CrystalsCreations

Stenciling and Stonewall Kitchen and Pottery Barn

2012-02-14T19:37:00.000-08:00

I have been really intrigued lately by the stencilling on wood in various expensive shops like Stonewall Kitchen and Pottery Barn.

I would love to make something for my house in this fashion, and I have my mind thinking away. I have seen some artists online make them.

The Graphic Fairy sends me daily beautiful transfers that could be used for this purpose. Stencils with fancy alphabet letters could be used.

Water down your acrylic paint or if you are using stain, apply the stain to your brush or a rag, and wipe alot of the stain off on a paper plate so that it is very light. You can always add more if you like, but go light handed and light amount of paint or stain. Practice. Pick up samples of wood at Home depot or pick up some street side pallets. Use the wood from the pallets.

You can always antique up the wood by adding some of the very stain on the edges of the wood.

I have a machine shop that is near my home. I love driving by it because I have picked up wooden boxes that look like actual window boxes. The wood is rough and rugged. I have it in my kitchen right now filled with candles and I am looking for the ideal stencil that I want to apply to the box. I also need to think if I want to sand the box and then stencil or apply the image. MMMMM, I may want to give it a french grey paint job, sand the edges for them to be rounded and then stenciled.

I usually don't spray the outside of my work with polyurethane, but I think I will in the future just to keep my collages and wooden pieces protected.

Valentines Day and Home Made Journals

2012-02-14T19:36:00.001-08:00

My husband and I went out for Valentines day yesterday to a restaurant in Maine, and while we were there for a great lunch, the menu's were there, free to pick up. The paper of these menu's had a very interesting surface so I grabbed about four of them. I may integrate them into another journal that I work on that is all separate, all different pages, that I am collecting and getting ready to use grommets and attach it all together.

Another place that has great brochures is Teavana, a very expensive tea store. You get to stop by and have little samples of teas and the brochures are right on the counter. I have used these for the paper and color themselves as collage papers.

Free People, a women's clothing store send me catalogues, that has the best paper and I love using it for my journals just to tear up or to gesso over.

Starbucks has the great cardboard sleeves. Cut as many as you want on the seam, gesso them on the smooth side with white gesso and dry well. Make a chunky book, and poke holes, and then atach as many pages as you like with ribbon and yarns or twines. Take a glue stick, a black Pitt pen, graphite pencil, and watercolor pencils or crayons. Now when you go out for a ride in the car, a train ride, bus ride, small vacation, you will be able to glue little bits in the book, you can color or draw and wait to paint it with water later. You can use the graphite pencil or black marker to write notes,and you are set for a very simple journal.

When you are taking day trips, keep an alert out for brochures that are folded in different ways. These are great to gesso over, and then journal and draw in. When finished with your art work, fold the brochure back the way it was originally. Wrap twine around it to keep it closed.

So keep an eye open for paper used for other purposes and use it for your journal pages. Use clear gesso or white gesso on the papers, and then go to town with your techniques.

Collage, Layering, Painting, Drawing

2012-02-11T19:55:00.000-08:00

I just love this type of art so so much. It is intriguing, every piece you work on is different. There is so much texture, color and variance. You can work on all different types of art like making your own stamps, carving them, using them in your work, it is using pastels and then water or turp over them depending on which one you are using, it is using all sorts of inks, ink pads, acrylic inks, water color inks, permanent inks...wax-bees wax, yes bees wax melted all over your piece, encaustic wax that you can carve into and use all sorts of colors on top of each other...it is endless

But don't let that endlessness get you caught up and fearful...my daughter will not do collage with me because she said there is too much different choices.

I have an idea...if you have some images you would like to use in a collage, copy them so you have 2-3 copies. Glue the copies down on three pieces, so you have the same copy three times. Now go to town, and do different things to each image and see all the variables you get, but you can have two to three or even more if you like, right before you. Don't worry if you put a sticker on the first one but not on the second one, cut out other papers, grab a stamp and stamp it red on one page, stamp it green on another. HAVE FUN!

Painting Over Collage like Tam from Life Book

2012-02-11T19:47:00.000-08:00

It took me some time to get my act together, and finally sit down and paint. All of my supplies were moved over the holiday's for a cleaning and now I have to bring them all back and reorganize, and that takes more energy out of me than anything. Seeing I have done it more times than I can count.

But, when I finally sat down and watched Willowing's videos over and over again, stopping them and starting them and stopping them and starting them, I just got to it. I did some layers a bit different order than Tam did, but that is ok. I know this much about collage, each layer is a layer upon itself, and it is ok, if you put one piece down in a different order.

That is what happened to me here. I had finished all of my collaging, and then clear gessoed over the entire piece, not just the face, and then realized I had not cut the piece for the girl's clothing. So I did after that. I did not add gesso the clothing, but just painted and used graphite pencil over it to give shadows.

After painting the face, I absolutely did not like the nose, so "Off with the nose" That was scary..."Would I be able to make a somewhat decent nose?" Yes, this was after I added the clothing, painted and drew on the clothing, breyered the background with white acrylic and did some stamping. The nose and the hand. Do yo know that there are some masters who could not paint hands and just tucked the hands behind the body or in the pockets. That's right, out of sight, out of mind, the hands don't always need to be seen.

In this type of artwork that is very primitive, funny looking hands are alright.

I then went to Gaugan's paintings to see his ladies. My face was still a bit off proportionately wise, but I will accomplish this as I keep up with it. Why fear what you can end up doing. If you never do it, you won't have accomplished it.

Hey, that is my own personal quote. I will have to add that to a collage.

Sneek Peeks to my Collage

2012-02-07T20:17:00.001-08:00

Working on my collage for Tam's Class at "Life Book"-----a book I will be working on all year, doing all sorts of techniques and then finishing off by binding it all together.

This collage will look nothing like it does right now. Just taking pictures so that I can remember the beginning and showing you if you are a beginner that you can do this too!

Collage and Painting

2012-02-07T20:13:00.000-08:00

Here is the first steps of my collage for Willowing's "Life Book" Class-a year class with various artists and all sorts of methods. I love it.

Painting Over Collage

2012-02-07T19:55:00.000-08:00

Today, I finally got my gears in working order, grabbed a bunch of my collage papers, antique ones especially, grabbed a couple of my favorite catalogues from a company in the Netherlands I believe it is and a clothing company called Freepeople. I love the colors in these magazines, I love the paper quality and I love the looks on some of the models.

So today, I selected a face that was not completely clear in the first place from the magazine which I thought was kind of cool, and I realized I selected a beautify girl from India.

I am doing a year class with Willowing called "Life Book" and I have not done any of the assignments yet because I have been working on my life coaching class from "Artellaland" as you will see below in other posts. Do check it out, you will get a freebie if you do!

So, I glued down papers with the soft gel medium. I was more selective on the papers, laying them down the way I thought was pleasing to the eye, but I did not spend as much time layering the pieces down the way I should have with a credit card or brayer to squish out the air bubbles and bumps. My son came home after being gone for a few days and he wanted to talk, so I didn't pay as attention as I would have liked to have. So do pay attention, you would like it nice and smooth. Afyer I had all of the pieces down and glued, I used my breyer with the collage between two pieces of wax paper and on a soft mat. I then used my hair dryer to blow dry it a bit.

