Tag Archives: roses

Mar20

Watercolor Flowers

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Watercolor Flowers

Hello! My mom, sister, and I learned the joys of watercolor painting after taking a class together last July. It was so much fun and it inspired my mom and I to take it up as a hobby. I even treated all of us to an at home class last month as an early birthday gift for my mom! During our at home class, our wonderful teacher conducted a painting session on roses and I am so proud of my mom for her dedication to practicing watercolor in her downtime. This past week, I was finally able to paint with her during a visit and decided to see what I could remember of painting roses. I also tried my hand at pansies! Check it out:

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I like to fancy myself as a creative person in terms of writing, fashion, and figure skating. However, I have never considered myself an artistic person until trying watercolor painting; I can barely draw a stick figure! Quitting my day job for a career in painting is not in my future, but I feel proud of myself whenever I paint anything and it doesn’t turn out awful. At the end of the day, I am trying something new and enjoying myself and that’s the most important thing.

A month had gone by since learning how to paint roses and while I definitely need a refresher, I felt pretty good about the two I made on the first page. The red one is my favorite! In fact, I was having so much fun painting with my mom that I wanted to try something completely new: Pansies. Pansies are one of my favorite flowers and they always remind me of my grandma, who would tend to beautiful window boxes filled with them. The variety of colors and delicate petals speak to me and I know that spring has officially sprung when I start to see them at stores!

To start, I tried to paint a pansy from memory and that didn’t go too hot. A reference picture was a must and I found some great drawings of pansies that were most helpful for my next attempts. Although none of the paintings I tried on the second page look perfectly pansy, I could kind of see it. I also felt like I got a decent grasp on what must be done to improve for next time and that’s good enough for me! I am especially pleased with the one in the top right as well as the flower directly below it. While I love taking watercolor classes, it was an extra feather in my cap to try something brand new all by myself!

I can’t wait to paint again with my mom and am looking forward to giving pansies another go. Practice makes perfect, amiright?!

What is your favorite medium of art to work with? In what ways are you creative or artistic? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

 

 

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Feb16

At Home Watercolor Painting Class

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At Home Watercolor Painting Class

Hey!! Way back in July of last year, I took a watercolor painting class with my mom and sister and it was so much fun. It was a blast to spend time together learning something new and we had a great teacher – the amazing Ana of Falcon Grove Studio. After a long and highly stressful handful of months, I decided that we could all use a treat. So, I had Ana come to the family home to teach a watercolor masterclass to my mom, Kristen, Val Gal, and me. We passed a wonderful afternoon getting back in touch with our creative sides as Ana guided us through some Valentine’s Day projects. Take a look at mine:

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For our class, we worked on painting roses which used a lot of techniques that were new to us. It has been a long while since I painted watercolor because the shit had hit the fan and I was definitely rusty, as you can see. BUT it was still really fun and it was cool to have the class from the kitchen table! Ana is such a knowledgeable, patient, and kind teacher and it was special to have her do a class just for us. Our roses might not have turned out the best, but everything was coming up roses all afternoon as we painted.

After finally painting watercolor again, my mom and I remembered why we enjoyed it so much in the first place. We are both looking forward to retrying our hand at the roses this week when I bring my supplies over during an afternoon off. I think it’s safe to say that we have a lot of room for improvement and it’s nice to feel motivated to give watercolor another go now that things have settled down a bit. Ana gave us the know how for watercolor roses and my goal is to make a painting of a bouquet after more practice. 😀

I am so happy that all of my best girls were able to participate in the watercolor class and it was the perfect Galentine’s Day/prebirthday celebration for my mom get together. Hopefully I will have a lot more watercolor paintings to share with all of you soon!

Have you ever taken an art class before? What makes a good teacher? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Feb23

Valentine’s Day Bouquet Pt. 2

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Valentine’s Day Bouquet Pt. 2

Hello, everyone! I had a simply magical Valentine’s Day with my boyfriend, Johnny, and I hope that everyone had as wonderful of a day as I did… Whether it be with your spouse or a romcom and a bottle of wine! Johnny’s band, The Outside Voices, was playing a show in Marietta, Ohio on the fifteenth. So, Johnny and I decided to make a long weekend of it and drove there on Valentine’s Afternoon.

We stayed at a beautiful hotel called the Lafayette and we had a delicious dinner. Then, we went back to our room and drank champagne and watched Weird Al music videos for two hours straight. Like I said, it was simply magical.

