WOYWW #439

Good Wednesday all my crafty friends!! Wednesdays seem to come around quicker than you think these days! LOL This year, Wednesdays have brought a sad face for me because I haven't been able to post as much as I have wanted, but yay to me....I get to post AGAIN this week! Back to back Wednesdays is a HUGE feat for me! LOL I hope to check out all my crafty pals Wednesday goodies over at Julia's blog on Stamping Ground! Come join in with us!

This week, I am going to share an "actual" picture from my work desk! LOL I might share a project too! LOL I have had a little time on my hands and have been just messing around with some scraps and things on my desk to see the outcome. I see ideas online and think to try them every now and then. MOST of the time, it's a bust, but the fact that I like getting messy and playing is enough to pull me on through! LOL

A few things on my desk today. The card in the middle is from a pad that was gifted me as part of a RAK from a dear friend. I was so happy to get it because I haven't ever really worked on black card stock before and have always wanted to mess around with it. I also STILL want to get Dyan Reaveley's square black creative journal that has been on my "wish list" for some time. Maybe a Christmas gift to myself...who knows? hee hee Anywho....I had versamark stamped a butterfly and some background stamps on there to see how it would turn out. The butterfly didn't turn out so well, but the background stamps did ok. I always forget to use my white embossing power and love the affect it has, so not sure why I don't use it more often?

So the plan, since I didn't get such a good impression with the butterfly, is to use my Koi watercolors, in that stinking cute travel box and my Caran d'Ache Neocolors along with my Jacquard Pearl Ex Mica Powder Pigments to bring it all out for a crafty little background for something? Maybe a card? who knows! Such is the art of "playing!" LOL


Since I wanted to share a project as well, don't shoot me Julia, I thought I would share this quick tag I did as a part of my 'au revoir' to summer! I wasn't necessarily feeling blue, but was feeling like showing the vibrant yellow's falling into the warm pink of fall.....and then one last yellow at the end! Corny, I know, but, it's what I was feeling! LOL

This really was a quick and fun tag whereby I started with Tim Holtz tissue paper in the background followed by a layer of gesso and then as I had pulled out my Caran d'Ache, used them to apply color to the background. I round off the corners with Distress ink, set with a fixative and then used some flower stamps from Unity Stamps with Archival Ink in black and then painted them using my Caran d'Ache crayons. I then highlighted the flowers using some really fabulous pearlescent paints that  I have in my stash and then finished them off by embellishing with glass beads from Finnabair! Voila!

Well, that's it for me guys! I hope you all have an AWESOME Wednesday, and don't forget to go visit all the other talented folks over on Julia's blog!

Blessings

Fantastic Friday!

Hey all my crafty friends! Two posts in one week....woop, woop...I feel like a new woman! LOL As I mentioned yesterday, I have several projects that I had done, I just haven't had the time to post, so I have a lot of catching up to do!! I keep up with most of you crafty folks, even if its just a quick glance at Facebook or Google+, so I have been envious of all the gorgeous projects you all have been posting!! So I have my work cut out for me! LOL

Today, I will share a little project I did for a young lady at work who we had a baby shower for. I usually like "making" my gifts as opposed to buying them. Mainly because it's an opportunity to bless someone with a little bit of me, but mostly because I like receiving "handmade" gifts and so I hope others do as well. It just seems more personal to me!

I honestly didn't know what I was going to make her until I went into a local store and was going down an aisle and out of the corner of my eye saw these foam mat puzzle pieces that you buy for children to put together for learning! I had an aha moment! I love when that happens! I knew I had a
canvas board at home and I thought, I can make "something" out of anything, right???? So it went straight into the buggy and onto my craft table!! LOL

I knew that  her colors would be yellow and she also had a "Peter Rabbit" theme. So I pulled out the rabbit square....nothing like Peter Rabbit, but there you go, and a couple of the other animals that I thought were cute. Then I took one of the pieces I didn't like and painted it yellow, knowing I was going to embellish it. I then took my canvas board, and mod podged some paper doilies on to give it a little "frilly" because its for a baby girl whose name will be "Lily" and then placed a layer of gesso on top. I then just took a credit card and scraped a couple of different shades of yellow acrylic on top.

From there I just took out some stencils that I love and a few more
acrylics and applied to the top along with some Distress stains to have a yummy background. I got the idea to apply some twine across, like a clothes line, because I found these cute little clothes pins in my stash and thought It would be cuteness! I then hot glued the foam blocks over top. The top foam block is the one I painted and I simply added some stamping and distress stains on it and then sealed it with some glitter modge podge. I found sound Tim Holtz letters in my stash and painted an "L" in pink and then added some glitter for a little pop! Hung my little clothes pins and voila!!! How cute and simple was that??? 


I love doing fun projects that I know I want to give away. It somehow makes it more gratifying for me, especially when it's blessing someone else! God's gifts He's given us should always be given back out to bless someone else...that way He gets ALLLLL the glory! :)

Well, that's it for me today folks! Here's hoping you have an AWESOME fall weekend planned! It's not full blown fall here yet, but we are experiencing some really great cool weather here today in good old Georgia and seeing some leaves changing, but the great stuff is yet to come! Fall is my favorite time of year and so it light of that, I will show you what my favorite stance is in the fall and winter time.....check it out......

HAVE AN AWESOME WEEKEND!

WOYWW #438

Good Wednesday all my crafty friends! It's time for WOYWW #438....come tag along! :) LONG TIME no post, huh???? I know, I know, what in the Haley's Comet????? Well, it's the same song (as it has been all year) second verse!!! This has NOT been an "arty" year for me!! We am STILL dealing with my precious, precious Papa and his health and trying to get him to decide to go into an assisted living unit. So far, IT'S A NO GO! He's the most stubborn person I know, even for a man!! LOLOL So my sisters and I are still trying to manage him at his home rotating out our duties in taking care of him. Something like this is always an inconvenience when you have a full time job, and we all three do, and when you have your own family to take care of. Now the inconvenience is NOT a burden, because I completely love my sweet Papa, but I say that in the best way I know how! He just wants to stay home, but he SO needs to be in assisted living. Keep us lifted up in prayer dear friends. I seem to be acquiring a few more gray hairs lately! LOLOL

In good news, I have managed to intermittently visit my "art closet" and do some crafting. So I actually do have projects on my desk to show, I just haven't been able to post anything lately. So I will do a few here and there so as not to bombard a post! LOL Today, I will share a tag that I made recently as a part of the Tag It Tuesday Group over on Facebook. I have long been involved in this group, however this year it has been harem scarem due to my responsibilities with my Papa. So I was stoked to have one for the October Theme, which was NATURE (trees, leaves, birds, bugs, etc..).

As many of you know that have followed me for any time, that I LOVE doing tags. They simply are just my fave thing to do. I love journaling as well, but tags are just fun! I actually did two tags for this theme because I did one and then had an idea for another, so two for one! LOL

This first guy is a "regular" sized tag that I had actually used to mop up a mess with and then went from there. I had used some Tattered Angels on another project and since we "frugal crafters" don't like to waste (Mama always said..."waste not, want not!" hee hee) I mopped up the extra for this quick tag. I then dried it and pulled out my Distress Inks and inked it up with my FAVE fall colors. Fall is my FAVORITE time of year!! I then remembered that I had this old stamp set that I gotten in the "bargain bin" one time is a tree and separate stamps for the little leaves and I thought it would be cute to use. I stamped and heat embossed it all and voila! I like quick tags! LOL

The next tag is a large 4x8 tag that I had gotten as part of a RAK from my precious friend Wanda in Iowa. She sent me a HUGE pile of large tags and I absolutely LOVE using them because you can do a little bit more on them than you do with a regular tag. I had to apply a coat of gesso on this guy because it is actually a green tag and I didn't want it to show through. I then pulled out some more of my Distress Stains to mimic a fall sky and then sprayed a fixative over it because I knew I wanted to do some stenciling and shading, etc...and I didn't want the background to move. I have this great stencil from Wendy Vecchi that I just love and knew I wanted to use. I also used Wendy's great inks in her fall colors to do the tree and leaves. I also did some shading with Pitt Big Brush Pens and a fountain pen to do some scribbling on the trees and ground. I knew I wanted some little birds and remembered my other precious friend Zsuzsa had sent me the cutest stamp set as a part of a RAK that had the cutest little birds on it! Yippee for me, right? I then stamped the sentiment from a past Layers of Life Unity Stamp Set and voila! Another quick tag! Got to love it!

