Christmas in July!

Watercolor

ALMOST JULY ...

I did this illustration in Feb 2011. Christmas seems never to leave my mind and heart....grin.
This is our kitchen.
Hope you like it!!

The Rainbow Collection of Proverbs for the Young miniature book!

Last year I shared in this blog some illustrations that I was working on however; I did not say what they were for.

Now, I am excited to share that these illustrations were for a proverb's book that I illustrated using my "children's illustrations" to describe few Probervs from the Holy Bible.

I then made into a miniature book. I honestly could not have been able to make it if was not for my dear friend and incredible bookmaker Pat Sweet from Bo Press Miniature Books .

As you can see, this is a hard cover book....

.... with a jacket cover .Book measures 2 1/2" x 2 5/8". One can read and enjoy this mini book just like a large one. Also , it is scale for any MDS BJds, American girls or any other dolls .

There are 24 pages and 12 illustrations . below is a sample of few that I used for this book

knitting

Ahhh... Saturday afternoon ,sitting by the porch, knitting side by side with your best friend while others bake cookies inside.... life is good ,no?*grin*

The Night Before Christmas

The Night Before Christmas

By Patricia Cabrera

It was Christmas Eve, the most lovely day of the year.

In a farm house , up a stubby hill and around the bend of a glassy lake, there lived a little girl named Isabella and her family. They were simple folk, and Christmas was the time of the year that brought forth great expectations from the children. Much effort was involved in making this the time of year that could be remembered and cherished in years to come.

On Christmas Eves past ,Isabella would try to stay awake in order to glimpse a sight St. Nicholas, but never was she able to…

Isabella had once been told by her schoolmates that St. Nicholas was not real. This news distressed young Isabella greatly.

This Christmas Eve was better and more special than any other Christmastide past, young Isabella told her family. In order to be able to stay awake through the wee hours of early morning, Isabella declared that she would take a very long nap.

Her older brother Andrew was listening intently to Isabella. He remembered the years when Isabella cried because she would awaken in the morning and, though she saw her presents , was sad because she had once again missed St. Nicholas’ visit.

Isabella pulled her litter sister Juliana aside and eagerly shared the news with her: “ Tonight I will stay up, Ju, you wait and see. I will not fall asleep until I see St. Nicholas!” And with a grin on her face , Isabella hopped to the kitchen to help her momma wash the supper plates.

Isabella hopped to the family sitting room and kissed her momma and papa’s hands good night, asking for their blessings. “ Blessing ,Pa? asked Isabella sweetly. “God bless you my darling” , said her papa. Then Andrew helped her to move the small sofa near the fireplace where she plan to sit and wait.

Isabella’s Christmas tree was a beautiful and everyone enjoyed , but it was the tradition of the family’s for each member to set their slippers at the end of their beds near the foot boards. St. Nicholas would then know which shoes belonged to whom and there he would leave their presents.

Isabella set her pair of newly washed slippers and looked at the fire brewing in the hearth and thought to herself, “I am not tired…. I am not tired at all.”

The little girl kept repeating the same words over and over and soon fell into a deep, sweet slumber.

It was still dark when Isabella jumped up feeling a cold sensation on her stomach. She looked to see if there were any presents where she had placed her slippers, and with dismay noticed two wrapped gifts. One large and one small.

All of the sudden, Isabella heard a loud noise from the kitchen and she yelped in surprise

Andrew came running from the kitchen in a hurried pace and asked Isabella, “You did see him, didn’t you?” Isabella wished she could say yes but she murmured with a sad face, “No, perhaps he is not real after all.”Her big brother grinned and replied, “Oh, don’t be silly ,Isabella. Of course he is real. Do you remember few minutes ago when you heard the loud noise? That was St. Nicholas leaving… I saw him.” Isabella’s face lit up. Juliana, who had walked in just a few minutes before with her eyes half shut, held up her teddy bear blanket in an offering , so that Isabella could dry her tears. “Did you REALLY see him?” asked Juliana anxiously to Andrew. He quickly hurried, “Yes, and he told me to tell you that next year he will try to meet you”.

Normally, these three children would run and open their presents as soon as morning came, but it was still early , and the only source of light was a little glow in the fireplace. All three children snuggled on the sofa and happily waited for the morning sun. This is a merry Christmas, indeed, dreamt Isabella, and in the near distance, a faint tinkling of bells could be heard above the wind.

May you have a blessed Christmas!! *grin*

My new cozy kitchen!!!:-)

((( You may double click on each picture , if you would like to see enlarged)))

After 3 months of renovations, we finally finished our kitchen.