The following day, we explored Parkersburg, West Virginia and Marietta before The Outside Voices played. Johnny and I spent the day checking out different thrift stores and boutiques and it was a complete blast. Definitely stay tuned for all of the amazing finds I scored from a trendy boutique that is in the process of going online so all of us can shop on there together! 😀

Johnny and I agreed to not go overboard with Valentine’s Day gifts and that was fine by me. Our entire weekend was the greatest gift of all and it was one of the best days of my life. But, being the sweet angel that Johnny is, he surprised me with roses and champagne and that was the cherry on top. Check it out:

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When Johnny and I celebrated our big one week (haha), he gave me one single rose and I gave him a pack of hard seltzer water. I have kept that rose in my favorite vase and put the not dead ones in there too for good measure. When will I take them out, save the petals, and clean the vase? The world may never know.

In case you haven’t noticed, I like getting flowers. I guess that stems from (Ba dum chhhhh!) the fact that I have so many vivid recollections since childhood of my dad gifting flowers to my mom. During the summer time when the flowers in our garden were in bloom, there would be a fresh bouquet on the kitchen table every weekend. And, once the flowers wilted come fall, at least once a month my dad would purchase flowers as a “splurge” from the local grocery stores.

We interrupt your normal blog viewing with a conversation that happened between Sarah and her dad two weeks ago:

Me: Dad, I like those flowers. Where did you get them?

Dad: At Aldi’s… I splurged!

We now return to our normally scheduled programming.

Anyways, I know that people always associate getting flowers with love. But, my association literally comes from seeing true love between my parents. And, that’s why a simple bouquet and a bottle of booze (!!!) was the perfect gift for me. ❤

How did you celebrate Valentine’s Day? What do you associate with love? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Feb19

Sweet Surprises: Valentine’s Day Bouquet Edition

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Sweet Surprises: Valentine’s Day Bouquet Edition

Hi! One of my clients, a freshly turned sixty year old with Down Syndrome has a love for all holidays. He revels in decorating for and celebrating each calendar holiday and Valentine’s Day was no exception. From mid January on, it was all about paper hearts, stickers, and Valentine’s Day themed episodes of his favorite old TV shows.

While shopping at Walmart for the finishing touches on the valentines he was going to mail out, he surprised me with a bouquet of a dozen colorful roses. It was quite possibly the sweetest thing in the world and I just had to share how beautiful they are with all of  you:

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While browsing through the Valentine’s Day decor at Walmart, my client “ooh-ed” and “ahh-ed” at everything he found appealing. So, I told him to pick out a small treat for me to purchase for him as a little V-Day gift. He selected his items – some more heart decor and a pair of heart shaped glasses and we continued to make our rounds in the store.

Once we came across Walmart’s aisle way of bouquets, without missing a beat, my friend plucked a colorful arrangement and placed it in his cart. “I get these for you” he said and my heart literally melted. I have never met someone with such a joy for each individual holiday and sharing that enthusiasm with all of his loved ones. It’s simply beautiful and all I need do is think about him to get a smile on my face.

As soon as I got home, I grabbed my spooky vases (Also from Walmart!) and began arranging my flowers. I have them proudly displayed on my coffee table and plan on keeping them there even after they have dried out as a sweet reminder of my friend and his joie de vivre. ❤

What is your favorite kind of flower? What were you treated to on Valentine’s Day? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Sep22

Scary Good Vases

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Scary Good Vases

Helloooo everyone! I have tons of knick knacks in my apartment that I love to have on display. From my crystal collection and gifts from friends to items I treasure from my beloved grandparents and, of course, Wilson the volleyball from Cast Away – it makes me happy to see it all every day in my apartment. I have a little bit of everything but, shockingly, no vases which I needed to add to the arsenal to hold the gorgeous rose that my boyfriend got for me.

Luckily, Walmart had their Halloween collection already in store the last time I was there with a client and I was able to snag these beauties. Check it out:

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As a lover of all things creepy, these new vases were right up my alley and for five bucks a pop, I couldn’t pass them up. The shocking black butterfly, skull, and spider against the creamy white bottles are the ultimate spooky chic decor. And, pair it with a blood red rose? Perfection.

These vases were a great find and, although I won’t say I needed them, I did need something to put my flowers in. So, technically yes, I did need them. Having these vases that encase such a sweet gesture makes me smile whenever I look at them. It’s the little things that make me the happiest in a relationship and this definitely scored some extra brownie points for my MAN. And, double brownie points for him unknowingly giving his shopaholic girlfriend a reason to buy more stuff, lolol. 😀

How do you celebrate Halloween? What are your favorite knick knacks in your home? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah