proud as a... well, let's just say pretty proud, lol

because this week at shopping our stash we'd like you to "go paperless" --by which we mean create a project that uses absolutely no pre-made patterned paper-- and for once i was able to face this task with equanimity thanks to my current obsession with stencils, watercolors and glitter embossing paste. woohoo! :)

peacock painted on strathmore water color paper with artists loft paints; quatrefoil stencil by folk art inked with fossilized amber distress stain + saffron archival ink + wild honey distress ink; flourish stencil by tim holtz filled with champagne glitter embossing paste by viva decor; flowers and blue gems: recollections; white glossy cardstock: paper accents; adhesives: elmers brand gluetape, 3m foam tape, gluedots 

i should probably mention that my friend kim ♥LOVES♥ peacocks and has a november birthday. so this isn't the first peacock-themed project you've seen on my blog during autumn, and i have no doubt there'll be more. last year i drew and watercolored a stylized peacock feather that came out pretty well. i also made a peacock mandala that i quite liked. but this year i wanted to try doing the entire article, so to speak. i wasn't sure i could pull it off, so i started early and had a "plan b" in my head. it took me two goes. i got the body and head the first time... but the wing and tail feathers went awry. so i cut out the top half, and tried again. probably my best tip for beginners learning to draw is look at a lot of images. i looked at real peacocks, peacock illustrations, watercolor peacocks, stylized peacocks, standing up peacocks, full-face peacocks, just-the-tail peacocks... ok, well, you get the idea, right? then i tried to take my favorite elements from each of the images i liked but turn it into something that was just mine. i'm pretty happy with the result.

there's lots more inspiration... but absolutely nooooooo patterned paper... at SOS this week. drop in and enjoy it, won't you?