Just Having Fun

 

On the 12th Day of Christmas Crafting...

 A tisket, a tasket, a gold and lace basket, to paraphrase an old nursery rhyme, I upcycled a thrift find for Christmas today, I sanded the rusted basket and cleaned it before applying gold acrylic paint. After shuffling around for the foliage and knick knacks to put in the basket (top part only), I add two rows of faux pearl and a leftover piece of lace. 

It needed a little something extra, so I pulled out this set of gold bells, and attached it with a star (or flower) for that finishing touch. I had all my craft items in my decluttered basement, so we can call it a "freebie". LOL (I love freebies, don't you?) 

CHALLENGES I AM ENTERING:  

Another Birthday Card Bites the Dust

 My card today is for a little girl who absolutely loves Disney movies and especially Peter Pan. I hand-made the shaker box--wow, it's been a LONG time since I made one. I thought I had gone off ana tangent several times, but finished it (maybe it took an hour...).

Anyway ,all my papers are leftovers from previous projects, as well as the die-cut and the greeting. I used a mini playing card I had left over from a bin of playing cards I had saved for crafting. The jewels really do look purple in the right light.   The inside reads:  " Have a magical birthday"

Just Checking In on the Upcoming Holidays

 

 Today I am thankful for all the creative people who share their love of color, crafting, technique, styles and advice to the blogging world. Since I started blogging, my artistic world has opened more doors than I ever could have imagined. 

I've learned a hundred ways to make cards, how to water color without making the colors become a muddy mess, that I cannot tie knots and macrame to save my life, and that my psychological allergy to flower drawing, painting and arranging has disappeared. I started making jewelry and after a few sales and another 50 pairs of earrings still available, I sold/gave away almost all my jewelry supplies and tools, finished two art journals and started a third, hit Joann's and Hobby Lobby and bought enough floral to change out my deck decor all year 'round. I'm still painting small figures like frogs and birds for my gardens, make and give neighbors Thanksgiving and Christmas gifts of appreciation, and dug up my new (to me) sewing machine, having gathered lots of quilting mags throughout the year.

I have learned and grown and sometimes improved on my skills, and now the month of November is upon us, with all its promise of change and blessings and gratitude. So thank you all for a wonderfully artistic, crafty and creative year!! I think the poem above says it just as well...

Almost Got a Full Box of Birthday Cards Now

 

Getting close to another year over. I know my box of birthday cards id filled to the brim again. I got smart this year and every time I finished a card, I put the envie with it so people browsing my collection could pluck one out of the box and I wouldn't have to hunt for an envelope that fit.

I created this one with a pre-cut card base, covering the front with DP The sentiment is from Squigglefly, and reads "It's a Big Dill" on the inside". I know, where's the pickle to go with the pun. I just thought it worked with the ageless beauty of the women on my card face. 

CHALLENGES I AM ENTERING:

Another Halloween, Another Bit of Outdoor Decor

 

Today I wanted to showcased my newest front deck Halloween decor. A little history first...

A month or two after last Christmas, I went to HobbyLobby to check out the Christmas clearance sales. They were discounted about 60% and I bought a few nice items for which I couldn't have paid full price.  While my girlfriend continued in the Christmas clearance section, I wandered around the store and came upon FALL/Halloween clearanced items. Imagine my surprise that the store had some left and they were 90% off!!

There were five wooden pumpkin stack signs, unpainted and lonely. I convinced my friend that I could paint her wooden sign to paint and give the pumpkins dimension. When I brought it to her house, she loved it. Of course, while she bought ONE sign, I purchased the other four. They rang up at $1.49!!

I painted one just like hers, except I made them into jack-o-lanterns. I think I did a pretty good job, too. So I started a second one. This time I painted them in a rainbow of colors. On them all, I used spray paint; two were painted in various shades of orange and brown, and the third was spray-painted with leftover cans of blue, purple pink and orange.

I drew their silly faces with Posca paint markers to make them all kid-friendly. To finish them off, I sealed them with Clear Gloss Varnish. If I get to the other two signs, I'll have make a run to WalMart or Menards for more cans...

I'll be putting them out at the ends of my deck posts, inviting trick-or-treaters to step up and grab a treat. For older kids, I have stacks of trading card sets to choose from (another "inherited" stash from my mom's passing. I tell the kids if they're not interested in them, give them to their parents. They WILL be,,,

Happy Halloween crafting to all!!

Super Easy Halloween Craft Project

 

After my Gram passed and we finally got around to cleaning out and selling her house, I had a collection of some of her framed prints of famous paintings. Today, I gave two pf her art pieces a Halloween makeover. This a quick and easy craft project I wanted to share with you...

My print is one of Gainsborough's well-known paintings, Blue Boy. I surfed the web for a nice but grisly new face for my Boy and found one with Google free clipart. I just adjusted the size of his head to keep it in proportion with his body before printing.

I used Mod Podge to attach the new head onto the print and let it dry. Then I used Posca markers to better match the coloring of his clothes while bringing out the depth of the colors. I sealed my new Halloween art piece with Gloss Varnish and reattached it to the frame.

  

I couldn't be happier, and it took so little time that I grabbed another of Gram's prints to make a second one. This time I played with Pinky by Lawrence. After finding and sizing the perfect gruesome face, I adhered it onto the print. I used Copics to brighten up the pastel tones of this painting, then sealed it and put it back in its frame.

So now when visitors come to the door (or come inside, they can see my little Halloween Art Gallery. I'm a tad behind on my holiday decorating, as I had to make an emergency trip to take care of my SIL, whose pain after surgery wasn't being managed properly. She lives in Phoenix and I packed my swimsuit and snorkel mask, hoping for a few laps in her backyard pool. But alas, Phoenix was enjoying a week of rain from the hurricane wetness of the hurricane to the south. It rained 3.5", more than they get in the monsoon weather! 

When I came back to Chicagoland, they were enjoying their rainy but warm Indian Summer. The weather has now turned cooler, almost proper October weather. I just hope it doesn't snow on Halloween like it did last year!! LOL 

Enjoy the Autumn holiday!!

 

Enjoying Life One Celebration at a Time

 My card today features a Bugaboo image. I believe this is Sweet Dottie. I used a DP with roses on the cut-out front of my card, and covered the inside of the card with shimmery pink paper. My image is colored with Copics, taking inspiration from YouTube's Mariah Elizabeth by coloring tiny sprinkles in the cupcake's frosting.  

The greeting above her head is embossed on a punched circle, and I added a few black adhesive-backed jewels for embellishment. The card's inside reads, "Have a sweet birthday". 

Just boo-tiful vibes all day.

Just finished a very busy summer of traveling. I visited my SIL and her wife in June/July. Phenix is hot, but it's true what they say, "It's a dry heat." Of course, their pool helped when the temps went above 110 degrees...

I also spent three weeks visiting my sister and her hubby in Germany. They live in Dusseldorf, and while there, we took a few side trips. One of them was Amsterdam. I'll have to share some pics from my travels later this month.

Meanwhile, it's time to celebrate the Spooky Days of Halloween. Today I found a pad of black cardstock paper and whipped out my white gel pen. Since Halloween is coming up, the ghosts are causing traffic jams almost every night...

Expect more throughout the month, even though my sis and her plus-one have been visiting me for the last three weeks in Chicago. Never a dull moment (and today is her birthday)!! Happy birthday, sis!!

Welcome to the Spookiest Month of the Year

 October is finally here, and my house is nothing but Halloween crafts, supplies, wall decor, shadow boxes, artwork, sentiments, decoration--you name it, I have it!! Today's card features an unidentified image called Betelgeuse. Although I've had this digital stamp for a few years, I believe it's the first time I've used it. I'm discovering a lot of unused craft supplies in my yearlong decluttering and organizing. 

I used leftover papers from a Halloween paper stack and leftover trim from a crafting friend, Holley Barnhart. The EEK! sentiment and the tombstone reading MISCHIEF AND MAYHEM are from the same paper stack. I found a pack of plastic spiders so one could hang from the big guy's hand.

I have a nice thick stack of Halloween cards I'll be giving to friends and neighbors this month along with a little handmade item or snack. I usually do this on either Halloween or Christmas. Last year I made Charcouterie boards with cheese and a Halloween spreader and napkin for my neighbors. I haven't decided what to make this year. Maybe I'll just do Thanksgiving and Christmas...

I also make special goodie bags for my neighbors' children. Last year the bags were filled with candy and trading cards. I better get on that because I haven't thought of what to do this year... I hope you are ready for my favorite holiday--Is it yours too?

CHALLENGES I AM ENTERING:

Cashing In by Using My Stash

 

Today I'm featuring another birthday card made completely with leftovers from my stash. The die-cuts were from a bag of birthday greetings and elements. The felt flower is so old I have no idea where it came from! The card front is from a pack of cards, a leftover piece I used to attached to a piece of cardstock I folded today.

It was a quick make, so I made two. My sister's coming in from Germany with her husband, and she always brings back a handful of cards from my stash. I have made some of them in German. Mostly she prefers notecards that she can write something in and hand to someone. Just a decorated front and blank inside.

That's it for today! 

