Christmas is 100 days from now! Time to prepare with these fun Sports gift and decoration ideas.

Even though Christmas is only 100 days away, it seems like a much longer time. September isn’t quite over yet! However, I wanted to show you some of these awesome Christmas collections that Zazzle is now selling! Additionally, they have a fantastic discount code with 15% off, which is ZHOLIDAY2022.

Below are a few of my own collections for the sports fans of tennis and pickleball!

Retro Santa Playing Tennis Ogee Pattern
by DaphsamsArt

This is my Retro Santa Playing Ogee Pattern Collection. Before the big night, Santa is practicing a few serves! In this charming Ogee Pattern, which appears on a fantastic assortment of home décor, stationary, gift wrap, and so much more, he is surrounded by some vintage components and vintage tennis rackets.

Santa Christmas Pickleball Ogee Pattern
by DaphsamsArt

Santa Christmas Pickleball Ogee Pattern

Santa is seen in this vintage print playing the well-liked racquet sport pickleball as part of this festive sports-themed holiday décor. The colors accentuate the retro style. There are several alternatives available to you, ranging from home decorating to unique gift wrapping.

Now for a few other Zazzle Artist that have a Sports Themed Christmas products selling now.

KIDS HOLIDAY SPORTS
by zazzle.com/customizedgift

A fun collection of kids sports holiday decorations and gift wrapping!

Christmas Gift Wrap
by Bulb to Bloom

Christmas Gift Wrap

Gift wrap to make your gift even more impressive! We have football Christmas in every color! Along with baseball, soccer, golf and basketball.

Taekwondo Karate Personalized Christmas Ornaments
by Print Creek Studio Inc.

Taekwondo Karate Personalized Christmas Ornaments

Personalized kids martial arts Christmas ornaments. Perfect gift for any little karate or taekwondo student. BEFORE you place your order — Contact the designer for FREE COLOR CHANGES.

There you have it! So many unique and creative Christmas sports designs selling at Zazzle. Check it out and have some fun shopping.

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Colorful Tissue Paper For Gifts & Decoupage Projects!

When it comes to wrapping a gift, it’s always fun to find tissue paper that creates excitement to the gift giving! Below are some of my gift tissue papers that would add that extra spark to your gift!

A lot of my tissue paper features either my photography or my watercolor!

Personalize Birthday Pink Daisy Ribbon Tissue Paper
by FlowerBirdsButterfly

Pink Hydrangea In Summer Tissue Paper
by FlowerBirdsButterfly

Happy Birthday Watercolor Roses Tissue Paper
by FlowerBirdsButterfly

Colorful Purple Hydrangea Tissue Paper
by FlowerBirdsButterfly

Tropical Tiger, Parrot & Hibiscus Tissue Paper
by FlowerBirdsButterfly

Procreate iPad Food Illustrations

Egg and tomato breakfast bagel. I used one of my own brushes that I made in Procreate. The wood texture is from a photo that I photographed from a tree.

I took a learning how to shade in Procreate course on Udemy and this is one of the assignments that I was to do. Create my own ice cream cone and focus on shading and highlights.

A Unicorn Cupcake. After taking a course on your Demi on 15 easy ways to use painting techniques in Procreate, I was able to create this magical unicorn 3-D cupcake.

Here are my Blueberry Pancakes! Thanks again to a Udemy class on painting, I was able to achieve a realistic pancake picture!

Fun Cavalier King Charles Spaniel Art

The one thing as an artist I’ve always wanted to do is be able to draw my beloved Cavalier King Charles Spaniel dogs. My goal for the year 2021 is to be able to draw them consistently and feel comfortable coloring them in the fun iPad drawing app Procreate. I’ve been taking classes on the website Udemy and Skill Share to learn more about cartoon drawing and painting techniques. Below I would like to show you some of my creations thus far.

This is Sadie, my 8 year old Cavalier Who is dressed up for a day in Paris, France. This gave me a fun way of playing with fashion illustration which I’m very much interested in. I do have to get better at drawing fashion models. The time being, I can add some fashion on my dog!

Here is Sadie throwing a snowball at my other dog, a Labradoodle, Duke. This was a great challenge for me. I’m not used to driving elaborate at all and working on trying to create texture in the image without it looking too messy was quite a balance.

Sadie in a snow globe with a snowman.

I started this right around Christmas and finished it by New Year’s Day. I have three Cavalier King Charles spaniel‘s and one Labradoodle. I really wanted to create a Christmas ornaments for our tree of the four dogs.

Once I start feeling comfortable with my Cavalier King Charles drawings I will branch out to other dogs. I’m looking forward to this year as I hope to really grow with experience using Procreate and cartoon drawing. I am going to take a break from Watercolor for the time being to see how far I can go with this new venture.

Winter Mittens created in Procreate!

Here are my designer mittens that I created with a few of my own brushes. The mitten texture is from a photo of a quilt that I photographed. The fuzzy cuff is from a texture of a close up photograph of a dog bed.

I am having so much fun incorporating my photos into digital drawing in Procreate.

Take time for yourself- Procreate digital drawing Bubble Bath

My sister and I are doing a Instagram challenge for the month of January. One of the prompts was bubble bath. Now with my new fascination on learning everything there is to drawing with the app Procreate, I decided try to draw a bubble bath in Procreate.

What I love about Procreate is I’m able to incorporate my own photography into creating brushes. I used a textured brush that I made from a pine tree photograph to accent and give texture to the plants. With the hair towel, I used a photo of a quilt that I made into a quilt texture brush . The marble floor is from a photograph of a marble floor that I made into a brush.

These are stressful times with Covid, daily life pressures, all the crap that’s happening in the political world. It’s important to take time out for yourself. Do some thing that will give you the peace and quiet that you so deserve. It’s so important to your mental and physical health. So if it’s taking a bubble bath, sitting by the fireplace and reading, going for a walk outside, whatever it may be, take your time.

For me, it’s creating art. Getting lost in my imagination and working on getting my ideas on top paper, the iPad, writing. Taking a walk with my husband and dogs.

What does me time look like for you?

If you’re interested in joining this challenge on Instagram, we welcome all mediums, you could do one or all prompts, whatever works for you. Just use the #januart2021

Cute Spooky Halloween Short Stories

The Screaming Pumpkin Patch

One Halloween night, these two friendly Ghost went for a walk in an abandoned pumpkin patch. They had finished early with their trick and treating so they decided to find a quiet place to share their candy. As they were wandering around looking for a place to settle, a spider landed on the head of the little Ghost. Well, that was too much for the little Ghost. He began to scream! This only freaked out his friend, who also began to scream! Their screaming echoed into the night frightening others who were nearby. The old abandoned pumpkin patch is known for injecting fear to those who enter it’s patch.

Farewell Broomstick

There once was a witch name Miranda who riding on loved her broom stick during the cold autumn nights. One night as she was getting ready for her ride, she found her broomstick broken in two! Poor Miranda was so brokenhearted she just had to give her broomstick a proper burial. Every night Miranda would take her self to the graveyard and visit her broomsticks burial site. She never knew she was being watched by spooky little friends.

It was Miranda’s cat who went into a jealous rage one evening and had broken her broomstick. For he never liked when she spent so much time with her beloved broomstick. No, Miranda never figured out that it was her cat who had done the deed.

All artwork and story was created by Daphsam

Silent Sunday-Autumn Fox

Photography and digital art by Daphsam

Watercolor Food Illustration

Food illustration has become my passion these days. There is something about spending my time looking at food and trying to capture the exact look of the food or drinks. Here are my latest watercolor of food and drinks!

 

All of my watercolor is on Arches Cold Press 300 g/m

My watercolor paint that I am using is Windsor and Newton tubes and Sennelier L’Aquarelle Watercolor pan set

Pancakes with blueberries and strawberries. 

Lemon Meringue Pie

Chocolate Strawberry Cake. I find it hard to get the plate down correctly. I am more comfortable with just the food illustration. I need to continue to work on pushing myself out of my comfort zone with watercoloring the plate.

Chocolate Donuts. I enjoy watercolor that shows a photorealism.

Raccoon in a Lollipop Candy store. 

Salmon sashimi, this is a mix of watercolor and macron pen.

Spaghetti with tomatoe sauce. This was a first for me to draw and watercolor a fork. Again this is a mix for watercolor and macron pen.

Sunset Vodka Drink with Strawberry. Another challenge for me is getting the ice cubes and glass rim perfect and less sloppy.

All of my watercolor food illustrations are on my Zazzle shops.

Zazzle Daphsamsart

Zazzle.com daphsam greeting card

Watercolor Eiffel Tower

As a watercolor artist and I am still a beginner, this was a dream for me to watercolor! I really wanted to do this one. I did this with pen, watercolor and finished the Eiffel Tower in Gold Acrylic.

 

I plan on putting this on some postcards, greeting cards, tissue paper at my Zazzle.com/daphsam shop.

Latest Book Review~ Highly Recommend!

The past month I have listened to many books. Here are some of my favorites from the past month!

 

The Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd

 

Goodreads~ The Invention Of Wings

 

The Henna Artist by Alka Joshi

Goodreads~ Henna Artist Description

Where The Lost Wonder by Amy Harmon

Goodreads~ Where The Lost Wander

Jane Eyre

Goodreads~ Jane Eyre

 

 Featured photo came from Unsplash.com

 

Cee’s Flower Of The Day~ Red Zinnia

 

The lovely Zinnia for your Tuesday Flower of the Day by Cee’s Flower Of The Day

DaphXine’s Art Challenge Desserts Art Challenge~ Week 1 Cookies or Biscuits

My Sister and I have started an art challenge on instagram and here!

Check out more at my sistter’s site: Desserts Art Challenge: DaphXine’s Art

So break out your art supplies or camera and tag #dessertsartchallenge #daphsam #xinesegalascreativearts

 

Walking Tour In Positano, Italy

Orange Hibiscus Flower Of The Day

Same photo edited in Pixaloop

Fun, Trendy Wine Labels

Here are a few trendy wine labels that I have been working on in my Zazzle shop!

Watercolor Lemons Congratulations On New Home Wine Label A lovely wine label with Lemons watercolor for a Housewarming gift!

 

Watercolor Congratulations Graduate “Kind Of” Wine Label Watercolor Graduation Wine Stickers that can be personalized.

 

Pink Peonies Watercolor Bridesmaid Wine Label This is a watercolor pink peonies pattern as a wine label. You can change the message to make it work for you!

 

Watercolor Luggage New Home Wine Label Watercolor of cute luggage with a tag that says “New Home” and an Orchid plant!Congrats From Graduating Vet School CKCS Wine LabelCongrats From Graduating Vet School CKCS Wine Label

 

Congrats From Graduating Vet School CKCS Wine Label A sweet Cavalier King Charles Spaniel Wine label as a Congrats On Graduating From Vet School.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Watercolor Show And Tell

Here are my latest watercolor and illustrations!

For a Beach challenge I had to watercolor a pool float! So I wanted to create some thing that was a little bit more exciting than just a pool floats without a background. So I did this fun water pattern with my float.

This is for a flower watercolor challenge, dahlias. I decide to do painterly Dahlias.

For another flower art challenge, this is a realistic Peony to the best of my ability!

For the beach challenge, I had to watercolor a sun hat. So this gave me a great opportunity to practice my female profile illustrations.

Again for the beach challenge, I had to watercolor a fish. So I decided to work on my watercolor background and draw my beta fish in ink.

This was for a doodle wash challenge, I had to create a raspberry tart. This was a lot of fun to work on as I love to illustrate food.

White Mini Rhododendron

May Photo A Day Challenge~ Delicate Swallowtail

City Sonnet~ May Photo A Day

A beautiful Anise Swallowtail Butterfly is what I thought of for the word Delicate.

Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge Sense Of Taste ~ Berry Tart

Boy, I can’t wait for Le Pain Quotidien to open up! I miss their fruit tarts:(

 

This is for Cee’s Fun Foto ~ Sense of Taste

Cee’s Flower Of The Day~ Spanish Anemone Marigold

Cee’s Flower Of The Day

Happy Mother’s Day With Black Cap Chickadee

You are the rock that we all lean on.

The flower that brings beauty into our life.

You are the sand that flows and molds to

whatever challenges that present each day.

~Daphsam

Fortress For Your Tears Poem

Watercolor by Daphsam

Where is your fortress of fears,
Does it cradle all your tears,

Will, it hold through the years,
Don’t self-destruct in front of your peers.

~ Daphsam

Rainbow Hydrangea~ Cee’s On The Hunt Of Joy

 

This is for Cee’s On The Hunt Of Joy 

Rainbow coloring on my Hydrangea.

Cee’s Flower Of Day~ Hot Pink Orchids

Phalaenopsis orchids for Cee’s Flower Of The Day

Peacocks Feathers Prose

Feathery and colorful,

beautifully laying there.

Flirty sensation for all that feels them.

 

Cee’s Flower Of The Day~ Garden Snapdragon

Cee’s Flower Of The Day

 

Garden Snapdragon

Happy May A Day Late! Duke My Labradoodle

 

Duke is the love of my life. At a young age of 4 years old, he has many health issues that we need to stay on top of. The past few days have been difficult as we received some news that his liver is not doing so well. He was diagnosed with IBS when he was a puppy. So, unfortunately, he has had to live on steroids to keep the IBS under control. He also has a special diet as well.  Next Monday, he will have a liver panel blood test to see how his liver is work. Then we will come up with a plan under the Vet’s guidance on how to keep his liver healthy and strong.  Please keep him our thoughts and prayers. This is a very difficult time for us.

Water, Water Everywhere~ Newport, RI

Rocky Water’s Edge in Newport, Rhode Island

 

This is for Water Water Everywhere Photos By Jez

Photo A Day~ Goodbye April Mushrooms

I thought this was a great photo to say goodbye to April. Two sweet mushrooms together with a heart shape on the larger mushroom. It was quite a find for me!

 

This is for Photo A Day~ Goodbye April

Wildlife Thursday~ Dolphin Fun

One year my family and I went to the Cayman Islands and got the chance to swim with the Dolphins!  Here are some up-close photos of this amazing experiences!

Show And Tell Watercolor

Shortbread Cookie with Hershey Kiss

Here are some of my watercolor from this week! Desserts and drinks themed!

Margarita

Fruit Cocktail

Mojito

Ice Coffee in mason jar

Cream Puff

Ice Latte

All of my watercolor’s were done with three brands of watercolor.

1. Windsor and Newton

2. Reeves

3. Holbein

I only used two watercolor brushes, Silver Brush Black Velvet sizes 6 and 4.

The paper that I only use is Arches cold pressed rough.

I love taking pictures of flowers that has been always as a photographer my favorite thing to do. But with watercolor, I find that the food illustration seems to fascinate me!

Cee’s Flower Of The Day~ Pink Rosa Davurica

Cee’s Flower Of The Day

April Landscape Photo(s) A Day Challenge~ Amalfi Coast

 

For today’s April Landscape Photos A Day Challange, I am to pick colorful landscape photos. Well, my thoughts went to Positano, Italy! My most colorful landscape dreamy photos!  Enjoy! April Landscape Photos Challenge

April Landscape Photo Challenge~ Bridges

Photographed in Venice, Italy from a motorboat!

 

This bridge was empty for the moment but minutes before it was really busy!

This is for April Landscape Photo(s) A Day Challenge

Motivational Monday

Copying The Masters~ Matisse And His Wife At Collioure

Here is the original which was done by Andre Derain, summer 1905. The picture is of Mattisse and his wife.  It was done on ink on paper.

To learn more Andre Derain, Matisse And His Wife At Collioure

When I was in art school learning about ink drawing, I chose this picture to work on learning about how the strokes where made. Below is my attempt to copying this picture. I saw that proportion is an area that needs work.

 

This was a great exercise of learning how to draw with ink and drawing. It was not that easy but I am willing to try this again with other master artists.

 

Cee’s Flower Of the Day~ Allium Purple Sensation

Surprisingly,  these beautiful purple flowers are known as the Flowering Onion, I photographed these Colorado.

This is for Cee’s Flower of the Day (FOTD) Challenge

Cee’s Flower Of The Day~ White Romantic Persian Buttercup

A lovely Persian Buttercup also known as a Ranunculus. This is for Flower Of The Day~ Cee’s

Cee’s Flower Of The Day~Japanese Quince

 

I received these beautiful white Japanese Quince is a vase once for my wedding anniversary.  They were so lovely that I had to take the time and work on capturing their beauty.  I used French Kiss Textures for the background. In Photoshop I used the Masking tool to painted out the texture to get some of the flowers but kept some of the painted look.

 

Quote Of The Day~ Time To Ponder

I highly recommend this book. It’s a perfect TIME to read it now during this uncertain time.

Thursday Doors~ Venice, Italy

For today’s Thursday Doors, we take a trip to Venice, Italy. Doors are so symbolic, open a door to a future, close a door to a past. Sometimes there is something behind the door that we are hiding.  Currently having a door closed to the outside world will protect you from the Coronavirus.

In Venice, Italy, the doors open to a world of historic beauty.  Enjoy these doors from Venice and let your imagination run with what is behind these doors.

FOWC~ A Nice Steak ~ Dinner

For today’s word on FOWC with Fandango it is dinner!

So I decided to use my watercolor and pen drawings to give you a lovely dinner!

 

First, let’s start with some appetizers.  Here are some Deviled Eggs with cucumbers and smoked salmon bites.

For the main course, some steak with thyme, roasted potatoes, and broccoli.

You get a choice of two desserts. The first is a delicious chocolate cupcake and then next is homemade Apple pie!

Enjoy my interpretation of the word dinner. FOWC- Dinner

 

Cee’s Flower Of The Day~ Spotlight On The Daffodils

These are Wild Daffodils from my yard. Cee’s Flower Of The Day

Narcissus pseudonarcissus

Happy Earth Day! 2020

It’s Earth Day!

Earth Day is an annual celebration of an environmental movement. Recently, I have been hearing how the Pandemic has really gone to reducing pollution since people are staying indoors. With next to little to no use of cars, trains, airplanes, factories, pollution has shown signs of reducing.  Even though this not a feasible way to help protect the environment, this might help Environmentalist to create a plan for the future on our fight to protect Mother Earth.

To read more about this topic check out NBC: Coronavirus lockdowns have sent pollution plummeting. Environmentalists worry about what comes next.

Here are a few of my favorite photos to celebrate Earth Day, Mother Earth!

 

Ways to Celebrate Earth day

1. Unplug unused electric appliances.

2. Washing your laundry in cold water.

3. Give away your old books, toys, clothing  to the library or the  VVA (Vietnam Veterans of America) VVA Pickup

4. Plant some flowers!

5. Stop drinking out of plastic bottles- there are some great water bottles out there instead.

6. Use reusable batteries- they do work! I highly recommend Eneloop Pro Batteries

7. Recycle!

8.  Use Energy Saver Light Bulbs, I recommend Phillips Energy Saver Light Bulbs They last much longer than a regular light bulb.

9. Switch to e-books~ Save the trees!

10. Use reusable grocery bags Zazzle~ Daphsam’s Reusable Grocery Bags

If you haven’t seen Moving Art on Netflix, here is a trailer of season 2 that will captivate you! There are 3 seasons of this beautiful cinematography with outstanding music. A great TV show to watch on Earth Day!

 

Happy Earth Day!

Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge~ Sense Of Seeing~ Amalfi Coast

I always found Positano, Italy was “Eye Candy” for the sense of seeing. Here are some of my favorite photos from my trip.

Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge~ Senses Of Seeing

PFTW~ 64~ Sunflower Butterfly

PHOTO FOR THE WEEK – 64 – CREATIVE

Here is my creative Photoshop creation of a Sunflower with butterflies flying out of the Sunflowers!

Brashley Photography Creative week 64

Pink Peony “Color Magnet”~ Cee’s Flower Of The Day

This lovely Pink Peony is a “Color Magnet” peony that has lovely pink cupped petals. This was photographed at the New York Botanical Gardens.

 

Cee’s Flower Of The Day

Show And Tell~ State Flower Magnets

I have many different flowers that I have photographed and I thought it would be fun to make some magnets that match my flowers to the states! Currently here are the ones that I have in my Zazzle shop!

Colorado

Beauty From Colorado Rocky Mountain Columbine Magnet A lovely rocky Mountain Columbine which is the state flower of Colorado.

 

Mountain Laurel Connecticut State Flower Magnet The state flower for Connecticut is the Mountain Laurel. It is also known as the Spoonwood flower. It is a very popular flower in the gardens of the Northeast.

Delaware Peach Blossoms First State Magnet Delaware’s state flower is the Peach Blossoms. Delaware is also known as the first state to sign the United States constitution.

Florida State Tickweed Coreopsis Magnet Florida has two state flowers, this one is a Tickweed (Coreopsis) wildflower.

 

Beautiful Georgia Azalea Magnet Azalea is Georgia’s state flower.

 

Aloha Hawaii Peach Color Hibiscus Magnet The Hibiscus is the Hawaiian State Flower.

 

Passionflower Tennessee State Flower Magnet The state flower of Tennessee is the Passion Flower.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Photo A Day And April Colors~ Fresh With the Letter L

Photographed in Positano, Italy. I thought this was perfect for Fresh, Start With Letter L.

Photo A Day

April Colors And Letter

Personalized Designer Pickleball Paddles

Pickleball has grown to become one of the most popular sports in the world. It’s amusing since this isn’t a brand-new sport. Joel Pritchard and Bill Bell, two bored fathers searching for something to do, invented it in 1965. Pickleball was formed when they improvised with a ping pong paddle and a Wiffle ball.

So, how did this game come to be known as Pickleball? Pickles was the name of Joel Pritchard’s dog. The initial type of paddle was manufactured entirely of wood, with no usage of materials such as graphite or aluminum to aid lessen the weight of the paddle. I have a few family members who like playing Pickleball, and the designer in me wanted to join in on the fun by designing some designs with monograms, patterns, and other colorful motifs.

Pickleball Paddles
by DaphsamsArt

This Pickleball Paddle from Zazzle.com is ideal for players of all skill levels. It offers a comfortable hand-wrapped grip. The lightweight fiberglass and polypropylene honeycomb core provides a superb feel and adequate power for the competitive golfer. The smooth striking surface and traditional form create a more prominent sweet spot for more firm contact. Here is my current selection of Pickleball Paddle designs for sale.

Cavalier King Charles Spaniel Christmas Art Gifts & Home Decoration

My three Cavalier King Charles Spaniels, who are the center of my universe, are my fur babies. 

Moreover, I own a Labradoodle. 

I adore using my pets as inspiration for my paintings.

I created this artwork of my pups waiting for Santa last year using the iPad’s Procreate app. 

You can read the names of my pets on the dog bones. 

Sadie, Duke, Lady, and Tiger, from left to right. 

I use my iPad for drawing in addition to being a watercolor artist.

My Cavalier King Charles Spaniel Christmas presents and home décor are available in a couple collections that I just added to Zazzle. There are many goods available for people of all ages.

Watercolor Cute Cavalier King Charles Spaniel
by DaphsamsArt

50% Off with code ZHOLIDAY2022
ends today!

Cavalier King Charles Spaniel Christmas
by DaphsamsArt

It was fun using both art mediums to create a Christmas-themed illustration for my Zazzle shop. I hope you enjoy it and check out some of my designs!