Watercolor

Thank You Berry (Salsa) Much

/ Jodi / 9 Comments

thank you berry much

Thank you cards might be my favorite cards to make and send.  There is something so heartwarming about putting to art and words your feelings of gratitude and sharing it with the person you are thankful to.

So when one of my co-workers did something especially nice and helpful (which is a regular occurrence from her – lucky me – eh?!), I had this little card I had made a while back when I was practicing water color painting where I had laid out some fruit and mint leaves and tried to create it.  I was goofing around with making it a (not sure of the term?) combination of words and “art.”  (Anybody know the technical name for this or is there even such a thing?)  Need to work on my handwriting, but thought it was fun… or maybe I ruined it??

Nonetheless, I used this, along with a little batch of my Fresh Raspberry Chocolate Chip Cookies as a way to thank my friend and co-worker.  (Thank you Judy!!)

And while we are talking about the wonderful fruits of summer and berries, it brought to mind a favorite recipe I used to make and demonstrate from Pampered Chef years ago when I was a “Pampered Chef Lady” that I thought I’d share with you here today.  Only, I kicked it up a notch by adding fresh red raspberries too!  I’ve got to make this again soon!

Berry Salsa with Cinnamon Chips

Photo courtesy of myreciperoundup.blogspot.com

Ingredients:
2 Medium Granny Smith Apples, chopped
1 Cup Strawberries, hulled and chopped
1 Kiwi, peeled and chopped
1 Cup Red Raspberries
1 Medium Orange, juiced and zested
2 Tbsp Brown Sugar
2 Tbsp Apple Jelly
4 Large Tortillas
2 Tbsp Sugar
1 tsp Cinnamon

Directions:

Gently mix together first seven ingredients in a bowl.

Preheat oven to 475 degrees F.  Brush tortillas with water using a pastry brush.  Combine cinnamon and sugar and sprinkle over tortillas.  Cut each tortilla into eight wedges, and place on a baking stone (or cookie sheet).  Bake 5-7 minutes until golden brown and crisp.  Remove to cooling rack, then place in a bowl or basket alongside the salsa, and ENJOY!

Recipe from The Pampered Chef (modified)

Cheers & Hugs & Thank You BERRY Much for Visiting LifeinBetween.me,
Jodi

Mellow Yellow & Puppy Love

/ Jodi / 37 Comments

yellow flower watercolor card

Here’s a little yellow flower watercolor I recently did with no particular flower in mind – just goofing around really.  Feeling kind of “mellow” when I did it (which I’ve come to think is a good way to feel when water color painting). I think I like how it turned out.

I am using it as a thank you card for a very sweet lady (Hubby’s boss’s wife), who sent home the loveliest gift basket yesterday to welcome our new little guy, Charlie, who you may recall briefly “meeting” in yesterday’s post.

As those of you that know me or have been following for a while know, we lost our dear sweet Mikey almost three months ago…  Not a day has gone by that I haven’t missed him or thought about him.  Mikey was such a special little guy, and our hearts and our house has had a big empty hole in it since he left us.

Hubby has been following posts from petfinder, and animal friends, and all the local shelters for the past month or so in pursuit of a new furry friend to rescue and fill the void in our home.

This past weekend, he showed me a picture of a little guy, who we have come to name Charlie (or Chuck for short), who we drove close to two hours to meet, and who we feel in love with almost instantly.

Charlie got his name from the fact that his nervous tummy had him “up-chucking” three times on the ride home from the animal shelter to Mars.   He is a bit of a nervous Norman – quite likely he was not treated well by his previous owner.

Word is he was dropped off at the shelter with his buddy – another dog – about three weeks ago.  His best bud was adopted a couple days before him, and Charlie (Kota as he was named by the shelter) was deeply depressed.   When we signed the papers and got ready to head home, one of the volunteers told us we rescued him just in time as he was getting so sad.

We have no idea what his history is or what “breed” he is.  The best guess from the “experts” at the shelter is that he is approximately a year old (they determine this by looking at his teeth), and that he is part beagle and part Australian Sheep Dog…  We are guessing he has some retriever or lab in him – probably that and about 52 other varieties!

Charlie is growing more and more content and settled, and he is stealing our hearts quickly.

His first night, he slept in between hubby and me in bed.  Second night, he found his place on the couch in our room and slept peacefully all night.

He loves to chew on some old bones we had in a bucket from Mikey and is an avid fetch and retriever of a knotted rope Mikey didn’t want anything to do with.

I have been spending my hours scratching ears, rubbing tummy, walking the perimeter of our yard (and quickly accumulating steps on my FitBit!), and enjoying lots of doggie kisses in between everything else.

