I Won!!

I've been following Le Ptit Lu, a French illustrator that I admire. Gothic and mysterious. Recently, and thanks to my Spanish, I've learned that a giveaway was being offered. I commented, and lo and behold, on the latest post a "postcard" was created to list the winners, and I was just ThRilLed that my name was there, check it out!

Teen Portrait

Hello there! Sharing my daughter's self portrait, digitally colored.
My daughter has been interested in drawing off and on since she could hold a crayon. Lately she picked it up again, and it makes me very happy, mostly because it's good for her. In my humble opinion she is very good a representing expressions and movement in her art, most of her friends do not appreciate these because they are distracted by what may be considered messy, she simply gets a bit in a hurry and does not dwell on perfectionism, I wish I could do this myself.

Left Handed Art

Hi there!
Last weekend my daughter and I were goofing around and decided to draw with our left hand (we're both right handed). Afterwards I noticed that this one face turned out pretty good. I like the gentle look in her eyes. I want to continue to practice using my left hand.

Thanks for visiting : )

Self-Portrait

My dear followers,
Here is a pic of from my art journal, i used a pic of me as inspiration, so i decided it was a self-portrait, however, my ever-honest DD, stated it really does not look like me. But i'm happy with the results, so i'm sharing:

Mini-Portrait

Dear bloggers,
I've been drawing and painting on every surface that doesn't move.
Here is a mini-portrait on a magnet from my fridge, coated with coarse medium.

My Style!

I'm so happy! I feel that I have finally found my style. It's not precise, it's gentle and relaxed.
During my "quest for my style" I had to learn to relax, because I'm a perfectionist, even though I love art that's more natural.

So I'm very happy to share with you this little painting that I completed today: Acrylics on distressed wood.

Journal Page:

As promised!

Dear friends,
Here is a picture of my latest portrait, the background is distressed and waxed.
Please feel free to comment ♥

Dear Followers :D

My dear friends, please forgive me for not posting in such long time, however I have been visiting your beautiful blogs. Lately I've only seem to be able to concentrate on one thing at a time. First jewelry, then painting, and recently I had to turn my attention back to my home life and my health, meaning I've been trying to get fit again.

I will be posting pictures of my recent paintings soon, but for now I wanted to share a beautiful show that I just had the pleasure to watch in person today. Perfect since Spain just won the World Cup today !!!! Yay, Viva Espana!!


So here it is, a beautiful Flamenco video clip, I hope you'll enjoy it as much as I did:

Note: my video has been a challenge to post, so i'm still trying today, 4 days later...

New Bag!

For once I was able to detach myself from my easel, temporarily of course, and I took out my basic but wonderful sewing machine!
Recently I learned how to print pics of my art on muslin and it's just perfect!
So this morning I attached one of them to this canvas bag, and I'm really happy with the results, please let me know what you think:

Mail from Italia !!!

Check it out! I ordered a hand-made, buttery-soft journal from Linda aka Tortagialla. just last week and it made to Texas yesterday. 

I absolutely love it ♥ , at the moment it's too pretty and new to distress with my messy art. LOL

Ms. Linda is soo sweet to have included a beautiful coordinated bookmark, which I adore since I never have enough bookmarks. THANK you Linda for such pleasant surprise! And for sending so quickly.

Doll!

Hi there! I've been having fun making this doll. I used paper clay, and fabric. The challenge was to attach the arms and legs, solved with some wire : )

Thanks for your comments and for visiting ♥

Note the birdy in her "nest". I made the bird with a little leftover, and it fit perfectly in her unruly hair! still working on her blouse.

My old cat just had to be in the picture, very unusual for her.

Sunshine - Again

Last weekend over mother's day I was kinda depressed. I know rain is good, and glorious. But I can't help feeling cheated when weekends are cloudy. All I need is the sun to feel optimistic and energetic. This morning we went to the flea market and I found a couple of Ladies' Almanacs from 1938 and 1939! and finally found a set of Mexican lottery game (more on this later).

