Whimsical Muse at Work

I love finding metal artwork at the thrift stores. I don't really care about the color scheme...I just want to bring it home and paint it myself! The decor above is 3'x3' and was painted black, olive and red?! That had to change, so it came home with me that day.

I spent a couple days sanding then giving it a nice clean base coat. Then I took out my brushes and acrylics and started with the sunflowers. I eventually added other colors and started filling in backgrounds. It reminds me of the Disney animated movie "Alice in Wonderland". After sealing it with pouring gloss varnish, I hung it on the back wall of my deck. My deck is slowing coming to life, with fake potted plants in the corners, new cushions for the chairs, a newly-painted metal table and other artwork. I just need a day where the temperature is under 90 degrees so I can sit and relax and sip my iced tea and read a cozy mystery...

Challenges I am Entering:

Through the Purple Haze - Anything Goes

My Time to Craft - Summer Florals

Ellibelle's Corner -(I Spy w/my Little Eye) Something Blooming Lovely

Sisterhood of Crafters - In the Garden

Summer is Just Ahead

 With the weather trying to be warmer in the States, my trailer in the woods is calling me to open up and get ready for Summer. The official opening of the Park is Memorial Day, and I've been working on sellable art for the craft fair they sponsor.

Last year, residents liked my signs, both funny and inspirational. I created this one using a digital image from Scribbles Designs called Campfire. My sign is a piece of wood, about 6"x15". I used acrylic paint to color the background, hand-drew the stick loaded with marshmallows, and the S'More is a photo out of Food Network magazine!

I just need to seal my sign and after it dries, add it to my pile of artwork I'm bringing to the sale. So what do you think I should try to sell it for?? 

Challenges I am Entering:
WeLove2Create- Anything Goes
Gem of a Craft - Anything Goes

Taylormade - the Great Outdoors

Color My Heart - Color challenge

Summer Lovin' at Scribbles Designs

 Following the challenge theme of Sizzling Summer over at Scribbles Designs Challenge Blog, I created a set of coasters. To keep them together and organized, I colored up a Scribbles Designs image called Farrah Flamingo. She is one of my favorite characters in the Scribbles Designs Store.  I used apiece of patterned paper from Hobby Lobby (I had to dig deep for this one- my Hobby Lobby store closed several years ago). After using Mod Podge to initially adhere the paper to the paper coasters, I sealed them with Liquitex Gloss Varnish so that they would be water-resistant for those hot summer days when I want to put down my iced tea (or Sangria, Mudslides or Frozen Margaritas,  etc.).

Once I had four coasters, I used a piece of ribbon and hot glued my Scribbles image, colored with Copics and embellished with jewels, onto the ribbon. The coasters fit into the ribbon and I have a pretty way to show off  my coasters, as well as use them.

Even in the summer, I still drink my morning tea, and I can use my new coasters for my mug of caffeine as well!
Remember, the theme at Scribbles Designs is always Anything Goes, but if you choose to  follow that option, you have a chance of getting your project in the Scribblers Hall of Fame. Winners there have a chance to win $10 worth of digis from the Scribbles Store. Just don't forget to link up your project with the main blog!

Challenges I am Entering:

2 Crafty Critter Crazies- Anything Goes w/a critter

Bleeding  Art -Anything mixed media, altered art, etc.Goes

Happy Craft - Anything Goes

Sheepski Designs - Animal Madness

Sweet Stampers - Summer

Summer is Sizzlin' at Scribbles Designs Challenge Blog

My DT make today highlights friendship and summer fun. The Scribbles images that I used are slightly transparent and are behind and to the side of the words.Those images are called  #54 To the Beach, #848 Flip Flops. The designer paper is also from Scribbles Design, part of the collaborated effort of Scribbles and Decosse's Dynamite Doodles. The paper is from the set called DDD SD Sizzlin' Summer, Burt patterned paper. Aren't those rubber duckie flotation rings quirky?

