Cards

Be a Mermaid

/ Jodi / 53 Comments

Be a Mermaid
Makes Waves!

A friend recently asked if I could paint a mermaid for her for a baby shower she is going to where the baby girl’s nursery theme is mermaids.

What fun it was to paint this in watercolor!  What a fun nursery theme too!

This painting makes cute cards, so I added prints and cards to our McKinneyX2Designs Etsy shop.  I thought the prints might be fun for little one’s rooms or nurseries and the cards for birthdays or just “under the sea” fun!

And why not be like a mermaid, and make waves!

Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi

Golden Angel

/ Jodi / 45 Comments
Golden Angel Watercolor 11x14 140lb Cold Press

Golden Angel Watercolor 11×14 140lb Cold Press

Golden Angel

I recently read an adorable quote that stuck in my head, made me smile, and has me thinking about angels.

The question is not
“Will you find your wings?”

It’s “What are you going to wear
with all of those magnificent feathers?”

Curly Girl Designs

You know – we all have wings…  Some are flashier than others… Some are easily seen…  some are tucked in and hidden.

Let’s wear them magnificently?

I haven’t had much time for painting lately, but I was really in the mood the other evening.  I really felt like I needed to.  So I decided to try something different, and this angel evolved.  I think I will be doing more.

Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi

This painting is available at McKinneyX2Designs and Berry Vine Gifts – original, prints, and greeting cards.

Watercolors used: Daniel Smith Quinacridone Gold, Raw Sienna, Lunar Black, and a splash of Cadmium Red. (Because every painting should have at least a hint of something red!  Right Joyce?)

Red Truck Christmas

/ Jodi / 41 Comments

Snowy Red Ford Truck with Christmas Wreath on Front Watercolor 11×14

Red Truck Christmas.

I can think of a few peeps who would love a new red truck for Christmas (one is the guy I’ve been living with for the past 35 years!).

But he already has one, and it was the model for my latest Christmas watercolor painting.

When I painted my previous classic red truck carrying a Christmas tree, my red truck man informed me since it was a Chevy, I needed to paint a Ford too.

So here it is.

It was fun to paint it this past Sunday afternoon en plein air.  Sunny and 77 degrees F outside in late October painting Christmas snow!   Gotta love it!

This painting makes great prints and cute cards for Ford truck lovers.

They will be available in our McKinneyX2Designs Etsy Shop, at Berry Vine Gifts, and at the Mars Fall Craft Show on November 18th.

Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi

Classic Red Truck with Christmas Tree

/ Jodi / 52 Comments
Classic Red Truck with Christmas Tree Watercolor - 11x14 - 140lb Fabriano Artistico

Classic Red Truck with Christmas Tree Watercolor – 11×14 – 140lb Fabriano Artistico

Classic Red Truck with Christmas Tree.

Is anybody else starting to think about Christmas?

When my boys were young, I loved getting ready for the Christmas holiday.  I would often start playing Christmas music in October… much to Hubby’s dismay.

We prepared letters to Santa, and I shopped and put carts full of toys on “lay-away” months ahead of winter.

My best friend and I went to craft shows and stores and bought santas and snowmen and other holiday decorations, as well as things to make decorations – often while pushing strollers and carrying diaper bags.

I would prepare for “Sammy” the elf to make his arrival at our house and plan out his adventures each night when the boys went to bed to surprise them in the morning.

I created homemade Christmas cards for the boys to color (and later they drew them) to send to friends and family.

I stocked up on sugar and flour and baking supplies when they were on sale and collected festive tins to make hundreds of cookies and dozens of sweet breads and nut rolls to share with friends and neighbors.

As the boys got older, the excitement of Christmas dimmed a bit.  We still enjoyed it, but the excitement leading up to it was not the same as when they were young and the magic existed.

But now….. I’m a grandma!  And that just makes me absolutely giddy for Christmas again!

And since my daughter-in-law, Colleen, and I have created our McKinneyX2Designs Etsy shop and have started also selling our art at a local gift shop, Berry Vine Gifts, it is so fun to get excited about preparing for Christmas again.  And it seems there are others like me out there, because holiday cards and paintings have already sold!

So I’m having fun creating Christmas and holiday art… like this classic red truck with a Christmas tree.  Doesn’t it just make you so nostalgic about Christmas?

So even though we are still experiencing 80 degree Autumn days, I’m dreaming of a white Christmas.  It’s so fun to dream!

Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi

Watercolor Boats in Marina at Sunset

/ Jodi / 57 Comments
Boats in Marina at Sunset Watercolor 11x14 Fabriano Artistico 140lb Cold Press

Watercolor Boats in Marina at Sunset.

The other evening, I felt like painting something different.  I found a very talented watercolor artist on Youtube, Tim Wilmont, from the UK, who generously shares his talent via Youtube demos,online classes, and workshops (if you are fortunate enough to live near him or be able to travel to Venice or Tuscany to attend one of his week-long workshops).

Well – since Venice or Tuscany are not in my near future, I settled for watching Tim's live demo of boats and tried my hand at it.

The painting above was my second go at it.  The first is torn in half, and the back will be used for warm ups or color testing.  This second one, though nothing near the talent of Tim, feels pretty good for me.

I learned a lot watching Tim (twice)!  I long for the day when I will have the natural gift to know where to leave white and light so instinctively and how best to balance blending colors.  And drawing is the first challenge for me, but I did it.

Thanks, Tim.  I look forward to watching more of your tutorials, and maybe someday – just maybe – I'll see you in Venice!  (A girl can dream can't she??!!)

My painting is for sale in our McKinneyX2Designs ETSY shop, and if it doesn't sell before September 9th, I'll be taking it to our FIRST EVER McKinneyX2Designs booth display and showing at the Lake Latonka Fall Festival!

Colleen, my daughter-in-law, (who makes extraordinary rustic signs and crafts from reclaimed pallet wood – like these autumn signs and adorable pumpkins!)

and I are excited to participate in this Festival, which is in it's 38th year.  If you live anywhere nearby, we hope you will come visit!

What I did with this painting (and what I do with most all) is make it available for sale as an original and in 8×10 and 5×7 prints, which are printed on soft, 100% cotton watercolor rag paper that look almost like an original.

Boats in Marina at Sunset Watercolor 11x14 Original Matted and Framed

I also make my watercolor prints into cards on Solar White 80lb Super Smooth Card Stock and box them in sets with envelopes and tiny gold bows.

Check us out on Facebook or Etsy or visit us in person at the Festival next month!  We'll be the ones who are laughing loud and having fun!

Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi

Rustic Barn Weddings

/ Jodi / 35 Comments
Gable farm Matted

Gable Farm in Watercolor – 10×14

It’s June, and wedding season is in full swing!

Rustic barn weddings have become very popular in our area.  As a matter of fact, our son and daughter-in-law had a barn wedding three years ago next month.   I had fun creating this watercolor version of Gable Farm, which was their wedding site and a place they have now turned into a venue for others to hold their weddings and receptions.

Colleen has been busy stocking our McKinneyx2Designs Etsy Shop with fun rustic wedding signs made from reclaimed pallet wood.  They are super reasonably priced from $10-14.

Wouldn’t these be great little accents for a rustic barn wedding?

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If you or someone you know is looking for rustic wedding signs, hope you will check out our ETSY shop.

We have lots of other great rustic home and nursery decor, as well as some of my watercolor art, prints and greeting cards.

Happy Wedding Season and Happy Weekend!

Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi

What’s NEW at McKinneyX2Designs?

/ Jodi / 40 Comments

I’m excited to share some of the new things Colleen and I have been creating for our new Etsy shop!  We are having so much fun with this, and we are pleased to have had over 25 sales already in our first month!Mx2 logTo show our appreciation to our friends here at LifeinBetween, we want to offer a little gift to you.  If you refer someone to our shop who makes a purchase, we would like to thank them AND YOU with a free card of their and your choice. Each of you can choose one of any of the cards offered in our ETSY shop for FREE!  (Simply have your friend let us know when they order that they came here from LifeinBetween and mention your name.)