Our first BIG success came when Charlie “rang the bell” that we have hanging on the front door to let us know he “needed” to go outside on his third day at home.  What a fast learner!  I’m such a proud Momma!  🙂

How fortunate I am to be able to work from home and allow our little guy to acclimate to his new surroundings with the comfort of knowing I am here for him and he is safe and at home.

Here is Charlie “posing” in his Camo Bandana that came in his awesome gift basket.  He is 45 pounds of exuberance, nervousness, intelligence, and love.

Charlie in Camo

I guess that’s why they call it “puppy love!”

Cheers & Hugs & Puppy Kisses from Mars,
Jodi

Watercolor from the Beach

/ Jodi / 56 Comments

sea turtle watercolor card

It was fun to do a little dabbling in watercolor painting while at the beach last week.  And it was hard to think of anything besides the beach to paint while there!

One of the highlights of our little trip, however, was seeing a nest of endangered sea turtles hatch and make their way to the ocean.  72 hatched from the nest of over 100 eggs, and only about 1 percent will make it to maturation.  There was a group of volunteers that guarded the nest and helped them make it to the ocean safely without being scooped up by the birds waiting nearby.  Chances are many will not make it in the sea as so many predators await, but those that do make it to maturity can live up to 80 years.  It is quite fascinating actually, and you can learn more about sea turtles here and here.

So one of my paintings is of a sea turtle making its way into the ocean.

sea gull watercolor card

Another is a very abstract sand, sea, air  painting with a sea gull silhouette flying.

ocean sail boat watercolor card

And the other is just a simple seascape and sky with a sailboat.

I made these three little paintings into note cards to send to my three chicas to thank them for a great GFC week.

Hope you have a great day wherever you are and whatever you are doing.

Cheers & Hugs,

Jodi

Don’t play with your vegetables

/ Jodi / 26 Comments

vegetable card radishes

Remember being told to not play with your vegetables as a child at the dinner table?

I’m still playing with my veggies – watercolor painting these days – just for kicks.

Aren’t the radishes radishing?!

Certainly not some of my finest art work, but fun nonetheless.

vegetable card green onions

I had some scraps of paper and the urge to continue after recently painting my Lazuli Bunting, but was obviously getting a bit tired and punchy by the time I got to the green onions and carrots.

vegetable card carrots

Maybe I should stick to cooking and eating my veggies.

Cheers & Hugs,

Jodi

Watercolor Lazuli Bunting

/ Jodi / 18 Comments

lazuli bunting

I am a bit obsessed with watercolor lately…

My youngest son told my oldest son last week when he was over – “Paint, paint, paint – not so many cookies being baked around here – Mom’s too busy painting!”

Of course they were teasing – like they constantly do to me…  (I’ve come to realize it is their way of expressing their love – at least that is what I’ve convinced myself of to maintain sanity!)

But – I do become a bit obsessed with things… (and I am on vacation this week, so scheduled a few posts ahead)

So – when I recently posted my Papa Cardinal watercolor, a sweet blogger friend, Deborah @ CircadianReflections commented how lovely it was and how she wished cardinals were in her area of the world.

I asked Deborah what her favorite was.

When she commented it was a Lazuli Bunting….
I had no idea.
So I Googled,
and I feel in love with this precious little blue bird.

So here is my interpretation of this beautiful little bird that graces the West Coast of the United States…
but not Mars.

Hope it does a teensy bit of justice to this glorious creature.
Thanks for sharing with me Deborah!

Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi

Here’s Looking at You

/ Jodi / 23 Comments

PP254 Frames

Hi All – I am on a little vacation this week.  A fun trip to the beach with some girlfriends from GFC (Girlfriend Camp).

I thought it would be fun to send Hubby a little card while I am gone to let him know I miss him.

pp254 inside

The challenge this week at The Paper Players is to make a CAS (Clean and Simple) Card with the theme: “Frames.”

The first thing I thought of was glass frames as Hubby and I are at that fun stage in life where we are always looking for our reading glasses and/or sharing each others.

pp254 frames close up

And… After 33 years, my heart still does stop and skip a beat when he looks at me.  ❤

Hence the design for this week’s Paper Players Design Team Inspiration Card.

Here’s what I used and how I made it.

Card Recipe/Ingredients:

I simly drew and watercolored a heart on a piece of watercolor paper, splattered it a bit, and stamped the sentiment on with Stazon JetBlack Ink.

I then die cut the glasses out and put a thin layer of Crystal Accents for a glossy accent on them.  When that dried, I adhered it with small glue dots, and assembled the layers on the card.

I added a little line heart on the inside from StampinUp’s Hello Life Stamp Set.

So – Here’s looking at you, Merv.  And if you look back, I might wink.  😉

Cheers and Hugs,

Jodi

A Pork Chop in Every Bottle of Beer

/ Jodi / 9 Comments

watercolor pork chop in every bottle of beer

So we have a friend…

We’ll call him “Rodney,” because – hey – his name IS Rodney.

