little bird

I painted this a couple weeks ago, I was copying a little vintage stamp of my great grandmothers so I don't even know if it's at all like the real bird out there in the world. My mom and I have been talking about doing nature journalism and watercolors so I figured I'd share them as they come into existence.

by the way, it is really very warm here today, makes me wish it were raining or snowing instead...

nesting....

so i have officially hit the nesting stage of pregnancy! sat. i cleaned my entire house from top to bottom, i couldn't stop myself! on mother's day i skipped out on church and started to paint our mini crib. it belonged to my husband when he was a baby. we used it for Gabriel but it needed a little pick-me-up color. didn't have a lot on hand but happened to have enough yellow paint to get the job done. the bars are actually darker than the rest but i kind of like it that way. ;)
so what you see here are the before and after pic.s the before really makes it look better than it was, trust me!
on Monday a friend offered to take Gabriel for a morning and i went fabric shopping for the reg. crib. my mom is making the bedding for me and I'm heading up to her house this weekend. so i wanted to have the fabrics so we can get started on the project! it took some time and a lot of looking and re-looking but i finally settled and chose the stack you see. the stuff in the green picture is the main blanket that I'm planning on adding some extra trim, ribbon etc... to. and below it is the dust-ruffle that we are also going to add a little something too.
the bigger challenge in picking colors and such is that i want it to be girly but she'll be sharing a room with her big brother. i haven't done much in his room since he moved into a twin bed and will be doing his stuff at the same time. but i want it all to match and flow nicely while still maintaining gender differences. add to that the fact that I'm picky and had a look i wanted it was a little more challenging. :) but I'm excited about what i got and can't wait to continue collecting and preparing for our dear Gwendolyn's arrival! don't worry I'll be posting my progress along the way! :)
and finally, i have a dear friend who lives back home(where my parents live and where i grew up). i suddenly felt like making a canvas collage for her, and I'm trying to get it done before i go this weekend. her bedroom is red,black and white. the white is what's proving to be a little harder since i tend to make things look old. never much real white in my art, usually creams and beige's. not to mention that i use a lot of old paper which of course is because it's aged and old, not white and new! so it's been a good challenge! here is a picture of the work in progress. enjoy!

finished product....

well, i finally purchased and eyelet setter kit! i've been wanting one for awhile but just never felt like spending the money. (happy early mother's day to me!)as i started working on these pages last night i could just see using an eyelet or two and decided that now was the time to get one! it was so fun to watch this come together, but i always enjoy the process. :) i have decided that this will be an inspirational journal of sorts. i'll have a verse on every page and then a space for me to journal whenever the journalling bug hits. :) i'm glad i finished it tonight though because now i have a week to start and finish a larger canvas i want to do for a friend. i just thought of it tonight and i only have till next fri. to get it done. we'll see if i can actually accomplish my set goal, i actually have a rather busy week....however one can always make time for art right? :) well, time for bed, goodnight world!

playing again...

at it again, it feel's so good to be creating again! however i find that i wish for more tools. i almost bought a kit to do holes and brads etc.... but decided to wait, boy am i sorry. i ended up wishing i had it tonight. i guess that means i'll go buy it tomorrow, :) anyway, i'm going to keep this short cause i need to get to bed. :)

i had a mother who read to me

"you may have tangible wealth untold, caskets of jewels and coffers of gold. richer than i you cannot be, i had a mother who read to me." ~strickland gillilan

i made this for my mom, for mother's day, it was a short and east project but fun to do! and i loved the quote! for i do have a mother who read to me. :)

back to work

well, i finally got some inspiration and decided i had the time to get back into art. it's been a busy month since my husband left, but that was done on purpose so i wouldn't get to lonely and go crazy! :)
a few days ago i went onto pamela garrisons blog, (as i do quite regularly)i was struck my her post on art fiber fest. specifically the fabric journal. it took a couple days still to get my head in gear with my body and schedule but now i'm thrilled to be back at it. creating is so much fun!!! so thank you pam, though i doubt you'll ever read this. i'm hoping to create my own fabric journal soon, my plan is to use the scraps of fabric left from my daughter's bedding. my mom is going to make it all for me! i'm so excited and am now on the look out for the perfect fabric combos. anyway, just wanted to update my blog since it's been yet another month!

