Summer of Color - SOC 2015 - Wk. 6

When I saw the colors for this week I kind of knew that I wanted to do some kind of fish in water. These are pretty silly looking fish, but they'll do.  I think I probably should have added some additional fins on their heads, but, oh well, they'll just have to work harder to swim.  

The quote I added was listed as a sad quote but I don't think that it's really sad.  I think it shows empathy and friendship.  

Well, here's my last worksheet for the SOC as we end up the last challenge.  Hard to believe that 6 weeks have gone by so quickly.  It was fun and I'd do it again, but I think in a bigger format next time.  The 3 x 5 journal is cute but a little constricting.

If you haven't checked out the rest of the entries for these SOC challenges, please do.  There are some remarkably talented individuals out there and I've been blown away by their creativity every week.  Click Here

Thanks to Kristin for such a fun challenge and thanks to all the artists who visited and left comments. Your kind words are greatly appreciated.

It's a Marriage - Jingle Belles and Summer of Color Collide

I think I totally forgot to do my Jingle Belles card for the last challenge two weeks ago.  And something luckily stirred me to get this done last night - the Summer of Color Challenge colors for this week actually.  I think I managed to marry the two challenges together but let's just check and see.  

The Jingle Belles said NO DESIGNER PAPER. (That's not hard for me, it's usually the opposite that hangs me up.)  And the SOC colors for this week are Red, Red, and Metallic.  My first reaction to those colors of course was holiday.  Though I've been adding to my little color journal for this SOC challenge (and I still might do something else) I really felt compelled to do a Christmas card and to apply it to my lovely Jingle Belles.

You see no designer paper involved (even the die-cut joy was from a recycled gift card holder envelope which I hope doesn't count as such), and the design was embossed in gold EP.  I've had that background stamp for a while now and I don't think I ever used it before so I was equally glad to have made good use of it.

The shades of red are Cherry Cobbler and Riding Hood Red and please believe me when I tell you that this is really much better looking IRL!

Do you think I could get away with doing this same card but on let's say - two shades of blue and gold (or silver), or two shades of purple and metallic?  Or are blue and purple poinsettias out of the realm of possiblity?  

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm....... let me think on that a little.

Summer of Color - SOC 2015 - Week 3

As you can tell from my worksheet the colors this week are two shades of purple and one shade of yellow.  Once again I turned to nature for my inspiration.

A Bearded Iris - done in Prismacolor pencils.  I think though that this is too squished, especially the top petals.  

The next try came from a thoughtful gaze out the kitchen window earlier this week.  I have been enjoying a little "staycation" and have marveled at how different this time at home has been compared to my time at home last summer pre- and post-surgery.  I remember looking out the same window many times and I know that my thoughts were not as free and flowing as they are now. Back then there was too much "me" on my mind and though that's not a bad thing, especially if you are experiencing pain or discomfort, it is good to find time to reflect on other things.  And also to appreciate them.  How those cabbage moths just dance around all the plants, lightly setting down to grab a sip of nectar.  Is it the color that attracts them?  The fragrance?  How much distance must they cover each day to sustain themselves?  Funny where your mind wanders when you don't have to run out the door to get somewhere.  

I forgot to include the link last week to the SOC challenge, so don't let me forget again - click here. Please do drop in and see the wonderful creations that have been posted for this challenge.  And should you have a little "staycation" time, maybe you can check out the past posts too! You won't be sorry.  

Summer of Color - SOC 2015 - Week 2

Did I mention it was a busy week?  Sorry, I don't mean to whine about it.  I choose to add to my own chaos quite frequently it seems.  But I've learned that it is important to do the things you need to do, but not to eliminate the things that you want to do because that only makes you grumpy.  You may get tired and grumpy from trying to fill your days with too much, but that grumpy is more doable that the grumpy you get from not doing the things you like.  Of course, sometimes the results are not quite what you have planned, but that's okay too.

So without further whining, er, ado here are my, wait for it...............two creations for this week's SOC challenge - Pink, Pink, Orange.

A little out of order again, I did the one below first but I chose not to enter that one because I used a google search for poppies for my inspiration and my flower turned out much too closely related to the picture I found (and I didn't like that the center flower was so high on the paper).  Therefore, the coneflowers above were more my original creation.  

Love these colors this week too!

I think if I hadn't had so much going on I could have found more "media" in my stash that would have matched these colors to add to my pages.  Hopefully in the next few weeks I'll be able to test more of my creativity and use more of my stash!

Summer of Color - SOC 2015 - Week 1

Through a couple of the new blogs that I am currently following I found out about this challenge called Summer of Color and this is the fifth year that the challenge is in existence.  Here is the link to this week's particulars.  Unfortunately, my week got filled up with other stuff and I only got to this last night and thankfully I live on the east coast and will just squeak my project in before the deadline.

If you're a regular here this owl might look a tad bit familiar as I did something similar last summer for the 60-day Paper Prompt.  However, this time the challenge limited me to a certain pallet.  We were allowed two shades of blue and one of green in whatever media we liked. I had a couple of Marvy LePen's that matched up with a couple of Prismacolor pencils and with blending of the pencils I was able to achieve a little more depth with the colors.

I also chose to tangle the "wings" of this owl.  The tangle is called 63Y and I chose this variation.

The last week of school is this week and it's going to be a real roller-coaster of a ride.  There's so much to do and on top of it all, they're going to be doing some major construction right outside and breaking through to our office so we have to "pack up" and will be relocated to ...... as yet to be determined for the next five weeks. There's good and bad in that.  The good is that they're getting it done right away, the bad is that we are using our 2014-2015 vacation days up before July 1st so when we walk out the door on Friday, things will have to be somewhat organized.  Let's just see if I can keep my sanity!  Hopefully these art challenges that I have chosen to do will help with that.