In the beginning of 2013, for a variety of reasons, I was feeling very uninspired and in a rut.  Knowing I needed to do something about it, I decided it would be a good idea to take a picture of the socks I wore everyday for one month and do a design based on them.

    The original plan was that I would do the design on the same day I wore the socks.  Needles to say, that’s not how it worked out, considering its now 2021 and I still haven’t finished the project.  Oops.)

  On the bright side, even though I haven’t fully finished the project yet, my idea seemed to work!  I got pulled out of my rut and ended up with some cool designs that I wouldn’t have thought of otherwise.  Some examples are: Grim Reaper with Flower, Bokeh Inspired Colorful Hearts and Bears Flying Planes.

  Due the pandemic and Florida summers being a little to hot for me, I figured it was as good a time as any to continue the sock picture project from 2013. 

  When I looked where I happen to leave off it was a pair of white socks.

  I had originally picked February because it was the shortest month, thinking that would make it the easiest. One thing that I forgot to factor in was due to my birthday, anniversary, and a bunch of other reasons, I had a bunch of weekend getaways planned.

  When I travel, despite all the fun socks I own, to make life easier, I pack black and/or white socks.  This way, my socks always match my outfit no matter what clothes I pack.

  Luckily, I can still come up with designs based on plain white socks without just doing a blank page.

 After thinking about it for a while, I realized I had a design with red circles on a white background, so why not white circles on a black background?

 

White Circles Black Background Classic Pattern Satin Ribbon

by ValeriesGallery

  Voila!  White circles on a black background was born!

  This design can be found in my shops on Zazzle, Redbubble, Society6 and Spoonflower.

  I’m hoping to wrap up the socks project sooner than later!  Seven years is a long time, but sometimes life gets in the way.

  What’s the longest it’s taken you to complete a project?

In previous post, I’ve written about the notebooks from Zazzle and Redbubble.  You can find the Zazzle post here and the Redbubble Notebook post here.

This post will be about the notebooks from Society6.  I purchased the Cute Funny Yellow Mustard Pattern Notebook.

Even though the Zazzle notebook and Red Bubble notebooks are very good quality, I think the Society6 notebooks are my favorite.

One of the things that I like is that its still soft cover, but not spiral bound.  That way its harder for me to rip a page out accidentally. Plus the paper feels like it has the best quality.

Do you have a favorite place to get notebooks?

The reason for this is that when I made the hearts, it seemed like they needed something more.  Plus, since I bought a huge pack of colorful Sharpies, I’m always looking for an excuse to use them!

Hearts with Colorful Paint Splatters Home Decor
by ValeriesGallery

 
Some fun facts:

• The paint splatters were not suppose to be part of the original piece.

 

• The paint splatters were a result of me accidentally spattering paint on the corner of the piece.  Luckily it seems to have worked out for the best!

 

• This design is available on a variety of products on Zazzle, Red Bubble, Imagekind and Society6.

Has something you done been made better by a happy accident?  Let us know in the comments!

(Note: This post contains affiliate links)

For those of you that don’t know, you can use water color pencils just like colored pencils or dip them in water.  When they’re dipped in water, the material acts like water color paint. Since, I was eager to try them out and wanted to see how they performed in pencil form and watercolor form, I made the following picture:

Since I liked how the picture came out, I thought it would be fun to make a digital version! Here’s how it turned out:

Fun Facts

• The original has black flowers, the digital version does not.
• The flowers in the original version, have different color centers. In the digital version, they all have yellow centers.
• The original was done in a 5X7 sketch pad which my husband also bought me for my birthday.
• Colorful Flowers Red Blue Green Orange is available on a variety of products on Zazzle, RedBubble, Imagekind, Society6 and Skreened

Have you used water colors before?  Any tips?

These deals were accurate when I pressed the publish.  Some may contain affiliate links.

Valerie’s Gallery at Zazzle

• 60% off pillows and 30% off everything else with the code: ZAZCYBERSALE
  • Good until November 28, 2016 11:59PM PT

Cookie and Olivia at Zazzle

• 30% off everything else with the code: ZAZCYBERSALE
  • Good until November 28, 2016 11:59PM PT

Valerie’s Gallery at RedBubble

• 20% off with code: CYBERMON
  • Good until November 28, 2016 at 11:59pm PT

Valerie’s Gallery at Skreened

• 30% off sitewide!  No code needed!
  • Good until November 28, 2016 at Midnight

Valerie’s Gallery at Imagekind

• 50% off with code: CYBMON50
  • Good until November 28, 2016 at Midnight

Beautiful Cuteness on Society6

• 20% Off + Free Shipping on Everything
  • Good until November 28, 2016 at 11:59pm PT

The idea of opposites fascinated me. After I thought about it, I was inspired to do Grim with Flower. The idea of the Grim Reaper taking some time to enjoy the beauty of a flower and life struck me as being an interesting idea and an interesting opposite.

A few fun tidbits:

• This adorable Grim Reaper character first appeared in Grim Reaper with Heart

• The cute Grim Reaper character came about because I was learning how to draw kawaii style

• Grim Reaper with Flowers is available in my Zazzle, RedBubble and Society6 stores

• Some of the other sock challenge designs are: Bears Flying Planes, Polar Bear Eating Ice Cream, Stripes in Gray, Bokeh Inspired Colorful Hearts

• For those of you who don’t know, in the beginning of 2013 I was in an artistic rut and decided to do something about it. I photograph the socks I wore everyday in February 2013 and planned to make a piece of art based on the socks’ design)

• I am a fan of the show Grimm

Do you have a documentary recommendation or a way to get out of a creative rut! Feel free to leave a comment!

Grim with Flower not your thing?  That’s okay! Check out some of the work by other talent artist! (These links (and other inks throughout the post) are affiliate links. If you would like to purchase any of the pieces, just click on the pic!)

From other talented artist:

Vintage Drawing: Flemish Pink Flowers iPhone 5 Cases by TheBooker	Sympathy Pink Camellia Flower on Black and White Card by Valerie’s Gallery	Lotus Flower Blossom Mouse Pad by wheresmymojo
Skeleton on Guitar Unusual Tie by skeletonalley	Happy Birthday Grandpa card by Fritz Cartoons	Lilac Flowers Mugs by DigitalSolutions2u
Gentle Pink Rose Blooms – Flower photography iPad Air Cases by dandellion	Mom – Happy Mother’s Day – Alphabet Art card by ABC by Sue	Dandelion Clock lamp in turquoise and blue by GeeWhizArt
Goth Purple Ornament and Skull Throw Pillow by vamporium	Humorous birthday on tax day cartoon card by Bruce Bolinger	Colorful Skull Tshirts by elizme1
Purple Lavender Petunia Flower Blossoms Throw Pillow by ImageRecollections	Korean New Year card with rose of Sharon card by Eugenia Bacon	English Tea Roses Paper Plate 7 Inch Paper Plate by DizzyDebbie
Summer Flowers Accent Pillow by TheShirtBox	Grim Reaper with Heart card by Valerie Waters	Watercolor Iris in Lavender and Blue iPhone 6 Wallet Case by elizme1