What could be better than drifting in the cooling water than with a friend? Sizzlin' Summer happens to be the Scribbles Designs' challenge theme. In order to win any prizes, your project must feature some summer lovin' in some way. I'd love to see you at the main blog, so don't forget to link your project for your chance to win free digis from the Scribbles Designs Store.

Challenges I am Entering:

Favoring the Feminine Is The Theme at Scribbles Designs

Tropical greetings to you all, crafters! I am building up my stash of Thank You cards and found the perfect image at the Scribbles Store. She's called Carrie Summer Diva and can be found HERE.

This month, the challenge theme over at Scribbles Designs is "Femme Fatale" so if you want a chance to win your choice of free digis at the Scribbles Store, create and link up a card featuring or geared toward women. I went with Carrie Summer Diva because I've been wishing I could hop on a plane and go south (way south). I need to feel sand between my toes and hear waves lapping at the shore. And now that I've finished my card, the call of the tropics is louder and much more clear. (sigh)

In the meantime, enjoy the Spring weather for those of you in the Northern hemisphere. For those of you down under, enjoy the Autumn in all its glory!

Challenges I am Entering:
 Crafts Galore Encore - Always Anything Goes
Crafty Girls Creations - Anything Goes
Craftyhazelnut's Patterned Paper Challenges - Anything Goes w/patterned paper
DigiStamps4Joy - Bright Colors
Love to Craft - Anything Goes
Naughty or Nice-  Choose a past challenge (Nice #15 Friend)

Use Your Noodle to Doodle Challenge is On

Okay, crafters, this is your midway reminder that the Scribbles "Use your Noodle to Doodle" challenge has reached its midway point. I created my DT make using a digi image called Sunflowers 1, which you can buy at the Scribbles Store if you like it.
I tried to "watercolor" with my Copics today. I like the way the leaves turned out, but the flower's petals are so-so. LOL My background is leftover patterned paper from my stash. I think it fits perfectly with my card design, don't you? The sentiment is an old rubber stamp I've had for ages - well-inked and well-loved. I doodled the border of my sentiment with gold gel pen, too.
I love sunflowers, but they always remind me of an old black and white sci-fi movie called "Day of the Triffids," where meteors cause alien, human-eating plants to roam Earth while rendering everyone who watched the meteor shower blind!! Honestly, this is a real movie, I swear.

Anyway, why don't you use your noodle to doodle and then link it up for your chance to win free digis from the Scribbles store? Good luck and happy crafting!

Challenges I am Entering:

Discovering Confidence along the Path of Positivity

Have you ever noticed that the most confident people know their talents and skills and have figured out the best way to use them? Everything we have and who we are is within us, if only we could recognize these treasures. But like buried treasure, they have to be dug up through experience and self-awareness. We have to remove doubt and disbelief in order to gain the confidence to use what we have.

This month,, the Path of Positivity challenge blog offers us the theme of Confidence with which to be inspired. I created a hybrid card with two images from Scribbles Designs. They are colored with Copics and then popped onto a digital scene I created in Photoshop. I also printed out my sentiment, whose second part is on the insode of my card, which reads:

"The second greatest challenge is nowing how to use them"

The following is what went into creating my hybrid card:

Images: Scribbles’ Designs Treasure Chest & Sand Bucket

Papers: Decosse’s Dynamite Doodles’  Grungy Christmas Brown Textured Paper & A Taste of Summer Sunburst Patterned Paper

Pixel Scrappers:  Janet Scott’s Ripped Paper Border Template & Many Thanks Shadowed Bunting; Melo Vrijhof’s Thankful Harvest Elements 2; Marisa Lerin’s  Coastal Seagull Metal.

Font: Hotline Bling

Scribbles Designs is one of two sponsors this month, offering crafters a $10 gift certificate to the Shop!

Our second sponsor is Ike'sArt, who offers a $15 worth if digital images from the Shop/

There will also be:

• A small selection of digital designer papers from Décosse's Dynamite Doodles for one lucky person who leaves a comment on posts published during the challenge time frame.
• One digital sentiment for every single person who enters the challenge.