When we returned home the sun started to shine and I was happy, again. I feel obligated to enjoy it, lol, so I took my journal and a few art supplies to my back yard sanctuary. Did not feel much like writing, so i wanted to draw, just doodle my curly Q's, then a  face over that, very unusual for "neat-freak" me, and what fun to see the results!

sharing here:

Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day!
From the Texas fields with abundant flowers ♥

Spring!

I so love Spring 2010!
We had a harsh winter, luckily it was also very wet. Now, here in south Texas, is sooo very green and gorgeous, the skies are blue and there is a pleasant breeze. But don't be jealous, the heat will be here too soon and it will be unbearable to be outside, along with "vampire" mosquitoes not too far behind. That's why I've been trying to take advantage of every possible free moment to enjoy my backyard. This morning while my family slept I was in paradise, here is the proof:

I was so very happy, journaling, drinking coffee, and listening to my mp3 player. **Sigh **

Thanks for visiting my garden : )

Fiesta!

The people in San Antonio love to party. Earlier this year we had the Rodeo, now it's Fiesta time. Us being suburban folks don't usually partake in the festivities. This weekend I was planning on staying home and working on my new art journal, but last night my wonderful friend asked if I wanted to go to the King William Fair which is part of Fiesta . I agreed simply because my friend it's so much Fun!

Well, we had a great time. I was transported to a gorgeous, old, victorian neighborhood. The day was super sunny, the bluest sky, the streets lined with gigantic old trees. I was in heaven! Amazing artist displaying their creations. So very perfect.

We also visited the Steves Homestead Museum and it was so interesting, here is a pic:

I love to see so much beauty in our own "backyard", but feel bad that I hadn't explored earlier : )

GiveAwaY!!

I just love Ms. Abbie's Vintage Moth , she offers all kinds of vintage images that are so very inspiring, for free! Now she has a set of wonderful French lithographs to give to one lucky person.

Digital ArT

I used to do all my scrapbooking digitally. I also used to make Publisher newsletters for my girl scout troop. Those were fun times and I had more pics than I could manage : )
Recently thru Ms. Abbie from the Vintage Moth I learned about the wonderful Shadowhouse Creations   , and I've been drawn back to the digital world (Photoshop Elements 6). This afternoon, as my daughter and I walked our little Chihuahua, I took some  marvelous photos after a rainy afternoon. We have so much vegetation around here that it really feels like a jungle... in Texas, LOL.
So I combined a couple of pics with an "overlay" effect and look at the results. My daughter has gorgeous blue eyes that just spark in this pic that she was not happy to pose for : ). The overlay is a picture of the foundation of our house!

Proto-types for Market Dayz!

Hi there, I'm working on making jewelry and totes featuring transfers of my paintings. I'll be posting my "proto-types" as I complete them.

To be honest, I go back and forth. I find myself the happiest when I'm painting. I do enjoy other crafts, like jewelry and collaging. But not anywhere near as much as painting. So I'm also considering just painting my heart's desire and then make several prints to sell at the Market Dayz. I was thinking that jewelry and bags being more practical and affordable would be a good idea to make and sell. But then I think why spend my precious time making bags when I can be painting, who cares about  selling? really. So then why participate in the event if I don't care about selling? ay ay ay.

Your input will be greatly appreciated ♥

Vintage Bookmarks

Look what I found:

I suggest you visit Ms. Abbie from the Vintage Moth , she made four wonderful bookmarks to share, you can download them from her blog (For personal use Only). I LoVe them ♥

Technology!

Last night technology was conspiring against me : )

My camera decided it needed the battery charged, my photo program kept crashing, even my internet connection wasn't cooperating.

I have some pics of the pieces I'm working on for the Market Dayz, I'll post them soon.

Hi there!

