ATC Pick A Stick Challenge!

Well, Happy Friday again! I don't usually post twice in one day, but I had to post my Pick A Stick ATC Challenge before it was too late! As I noted in my earlier post......that's usually how I role! LOLOL Not proud of that mind you, it just is what it is!!!

The ATC Pick A Stick Challenge comes out of the Pick A Stick Journal Challenger over on the Facebook Group of the same name. Whomever the "stick puller" is for the month, in this month's case, Sheri, picks 3 sticks from the 10 pulled for the Journal Challenge and the rules are to follow in order of the sticks pulled for your ATC. This months challenge was as follows:

So with out further ado, here is my August Pick A Stick ATC Challenge:

Isn't he the cutest! We LOVE puppies in our home, so this little guys was just the cutest to me!! Firstly I prepped my ATC, for the sake of never knowing what will come afterwards. Having an "idea" of what I wanted to do, I took out my Koi Water Colors and did a outdoor scene. Then Stick #1 was add a photo. I had this cute little puppy photo, so I had to use it, which also coupled for my Stick #2, which was add a dog image! Hee hee. May be cheating, but hey, it worked! LOLOL

Stick #3 was add wings, so I found this cute little bee stamp in my stash and I stamped him on the card along with some grass stamping at the bottom to make it appear as though he were in a field. I have always loved the saying that I added to the card and I found it really by accident when I was thumbing through a magazine, so I knew it was for my card. I finished out by distressing the edges with Vintage Photo and voila! Cute, no?

I have been playing around lately with ATC's and I though I would share a couple more I have done that were sitting on my desktop as well. Both were so much fun to do! I love doing tags and ATC's! They both have collaging incorporated along with acrylics with credit card and/or stenciling and some stamping. I really loved doing the bird! I had this canvas piece that I got in a grab bag from Donna Downey's Studio when I was up there last year and I simply gesso'd it and painted using some wonderful new paints that I have gotten recently. It turned out better than I thought it would! LOLOL

Well my friends, I think that is it for my Friday! I have posted more in the last three days than in awhile! LOL I guess it goes in cycles!  I have some new projects on my desk and can't wait to get started on them! Some of the new challenge reveals will be today or next week and we get to start all over again! YAYYYYYYYY! Really....YAY!

Have a wonderfully blessed weekend my friends! Craft away! :)

     

Dog Days of Summer!

Happy Friday all my crafty friends! We have "dog days" in Georgia, or at least what I call "dog days!" You know those lulled "hot" times in between summer and fall when you are just WISHING for fall to hurry up and get here! Yep, that it! Georgia NEVER seems to have an in between weather season. It's always the extreme from one straight to another! Ohhhhh bother, as Eeyore would say. So, we just hurry up and wait! LOLOL But the bright side is that it IS in fact Friday and the weekend is here! :)

Today, I will be sharing my Tag It Tuesday, albeit a little behind, for the month of August! I have been running like a mad woman all month and so, as per what would seem my norm, I'm coming in at the 9th hour with my projects!  This month Sheri, who is the coordinator over on the Facebook group, picked this month's challenge from the Color Wheel using secondary colors (green, violet, and orange). If you are like I was when I first saw these three colors together, you were like, HUH??? LOLOL, But, as it turns out, they actually worked quite well together!

I was very happy with how my tag came out and, as I have noted before, I am loving these challenges more and more because it really forces you to think outside the box and helps your growth in creativity! That's a good thing for stubborn folks like me! LOLOL

This tag really was simple and quick to do. I simply pulled a bunch of scrap papers, whether it was jelly pulls or scrapbook papers (in the colors requested), and collaged here and there on my tag along with a piece of left over lace and then did a gesso wash over top. I then pulled out acrylics in the required colors and placed on my non stick craft sheet and then took out an old credit card, dredged through each of the colors and scraped on my tag here and there. Then as I still had some paint on my sheet, I took a background stamp and stamped in the colors and placed on the tag for more texture.

