Belles Roses Romantiques

It's Been A While

2016-03-06T09:42:00.000-05:00

So there has been a ton going on since I last blogged, too much to talk about in one post. Let's just say life got in the way for a while. I'm back in the art room, learning to to paint and create jewelry, yay; and now I am working with a new music instructor Doug Redmond of TOL Studios in Greenwood, Indiana and he is currently teaching me piano and music writing. He is a phenomenal instructor so if you are in the area and looking for someone, please check him out.

In the meantime, I've been rather creative and written a few poems, which I plan to share with you. It has been awhile since I've written anything so I'm a bit rusty; however, I hope that you enjoy them. Whenever I am inspired I tend to write sad stuff. I'm not sure why, it's just what moves me. It's the same for the lyrics i write.

I Want To Write About You

I want to write about how you make me feel
How every time I see your face I know you're real
I can't describe the feelings you raise in me
I can't describe the wave of happiness you seem to bring
I want to write about it, I want to write about you

I want to write about the time we shared
How every time you said my name it sent shivers through me
I can't put into words the way you made me feel
I can't describe the reason I feel such joy when I talked to you
I want to write about it, I want to write about you

I want to write about us
How everything I felt was true and real
But I can no longer describe anything without you
I can't describe all the hopes and dreams I once had
How everything that was so perfect left in the flick of an eye

I want to write
But I can't explain how our plans changed
How badly I messed things up
I can't describe this sudden feeling I have to be by your side
How even though you’ve left me, I have to hide all that I feel inside

I want to write, but I can’t bring myself to describe what it meant
I want to write about you but I can't
I can't describe my feelings of loss and what it all cost
Or of my silent screams from the loss of the lovely dreams with just you and me
But I want to-

Destruction of a Soul

When I first met you, you brought me such euphoria

When I first met you, you brought me such pleasure and joy

The thought of parting from you brought me pain

The thought of you no longer in my life makes me insane

Now you bring me nothing but hopelessness

Now you bring me nothing but self hatred

Now you bring me nothing but loathing and grief

Now you bring me nothing but loneliness with no relief

Do you know a life filled with pain and guilt?

A life surrounded by darkness and shame?

A life with nothing but shattered dreams?

A life with nothing to gain, and filled with silent screams?

Do you know of a place so cold and unseen, I do

Do you know of a place where nothing survives?

Do you know of a place filled with sorrow, no end in sight?

A place so dark there is no longer any light

Do you know of a life that should have never been,
And the feeling that today this life has to end.
One more day of sadness is much too hard to bear,
I am tired of living a life of heartache and despair.

Do you know a person with so much pain inside,
Or the feeling of loneliness when no one hears your cries,
Maybe when the tears are gone and I can clearly see,
The only question left will be...

DO YOU KNOW ME

Pushed Away

From the first time we spoke you made me feel better

You always make me feel as though I matter

When I was with you it was so easy to let myself go

When we’re together you always made me feel good, never low

So you can imagine how much it hurt when you tried to push me away

I felt so little and small begging you to let me be a part of your life and stay

You were the only one I ever opened up to and shared my inner feelings

And now that you have backed off and asked for space it has sent me reeling

The pain and hurt I am going through makes me wish I wasn’t sober

I don’t think I have the strength to get through this being over

A Lil Scrap of Heaven Design Team Call Entry

2013-09-26T16:24:00.000-04:00

As I have been getting back into the swing of creative things, I have entered a Design Team Call for the ning site A Lil Scrap of Heaven. I love this group! I hope you will check them out because it is a great place to meet people, get creative, partake in wonderful swaps and so much more. I'll also be posting a video to my YouTube channel within the next couple days.

I will also be video taping some tutorials, so I hope you will check those out. I'm just getting started on this YouTube thing, but it's pretty fun. I hope you enjoy my project.

I took a paper mache dress form and covered it with Graphic 45 Birdsong Paper and then dressed her in tulle, feathers, ribbon, pearls, bling on a candle stick painted in Vanilla cream acrylic paint and aged with Viva Decor Inca Gold in Hematite. I also made a little trinket box to go with her.

the brass flower I covered with Vintaj Patina in Copper and then added a beautiful teal Swarovski crystal. The butterflies are cute out from the same paper used for the dress form and the box, Graphic 45 Birdsong collection. One with a background of black and one of cream and then added a little bling.

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you go check out A Lil Scrap of Heaven.

