Friday, September 6, 2013

Back To School... Pre-school That Is!

Once again what I have been ready to create has lined up with not one but several art challenges.  Sis sent me the cutest photos of Little Bird and Little Hoss leaving for their first day of pre-school.  (It’s Bird’s second year and Hoss’ very first). 
 
Wanting to show case the photos, I was inspired by Crafting for All Seasons (back to school), Shopping Our Stash (school), Inspiration Avenue (what brings you joy), and Our Creative Corner (forgotten things).  My forgotten stash in this case was a pile of rulers and yardsticks I found while working in the shed.
 
And with a bit of gluing, I now have a display that I can easily change out year after year.
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

"World Traveler" cover page

A mini challenge at 'Anything But A Card' has conincided with the start of my "place I've traveled" scrap/photo album.  Using a 6x6 album, each page will feature one country or state I've traveled to -- which at this count is 17 countries and 33 states, plus DC.
 
In putting my cover page together, I've also used inspiration from 'Simon Says Monday' to use my favorite stamp... or in this case stamps.  The multi-image stamp is from The Montage Collection and the compass star is by Stampabilities.  The paper elements are by EK Success.
 
I'm looking forward to putting together this little album of travel memories!
 
 

 
 


Saturday, August 31, 2013

The Diaper Fairy

I'm coming in at the wire with this challenge from "Anything But A Card".  The challenge for this fortnight was 'fairy' and I knew immediately that I wanted to redo one of my moss gardens into a fairy garden... a very particular fairy garden.
 
But it has been sooooo hot lately and I just didn't want to take the hike to go get moss.  I finally couldn't wait anymore, hot or no.
 
 
The stones have come from many places we've traveled... Alaska, Washington, Scotland.  The rings are broken limpet shells from Scotland.  The fern just came off the 'pitiful rack' as Lowes.  ;-) 
 
 

My family has a joke about the 'diaper fairy'.  I bought a bunch diapers when Little Bird was born and left them stacked in the foyer.  Sis asked in surprise, "Where'd all the diapers come from?"  My reply... "The diaper fairy came by."
 
Here she is making another delivery! 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 

Thursday, August 29, 2013

A Walking Shoe Gather No Moss

As my studio makeover progresses, I'm able to actually start using it and start creating again.  I'm loving it!  To walk over and pick up what I need...from where it belongs.
 
Oh yeah...
 
Jenn's theme for the Artist's Playroom was 'shoes' and at Crafting For All Seasons was 'with a tag'.  I had a pair of Himself's boots that he left outside and 'our' silly wren made a nest in one of them.  After being lived in by a brood of birds he was no longer interested in wearing them!  So they are now mine to alter as I please.
 
 
 
One of my new cactus, some dried moss, plus my tag and I know have a fun piece to set near the window. 
 
 
 
Soon it will be cool enough to start our hikes again!
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Monday, July 22, 2013

Travel Journal Collage

The challenge at Collage Obsession is to create a 'travel journal page'.  Over Memorial Day weekend I "kidnapped" my husband and we went on a trip of Kentucky Americana. 
 
This shows just a few of the places we visited over that weekend.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 

Wednesday, July 10, 2013

Pin It And Spin It

I was inspired by a quote I found on Pinterest and a painting technique of masking over an old painting. 

I grabbed a painting I didn’t like for the makeover.  (Those are some sad looking poppies!)  I used a stencil to trace my letters onto contact paper.  My original plan was to spray over the entire painting then pull off the letters so the colors of the painting came thru.  But as I looked at it, I decided I like the letters on top of the painting.

So I traced around the letters and painted each one in... to make my spin on the pin!

And Now a Multi-Talented Fish!

 
I really enjoy the challenge of combing prompts from the various creative blogs I follow.  This week there was "fish" from "Take A Word" and "Words" from Inspiration Avenue and the color prompt of "Candy Apple Red and Yellow" at Summer of Colors. 
 
 
 

 
 

 
 

 

Tuesday, July 2, 2013

Madame Butterfly

The challenge at "Take A Word" is butterfly.  I made this collage after a trip with my Mom and niece to the Butterfly House in St. Louis.  For this I used the brochure for the 'title', the shop's bag for the body (it had the print already on it), and I cut up a post card of a butterfly to make wings for "Madam Butterfly". 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 

Thursday, June 13, 2013

A Cool Summer

I pieced this sea turtle from paint chips for three different challenges.  First was for “Colors of Summer” where this week’s challenge was to use citron green and turquoise.  Second challenge was at Take A Word whose challenge for the week was ‘cool colors’.  And finally, I did the challenge on an index card for ICAD.
 
