombies again. Except it wasn’t zombies, it was this girl that was obsessed with my brother Arin. We are all hiding inside my mother’s house except the outside was the trailer we grew up in when I started locking all the doors but the inside was the house I lived in as a teenager.


I heard Thomas tattling on me for something. Apparently I left toenail clippings in the living room??? I went to apologize for it but my mother told me to be quiet. I didn’t understand why she wanted me to be quiet when I was apologizing for something.

My One Word for 2011

Photo Credit: GGT 2.0. Be sure to check out Stone Fox. Love his blog!

Lots of people have taken on specific words to focus on for the year instead of doing the traditional New Year Resolutions. There have been several books written about the benefits of doing it as well as workshops available for people to learn about it.

This will be my first year to take it on.

I've taken a bit of time to decide on my word. There are so many ways I want to improve and focus in my life but I think the biggest struggle comes from all the negativity out there.

I naturally lean toward the negative side. I don't mean to but have to analyze everything and tend to be overly critical of things.

When I see people that are constantly happy or have an upbeat personality no matter what the situation I will admit I secretly want to knock them upside the head at times.

Lately though, I've been struggling. It's more from allowing myself to be affected by outside influences more than anything.

Combine that with seeing the negative naturally on my own - it's draining. There are times I will go to bed at night mentally exhausted.

My word for the year is POSITIVITY.

I can't remove the negative from my life completely but I will do what I can to try and change my outlook.

I will avoid the influences as much as possible and try to diffuse the negative when it arises.

I will force myself to try and see the positive in things.

Hopefully, that will pave the way to being more positive about things.

Interested in learning more about the one word challenge? There are tons of websites out there for reference. Here's a few I found:

My One Word
The Happiness Project
Always Well Within
One Little Word <~~ This one has a link to Ali Edwards workshop

January Blog Giveaway - Butterflies

The new year is here and that means it's time to start monthly giveaways once again!

This month's giveaway is for one 8" x 10" art print and one .875" x 1.25" handmade glass pendant based upon one of my original artworks "Butterflies".



The limited edition print of "Butterflies", is based upon one of my original mixed media artworks. It measures 8" X 10" and has been professionally printed with archival inks on cotton linen paper.

The print is signed and numbered on the back and comes packaged inside a cellophane sleeve with heavy chipboard backing.



The pendant is a beautiful .875" x 1.25" pendant handmade in my studio using a high quality reproduction of my original artwork, carefully placed a solid handmade glass piece to create a one of a kind glass pendant.

The glass is handmade as well and will not be perfectly shaped as one made in a factory. The back is sealed with a hard, clear glossy finish for durability and water resistance.

The pendant arrives with an 18" ball chain necklace inside an organza gift bag so you can wear it as soon as it arrives or give it to someone special. For added variety, replace the chain with your favorite necklace.

To enter just leave a comment at the bottom of this post
by Monday, January 31st January 17th!

Want TWO chances to win?

Create a post on your blog or facebook mentioning this giveaway and leave a comment here with the exact link.

Good luck to all who enter!

Giveaway forecast - For those that remember my Great Blog Giveaways back from the summer of 2009, I am once again clearing out my stash.

I am very proud to say I am saving a huge amount of embarrassment and I will not have enough for a full months worth of giveaways. However, I will have one lucky winner to walk away with a huge box of goodies!

Keep your eyes peeled for that giveaway in a few months.

Mud Cookies

The cookies I made this weekend are actually called Chewy Chocolate Cookies via Food.com, but the texture of the dough reminded me of making mud pies.

That is some thick stuff! Once everything was added I had to have Cory stir in the chocolate chips.

The recipe is pretty easy but of course, I still managed to make a mess on the counter with all the cocoa. Why can I not cook without making a complete mess?

Mud Cookies

• 1 1/4 cups butter or 1 1/4 cups margarine, softened
• 2 cups sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup cocoa
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups peanut butter chips (12 oz. pkg.) or 2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips (12 oz. pkg.)

1. Preheat oven to 350°.
2. In large mixer bowl; cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
3. Add eggs and vanilla; beat well.
4. Combine flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt; gradually blend into creamed mixture. Stir in peanut butter or chocolate chips.
5. Drop by teaspoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 8-9 minutes. (Do not overbake; cookies will be soft. They will puff while baking and flatten while cooling.).
6. Cool slightly; remove from cookie sheet onto wire rack. Cool completely.

If you make the cookies per the recipe of about a teaspoon per cookie and it makes around 60 cookies.

I think the next time I make them I might bake them a little less. I followed the directions of 8 minutes but they didn't come out chewy but crisp instead.

When I used up the last bit of the dough and made the cookies about a tablespoon in size they were the perfect consistency cooked at 8 minutes.

I liked eating the raw dough about as much as I liked the cookies themselves but that will be our little secret!