Done & done! I finished my Cupcake Angels this afternoon. These two paintings are ready for printing and resizing for Block Art and greetings. I think they turned out blissfully. I used the same color scheme both of them on purpose. They would be great framed prints hanging in a studio, cubicle, or child’s room. Or even in a dorm room. Where ever anyone loves a cupcake! I haven’t worked on watercolor paper for a while and always enjoy the effects of the paint on the paper. It’s truly gorgeous how paint takes to this paper. It’s an artistic love affair. I used watercolors, gel pens, acrylics, stamps, collage elements, and felt pens.
They are ready to present you with New Year’s treats so I hope you’re hungry!
Happy New Year to all of my blog readers. I hope you have a joyful and prosperous New Year!
I took some time today finally to play with papers and paints. I’ve had these two darling ladies on my desk since before Christmas and I’ve been itching to work on them. I got a bit done before I had to jet to the grocery and battle the New Years Eve shoppers. I picked bright and happy collage papers that compliment each other and I’ve cut wings from pretty pearly printed green paper for both of these angelic treat givers. I’ll be working on them more tomorrow during the day and decide on what colors I want for the backgrounds… Possibly pinks, reds, and greens. I’ve not decided yet.
With the new year oh-so-close… I’m excited to start a few new things that I’ve planned for myself to help me get out of a rut I’ve been in. I’ll share more of that after the year has started. I’m NOT starting my projects until the second week in January as to avoid the New Years Resolution cliché. I’m making a chart for my day and organizing my time slots to help me get a foothold on this 2011 adventure I’ve planned for myself. It will take perseverance, prayer, and patience as I’m become a creature of habit and I want to break my mold. Wish me the best!
Until tomorrow… head to the kitchen and make some cupcakes with pink fluffy frosting and enjoy the yummy smell of chocolate while they bake! Nom Nom!
I used my mini moo stickers to create these fun accessories. They are a bit small for key rings but some people like their key chains less bulky so these would work wonderfully for that. I looked at them more as accent pieces such as zipper pulls, lanyard charms, or something to attach to your ipod case… etc.
They are made using a black card stock background and a moo sticker, they are cut to size and inserted into these pendents then covered with several coats of 3D Crystal Lacquer. With the weather being cooler and since we like our house cool as well they took quite a while to dry so it was fun watching the color pop as the lacquer dried. I will be putting them on Etsy by weeks end as I have a few other items I want to put up first. Mainly my mini magnets that I have left over from Christmas. I think these turned out super cute and I’m going to be making some more of them but this time I’m making some pins. My purse needs some wearable art on it so I have several picked out to make just for that! ☺
Again it’s Whispering Wednesday. Time to share some of deepest darkest secrets… so hear goes!
My Dad’s mom came over from Finland when she was 18 years old … She arrived at Ellis Island on Christmas day and couldn’t speak a word of English.
I was in a car wreck at the age of 17 …I was driving and I totaled my car. I spent the next week making confetti from colored paper and scissors as a form of therapy.
I moved into my own teeny tiny house when I was 18-years-old. It felt like a mansion to me after spending years sharing a bedroom with my sis.
Smoked Oysters ~ Nom Nom!
I’d like to try making Goth Art!
That’s it for today. I missed yesterday as I had my head in a book and lost track of time. I’ll share my newest toys with you next week though.
Have a great Hump Day and I’ll announce the winner of my giveaway on Friday! God Bless!
Life is full of lessons in all sizes, small, medium, and large… some even come in XXL! Of course there are those that are one size fits all as well so size is debatable when it comes to those.
My son’s father bought him a car about a year ago and gave him the sole surviving key to it. Well… last week my son went to go put some important papers into his car only to discover that his “only” key was missing. After hitting my hand (ever so hard) against my forehead, I called his father and explained the situation. We had BOTH told him to get copies made, as had his step-father. But Noo…..I’m a teenager… I know everything, and I can do no wrong. Yeah…. we’ve all been there right? I know I was a super “stupid” chicklette at his age. The world was my oyster and my car key opened it.
I made some calls to my brothers who work/ed for dealerships and they directed me in what to do to rectify this minor issue. Or so we thought. I called the Nissan dealership in the morning and gave them the VIN number and the gentleman on the phone was a bit perplexed… He said… “um… what kind of car is this.” I told him it was Nissan G20 Infinity. “Oh…. okay, I can’t help you. You have to call Fife. Fife is WELL over an hour away and the car is in my son’s fathers name so he has to be there for anything they decide to do. After weighing my options, I asked if I could call a locksmith to come unlock the car and give us a key…”YES!”