I keep old calendars if they have good pictures on them and I had one that had some pretty orange flowers on them, so I cute one along with a couple of leaves to put on my tag and then took one of my butterfly stamps and stamped on some card stock and heat embossed with some WOW powder in black. then proceeded to color with some of the left over paint. I had a cute little stamp I got in a stash one time that says "Bloom where you're planted" that is just so cute to me, so I stamped it on some card stock and sprayed with some Lindy's and distressed with Vintage Photo. I used some Aleene's to adhere along with some pop dots and voila!!

I really was pleased with how it turned out! So my upside down smile ended up turning right side up!! LOLOL Step out and do a challenge today, you never know where it may lead you! :)

Make it a great Friday! :)

It's a Dog's Life!

Happy Thursday all my crafty friends!! It's a dog's life!!! LOLOL Woop, Woop!! Not really, but the dogs around my house certainly think so!!! They've got it made in the shade!!!! Well, to be honest, so do our kitties!!! LOLOL It's a virtual animal love fest at my house!! My girls would adopt EVERY dog and cat in the neighborhood if they could and I am just a "beast" when I won't stop on the side of the road and pick one up!!! Mean mommy, I tell you!! LOL Let's see how that works when they are out in the real world and it's on their own dime!!! LOL

So the title is all a part of my Pick A Stick Journal Challenge this month over on the Facebook Group page! Sheri was the amazing "stick puller" this month and if you missed the reveal video, you still have a bit of time to weigh in the challenge by watching the video here. As always, you have to follow the sequence of the stick pulls and have fun!! This month the pulls were as follows:

The main event for me on this journal challenge was the dog image (hence, It's a Dog's Life)! A little different for me because I don't usually do things like that, but I guess that's why it was a challenge!  I had fun in spite of some of the stick sequences!! LOLOL And you challengers know what I mean! LOL It get's better for me each time I do a challenge as far as thinking outside the box, so I'm stoked when I make it through without a hiccup! LOL

Ta da!! Yesterday on my WOYWW, I gave a sneak peek and here it is finished! As I said, I don't usually use animals, etc...in my journals, but it turned out pretty good I think! So, let's do a go through. First stick draw was to use book pages. That's probably one of my fave things to do, so that was easy enough. I have this HUGE old dictionary I found at a flea market that was falling apart so I bought it for 50 cents and now I have pages for eternity! LOLOL so I ripped em up and laid em down with Mod Podge and then stick #2 called for a rub on. I don't usually use rub on's but I just happened to have a few panels that I got in the sale bin one time so I pulled off the "LOVE" and added it to the bottom knowing that I was going to put the dog pic required on that same page. After that I gave the pages a gesso wash.

Stick #3 required we add a random sentence from a random book. I knew how I wanted to place the sentence on my page, so I temporarily put the dog pic on the page so that I could put the sentence around him so that later when I put the dog down it would still be there. The random sentence I chose from the random book was, OF COURSE, from the Holy Bible and the random sentence was Jeremiah 17:14 "O Lord, if you heal me, I will be truly healed; if you save me, I will be truly saved. My praises are for you alone!" I LOVE the truth of God's Word!!! Stick #4 was use a dog image. I printed off a free dog image from the internet and then decided to make it my own by painting him my way! I used my yummy new paints that I referred to in yesterday's post. It also said to draw, stamp or collage, so obviously I chose to collage. I only partially put it down because I wanted to add something to it late.

Stick #5 was add a photo. I had a cute photo of this beautiful lady and her pups from a magazine I had, so I tore it out and added it to the left panel with Mod Podge. Stick #6 said to add a quote, so I added the quote at the top of the page "Blessed is the person who earns the love of an old dog." I really like that! The Stick #7 was add paint with your fingers! Woop, woop.....my favorite part! LOL I used all quite a few of my new paints and just started spreading around trying to keep in these with the photo colors and the colors I painted my dog. Then Stick #8 was add wings!! So I did the same as with the dog. I downloaded a free picture from the internet and then painted them with my new paints and then I could add them to the dog that I had partially collaged down and then finished collaging them both together with Mod Podge.

Stick #9 was a bit of a stretch for me because I don't have fabric lying around...I DON'T SEW, so I had some doily pieces in my stash box so I pulled it out, painted it with one of the same colors in the background and glued it down as if it was his blanket. That's the best I could come up with! LOLOL and then finally Stick #10 was write the lyrics of a song onto the page. I used an old song by Dolly Parton called Cracker Jack about a dog! I wrote it around the picture on the left panel. I added some finishing touches such as stamping  stenciling, distressing, etc.... and voila, my August Challenge spread!!

Tomorrow I will share my ATC's as a part of this same challenge! Get her done......yep that's what I'm doing, albeit late in the game!! LOLOL

Have a wonderful day my friends! :)

WOYWW #377

Good Wednesday all my crafty friends! :) What a wonderful day it is today in spite of WHATEVER may be happening in the world today or what may be going on around you!! Did you know that YOU could change the atmosphere around you! The enemy of this world HAS to bend his knee to the praises of God's people!!! He CANNOT stand amidst such glory! God's Word says, "And so it was, WHENEVER the Spirit from God was upon Saul, that David would take a harp and play it with his hand. Then Saul would BECOME refreshed and well, and the distressing spirit would DEPART from him." 1 Samuel 16:23 I find it quite ironic and amazing that God uses the VERY THING that the enemy of this world used to use for God, against him!! Satan used to be the most beautiful angel of worship in Heaven before his fall! Now God uses the praises of His saints as the very tool to shut him down!! Don't we have an AMAZING Father in Heaven?

So what's on my work desk?  Mainly a mess......not too much different from any week..hee hee, but also I will give you a snippet of my journal pages that I am finishing up as a part of the Pick a Stick Challenge over on the Facebook Group of the same name! I am usually finished by now, but hey, my right as a female is to drag things on and on and on......hee hee I also have to finish the ATC's that go along with that challenge, but they are out of shot of this photo!

I've just about got this puppy done, with the exception of a few last minute touches! I have SOOOO enjoyed doing these challenges because they TOTALLY make me stretch. You have to follow the draw of the sticks and sometimes it really makes you scratch your head....hee hee, but then it always seems to follow through! I need to stretch a little, maybe it will help get off those extra 5 plus pounds I have put on lately! LOLOLOL

The paints directly to the top, right are new ones that I bought that I went on a mad search for! I couldn't find them for a bit, but finally happened upon them. Carole Martine, whom I follow on Google+ and on YouTube has used these paints on many of her projects and I finally asked her what they were and she very sweetly shared with me! Carol has such a calm presence as she arts and I love her style and clean art! You should check her out! I love the paints, by the way! LOLOL

The mess to the top left is just that, A MESS, it is pieces of book page and emphemera and some finished ATC's and stencils, all just thrown in a heap! One day, I will learn to put stuff away instead of just pushing it around my desk.....it's really annoying, so one would think I would figure that out! LOLOL I KNOW none of you have that problem though! LOLOL

So that's really it for me today folks. I am finishing up a few other challenges, that I hope to post this week and still trying to get some swaps in the mail.....again with the procrastination! LOLOL I hope your Wednesday finds you full of creativity! :)

If you can't find your own praise today, you may want to take a look at this video from Steffany Frizzell Gretzinger, it will surely help you on your way! :)Let the EVERY breath you have praise God today and change your very atmosphere!

Blessings

WOYWW #376

Good Wednesday all my crafty friends! I am amazed that it is Wednesday because I truly thought it was Tuesday!!! LOLOL That being said.....what happened to Monday? LOL I'm not kidding either! I really don't remember Monday, which of course, could present a problem!!! LOLOL Hope your day is starting off right!

Well, I missed last WOYWW. I have been very busy as of late with my job and the kiddos starting their first "real" week of school!  I'm so thankful that they have wonderful teachers and the school year seems to be getting off to a good start. My youngest decided she wanted to switch from the clarinet to the saxophone, which I totally encourage. She is so gifted in the music area, both of my girls are gifted in song, and I love the saxophone so I wanted her to have the opportunity to learn it if she so chose to. So that being said, in order for her to swap out instruments, we had to drive 2 1/2 hours away to do so! I was flabbergasted that the company would not just forward the instrument to the school (which was how they did it initially and would have been so much easier) but no, no, it was not to be! So this weekend, we had to drive out of town to go get her new fancy! So, all that said, I don't have crafts (of my own) to share with you this week!

But I DO have to share a wonderful package I got in the mail on Friday!!! I am in an ATC Swap group and my wonderful Tag Swap Pal Sue Marrazzo sent me this gorgeous package of goodies! Sue is an experimental artist who works in collage, mixed media, acrylic and encaustic painting, which just means.....SHES AMAZING! I have followed her art for awhile and just love what she does! I encourage you to go check her out!

Sue, just sent me a BUNDLE of goodies...I was blessed for sure! The package was decorated so cute as it was and then she sent me all sorts of goodies that could be used for collage and mixed media! THUMBS UP SUE, I was stoked! Sue also put in one of her postcards featuring a gallery event that stint that just wrapped up featuring her work! Wish I could have gone and seen her beautiful art! She also enclosed a note card that also featured her art! I'm sure it's meant to be used, but I just don't think I will be able to send that anywhere Sue! I will hoard it for myself! LOLOL

The main event, of course, were her collaged ATC's she sent me as part of the ATC Swap over on our Google+ Group-Creating and Sharing Mixed Media Art. I loved all the collaged pieces as well as all that yummy texture! I think Sue loves buttons because I have seen her work before with buttons and she also, SCORE, she sent me some buttons! Again, some of them, I won't be able to part with, so I will be hoarding those as well! LOLOL I know, I know, I'm terrible! Sue, I can't thank you enough, I just love EVERYTHING you sent me! I will treasure those ATC's!

Now, NEVER FEAR ATC Pal that I am supposed to be swapping with......I AM getting your goodies in the mail, I PROMISE!!! LOLOL I know I have needed to get the fire under my backside and hopefully get those goodies in the mail this week! :)

Well, as I noted earlier, that's it for my desk today! It's a sad truth, but the truth none the less! I hope you have a lot more going on, on your desk this Wednesday! I will be hopping over to check out many of your digs!

I pray that you have a WONDERFUL Wednesday and rest of the week and that you are walking in His light and love!

Blessings to you! :)

Throw Back Thursday

Good Thursday all my crafty friends! I have NOT been in my craft room all week.....boooooo, hisssss!! It is the first week back in school for my kiddos and we've been concentrating on getting back into the "school groove!" We already had tests to study for this week!! Uggghhh! I didn't even do WOYWW!! Yikes!!! Next week is catch up for sure!!

I do, however, need to finish things up on my desk and starting getting all my swaps in the mail! Boy, I need to get it into gear! LOLOL Never fear my swap pals, I will not let you down!! LOLOL

Last week, I showed some pix of my messy desk and one of my wonderful online friends made a comment about a canvas I had on my wall that she didn't remember ever seeing! I am sure I posted it at some point and time because I wouldn't have ever done ALL that work and not wanted to share it, you crafty guys know what I'm talking about!! But it may have been on Google+ and not my blog, so today I will share this canvas as a part of Throw Back Thursday! :)

I will try to remember how this canvas came to fruition, but my brain doesn't always operate with a full load! LOLOL This one's for you Zsuzsa! :) I'm pretty sure I began by collaging book pages here and there along with some scrapbook paper with Mod Podge. I then did a wash of gesso over top. From there I just pulled out my acrylics in various teals, blues and yellows, to match some of the emphemera I picked out to use on the canvas, and smooshed around with my fingers! I love using fingers to apply paint. There is something gratifying about it? Maybe it allows me to really take ownership of it? Remember the part about my brain not operating with a full load! LOLOLOL

I then simply pulled some of my background stamps out of my stash and stamped around here and there with Archival black ink. The two birds were emphemera I had in my stash that were black and white and I simply pulled out my Gelatos and applied the color with a paint brush. The other bird was a stamp I had in my stash that I stamped on some scrap paper and distressed with Distress Inks.

I found some other emphemera that I had that were a vintage postcard look with birds on them and then the other piece that had the bird eggs on them. So I Mod Podged all down along with some cute little flowers I had and a twig I had found in the yard for the one bird to perch on. I added my saying that I had stamped on some card stock and then, as always used my Faber Castell Big Brush Pens in various colors to do some shading.

