Art Journal Backgrounds

I mentioned the other day that I'd been doing a little (very little) bit of art journaling.  I think through this process that I have learned something about myself:  I like to make backgrounds almost better than anything else.

I've been working on something else, so when I had left-over paint I just slapped it on blank pages in various journals.  Results have been inconsistent at best.   Some I liked (above), and some are just ugly (below)...

...but they aren't done yet.  I'm sure that I can save them somehow - if all else fails, gesso will fix the problems. 

I like this one (below).  I haven't really used paint markers before, and I was just experimenting on the border here.  Like it!

And you can't go wrong with modeling paste and plastic doilies:

Used the doily as a stencil (top), then flipped it over and used it as a stamp (bottom).

Love, love, love everything about this page:  dimension, color, layout.  Just have to figure out what else to do with it to finish it off (without ruining it). 

Linking up here.

Valentine's Day Garland

This is crazy, but I wanted, needed, had to have my sewing machine!  I don't really know how to sew, but out of all my crafting supplies, that is what I missed most.  So, when I went home last weekend, that was the first thing I packed in my car!  Love, love, love having it here, and not only that, but I have actually used it in the last few days.

I whipped up a couple of Valentine's Day garlands. Who doesn't love a garland?!  So festive!

All it took was some scrap paper, the sewing machine, and a few punches.  Quick and easy!

And so colorful! LOVE! The trickiest part of the project was keeping them untangled (see below). I had to cut a couple of them apart and resew them because they got all knotted up. 

And then there was figuring out where to put the darn things in this tiny hotel room.  This is the best I came up with...

Just doin' what I can to try to make it home-y and festive.

Missin' My Studio

I have to say that I feel a bit weird calling it a 'studio'.   While we may do crafts in there, I think we also do art - and art is done in a studio, so there you have it.  I'm calling it a studio, and that's that.
Anyway, I'm missing it!

Look at how clean it was before I left. 

I brought some supplies with me, and I've been to the Hobby Lobby too many times to mention, but it's just not the same. I don't know what made me think I could live without my sewing machine. I N.E.E.D. it! I cannot wait until my trip home this weekend. I'm going to load it up in the car and haul it and a bunch more stuff back here (as if I have room for any more junk). 

Let me just show you the hardship I'm dealing with... (sarcasm).

I'm in an extended stay hotel, and it's like a teeny, tiny one bedroom apartment.  It's fine for what it is - serves its purpose, but it does not have one single closet!  I don't have anywhere to put my clothes much less my supplies.  So, as I have increased my hoard, I've also had to purchase storage solutions.  It's getting a little crazy...

This is where I'm working now.

Waaaa-laa!  Living room/napping space, dining room, office, studio combo. 

I took the combo theme a bit further and purchase the standing lamp/desk lamp at the Target.  It's ugly, but it's functional and it was cheap - those are my primary purchasing criteria right now.  I hate hotel rooms - why are they always so dark and dreary?  I like to SEE what I'm doing, so I want lots and lots and lots of light - all of the time.

Oh yeah, add kitchen area to that list too!  Here it is - my entire living space (except the bedroom and bathroom).  It is constantly in disarray because it's such a small space to cram all of my stuff into and actually live there, too!  Not to mention the oh-so-lovely burgundy, green, gold and peach color scheme.  I don't remember when I signed up for this kind of roughing it experience, but I don't like it.

I gotta find a place to live.

I'm willing to briefly consider the possibility that I might, just may be the teeny-tiniest bit spoiled.  Naaahhhh....

FREE - DIY Owl Calendar Printable

LOVE! Love! LOVE! Love this!!!
I'm going to print about 4 different versions.  :-)

 

Ch-ch-ch-check it out!

She Art - 2011

This year I took the She Art 1 and She Art 2 Workshops by Christy Tomlinson.  I also took her She Had Three Hearts Workshop.  They are all online, and the videos and instruction are wonderful.  She has such a great, comfortable style.  I have learned so, so, so much!  She makes it all look so easy.  I already posted two of the projects I completed this summer:

Here's one more of the girls that I did this year, that I thought I would share. 