When we first moved to our farm almost 9 years ago, our kitchen, living room ,and dinning room was way too small for a family of 9 plus all sorts of others that are always here *grin*. Since then , we have added a wonderful addition that is now our living room in which allowed us to expand our kitchen with the dinning room, however, I was *dreaming* to make the increase even larger so we could have more space not only for ourselves but also have friends and church family over more often.

Yesterday , I was able to lit my stove and heat up water for hot chocolate. The entire kitchen was so very warm and cozy, grin! Praise be to God , whom all blessing are from!

Our large table is 9ft long. It is about 120 years old.It is simple but sturdy.

These are the stoves that I cook everyday. they are both from 1920's. The left is a wood stove and the right is a gas stove.

Since we first moved here, I dreamt about having a window that faces my barn and the pond . Yes, I had this large doors that brings light but a window over the sink is something that I love deeply... don't know why...grin

I collect tin cans as you can see,grin, the green cabinet has its original stamp and is marked 1889. I keep my cups there.

Can you see my barn???*smiles*

I left for last to show you one of my pets that I just adore..... please meet **Loro**... my companion Amazon bird. He is so sweet and his favorite thing in this world is to be with me. He loves the children but he does not like Mark. Well, I think he IS a LOT like Mark in many ways!!!*grin*

I will leave you with a page from my sketch book. I did this ths morning at church . I already have the idea in my head of what the next illustration will be , but I still need to work on the children's faces after all, faces are very important.

For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.
Jeremiah 29:11

Sleeping child Illustration

Hi~*grin*
Later on I plan to share with you what this illustration in about... for now, you are welcome to click on the picture to enlarge it! *smiles*

Clothesline

"Hurry up" - Illustration , work in Progress

If you have been following me and have read my early posts , you know that I watercolor is new medium for me (a little over a year) . I have now experiment in several ways trying to find my *own* comfortable way to use this medium in my illustrations.
My drawings are simple and have a hint of old fashion ways. I like to evoke the past when I draw but also the present that is not very common these days. *grin*
I was debating with not only the tone and choices of color ,but also ,how light or dark I want the final illustration to look.
After several work , I feel that the translucent , very light approach is were I feel more comfortable however this does not mean that I am done trying.
Another issue that I had was the outlines. I use pen to outline and when I removed that I really liked the results. I found a new *love* for my pencils lines .On this illustration , I not only did not erased my lines , I actually use the pencil to do more outlines in the final step.
Here you can see my second layer or wash.I love the softness and how the paint is starting to tell a story....*grin*

My finished illustration is showing how the primary characters are the focus of my work and the back ground , although part of it, is there to complete the thought but is not taking way from the little girl and the lady.

What do you think? i would love to hear from you!!!!

Music.....

I grow up with music been part of my life. My uncle , Elomar Figueira, ( you can look up him on google, just type his name ) is a well-know( Brazil and Europe) conductor , poet, writer of Medieval sonatas...

My fascination for classical music came at very young age and later on I follow my dream to be a professional classical ballerina however ; in all in all what has given me the greatest satisfaction is the music that comes from my children. *grin*

My Daughter kate is second oldest . kate is 17 years old and a very lovely godly young woman.Kate was self-taught in piano (including cello) and most of her own school. I used to say that kate was born like a *woman* because at age of 5 , she was so responsible that most of the time would scare me and her dad,grin. She has always been very independent too.

Homeschooling her was the easiest thing in the world because she would say to me , " mum, let me read first if I need your help I will ask you" ...and that hardly hap pend.After auditioning for the Prestige Frost School of Music ( Miami University, Miami- Fl ) Kate was accepted and will start her studies in Music Composition in this upcoming Fall.Kate goals are firstly to glorify God in all aspect of her life through her music and life. She is preparing for the wonders ahead of her in which includes been a homemaker and have a family.

There is so much that I could say about my lovely daughter but I will leave you with this drawing that I recently finished.I was inspired by Kate and Becca ( my youngest daughter) in which also plays the piano. This was an early scene in our lives but still present today...almost everyday.*grin*

The illustration was done with pen and ink in a watercolor paper. When I first draw I was planning to watercolor but as I progressed I decide to use this medium. I was nervous about it because I have never use pen and ink alone and one needs to have a bold approach , if you know what I mean...*grin*The Lord has always been gracious to me, giving me way more than I deserve ... at many times , these thoughts moves me to tears.