MAP of Artbundance Class

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!

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

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

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

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

Trying out different red lipsticks, different brands!

My still waters day

9 ARTBUNDANCE Principles

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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...

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

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

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.