Mixing it Up loves Cottonwood Arts

Welcome to the Mixing it Up loves Cottonwood Arts blog hop!

This is a closed blog hop just for the members of the
  Mixing it Up Every Day Face Book group
so that we can get to know each other better.

Having said that, if you are not in our group, please feel free to leave a comment anyway and come join us over on Face Book. We would love to get to know you better too.

Sandee Setliff 
Tiare Smith Woods 
Martice Smith II 
Tiffany Goff Smith 
Anna Ely (that's ME!)
Cat von Hassel-Davies
Terri Sproul 
Sharon D. Estes 
Betty Guffey Richardson
Tommy Jo Vilello Anderson
Melissa Willard Edwards
Donna Simmons Lueders 
Jean Marmo 
Tamiko McCurry 

My initial background was created using blue and green
Derwent Inktense Blocks  to create a wash on 140 lb watercolor paper.
I used an old gift card and heavy body acrylics to scrape in green for the grass and
milky white and blue for clouds in the sky.

 

Next I created a paper mask for my little bird and painted it in

shades of pink, purple and red.

I masked off my little bird and created some spatters in the sky and in the grass.

I took an old splayed out paintbrush and created little pink and yellow flowers in the grass.

I scraped in greens and browns for the flower stems and grass with the edge of my gift card. 

Next I used a baby wipe dabbed in a bit of yellow to create a

sunny glow across the sky.

I also dotted in some little black center for the flowers

and gave my little bird a beak and an eye.

Here's a little close up of the texture on my little bird and the spatters in the sky.

Next I put the stencil of my little bird back on and added some 

pink and purple spatters to just the bird.

Then using a black Derwent Inktense Pencil,

I added an outline to my little bird and softened the lines

with a damp brush and my fingers.

Legs, feet and quote were written with a black

Pitt Calligraphy pen.

...and the final step was to thicken the lines on the quote, put a little highlight in his eye and add my signature.

Open Your Heart to Possibility 

We were also asked to answer this question...

Are you a Journal Hoarder?

I guess I would say that I am.  

I am always in search of the perfect journal 

and I have several in progress at all times,

as I never know what kind of surface I want to work on, or what size.

I grab which ever one feels right at the moment.

This is just a few of the ones I have in progress.  

These three are on my desk most of the time

and I have others tucked away in my cabinets

The journal on the top of the stack I have been working in since 1998!

I know because I try and remember to sign my pages and put at least the year.

Although the page it is open to was finished in the last year or so,

the background was done MANY years ago

and sat patiently waiting for me to come back and finish.

Now I'm off to check out all the wonderful posts in this blog hop!! 

Come join the fun!!

  If you are following down the list in order...

Cat von Hassel-Davies

is next.