A Tisket, a Tasket, a Basket for your Wall

I scored five a these shallow, wooden baskets a month ago from a local craft swap. I posted my first  "mini" shadow basket earlier this month. Today I finished my mushroom forest. I covered the back/bottom of the basket with moss. Deciding to hang this basket on the diagonal, I arranged my mushrooms, along with several rocks, tiny stones and foliage, to set the scene. 

I used a combination of hot glue and E6000 (although the moss needed some adhesive spraying to make it stick well). standing back and taking a look at it, it seemed to be missing something. I riffled through my big box of shadowbox figurines, knickknacks and miscellaneous toy parts. I found just the thing it needed.

The snail was the last piece I adhered to my mini shadowbox, and I like it! I can't wait to make the others. I'm thinking southwest desert scene, maybe a beach scene, the ideas are churning in my mind as I type. If you like this, stay tuned for more...

I AM ENTERING:

Creative Artiste - Anything Mixed Media Goes (I used wood [basket, stones, flowers, moss)

Creative Fingers - Challenge #304

Always Trying Something New

 

It's another Faux stained glass artwork kind of day. I took out another glass pane that I had taken out of unused frames this year. I took one of my own coloring book drawings I've been working on and placed it under the glass. Then I took out my Posca paint markers and used the black to copy my drawing onto the glass.

Once dry, I carefully colored in the scene I drew. I love the look of my mushrooms. I plan on adhering a length of chain around the glass so that I an hang it in my window. It's pictured on a sheet of white paper so you can see the colors better (no sun today).'

My local library held a craft swap last week. I donated a box of craft supplies and received a "golden ticket", an early admission to look over and pick up any supplies I may like, at no cost. Later this month,  you'll see another new craft I'm trying out. In the meantime, I have one more "stained glass" art piece to show you later this week.

Until then, happy crafting!

'shrooms and Photoshop

I have a fondness for fungus in nature. I take photos of them in my neighborhood, in the woods and anywhere I can capture their beauty. While walking my terrier, Honey, I've taken loads of pics of mushrooms growing on my neighbors' front yards. The city replaced several trees on their parkways in the Spring, so it was a good summer to see a lot of different varieties. I captured the 'shroom above basking in the sunlight. It was a perfect angle for the shot.

I then went home and uploaded it to my laptop and played with it in Photoshop. I didn't need to enhance or change the actual fungus--it was perfect! But I added some "accessories" to my scene. With the first, I added more mushrooms from previous photoshoots and popped a fairy into the scene.  

With the second scene, I cropped it close and added a photo of a garden gnome from another neighbor's yard. The gnome in this case was pure white cement, so I colored in his clothes and  beard to make my fantasy figure a little bit more believable (that doesn't even make sense, but...).

You never know what you'll discover when you take a walk, whether it's in the city, the suburbs, the countryside or an island. Happy hunting!!
 

My Colorful Path

Besides being an eclectic crafter, I am also a writer. I've been writing since the second grade when my teacher, Sister Carlene, told my parents that writing was my calling. Through most of the first part of the year, I've had a touch of writer's block. However, the weather recently in my neck of the woods has not only left us with cloudy skies and a river almost overflowing its banks, but quite a few rainbows. I have a whole spectrum of colors from which to inspire my creativity and writing today.

Colors often stimulate emotions in all of us. As I walk through the changing of seasons, from Spring to Summer, I look down, seeing the brilliant green of well-watered grass and look up to see the plentiful shades of green as leaves wave in the breeze of trees finally awakened by sun and rain.. Green to me is a sign of rebirth, of beginnings. To others, it's also a color of envy and dissatisfaction. It amuses me to think about the phrase "the grass is always greener on the other side." It's all a matter of appreciation. If you keep looking ahead, you will miss out on the wonders of what surrounds you now. You'll miss the beauty of your own "grass."

As I write, the day is overcast and grey. Is grey a color? I know Crayola has a crayon or two labeled grey, but it's just a messy merging of black and white, as if each can't make up its mind - should I be black or white, sunny or cloudy, happy or sad... Not my favorite color, especially when I'm painting and I merge the paints a little too much and that's what I get, a grey canvas - ugh. But just like art, grey has a place in life. No one is completely good or evil, honest or dishonest, and situations can become a confusing grey quickly. I'm not a fan of conflict and confrontation-maybe that's why I don't like grey? But I can't ignore it either, so instead of taking a shortcut or deserting my path, I try to press on. Sometimes the shortest distance between two points is working out differences or misunderstandings with others walking beside you...

Blue is one of my favorite colors. There are so many shades, and when I want to relax, I can (most days) sit outside on my deck and look up.  I've written more poems about the sky than I can count. Most of my vacations are spent near water, where the blues brighten and swirl and cerate lovely shades of cerulean and aquamarine and teal. Scientists have studied colors and emotions and have found that blue is the most relaxing color in the spectrum. Regarding personality, blue often represents creativity and innovation. Maybe that's why BLUE jeans are more comfortable than Black jeans?! LOL

Back on the Path, the flowers show off their colors after having struggled to escape their earthen slumber. Before my eyes is a botanical runway of high fashion in reds, yellows and oranges. Even some of the bushes join the line-up, the burning bush with its leaves of fire-engine red and the forsythia with its vivid yellow ones. There's no ignoring those colors, and they give me a rush of energy and motivation. How about you?

I could go on and on, sine there are as many shades of colors as there are fish in the sea. I'm so thankful I have the ability to see and appreciate the colors that nature offers us. On my list of Christmas presents to buy for family, I want to purchase a pair of those special glasses for color-blind people. My dad was colorblind, so I carry the gene (as does my daughter) and when my son was born, sure enough, he was colorblind. I would love to give him the gift of the scintillating bounty of color.

Perfect for a Fairy Garden

 My daughter's best friend (and my daughter-by-another-mother) is getting married this year! I'm so happy for her. Besides planning for a wedding, she's designing her garden. She asked me if I could make a few mushrooms for it. Well,  I can't "make" mushrooms, but I dug into my stash and found some from  Hobby Lobby on clearance last winter. There were six plaster mushrooms, so of course I bought them all! LOL

Once home, I put a base coat of white on each. I used acrylic paint and ended up with these five. Don't ask about the sixth one (Taps playing softly). Besides, unless you're arranging them in a specific pattern, an odd number is best, don't you think?

I also have a small gnome figure from Dollar Store that has been gathering dust. I was going to paint him, too, but does anyone know if gnomes and fairies even like each other, let alone share their living space? Please leave a comment and let me know...I don't want a turf war! LOL

Challenges I am Entering:

the Crafty Addicts - Anything Goes (A/G)

A Place to Start - A/G

Crafting from the Heart - A/G (no cards)

Use Your Stuff - Anything Goes using your stash