Photos of the Week

Happy July Everyone!  I hope you have some fun plans now that summer is in full swing!

We've been keeping busy with family and the great outdoors and...... the cherries from my tree :)  The world is a beautiful place this time of year and I find myself taking pictures constantly.  I got some good ones of this little bird in my back yard.  I think it must be injured because it just sat on my deck railing for about an hour without moving, even when I got really close to it.  Never seen that before.

Craftsy Art Class Giveaway

Have you heard of Craftsy yet?

I've been given the opportunity to giveaway a Free Online Art Class on their website!  Hooray! These normally go for around $60, so this is a good deal.

I've also gotten access to a class for free... so I'm taking the Portraits in Watercolor class.   I just started it and it's awesome :)

Want a chance to win a Craftsy Art Class?  Just follow this link here:http://www.craftsy.com/ext/GrowCreative_CraftsyGiveaway  to sign up!

The giveaway starts today (June 28th) and ends next Friday (July 5th).  I'll announce and email the winner on July 5th.

Good luck my friends!

Blue Goose Feathers

Another feather painting....

I really had fun with this one.... it was so enjoyable to paint!  It's a delicate painting and I'm starting to realize that delicate is part of my style.  It's been hard for me to recognize my own painting style, but I think I'm starting to see it now :)

You can also see this painting in my shop  HERE.

Watermelon Hearts

One thing I look forward to every summer is the watermelon!  There are so many fun and tasty ways to enjoy it..... here's one that involves cookie cutters!

Materials:

Large Slice of Watermelon

Heart Shaped Cookie Cutter

Cutting Board

Step 1:  Place a large slice of watermelon on a cutting board and gently press a cookie cutter into the watermelon.

Step 2:  Take the cookie cutter out of the watermelon slice and remove the watermelon inside the cookie cutter.  Place the heart shaped watermelon on a plate and enjoy!

Photos of the Week

Oh summer... I live for this time of year!  These pics are from a walk we took over the weekend on the river trail.   Lots of bugs and lots of weeds, but it was still nice. The spiky weeds have these pretty purple flowers all over them that I couldn't stop taking shots of.

I'm still not sleeping that well, but at least I now have a nice massage chair to help my back muscles relax.  It has prevented a couple of migraines already!

Little Blue Bike

It's almost technically summer!  It's the perfect time to go for a bike ride......or to decorate your house with some bicycle art if you don't actually own a bike.  I'm in the boat of owning no such bikes, but hopefully one day.....

This painting makes me wish I had a pretty bike to ride somewhere cool... like the beach.  And then that makes me wish I lived on the beach..... so ya, I'll just keep on dreamin!

 You can also see this painting for sale here: https://www.etsy.com/listing/152563779/vintage-bike-with-basket-of-flowers-blue?ref=shop_home_active

Seven Petal Daisy Tutorial

Once you get into making crochet flowers, it's kind of hard to stop.  They're so cute and quick to make! Right now I'm loving these daisies.  They're a little more three dimensional than your typical crochet flowers.  

Here's a tutorial for you so you can get started making your own crochet daisies:

Seven Petal Daisy

Materials:

Any weight yarn

Any size crochet hook

Yarn needle

Ch 2, sl st in 2nd chain from hook to form a ring.

Round 1:  Ch 1, 6 sc in ring, sl st into ch1 to join (7sc).

Round 2:  Ch 4, 1 sc into 2nd chain from hook, 1 dc in next ch, 1 hdc into last ch, sl st into next sc of round 1.

Repeat 6 more times to make 7 petals total.

Fasten off and weave in ends.

Want to print this pattern?  You can print a PDF of this pattern HERE.

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