Paint Party Friday . . . Journal Cover

Stay Inspired

I decided to spiff up the cover of one of my

moleskine journals, something I've been meaning to do

but never took the time. I like it so much better than

the original black...not that black doesn't have its place ~

but looks better on a little cocktail dress :)

Or really any article of clothing; I wear too much black, really.

All the more reason not to have it on my journals.

Somehow, looking at a colorful cover helps me

stay inspired.

So, not to give too much away, but the real reason I took the

time to spruce up my journal is that it's a tesT.

Inspiration Avenue is planning something ultra fun

in the coming days, complete with multiple giveaways!

Can't say much more about it yet :)

I'm thinking of an altered art journal as my contribution

and I needed to practice a bit as I'm an altered book newbie.

But I kind of like how this one is shaping up...

I still have a little more work to do on it.

The one I will give away will have blank pages inside

to do anything at all with if one wins it.

Hopefully fill it with thoughts and pictures

and make it totally awesome and one of a kind :)

I thought I would use this for Paint Party Friday.

I haven't had time lately to do anything new for Fridays

so I'm happy to have something this week!

Happy PPF!

Happy weekend!

IA Weekly Challenge

The Key to Her Heart

I love circus pictures! So I decided to paint one.

The circus is mysterious and intriguing.

Such adventure and daring!

Lights and excitement!

Life in the circus is close knit and contained,

I guess because of the constant moving on;

no time to put down roots or get to know new people.

So the little acrobat girl has hidden 

the key to her heart but can't remember where.

Not surprising, considering the weighty crown 

she wears...it must put a strain on her memory.

With all that traveling around, perhaps

it has fallen out on the road somewhere.

Perhaps she gave it to the handsome Pierrot 

and he won't give it back?

Perhaps it's just misplaced...

The theme of the week at Inspiration Avenue

is Keys, an intriguing and many-faceted topic.

Just think of all the meanings of the word "key"...

from piano keys to island keys to keys with locks.

Like the key to one's heart. 

Stop by Inspiration Avenue on Sunday

to see all of the entries for the Keys theme.

If you're so inclined, enter this or any upcoming challenge. 

New challenge themes are posted every Monday.

It's open to anyone with a blog, and a creative idea!

IA Weekly Challenge

Autumn

We're still hanging on to summer here. 

Although the temperatures have turned cool, there is still 

predominant green from all the rain we've had lately. 

And I'll be happy to have the green around a bit longer.

But painting a girl named Autumn has put me

in the mood for Fall's stunning colors.

I've been seeing pumpkins, mums, and cornstalks

appearing in the markets. There is always a

sense of anticipation and abundance in the Fall.

Suddenly I'm longing to replace my tired potted

summer flowers with something orange or yellow!

I don't have a story for this painting.

It's probably just too obvious that the girl

is daydreaming on the porch with a cup of tea.

Has the book she's reading caused the dreaming?

Or is she having a hard time concentrating on her

book because of the dreams circling in her mind?

The challenge at Inspiration Avenue this week is 

Autumn Splendor.

Be sure to pop over there to see the entries in the challenge!

They'll all be posted Sunday afternoon.

"Autumn" will be in my Etsy shop.

Have a wonderful Sunday whatever season it is ~

whether it's still summer where you live 

or if you have moved on to autumn . . .

. . . or, like our friends waaay down south, 

you are beginning to enjoy the springtime ;-)

National Cupcake Week!

I've just heard it's National Cupcake Week in the UK.

How have I come across this bit of delicious info?

One of my Etsy teams, Digital Designers, has a new blog

and has showcased some of the many talented designers

that are featuring digital cupcake art on Etsy...

Alas, I don't have a single cupcake collage sheet in my shop

(missing the boat for sure)

but there are plenty of yummy ones above to take up that slack :)

But I do have my little purple cupcake girl, 

plus a cupcake tag (first pic)

and a rather silly

witch-who-turned-herself-into-a-cupcake 

Halloween card in my HeartoftheMagpie Etsy shop.

All of these paper creations somehow just 

don't satisfy my wicked sweet tooth . . . I may

have to get in the kitchen and bake something.

I hope you enjoy this excuse to indulge in a sweet treat . . .

or to indulge someone you love with 

your own homemade version of this favorite dessert.

After all, you've got all week!

Patterns at IA

The theme is 

Patterns 

this week at Inspiration Avenue.

I've been mulling this topic around in my mind

ever since I saw that someone had added it

to the ideas list on our backroom blog.

So, *Thank You* to whomever had the original idea! 

Between Color and Patterns, I don't know which

I like better. But luckily I don't have to choose...

I can have both, unlike with other yummy delights :)

At first I thought I would use my witchy girl

for the challenge. There are patterns floating here and there,

and she even has a patterned cat.

But I've been doodling around with painting on

book pages, and these are really my obsession right now...

As luck would have it, I have a bunch of garments

on hangers, all with patterns!

The challenge is to paint the pages without 

making a buckled mess of the paper. 

Water + book paper is really not a happy combination.

I've had to resort to scanning all but the above picture.

See how the text is waving here and there

because the paper just wouldn't lay flat for the camera.

My scanner likes to change colors to the ones it prefers, 

and we don't see eye to eye :)

When I figure out how to keep the color accurate in the scans,

I will put some of these in my shop.

The Witchy Girl with her cat is already there!

Thanks for visiting!

Hope the weekend is treating you well!

Beach Treasures at IA

Forgotten Treasure

 Angie of Artangel really sent me 

out of my comfort zone on this IA challenge.

Beach Treasures is the theme this week.

I love beach treasures.

I collect beach treasures.

I have a humongous basket of sea shells,

and enough sand dollars to open a sand dollar store.

But since the days too long ago to count,

when I lived at the beach and painted

watercolors of beach scenes,

I haven't painted any beach treasures.

Practice makes perfect,

and no practice makes a mess.

After a few false starts, this is my

beach treasure painting.

I was intrigued by the idea of the

splendid treasures we pick up and then

leave lying around forgotten when we think

maybe they're not that special after all.

Like this conch shell sitting forgotten on the chair arm.

In my mind, it's autumn and the beachcomber has

gone home (to the big city maybe), totally

forgetting the beautiful conch shell.

Perhaps while daydreaming in her little cubical

she realizes she never packed the shell

and wonders if it's still sitting there

on the arm of the chair.

Hmmm...well right now it is.

In the top photo, sunlight was streaming in

the window, and I don't normally photo my

paintings that way, but I couldn't resist.

The pic above is without the sunshine, 

rather more boring.

Now that I have opened my new Etsy shop,

HeARToftheMagpie

I can say the painting is in my shop! Yay!

When I said I was out of my comfort zone,

it's apparent when I see this in my shop.

This one has no whimsy, no cute girls,

no bright colors, nothing humorous...

it's the exact opposite of everything else there.

Which is a good thing, because

variety is the spice of life!

They say.

Please check out all the beach treasure art

at Inspiration Avenue. You'll be glad you did!

I will be linking this up with 

Paint Party Friday also

since I finally completed something in time :)

Go see the incredible artists' work there too!