I actually got to sit next to her and be in a "selfie!" Ha

On another note, a couple of weekends ago I took my sweet daughter to Atlanta for her 17th Birthday! She just wanted it to be me and her and to enjoy "city life" with all the downtown sparkles, shopping and food! You're only 17 once huh? So we trekked off for a long weekend and stayed with my sister-in-law and her family and had a great time! I thought I'd share some photos from our wonderful weekend together! I must add that the time together was precious to me because at 17, she really doesn't EVER want to be around her "uncool" mother, so the fact that she would be seen in public with me, was a milestone to say the least! It was, however, short lived......once we got home, I became the boring VERY UNCOOL mom again! LOLOLOL Oh well, get it while you can! :)

Had to share this because she didn't know what a phone booth was! LOLOL

Gorgeous Peachtree Plaza

So, I must share that one of her main requirements was to see downtown lights at night and what better place to do that than from the towering Peachtree Plaza!! The elevator goes up the OUTSIDE of the building a whopping 72 floors! Now that may not be tall to some of you city dwellers, but let me just tell you, when you are in a glass elevator on the OUTSIDE of a building going UP, your first thoughts, at around the 10th floor, is LET ME OUT!!!! LOL I wanted to die! LOL I got dizzy, wanted to throw up and the whole time she's whooping up and laughing at me, all the while videoing our ascent!! I finally just closed my eyes and couldn't wait for the elevator doors to open! LOLOL Let me just express to you that I DID NOT GO BACK DOWN THE WAY I CAME UP! LOLOL The top is a beautiful restaurant and bar that rotates so you get a 360 view of Atlanta. It's gorgeous, ONCE YOU ARE UP THERE, but going down, INSIDE, was much better! LOLOL

From the top two of my favorite buildings in Atlanta

She saw that Ferris Wheel from the top and said she "had" to go see it. It's not as wonderful as the one in London, but it was pretty cool! The Ferris Wheel is actually across from the Olympic Park where the 1996 Olympics were held. The views at night in Atlanta are stunning! We had a grand old time and maybe in another 17 years, she will allow me to be seen with her again in public!! LOL

Well that's it for me folks! I've taken up more time than I should have....but then....I'm making up for lost time!!  Happy Fall, for most folks, I hope you are getting beautiful scenery wherever you live!

Blessings

WOYWW #430

Good Wednesday all my crafty friends.....and it's WOYWW with Julia over on Stampin Ground! Time to snoop around and see how much more productive folks are being than me!!! LOL It's not hard to do these days! My art desk asks for my I.D. any more when I come around! LOL

I have been arting when I can these days. For those that have visited here at all, you know I have been dealing with the parents as of late!! I don't say that in a harsh way! Both of my parents are elderly, my dearest Papa more than my mother. My dad landed in hospital AGAIN and has been there for two weeks, which was why you guys didn't see me last week! We finally were able to break him out of that place yesterday and transfer him to a Rehabilitation Center so that he can get back to his good old self! We are in high hopes! My father is 90, very independent, and determined to get back home, so we shall see! Keep us in your prayers.

As I have been in and out as of late, I have worked on bits here and there and if I could ever manage to sit for more than a few, then I might get a full project done! LOLOL As it were, I have had these ATC's on my desk working on them a minute here and there. Like tags, I love working on ATC's. I wish I were as creative as some of the fantastic ATC artists out there, but I just piddle and have fun!

This go around, I decided to do a sixlet. I just taped them all
together, gesso'd them and then just pulled out a hodge podge of paint and just started swiping. After I was happy with my color choices, I just pulled out some background stamps and with no real thought just stamped here and there with Archival Ink in black.

I have a file with lots of different vintage photos in them (I love vintage, but I'm not too clever with them) so I just went through and pulled out a few and had fun. I haven't finished all six, as I said, I've been in and out, but I have three finished to show you today!

Ok my crafty friends, let it be said that I am NOT "techi" AT ALL!! So I have a situation that I want to throw out there that I KNOW somebody HAS TO KNOW how to solve!! Since I use "Blogger" for my blog and since we NO LONGER can use Picasa for our picture upload/edit, I do it straight from my computer, but HOW ON EARTH do you rotate a picture in Blogger? It is rotated on my computer, but when I upload it to Blogger (hence the above picture on the right) it turns it upright! Now, all I can say to that, after a WHOLE LOT of trying EVERYTHING, is what they say in the cartoons...."&%#$^&^%$%$%()*&*" LOLOL

Now, if any of you can solve that little ditty for me, I'm willing to send you a little love from my home to yours! Just comment below and I will make it so! :)

Well, I'm off to snoop around on fellow crafter blog posts and I am SURE I will find some wonderful goodies! I love getting to know so many of you talented people and thanks in advance for stopping in and always leaving such encouraging words! 

Blessings to you today!!!

WOYWW #428

Good morning all my crafty friends! It's Wednesday and most of you that would come here, know what that means! It's WOYWW!  And if you are here and don't know what that means, then go on over to Julia's blog, "Stamping Ground," and you can find out all about it and maybe join in! :)

Like Julia, I haven't done much at my desk lately due to all the mayhem that has been going on in my life! I did manage to get a little free time in the other day and just piddle around and that's what's still on my desk. Because of my "crazy life" lately, I haven't been able to really participate in all my wonderful challenges because I can't seem to meet the deadlines for some occurrence cropping up and putting a wrench in it! LOLOL But just as well, sometimes I like to just go to my art desk and pull out stuff with nothing in mind and just go to it and have fun!

One of my all time fave things to do are tags. I could do them all day long (time permitting...hee hee) so I just decided to pull a few out just do some backgrounds. I wanted to try to do both tags with two different tools just to see how they would turn out. So I grabbed this art sponge I had to do one tag and then grabbed the brayer to do another. I just wanted to see how the two differed in the end. I had fun because I wasn't worried about the colors I used, the theme, or anything! I just grabbed some of my favorite paints and went to town!

End results were great! I really love how both applications look. Using the sponge and just "smooshing" here and there as I layered the colors was a really cool effect to me. I finished the edges off with my fave Tim Holtz distress colors and then the brayer also has great effects when you just layer and layer colors as well. I did add some stenciling at the finish of the brayered tag along with distress colors on the edges. Just good ole "assling" around, as my father-in-law says....excuse the french! LOLOL

Don't know if I will use them for anything or not, but I just enjoyed playing! Another thing I wanted to show you that was on my desk was this FABULOUS WIN where I had entered and won from guest designer "Kreative Kymona" and her StencilGirl craft and giveaway! I NEVER win anything, so I was so stoked to win on her blog!

When you get the chance, go on over to her blog and check her amazing "kreativity" out! Kymona is the sweetest girl and she is a very talented crafter. Her first love is cards but she just creative all the way around! Kymona did a guest spot on StencilGirl Talk using their fabulous stencils for a few projects and as a part of her guest spot she gave away the projects she created! I was one of the winners and got to choose the project I wanted and I wanted her fabulous journal creation! Woop, woop!

Isn't it the cutest??? I love it and I was lucky enough to get one of her beautiful cards to boot! She wrote the sweetest note inside and I feel like a kid in a candy store! Thank you so much Kymona for your fabulous journal, I can't wait to do some of my own creations inside!

On another note......look who I got a "selfie" with!!!! Aren't they the CUTEST?????????

Yep, that's two of my favorite folks in the world, my parents!! LOLOL I go to the facility that they are both at every weekend and spend all day with them, playing games and get them out in the fresh air taking walks. We were going around the block in this selfie shot! Doesn't my dad look fabulous!!! He still has a little black and blue left (you may remember in an earlier post where I told you guys that he fell face first), but he is healing so nicely! He got the stitches out of his nose last week and it's doing good! Remain to keep him in your prayers as we are dealing NOW with pneumonia. Bless his heart, he just can't catch a break! I sure do love my parents!