Out came the clear gesso and instead of painting just the face as Tam mentioned in the video, I painted the whole piece trying to keep the flow over the whole piece. Then I realized I had not added her body frame, oops, but that is ok, so I did, I glued it with the soft gel medium again. I have not gessoed over it though. I may let it go.

Tam added butterfly wings to her girl. I have been debating if I want to do anything like that or not and also I am not quite sure I like her with no shoulders. I think I am worrying about the papers that I would love to show, but won't once I paint over them. Tam is teaching us about the layers of collage.
I have been collaging like this for over 3 years now, and I still sometimes have a hard time going over papers I love.

As you see here I have quotes: Life is the flower for which.....,Here for Life...a writing from a real vintage french book page, bumble bee images, hearts, green and more green, I was definetely in a green mood today (I even was looking at a green scarf in the store today). I guess I am thinking about "LIFE" which is cool because this assignment has to do with the changes of your life, and I have grown spiritually and maturally I believe, so I guess that is where the green is coming from, the pink is my girliness, the beige is my antiqueness and the writing and printing is all of my desires of being an author.

I do have an ebook written about single motherhood and it was supposed to be up on the net, but the company I was working with did not see me through the process and it did not get done. It is edited, front cover by a graphic artist and good to go...maybe soon.

Between being an author to a book, an artist and an up and coming certified life coach through Artbundance or "Artellaland" I will have a great website.

So stay tuned to my future, you will enjoy it with me and maybe I can be an encouragement and aid to you through all of my learning experiences.

Gesture Drawing

2012-02-07T08:58:00.000-08:00

LESSON - CAPTURING THE GESTURE
There are two techniques you can use to
quickly capture the gesture of a figure in a
drawing: the scribble line gesture and the
mass gesture. They are both used to quickly
establish the size and placement of the
major shapes
SCRIBBLE GESTURE
You can use this technique both as a learning tool to help you see shapes better, and
also as part of a longer process of creating
a finished drawing.
• Work from the inside of the shape outwards, avoiding the outline. Think of
yourself as building the form as if you
were modeling it out of clay.
• Make more scribbles in the center of the shape where you are confident of
its position, and less scribbles near the outline where you are not so sure of
the position.
MASS GESTURE
In a mass gesture you use a drawing tool that creates a
two dimensional shape directly, without the use of line.
You can use the flat side of a short stick of conte
crayon or charcoal, a brush and paint, or a brush
and ink.
•Work from the inside of the shape outwards.
•Work from large to small

Rainbows

2012-02-07T08:13:00.000-08:00

Wrapping Your Presence in Rainbows

Wrapping Your Presence in Rainbows
by Marney K. Makridakis

People have often told me that I tend to see things through
rose-colored glasses, and I take it as a compliment. I know that the
idiom tends to have a negative connotation, but I tend to think of my
own rose-colored glasses as being one of my most helpful tools for
creativity, productivity, and happiness. Seeing the bright hues in any
situation allows us to focus on what we want, rather than what we
don't want. And having a clear vision of what we want is, I believe,
the first step in actually taking action to get there.

I recently was reminded, however, that taking off the rose-colored
glasses can be pretty amazing, too. I experienced this quite literally,
when looking at rainbows through my polarized sunglasses. Typically,
these sunglasses tend to make everything more vibrant, including the
beautiful rainbows that are so frequent where I live. The sunglasses
make rainbows really pop into an even more spectacular sight.

But the other day, my husband commented on the vivid rainbow, and
oddly enough, when I had the sunglasses on, I couldn't see the rainbow
at all. Once I took them off, then I was able to see it in all its
breathtaking splendor. Now, I'm
sure there is a scientific reason that explains this phenomenon – why
the color frequency in this particular rainbow was so dramatically
different from most rainbows I had seen. But, science aside, the
experience reminded me of how important it can be to take off the
rainbow-colored glasses from time to time, and see exactly what really is.
What really is can be even more breathtaking than what might
be.

So which is better – to see life for what it can be, or see it for
what it is? I think the answer lies in making a choice to fully
experience the powerful elements that each perspective has to offer.
Balance, of course, is necessary, since we can't become so focused on
what is that we forget the value of seeing what can be. And
perhaps even more bravely, we can't become so attached to our
rainbow-colored glasses that we forget what can happen when we really
allow ourselves to actually be with what is, and feel the gravity, and
resulting power, of our lives' truth.

I believe that making brave choices, even the very act of choosing to
become comfortable with this type of duality, is easier when we
utilize creativity to support our choices. "Choice" and "Intuition"
are two of the ARTbundance™ Principles that trainees in the ARTbundance™
Certification Training Program have been studying, learning how to help their clients develop intuition, so that they can
innovatively use it to make many
kinds choices in their life.

I'll close with some words from a poem that I wrote for an early
issue of Artella magazine:

I
gathered embraces and cuts

grace and guts

but one is not more lovely than the other

I gathered it all.

A load like this never gets lighter

but if you feel it for true

let the weight ruin you

dare to feel the pinch

if you feel it

and really feel it

you'll sing so fast, you can run

dance so loud, you can rhyme

and close your eyes so light,

you can fly.

Blessings to you and your gorgeous, rainbowtacular flight!

Marney K. Makridakis is the founder of ArtellaLand.com
and the inventor of the ARTbundance Philosophy, which uses ARTsignments™ to change lives through the power of creativity. If you are
intrigued by the idea of exploring a new vision for yourself in which
you apply the ARTbundance™ philosophy and ARTsignments™ to your own professional dreams and goals,
you are invited to apply for the next ARTbundance™
Certification Training (ACT),
beginning in April 2011.

Wow-FREE-YaY-Vintage Photos

2012-02-07T08:04:00.000-08:00

Download a FREE copy of the Artella eBook, Artella Mae's NEW Altered Ancestors!, a 58-page eBook overflowing with ideas and techniques for using vintage photos in your artwork. Download your copy here!

Do you want to add vintage photos to your art work and grunge up your pieces with antique looking pieces? Go to this site, you will get a freebie and you will be intrigued with art and writing for your personal life and for others. I lovvvvvvve it! Treat yourself

Art and Coaching

2012-02-07T08:01:00.001-08:00

Artella-My muse

2012-02-07T07:55:00.000-08:00

Mystery Muse Project 2012

When I was a girl, I played with dolls, dressed and re-dressed them, changed their diapers, had the Barbie dolls talk to each other and to Ken:), I decorated their apartments and crochet blankets, clothing, rugs...

Did I talk to my stuffed animals?
Did I play with a make-believe friend?

I did! Yay!

But then I grew up.

With Artellaland, you can have a muse.

What is a muse? A muse is your creation. Your artistic creation, all of your own, and only yours unless you want to share.

You can ask your muse any question you want, and maybe you will get an answer.
It will be an answer that is deep within your soul.

Just click on the above blue title and you will see what I mean! You will love it!

Artella

2012-02-07T07:49:00.001-08:00

Soul Safari 2012

Maybe many of you do not know that while my blog has been a bit slow lately with wonderful photos and posts, I have been working on a certification with Artella.

What is Artella, take a peek!

A quick description also is that I have learned to use artsignments and writing assignments with clients to give them insight and help in their future.

Banners and Penants

2012-01-30T17:00:00.000-08:00

I love having things hanging from the ceiling or stairwells, mantles of fireplaces, chandeliers and door ways.