So now I’m on a mission for a locksmith that will make “car” calls. I found one recommended to me by another business I called regarding this mini drama. I finally reached a locksmith and explained the situation to him and told him who’s name the title was in and blah, blah, blah. He said “No problem…(with dollar signs in his eyes.) And I did some more calling around setting up a late afternoon appointment so that my son’s father could drive straight from work to our place, prove who he was, and be on his way back home to be ready to hit the hay early as his work hours have gone crazy in this economy.
At 4:10 that afternoon the car was on it’s way to being unlocked… my son had been scolded, the key had been made, and the financial damage had been done. I was quoted a price of $160 dollars. The extra $5.00 over didn’t really bother me that much but the tax really torqued me! One key cost $179.03. The very next day we went to Fred Meyer and had two copies made that cost less than 1.79 each. One of which is now on MY keychain. The other is tucked away in a private cubby that only I know about.
The moral of this story is to ALWAYS have a spare. Be it batteries for your flashlight, sugar for your coffee, or underwear in case of car wreck. There is method in a mother’s madness. We aren’t as stupid as the young people think.
The name of the guilty has been blurred to protect him from his own parents. Lessen…. Learned.
This is pasted to the final page of my 2010 journal. The year started bad and ended bad as well. We are done with bad. Bad be gone! We are now ready for a prosperous new year.
I just had to share this “adventure in learning” with you as next time it very well could be you and it’s vital that you keep you head!
Be gone 2010! I’m ready for joy and prosperity! AMEN and AMEN!
While mastering the art of print making with my Epson Artisan 810 I had some hit and misses and since I didn’t want to “totally” waste the ink I used I decided to do a messy page of some of my printing attempts. I’ve since found all the proper settings and all little things I’ve overlooked during this learning process… The most important thing is that I taught myself so I won’t forget! The best news is… This is the second to the last page in the journal that has been challenging me all year. SO…. tomorrow I get to share the last page of my 2010 journal and I get to open up a new journal with blank pages and let my creative juices get it all dirty! I’m not one of those people who let a sheet of white paper scare me. I embrace it, transform it, and make it mine!
I’ll also share a few of my funniest and funkiest Christmas presents over the course of the next few weeks. Along with the creations I started to day even though I’m nodding off at my desk. I could very easily take a long winters nap!
I’ll be playing with new toys and supplies this week and sharing creations as they come along. I’ll also be planning what to serve on New Years Eve… I’m thinking of doing a appetizer style dinner… any suggestions on nibbles? I can feel my eyes growing heavy so I’m going to head to the couch and see if I can get a nap before one of my favorite Sunday shows comes on. G’night my sweet blog readers!
I want to wish you all a very blessed and Merry Christmas and safe and stress free travel time between your destinations. I will see you after Christmas to share with you my little Christmas miracle stories.
I’ll leave you with one of my favorite Christmas songs to help keep you in the spirit and wonder at the miracle of the baby born in a manger. This one always brings a tear to my eye.
I’m done. I’m actually done with shopping and painting, and printing, and varnishing, and painting,and wrapping, and constantly cleaning my hands from the stickiness of the creative process. I did it! With only a few days to spare. I’m so happy to have EVERYTHING wrapped and ready. I only have one small gift bag to find after putting it away yesterday & one very, very important letter to write that I bought and wrapped a box of Kleenex to give with…. now I have to put on my wrappings radar to seek it out this missing mini bag!.. which I will do tomorrow.
I truly do enjoy creating gifts for family and friends… they know they will be getting something heartfelt and customized to their own personalities and it won’t be a cookie cutter present. It warms my heart to watch them open something that I’ve created exclusively for them.
Of course there are those on your list that you can’t “make” for and they are usually men. This year I found a very unique solution to this very problem.. I went to Etsy. I typed what they liked into the search and found a huge list of goodies I could sort by price… and as we know… right now budget is KEY! You really need to try Home crafted items… there are thousands upon thousands of great gifts on Etsy. And each is unique. And if you can’t find what you’re looking for on Etsy … A “Google” search can truly do wonders for you.. just ask me… I’ll show you after Christmas! I scored one of the best gifts this way!