romance

well, it's been a long while since i've posted anything. but life has been pretty crazy compared to what it once was. i have not had time to do any art until just this last week. i was inspired by valentines day and had reason to make something for my sister. so this is what came from that. i enjoyed the creative process as usual. anyway, hope it's enjoyed!

final day of october

today is the last day of october, it has gone by so quickly. but november is one of my favorite months just like october so it's not so bad. :) there are so many nice things in november, my husband was born in november, we were married in november, thanksgiving is in november, and i like the poetic sound of "november" :)! anyway i have been so busy and not at all in the mood to create things. which is a shame because that means no fun halloween costumes. you might think that extremely odd since i profess to be such a costume nut. but busy and tired mixed with no money makes nothing at all. so instead i am showing you my book i made for my dad. it has various quotes about dreams and inspirations on one side and his favorite poem on the other.

journaling

these are my two more recent aditions to my art journal. the flower one is actually so not me but for some reason i was feeling colorful and wanted to create something with paper. the verse is Isaih 40:8 "the grass withers and the flowers fade, but the word of our God stands forever." wow i love that! the other page was kind of a venting page. my husband was frustrating me by just being a guy about something. (not that he can help it right? ) so i went down stairs and did this page, if you read what i wrote there is a bit of hostility though. lol, anyway, i was also feeling lonely and ignored so when i saw the sheet music with the title, "how long wilt thou forget me?" i was like..."Perfect!" :) so, there you have it, a glimps of two moods. one feeling happy and like the world is bright and lovely, the other lamenting at the folly of husbands and being completely selfish and moody.

sinister femininity

this piece has been sitting on my easel for a couple weeks now as i decide whether or not it's finished. today i decided it is. a friend was over today, she was telling me how it spoke differently every time she came over and saw it. she mentioned that the first time it came off as feminine and the second time much more sinister like a murder mystery or something like. I'm not really sure what i was trying to say through it but i now it was on the darker side. i was originally going to do the peeling paint in a cream or lighter shade but then on a whim decided it needed to be dark which i almost came to regret later. anyway, take what you will from it, it is sinister femininity.

are you as excited as i am?

just for fun, this is a gift card i made. just thought i'd share it for fun....but really i just wanted to tell you how very excited i am that my husband is coming home today!!!!! i get to go pick him up in an hour or so! yeah! plus the timing is right too because we'll get home just in time for gabriel to go down for a nap which means i'll have some no being mom time right away! anyway, i am excited, you should be too! :)

art journalling

this is my second art journal page i did. they were done on the same day i just didn't get a good picture the first time so didn't post one till now. it's still a little off with the glare and all but you can see it better this time round. it was fun to work with the hot pink background. i love that shade of pink but don't use it in my art that often. i think it may start a trend. :) i did another page last night but didn't take a pic yet, i'll post it once i have one.

it has grown chilly at my house lately. of course by chilly i mean just under 70 with a light wind. :) but for us it's chilly. i am loving it though! i miss the mountains, the fall weather, the snow. i wish i were this little girl, wondering through a little wood trail. all cozy in a warm coat. :) wouldn't that be nice?
we had a beautiful sunset last night followed by a brilliant moon! i tried to take pictures but as i'm sure you know that never works. so i just messed around with one and here is the result...

missing home

so i am sitting here drinking some sleepy time tea,(my favorite)it has been one of those days when you just need someone you love and know well to talk to. my obvious first choice would be my husband who cannot be reached when out at sea except my e-mail. the second my mother who isn't answering her phone right now. and that is pretty much where the list ends because i just don't know enough people "really" well. and the kind of thing i need right now requires that kind of "knowing". :) the reason is that i am just feeling a little worn out and stretched thin. i've had bible study the last two days which is always nice but there are a couple down sides. one being that my son goes through mommy withdrawls after not having his normal morning mommy dose. and the other being that i'm really not a big people person yet i'm a facilitator of a "small" group of 18 women. which means that they all look to me! aghh, run away! lol :) and since my lover of a husband has been away not only have i missed him more than normal but i also got a flat tire, and gabriel is getting his mollars in, very painfully i might add! so i just need a good warm hug and an ear i can complain to.
on to the art! i made this for my mother this may as a mother's day gift. the picture is of my grandmother(her mom) in highschool. this very same grandma is the one my mom named me for. AnnaMae :) i decided to use the green shade because she has been redecorating her room and is planning to paint the walls a pale "bamboo" green. her bathroom is also a pale shade. so i though these would work the best. i found the quote online. "the most important thing she'd learned over the years was that there was no way to me a perfect mom and a million ways to be a good one." -Jill Churchill
so there you have it. my mother's day collage in the fall. :) but hey, i'm missing my mom right now and can't just jump in the car to go visit so this will have to do.