I am taking an awesome life coaching class called Artbundance.
We have learned about 9 principles and I wanted to make a banner that would have to do with these principles to hang in my office. These separate little pieces of art were made out of a really nice chipboard with copies of each principle typed, printed and glued on the chipboard/cardstock

Penant, Banner

2012-01-30T16:52:00.000-08:00

A penant can go by many other names like a flag, a banner...

Today, people are into a new craft-the Penant

One of my most favorite things to create...I don't know why, but I love them.
They can be made in all different styles and shapes-triangles, rectangles, and this example I have made using a heart punch and then hand-tied each heart to antique twine. I hung longer strands of the twine with a heart at the end so that they would dangle.

I hung it from the mantle of my fireplace. Another pretty idea would be to hang it from your window and use it as a curtain. I know this style of white and delicate is so sophisticated and is done in the Netherlands decorating. I love white.

I also made a simple penant with the same heart stamp, and used decorative printed cardstock and am sending it to my mytstery muse in the Artbundance Class I am taking. I thought with it being Valentines Day and all, it might be fun to integrate a little gift with a token of love-the heart.

Christmas Cookies

2011-12-22T22:58:00.000-08:00

I have made seven types of cookies this year, five short of last year, boohoo! I want to make more but no time. But have spent alot of time with the kids.

I have made two cheese balls, chocolate chip, and blue cheese, a peppermint bark and an ice cream pie too!

...hint o'mint cookies and toffee chip cookies from a 2009 magazine for cookies, molasses cookies, capaccino flats, peanut butter balls, m&m cookies with the new flavor m&m's, apricot twists.

I used to make a date-nut bread, a no-knead bread, a Christmas bread, and a poppy seed, a nut and prune roll up breads, kind of Lithuanian types.

Decorating for Christmas 2011

2011-12-13T15:51:00.001-08:00

Home-Made Barbecue Sauce

2011-11-22T17:00:00.000-08:00

I made a turkey, stuffing, apple crisp and home-made barbecued ribs today.
Took a nap after all the cooking!

Measure out mollasses and cider vinegar equal amounts (I guess it depends how much you want to make) Cook on stove and stir till all mixed and hot.

Add a cup of ketchup or more into the mollasses and cider vinegar combo, stir, (do this off of the stove).

Then I added garlic powder, onion powder, worcestershire sauce, cayenne pepper, salt, a dash of this and that. Taste it, taste it again, if you want it spicier, add more cayenne, if you like garlic, add a bit more, add fresh garlic even...

I used my electric pressure cooker, addeded my ribs, sliced onions and my home-made barbecue sauce...mmmmmm

BEST EVER APPLE CRISP

2011-11-22T12:33:00.001-08:00

And I mean the best, it is the topping:

From a book we have called easy desserts:

1 stick butter-melt
1 cup quick oats
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup flour
mix together and put over 5 cups of apples.

We double the recipe for the topping because we love the crunch.

A Wise Woman Builds Her House

2011-11-22T10:19:00.000-08:00

I truly believe that a wise woman does all that she can to build her home: that would mean:

1. How your relationship with the Lord is: do you read the word, do studies, read others writings on spiritual matters, attend church, give to the widow and orphan...
2. Do you treat your husband well, with kindness and love and RESPECT
3. How is your relationship with your children: do you pray for them most importantly
4. Do you cook meals or at least prepare something nutritious, clean your home, spend money wisely, decorate...
5. Invite people over for fellowship with your family
6. Do not gossip about your husband and children
7 Speak well about being a wife and mother/grandmother

This is why I love making crafts, cooking, even things my husband likes, as you will see below: giblets from the turkey, making snow people out of the ephemera and craft supplies I have...to decorate my home, to sell and to give away as gifts.

Vision Forum Catalogue and contest-A Wise Woman Builds Her House

2011-11-22T10:13:00.000-08:00

A Wise Woman Builds Her House

Vision Forum, "Christian Books" and A Wise Woman Builds Her House

2011-11-22T09:57:00.001-08:00

Vision Forum and "Christian Books"

2011-11-22T09:38:00.000-08:00

I love "Christian Books" and cd's and audios. I learn so much from the Lord.
Vision Forum is the site that we love shopping at and getting their catalogue.
So, you too can win a certificate and check it out at Vision Forum or A Wise Woman Builds Her House and see the contest. I posted at Facebook too!

I also posted at A Wise Woman Builds Her House.

CHRISTIAN BOOKS-VISION FORUM

2011-11-22T09:33:00.000-08:00

My husband drools when he gets the Vision Forum Catalogue in the mail, and I stand inline. We don't have the money this Christmas to buy much, but we love looking at the catalogue. We even attended a Vision Forum conference a couple of years ago in Boston for studies in the Reformation.

Go to this site, you will find unusual gifts for your families, girls and boys and maybe you will get addicted too!
www.VisionForum.com

Giblets and Gravy

2011-11-22T09:15:00.000-08:00

Hi there,
Thanksgiving is coming fast! Making a turkey for my sick pregnant friend, so I took out the giblets and remembered, "My husband is from the south, he would love the giblets". So I cooked them in butter and served him (without the gravy and biscuits though!)

Combinations of Snow People-Two's Company Three is a Crowd they say

2011-11-22T09:11:00.001-08:00

Is it true the saying, two is company, three is a crowd? Not with these snowpeople! They all seem to get along, and what they have in common-Glitter and Glitz Galore

The Backside is as good as the front!

2011-11-22T09:06:00.000-08:00

Five New Snow People

2011-11-21T19:45:00.000-08:00

Here are my snow people. Idea from Cloth Paper Magazine. Love them and had to make some. I would like to share my work with you.

Check them out. $20-$25.00 each. Diamond Dust, Martha Stewart Glitter, ephemera, vintage items, pearls, vintage music, Air dry clay, various strings, tinsel...

SNOW MAN PEOPLE AND GLITTER GALORE-vINTAGE

2011-11-21T19:32:00.000-08:00

If you like snowmen, you will love these!
If you love glitter, you will adore these!
Into vintage? You will find something vintage on each of the snowmen: keys, locks, measure tapes, pearls, music, all kinds of little ephemera!

If you are interested in purchasing, let me know!

I am also selling them on etsy!

A Little Imagination and a Pile of Junk

2011-11-09T21:01:00.000-08:00

I just came acquainted with a blog called "A Little Imagination and a Pile of Junk"

It always amazes me the amounts of names for blogs.

Why is it that when I tried to create a name for my blog I was mind blanked?

I really don't know why. Every blog I go to is so uniquely different.
Different names,
Different colors,
Different styles
Different people,
Different subjects
Different art...

Wow.

Well, let me tell you why I like this blog! She, the artist paints with a friend and you should see the paintings they come up with. They are both very different artists, but what is unique, is when they work together with the pallette, the painting becomes uniquely whole.

Now I need a painting partner to create delicious paintings for my home!

I think I won't wait though, and just start working on a piece I have been longing for for quite awhile. It is a 3x4 foot collage/painting.

And while I am at it, I will meditate on the name of this cute little blog "A Little Imagination and a Pile of Junk". Sounds like my art room!

See ya!

Transparency of Leaves

2011-11-03T17:40:00.000-07:00

Photography of Fall Leaves

2011-11-03T17:39:00.000-07:00

2011-11-03T17:38:00.000-07:00

2011-11-03T17:37:00.000-07:00

Leaves and Snow

2011-11-03T17:35:00.000-07:00

Well, believe it or not, we had a Northeaster snow storm. Our electricity was out for over a full day. So we just snuggled up under our covers, went to a coffee shop...made the best of it.

Weird thing is though, the ground never had a frost, trees were still changing a bit, and it was on the warm side during the week. So I can't figure out how the snow has stuck to the ground still.

So today, I went outside and went for a walk, and was intrigued by the burgundy and red leaves still on some of the trees and bushes. So I picked and did an art assignment and then took photos.

MAP of Artbundance Class

2011-10-30T20:10:00.000-07:00

I am taking a life coaching class and we have been in it for 6 weeks. This weeks assignment is to make a map of what we have learned. When you work with a client, you are to work with Intuition, Imagination and Intellect. So my little girls are symbols of me on the left, and my clients on the right, working with my 9 principles. The assignments are fun, but long and I put alot o thought into them. I seem to do alot of my art work intellectually, and I am trying to move on to the imagination part of the artsines; improvising.

Hands and Heart: Sneak a Peak in to the new online workshop!

2011-10-21T09:43:00.000-07:00

Hands and Heart: Sneak a Peak in to the new online workshop!: I have a video to share with you! It`s showing some of the works we will be creating at class like: art papers fabrics alter...

Someday I am going to take this! I love this gal!

Photography Painting and Drawing

2011-10-17T21:06:00.000-07:00

To paint yourown original paintings or drawings or even pastels or watercolors, take your own photos and keep a library.

My problems, is I have pictures saved on my computer, and then my computer dies and I lose my pictures. I should put them on a thumb drive, but don't always get to it.

So start taking pictures and draw them.

Photography and ANIMALS

2011-10-17T20:58:00.000-07:00

When I don't have time to do art work or decorate, and I am outside, I take my camera and have fun so my daughter and I went to the MSPCA and off I went with my camera. I got a kick out of how the animals responded to me.

Destiny and mantels

2011-10-17T20:54:00.000-07:00

I recently saw on someones blog, their use of hooks on a fireplace to hang candles. Destiny is when you have plant hanging hooks that look just like that bloggers, and they have been waiting in the drawer to hang up and be used. Yes, I am using them on my mantle, hanging little black lanterns with orange candles for the fall. It looks awesome. Then I can hang things from them also for different seasons.

Me updated-red lipstick

2011-10-17T20:53:00.000-07:00

Trying out different red lipsticks, different brands!

My still waters day

2011-10-17T20:49:00.000-07:00

9 ARTBUNDANCE Principles

2011-10-14T20:01:00.000-07:00

This is my peace project for the Artbundance.
There are nine principles that we are learning and we could do any type of art project to remind ourselves of the principles.

A month ago, my family and myself went to have ice cream. It was absolutely gorgeous out. Little tiny yellow leaves were swirling down, and as you looked up , you would see a glimmer of the sunshine and the aqua color blue coming down from the sky and that is all I saw when I looked up. I held onto that memory and for the first time tried to portray it in an art piece which because a piece of paper cloth. I then made little banners out of paper to have fly in the sky that were about the 9 principles and what examples have occurred in my life to remind me of the principles individually.

The paper cloth was made out of an original piece of water color paper. I applied a textured paste to it and blowed dried it. I then added aqua tissue paper all over it with modge podge and then the silk leaves. The modge podge was sparkle MODGE PODGE. Then I added some really neat little silver dots that for me reminded me of when the light from the sun glistened through the leaves and almost blinded my eyes with its beauty.

Banner and Penants Made out of Burlap and Twine

2011-10-12T13:29:00.000-07:00

What ever you like to call these, I love banners, and penants made out of all sorts of fabrics and materials. This is my AUTUMN penant made out of burlap, and ribbon along with a rough twin to hang it up and to go along with the grunge look.

I used walnut colored ink and a bit of espresso ink to grunge up the edges and parts of each triangle. I also made each triangle different. Why not!?

Things don't always have to be equal and symmetrical on everything. A little assymetrical work is kind of nice. This penant or banner goes great in my living room with the spray painted bird cage and black accents. The next one I make I think I will make for a friend and then make one out of floral printed fabrics.

Muslin, canvas and linen would be nice too!

Moon and moonboard

2011-10-12T10:11:00.000-07:00

What was going on with the moon last night. There was an incredible huge ring around it. My husband and kids didn't think any of us have ever seen this before. I have been collecting my images to do my next board.

White dingy Bird Cage Gone Black

2011-10-09T17:52:00.001-07:00

I bought this new Rustoleum black color paint that has a sheen to it. It took the whole can of spray paint, and I felt like I needed another one just to do some spots inside the bird cage, I couldn't quite reach all of the inside. The opening for the bird is not big enough for your hand and paint can, so I did the best I could. I thought, if there were spots not great, perhaps I would take some acrylic black and make a glaze and a long brush to reach those spots, and then again, unless you really study it under a magnifying lens, you can't see the areas. I mmay put small pumpkins inside. Someone I saw on another site were warned to not put candles in it. But I thought, why not take your candle, put it into a small votive and then the votive possibly into a small jar. If it is not tall, the jar that is, I think you should be safe. If you are uncomfortable, don't do it, I understand.
You can put little candles that light up by a battery if you want a bit of a light. Take a strand of white lights (Christmas) and fit them inside the cage. Place a bunch of flowers. Hang tags on it. Glue a piece of costume jewelry on it. Glue a back bird with a grungy tag on it. Make ATC's and add them on all the sides of it. Make a paper doll and place inside with a little white lite spotted on the doll.

Journaling and portrait

2011-10-09T17:49:00.001-07:00

I am really letting go and just trying to journal one or two things and scribbling, doodling, ink washing and charcoal smudging my work and just doing it quick and having fun. I want my portraits to be exact, but why, when they are a bit odd, they are different to look at kind of abstract.

Vintage Rose Flower

2011-10-09T17:35:00.000-07:00

Isn't this rose flower look vintage. It is absolutely gorgeous and I was thinking what a great idea for making a pillow out of felt or silk and have the pillow be made out of many petals with a vintage brown color for the bottle petals.

Vignettes, Mantels, Decorating

2011-10-08T20:10:00.000-07:00

It is fall, and I have the kitchen windows open to let the clean air flow in. My whole family is saying it is freezing, NOT ME!

Orange, Blacks, Browns, Burgundy, grasses, candles, metal, glass, plants, mirrors are just some of the things I like to collect and decorate with.

I went to George's a couple of weeks ago and have had my eye on the piece you see in the picture that is a huge piece of wood with some rusty metal pieces and a harvest foliage filled basket. I have loved that piece and kept waiting and waiting to get it. I was going to make a table out of it for my hallway and when I asked George what it was, he said it was for men to stand on to clean windows. wow I thought, it is only 12 inches wide. I am not sure what you would use the rusty piece for; maybe to hold on to for dear life!

Well as you see, I did not make a table out of it, but a wall hanging. It had the little perch to put the basket of flowers on which I made and filled with cinammon pinecones, silk flowers and white lights. It is really pretty. Maybe it will make it into a table next time.

I filled a conch sea shell with my outdoor plants and some moss thinking maybe I can keep some greenery in the house for the winter months.

I had bought some grasses at the Dollar Tree, but then I went outside and hacked down some different grasses from my yard and put them in my metal vase find from Salvation Army. Maybe that is why we are all sneezing and rubbing our eyes?

I spray painted a vintage birdhouse black and put it on the mantel. I would like to fill it with small orange pumpkins but that will be another day.

I had a book with botanical prints, and I can't have a bare wall in my house so I tacked them on the wall with an antique measuring tape. I like it and I don't. So, I will leave it up there for a bit, and then see what I want to do.

Then, my daughter helped me hang up a bunch of flowered art pieces in my hallway. I can't buy any lights for the hallway, so I hung up my growth light for plants up in the corner and it focus' right on the pictures like in a gallery. Don't worry, it can't harm anything-the light that is.

I am just having fun.

Life Relaxing and Ice Cream

2011-10-08T20:05:00.000-07:00

Life has been hard the past two months. I had an Aunt die, my back went out and I was in bed for 4 days, I had a virus the whole month of July, I got bit or stung by something two days ago and my leg is throbbing, swollen, our van has had super duper problems $$, problems in family and it goes on, but this day was wonderful and relaxing when my husband suggested we go out for an ice cream. Now this was relaxing.

Oh you want to know what kind of ice cream I had...................................................................................FROZEN PUDDING-Raisins in it. I don't care for rains plain but I love them in ice cream and muffins.

Flags or Penants out of Burlap for AUTUMN/Fall

2011-10-07T20:13:00.000-07:00

I made my first penant out of burlap tonight.
I will post tomorrow.
It is made of burlap, and I spelled out the word AUTUMN.
I stewed my burlap in tea/coffee mixture with spices, dried it in a 250 degree oven. Ironed it. Traced the triangles, cut them out. Bought black and orange ribbons. Used a rugged twine to attach the triangles on. Used a glue gun to add the ribbons, grungied it up more with walnut ink and a stencil brush and hung it up off my living room mantle. I don't celebrate Halloween but I love decorating for the AUTUMN or FALL. Do you?
My family and my church celebrate Reformation Sunday, and the kids dress up like the 1500's and we have apple bobbing, all kinds of goodies, stories read to the kids and fellowship.

Iraq, Afghanistan, Africa...

2011-10-07T20:07:00.000-07:00

My oldest son is in Iraq right now and may be going to Afghanistan soon. I don't know when I'll know that.

He has left his wife and two children behind.

It is so amazing the families that are left behind, that continue to grow, learn and live while their mommy or daddy is gone. There are even children that have lost both parents to go off for a tour of 6 months or a year away.

Let us pray for these families, say thank you to the wives, kids and mothers and fathers and grandmoms and grandpas. They miss their kids and are always trusting that they will come home.

Many of our loved ones are in many different countries not just Iraq, Afghanistan, or Africa, so forgive me if I have not written down a country your loved one is in. Many places are just as bad and are not focused on in the news. In fact, we don't hear much in the news anymore at all except about finances and presidency.

Mantel Decorating Again

2011-10-07T19:48:00.000-07:00

I just can't help myself. I think my favorite thing to do or should I say one of my favorite things is to decorate my mantels. I have three. And they all just so happen to be white. Why not another color? I don't know really. Two of them came to my home white, and the other I painted over the brick with white. Two of them are fake fireplaces that I got from freecycle and the other on the side of the road that someone built. Then, years ago my husband and I bought one as an electric fireplace, when these were rare and now they are found everywhere. It doesn't heat up alot though, because it just has a small heater in it. It sure looks nice though. I put it in the kitchen, pushed a round kitchen table in front of it, have four white chairs and a 1970's orange chair at the table.

Mantels, let me tell you about mantels. They are the best places to decorate. it is hard to not want to change them often because I get a new idea and new stuff to use to decorate. And now, I change my chandeliers too because I have a hook up and can alter them. So I just took the white shabby chic from the living room and put it in the kitchen, and took the black one and put that in the living room. People always think I have more stuff, but the secret is that it is always being changed around.

I am finally going through all of my bins and selling and giving away stuff (I promised my family I would have no more yard sales after this year. I have had about 15 in three years; here at my house and other peoples homes).

I find stuff on the side of the road and find great stuff at cheapo stores.

I get great ideas from other decorators and artists online: THANK YOU TO YOU ALL. And then I use the ideas and compliment them with my own stuff. Sometimes they don't look as good as some other artists, and sometimes I love the outcome just fine.

I love covering candles with cardboard, music papers, twine, old keys...
I love drying hydrangea and putting it in white porcelain containers, making wreaths out of it and have that flower affect in the house till next year, throw out the old if it is too dusty, and get new and some of it I keep because the color is so pretty. I don't have any blue or purple but mine is white and mauve and a bit of brown and that is ok. The brown looks like a vintage color.

I will be taking new pictures of the vignettes on the mantels so you can see the new ideas. I hang little nic nacs off of other nic nacs like my little black bird cut out of wood. I hung it on the flower container.

Ohhh! Did I tell you? I love decorating any surfaces! not just mantles:)

Settings to my blog are new

2011-10-04T21:17:00.000-07:00

What do you think? Do you like the way the blog looks now? I thought I would try simple where my background before was very colorful.

Keep going down the blog, and you will see the photos in a neat order. I think I like it. I am going to try it out for awhile.

Dreamboards, LifeBoards, VisionBoards

2011-09-23T18:00:00.000-07:00

I think all of these can be the same thing. You know, like the whole journaling thing: art journaling, daily journaling, ideas journal...

I made a board last week which you can see the examples below. No, My board can't be a simple one boarded experiment. It had to be a board with many pages attached to look like doors and drawers opened.

A Lifeboard can have many topics on it that you are looking forward to in the future such as Life, Love, Spirituality, Finances and Prosperity, Traveling...

A Visionboard can be random and various pictures that you just pick out, glue down, add to it as the days go on and see what the correlation of the pictures are.

A Dreamboard is somewhatj like a lifeboard, and a vision board. You place pictures down of things you are interested in and keep a watch on what is happening in your life to what the pictures symbolize and signify.

Being a christian, I desire many things and have many dreams. I give all of these desires to the Lord. And I love putting down these things in visuals and writings. Then I get to look back to see what has come out of these things through prayer, hoping and trusting.

Journal-Have you always wanted to journal

2011-09-23T17:53:00.000-07:00

I admire and am almost jealous at times when I read on peoples blogs that they have been journaling since they were a little kid. They had a journal. I had a diary with the little golden key but I didn't write in it. I do remember going through a season of writing poetry, but because I felt like I had no idea in writing or writing poetry to be exact, I stopped doing it and threw away those sheets of lined paper that I collected.

I am coming to realize that as a child, writing and reading were no way highly suggested as they are today. What I would have or could have done with a beautiful leather journal is beyond me. And now that I feel all choked up about journaling, and I truly want to do it, now I am confused about what type of journal I want to do and it gets all jumbled up and guess what. I throw them away.

The only journals I have kept are ones that I carry with me and write down information, recipes, craft ideas etc. and I write them in a notebook and I collect them. Do I ever go back to them to read them? Hardly ever. I always thing that what is in them is what I want to keep. Maybe someday I can go in and catalogue it all somehow. I ask myself "Why didn't I make that recipe or make that craft?"

I am coming to realize that there is just too much stuff to make and do. And I blog search and web search everyday for another idea. I hardly make anything I copy.

So what do I do. I have thought about having a daily journal, a craft and ideas journal, a clothing journal, a christian inspired journal, a drawing and daily journal....At one point, I probably had 8 journals. I would even get confused which one I should write in or grab when I am going out.

I thought maybe I should have a January journal with everything in it from drawings, recipes, quotes, ideas, then a February journal. That would probably be the best idea, but then what about the things I want to keep cherished in only my heart and then they would be in that journal?

Yes, the question is "To Journal or Not to Journal?" that is the famous question

Photographing Rockport

2011-09-13T19:00:00.000-07:00

Everyday, I try to create. Create something....Yesterday, I photographed Rockport. I have done this before, but today was a new day.

Today, I made my dreamboard and made home-made applesauce in my new electric pressure cooker. I also picked some small sunflowers and blackeyed susans that were growing in the yard to dry them for seeds and potpourri.

Who knows what I will do tomorrow. I have plans to dangle crystals off of one of my chandeliers. I want to make a paper wreath with antique books. I have an idea for a huge canvas collage. We'll see...

Rockport-One of my favorite places

2011-09-13T18:56:00.000-07:00

This is the beach I pick my sea glass and yes, I have found red!

I have incorporated seaglass into my collages. When I look at my sea glass it reminds me of everytime my husband has taken me to Rockport in the fall, winter, spring and summer for the past 6 1/2 years.

He is such a dear and loving man and husband.

Sunflowers and the Autumn Fall in Rockport

2011-09-13T18:48:00.000-07:00

I just love these sunflwoer shots I took at a little beach house at Rockport

If you grow sunflowers, don't waste those seeds.
Place them on a cookie sheet, sprinkle with some water and sprinkle with salt.
Put in 250 degree oven and roast for about 30 minutes. Check them so they don't burn, and bake a little longer if they are not completely dried out.
After done baking, let cool and put in a plastic or glass covered container for a snack.

Save some of the seeds for next years crop!

My Dreamboard-It is a dream-vision board and fullmoon board

2011-09-13T18:23:00.000-07:00

This was quite the project. Dreamboards, fullmoon boards, vision boards, business boards...
So many to chose from.
I worked on my dreamboard-vision board while my daughter worked on her vision board today for the first day of school. As you may or may not know, I homeschool my children.
Working with my daughter on her goals for the future seeing she is in high school, and I wanted to get creative myself.

Well, my dream board came out like a book. I started out with a flat surface, and I got the idea that I wanted my board to be like a closet that opened up. Well it did just that. The front doors of the closet are also shelves that open up. AFter you open that layer, there is another door that opens up in the middle, then a door that opens to the left and then so on.

This dream board is like a dream. You can leave the left door closed and open all the other doors to get different illusions. You can leave the right door closed, and fold over the drawers of the first door. You can flip over some of the drawers and keep some of the drawers opened.

My dreamboard consists of fall colors and pumpkins and baskets and black crows and the hair cut I would like and new fall sweaters. I want to decorate some of my chandeliers in my house and noticed I have pictures ripped and added onto my pages. I am into numbers and baskets so I added them onto a page and I am organizing for schooling this fall along with my hearts desire is to become a life coach. I think that may be where the new wardrobe comes in for my working with clients. The numbers show me organization skills, keeping track of dates and months, the baskets show how to keep files and the candles and textures of other items are what I like to surround myself with.

Portraits of various styles

2011-09-13T18:19:00.000-07:00

Over a month ago, I had the flu. I was stuck on the couch for one month.
So, finally after two weeks of being sick, I grabbed some supplies and just played. I usually don't just play but I was so sick, I figured why not!
Used Crayola child's oil pastels

Check out Primcrafts.blogspot.com

2011-09-13T17:56:00.000-07:00

Another great fall giveaway!
Primcrafts.blogspot.com

Primcrafts@blogspot.com

YorkiesPrimitives

2011-09-13T17:40:00.000-07:00

Go to win at YorkiesPrimitives@blogspot.com

Storms and Rain and Floods in the East Coast and no Electricity in California

2011-09-08T23:47:00.000-07:00

I am so sorry to all of you that are flooding away i.n the East Coast and to you with no electricity in California. I pray for you and know that you are not alone. Keep me up with how you are doing and your prayer needs.

willowing

2011-09-08T23:44:00.001-07:00

www.Willowing.org is having a great offer with many artists teaching all sorts of styles: collage, painting, whimsical, girls faces...a..nd so much more.

Artists galore with many talents are on her site and it is something you can work on all year along with a special class choice or choices of Tams.

Take a look.

Color and Fall time

2011-08-31T11:42:00.000-07:00

Rust

2011-08-31T11:35:00.000-07:00

I went out today, shooting some pictures of rust for all of you artists who love the color along with the texture. It was fun to just be aware of one type of color and texture to shoot with my Canon Power Shot and not just taking all random photos, even though I did sneek a couple of perspective shots of fences in my neighborhood to sketch and practice from.

Can you guess what some of the items are that have the rust on them?

Pottery Barn

2011-08-31T10:32:00.000-07:00

I love decorating and I love taking ideas from well known sources like the Pottery Barn or Pier 1 Imports. But I also like to make it mine and use what I have or to rummage in junk shops or antique shops to find what I want. Being a christian is so wonderful, because I feel the Lord in it all the time. Who would think the Lord cares about decorating? I am not saying that that is HIS concern, but HE shows me HIS love this way all of the time. After all, HE is the one who made me an artist and decorator. He gets the glory!

Pottery Barn Look Alike Vignette

2011-08-31T10:28:00.000-07:00

Owl Youtube Class

2011-08-28T19:33:00.000-07:00

Owl Painting

2011-08-28T19:25:00.000-07:00

I watched Creatively Fit at Youtube.
I have wanted to do paintings of owls; not real live paintings, but fun and colorful paintings. Tonight, now that the signs of the hurricane are gone, no more tropical storm except the winds, and electricity still on, I decided to sit down and have fun and paint. I already looked at my new book on stamping ATC's and I absolutely love watching videos and looking at my art books and magazines, but enough was enough, I had to do something I am learning.

I got to paint on my new little desk. Robin Egg Blue, White, Medium yellow and bright magenta were the paint colors I used and had on hand. I painted on a square canvas and added a bit of stamping at the end just to give a bit more texture.

The artist from Creatively Fit used a gesso board I believe and her paint colors were different then mine. My colors mixed actually made an orange hue when I took the pictures on my camera. I would love to take her class on painting owls and going a bit more advanced. Perhaps someday, but in the meantime, I have another canvas that I WILL do another one. This one I did I have a friend who had a grandson and she made an owl mobile with felt owls. This painting is a bit on the pink side so I am unsure if I should send it or not. We will see after I do the next one. It was different painting with only a select pallette. I had to paint this way eons ago in college, so I was acquainted, but it has been a long time. Also, I used a graphite pencil, for some reason, I could not find my charcoal pencils and I have already cleaned my art room. Maybe I don't have any which would be unusual because I have many supplies. Mmmmm, I'll have to keep looking. She, the artist from Creatively Fit's wonderful blog, used a charcoal pencil to do outlining and some shading of the owl. So, after the graphite use, I went back a bit with water and a brush to make it a wash.

Autumn Fall Centerpiece

2011-08-27T21:35:00.000-07:00

The Dollar Tree Store has awesome fake or silk flowers. I would have paid a fortune for an arrangement like this. I don't know where these types of dolls stem from, I think the colonial times, but I thought, "Why not dress her up with the fall flowers for my kitchen tables Autumn Fall Centerpiece

Prayer and Hurricane

2011-08-25T14:12:00.000-07:00

The weather is pretty lousy this afternoon. One storm is pushing the hurricane in and we are finding out that the middle of Massachusetts may get hit harder than the coast. I am going to bake tomorrow and cook a chicken, buy some batteries and water. Today I am washing clothes and underwear in case we have to flee. The hard part will be taking the two dogs along with the five of us. We have a van but the dogs have a hard time with bad weather.

My prayers are that the Lord protect us no matter what we have to do and that when Monday comes, we won't have anything horrible to post. The Lord is good!

Decorating and Integrating

2011-08-25T14:08:00.000-07:00

I really really love vintage items, ecclectic decorations, various furniture (especially white), so I try to impliment it into my house and art room.

The texture of baskets, vintage suitcases, statues, lamps and lamp shades, nic nacs, flowers, old bottles, white wood, oak wood, ...along with other artist's ATC's and collages mixed with mine just makes an atmospher to be desired.

Art Studio Containers and Furniture

2011-08-25T14:04:00.001-07:00

Many of my plastic containers were picked up on the side of the road. Just one of those units with the eight drawers is over $35.00 in the stores. I snagged it up. The white bureau, I purchased from Salvation Army. With all of its drawers (like an artist table), I have ephemera and papers in the drawers.

I love baskets so that is what I put into the armoire I also purchased at Salvation Army. I label my containers so that I remember what is in those pretty little picnic baskets. I also love labels!

Art Room/Studio Pictures

2011-08-25T13:59:00.001-07:00

Some shots of my art studio room. It is small, and I have so many things. I have my fireplace mantle in there along with a window seat. If those were not in there, I would have a bit more room.

My new little vintage desk

2011-08-25T13:56:00.001-07:00

My art studio is small, and I have switched it so many times to see how it will work best for me. This time, I am at a smaller desk, with a little bureau next to me. This desk has glass on top so that I can use as a paint pallette. Underneath are some drawers where I have my erasers and items I use all of the time. The desk also came with the cute little curtain that hides everything, so my paper basket is underneath.

Blueberries and Blackberries

2011-08-25T13:42:00.001-07:00

I didn't get that many blueberries or blackberries this year, but what I could pick, I washed and put into ziplock bags and froze.

What can I do with blueberries and blackberries you ask?

Fruit smoothies: yogurt, berries, milk, juice, ice and put into blender---YUM
Fruit Crumble: berries, put into baking dish, take oatmeal, melted butter and
brown sugar, mix together and put on top of berries.
Bake 350 degrees for about 30 min.
Fruit Muffins: fruit and muffin mix or home-made muffin batter and add your
berries
Fruit Pancakes: Fruit and pancake batter. Pour batter into your pan, place blue-
berries on top of batter, cook on one side, toss over and
cook on the other side in a hot buttered pan.
Fruit Oatmeal: Make your oatmeal for breakfast or cream of wheat and throw some
berries and sugar on top and your good to go.
Fruit Berries
Dehydrated: Put the berries in your dehydrator and make just like raisins.
Then you can add to home-made granola or with nuts and
other good things for a snack or trail mix.

MY BLACKBERRIES ARE SO BIG, TWO OF THEM ARE THE SIZE OF MY CAR KEY.

PS

2011-08-25T13:41:00.001-07:00

PS I DON'T SPRAY MY TREES, SO THE PICTURES BELOW LOOK IT DON'T THEY? Ah, just cut off the bad pieces and throw the rest in the pot!

Apples Applesauce and Autumn

2011-08-25T13:33:00.000-07:00

Apples are dropping off of my trees like no tomorrow. It seems very early to me and that makes me think we are going to have an early and long winter with a harvest like this. These are just droppings from a two feet section in my back yard, and I have to go out there behind the fence and pick and also the tree in the front yard. I have a couple of friends that love the droppings and will come over I am sure to get them, that is...after the hurricane.

If you want to make a quck applesauce rather than the long method I grew up with watching my mom make, I just cut the apples, cut off any bad parts, throw in a huge pot, add a bit of water, cover and cook slowly, when done, I pour it into a strainer to remove the skins and seeds and then can them or put in zip lock bags and freeze.

Add brown sugar, cinammon and sugar or combinations of all three to how much you like while you are cooking it.

If you have a dehydrator or stove, slice your apples thin, and place on a tray in your stove on 250 degrees and cook low for hours, flipping the pieces over and checking them till dry. You now have a nice snack.

Women in the 1700's and 1800's would do this by stringing the slices on a string or twine and hanging over their fireplace mantles to dry naturally. I don't have a natural fireplace, so I have to make sure it is really warm in the house during the winter to do the same thing so that the slices will not mold up.

Autumn and Fall

2011-08-25T13:26:00.000-07:00

Well, it is August 25, 2011, some kids are already in school (mine are home-schooled), we just had a mild earth quake and are up for a hurricane in the next two days; all in New England which is very unusual. In the mean time, continuing on in prayer and living, I decided to make a couple autumn fall centerpieces for my tables. I don't want to go crazy with decorating for fall because before you know it, it is Christmas decorating time and I usually don't decorate this early, but I guess I should enjoy it. I mean, it is the end of August till Thanksgiving and then you put it all away again. That is less than three months. The way I like change though, it is time to do that, put everything away.

I don't know what these dolls are called that I decorated with Dollar Tree dried flowers. First of all, I couldn't believe it that the Dollar Tree had such nice dried flowers this fall. That is the only reason I could make the decorations, otherwise, our finances with the second possible recession occurring has kept me away from buying. That is ok though, life is more precious than decorating.

Blueberry smoothie

2011-08-19T07:26:00.001-07:00

Ah, these are delicious. If you want to watch the calories, careful of what yogurt you select. I didnt realize that and was drinking these at night before I went to bed and then realized how many calories I was taking just by the yogurt and whole milk.

This is for 2-3 servings

Use a Blender or bullet (I have a no name bullet)

1 cup blueberries
1 cup milk (or skim milk)
(if you want really thick, use some cream)
1 cup yogurt (any flavor you like)
1 cup of juice (I love the banana strawberry or kiwi banana or something like that)

Blend away

If you want really icy, add some crushed ice while blending!
Sometimes, I add wheat germ to make it even healthier.
Depending if you like thinner or thicker, that is where I play with ice, milk, juice.

If you are using a bullet, you of course should just put in equal amounts of blueberries, milk, juice, and yogurt.

Blueberry Picking Fork Tool

2011-08-07T21:50:00.000-07:00

I tried this tool but it grabbed the leaves of the plants too and you had to pick at all the little leaves. I did it by hand and got many more blueberries than leaves.

The following day, my daughter sat down at the table with a towel, and would dump blueberries a bit at a time on the towel to sort through the good and bad. That is the way my girlfriend likes it done.

Picking and Harvesting Blueberries

2011-08-07T21:42:00.000-07:00

If you can't use your blueberries right away, rinse them off in a colander, dab off with a towel or paper towel, place on a baking sheet you would use for cookies, and put in your freezer till firm. Then pour them into a zip lock bag or plastic container with cover. I at times, have just poured the fresh berries right into ziplocks without pre-freezing first. It works.

My friend lives on acres of land in Maine. I love love love harvesting fruit and vegetables, so even though I was feeling so sick, I figured maybe I could sweat out the virus and pick blueberries. I did enjoy myself but my daughter had to go in earlier than me. It was just too hot. I picked about six to eight cups of blueberries and they are smaller than bush blueberries. These plants lie low to the ground and have real reddish leaves. Sweet flavored and very versatile for baking. It was so hot that many of the plants were crunchy, and so many plants that it was hard to not step on plants. Many blueberries were dried already, so I snacked on a few of them to see if they were like dehydrated blueberries. They were good but extremely small after shriveling up.

The raspberries were too small and hard, not ripe yet.

Maine Blueberries and blueberry pancake recipe

2011-08-07T21:36:00.000-07:00

Not a flattering picture I know.
I had a virus for four weeks, sicker than a dog, went to visit my friend in Maine, and I got the wild idea to pick the wild blueberries of Maine in my friend's patch in over 90 degree weather (yes in Maine it gets hot too) after church last week. So I had to take a couple of little samples as I continued to pick.

Make your favorite pancake recipe, and then sprinkle your blueberries on top instead of adding them to the batter. Keeps the batter from getting too blue, the blueberries don't mush u and they just brown up so nice in the batter.

Sunflowers in Maine

2011-08-04T12:06:00.000-07:00

Sunflowers galore in Maine. My friend Yolana was driving me to Kennybunk to meet my husband, and I just had to stop. These pictures do no Justice for this awesome house that does not have grass but sunflowers and some other varieties of the same. I had a problem though, all the sunflowers were facing the son which was the opposite way that I was able to stand and take pictures. I didn't want to walk on their sunflowers. It sure was enough the way I was taking pictures all around the house. It was cool too how the American flag just flew there with the red white and blue and the yellow from the sunflowers.

FunkyJunkInteriors.blogspot.com

2011-07-19T15:22:00.001-07:00

FUNKYJUNKINTERIORS.blogspot.com Check it out!

Funky Junk Interiors

2011-07-19T15:20:00.000-07:00

Donna, from Funky Junk Interiors has motivated me so much to look at items in a different sort of way and to use pallette's and wood.
She will be in the magazine Folk and I want to win a subscription!

Canon SX 30

2011-07-15T19:53:00.000-07:00

This is the camera I have had for about a year. It is not a favorite. I feel my pictures are often distorted, but when I take shots to put up on my blog, or send to other art sites, the pictures seem to show the color well and the texture of what I am trying to achieve in my pieces.

Virus, Flu, Rest

2011-07-15T19:50:00.000-07:00

I have had some sort of virus for almost a week now. Have felt really pretty lousy. The other day, after sitting and sleeping on the couch, I grabbed my camera and just took a few shots around the house. For some reason, I was into taking subtle, white and textured photography. I guess when you feel so sick, and you just can't pick up a paint brush or pencil, just snapping some photos made me feel like I got something accomplished. None of these are necessarily frameable, and I don't think that was the intent; just for pleasure, and to let go of my preconceived ideas of art on a day to day basis.

Photography-Subtle

2011-07-15T19:45:00.001-07:00

Antique Vintage Old Books

2011-07-15T19:42:00.000-07:00

I found a book a couple of years ago on fungi and mushrooms. I absolutely love the pictures and colors and knew I was going to impliment some of them into a collage which I started over a year ago and worked on it a bit today. Dealing with a virus and possible ear infection, I feel terrible, but it felt good to just sit at the table and try to get my mind off of the feeling like my head is under the ocean waves.

I have to admit, sometimes, I get stuck in a collage, and can overwork it or take a complete different twist in working on it.

I am not sure what it is going to do when I finally say "Finished".

Collage Updating

2011-07-15T19:28:00.002-07:00

I have been working on this collage for over a year. I love the individual pieces in it, and got to it today to add a few more elements. Working on how I am going to get it to integrate better. It will be unusual I think once I figure it out. I love the round circular spiral in the middle. I know if I add paint, I may ruin it. I want something with texture, I think maybe rusty, bumpy, coppery...I may have to daub, stencil or something. Maybe use texture paste with a copper color in some of the white spots. I just have to get what I want in the center. This collage is a bit different from many of mine because I usually have used alot of gesso, paint and watercolor pastels, but here are alot of papers and antique ephemera that for some reason I just don't have the conscious to be rid of. Maybe I am making this collage a bit too sacred. I should not be leary of touching it. Maybe it will take another year.

Stamp Carving

2011-07-15T07:55:00.000-07:00

A GREAT way of saving money on stamps is to carve your own. If you want all sorts of textures for your art work, just carve your own. I find that the little erasers you can stamp out of are too small sometimes so I really like making a stamp that shows texture with the styrofoam meat trays. They can be at least 12" long so you get a great huge texture on your paper.

Michael's sells an economical way of buying a stamp kit including a breyer, a tube of ink, the stamp carving tool, a tray to put the paint, and a piece of rubber to stamp into. If you use a coupon, you get it for so cheap it amazes me. I mean a big savings. Just a breyer is $16.00 and the tube of ink is $7.00. The piece of rubber to carve is $6.00 so when you keep adding everything up, it is alot of money. The box at full price I think is around $34.00 with the coupon $17-20 depending if your coupon is 50% or 40%.

Michaels and coupons

2011-07-15T07:39:00.001-07:00

See what I was able to get with Michael's coupons! My first set of illustration markers; no they are not copic, but they are good in their richness and deepness of color. I am waiting to use them for a couple of weeks till vacation so that they are special. I am going to doodle with my manga pen/markers and these beautiful colored markers. Check these inexpensive watercolor crayons too! If you are a mixed media and collage artist, inexpensive products are so much fun to work with and try out. The longer I am in the art community, the more supplies are made and the more there is online. It can get overwhelming. But I truly find that I resort to my same supplies anyway. So take note on a day that you are working on a journal page and after you use a medium, put it to the side. When you work on another piece of art, put that medium on the side. See if there is anything in common. Are they the same supplies? Gesso, black markers, white gel pen, colored pencils, gel medium, water soluble crayons and oil pastels, acrylic paints, papers, ephemera...How many of those stamps and punches do you use anyway. I like picking up the $1.00 stamps at Michaels, ACMoore and JoAnne's because I may use them a couple of times. If you have a friend, perhaps you could switch off your stamps every once in awhile to make use out of what you have. It is terrible the amount of money we spend for a variety and then they just sit there.
One of my friends daughters was trying to sell her stamp collection prior to her wedding because she had 3,000 stamps; and they were not the $1.00 ones either.

Stenciling and acrylics

2011-07-05T12:04:00.001-07:00

New ideas I want to try!

Stencil with ink rather than paint.
Stencil with my watercolor pencils or watercolor crayons.
Paint with acrylics in pastel light washes and then write over it with white pen.
Stencil with a texture paste and then when dry, spray with home-made ink washes and daubed off and more color added.

Fireworks by the light of the Moon

2011-07-05T07:08:00.000-07:00

fireworks by the light of the moon. We were having terrential rain and my sweet teenage son so wanted to see the fireworks. So we went anyway, it stopped raining and he got his desire. The Lord is good!

Photography fireworks

2011-07-05T07:07:00.001-07:00

Grabbed my camera quick when my neighbors two nights ago were giving me an aerial view of their fireworks. I was not ready so I just shot the pictures.

Fireworks and texture

2011-07-05T07:04:00.000-07:00

These firework photos look so awesome as texture to create in a collage. Sandpaper it! Spray your paint!

Hands and Heart Video Tutorial-Moni

2011-07-05T06:56:00.000-07:00

This has been so much fun to paint with my watercolor pencils, watercolor tubes and ephemera! Studying and watching other peoples videos teaches me so much and it inspires me to work on my own style and desires.