Art journaling by Candylei Yap

Drawing, designing and painting are each in themselves a beautiful process. We are not limited in any way, yet we tend to limit ourselves. We are our own worst critic, right after our children. They in innocence point out what they like and don't like. First we need to remember that not every drawing or sketch is meant to be sold. Each sketch is a learning process.  The more we wield the pencil the more it frees our mind and opens our heart. Freedom is what gives us confidence in the art world and what a beautiful world it is.

Often when cooking if we don't have an ingredient in the recipe we improvise according to our taste and substitute a different ingredient. This is slightly where I am at adding a little more abstract backgrounds to my aceos. Different, but overall reads the same!

Stop by my little aceo shop called Dictionary Reader  

Do It Yourself Girl Illustration Garden and Farm

How was your Christmas holiday? We had a white one here and it's still white out.
It really is beautiful but if you are not bundled up properly it feels like the North Pole. We run around outside looking fluffy but that means warm and the wind bypasses us.

I've started some new artwork and have a few listed in my etsy store  Dictionaryreader. How many out
there are do it yourself-ers? I know there are many. So here is a little grouping of art
I did for all of us.

Happy New Year is soon! No dieting til then. ;-)

Seeds catalogs are my good friends!

Food Art Garden Cards Kids Mushrooms

Let the mushrooms show you where your place is at the table.





Food as art? Absolutely. Useful art at the table in the form of a name card or place card. It started out innocently as I was going to make a salad. My marker was on the counter from last night numbering the Christmas calendar. I couldn't help but pick it up and draw a face on the mushroom. The trials of an artist. This is one of those times inspiration struck immediately on what to do with it.









There is a wonderful 3-d quality to the name cards. (These were simple plain tags that I had in my drawer.) She looks like a sweet bird on a branch. I added lavender, cinnamon bark, ribbon and a dab of hot glue to hold the mushroom girl to the card and also for the lavender. My hands were very fragrant when I was finished.





When I cut the mushroom in half she had a perfect mate who I then drew his face on. He's here on the right. Every American family has a dog (or almost) so here is our westie dog mushroom. This last photo is before I hot glued them on the cards. It's so fun to get kids excited about coming to the table and making it fun and presenting food in an artistic way. These are not to be eaten but mushrooms have a pretty long shelf life so you could make them earlier in the day and they will keep and look beautiful all during dinner.

I am linking up with these friends linky parties:

Feathered Nest

Farm Girl Friday

My Romantic Home

Pin Inspirational

Mercury Glass Style White Decor

Vintage Mercury glass you can just order online! The sparkle and glow adds cheer to any white decor or farmhouse! This gorgeous vintage mercury glass lamp is from Pottery Barn. You can order online or walk into store. The burlap lampshade adds just the right shabby touch.




Look at this duvet cover! Maybe I need this to complete the look. Yes, absolutely.




These votive mercury glass candle holders are only 5.00 each and there are many different styles.





Sweet canisters. Wouldn't these look great for the holidays? From West Elm.




Candles add a romantic touch to any room. Food seems to taste better by candlelight. They bring blood pressure down, and bring a calm.

Sweet mercury glass napkin rings. I want to buy some of these and take them off of the napkin rings and put some on a curtain rod. I could sew them onto the top of my curtain panel? I noticed some companies call mercury glass "mirror glass".

Now that it has turned cold we are looking around the rooms here and thinking we need to decorate and rearrange.

Frida Kahlo's Secret Garden Folk Art

We gardened all day Saturday so when I came in I was still gardening on canvas. Here is Frida's Secret Garden where she can always find her friends...look at all of the little birds lined up for their turn in Frida's hand. There are so many benefits when you have a garden. Birds bring you the best seeds from other people's gardens! We all look for little surprise plants in our flower gardens every spring. Little gifts of love they had left for us to find <3.

Frida's Secret garden is on a large 24-inches tall and 8-inches wide canvas. Lots of brushstroke details and the colors are magical and bright. To see more pictures click here where it is listed for sale.

Did anyone else outdo themselves gardening on Saturday?

Seed Sowing -- Giant Blue Bird Delphiniums

To think that life waits patiently in these seeds and we are the caretakers of them gives us all hope. Hope for a huge stand of healthy and stately delphiniums...reaching for the sky and their rich blue blending as one with it.


The seed sowing bug is at our house. Some I must wait a bit to sow directly outside. Some go in hidden compartments of the refrigerator and hide with the cream cheese boxes. They aren't really hiding they just need to chill a bit. The delphiniums I start now so they bloom this summer.

They are sown on top of moist sterile soil then covered with a layer of plastic wrap directly on the soil. I put them in a place which stays about 40-50 degrees and wait for 28 days. Do not cover as they need light to germinate but not direct sunlight.

I have this dream of having the perfect English Garden with all the pretties bobbing above the roses and boxwood and topiaries. I grow delphiniums but not as gorgeous and also self-seeding like the English do. If I keep composting and give them half shade and the richest soil possible maybe this year they will be as good as the English? If not the sweet peas and poppies nearby and the roses in front of them, and boxwood holding all together will still say sweet English garden! I've already impressed the rabbits for years. Our sheep are impressed and think it's their gourmet garden bar when they get out. Now to impress the English.

Siamese Cats and Westie Dogs

Our not so shabby looking westie boy, Sir Salty. Snow or frost running is always on the daily agenda and he is wondering what is taking me so long to catch up. He has that look, "Don't tell me you're going back in the house now?

Two of our siamese cats getting some sun and waiting for spring like the rest of us. They are watching our westie run all around on the hill and thinking "He is crazy. It's much better to be a spectator today and move very little, but then that is what they say in the summer, too.