Inspired

I've been feeling the need to create a lot lately; I wonder if it's the change of seasons. As it gets colder here, I find I need projects and fun things to do to keep me entertained as the dark, cold nights of winter are suddenly in the not-so-distant future. Which brings me to my last project, which I am happy to report I finished and gifted in a pretty short amount of time.

Enter inspiration:

I saw this collage print in a recent Ballard Designs catalog; and like it so much it ended up being the inspiration for a birthday present for my niece. It came together fairly quickly and I have to say, I am really happy with the results. It's been so long since I've done anything like this and I loved the process.

Here's what I ended up with (although probably not the best photos, color-wise):




I really, really enjoyed making this and hope to do another painting very soon. Still working on some new ideas of my own. Here's to trying something new and satisfying creative callings!

new look?

i thought i'd give a new blog background a whirl...but i'm not sure how i feel about it. it's cute but i think it's a little distracting. just trying to liven the place up a bit...maybe i need to create my own; this one came from here.

lust

i'm lusting after karen's new scraproom and thinking that i need to spend a little time organizing all of my craft goodies and making my space much cuter than it is currently. maybe i'd spend more time in there if it looked this good!

what i'm up to

just finishing up week 1 of a new photography class:
http://www.503photography.com/#/workshop-home-1/
c'mon - how great is this website?!

butterfly mobile

+ + =

i picked up these adorable chipboard butterflies, what feels like forever ago, knowing that i wanted to make a butterfly mobile for my daughter's bedroom. we lost a tree a while back due to a storm and i saved a branch, thinking that it would make a nice base for the mobile. it took a little while for me to make it but the idea stayed in my head. so, i stripped the bark off the branch and really debated over keeping it natural v. painting it and the painted version won in the end. i covered the butterflies in cute pp (& painted the backs with different coordinating solid colors) and then hung them at varying lengths with clear twine. and when the window is cracked (from the top) the butterflies sway gently in the breeze.....perfect! i couldn't be happier with it. not sure the picture does it justice. inspired by this - clearly i went a totally different route but still love the original as well.

thank you, kelly rae

i am loving kelly rae's book so much lately that i find myself flipping through the pages frequently. i have been so inspired that i even got myself a little canvas and decided to break out the paints! so exciting. i love the look of mixed-media collage, however i've never tried to pull it off and tend to think that it's not in my nature to layer...who knows(?) but i do love the look of layers upon layers. in the name of inspiration and exploration and the general desire to create, i have attempted it and i have to say...i loved it! it's really hard for me to create without a plan (never mind paint - haven't done that in a very very very long time), but it was sooooo good. i am planning on going back to the craft store to try another one and maybe this time i'll make it a big one...

this was an 8 x 10 canvas and clearly i wasn't thinking because i didn't take pictures throughout the process. it's too bad because i really loved the papers that i had adhered to the canvas prior to painting. i just used whatever paint colors i had on hand...all MM scrapbook paints - chocolate, buttercup, celery, sky, steel and spotlight. also, various rubber stamps and some black and cocoa ink. i am going to hang this in my craft space so i can see its message often - 'believe' - as in, me.

detail:

heck, maybe even next time, i'll even attempt to paint a person a la kelly!

what's making you happy today?

valentine follow-up & aquarium

it was a nice valentine's day around here. i managed to make valentines for the kids' daycare friends. there's nothing like a home-made valentine, no matter how simple.


i also made some home-made valentines for my children, inspired by a post from ali: the minibooks were fun to make and i also found these little mailboxes from target, in the dollar bins, which were the perfect size for holding a finger puppet, a little car and some m&ms's. i think my son really enjoyed opening it up to find some treats inside. i'm thinking about leaving them up in their rooms all year long.

we had a special movie night, complete with pj's, a big bowl of popcorn and the original animated cat in the hat dvd. it was a goooood night.

today was a fun trip to an aquarium...my daughter is one! it was so nice that it coincided with a holiday so that we were all free from work to spend the day together. i think this was my favorite shot from the day (although my timing was off and i missed the sea lion floating by the window).


more birthdays and celebrations just around the corner....good times ahead.