Chaos in Pink

Ξ July 26th, 2011 | → 0 Comments | ∇ Around The House, Art-tastic, Chatter, Supplies/Techniques, Tammy's Toys |

Yes… another Spam can completed. I used text pages for this one. I let my paintbrush lead me on what colors to use. … actually I used a baby wipe for application on this. I used some paper flowers I had in a light blue that I painted turquoise and purple… and the bling in the middle of each flower is literally a “Bling” sticker by Jolee’s. I glued them on as the sticky stuff on the back of the stickers has a tendency to get old and fall off over time. Glitter paint by Martha Stewart is brushed onto the flowers and the rim is painted with purple nail polish… and trimmed with some purple ribbon. And done! These can hold anything! Pencils, pens, any “desk/school” related item. They would also make awesome windowsill planters for herbs or small tabletop planters for nightstands, desks, tables, etc to accent your bedroom, dorm or girl cave. Each one has pretty much created itself so far and I’m working on the forth one today… Think Day of the Dead… Oh yeah! Talk about fun and funky.

Here’s the Chaos in Pink that I’m dealing with today. I have a ton of “little” projects going which makes for more mess than I can deal with. I tried to clean it up yesterday and had part of it done when I got a second wind of creative energy and all the cleanliness just hopped out my window… (that’s what I get for always having my window open!)  I really need to get some of these things wrapped up and taken care of because it’s messing with my brain’s feng shui.  I’ll have to get this cleaned tomorrow for sure… if not this evening. Today’s toy is my hippy headband… This is like a Where’s Waldo picture with cheats… if you look close enough you’ll see the beaded band I put around my hair when it’s driving me nuts and the fan is on blowing it in my eyes.

That’s it for today… I have many irons in the fire today so I need to go check to see if paints and glues are dried so I can move forward again. Until tomorrow! I hope you’re in a beautiful mess too!

 

Rainy Days and Mondays

Ξ July 25th, 2011 | → 0 Comments | ∇ Around The House, Art-tastic, Big Eyed Girls, Chatter, Greetings Line, Photography |

♥ Basket of Paintings ♥
Here’s a tiny spot in my studio where I put little art objects… I have a card with a backpack strung from it given to me by my mom… there are two of my paintings and two cards I made recently… also I have a Kelly Rae Roberts magnet that was given to me as well. They all rest on some leaves I pressed… after picking them up from the yard after a wind storm about a month and a half ago. Time is truly spinning by so fast since we’ve moved. I can’t believe it’s nearly August already! Slow…d.o.w.n! I need time to breathe.  

I have so many projects going today… I’m working on another Spam can, and some more of the TP treasure pieces and trying to get some semblance of order on my desk. It’s a huge mess today. So much so that I had to stop everything I was doing to put some things away so I could “think.”  Thankfully I don’t have heat clouding my thinking like yesterday… it’s much cooler today! Just the way I like it. I hope this weather holds for a while so I can get some more work done in the yard. I’ll share a few photos of that project soon. For now I’m off to finish my upcycle project and try to get some Etsy write-ups done so I can post tomorrow. =) Until tomorrow… Keep Kreating!

 

How Things Come Together….

Ξ July 22nd, 2011 | → 0 Comments | ∇ Around The House, Challenges, Chatter, On The Move, Photography |

This shelf was in our last bathroom… back in the day (3 months ago) when we all shared the same bath.) I painted it with three coats of semi gloss and it looks stunning and ready for decorations. I placed a tiny candle on it that will soon be replaced with …

The tall one in the middle. I think it will make the perfect focal point for the shelf along with a few seashells and such. I’ll use the glass tiled “vase” for cut greens from the front hedges. The bathroom will have a bit of life and with the skylight the greens will fit right in and it will give it that finished look for the room. I’ll include a finished photo when I’ve completed this little project. I’m just glad I found a place to hang my first “flower” painting. I’m starting to fall in love with the green/blue swimming colors that combine so well when wet. They blend so well and look so scrumptious that it’s hard to stop working with them.

Last night after dinner I went outside to the back yard with a hoe and started in… I did the entire length of the back yard +! I only have a small section to go. I’m ready to plant! OMG… you have no idea how much work that really was… how every muscle ached and how the sweat was dripping from my brow. It was SO WORTH it! I’m very excited about getting roots in the ground from various plants. I have two that will be ready this weekend…I’m not sure I can move today. Heh!

Later today it’s a trip to Fred Meyer to spend the last of my points on curtains and then I’m done until it’s time to hang the shelf … much like the bathroom shelf I painted, but much longer… in my bedroom. Things are coming together very nicely and I’m thrilled to share the journey.

 

A look at my retreat

Ξ July 20th, 2011 | → 0 Comments | ∇ Around The House, Challenges, Chatter, For The Kingdom, On The Move, Reading Room, The Healing Garden, Whispering Wednesday |

Here’s a picture of my room shortly after moving in…. and below is how it looks today…

I’m still working on it but I feel so good about getting my shadow boxes repainted and hung. My dad made them for me many moons ago for another house… they served as window treatments in a huge store-front style window. After a few coats of satin white they gleam again and look fresh as a daisy and ready for art and nik naks to display.  My nightstands are perfect for this room so I was really happy to have the added white furniture as I’m using such strong colors that anything else might overwhelm. On my night stand on the left of the picture I have a small-yet-growing collection of crosses that I plan to hang over my closet doors. I have some of my art popped on the shelves of the shadow boxes and a few reading lamps clipped to my headboard. I’ll be swapping them out when I find what I’m after… everything I’ve found so far is to bright and the bulbs for the lamps don’t come in 20w…. so my search continues. I have one of my bibles on the left with a notebook, and on the right I have my Kindle and a book that’s on my list to read. The photos are of my parents and my favorite kiddo.

I’m going to Walmart today to see if I can find some sheers for my headboard backdrop… and to find a frame for a poster of the Eiffel Tower my mom bought me… I’m also going to be looking for something to hang a very long shelf with. So I’m excited to venture out today (and sneak down the art aisle!)  I’ll share the shelf and art poster after I get that area started… right now it’s just a blank wall. Let me know what you think and if you have any creative juice ideas please share! I’m always open to suggestion!

My whisper for today is simple…

  • I’m reading my bible more and more lately. 


Until tomorrow… when I have some art to share… God Bless and take care!


 

Toilet Paper Treasures!

Ξ July 15th, 2011 | → 2 Comments | ∇ Around The House, Art-tastic, Challenges, Chatter, For The Kingdom, Supplies/Techniques |

Using up-cycled toilet paper rolls I’m creating something that will be posted on Sunday… This is for my new Category that I hope will become a weekly posting. I took the TP roll and cut it with scissors lengthwise. Using a spray bottle with water I misted it until it was just pliable and flattened it using my hand. Then I did the same on the opposite side. I let them dry before applying layers of printed papers. I used a Trader Joe’s newsprint fryer for these. Next time I’m using vintage sheet music. After they dried I started by using very crumpled tissue paper and mod podge. I gently flattened out the tissue and used a mist of water from the spray bottle and adhered with mod podge on both bottom and top. Let dry again… and then the fun really began! Using different color schemes I used baby wipes, paper towels, fingers, paint brushes, bubble wrap and other found objects to apply paints. With some you can apply when they are both wet but with others because of the color difference it’s best to let them dry between coats or the colors become muddy.

After you’ve complete that part of the process you can pull out your embellishments and have fun! As these are not done yet I will give more detail about each one when I post them individually. As you can see in the photo the blue/green one has wet mod podge on the umbrella so I’m in play mode right now. I just wanted to take a bit of time to tell you not to toss the TP!  You can make ART on EVERYTHING!  Back tomorrow with an update on one thing or another… until then… God Bless You!

By the way… I got this idea from Hands and Heart and want to share her link.