Confidence can inspire a college graduation, someone starting a family, owning a new home, getting promoted, retiring...the list goes on. So, what inspires you to create with Confidence, about Confidence? Show us at the Path of Positivity Challenge Blog this month!

In the Good Old Summer Time at the Outlawz Greetings Challenges

Happy summer, crafters! For those in the northern hemisphere, that means sunny days and hot weather. This week at the Outlawz Monday greetings challenge, the theme is Summer Recreation. What do YOU do to keep cool and active?
This week's summer brings Lacy Sunshine to sponsor and inspire us. I colored up this pretty image called Sandy Boo - Collecting Seashells. Using Copics, I extended the beach from which she is gathering her shells. After popping her onto an embossed and inked card face, I embellished with twine and tiny colorful seashells. My sentiment says it all.
Do you play beach volleyball? Swim at the local pool? Play tennis or roller blade? Whatever you choose for recreation, let it inspire you to create something for this week's challenge at the Outlawz Greetings. Don't forget to keep hydrated as you craft! LOL

Challenges I am Entering:
Southern Ridge Trading Co. - Memories of Summer Mixed Media
Through the Craft Room Door - Anything Goes
Crafting when We Can - Based on a Movie (Teen Beach Movie)
Eclecctic Ellapu - Life's a Beach
Cupcake Inspiration - Tropical

Guest Designer for 4 Crafty Chicks This Month!

Hey, crafters! During the month of July, I will be a GDT for 4 Crafty Chicks Challenge Blog! My first GDT project is a watercolor I created for their #306 Summer Challenge, which starts today.
While on vacation in May, I pulled my water color supplies and let myself be inspired by the view out our hotel window. The Muse hit me hard, so along with my painting, I also wrote a Haiku poem that describes my attitude during that sunny, sandy week. Haiku are difficult to write, as you only get 17 syllables with which to relay the message you wish readers to have. Most Haiku are about nature serious, but I like to slip in a little humor here and there.
I matted my canvas on the Paper Studio’s solid goldenrod cardstock. My poem  (copyright 2016 Pat Martin) was printed with LD Handwritten Greetings Font, matted with the Paper Studio’s teal cardstock. What's really cool is that I printed this up on glossy cardstock and made my friend a set of notecards for her summer birthday!
Now it's your turn to create with the theme of SUMMER. Don't forget to link up your card or project at 4 Crafty Chicks challenge blog by end of week. And tell them Pat sent you! LOL

Challenges I am Entering:

Sasayuki Glitter - CAS Cards

Craft Rocket Challenges - Anything Goes

Crafty Girls Creations - Anything Goes

New Challenge at the Path of Positivity

Howdy, y'all! I was going to say Aloha, but I just came back from a dream beach vacation. It wasn't in Hawaii, it was in Texas! There is a great escape waiting for you at South Padre Island, TX, where my family and I just spent 9 days. We sat in the sun, rocked in the shade, swam in the pools, walked along the shore, laid back in the hammocks, and generally did nothing but that! It was the most relaxing vacation I ever took, and it was sorely needed.
The greatest part about it was that we saved up for it all, and whatever part of the flights down there and the cost of the hotel, we paid off completely when our bill came in. Now THAT is a great achievement for us, so I created a tropical escape card for this month's ACHIEVEMENT challenge over at the Path of Positivity challenge blog. 
There are two lovely guest sponsors this month:

Robyn's Fetish

and

Kitten Scraps

My hybrid card uses papers and elements from Kitten Scrap's Summer Fish Fun Kit by Nathalie MacKay ©2008. I created the sea complete with waves using Photoshop, added many elements from the kit, and used Sweet Pea font.
What have you achieved that inpsires you to create this month? Or who inspired you? Why? Tell us, photograph the resaon or create a card, canvas or other form of art that showcases the theme of achievement for your chance to win the following. 