I put her on an 8 x 10 canvas.

I love the dimensional aspects of it - the modeling paste stenciled design in the corner, and the wooden heart that kind of come off the surface and add texture.

This isn't a commercial, because neither of them know that I'm saying this, but I believe that Brave Girls Club and Christy have given me back my creativity.  I feel like I lost it for several years, and since I found those two sites, I have been bitten by the bug again - so grateful!!

Craftin - Part 4 - More Bracelets

I was cleaning out my tivo a couple of days ago and during a Martha marathon, I saw this wonderful craft.  Check it out on The Craft Department blog.  I L.O.V.E. these, and decided that I needed to make some asap!

I've made several - in several lengths:  7 inches just wraps once, 14 inches wraps twice, and 21 inches wraps three times.  I wouldn't go much longer than that because they start to get tight as they go further up your arm. 

Anyway, the tutorial on the Martha site is great, so I'm not going to do that here.  I will give you a couple of lessons learned...

1.  Old belts won't work - the leather is too stiff and too thick. After trying it on several different belts, I eventually went to Michael's and got a 1 pound bag of leather scraps ($5.99 before my 40% off coupon), and that worked perfectly!

2. Waxed linen thread or silk thread works best because they fit through most of the holes on the beads. Anything thicker and you won't be able to string the beads. Also, it's critical that it be waxed or else it will not be stiff enough or strong enough.

3.    Make sure you cut the thread several inches longer than the bracelet.  I was being a bit stingy with it at first, and ended up having to restring a couple because I ran out of thread before I ran out of bracelet. (The instructions say this, but I learned the hard way that the meant it!)

Once I got the hang of it, they were quick and easy to whip out.  I did it assembly line style - cut the strips, measured and punched holes, then strung the beads.  LOVE it and soooo cute!! 

Linking up here, here and here. 

25 Days of Christmas

I missed yesterday, so I'm catching up...

22.  What's the most important thing you must do each Christmas season?
I think the most important thing is being able to spend the holiday with my family.  All the rest of it is just icing on the cake. 

23.  Do you bake Christmas cookies?

Oh yeah...  There have been years when I made 6 or 7 different kinds, but this year I cut back.  I only made peanut butter cookies (I posted the recipe here) and oatmeal scotchies (I use the recipe on the butterscotch chips pkg - but I double the cinnamon - YUM!).  I guess I also made the date nut balls, but those are candy, so they don't count.  :-)

Craftin' - Part 3 - Brave Girl Charming

This summer I had Brave Girl "mini-camps" where several of my friends/family came over and we worked on our Soul Restoration 1 projects.  I did a couple of posts about it in April.  Here's one of the first ones. 

I was also lucky enough this summer to go back to the real Brave Girl Camp as part of the staff. Going back to serve a new group of girls was an amazing blessing.  I learned so much more and made so many new friends!  It was awesome!

Look at how sparkly they all are in this picture!!  That is exactly how this July camp felt - wonderful to spend time with all these bright, shiny, amazing women!

Anyway, over the last couple of months, I've been gathering vintage beads and charms, and I've managed to cobble together enough to create several "Brave Girl" charm bracelets for a few of these special girls.

 
As you can tell, they are all different metal tones, and beads with lots of color. That means they go with EVERYTHING, right?!

Every bracelet is different, but they all have several of the Brave Girl symbols: soul houses, truth tellers, brave girl boots and hats, and lots of heart(s)!

I've never made jewelry before, so this was a bit intimidating, but after the first one, I got the hang of it, and I was able to put all these together over just a couple of evenings.    

Of course, I made one for myself, too!  It will be fun to wear when I need a little bravery!

Linking up here, here and here.

25 Days of Christmas

19.  Snow? Love it? Dread it? Tolerate it?

In Texas, we get it so rarely that I like it.  When we get it, the city shuts down (so I get to "work from home"), but then it's gone within 2 - 3 days.  Also, it makes everything look so clean and pretty.  All that being said, I think that if I had to live with it and drive in it and actually continue normal activity in it for months at a time, I would probably be leaning more towards the DREAD end of the spectrum.  Since I'm off to Wisconsin in a few weeks, we will see pretty soon how I like it.  :-)

Craftin' - Part 2 - Art Journals

I'm letting the cat out of the bag a bit early because I'm giving these away as gifts this year.  I've been binding art journals.

I don't know why I decided that I knew how to bind a book, but I did, and I'm hoping they stay bound. 

I've used covers from old books that I got at the thrift store.  I cut out the guts so that I could replace them with 140 lb. watercolor/mixed media paper.  I've also thrown in a few various bits and pieces of other papers, bags and envelopes just to make things interesting. 

Once that's done, I stitch and glue it all together and WA - LA! 



Oh yeah, I add either sticky back canvas or this product called fabRips to the outside of the spine to reinforce it.  One a few of them, I also added a button and a ribbon so that they could be secured closed. 

After the first few experiments, I really tried to find some hard back books with pretty covers.  I have to say that it will be really hard to give these away.  LOVE!

Linking up here, here, here, here, here, here and here.

25 Days of Christmas

18.  How do you decorate your tree? 

I should have read all of these questions in advance and rearranged them to go with the appropriate posts because I keep repeating myself!  So, for the answer to this one, check out this post from last week!  And, I'm STILL lovin' my tree!

Craftin' - Part 1 - Christmas Pillows

I've been busy, busy, busy! 
This sounds absolutely INSANE, but I'm gonna tell you anyway.  I had a dream about these pillows, and when I woke up I HAD to make them!  Seriously - a dream - about pillows?!  YES, and aren't they cute?!

I went right out and bought some white and off-white lace and trim.  Then, I just used various fabric scraps (felt, canvas, burlap, linen, an old sweater) that I already had for the rest of it.

First, I cut out the triangles/trees.  I stamped dots or music notes on some of them with permanent ink.  Then, I sewed the trim on them - no rhyme or reason to the placement - just stitched it on.

I sewed the burlap to a piece of cotton canvas to give it a little more strength, then I added the trees. Once again, no plan - just pinned 'em down and zig-zag stitched around 'em - unfinished edges because I think that's cuter. 

I had two 14 x 14 pillow forms, so I used those for two of the pillows.  I don't even know the measurements of the third one - the plaid fabric scrap was a rectangle, and I just made the front to fit it and stuffed it with polyfill. 

The backs (obviously) - the plaid fabric is an old shirt, the floral is just a remnant I picked up somewhere, and the tan one is from an old sweater.  Look at me upcycling - I'm so trendy.  LOL!

So, so, so cute - even if I do say so myself!  LOVE!!

Linking up here, here, here, here, here and here.


25 Days of Christmas

16.  Is your big meal on Christmas Eve, Christmas morning, or Christmas afternoon?

We have several big meals:  Christmas Eve with my mom and family, at some point on Christmas day with my dad and family, and either later Christmas day or the next day with Joe's family.  It's really gluttonous - but it's only once (for three times) a year.  :-)

Ornament Wreath

These wreaths were all over the web last year, and I bought all of the stuff, but didn't get my wreath made in time for Christmas.  So, I threw away my tired old wreaths last year, which forced me to actually complete the project this year. 

All of these ornaments are plastic and I bought them all at the dollar store or in the $1 section at Target, so this was cheap, cheap, cheap - except for the $100 worth of hot glue sticks it took (maybe a slight exaggeration). 

I used copper, gold and silver  - some glittered and some not.  They really pop against the black door and look great with the spot light on them at night.  Soooo festive!

Linking up here and here.



25 Days of Christmas

14.  Is there a special ornament or Christmas decoration that you wouldn't feel like Christmas without?

All of them!  I think I already answered this question with my post about our tree and how much I love my ornaments!