Well guys, that's it for me today. I am going to try to post another day this week. It's killing me that I'm not posting as much as I'd like to, but in time.....all in time....

Have an AWESOME Wednesday and blessings to you!

WOYWW #426

Good Wednesday all my crafty friends!!! Today is WOYWW! I love this day because I go over and see everyone's blog and what they are up to.  I like to do that because usually during "normal" days, I don't typically go over to others' blogs save a few here and there. So this really forces (not in a bad way) me to visit on other blogs. I love learning about others' lives and their special gifted art form of creativity! Sometimes I rob (in a good way) ideas to try out to get me out of my old habits of doing things and it usually turns out to be fun! So thank YOU all you wonderful art pals for great ideas and sharing your creativity, gifts and talents. If you want to join along, go on over to Julia's blog, Stamping Ground, and play along! :)

So many that visit me know of my deep love for my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, and my daily visits and conversations with Him. Not sure (well, I really do) where I'd be without my daily coffee conversations with Him. He is so patient and kind with me and listens with an intent ear to all that I have to say. And continues to instruct me in His way that I don't make a complete daboggle of my life! LOLOL My usual place of conversation is on my love seat (usually with my feline friends arguing over whose going to sit with me) looking straight across to my bay window and out into His beautiful creation! I'm so thankful that He gives me breath daily to witness His rising every morning! He never ceases to disappoint!

This morning, the scripture He brought me to as I beheld His wonder was "Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God" (1Jhn 3:1) What LOVE indeed!! How more fitting could that scripture have been for me this morning as I gazed out my bay window to see His love in FULL display! Now, I could see the tinges of what was about to be His glory from my love seat, but you can't tell from this picture, so I rose up and went outside to see Him in all His splendor for you to see as well! I was moved to compassion....what manner of love that THIS ONE GOD chose to call me His own and show Himself to me not only in the spiritual (through the pages of His glorious Word) but also in the physical with a display that said, "Here Am I!" Be still  my heart! Well, it just plain doesn't get any better than this! What a privilege to be a part of such a display to KNOW Him and to be KNOWN by Him! What manner of love indeed!

So what's on my work desk today??? Well yesterday I told you that I had discovered a "new art form" (for me anyway) that I just had to try out. I actually came across it while surfing the internet for pictures of mandalas and their history! I'm in love! Now as we mixed media artists always are, when we see something, we just have to try it and can't sleep or sit still until we get the supply and give it a go ourselves! You know what I'm talking about.......don't even try to deny it! It's in our DNA, it's almost a sickness!! LOLOL Some of those little ditty's didn't stick, but most of the new forms I wanted to try did and I end up loving them!! This is going to be one of them!!

Paint dot mandalas!! Who new???? I didn't! You may have!! LOLOL So I found this awesome artist Elspeth McLean who does paint dot mandalas who is just amazing. She started, I think, doing them on rocks and it exploded to canvas. I also have found another artist who also saw Elspeth and starting doing them herself as well and she is also quite good. I found her on YouTube and I love watching her videos as well as Elspeth's. This lady's name is Kristin Uhrig  and I have actually had some email conversation with her about her style. She has such a lovely nature and I really enjoy watching her instructional videos because they helped me get started!

First Go!

So guess what's on my work desk???? A little archaic at best, but a work in progress! I'm learning and as in all things, the more you practice, the better you get! We shall see! LOLOL This little ditty was my very first one!
Don't be hating on me.....it was my first go! LOLOL So after I did this small one (5x7 to be exact) and loved doing it, I felt comfortable going a little bigger (8x10).
I'm clearly not done yet, but wanted you to see what I was doing and how I got started. What do you think???

Work in Progress!

Espeth's colorful art comes from her own spirituality, I believe, whereby you can see her passion for her beliefs. Although different from my own beliefs, still so beautiful and something I can glean from and turn into my own style out of my own beliefs! We don't all have to think and believe the same to enjoy one another's gifts and talents! I encourage you to go over and check her website out as well as checking out Kristin's YouTube page!

Well, this novel, must end! LOLOL I hope you all have an AWESOME Wednesday and visit as many of these talented folks as you can and give them a little love! 

Be blessed!

Grateful!

Good Tuesday all my crafty friends! I am steady trying to get back up and running! LOL I tried like anything to get some of the July challenges that I love being a part of done so that I could post, but alas, it did not happen! My saga continues!! Did you ever feel like you can't catch a break? LOL

Me and my dear, sweet, Papa BEFORE the fall!

Last week for me was mayhem, to say the least. I think most of you, who visit me here, know that I have been taking care of elderly parents and most recently, my father has had many health issues. He has been in a rehab unit after having major health issues trying to get back to par. Well the other weekend, against doctor's request, he tried to get up out of his wheelchair (on his own, which is the key) and ended up falling face first through a wooden table and then face first to the floor! It was like a war zone in his room! I've never seen so much blood in my life! It was so very scary for my sisters and I! Thank goodness we were there when it happened! Did I mention he is soon to be 90 years old? That man!!!! He is as stubborn as the day is long!

Well after a trip to the hospital, we found that all of his facial structure is broken in and after a little bit of surgery we found out that no damage to the spine or skull fractures occurred as a result. In addition they were worried about brain and spinal fluid leakage, but thank the good Lord above, there was none! So as it goes, it will have to be natural healing for the poor old fellow as they did all they could surgically! His face looks like he'd been taken out back and whipped! LOL It's not funny, but we can laugh about it now. After all, sometimes, you laugh just not to cry! I'm so thankful to the Lord for keeping my earthly father in the midst of all this! What a blessing!

So needless to say, I did hardly any crafting last week due to most of the week at the hospital. By the end of the week, I needed a little "art time" however. As I knew I would probably NOT make any of the July challenge deadlines, I just decided to spend crafting time with my oldest daughter. That was a huge feat considering she doesn't want to spend time with Mommy anymore!! She's 17 and spending time with me isn't "cool" anymore! LOLOL But as usual, there was an ulterior motive! LOL

My oldest dolly crafting! :)

Stringing Along!

Many moons ago, I used to make jewelry and made great side money at it. But then.....I found mixed media and threw the jewelry making to the side. LOL I still do a few things every now and again, but my first love involves getting messy! LOLOL Right now, in the U.S. anyway, the rage is bracelets, bracelets, bracelets and MORE bracelets! Not a problem for me because I LOVE bracelets! BUT where the problem comes in for me is actually "paying" for them when I KNOW I can make them! And I have the stash to do it! So, pretty much a "no brainer!" Even though I like sowing into others, some things I just won't relent on and making something, when I know I can, as opposed to paying for it is one of them!

A finished few!

So my little chickadee wanted to spend quality time with good old mom making bracelets! a Yay for me and for her! We had lots of fun and enjoyed spending time with one another. I made quite a few for myself (OF COURSE!) and she made some great ones for herself as well! They always wear better when you know you put your own creativity and hard work into it! Side bar......if you don't want others to see what you've done and exclaim..."I WANT ONE!" then don't go down that road or if you do, don't show anyone! LOLOL But I love making for others, so my next step is doing just that! I already  have a list from friends and family! Thank you Lord for my gift of creativity! LOL

I do have some projects still on my art desk this week and so I do want to finish them and will post even though they will be "after the fact" as far as July challenges are concerned! It's about the fun anyway! :) I have a "new" art style I found online that I am trying out as well and I will share tomorrow what I have been learning and trying to make! Lot's of fun!

Well, as promised, I wanted to share a picture of "Fat Kitty" this week. Last week I shared pictures of Sox and Tigger but didn't have one of Fat Kitty......literally her name! LOL She is temperamental to say the least, but she is my 17 year old's cat, so there you go! LOL This picture shows her at her best and one day I will show the "real" skinny.....er ummm, not really....on her! She's so large (how large is she!!) that her tummy drags the floor! LOLOL Bless her little heart! But, I guess she's happy! That's all that matters!  This one's for you Zsuzsa!

Well crafters, have a B-E-A-utiful day!!! Check you tomorrow on WOYWW!!

Blessings