SPONSOR & PRIZE INFORMATION:

• 3 Digital Stamps from Robyn's Fetish, one of our guest sponsors this month, for the post or project that deems most inspiring of the bunch.
• A $20 gift certificate from Kitten Scraps, one of our guest sponsors this month, for a person chosen in a random draw based on all entrants.

There will also be:

• A small selection of digital designer papers from Décosse's Dynamite Doodles for one lucky person who leaves a comment on posts published during the challenge time frame.
• One digital sentiment for every single person who enters the challenge.

Happy crafting! 

It's a Hot, Hot, Hot Summer Party Blog Hop

Welcome Summer, and welcome to the Blog Hop!  We have some hot ideas to get your party on, so if you came from Angela's blog, you're on the right track.  If not, make sure you start at Shannon's blog so you don't miss a single sizzlin' project.

I've been working on a Quinceanera party for a friend.  Her dress is a hot orange and pink, and after the Mass is a Masquerade Ball.  Here are the invitations I made.

Half of them are exploding boxes, with a photo of my friend's daughter inside, as well as the actual wording of the invitation.

The other half are cards that lie flat and can be

mailed.  Both showcase the young woman's monogram, the colors of her dress, carnival masks for the masquerade theme, and white flowers to highlight her innocence.

I made 150 invitations all total!

The next thing I worked on were favors.
I wanted to continue with the orange and hot pink colors, but keep the design simple to keep the focus on the gifts inside.


So as I was browsing the clearance aisle at Hobby Lobby, I came upon packs of hot pink favor bags.  I was able to spice them up a little, and give them the same flair as the invitations.

I love taking a cast-off or slightly wounded item and make it sparkling new in a different way!  I don't think I have paid full price for a year's worth of projects so far.  How about you--do you upcycle??

This last photo is of the champagne toast centerpiece.
Since all the young ladies and gentlemen of the court will be underage,
the champagne toast will be done with sparkling grape juice.
But that doesn't make the centerpiece any less of a showcase item,
as you can see.

The base is a champagne glass stand, decorated with the colors of the night.  Each glass is embellished with a small mardi gras mask.  Of course, you can't miss the large mask in the center, which is eye-catching, which is what it is supposed to do!

Did I mention that each table will have its own fabulous centerpiece, each holding a bottle of sparkling grape juice (or champagne if you're at the adults' tables), each colorfully decorated in hot pink and deep orange feather boas and masks!!
That's all for my part in the Summer Party Blog Hop.  Please leave a little love before you hop on over to Lori's Blog.

Enjoy yourselves, and keep on crafting!  Here's the blog order if you get lost or if you encounter a black hole:

Shannon- http://shannonleffew.blogspot.com

• • Daphne- http://craftyscrapsofstuff.blogspot.com
    Angela - http://www.crazy3monkeys.blogspot.com/
    Pat - http://patacakespages.blogspot.com
    Lori - http://www.scrappinmystressaway.blogspot.com/
    Robin - http://cutonedesignsbyrobin.blogspot.com/
    Sandy- http://scrapbookblessings.blogspot.com
    Christine- http://hotberrydesigns.blogspot.com/

Flowers are Popping Up all Over!

Since I can't enjoy real flowers (allergies), I have to give them my love through my card making. Isn't she a little cutie?! This is one of my newest images from Crafter's Companion stamps, called Busy Doing Nothing. Their challenge blog has a new challenge for June, which is a summer theme or summer colors. I love the color combo of yellow and sky blue--so, well, summery! I colored her with Copics: Y11,15,17; B63 & V04. The flowers and grass are colored with Copics: YG03,67 & B63. The high grass behind her is a small piece of an advertising brochure I got in the mail (nice match, huh?), and the butterfly is an applique from Hobby Lobby. The patterned paper background came from a rummage sale find, a whoile stack of paper for a dollar. The inside of the card has a pop-up element, and I used another stamp from the same set, flowers in a small glass jar, to go with the sentiment "Thanks a Bunch" which is actually from another set of stamps from Crafter's Companion.
You have all month to enter their June challenge, so go check them out here.