MONDAY PHOTO OF THE WEEK

Hi all! Hope you all had a great weekend.

I had a really nice weekend. I got to see my friend who I haven't seen in ages who is about to have a baby, and Alex and I bought bicycles.

My friend lives at the Gold Coast which is about an hours drive from where we live. The weather was perfect and we had a beautiful lunch at a nice restaurant with a view of the water which was great fun. I made a raggedy doll for the baby and painted a mixed media canvas as well for the babies room. Melissa seemed to really like them both which I was happy and relieved about. It was great catching up with them as I haven't seem them in ages. I can't believe next time I see her she will have a little baby girl :) I am so happy for her!

This is me and my friend Melissa

Alex and I also bought bicycles on Saturday which we have been wanting for a while. I haven't ridden a bike since I was about 13 so it took a few minute to get the hang of it again, but after that I was off ridding the streets like a pro (not quite, lol). I forgot how much fun it is and now I'm addicted. We plan on going on a few bike trails around the area, but at the moment I am still a bit weary as to how my back will cope. I made sure I got the best bike for my injury that will put the least amount of stress on it as possible. So far the only pain is in my butt cheeks as i wear in my bike's seat, lol.

Me and my new bike

Alex and his new bike

ILLUSTRATION FRIDAY - CRAVING

This is my first entry into the Illustration Friday group. The subject for this week was "craving".


She craves to be on a tropical island as she does the housework

It is a mixed media piece done on a 5"x7" flat canvas. I used Acrylic paint, card stock, pages from an old book and gel medium.

Thanks for taking a peek :)

!!!GIVEAWAY!!!

Yay! My very first giveaway!

I am so excited to be giving away four of my original hand painted mixed media magnets. Each magnet is a separate giveaway so you have 4 chances to win something.

All you have to do is leave a comment in this post to be in the draw.

They were each created using a flat 4x4 canvas, acrylic paint, card stock, gel medium and a magnet. They have been fully varnished for protection and are signed on the back.

I will be drawing the 4 winners at the end of the month - 30th June 2009

I am happy to post anywhere in the world so feel free to spread the word. The more the merrier!

These are the four magnets

MIXED MEDIA WIP CONTINUED

Here are some more photos of my work in progress from my previous post. It is not quite finished yet as I have been only able to do small amounts of work on it each day because Alex was home for a four day long weekend, and we have been busy with other stuff. Hopefully I will get a chance to finish it this week.

MONDAY PHOTO OF THE WEEK

Hi everyone!

Boy, the weeks fly by so fast at the moment. Before I know it it's Monday again and I don't have any photos to share :(

I did however manage to russle up a couple that I thought were cute. I took them a little while ago but wanted to show where I started with my dolls.

This is one of my first dolls I made. I got inspiration from De over at Bowles-n-annies. Her dolls are so sweet!

Another firsty. I think she is really cute! The face is inspired by De again

And here are my dolls today. At the moment they hang out in my sewing room.

TWO TOYS IN ONE WEEK

Yay! I finally got to buy two things that I have been wanting for ages now.

The first is a treadmill that Alex and I bought at the start of the week. I have needed one for ages to help with my whiplash injury. It has been really hard to stay fit since the car accident as my back and neck causes to much pain when I do normal exercise or play sport. Walking is just about the only thing that I can do, but even walking the streets causes to much pain to my lower back due to the uneven roads and paths. I have been wanting one for ages but needed to wait until we had some money. Finally that day has come!!!

The second is my new Canon Pixma IP4600 printer that I bought yesterday. I have been wanting one to do my own prints of my art at home to sell. I was finding that the photo shops that were doing the prints before weren't getting the colours correct and, honestly the staff didn't seem to know much about anything. The prints would be so dull and nothing like the colours I had used. I just wasn't comfortable selling work that I myself was not happy with. Now I can do it all from home and guarantee good quality prints.

CHANGES AND MIXED MEDIA WIP

I am so obsessed with mixed media art at the moment. I live and breathe it. Which is a bit scary sometimes when I can't get to sleep because it's all I am thinking about. I know it is definitely something that I want to pursue and hopefully make a small business out of someday. You will probably notice a few changes around my blog and my Etsy store as I find my feet and try new things. My blog name is no longer Raggedy Ruckus but, Dolls-n-Art by Michelle. You will probably notice a few changes with my artwork as well as I find my niche in this crazy, fast moving art world. I am so excited about these changes and can't wait to begin my new journey.

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I have been working on a new mixed media piece and thought I would show my work in progress. I am quite happy with how it is taking shape so far. I am even a little nervous to continue just in case I wreck what I have already done. I will keep going though cause it obviously needs to be finished.

Stage 1 - I glued down different designed card stock with gel medium and then seal with the same gel medium

Stage 2 and 3 - I painted the background using washes of acrylic paint and then started painting my design onto the piece

It is an 8"x10" flat canvas and I am using card stock, acrylic paint, and a graphite pencil.

PHOTO OF THE WEEK

Hi everyone! Hope you had a nice relaxing weekend :)

I couldn't think of anything to post for this weeks photo. I have had a lot of other stuff on my mind lately. In the end I decided to take some pics of the art around my house to show you. You can probably see from the pics that my favourite colour combo is Aqua, dark brown and orange, he! he!

These are some Chinese symbols I painted for myself years ago. The top one reads harmony, the second love and the third prosperity

Mum painted the matching clock for me and the painting of the flowers

Mum also painted me this butterfly painting for my birthday a couple of years ago

Alex's Dad gave us these photos he took. He is a very talented photographer

Another one from Mum that sits in my art room to keep me motivated. The tags on the wall are from my lovely little brother Aaron (he is becoming quite the artist himself), and the rag doll is one of my very firsts

I'm sure you can tell that I thoroughly enjoy having such a talented artist for a Mum :)