Happy Creating,

Graphic 45 September Challenge Entry

2013-09-23T16:51:00.002-04:00

So as I get back into the swing of creating pretty projects and swapping again, I decided to partake in my first challenge. I am absolute adoring fan of Graphic 45 and so what better way to kick off my venture then to enter their September Challenge and I used their Happy Haunting collection that is being discontinued. I've got to get out there and snag up some more this collection before you can't get it anymore as it is utterly adorable. Here are pictures from many different angles of my creation. I used cardboard boxes (I always keep cardboard around because it makes a great medium for art projects) to make the platform and house and used the paper collection along with a few other elements to create the scene. Unfortunately I couldn't get any really good pictures of the inside, which I wished I could have because I lined the back wall with one of their papers that has pumpkins on it and cut out one of the little witches and put her in there along with a ghost. I used Liquitex light modeling paste to make the stone pathway and brick roof. I hope you enjoy the pictures. I had a ton of fun making it, now if I can only keep the kitties from trying to play with it.

So now, it's off to the little studio to get working on my next challenge due by the end of this month. I better get cracking. Thanks for stopping by!

Hugs,

Art Studio Revamped

2013-09-22T21:42:00.000-04:00

So as many of you artists/crafters know our studios are always in a state of chaos and re-organizing. I think part of it is, or at least for me, that I am always getting new supplies and saving up items like cardboard, boxes, bubble wrap and other such items to incorporate into my art projects. Right now my room is a hodge podge of used pieces I've kept instead of selling at a garage sale or donating to Goodwill. I would eventually like my studio be a white and black theme, so as time allows I paint a piece here and there.

So without further ado here are the latest pictures of where I create.

It is always a little bit messy as I am in there at least once a day. I'm still trying to figure out the best way to get the video camera set up so I can start filming some tutorials to put on my YouTube channel. I hope each of you enjoy your studios as much as I enjoy mine. Happy creating!

Hugs,

Vintage Valentine Images

2013-02-14T15:00:00.002-05:00

It has been ages since I have been on my blog and I am hoping that life has calmed down enough that I can get back to a "normal" life! The husband and I went to an antique mall a few weekends ago and I picked up some wonderful vintage Valentine's postcards and card, along with a birthday postcard. They are around circa 1900-1940. I hope that you will enjoy the images and feel free to add to your collection.

backside of above postcard. I just thought it was so neat that there was a message I could read on it.

I just love this one. I had a hard time getting the colors to match the actual postcard

with the heart open so you can see the little cupid inside

I hope that you have fun with these images.

Doll Dreams - Dia de los muertos

2012-09-12T15:30:00.001-04:00

One of my favorite art class ning sites Doll Dreams has a new class starting soon and I'm so very excited about it, Dia de los muertos (day of the dead)! I love sugar skulls and now there will be an awesome online art class drawing gorgeous Dolls with Sugar Skulls. Don't miss out! You will be able to register at http://dolldreams.ning.com/

Beware October Tag!

2012-08-11T22:31:00.001-04:00

I was shopping at Michael's the other day as I needed a few art supplies and I saw their Halloween stuff, which got me in the mood for Halloween. Halloween (Fall) is my favorite time of year! I saw many things I would have liked to have bought, but alas I had to control myself as it wasn't in the budget. I sure hope they have them when I can go back. So to wind up and get ready for it, I made a new tag. Another great tutorial from Beth-Ann and an awesome tube by Screaming Demons and very cool scrap kit Dark Night Of The Witch. I've really been learning a lot from blogs like Beth-Ann's and others. I really need to update my blog and put some links to some of these great blogs! I'm really starting to get confident in my abilities to work with PaintShop and designing graphic art. It's a whole new door opening up to me in the art world. Next will be web design.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend and happy tagging, creating art, painting, drawing, writing, cooking and whatever else it is that brings you joy!

I'd Pin That v. 2 Flowers!

2012-08-10T19:57:00.000-04:00

I'd Pin That, Week 2 Challenge

I recently came across a new blog, which I love and you can find here. What I loved so much is that they have a weekly Pinterst link up party and this week is about flowers. Doesn't everyone love flowers? I know I do. I'm planning on having my own cutting garden next year and all ready have the plan in mind. Here are some pictures of flowers from my yard. I hope you enjoy them.

I also love to create floral arrangements and make flowers from paper and other items around the house. In my search for a new tutorial I found a wonderful one on Martha Stewart and I hope you will check it out. Just click on the link above. Here's a picture of the completed flower.

I hope you'll check out my pins at Pinterest. Thank you for stopping by and feel free to become a follower and my link to Pinterest is above or on the side.

Hugs,

Classic Beauty

2012-08-10T18:00:00.001-04:00

I'm on a roll! I was playing around with the computer some more last night as I couldn't sleep and decided to make a new tag. I used a template from Amy & Leah's blog, template #15 and the tube I used can be found here and is by the lovely artist Jennifer Janesko. I really love her artwork. I didn't use any one particular scrap kit, just a bunch of different items from a multitude of kits I have. I'm thinking of maybe picking up a new kit sometime soon and plan to make a tag just from that. As I get to know my Paintshop Pro better I plan to make some tutorials, hopefully soon. I've also started looking into picking up Corel's Painter 12 and Corel's Draw Graphics Suite X6, they can be found here and you can download free trials of both software. I hope you enjoy the tag.

Have a great weekend!

Life's Crazy!! Finally Made a New Tag.

2012-08-08T19:49:00.000-04:00

This year has been so extremely cray, can't even begin to explain all that has happened. Have you ever just been so overwhelmed by everything going on that you just wanted to hide away from the world? Well that's how I've been feeling lately. Our family has been especially hit with a lot of family illness and death. I just keep praying that things will get better soon for everyone. Cancer has been the major issue for our family this year. It's such a horrible disease and it touches so many lives. It's been very hard with me as it brings up so many memories of my father's battle with it, along with the 20th anniversary of his passing slowly approaching.

The last 3 weeks I have been battling with a cold/bronchitis so I figured while I am lying here trying to get better I'd haul out the computer and make a new tag. I found a great tutorial at Disturbed by Gaby and a great scrap kit (PTU) Night Life by Gemini Creationz here. The tube I used is by Angela Newman and was purchased at PSP Tubes Emporium but they are no longer in business so I am not sure where Angela is currently selling her tubes. I hope you like the tag.

Have an awesome week!

Digital Images Before and After

2012-02-17T20:56:00.002-05:00

Well I have finished (finally) one of the digital projects I have been working on. Tomorrow I will test how it prints, keep your fingers crossed. I thought I would show you a before and after of the photos I have been working on of the Ziegfeld Follies Girls.

So here is the photo I started with

Just a plain, gritty black and white, but still a very good photo. And this is what I did to it.

I thought it turned out really good. I had a lot of fun playing with all the images I used and have turned them into a collage sheet which I intend to share later. I'm just hoping the quality will remain when printed. I don't have a very good printer (I'm hoping to invest in a better once this year) but it manages all right.

So stay tuned!

Hugs,

Giveaway at the Vintage Farmhouse

2012-02-17T17:05:00.000-05:00

During my usual blog hopping I came across a wonderful giveaway at The Vintage Farmhouse and I hope you will check it out. She's an Indiana gal just like me. It's so nice to connect with local gals. Her blog is awesome so don't miss out.

http://www.thevintagefarmhouse.com/

Hugs,

Digital Images

2012-02-16T00:31:00.001-05:00

So I thought I would give you a little taste of what I've been working on. I have taken some photos of the Ziegfeld Follies Girls, which I love, and have enhanced them for use in another project I will be finishing later this week. Let me know what you think.

I'm really liking how they are turning out. If all goes well and the quality of print is as good as the digital I may be in luck. I'm almost finished and then I can start on the project I plan to incorporate these images into tomorrow. Check back later.

Hugs,

Never Enough Time

2012-02-15T17:29:00.001-05:00

I feel so bad as I have not put anything new on my blog for the last few days. I am working on several projects. Digital Collage sheets that I hope to add to my Etsy store so I can get that opened. Some new jewelry pieces and a give-away that I plan on having soon. I also have ATCs to make and Altered Altoid Tins and Tags for swaps. There's just never enough time to get everything done I want to.

So today I decided to finish the collage sheets and have a nice salad. It's a very simple salad and yet so delish.

Take a head of iceberg lettuce and cut it into quarters. Split the quarter in half and place on a plate. Chop 2 Granny Smith apples and divide apple pieces over the four quarters. Add blue cheese dressing (I prefer Lighthouse) and top with toasted sliced almonds.

I hope you try it, it's one of my favorites.

Hugs,

Free Valentine Images

2012-02-10T14:45:00.008-05:00

For Pink Saturday and Valentine's Day I have made my first set of scrapbook papers, elements and wordart. I have always enjoyed participating in Pink Saturday and have met such lovely people along the way that this is my way of saying thank you for your friendship and kindness. I hope you enjoy them. I made a collage sheet of the elements so hopefully that will be easier for you to use. Just right click on the images and "save as". Let me know what you think of them. Please also check out Seasonal Sunday

Also, I hope you will check out my friend Marilou's blog. She always has such beautiful creations on there and they are very inspiring. By the way, I will be having a give away of a piece of jewelry that I am making early next week, I hope you will check back later for it. Have a wonderful weekend.

P.S. I had a very good question regarding Terms of Use. Since I have never done this before and I am very "green" to the world of digital images and sharing I guess my terms would be Free to Use for personal use, but please do not use for resale or in a commercial project without first altering the images enough to make them your own creation. It took me all week to make the images and lot of sweet and not so nice words spoken to the computer, but I really just wanted to make something fun for my visitors and followers for Valentine's day. Thanks again for visiting.

Hugs,

Digital Freebie!!

2012-02-08T13:25:00.000-05:00

I've been spending time learning my new software and I have created three images you can download of a rose from my garden. Each one is slightly different. To achieve the glass like effect I used Alien Skin Eye Candy 6 and I absolutely love the images. I can't wait to try more. You can download a trial version so I hope you check it out. Here's the first image.

this one is using the basic glass effect. See how the edges almost look like glass.

this is the same image but using the clear angled glass effect. Just slightly different.

this image I used the Abstract Rainbow. I thought it was very pretty because you can see the coloring change in it.

Please feel free to download these images and use in your blog, scrapbooking or whatever you desire. They are my little gift to you. Just right click on the image and "save image as". The digital imaging software I used is Paintshop Pro X4. I also use this software to make my backgrounds for my blogs and other digital images.

Hugs,

Learning to Draw in PSP Pro X4

2012-02-05T22:28:00.001-05:00

For a while now I have wanted to learn more about digital/graphic art and using all the tools in my PSP Pro X4 so I did some hunting on the internet for tutorials. I found an awesome website and used 2 of her tutorials today to learn how to draw using my PSP Pro X4. I am so thankful I found Michele's Paint Shop and I can't wait to try some more of her tutorials. You must check her out. Here is was I made today. I didn't stray far from the tutorial as I am very much a newbie. I hope you like her.

Hugs,

New Art Project - Sacred Box and new Art Swap Group

2012-01-18T14:39:00.001-05:00

I am working on a new art project and it is my Sacred Box which will hold all of my art pages created for the latest art class I am taking on Willowing called Life Book. It's a year long course and so far it is amazing. I hope that you will check it out. Here is just a portion of what will go on the top of my Sacred Box. Lighting wasn't very good, so the pictures didn't turn out quite as good as I would have hoped.

I still need a lot of working on proportioning the eyes, but I think it's fairly good for only my 3rd drawing/painting.

I'd also like to announce a new Art Swap Group that I am hosting on Roses On My Table. It's called Tins of Art and the trade is altered Altoids tins (or similar tins). I hope you take a look at it and join in the fun.

Hugs,

Domino Pendants

2011-12-25T23:10:00.000-05:00

One of my favorite art ning groups I belong to is Roses On My Table. There are always lots of great things to do and learn on there. I recently signed up for Zinnia's Domino Mania workshop (check it out here) and I had tons of fun making them. I made one for my mother and sister-in-law for a Christmas present, but I forgot to take pictures. I also made one for myself and one for my daughter as a Christmas present. Below is a picture (not very good) of the one I made for myself.

It's really very pretty in person and I absolutely love the image.

Next is the one I made for my daughter.

I added little confetti stars and moons to the resin as it was drying. She really loved it.

And next is a photo of the both of them.

I have many more ideas for others that I want to make and I'm going to have my husband drill some wholes in a few so I can make key chains. They were so much fun and I had a little assembly line of them going...LOL. Check out Zinnia's site for lots of other projects.

Hugs,

2011 Bloggerette Sorority Christmas Ornament Swap

2011-12-19T16:39:00.000-05:00

This year I had the great pleasure of participating in the Bloggerette Sorority Christmas Swap. Its a wonderful group of lady bloggers and I've met some wonderful ladies belonging to the Sorority. I received some lovely handmade ornaments from my partner Tammy Grantz (hope you visit her lovely blog) and I made two for her. I hope that she likes them. I was a bit late in getting mine sent to her because in late November I injured my arm and it has laid me up for some time. It's starting to get better, but it has been hard to get done all the things I had planned to make for Christmas. This has just shown me that next year I need to be better prepared and make things throughout the year because you just don't know what life will throw at you. Here are pictures of the two ornaments I made for Tammy.

I had a hard time getting the colors to show up well because of poor lighting in my house. So I tried to have it behind a little darker background so they would show up. They didn't show up as much as I would have liked. The fabric is a really pretty brocade with pink, gold, blue and blue/green in it. I also used pale pink rosettes and bows and pink trim and pink velor for the loop. On the bottom I used a pale gold tassle.

You can see the colors a little better in this one but the pink in the fabric doesn't show as much.

This one is my husband's favorite. I used a glittered snowflake and attached a pretty mauve rose with some Christmas garland behind it and pretty pearl and rhinestone button in the center of the rose. I added a little glitter to the rose for a little bling.

And these are the lovely ornaments Tammy made me.

I absolutely adore the wreath!! This was my daughter's favorite too because it is soft.

I also love the snowflake too as I love snowflakes. This one was my husband's favorite as he love snowflakes also. They are both beautiful and I love that they are handmade.

If you want to pop over to the Bloggerette Sorority Site, there is a Linky Party starting up with the swap participants. Click on the icons in the linky party under the post and it will take you to their blogs to see all the beautiful goodies. Also, there is information on the blog about how to become a sorority sister. Thanks Debi at Marionberry Cottage for hosting this wonderful swap.

Hugs and blessings,

Two New Tags, One Animated One Not

2011-12-09T21:42:00.000-05:00

I have been having tons of fun with my updated software. So many things work much better and I am able to do things I wasn't in my other program. For those out there that love digital media if you don't want to spend a ton of money I recommend PaintShop Pro X4 by Corel. This is what I have been using. I have Photoshop Elements 8 and there is so much I cannot do in it that I can in PaintShop. If you don't mind spending a ton of money then I recomment Adobe CS5 it has all the bells and whistles. I'm not quite there yet where I can justify spending that kind of money, but I tried it for 30 days and it is AWESOME! Now back to my PaintShop, which I am totally lovin'. Here are my two latest tags I've made and I hope you enjoy them. I'm hoping to be able to do a few tutorials soon. I'm learning to use all kinds of effects which is really cool.

This one I call Punk Animae Girl.

This is another Fall one that I did from some of the kits I have compiled over time.

I call her Fall Faery. Well I must be off to do a little in the studio and then off to bed.

Happy Creating,

Emo Girl Tag

2011-12-05T09:00:00.000-05:00

Well I finally upgraded my photo software and I'm so glad I did. I'm really enjoy it so far and I have tons and tons to learn. Here's the first tag with more to come.

If you like the supplies and tube I used you can get the tube here and the kit here. I hope everyone is having a wonderful holiday season.

Hugs,

Pink Saturday

2011-12-02T15:01:00.000-05:00

Another Pink Saturday quickly approaches and I was wondering what was I going to post and was having a hard time deciding. Well last night my husband received his year end bonus (Woot Woot) and so I deposited this morning and then ran and did a quick little bit of Christmas shopping for my daughter at one of her favorite stores and I came upon the perfect thing to post (and I did buy it for my art room).

This is perfect on so many levels for me because one I absolutely love Audrey Hepburn. Breakfast at Tiffany's is my favorite movie of which this picture of her is from and this is my absolutely favorite saying, so how very befitting! I love it and can't wait to hang it up in my art studio. There were several more there, but I thought it best not to spend a bunch of money on myself, after all it is the season of giving. I'll have to give my hubby a few hints. I hope everyone is having a wonderful holiday season.

Hugs,

Ain't No Substitution

2011-12-01T19:41:00.001-05:00

I've been playing with images again today and working with digital media in my paint shop pro. I have so much to learn yet, but I've learned a lot so far. Next I am going to learn how to make masks and templates. I'm thinking I will need to upgrade my software so I can start making my own tubes instead of purchasing. Although I love the artwork by many of the different artists that I've found on some of my favorite stores like PSP Tubes Emporium and Scraps and the City. The tube in this image is by Very Many at Scraps and the City and I really like it.

I'm still having a few issues with my plugins, but I'm hoping with the upgrade this will work itself out. Well that's it for now, until the next one ;)

Hugs,

Link to Pink Friday

New Recipes To Check Out!

2011-11-23T21:47:00.000-05:00

I've added 3 new recipes to my blog Belles Roses - Healthy Eating, just click on the Recipe button above. The 3 recipes are Chicken Tortilla Soup, Mocha Layer Cake and Chocolate-Bourbon Pecan Pie. I hope you check them out. If you make them or tweak the recipe, let me know how you liked it and how you tweaked it. I'd love to hear from you.

Hugs, LisaKay