Squash Blossom Echoes

November was way too busy for me to keep up with the “Art Every Day” challenge.  I was good until the middle of the month, then Thanksgiving and Christmas preparations took over.  So I decided to have my own version in January… “Be Creative Every Day”! 

 

The challenge at Three Muses for this week is “Circles”.  I felt like drawing today and that was a fun idea to work on.  My inspiration was the beautiful squash blossom necklaces made by the Navaho in Arizona. 

 

“Squash Blossom Echoes”

 

 

http://inspiration-avenue-team.blogspot.com/2013/07/weekly-challenge-july-22-show-and-tell.html

 

 

 

 

http://thethreemuseschallenge.blogspot.com/2013/01/three-muses-circles.html

The Word for 2013

The photo challenge at Pixel Dust Photo Art was “Have you considered selecting a word to guide and inspire you throughout the year?”

That was easy! 

My word is CREATE.

 

 

 

 

 

 

http://www.pixeldustphotoart.com/

Little Toes -- Future All-Star

Earlier this year I did a mixed media shadow box with the sweet little socks of my niece "Little Bird".  Now I've finally finished the one for her brother Little Hoss.  Hard to think that someday he might not be able to get his big toe into those little socks!

 

 

http://creativeeveryday.com/creativeeveryday/2012/11/art-every-day-month-check-in-day-14-3.html

Counting My Blessings

In doing my project for today, I had the fun of combining two challenges – “blessings” from Inspiration Avenue and “numbers” from Opus Gluei. 

 

 

Counting My Blessings

 

I started with a wooden box and used a decoupage mix to adhere various numbers I clipped from some scrapbook paper out of my stash.  I inserted a piece of Styrofoam into the box, coming about halfway up.  I then topped it off with some coffee beans from our trip to Tanzania.

 

The picture holders are hand-coiled from some 20g steel wire… except for the red heart; that was from the bouquet Himself sent me for Valentines.

 

The photos are the largest blessings in my life.  The top one represents Himself and my faith in Jesus.  Lower and encircling that are three photos of my family.  Then my home is on the left.  To the far right is a photo that represents the travel I’ve been blessed to do (that photo was taken on St Andrews golf course in Scotland).  And the final photo is me with the babies… becoming an Auntie is a wonderful blessing.

 

 

 

 

http://creativeeveryday.com/creativeeveryday/2012/11/art-every-day-month-check-in-day-10-3.html

 

 

http://inspiration-avenue-team.blogspot.com/

 

 

http://opus-gluei.blogspot.com/

Steam Punk Bottle

I’ve always thought ‘steam punk’ was kind of cool but I’ve never gotten around to doing anything with it.  So the challenge at Take A Word was just the motivation to try my hand at it.  I studied images on Pinterest, then dug thru my stash to see what I had that would work.

 

First find was the bottle.  I found this iridescent purple bottle in a while back in a ‘junk store’.  Then I dug out some little cogs, foreign coins, bits of lace (which I tea dyed), a piece of diachronic glass, and some copper I had practiced stamping on. 

 

 

This coin is from Ethiopia. 

 

 

The bottom left coin is from the USSR.  It’s an old kopek.  I think the right one is from Jordan. 

 

 

After a whole lot of arranging and rearranging, this is what I came up with.  For a first piece I’m satisfied with it.  Himself likes it a lot.

 

 

 

http://takeaword.blogspot.com/

 

 

 

http://creativeeveryday.com/creativeeveryday/2012/11/art-every-day-month-check-in-day-9-3.html

 

Sunset In Monument Valley

In 2004, Himself and I took a 5 week road trip driving thru the SW states.  One of our stops was in Monument Valley.  We took a 2 hour guided tour with a Navajo guide… and that 2 hours ended up being a bit over 4 hours as we all hit it off so well.  David took us to all his favorite places not on the usual tour as we discussed many things about the Navajo culture.

 

We ended up ‘flying’ across the valley at the end of the day as he had to get back to take someone out on the “Sunset Tour”. 

 

That night, as we stayed in a traditional hogan “B&B”, we watched the valley glow with the colors of the setting sun.  It was so beautiful. 

 

I decided to try to capture a bit of the memory with paper art.  I used small pieces from my stash of leftover paper.  The edges were torn to soften the lines.  Then I added a bit of shading with pastels. 

 

I’ve never done paper art before and I’ve discovered it is a lot of fun (and challenging!).  I’ll be trying more of this for other challenges!

 

 

 

 

 

 

http://www.justaddwatersilly.com/

 

 

http://creativeeveryday.com/creativeeveryday/2012/11/art-every-day-month-check-in-day-8-3.html

Boho Button Necklace

My creative project today was for a challenge to use buttons in a project.  I used some old buttons to create this “boho chic” drop necklace.  The glass beads are from my stash. 

 

 

http://creativeeveryday.com/creativeeveryday/2012/11/art-every-day-month-check-in-day-7-3.html

Sail Away, Sail Away...

I spent today boating on the Cumberland River with Himself and friends from CT.  So my creative endeavor for today was with my camera!  I worked on finding interesting and unique shots… when I wasn’t blissfully soaking up the beautiful day! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

http://creativeeveryday.com/creativeeveryday/2012/11/art-every-day-month-check-in-day-3-2.html

 

 

Mandala #1

I’ve always liked mandalas but I’ve never tried to draw one.  So the mandala challenge at Inspiration Avenue was just the push I needed to give it a try.  It’s been a very busy week and I have company arriving in a few MINUTES… so I haven’t had time to actually study them and if there is a ‘proper’ way to make one. 

 

So…here is my first attempt!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

http://creativeeveryday.com/

 

http://inspiration-avenue-team.blogspot.com/2012/10/meditation-and-mandalas.html

She Flew With Her Own Wings

When Take a Word issued the challenge of “wings”, I immediately thought of Amelia Earhart.  I’ve long admired her gutsy joy-of-life and ‘get it done’ attitude. 

 

 

"...decide...whether or not the goal is worth the risks involved. If it is, stop worrying...."

"Never interrupt someone doing something you said couldn't be done." 

 

The background paper was handmade using a stencil and chalks.  The photo of Amelia came from the ‘net, as did the compass star where I added the words “She flew with her own wings”.  The wings are a bronzed plastic self stick that I found at Hobby Lobby. 

This collage responds to the “Wings” challenge at Take a Word and to a past challenge of “Journal a Quote” at Three Muses.

http://takeaword.blogspot.com/

 

http://thethreemuseschallenge.blogspot.com/ 

 

 

http://creativeeveryday.com/creativeeveryday/2012/11/art-every-day-month-check-in-day-1-2.html