 

Full Circle

Ξ July 13th, 2011 | → 0 Comments | ∇ Art-tastic, Chatter, Etsy, Reading Room, The Great Outdoors!, Whispering Wednesday |

♥ Full Circle ♥

From beginning to end… here’s the finished painting. I worked on this all day last Friday and finished it up. All I need to do now is give it a coat of varnish. I’ve temporarily hung it on my studio wall to photograph it and will have it up on Etsy by next week. What a fun project it turned out to be. I really enjoyed the washes of color and the freedom this allowed me to explore. I enjoyed it so much that I have a plethora of little items on my desk that I’m playing with… and I’m having a hard time tearing myself away from my playtime!

I can’t believe it’s Wednesday already! The time has been flying by so fast since we moved… I finally got my plants re-potted in gorgeous new planters (I’ll photograph them and share soon!) And Monday was spent cleaning, vacuuming, mopping, and cleaning some more. With three bathrooms their’s upkeep that needs to be done. =)


My parents came by on Monday and again on Tuesday with my niece. We had a nice visit and laughed till our sides hurt. I’ve been staying up WAY to late reading and have been paying for it this week. I feel foggy headed… but I finally finished Bonheoffer. Now I’m reading The Hiding Place. (It’s a *must-have-box-of-tissues* book so far.) I have a few books lined up for after I’ve finished this one but I haven’t decided yet which one it will be.


Whispering Wednesday is here once again and it’s time to share something obscure about me. So here’s a few oddities off the top of my head.


  • I don’t like rhubarb.
  • I adore tassels and fringe.
  • At 18 years old all my art supplies fit in a 12″ by 9″ basket…


…that I carried with me wherever I went. Oh how times have changed!


 

Work in Progress

Ξ July 8th, 2011 | → 0 Comments | ∇ Around The House, Art-tastic, Chatter, For The Kingdom, Supplies/Techniques, The Great Outdoors! |

♥ Work in Progress ♥

Here’s something off the beaten path that I usually travel. I found a tutorial with flowers in it and fell in love so I thought I’d try to make the flowers with this painting. You know how much I adore texture… I’m having a lot of fun layering and painting, and layering again! I adore bright and cheerful colors and might even find a place in the living room to hang this if it turns out the way I want. If this turns out as good as it is fun to create I’ll be over the moon happy!

I’m using a piece of beaten up wood that I gesso’d about three times. Then I layered it with super crumpled tissue paper, torn up decorative paper napkins and started with acrylic paints. I’m using torn circles using decorative papers and enhancing them with paints and stamps and whatever takes me creative eye. So far I’ve used acrylic paints, mod podge, gesso, and watercolor crayons and I’m not even half done.

Our weather is thankfully cooler again today and I’m so happy about that. I love opening the window, turning on my desk fan and wearing a hoody! I adore the chilly air. I could live outside with a campfire to keep me warm and a shelter to sleep in if I had to… as long as I had art to keep me company!

I’m fighting with my broken glasses today but at least I can *sort* of see unlike yesterday’s fiasco! I pray that my new specs come back perfect next week… and I also pray it IS next week… she made it sound like it could run into the following week… OY!  Okay enough complaining I guess… I’m going back to painting. God Bless you and thanks for taking the time to visit my blog!

 

New Glasses

Ξ July 7th, 2011 | → 0 Comments | ∇ Around The House, Chatter, The Healing Garden |

Well… I like them… but… they measured the bifocal line WAY to low so I have to go back today and get them remeasured so I’ll be out of new specs for a while… My old ones broke the day before these were supposed to be done but I had to wait an extra 4 1/2 days for them due to the holiday. I can’t say I’m not disappointed, or that I didn’t shed a few tears both from disappointment and frustration. Sigh… I guess God is teaching me yet another lesson in patience. I’m not looking forward to wearing glued and re-glued glasses for another week and a half. I didn’t realize how horrible the line placement was on these until I sat down to paint today. I can only see the line of the bifocal. I tried for over an hour and gave up… called the vision clinic and now have an “eye-graine!” Hopefully the Advil I popped will help out.

I’ve tons to do today, grocery shop, vision clinic, and today’s our 4-year wedding anniversary so I have to head out and git r done! I’ll be back tomorrow to give you an update! God Bless!

 

Where I Create

Ξ July 1st, 2011 | → 0 Comments | ∇ Around The House, Art-tastic, Chatter, Photography, The Healing Garden |


Shortly after my recent trip to Walmart for Independence Day~ I found the art supply section of the store. You can see the big jar of Mod Podge and Aleene’s Tacky Glue looming in the background! They are two of my much needed finds. The fan is for both comfort and putting art items to dry in front of. Works great. I get the breeze and the recently “glued ~ or ~ painted” items get a nice bit of wind to help them “set.” The spray bottle is a MUST have … it’s perfect for wetting and setting tissues and napkins. I crinkle, then place, then spray, dab, and mod podge them into place. The glass of ewy goo is extremely dirty paint brush cleaning water. Note to self, change water! That’s what happens in a day of creating! The purple wire basket holds a Tupperware style container with a large sponge in it and is filled with water. It’s used for cleaning rubberstamps and brushes. Other items of interest are paintbrushes, scissors, a bit of gold trimmed black ribbon that I’ve been hording for a long time! The meat tray is my palette. I always use them for palettes. They are free, they work great, wash up sweetly, and I just toss them when I’m done. They last for a long time as well.

Here you can get a glimpse at some painter tape I was using to mask off the Spam cans for painting the rims of the cans with nail polish, also you’ll see my “pot of paintbrushes” ~ my mom painted the pot. She’s an extremely talented decorative painter. I have much of her work and it’s displayed throughout my new home! Along with a rubberstamp you’ll see a stamp pad and my candle. I wrapped this cheapo candle jar with a bit of fun fur and added a few drops of lavender oil so when I light it and start my music I’m in full-on paint mode!

Now we’re talking… See that chocolate. Actually I buy that for my hubs. I rarely eat it. I prefer my chocolate in coffee/liquid form and have recently been searching for a frozen hot chocolate recipe that I can modify with some STRONG espresso. NOM! You can see my stack of drawers which is actually six drawers high. The jar with the cork was a gift when I was in college… My parents gave it to me FULL of quarters so I could do my laundry. It had well over $200 worth of wash in it. Now I use it mainly for trail mix so I don’t have to fix lunch while creating. I just grab a handful and keep going. Right now it has a bit of Wasabi Peas in it.  The pile in front on the left contains much of my recent Walmart art supply purchase. I’ll share those later. =) The yellow square shelves have been in storage under our bed for the past 6 odd years as we had no room for them. I bought them at a garage sale after moving to Olympia and only got to use them for about a year. They are PERFECT for supplies and adding objects of interest. Many which are “just because” gifts from my mom. She knows me SO WELL!

Now that you’ve seen a glimpse of what happens during the creating process… I’m off to clean up my messy desk and get ready for a new project (which I’ve already started.) I’ll share as soon as the mess is cleared away!

 

Cheep Cheep

Ξ June 15th, 2011 | → 1 Comments | ∇ Around The House, Chatter, For The Kingdom, Photography, Whispering Wednesday |

Impossible as it was to take a photo of a swaying bird-feeder while this character ate… I did the best I could without alarming our guest. Yes it turned out rather blurry so I tweaked it in Photoshop and made it look more “artistic.” I love birds… and I’m delighted to report that our feeder has become a hub for our fine-feathered friends in our new neighborhood. We have yet to buy a bird bath but it’s definitely on the list of must haves.

My desk is looking like a pile of paints and papers today as I’ve started the new painting and my fingers have various shades of blues and greens on them as I type. I love a beautiful mess like that! I’ll be playing a bit today but will be calling it short as my hubs has a short day at work and is then off to buy a BBQ and I’ll likely be making burgers this afternoon.

It’s already Wednesday so I have some whispers to share today… come real close so no one else hears while I whisper in your ear!

  • I believe that God shows me things through birds. 
  • In my early twenties I became absolutely fascinated with birds and studied and read up on them.
  • I am in love with my new gas stove – and have cooked birds… just chickens.. in it.
  • I have a twisted sense of humor!

That’s it for today. I have to rush off and get a few things done before my time is up for the morning. I’ll be back tomorrow with some juicy tidbit or another! God Bless YOU!

 

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