Have fun perusing the photo gallery of our newest Spring things.

You can visit our shop here:  McKinneyx2Designs on ETSY and follow us on Facebook and Instagram too if you like.

Happy Spring Thinking!

Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi

A Bevy of Birthday Best Wishes

/ Jodi / 52 Comments

abstract watercolor happy birthday card

I have a number of special February birthdays, so I had fun making a bevy of birthday cards to send out to family and friends.  This first one above is my fave (and it is already on its way to a special cousin whose birthday is Monday!).  I love the combination of purple, turquoise and yellow, and I used texturizing paste on the watercolor paper before painting to add some fun drama and dimension.

PP280 2

The Paper Players Challenge (PP280) this week is a Tic-Tac-Toe Challenge, so I chose, the diagonal of Purple, Pink, and Yellow which I did in Brusho Watercolor after embossing the coneflower silhouettes on these two cards – one in black and one in white.

pp280

PP280

Some of you may recognize this card below.  I had made this random abstract watercolor a while back, so I topped it off with this fun  Happy Birthday Die Cut I cut out in several colors.

Birthday card red white blue black abstract watercolor

For this last one, I splashed some fun green-gold olive and burnt umber watercolor paint and then spritzed it all with some gold glimmer mist.

birthday card gold green brown watercolor abstract

Wishing all February birthday friends and family the best of birthdays!

Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi

 

Fun with Watercolor Coneflowers

/ Jodi / 21 Comments

coneflower watercolor 1

One late evening this week,

coneflower watercolor 2

feeling loose and creative,

coneflower watercolor 3

I decided to paint some coneflowers.

coneflower watercolor 4

Some were pink,

coneflower watercolor 5

and others were just creative colors.

That is the joy of watercolor.  It is not a photograph.  It is an expression of feelings.

Hope these bring some expression of joy to you as you view.

Wishing all a joyful holiday weekend.

Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi

Watercolor & Painted Petals Note Card

/ Jodi / 44 Comments

mini watercolor painted petals

I really enjoy trying new techniques in creating handmade cards, so when I saw a tutorial done by Jill Foster for Penny Black featuring water coloring combined with stamping to create these mini watercolor creations with a clean and simple white on white background, I couldn’t  wait to make one.

mini watercolor painted petals 1

The technique includes masking off watercolor paper to create the “frame” and then watercoloring the background.  I used some golds and greens from my Sakura Koi Water Color Pocket Field Sketch Box (actually the only watercolors I own right now).  After drying, I stamped the flowers on using StampinUp’s Painted Petals stamp set by coloring them with my Stampin’ Write Markers in Rose Red, Blackberry Bliss and Mossy Meadow and then gently spritzing the stamp with water to loosen the look before stamping.

mini watercolor painted petals 2

I then used those same marker colors and added a little water to them in my watercolor tray to randomly tap splatters all over from a paint brush.  The last step involved using a Penny Black Footnotes stamp with Tim Holtz Distress Ink in “tea dye,” which I smudged for the vintage imperfect look before stamping on the top edge and corner.

mini watercolor painted petals 3

Once dry, I simply removed the masking tape (blue painter’s low-tack tape is easier to remove and less likely to lift the paper too), put some dimensional adhesive tape on the back and adhered to a white card base.

mini watercolor painted petals 4

I loved this technique and plan to try it with other colors and stamps, and I can’t wait to share this card with somebody special.

Wishing you a wonderful day and week.  Spend some time doing things you enjoy with people you love.

Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi

PS  I am submitting this card for a new challenge I just learned about at canyoucaseit.com where this week’s challenge is “Designer’s Choice.”

Designers-Choice-001

I won!  Thanks to the CYCI Designer Team for the great honor!

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