My life is to make everything around me beautiful.

Thursday, June 28, 2012

My Adventures in Painting Roses and Other Fluff!

I am one who can poke fun at myself and not worry. I have a pretty good sense of self-worth so I can do this. I rarely care much what other people think of me. In other words, I’m pretty confident of my abilities. No, I’m not prideful, just confident. I know what I can do and what I cannot do. And there is much I cannot do. Trust me!

Anyway, today I’m going to tell you my adventures in trying to paint, in particular—roses. Please don’t laugh; it’s not funny that I am a total flop at painting.

I saw this image on the internet and it brought back memories of my pathetic attempt at trying to learn rose painting. While this painting doesn’t show frustration, which I felt, it shows the beginning of a beautiful painting. Mine never did. Sigh.


This is about as good as I ever got. You’d think I’d be embarrassed to show it, but nope, I’m proud of how far I had come before I decided I’d never be a rose painter.


Then I thought about painting bird nests. I wasn’t much better at that. However, these two paintings hang on my front porch. They may not be sellable but I sure as heck tried and I’m proud that I did.


Okay, here’s the story on this one.

I bought two folding wooden chairs for our patio out back and painted these roses on the back. One of the chairs broke and I wasn’t about to let my “art” go to waste as these roses were rather pretty. So I took the back piece off the chair to salvage the roses and they now hang in my laundry room.




This rose turned out pretty well so I made some decals out of them. My granddaughter wanted some to put on her place cards for her wedding dinner several years ago and we did. She loves me much you understand, so I think she was just being kind to me, but they were used and for that alone, I’m eternally grateful to her. Caroline is the other thing for which I’m grateful to her. ;-) And if you look at the URL at the top of your screen if you’re reading my blog, you’ll see I made it my avatar also. Pretty unique, huh?


Now, here you can see I’m truly NOT an artist by this little caricature I drew of me. It’s my place-holder. What is a place-holder you ask? Well, I work with templates. When I make one for a person to use, I color code them for text and photos. In other words, when they see red they put their text in there. When they see blue, they put the photos in that space where the html is. Makes it much easier for them when using the template. So my place holder is this little caricature of me. If that pops up, they know they need to change it to the photo they want instead of my photo. This is what I see all the time when I’m creating a blog post. If I see that little caricature, I know I need to change it to another photo. But this is in here to show you my creative endeavor. Stop laughing!


This is another shade of pink I really like. More of an orchid color, but beautiful.


Another sweet thatched cottage in the UK somewhere. I believe they are allowed in certain places in the U.S. as I’ve seen them, but I doubt many places would allow them. In Ireland, one of the B&Bs we stayed in didn’t allow me to use my blow dryer. You should have seen me. I got under the electric blanket and just started running my fingers vigorously through my hair until it dried. Turned out pretty dang good though!


Another stunning lamp for you. This is one I would like to copy on one of my lampshades, but I’m not sure I’ll do it any time soon.


Some really pretty lampshades here.


Love the feather trim around this one. Elegant. I would definitely buy this lamp.


Yes, these are the colors of my “Dream” house. While it’s not winter yet, I thought you’d like to see this gorgeous home now. Ooooooh, huge sigh.


Sweet little cart. I really like how they use it for decoration around their home.


Just eye candy to make you drool.


You can go and make some chocolate and pink macaroons now. ;-)
~*~

17 comments:

  1. I'm glad you go on your blog, the lovely pictures make me dreams or give me ideas to decorate my house.
    Oh I love macarons, it's really delicious :)))

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  2. Connie, I think your roses and bird nest are so cute! Truly, I do love them! As for your face, I know what you mean. It is endearing though. Recently, I purchased the book by Suzi Blu called "Mixed Media Girls". She shows how to draw a face in it. And, her method makes it look very easy. She has a website called "Suzi Blu Les Petites Academy". You should look it up and look at the faces she paints. They're so cute. I love her rendering of Marie-Antoinette. She did her hair with molding paste. I can't wait to get started. I've started buying the materials she requires. It's very expensive so I have to do it slowly using my 40% and 50% off coupons at Michaels.

    Now for the eye candy, I will soon be making miniature macarons for my dollhouse. I bought a kit and it looks easy enough with Fimo clay. That cart by the door makes me feel nostalgic. I am especially drawn to the green door and the brick and rock wall. That white house with black trim is palatial. It seems to me I've seen it somewhere! Love it!

    The lamps are "extraordinaire"! I love them all! That little cabinet in the first pic is definitely dollhouse material. Once again, thanks for the wonderful eye candy. I enjoyed it immensely. If you want to learn how to make a nose the easy way, just look up Suzi Blu. You might even want to buy her book. It's such a fun book. I'm so enjoying it!

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  3. That gorgeous winter scene looks pretty inviting in this 100 high humidity weather we are having, Connie. Yummy mac's & gorgeous pinks. The lampshade I'm even going to try. Your artwork you don't credit yourself enough ... it is really quite lovely.

    Hope you figured out how to read my blog ~ blushingrosetoo.blogspot.com Let me know if you get to it.

    Have a great eve ~
    TTFN ~
    Hugs,
    Marydon

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  4. Oh, such lovely pinks! I think you are a fine artist! Happy Pink Saturday, Connie!

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  5. Oh Connie what beautiful pictures as always. Happy Pink Saturday! It is too hot and humid in NY and the winter scene looks fabulous right about now. lol Grace

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  6. Love that cart,It is warm here but better then snow
    You could paint roses if you did more.
    happy 4th

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  7. Connie you are a delight...love your whimsy approach to life...and your endless fun.
    Have a perfect pink Saturday,
    Michelle

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  8. I enjoyed this post and I most probably would enjoy many more on your blog. I will be back to read more. Happy 4th of July!

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  9. Hey, sweetie! Why don't we ever visit anymore?!? I miss you!! Love your pretty posts always. My sweet bird's nest painting hangs proudly in my kitchen for me to see every day! I also display a pretty PINK tag you made for me on my tri-fold mirror in our bedroom! Just lil splashes of you here and there in my home to remind me of my favorite sis~~

    Big Hugs,
    Stephanie

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  10. For art, I think "beauty is in the eye of the beholder" and I think you did just fine on your roses and bird nest. I can't draw a straight line (or carry a tune, for that matter)...I am left totally untalented. I would love pretty roses hanging on my porch. :))
    Have a great day....
    xo bj

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  11. I really enjoyed your post and seeing all of the lovely pink! I found you at Pink Saturday. Hugs~Lori

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  12. Connie, we all have our strengths and our weaknesses. You show such amazing talent giving these roses are try! I think you did a great job! I too believe beauty is in the eye of the beholder!

    Charming photos!

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  13. I think your roses are perfectly beautiful. I actually like them more. They have a bit of whimsy in them (to me) and I prefer that in art. LOVE all your images, AND those are the EXACT colors of my dream house too. White, black shutters, red door. Oh, how I dream of a red door. Huge sigh right along with you. SIGH... ;) Something like that would be perfect to highlight in our Snow in July blog party coming up in a few weeks. Do stop by if you have a chance.

    Much love,
    Marcia

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  14. I love the roses on the broken chair! And the beautiful beautiful beautiful winter-house (it's sooo hot in Austria at the moment, and I really would like to feel a little bit snow on my skin. JUST A LITTLE BIT!!!)
    Happy PS from Austria, Traude
    ☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼

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  15. I think your art work is very good. I have posted some of my painting and I certainly am no artist. I enjoy creating and to me that's the beautiful part of painting even if I am not very good. The house you showed is absolutely lovely and the snow just makes it a place to dream about. --------- Shannon

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  16. I so like the lamp, pretty!

    Visiting for Wordless Wednesday- hope you can stop by..

    http://www.cassandrasminicorner.com/2012/07/pink-backpack.html

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  17. I love all the pink, congratulations on all of the success. The house is beautiful, I'm not sure about that electric bill though. Happy Pink.

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Comments are so nice and I thank all of you that leave one for me.