 
 

Wednesday, June 12, 2013

Dreamin' About Dessert

 
Time for a little silliness!  The challenge at Artist's Play Room was "bizarre".  Not a topic that appeals to me for the most part.  But I saw the Geico Gecko and decided to have a bit of fun.  The background is woven strips of a cut up magazine page.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 

Tuesday, March 5, 2013

Fire Side Warm

It feels good to finally be able to spend some time creating!  At “Take A Word” the challenge this week was to do something using ‘warm colors’. 
 
I printed off 4 of my photos of fire for the reds and oranges in them… plus the visual ‘warm’ feeling of the fire itself.  I took these photos as my BIL Big J was preparing a “Low Country Boil” for Himself’s birthday. 
 
 
I used heavy copy paper as I wanted a soft matt look to the print.  I cut them into a 2”X6” size.  From there I played around with 3 that are a series of shots of the fire as it burned.  I mounted them as a triptych on a single piece of heavy card stock. 
 
 
 
The last photo I mounted as a book mark. 
 
 
 
 
 

Wednesday, February 27, 2013

Art Journal Book Club (prompt 4) - Friend Nourishment


 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Art Journal Book Club (prompt 3) - Making New Friendships

 
 
 


The journaling pretty much tells what there is to say about this prompt.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Art Journal Book Club - Cover

Finally! I've finished my art work for my art journal cover. My album is an 8x8 scrapbook album (easier for me to work with). I have based my album on the Chinese quote "An invisible red thread connects those who are destined to meet, regardless of time, place, or circumstance. The thread may stretch or tangle, but will never break."
 
If there was ever a ‘red thread’, it was my meeting Himself.  Me… a small town Missouri girl just graduated from high school.  Himself… a North Dakota farm boy now a Special Forces sergeant stationed in North Carolina. 
 
Yet God brought us together.

 
 
 
 
 
 

Saturday, February 16, 2013

Art Journal Book Club (prompt 2) - Self Friendship

Our second prompt is to read the section in Chapter 1 on “self friendship” and journal it.
 
I cruised thru this chapter pretty fast because so much of it was about learning to like yourself and making time for yourself.  That’s never been an issue for me.  Guess you could say I have a very healthy self esteem! 

 
 
As I thought about it, I realized there has never been a time that I wasn’t ‘friends with myself’.

 
 
As a child, even tho our homes were in nice neighborhoods…we lived around some strange neighbors.  At one home, my friend’s mother would not let him leave the yard… period.  Not to come into our yard to play (yard…not house), not to ride his bike, not to play in the field behind our houses.  (We lived in a very small town with no real crime in the mid 60s – almost ‘Norman Rockwell’).  Anyway, I would get tired of only playing in his yard and would head out into the fields and woods to play and explore.  We moved from there when I was about nine into a nice neighborhood with worse neighbor kids.  To our north was a family of nut cases (the kid my age ended up going to prison for grand theft auto where he was killed) and to our south, that kid ended up being an arsonist who went to prison also.
 
Needless to say… I played alone.

 
 
Now that I’m ‘all grown up’, I still find myself enjoying solitary pursuits.  When I married Himself, he was a Special Forces soldier and was deployed a lot.  When he retired… he went to work seasonally on a ship in the Bering Sea.
 
Good thing I learned to be my own friend!

 
 
 
 
 
 

Art Journal Book Club - Title page

The one main project I have been working on is another book club… this one with a different twist.  All the members are reading the same book and creating art based on prompts given by the group’s leader.
 
The book we’re all reading is “Fabulous Friendship Festival” by SARK.  It’s a journal style book about the different types of friendship.  I’m one chapter into it and I’m enjoying it so far.
 
We’ve had two ‘assignments’ so far.  The first was to make a cover and title page for our art journal we’re doing.
 
The cover is taking me a bit of work... I'll have it up soon!
 
The title page is much more relaxed and fun, heading in the direction of the art journaling style I want to use for these projects.


 
 Simple, breezy...fun.  The writing looks 'white' but is actually done with a silver pen.  I used that color because of the old Girl Scout song "Make new friends but keep the old; one is SILVER and the other is gold."