I really enjoyed doing this canvas when I did it because I thoroughly believe we should sing aloud EVERY day!! You should have a passion if for nothing else, LIFE!! We should always have a song in our heart even in the bad times! Why? Because God tells us "For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope!" Jeremiah 29:11 That is an amazing promise for believers! I walk with hope knowing that I not only have a future, but an ETERNAL future! If that doesn't put a song in your heart, I don't know what would!!!

I pray you all have a fabulous day with a mighty song in your heart! 

Blessings!

WOYWW #374

Good WOYWW all my crafty friends!! It's another Wednesday, which would be fine any other time, but for me it's the last Wednesday of summer!! Yep, the kiddos start school on Friday. Why Friday, you say? Well, when you figure that one out let me know? I've never figured that one out, but you just go to it don't you? My girlies are ready to start back and be with their pals, but good old mom is NOT ready for the homework and studying!!! I know one day I will wish they were here to study, but right now, I dread it! LOLOL For all you folks who have kiddos starting school, many blessings to you for a happy new school year!!

So this weeks share of my desk will be nothing special. I don't really have projects to share as I am working on several things and the only thing on my desk right now is MESS! I have scattered pieces of quite a bit, so I will just have to show you that! LOLOL

Much of the same mess is on my desk from last week, but I am working on some tags and some ATC's, so you can see bits and pieces of those lying around. You can also see product that still hasn't made it back to the drawer from last week. I simply push it around my desk as if its a long way from the desk to the drawer!!! LOLOL It's just laziness, I tell you......I'm not too proud to say it!

And since I am about the "confession," I will show you the right corner of my desk that is REALLY a mess! This bit NEVER gets better! LOLOL I do try from time to time, but it is what it is! I save all my coffee and creamer cans and use them for bits and bobbles and for paint brushes and tools. It works out pretty good. One day I will decorate them like I have seen so many of you others do, but until then, it will just be a mess!  You will also see "peeping" in there my cuppa joe! Got to have it my friends....that's a main staple for my work space! The mug is from my beautiful sister who got it in Arizona at a Yoga Retreat! It has a dragonfly on it, which is my signature love!

Above my mug is a clipboard that I keep notes to myself on and ideas, etc....My oldest daughter hid away in my closet recently and did some artwork on it for me! It's special because she doesn't do the "art thing" with me at all. My youngest is my art buddy, so the fact that she slipped in there and made this for me as a surprise, was the sweetest! xoxoxo On the shelf above it all are my art books and art products and such. The wall to the right has some of my pieces hanging and also it is my "tag wall" where I have hung tags that were sent to me in swaps. One day I will show that wall! It's so special because I look at that wall often for inspiration and just a reminder of all the lovely people I have met online through our art communities!

I also wanted to share with you today evidence of two mischief makers in our home!These two guys are relentless!!! If it can be gotten into, these two find a way to do it at all costs! I mentioned in a recent post that my hubby brought home a kitten while I was conveniently on vacation, got to love him, and this little gal has fit right in! My youngest daughter named her Sox because of her white feet and how they looked like socks on her. She's too cute. We already had two indoor cats, so she just added to the interior! LOLOL                                                                                                                                                                                             In this pic, you will see our other baby Tigger, who has shown his face around my blog before! Tigger really didn't know what to think about Sox at first, but now they are buds! She really frustrates him from time to time because she wants to play like, ALL THE TIME, and he wants to be left alone to lounge....so you can image what happens then! But what is super funny about that is that he is getting a taste of his own medicine because before Sox came into the family, Tigger did the same thing to our other cat (not shown), whom we lovingly call "fat cat"!! She's our old bird and she will have NOTHING to do with Tigger and has just egged her on, on a DAILY BASIS, since he arrived into our home! So now, baby Sox is getting hers in! LOLOL Isn't it funny how what goes around comes around! LOLOL

Well crafty family, that's it for me today! Here's hoping you are having a FABULOUS Wednesday and many prayers for the rest of your week!

Blessings