I’ve started making some block art for the new year and my Etsy shop since I finally finished my Christmas list. Here’s one of my favorites that will be hitting my store in early 2011. There will by many more to follow!
It’s funky, it’s chunky, and it stands on it’s own. No hanger required… Perfect for desks, shelves, cubicles. tables, mantles, dorms.. and great for places that frown on those nasty nails. I’ll have a collection of them up early in 2011…. They will be super affordable and are a great POP of color for every corner of every room!
Merry Christmas to you all… I’ll be back tomorrow to wish you Glad Tidings before heading out of town for a few day to enjoy Christmas Cheer with my family! I’m holding off this week on secrets to tempt you back next week to see what’s REALLY on my heart! /Teaser!
I ran across this video early this morning while checking my favorite news sites. I instantly fell in love with it. It’s very well done and well worth the 4 minute coffee break. =)
I’m spending my morning scanning paintings for print making and finishing up some of the last details on some gifts and wrappings and trappings. So as usual, I’m covered in paint. I’ll be happy when the last little gift is finally finished and trimmed in it’s pretty paper and ready to go out the door in our bundle of bags and boxes!
My toy of the week is my super duper ball. It’s pink and filled with liquid glittering pinkness. I saw this at Target not long ago and just had to grab it. It’s super bouncy and fun to play with on the kitchen floor.
I keep this in a basket above my computer and grab it every once in a while and start bouncing it around. It’s fun to watch the glitter inside swirl around it the water. I bought it because it’s PINK… and filled with glitter. Two of a girls favorite thing. Some parts of us never grow up! Thankfully.
I’ve got prints to print and trim so I’ll say adieu for today and I’ll be back tomorrow to whisper some sweet Wednesday nothings!
I really don’t like the chore of wrapping presents but this one was fun as I get to do several more of them just like it. Santa’s been tied up, he may be late this year. I was at a loss as to how to “group” the gifts for my nieces as I’m giving them several items this year and I stacked the packages and instantly I saw this idea in my head… I have more supplies than I can use so I’m always stocked on odd things. I happen to have a huge pile of embroidery floss and I thought it would be fun to use something unexpected instead of the standard ribbon. The tags are taped to the bottom of the larger gift and then wrapped up with the floss. It was a super quick and creative way to get the job done. I’m still working on a few gifts for family and friends but the majority of my wrapping is done! THANK GOD!
I want to share a beautiful blog with you. Jessica from “Inspired Mama Designs” is having a 12-day give-away! You simply MUST drop by her blog and look at all the wonderful things she’s giving away. Leave comments for the items and share the news with your friends. What an inspiring thing for her to do, especially at this time of year and in this economy. She is truly a Christmas angel! I entered earlier in the give-away and I won a $15 gift certificate from her online shop. I’m still trying to decide what I want to buy.. but I have my eye on something very inspiring. Please check her out and enter to win! Today she is giving away your choice of pendents and who can resist wearable art!
My fingers are actually sticky with glue as I’m wrapping things as soon as I’ve finished creating them. I’m so happy to be “almost” done. I’m definitely having my own private party when the last gift is wrapped! Which I pray will be tomorrow! Tune in to find out! And as always thanks for visiting. If you haven’t entered my give-away yet, scroll down till you find it and leave a comment… Thank you! =)
She’s a little horned owl with a sweet smile to share with you always. And I now have only two pages left to complete in my art journal! I had to play with my new toy I got this past week. I bought the Martha Stewart Chrysanthemum punch. It’s rather a bulky tool but has great potential! The little left over pieces from the flower can be saved and used for a dozen different things…including leaves for smaller flowers. (I use Altoids tins that I’ve emptied out for storing small things like this.) There are WAY to many art, crafts, and scrapper supplies out there. They are ALL so tempting.. especially now that Fred Meyer is adding some of Martha’s line to the branch I shop at. I guess it’s a blessing in disguise thought. I only buy one or two items a week so I don’t over spend.
Here’s a photo of the punch I took to share…
And yes… it is larger than an 8 ounce jar of Mod Podge. I’m looking forward to reorganizing my art supplies this coming new year. I’m more than ready to “neaten” up my studio area. It’s amazing how much I have accomplished in such a tiny creative space. I’ll take before and after pictures to share with you so you can rate my accomplishments. Sounds like a plan. Now I HAVE to commit to cleaning up the clutter. OY! What have I gotten myself into. ☺