  

CHALLENGES I AM ENTERING:

My Summer Flip

I was driving to the grocery store and spied a dirty, rusty neglected patio table sitting on the end of  a neighbor's driveway, waiting for pick-up by the garbage truck. It had a thick plate of glass that showed the possibility of a beautiful outdoor dining set, but I had to be quick. The garbage truck was at the end of the block, coming our way.

I got there not only in time to rescue the pieces, but the driver of said truck helped load the chairs into my car. He promised not to take the table and glass. after dropping off the chairs at my house, I returned just as a neighbor was parking his car in his own driveway. He helped me take the glass off and put it into my car. One more quick trip back and forth and he helped me put the table in as well.

I started with the heavy piece of glass, which needed two hours of elbow grease and window cleaner to make it shine again. The table was next, but I had to sand off the rusty frame so I could spray paint it. I had recently bought a few cans on clearance from HobbyLobby and Michaels.

After the table was painted, I cleaned, sanded and painted the chairs, having removed the chair pads. I gave them a good cleaning and sorted thru my excess material before choosing one large enuf to cover all six chairs. 

Last weekend, I held a garage sale and the table and chairs were very popular. I sold it the first day!!   Here's the before photo. I also decluttered my basement, emptying two bookcases. I repainted the top of one of them, and they were sold the same day as the table (and three sets of cozy mystery series went as well. My mom, before she passed, was an avid trading card collector. I had mountains of tubs in my basement of non-sport trading cards, some still in factory-sealed boxes. I never realized how many collectors are out there!! I made some pretty good money selling two tubs of them (and yes, I checked E-Bay for the going rates).

Now my main focus is to clean up the slightly empty basement and make it a livable space for my sister and her husband when they come in from Germany for a visit. My secondary project is to pull out all the Holiday and Halloween crafts I've made throughout the year for a craft fair in September.  My work is cut out for me.,.

I'm Busting Out Another Birthday Card Today

 After my cardio workout this morning, I felt like using lots of color on today's card. I found the perfect paper to go with a new birthday card. It's from Close to my Heart. I had a friend who sold their products. She also facilitated weekend crops which I loved to attend. I haven't scrapbooked in a long time. My photos and memorabilia are spilling out of their drawers and filling up my computer's memory.

Meanwhile, I'm making birthday cards. It's a nice quick craft whose supplies don't take a lot of room, and I am all about decluttering this year. I want to pare down my many craft interests, but my ADHD craves new projects like an addict...

Meanwhile, my card uses one of my favorite images, of which I can't remember the artist/designer. If you know whose image this is, please comment below. I like to give credit where credit is due. The paper flowers are from my stash, as well as the celebratory die-cuts. I colored the image with my Copics. And that's all, folks! At least for today...

CHALLENGES I AM ENTERING:

HALLOWEEN & OTHER OCCASIONS ALL YEAR ROUND -  This is my DT make

CRAFTY ANIMALS -  AG w/Animals

HEARTS QUEST CELEBRATIONS OF LOVE -CcHALLENGE #7, BIRTHDAY

LOVE TO CRAFT - AG #87

PAPER ROCK SCISSORS -  AG using papers and scissors on your project

CREATIVECRAFTERS - Anything Goes

It's Coming...

 

I created another "two-fer" today. That's what I call it when I create two cards i/o one with pretty much the same supplies. The papers are both from a DCWV paper stack, as well as the greetings. On the featured in the forefront, I used a brand-new-in-the-package set of acrylic stamps that I bought years ago (!) from Michael's. It's one of their own Recollections stamp sets. 

I also changed the orientation of the two cards, but not much more than that, besides the focus of each. Like I always say, It's just as easy to make two cards as it is to make one...

Are you filling up your stash of Halloween cards? There are only two months left before we get our scary on! See you at the Halloween & Other Occasions Challenge Blog this month!

CHALLENGES I AM ENTERING:

Time's Fun when You're Having Flies

 

I went to an estate sale and found a few garden frogs to color. The only thing I like better than frogs are mushrooms, but I also spied some garden birds. The whole lot cost me $5 and I've just finished the first five of the ten frogs I found.

The first frog I painted and named George. I placed him under a trio of very large mushrooms growing in my neighbor's yard across the street. He's catching some shade in the summer's heat today. He is only 3 inches high, but mercy, look at the size of those mushroom caps!! If they were edible, they would have been in my frying pan and eaten already...

I painted another four frogs and placed them on the steps of my front deck. Arranging them from top to bottom, they seem to be looking and moving toward the front lawn. The next frogs I paint I plan to place them across the ramp that runs the width of my house, up against the deck. The ramp is no longer in use so I'm putting a caution tape across the ramp (temporari;y). I also bought a brass garden sign that warns visitors that the area is a "frogs crossing area" that you can see between the deck and the ramp. I have more frogs to color, which will end up  in the small garden surrounding the lamp post across the yard.

I used acrylic paints; Posca paint markers for the detailed work. Next up will be the birds, but first I've got a big garage sale for which I've been decluttering. I need to price all the craft supplies I'm letting go of (and whatever else I toss into the for sale pile) in just 2 weeks---YIKES!!'

Looking at Things with a Fresh Perspective

 

I started back to drawing in my journal again, and this time I used a digital stamp called Citrus from QKD (Queen Kat Designs). I drew a lava lamp surrounded by things you might (and would) find on my desk. I didn't stop there but made it into a kind of house. But when it came time to draw a critter who lived inside the lamp, I used the QKD stamp instead. In other words, I looked at my drawing from a different, or fresh, perspective...me, looking out!

I used Posca paint markers as well as colored pencils, as well as washi tape and a strip from a magazine. I love my G2 Black gel pen for finer details as well as writing. A little weird. I admit, but I was in a little weird mood...

CHALLENGES i AM eNTERING:

WE LOVE 2 CREATE - Anything Mixed Media Goes

CREATIVE FINGERS - Anything Goes

A Tisket, a Tasket, Another Kitchen Basket

 

Welcome to another day of crafting, and another kitchen basket shadow box! Today I created a beach scene using crushed glass for the ocean, mixed sand for the beach, and tiny seed beads mixed with white paint for the sea foam.

I have plenty of sea shells, but added some pea gravel, moss and one glass button from a floral purchase. Looked a little empty, so I added the last of my starfish stickers. I used one of the tiny bottles I had purchased online (during COVID), with a tiny, rolled up piece of paper inside (neatly tied with a strand of twine).

The final touch was found in my box o' shadow box figurines...the tiny seagull (well, it really was a dove. Use your imagination)! LOL

Challenges I am Entering:

If You Give a Crafter a Cookie - Seashells at the Beach

(Pin)spirational - July Tropical Sunset (I used the beach scene on my shadow box basket)

The Four Seasons - Summer Season July

Colorful Options - July

So You Think You're an Artist

 

After a super busy start  to Spring, I am finally able to catch my breath and create something new, This piece is a collage I created with mixed media from my water color journal. The background was water colored with a cheap box of water color tubes which, after finishing it, I promptly threw away. Most were dried up, but it only cost me a dollar at a garage sale.

After drying I tore (literally) threw a few magazines that my sister gives me when she and her neighbor read first (because I cut and tear whatever I want from them when they're done with them). I found the most delicious words to flavor my collage that pertained to being or becoming an artist, as you can see.

Some words were given dimension with dimensional tape, while others were glues directly onto the page. I found the very colorful woman's face in another magazine for my canvas' centerpiece. After choosing the right words to their most descriptive matches, I highlighted their importance by using arrow-shaped sticky notes and outlining them with white a Posca marker. 

For a little extra oomph, I cut out a penned Zen drawing, drawing in the shadowed edges with colored pencils to match the water-colored background. All that was left was to fill up a few empty spots with colorful items from other mags. I did use the white marker to create musical notes, my copyrighted logo under the woman's face, as well as a few tiny flowers above the paper vase on the left. The circle on her hat is a button I inherited and the butterfly is a leftover die-cut  I created at a scrap meet (a long time ago in another galaxy...)

There you have it. Enough media for the pickiest of artists. I think my message conveys what all artists need to be and do, don't you?

CHALLENGES I AM ENTERING:

AAA Colourful - Colourboard #17

 CSI: Color, Stories Inspiration - Case File #458

Mix It Up- AG/optional  Mixed Media

Morgan's Art World - AG

We Love 2 Create - Anything Mixed Media Goes

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

It's Always Someone's Birthday Somewhere

 

Another month, another birthday card to feature. Today I used an image from Ike's Art. I sure miss Sue. She was an artist who really pulled me out of my comfort zone and inspired me to try so many different techniques and media. Anyway, this image is from her Peter Pan collection. 

I used a photo I took from  an airplane I was on, as it was landing at O'Hare International Airport in Chicago. Adhering Peter to the photo with dimensional tape really makes him look like he's soaring above the city. I've used this image once before, and it got my project printed in a magazine.

I colored him with Copics and fussy-cut him for a more realistic look on my card face. a flourish of adhesive pearls marks his flight. and his famous line from the book is embossed in white. Can you tell I eyeballed and cut my own star? (Hah, ha, of course you can. I should have used a button or sticker for my star)

The greeting inside reads, "Hope you have a magical birthday". My box of finished birthday cards is finally filling up. I guess these and mynote cards are the most popular cards that I use. Well, those and Holiday cards...

CHALLENGES I AM ENTERING: