Cola's Cottage

Please visit me at www.colascottage.com . We specialize in romantic art of roses and children, and handmade vintage style decor. We also offer vintage finds and apparel.

Wednesday, October 21, 2009

It's All About Me! Party and Give away!

A couple weeks ago I was invited to join Natasha's blog/swap party.  This is not your average, ordinary swap party however...instead of creating for someone else you were asked to make something for yourself!  Right away I knew what I wanted to do.  Although I had planned to do more with it, I ran out of time.  I am also having a give away ~ please scroll down to see what the prizes are!

Sooooo....here it is!  Portraits of my children!  They are older now but I always wanted to do one of them at these ages.  The first one is my oldest Jacob, then it is Isaac, and my baby Alison.


The portraits are done in graphite pencil and after taking pictures of them I edited them on my photoshop program.  I added a frame to the portrait and made it a sepia color for softness.  It gives them a vintage feel which I love.  Initially I wanted to take these images and make a soldered pendant with them but I ran out of time.  I have yet to use my soldering iron too...one of the many things on my list I haven't done yet....but now I can cross off drawing portraits of my children from my list of things to do : )  In the past I have painted my children, but I have never done a pencil portrait.  It was quite an experience doing this, as I think I know my children's faces better than anything else I have drawn before.  I experienced myself what many may feel and think when they see a drawn portrait for themselves done by me.  My children are a little older now and they have changed in a lot of ways.  I am so glad to have done this and I love how their characters shine through.  Jacob is my smart and witty boy, with an awesome sense of humor and loving heart.  Isaac is my little character full of grand imagination and wonder.  Alison is my little princess and my shadow.  She is a loving little girl and one day will work along side me in my studio.  It is so much fun to share my creativity with all of them and they are my best creations by God's loving grace!  They all love to create and it truly is a blessing to share.

Thank you Natasha for putting this party together!  Please visit her here to see all of the participants of this party and see all of the lovely creations everyone has made.  Natasha's project is a painting and it is breath taking, you must see it! 

And now my dear friends, I am happy to have my first ever give away!!  Below are pictures of the items I made to give to one special person : )  The gift package includes hand made embellished ornaments, a vintage style tree topper, an angel magnet, a gold grapevine angel,a vintage style gift tag and note cards designed by me.  I hope whoever wins it will enjoy it all!  To win this prize all you have to do is leave a comment.








I look forward to hearing from you!   It has been a lot of fun doing this and I hope you enjoyed visiting and letting me share my art with you.  Have a wonderful and blessed day!

Hugs ~ Nichole

39 comments:

  1. Nichole, the portraits you did of your children are absolutely gorgeous!!! you are so talented!!!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hi Nichole, I just love your drawings of your children. What a lovely giveaway. I have always enjoyed visiting your blog and seeing all of your decor.

    Irma :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Nichole, I literally gasped when I saw the portraits of your babies!! They are so beautiful, I have tears in my eyes! This is one of the most special things a mother could ever do! You are so lucky to have this amazing talent! I know your precious children will treasure these when they are adults as well! What a beautiful job you did and I too just adore the sepia tones!!

    Your giveaway is FABulous too!!!! I will have my party up first thing in the morning :)
    Hugs,
    Amy

    ReplyDelete
  4. Oh my gosh your portraits are exquisite! You are SO talented Nichole, you make me gasp! What a precious wonderful thing you did. Thanks so much for joining and also for having a giveaway! I'm adding you to the link list now :)

    ReplyDelete
  5. Hello, Nichole,
    Your children's portraits are beautiful. As you described each one's personalities, I went back and looked at their sweet faces and could just see their personalities shining through. A mother's love is shown in those drawings! Thank you for having a giveaway. This is so generous of you! Blessings to you, sweet friend! Vicki

    ReplyDelete
  6. Omg Nichole, are you sure you want to give away these brilliant drawings of your children? They are so beautiful, I would have want to keep them and show them to my grandchildren in future! Thank you so much for a wonderful collection of other gifts as well.. you are such a talent. :)

    Have a beautiful day!
    Rheea

    ReplyDelete
  7. I will echo what everyone else has "said". Your portraits are wonderful. I have always wanted to be able to draw like that. You are definitely gifted!!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Wow Nichole!! Your portraits are amazing. I think it is so wonderful that you were able to take your talent and create something so beautiful and personal as your sweet children's young faces. Absolutely wonderful!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Absolutely beautiful and precious! What a talent you have. I took art for several years but seem unable to even draw cartoon characters very well now. HA! I was a kg teacher for many years and that's about all I could draw with ease! Anyone who can paint and pencil faces with such detal is a true artist! Your giveaway items are so lovely -- but alas, I am so very far away! All the best to you, Tammy :)

    ReplyDelete
  10. Hi, Nichole! Thanks for coming by my party and I'm so glad I've come by yours!

    Your portraits are absolutely lovely! I can't imagine what it must be like to be able to draw so well... My brain just doesn't understand drawing!

    Please enter me in the give away. You've even included some note cards drawn by you! ♥

    ReplyDelete
  11. Your portraits are lovely, Nichole. Just beautiful. The feeling I come away with is, "Such happy children"! The charm thing sounds very interesting with their little portraits. Please enter me into your give away. Everything looks just lovely...

    Have a good rest of the week
    Kitty

    ReplyDelete
  12. Oh my gosh, you have such an amazing talent!!! You've really captured their sweetness in your children's portraits!

    ReplyDelete
  13. What magnificent work, you are so talented. Memorizing your children at different ages is magical. I have always felt like I didn't have just two daughters, they seem to have had so many people inside of them...expressed in each year. I can see the love sparkling within each portrait.
    Karen

    ReplyDelete
  14. Hi Nichole, oooh your portraits of your children are priceless! I love Jacob and his sense of humor and Isaac with his wonderful imagination, and sweet little Alison, how precious that she is your little shadow and will one day work by your side...thank your for sharing them... your giveaway treasures are gorgeous and I would love to win them... Bisous... Julie

    ReplyDelete
  15. Beautiful portraits of beautiful children! I love that they were done in pencil - with one humble tool you have created such amazing art. Well done!

    ReplyDelete
  16. You do stunning work on your children's portraits, sugar. I, also, am happy to meet you. All of your items are gorgeous, honey. Visit any time you wish.
    xoxo,
    Connie

    ReplyDelete
  17. Shining joy at finding your art and place! Blessings.

    ReplyDelete
  18. Hello there! You did an amazing job drawing your children!
    Nice to meet you!

    ReplyDelete
  19. What talent. I am sooo envious. I've drawn faces for my cloth art dolls, however, 'drawn' is not the correct word for it. I took a couple of doll face drawing classes online - found I can somewhat mimic so that's about it for my drawing skills. So I an envious.
    Aren't we lucky to have participated in Natasha's event . . . .

    ReplyDelete
  20. Your children are beautiful, Nichole. And dare I say it - your talent is overwhelming! What a wonderful gift you have! Your portraits of your children are gorgeous. It was so nice to visit your blog today.
    Cheers,
    Maggie

    ReplyDelete
  21. Hi Nichole! OMG I can't believe you drew those gorgeous portraits of your children! What keepsakes! Oh and I would love to be entered in your fabulous draw!!

    BTW you are right that the song on my blog was from The Nightmare Before Christmas. It's Sally singing about her love for Jack :)

    Hugs!
    Sandy

    ReplyDelete
  22. oh WOW!!!! they are SO beautiful Nichole... I am in awe of your talent girl!

    The soldering is somewhat challenging... but don't give up! you can do it!! I have only done it a few times and every time I think I am getting the hang of it, I do something to completely change my mind! haha

    xoxo Heather

    ReplyDelete
  23. Simply Breathtaking...
    I ♥ your drawings of your sweet children... Such a blessed treasure those will be for so many years to come... So glad you shared...
    Hope you're enjoying the
    swap as much as I am!
    ~ blessings ~
    Pearl
    Thank you for visiting!

    ReplyDelete
  24. Nicole, thank you for visiting my blog and leaving your kind comments!

    Wow! You are very talented . . . the portraits are beautiful! What a special way to capture your children and all the memories at those ages. Wonderful!

    Your give-away is gorgeous! Someone is going to be very lucky!

    Thanks so much for sharing!

    Blessings,
    Teresa

    ReplyDelete
  25. Oh my goodness your children's portraits are just beautiful ! Your talent is amazing ~
    I would love to be entered in your drawing ~
    What fun !
    xoxo
    Lori

    ReplyDelete
  26. Wow! You are very talented. Those are beautiful portraits.

    ReplyDelete
  27. Oh my! The portraits are just wonderful..it is awesome how you combined your freehand art with the digital possibilities.

    Thanks so much for visiting me. :0)

    Hugs,
    Stephanie

    ReplyDelete
  28. Hi Nichole,my first comment was not published so here it is again Sweetie.I just wanted to tell you that the portraits of your children are so beautiful.You captured their smiles and the light within, as only a Mother could do.XXOO Marie Antionette

    ReplyDelete
  29. Hi again my sweet,I had to come back and tell you thank you for the well wishes to sherry.
    But i want to let you know that i will be saying special prayers for your precious daughter.You know how much I always loved her pictures.She is to sweet to have that nasty flu.I know you will take good care of her.
    My beautiful daughter does worry about me getting the flu,becaues of the illness I had recently.I told her all is in gods hands and not to worry.You too!!! Things will be OK.Love you dear,XXOO Marie Antionette

    ReplyDelete
  30. Nichole,
    your portraits are an exquisite work of art!!! Fabulous!
    And your children are so sweet and precious!
    Thanks for your lovely comment too,
    Monica.

    ReplyDelete
  31. Love your art work. Beautiful pictures of children. You are very talented! This party is sooo much fun. Enjoy...

    ReplyDelete
  32. They are exquisite. Sketched with amazing talent and love! Rachael:)

    ReplyDelete
  33. what beautiful portraits! I love your work. have a beautiful day Lisa

    ReplyDelete
  34. Nichole, What lovely portraits. And how special they are because they are your children. Really beautiful! A friend of mine did pencil portaits of my kids at about that age, and I cherish them. What a great thing to do for you!
    ~Marilee

    ReplyDelete
  35. What talent! Amazing! I'm not sure when your giveaway is being drawn, but hopefully I'm still in time to enter also! Thanks! Suzie

    ReplyDelete
  36. The portraits are beautiful! Please enter me in your wonderful give away,
    ~Myrna Lee

    ReplyDelete
  37. The portraits are wonderful. Please include me in your drawing.
    rsgrandinetti@yahoo(dot)com

    ReplyDelete