Making watercolor gift tags

I have a fun watercolor project to share with you today, watercolor gift tags! Handmade gift tags make the perfect addition to any gift.

Hope you are having a wonderful day! 💚

It all starts with a simple design and very small painting. Below I have a few examples.

I divide up the watercolor paper using a pencil and ruler. Then paint some simple designs making sure to leave room at the top and bottom for some lettering.

After the mini paintings dried, I added a little ink detail to each of them using a gold and white pen. I thought the tags with leaves would look better if the leaves were outlined so I used a pen with a very small tip and gave that a try.

Adding lettering is always difficult for me. I decided to use some tape as a guide to help me keep the lettering straight. With a pencil I lightly added the message and then used my gold pen to trace over it. Later I gently erased any pencil marks left behind.

I used a hole punch and added some rustic string to finish them off. A pretty ribbon would look nice too. On a couple of them I got a little fancy and changed the shape of the tag at the top with a little snip of the scissors. I really like how they turned out.

There’s so much you can do with these little tags. I hope you have fun and get creative. I can’t want to use my tags on gifts for loved ones.

I hope you are inspired to create art and have fun. If you make some gift tags, please share with me on Instagram, @pattyanneart. I would love to see your designs.

Until next time, share a smile and shine on!

🌸 Patty Anne 🌸

Join me on Instagram at pattyanneart

Visit my Society6 shop

Fall inspired watercolor painting

I have a quick post today with a fall inspired watercolor.

Hope your day is wonderful. 🧡

9 x 12 inch – Fall time

I love this time of year and painting leaves just makes me happy.

I hope you are inspired to create art and do more of what you love.

Until next time, share a smile and shine on.

🌸 Patty Anne 🌸

Join me on Instagram at pattyanneart

Visit my shop on Society6

Making Ornaments for Christmas

I’ve been having fun making ornaments and thought you might like to see my process.

Hope you have a wonderful day! 💚

I painted some holiday greenery for this project but you could use any painting for this. I may paint a few little birds next time…and I’m getting excited just thinking about it.

Last year I purchased a bunch of wood slice ornaments for some craft projects. I decided for this project to glue a small part of my painting to the wood. The watercolor paper was rather thick so I ended up using both double sided tape and Elmer’s glue to attach it.

Using my circle template I found a nice area of the painting to cut out for each ornament.

After attaching the painting to the wood ornament, I weighed it down with a couple heavy books for a few hours.

I just love these rustic ornaments, yay! 😊

The pretty green bow adds a sweet touch. I think they will make a nice gift.

I hope you are inspired to create art and do more of what you love. Until next time, share a smile and shine on.

🌸 Patty Anne 🌸

Join me on Instagram at pattyanneart

Visit my shop at Society6

Silent Sunday – warm glow

Wishing you a wonderful day. 🧡

🌸 Patty Anne 🌸

Join me on Instagram @pattyanneart

Sweet Little birds

Today I’m going to show you how my little bird painting came together.

It started with some cute templates that I made. When I’m painting birds I like to block out the bird shapes first.

I like being able to physically move the templates around and place the birds in different positions to find the best placement before I make any pencil marks on the page.

For this painting I decided to overlap two birds on the left facing the bird on the right. These little guys are sharing a special moment… 😉

The watercolor technique used here was wet on wet. Which is simply wetting the paper first with clean water and then dropping in wet paint. The magic happens when the paint mixes and mingles on the paper.

I worked my way across the paper starting with the bird on the left working on one bird shape at a time using the wet on wet technique. Each bird will be similar but not exactly the same and hopefully this would keep me from dragging my wrist through wet paint.

The next step was adding a little ink detail with a small waterproof pen. At this point I noticed that I needed a few more darks on the wings and so I added a little more paint there to finish the birds.

The last step was adding a background and a few details to the branches. Since the birds are the focal point, I tried to keep the branches rather soft without too much detail.

I hope you are inspired to create art and do more of what you love. Keep playing and having fun. Until next time, share a smile and sprinkle kindness everywhere.

🌸 Patty Anne 🌸

Join me on Instagram @pattyanneart

Watercolor warmup

I decided to play around and warm up a little with my dagger brush. I had an underwater painting in mind and decided to practice some wavy strokes.

The dagger brush has a nice point and wide base. It takes some getting used to but it’s a fun brush and quite versatile.

My warmup process was:
– Load the brush with paint
– Start at the bottom of the page with just the tip on the paper
– Lightly drag the brush upward making a thin line and then
press down in a rather wavy motion before lifting up and ending the stroke.

Just playing with two colors, Prussian Blue and Burnt Sienna light.
I started out with a very dilute mix of each color…

and worked my way up to darker colors.

Later I moved on to the underwater painting I had in mind. It didn’t turn out as I hoped. I may try again later but for now this little practice piece was a keeper. 😊

I’ve been trying out some new brushes lately. I recently purchased a set of 3 Hake brushes. I’ve only used the 2 inch size which is nice but it has been shedding a bit which I am not liking.

Have you tried out any new brushes lately? What is your favorite go to brush?

I hope you are inspired to create art and do more of what you love.

Until next time, share a smile and shine on!

🌸 Patty Anne 🌸

Join me on Instagram @pattyanneart

Making Shower Decorations

I have something a little different today… this week I was busy making a few shower decorations. These cute little paper dresses just filled my heart with joy. So today I thought I would mix things up with a little crafty post.

Happy Sunday, friends! 💚

I wanted to make a wedding dress banner after seeing a few of them on Pinterest.

I played around and sketched a simple dress outline. Then I made a template of the shape using some heavy paper.

 

For the final paper dresses I used a bright white scrapbook paper that had a little weight and texture.

 

Ah, pretty iridescent fabric and white tulle for the skirt…

I cut a small square of each material and then hand stitched the top edges together so that it would gather at the waist area of the skirt.

 

I also glued down some pretty ribbon at the bottom of the skirt which worked well.

 

To secure the skirt in place, I glued it down and then hand sewed it to the paper dress. After that just a small piece of shiny trim was glued down to finish it off and add a little bling. 😄

Now that they are finished, I am not sure if I will make a banner or use them to decorate a few tables. The shower is still months away so I have time to decide. I need to start working on the shower invitation next. More to come on that. 

Hope you enjoyed seeing my pretty dresses and the reason for my happy dance this week.

Until next time, share a smile and be well.

🌸 Patty Anne  🌸

Patty Anne Art

I’m on Instagram at pattyanneart

 

Quiet Sunday – Lavender watercolor

Thinking of warmer days and sharing a lavender painting today.

Happy Sunday, friends! 🌿💜

11 x 15 inch  – Lavender watercolor

Hope you find time to create and have fun.

Until next time, share a smile and shine on!

🌸  Patty Anne  🌸

Join me on Instagram at pattyanneart

 

Be gentle with yourself

Be gentle with yourself, you’re doing the best you can.

I love this quote and need to do just that.

Happy Thursday, friends! 💗

I was looking back at my earlier work and found this little teapot doodle.

I’m not sure why I didn’t share it earlier, it’s pretty cute. 😁

 

A simple little daisy doodle using a sepia micron pen. I love that warm sepia color.

Just a short post today, it’s been a busy week. I will be taking a little blogging break. I seem to need to catch my breath every few months.

I hope you are inspired to create art and do more of what you love.

Until next time, share a smile and shine on!

🌸  Patty Anne  🌸

Join me on Instagram at pattyanneart

 

Christmas Card Collage

I decided to switch things up and try something new. I recently enrolled in a Skillshare class on Collage Art, Collage & Go.  For the class project,  I thought it would be fun to use some Christmas cards and scrapbook paper that I had on hand.

Happy Sunday, friends! 💚

I cut out some circle shapes and then cut the circles in half.

After arranging the half circles in rows,  I simply glued them down using a glue stick.

 

Wishing you Peace

After adding a few more small pieces,  it was time for a little detail. I cut out the word Peace for the top and added a few ink doodles.

I had a lot of fun putting this collage together and just love all of the little birds. When I finished I noticed the words on the page, Wishing you Peace.  I just love that!

I hope you are inspired to create art and do more of what you love.

Until next time, share a smile and stay excellent!

🌸  Patty Anne  🌸

I’m on Instagram at pattyanneart