Rodney’s 60th birthday was this past week, and he is one of our buddies at our local “Cheers” here in Mars called “John’s Bar.”

John’s Bar is hubby’s and my Thursday night date most weeks, and we have a gang of regular buddies we hang out with.

Rodney is one of them.

Rodney has a secret to maintaining his “girlish” figure – – – and I daresay he is quite a good looking boy for his ripe ole’ age of 60.

Rodney’s drink of choice is beer.  Lite Beer.  Coors Light Beer.

Sometimes beer is his dinner.

Because you see Rodney’s philosophy is “there is a pork chop in every bottle.”

rodney birthday card pork chop in every bottle of beer

So I made this silly little fun watercolor card for Rodney’s birthday.

watercolor pork chop in every bottle of beer 2

Of course this is all in jest.  Rodney usually has a nourishing meal to go with his pork chop.   

Happy Birthday Dear Rodney!  Love ya Buddy!

Cheers & Hugs,

Jodi

 

Papa Cardinal in Watercolor

/ Jodi / 48 Comments

watercolor cardinal

I had fun painting Papa Cardinal in watercolor this week in celebration of my Three Month Watercoloriversary!  (How do you like that made up word?!)

It’s been three months since I first ventured into the world of watercolor and shared my very first watercolor on April 4, 2015.

I think I am making some improvements, and I KNOW I still have a long way to go, but oh what a fun journey it is.  I’ve been trying to paint at least one thing a week.

Thanks to Laura @ CreateArtEveryday for initially nudging me out of the nest and encouraging me every day to continue, and thanks to all the other great artistic bloggers and family and friends who have really encouraged and supported me.  This is something three and half months ago I wouldn’t have even ventured at.  I would have told you I could barely draw a stick figure.

papa cardinalI used this photo of Papa Cardinal at the feeder in our backyard as my pose of choice to roughly draw the shape.  I then took LOTS of artistic license in creating an artsy version of him.    Because – hey – if I wanted him to look exactly like the photo – what’s the point?  Just take the photo – right?  (or maybe that’s my excuse…)  I put him on a branch instead of the feeder, because the feeder totally detracts from his handsomeness.  And then I spiked his hair a bit too to spiff him up.

We have several cardinal families hanging out here in our backyard here in Mars.  Maybe I’ll venture to draw Momma or Baby soon.  Baby is pretty grown up and there are other new kids now too.

Oh what a bird nerd I have become!  Thanks for visiting, and happy weekend – enjoy doing things you love with those you love – at life in between!

Cheers & Hugs,

Jodi

Painting Pairs of Pears

/ Jodi / 27 Comments

pear purple watercolor

I’ve been wanting to watercolor pears…

They seem like a fun loose subject, so I decided to give them a try one evening this past week.

I started with this purple one – because…

why not?!!?!

Then I did this more realistic colored one in golds and brown tones.

 

pear golden watercolor

After painting that pair, I was still enjoying, and wanted to be even more creative, so I decided to try one in patriotic colors of red, white, and blue.  For the “white,” I used frisket to mask, and peeled it off when dry.

 

pear red white and blue

Then I wanted to do one even more colorful and looser, so I did this rainbow pear.  A little out there – eh?!?

pear rainbow watercolor

It was fun to take the same basic shape and make so many different images with it.

Yep – painting pairs of pears is what I do…

at

life in between.

Cheers & Hugs,

Jodi

Four Seasons of Sheltering Tree

/ Jodi / 24 Comments

Sheltering Tree Summer Notecard Brusho

It’s Sunday, and that means it’s time for another Guest Designer Inspiration Card for The Paper Players Challenge.

This week’s theme challenge is “The Great Outdoors” for PP252.

pp252
When I think of outdoors, I think of trees.  And when I think of trees, I adore how different they look in all four seasons (at least where we live here in Mars).

Sheltering Tree Fall Notecard Brusho

So I heat embossed an “empty” tree from the StampinUp Sheltering Tree Stamp Set with Early Espresso (Dark Brown) embossing powder onto four pieces of watercolor paper.

Sheltering Tree Winter Notecard Brusho

I then broke out the Brusho Crystal Colours again and sprinkled and spritzed different colors onto each tree to represent, Summer, Fall, Winter, and Spring.

Sheltering Tree Spring Notecard Brusho

I backed each tree with a piece of Early Espresso card stock and then adhered to Very Vanilla for the card base.

I stamped some fun sentiments from the Paper Smooches Sentiment Sampler to make them into basic notecards.

Doesn’t it make a fun set?

Hope you are enjoying whatever season you are in!

Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi