And now for something completely different

Sometimes you just have to do something totally different so . . . . on Friday I was looking at the latest Lotuspaperie challenge and it was to alter something. I admit I am not a big alterer but I decided to give it a try - but I didn't want to do a book so I looked around the house for something that called out to me. I was looking through my candle and candle holder cabinet (different ones for different seasons and color combos) and spied this old resin holder with glass globe and knew that this was a project wanting to happen. I first covered the blue glass globe with some artfully cut old Ki memories lace paper and then I went crazy with ribbons, flowers, leaves, bling, some embellishments, a charm, and finally a piece of pink and white vintage tatted lace.

This was so much fun!!!!!!!

A busy day today but tonight I have been working on the latest Scrapping the Music challenge. I have never done one of theirs before but the song this week Mr Blue Sky appeals to me and I got a funky idea for it so I got most of it done - but I ran out of "e'"s and I need to look for 2 more for my song lyric. Tomorrow I work at the book store and then I have to run a bunch of errands on the way home so I know I will be tired but hopefully I can get this finished.

Yesterday I finished piecing the poinsettia table runner and began to cut out the poinsettia applique pieces but I ran out of fusible backing so I need to get some tomorrow after work. I am very pleased with how the table runner is coming out and it will be nice to have it done long before the holidays. I need to get started on making presents - I have several ideas on some things to sew.

Have a good week and thanks for looking.

ttfn

These are a few of my favorite things challenge 4

It's that time of the month - a new challenge is up at http://whatisyourfavething.blogspot.com/ so come on over and join the fun - this time we are asking you a very difficult question - what is your favorite food?????? The DT has come up with some fabulous and mouth-watering layouts to inspire you (and to make you run right straight to the kitchen.) We also announced the winner for challenge 3 and it's awesome - it was so hard to pick a winner from all of the incredible layouts.
My layout is obviously about Cherry Garcia ice cream. My journaling comes from a very hot day when we were living in Puerto Rico (are there any other kind of days there?). I loved the local food in PR but I was in heaven when I spied a Cherry Garcia ice cream bar in the cooler in a local bodega. It spoke of home, of dark chocolate, of vanilla ice cream, and of cherries - total comfort food!!!!!
So come on over and show us what you love - what you crave on those late scrapping nights, what or where you like to go to eat. Jesse, our great Guest designer for this month, is sponsoring a prize from her Etsy shop.
And be sure to come back here tomorrow to view my altered project for the Lotuspaperie challenge.
Have a great Sunday!!!!!!

Prima lust

So I was working on some numbers this morning (once an accountant, always an accountant) and if we are going to stay within our budget this year, I have only a very limited amount to spend on art and since I know I will need more paints (I am already very low on several colors) that means no money for scrapping - actually I could probably scrap all next year and never HAVE to buy any scrap supplies except for adhesives. But I was looking at the Prima blog and totally lusting for some of the new stuff - and since they are doing a giveaway if you post this photo on your blog, here it is!!!!!!!!!!!!
Actually I have been extremely lucky lately and won some supplies - on Butterfly Crafts I won a $20 gift certificate to Bad Girls Kits and a kit of supplies from one of the blog members (the photo she posted has some stuff I have never seen before - I think she lives in Asia or Australia). I also won the Scrapping across the universe challenge last month and won some Basic Grey bling and supplies from one of the members. Add to that what I won in June from Scrapjacked and in July from Wendi on SIS for a Free shopping challenge and I am pretty well set for a while. I feel so fortunate and just love everything that I have received so far.
Check back tomorrow for the next These are a few of my Favorite things and then probably on Monday I will post a new altered project that I did - it's very frou frou - totally PINK!!!!!!!!!

Fabric love and a reminder

I thought I would share a few images of my fabric love and creations - I made the above pin cushion last fall and then made several more to give as Christmas gifts to quilter friends.

A closeup as I was quilting this particular wallhanging (see next photo). I have made 4 wallquilts in this style - it is a tessellation pattern (a tesselllation is a form that fits together to make a bigger form with no gaps or overlaps.) I did a tutorial for this quilt for the Year of Color blog (posted earlier this month) - this month is multi-color and I chose to do the quilt in the dusky pinks, yellows, and greens of late summer.

Below you can see all 4 versions of this wallquilt that I have made. Sort of (in order from top left going clockwise) - multi garden summer, sunflower summer (I actually hung this in spring along with the daffodil painting that I did), red poinsettia for the holidays, and lilac lavendar (I usually hang this in the fall and put a vase of silk grape viney leaves in a lavendar vase in front of it).

Below is another small wallquilt that hangs in our living room - it's in a style called watercolor quilts - you put together small squares to create the impression of something like a garden or an emotion. This one is of sunlight shining down into the jungle - or at least that's what I was thinking when I designed it.

I am currently working on a patchwork table runner for the holidays - it will also have poinsettias appliqued on it. I am about half through with piecing it and hope to begin the applique work next week.

Today was very busy and very good! The book store was super busy as we had a sale on all of our paperbacks - 25 cents each. People came in and bought entire grocery bags full!!!!! I was able to pick up 3 very very old Horatio Hornblower paperbacks for my DH - he loves reading naval stories set during the Napoleonic wars. I also got him a great jazz cd (we also sell used cds, dvds, vhs tapes, puzzles, and cassettes.) For lunch I finally used my free KFC coupon for a grilled chicken 2 piece meal and since the Big Lots is right across the street, I stopped in there to buy some mini bagels and I found a Martha Stewart kit for tissue paper flowers - the stamens and tape along would have cost more. And then I went next door to the Humane Society Thrift Store - nothing in the craft or book stuff BUT in the designer clothes section, I found an Ann Taylor Loft sleeveless blouse in my size and the tags were still on it - and it was marked down to $1.50!!!!!!!!!!!! My lucky day!!!!!!

Tomorrow our new Fresh Market opens so I hope I can get by there as they are giving away free bags of coffee and some other stuff. I have to do some gift shop work but maybe I can get by before or after. I have been looking forward so much to the Fresh Market opening - we had one in Jacksonville and I loved their meats, bakery, wines, coffees, and bulk items. And their produce is always fabulous. Yay!!!!!!

Have a great evening and don't forget to get us your favorite movie layout at http://whatisyourfavething.blogspot.com/ by Saturday, August 29. The next challenge will be up on the 30th and you will love it, and all of the DT creations!!!!!!!!!!

Glimmer mist love!!!!!!!!!

My fingers are green and dark cherry and coffee colored from all of the misting I have been doing lately. For this layout (which will be put into a shadow box) I made roses from some printed fabric and then sprayed them with dark cherry and coffee glimmer mist. the whole layout including the lace doily has also been misted. For the background paper, I traced the shape of a Making Memories die cut sheet onto this paper, cut it out, and then distressed it majorly. I also added a vintage pin with a feather shape and some colored stones. The title is Flowers make a hat blossom - the vintage photo strip came from an incredible album that came into the book store - the album is inscribed as a gift in 1906 and has pages of old photos, letters, tickets, and also blank pages. (Julie T-W would love one of the pages as it shows an illustration of a woman and her dog, and the title reads Kodak Pictures). You will be seeing lots of items from this treasure trove!!!!!!!!!!

Please vote for me

I am a finalist on the Lotuspaperie blog for July so please please follow this link http://lotuspaperie.blogspot.com/ and vote for my layout - upper right corner - Window - Chris A. this is kind of strange as it's the third time in five months that I made their finalist list but I never read my flickr mail so I didn't realize it and never asked for votes. One really cool thing is that one of the other finalists, Jenneke, is also on the These are a few of my favorite things blog - she is a superb scrapper and I love her work. By the way, be sure to post a layout of your favorite movie or movie quote on our comments at TAAFOMFT by Aug 29. We have a great prize.

I did these layouts for the Butterfly Crafts cybercrop last weekend - above Mane was for the Hairspray challenge - look at that hair, wild and curly. Dan always called it the Mane!

This layout Cats was for the High School musical challenge and I may enter in the Cafe Mojo challenge for blue and brown. Dan and I went to see Cats when we lived in Denver, and we sat on the first row - it was incredible as the cats came out from under the stage and actually walked (crawled, danced, slunk) right up to us and put their faces up to ours like they were sniffing us - Just totally fantastic!!!!!

This layout Summer Nights was for the Grease challenge and you had to use the name of a song from the musical as your title. The photo and ticket stub came from a Tampa Bay Devil Rays - NY Yankees game a couple of years ago when the Rays still had Devil in their name. Dan is a rabid Yankees fan and follows them obsessively!!!!!

I am really enjoying the Delight misting, painting minibook class by Vee Jennings and will post my minibook this weekend.

OMG, I almost forgot to mention the return of Project Runway!!!!!!!!!!!!I watched the All Star special (and did not agree with the winner at all) and then TA DA! the first episode of this season. I wondered if they selected the loser as a ringer as she was totally wacked out - I could see nothing redeeming in her outfit and was not surprised when she was AUFFED.

I have a busy weekend - I have to work at the gift shop for a while tomorrow but I will be spending quite a bit of time in my studio as there are 3 DT searches that I plan on entering and I need to finish a painting that I started on Thursday in my watercolor class and I want to finish the Delight minibook.

Have a great Friday night!!!!!

Creative mania

This is the first layout I did for the favorite movie challenge at TAAFOMFT but then I got the crazed idea to do the Birdcage (see previous post) so I used that as my DT entry. I have so many "favorite" movies that I could do a maxi book of them - it just depends on my mood. The patterned paper is a piece of lily bee that I won from Scrapjacked and I used an old piece of Autumn Leaves paper as a template to cut the fancy edge.

On Friday I found out that Butterfly Crafts was having a cybercrop this weekend loosely based on movies so I went over there, signed up, and have been doing layouts for their challenges this weekend. the above layout is one I did in which you had to use cardboard as a stamp and then actually use the cardboard in your layout. I took these photos of my nieces when we were in North Carolina. I made the flower based on an idea I saw in the book Fabric Scrapping by Katie Ebben (from the library) and the yo yo is vintage

I finished this watercolor iris on Thursday. I am working on some watercolor exercises and thinking about my next painting.

I signed up for an online class by Vee Jennings - it starts tomorrow and I can hardly wait. Yay!!!!

Our anniversay dinner last night was just fantastic!!! (but the restaurant was almost empty - only 6 couples - it's a combination of the economy and the seasonal nature of where we live - our population doubles (at least) in the winter and it's impossible to go out to dinner and the grocery stores always run out of the specials). I had sea scallops with crimini mushroom ravioli and grilled asparagus as sides, then cafe mocha and homemade buttermilk ice cream for dessert. the server told us that the restaurant would be having a wine tasting with 3 course meal special this coming Tuesday so Dan signed us up - when we got home, the restaurant had already emailed us with the wine list and the menu - all from Argentina - so cool!!!! It should be delicious!!!! SO I have a really busy week next week - working at the book store and gift shop, on Wed going out to lunch and then to the art museum for an exhibit on contemporary quilts, Thurs painting class, and Fri going down to Stuart with a friend for lunch and shopping at a quilt shop and Joannes.

I will try to post some more of my new layouts in a couple of days.

ttfn

TAAFOMFT challenge #3

The third challenge for http://whatisyourfavething.blogspot.com/ is up - what's your favorite movie or movie quote? I had a difficult time because I like so many different movies for so many different reasons and I actually did a layout (which I will post tomorrow) but then a few days later, I was in my studio and spied this little birdcage for which I had paid 25 cents at a garage sale recently. Wheels started turning in my head, then I saw the fuchsia and orange scrungie, and they became hot wheels - the Bird Cage - I went crazy and thanks to Kimbo on SIS and the wild glitzie stuff that she had sent me (because you have to admit glitz is not my style), this came together in an afternoon. I had bought the feathers at Hobby Lobby while on vacation and the little flamingo had been given to me as a freebie from a quilt shop (it's actually a button but how in the world could you ever use it???). Since I live

in south Florida, sometimes when there's a lull in the conversation, someone says, "how bout them Dolphins?" and we all laugh. We were out of the US when the movie came out but when we returned, it was one of the movies that my son recommended we view - and we laughed until we were exhausted!!!!!!

Hope you come over to These are a few of my Favorite Things and see the fabulous stuff done by the DT and the GD - what an incredible group of designers and I am so lucky to get to be part of them (thank you Julie!!!!!)!!!!!!!!! Come play with us - at the Movies!!!!!!

Today is my anniversary and we are going to a fabulous restaurant for dinner.

Hope you have a great evening and I will be back tomorrow. I have been scrapping like a maniac the last few days so I have quite a few unposted layouts, and I finished a watercolor painting of an iris on Thursday. I am planning another orchid painting right now.

I have had a wallquilt tutorial on the Year of Color blog this past week so if you subscribe, I hope you enjoyed it. I will post it here at a later time.

Some new layouts

Wendi on SIS started a Free Shopping challenge weekend on Thursday so I scrapped like a madwoman Thurs night, Fri night, and Sat. I love the challenge of getting the items into the layout and it really sparks my creativity. Needless to say, my studio ended up being a mess!!!! Then I read an email from Julie (bmwgirl1 on SIS) about how she keeps all of her scrapping stuff in a roll-around tote and I was chagrined to think that my stuff is a mess - even though I really do try to keep it organized. At one point last year I had the small stuff organized by color and that worked pretty well but then I decided to keep my watercolor stuff out all the time so I would paint more and the little sets of drawers got moved into my closet to hold lingerie. I really tidied up the studio yesterday and have been weeding out old 3/4 used up stuff unless I still absolutely adore it. If I can't spell a word in 5 minutes from the old used alphas, they are going. I put most of the stuff into a bag for St Vincent de Paul - they have a big craft area where they sell mixed bags of stuff for like 50 cents. I am also working up a RAK of really good stuff that isn't what I use now so stay tuned.

Update on my watercolor paintings - my instructor told me both the pineapple and the orchid paintings should be entered in shows coming up so I will be getting them framed and sending in my applications. Thanks for all of your lovely comments about my work, scrapping, quilting and painting. They mean so much to me!!!!!

Have a great week - I will probably update in a couple of days with the RAK.

Blogging for Bliss party!!!!!!!

Good morning and welcome to my blog . Thanks to Kari http://www.artsymama.com/2009/08/blogging-for-bliss-book-release-party.html

for starting the party and all of her work coordinating things. If you don't already ready her blog, be sure to head on over there as her blog is always full of beautiful pictures, happy thoughts, and inspiring ideas, which is exactly what I would hope my blog could be (isn't that what we all want?) I'm a little late to the blogging thing (only begun last September) but I have embraced it with lots of enthusiasm. I love to read what other bloggers-crafters-artists are doing and I just wanted to join their community and share my creations and thoughts about anything and everything, but especially art and craft. I was really inspired by a copy of Artful Blogging last summer and was determined to learn the basics and get blogging. I hope someday my blog will be beautiful enough to be in the magazine but for now I know that it's better than it was. The book Blogging for Bliss sounds like it would be very helpful for me so I will suggest that our library purchase it (you can read more about the book on Kari's blog).

I took the above photos at the Dothan AL Botanic Gardens - such a beautiful and peaceful place and would you believe, once I went on the circular path that connects all of the individual types of gardens, I never saw another person until I came almost full circle back to the entrance. It was enchanting, like being in the forest all alone, just me and the fairies and elves. The Japanese garden with its Koi pond and bridge was so lovely - I took lots of photos and plan to do some watercolors of the fish and pond. The hydrangea garden had varieties that I had never seen before but it was very difficult to capture the subtle colors of the varigated species in photos. The whole walk around the gardens was one of the most peaceful and spiritual experiences I have had in quite a while. I tend to get caught up in the busy-ness of everyday life and even though I try to spend some time each morning meditating and praying, it's always a such a release and revelation to be alone with Nature and God (or possibly the Spirit of All Things, the Creative Spirit, the Mother, the Father). I felt so renewed, like a child, full of energy and creativity.

Anyway.....have a wonderful day, and go forth and create!

NEW PAINTINGS AND A LAYOUT

I have been super productive this week despite all of the interruptions like driving to Miami and back on Friday to pick up my son at the airport - he returned from 3 weeks in Buenos Aires. He had a fabulous time - he loves BA and lived there for 2 years 1999-2000. This time he returned to take a class for his Masters degree in Global Education.
I finished the above multi-media piece on Thursday - the cattlea orchids, leaves, and background are watercolor, the tree is gesso, acylic paiint, collaged paper, and the roots are hand dyed ribbons and yarns. The piece is 15 x 22 and I need to talk to my watercolor teacher about how to frame it as it is somewhat 3-dimensional.

I also finished my pineapple painting - I took my DH's suggestion and found a vintage map of Hawaii which I then drew and painted.

I did this layout for Free Shopping on SIS and for Lotuspaperie. For FS I bought a poem (this one is by Carl Sandburg), 4 pps, and fabric. For Lotuspaperie I painted and lifted a layout by Gretchen Mac (loved her beach layout). the above photo I took with the layout laying on my bed with the sun streaming through the curtains - below with no sunshine.

I have been super busy this week working on future TAAFOMFT layouts and I am super inspired - super mojoed!?! I totally cleaned and organized my studio (again!!!) yesterday and discovered some stuff I had forgotten so I feel super excited. I also got a really cool new watercolor book at the library yesterday and discovered that it had a dvd with it so I plan to watch it later today or tomorrow.

Have a great week and thanks for reading and commenting. Your comments mean so much to me. I have been trying to read and comment much more on blogs lately. I have seen such wonderful layouts and read some really inspiring postings.