Great news, sweet Ms. Deb from Fondant Kiss has a new blog, started an Esty store to sell her beautiful jewelry AND it's offering a GiveAway!! Ms. Deb's jewelry is very feminine and classy... I suggest you visit her soon. : )

Art Market

It's official, I'll be participating in our local First ever Art Market in June.
I have much to do to prepare, at this moment I think that I'll be making jewelry incorporating prints on of my painings, I'm very excited. I'll be posting pics of my work as I get ready!
Thanks for following ♥

"In the light of the Moon"

I highly recomment that you visit Cat from "In the light of the Moon". Not only her blog is beautiful, classy, and inspiring, but she is currently offering a giveaway.

Sorry, the link was not working earlier, it's fixed now. Thank you!

Dear Followers,

Are you there? ♥
Friends, I know that many of you decided to follow my blog because you found my work interesting. My more recent pieces are a little different now. Here is a picture of one the first paintings that I was happy to achive. I'm considering having prints made on gallery canvases and sell them on Etsy. I'll keep you posted ♥

Colorful Page

Hola - I made this journal background last night. My family really likes it so I decided to share it with you.

I'm considering making a video of my art journal, once is complete, and if I do I will post it here ♥.

Why am I bloggin' ??

Hello friends!
As you know I started making jewelry about a 18 months ago, and to share pictures I decided to start this blog. And seeing so many amazing artists blew me away. Slowly and strangely I picked up paint brushes and started painting. The jewelry was easy to sell, the paintings? what to do with them? Hmm, don't care. It feels right, just paint, enjoy it. So here I am, but really who really cares about this humble blog?

TEN Followers, thank you Ms. Tina for your interest in my blog. I will try to post more often.

A huge HUG to all my kind followers!! ♥♥

Carmen

Journal Pockets and Prize !!

Hellooo,

I've been trying to post all week, don't know where time has gone. First my HUGE thanks to Ms. Kathryn the Collage Diva for my delish papers I received from her:

Love them, and can't wait to use them ♥

Also here are a couple of recent journal pages with pockets that I learned from Ms. Connie from the Dirty Footprint Studio

The Art Journal Love Letters online class rocks!

Art Journal class

I'm so enjoying my Art Journal Love Letter class, the textures that we are creating are so delish to look at, really, you'll want to eat them : D

Here is my latest page. I found the picture on the internet by searching "architecture".

I colorized it to look sun-shiny happy. The gold circles look like drops of honey, and check out the texture.

Thanks for visiting !

Another Wonderful Giveaway ♥

Hey there!

Click HERE to visit Ms. Linda's gorgeous blog AND to participate in her generous giveaway !
She made some super-delish hand made journals and now she's giving them to a lucky reader.

Thank you Linda !!
Hugs ♥

Art Journal Backgrounds

Hello there,
I'm loving the Love Letters Art Journaling experience. Look at what I can do now : )
The messy looking one is actually really, really yummy. There was some glare on the pic that I couldn't avoid. Theses backgrounds are wonderfully shiny. Anyway the messy one is vibrant green, brown, and pink; with lots of texture, it reminds me of chocolate-mint-strawberry ice cream with cone texture, I luv it.
I'm also happy to learn to colorize b/w pics, sooo very fun and pretty, if I may say so myself.

Woo Hoooo !!

I won!!
I won 12 gorgeous patterned papers from our very dear Collage Diva Ms. Kathryn with her generous  participation with the One World One Heart Magic Carpet 2010. I am soo lucky and just tickled pink ♥.

I love participating in giveaways, it's fun even if I don't win. And I never won before, so this is totally thrilling : )

Thank you Kathryn!!

Art Journaling and Valentines ♥

I started Art Journaling with the New Year, and I love it. Now I'll be taking an online class from the talented Ms. Connie from Dirty Footprints Studio, to LoVe art journaling even more : ) Click on the side button for more info.


Happy Valentine's Day ♥♥♥
My thoughts, in case you are interested: Been married for over 22 years, (I married very young so don't bother to do the math LOL) to my one and only dear man. We are comfortable with each other, and we are still thoughtful and caring. HOwever... the  Valentine cards in the stores are SOOO very corny... and unrealistic, I wish they would just make beautiful cards and leave them blank. I could make one, but then will that look like I'm a cheap-skate?

Thanks for visiting and Happy Valentine's Day !!

My deep appreciation goes all the way to Barcelona, Spain !

My dear friend Lyn from Barcelona sent me these. And I love them : )

Lyn Newhouse is a very talented artist and you can find her blog HERE.

Muchisimas gracias Eva por este bellisimo detalle, eres muy linda.

Me encantan tus creaciones, sinceramente tu amiga de Texas, Carmen

Beautiful !

Head over to In the Light of the Moon where Cat is giving away a gorgeous beyond gorgeous necklace! Here is Cat's picture:

Name that Famous Painter!

Hola, hola my friends,Thank you so very much for your wise comments-replies to my question on the previous post.

Now, I have a fun Art-Trivia for you. I really hope that I don't seem presumptuous by posting this. It's not an indication that my creation is in any way near equal to the master artist that inspired me, I promise you I don't feel that way.

A fabulous Artist has inspired me greatly. I tryied to replicate one of his pieces. Now let's see if you can name the painter that crated the original. Here is a  clue: last name starts with the letter M and the title of his painting starts with A (The A...). Here is the pic:

By the way, head over to Julie Prichards blog for an opportunity to win a FREE "Color Beyond the Basics" online class! Yay!!

Moon Bathing

A question to all the amazing artist out there:

If you decide not to persue selling your pieces, what do you do with your art? Do you hang it all over your home? Do you give it away? Do you store it?

Thank you for your comments :D

January, what a rollercoaster!

I started the year all optimistic and full of expectation for 2010!

Then situations beyond my control ruined the second and third weeks of the month.

In the end I decided to just create because I enjoy it. Drawing a model from a magazine I created a composition taking place in my own livingroom. Check it out : - )

Thanks for visiting!

Peek!

I've been so inspired to try new backgrounds, and techniques with very little time to post.

Amigas!

San Antonio has many many charms. Of course I'm not originally from here, BUT I do love the weather, the BLUE skies 360 days of the year : ) , and the culture.

By the way, my friends, you can expect your jewelry in the mail any day now : ) Thank you, oxo!


*** By the way the "360 sunny days" statement it's really my own statistic (and perhaps slightly exagerated). And during the looong summers you must be prepared for extreme humid heat, triple digits even ! ***

Hola, from San Antonio, Texas!

This morning my daughter and I, decided to make a trip to downtown San Antonio, to take pictures with our new cameras, Christmas gifts : ) , I just lOvE old architecture, and we are surrounded by history here.

For 2010, and for the first time ever, I started an Art Journal, and I'm enjoying it far more than expected, yay! My favorite find has been packaging tape transfers. I'm a little shy to post pics of my journal at the moment, but I would love to share how wonderful these transfers are working for me, maybe later. I just HIGHly recommend it, it's easy and beautiful. Then your pages look like a glossy magazine, but more beautiful and personal. Try it : D

Carmen

For my followers:

If you are one of my current eight followers, and would like one of these pieces of my Sterling Silver Wire Jewelry pictured here, just sent me an email. Let me know which one you would like, with an address to ship it to, and I will mail it to you. It is a small token of my appreciation that I'm happy to give.

Prints available.

Hello there, here is a new piece, please let me know what you think.

Also, prints and canvas are now available for purchase at my page on Fine Art America.

Thank you for visiting!

Hugs.

Portrait Collage

Friends, I'll be posting my new work in chronological order. This piece is the first of my more realistic portraits, well at least I think they are more realistic : )  A better copy will be available for purchase, very soon.

Happy 2010 !

It's going to be a great year. I'm working on a new project. Very soon I'll make prints of my work available for sale, it requires professional pictures, so it's a bit of a challenge, but an exciting one. There is a link on the side that will take you directly to my page with Fine Art America I will let you know as soon as my "store" opens.

 Please keep visiting, I'm also planning a Giveaway !