late when i'm tired

so it's almost 11 pm, i don't think i've stayed up this late in a long time. but i always have a hard time sleeping when my lover is gone. but that wasn't really the reason i was going to write. i did take a pic. of one of my journal pages entitled "yourself". i had a lot of fun watching this emerge, it turned out even better than i'd hoped. see, since i have never made an art journal before i didn't really know what i was doing so i just kind of winged it. i used elmers glue to stick pages together for thickness. i later got a tip that glue sticks don't leave wrinkles in the pages. my pages do have wrinkles which is why i wasn't sure how they'd turn out. but in the end i used some walnut stain ink and the wrinkles made it so much more interesting! also this is the first thing i've ever done where i put wings on some one. i always liked it when i saw other people do it but never found the right thing to make it work with. anyway, i had fun and that's all that matters right? :)

time flys when you're having fun

well so maybe it can fly when you're not having fun too but i always liked the expression. the month of september has flown by so quickly in my little world! (i say little because i am mostly just home with my baby and hubby) i think it got extra busy because i started bible study at the begginning of the month. which means that i have to be making phone calls every week and am out of the house two mornings in a row. it's been really good though, we are studing joshua right now and will continue through judges ruth and the samuels. it's so in-depth i'm learning a ton! i have also been creating a lot more lately! which is fantastic! i have been so inspired by so many fellow bloggers/artists out there that i realized i wasn't doing what i love most nearly enough. and if i truly loved it i would make time for it. granted, summer was hot and who wants to concentrate on anything when it's hot. (we don't have air conditioning, just ceiling fans) plus my hubby was gone a lot so i went to my parents a few times always for a fair chunk of time. but now we are here for awhile and since my hubby is still gone a lot i have more time to myself. to be honest i would much rather be doing stuff with my beloved than anything else but since there's nothing to be done about that i'll just create art! like i've stated before, my best creations come from depressing emotions. anyway, i have recently started to make an art journal. it's turning out better than i thought it would and i am really enjoying the process. :) i can't wait till it's completely full of my art/thoughts. i will try to remember and take some pics of some of the pages tonight and maybe i'll get them on here by tomorrow. anyway, one of the projects i did in the past month was making cards. it was a nice break from getting my fingers dirty. (a commmon ocerance when i am creating) i used some new stamps my mom gave me on my birthday, and took advantage of those wonderful double sided sticky squares for scrapbooking. here are some pictures... i made 10 toltal these are just some of them.

so i've been pretty busy lately doing what i don't even knoe. l0l! but i have been able to clean my house and get some stuff like that done. :) which always makes life feel better in my opinion. the two things that seem to be never ending in my chore list are dishes and laundry. (the dishes are my least favorite to be completely honest) anyway, in view of cleaning i decided to share this collage i made for my mom with you all. i made it on a whim when i came across the old Tide add in a 1949 good houskeeping magazine. then i looked through and found a couple others. the tide one stuck out to me though because my mom has always used tide and now out of habit i use it too! :)

His grace is sufficient

my little muchkin is growing up so fast! he is almost 20 months, which means in only 4 short months he'll be two! i can't hardly believe i am the mother of a child let alone one who's almost 2 years old! anyway, i am very happy with the situation none the less. :) he is such a precious gift to us and i couldn't be more in love! i took this picture while we were going to the park, (he loves stairs! ) i thought i'd share it with the world since it's so adorable. on to other things. my bible study has kept me pretty busy which is why i haven't found much time for art or blogging lately. my hubby is working this weekend though so i'm hoping to find some time to create in the middle of mommy stuff and the much needed cleaning of my house. :) in honor of cleaning, here is a little collage i made for my mom out of old adds for laundry soap. i loved that there was a Tide one because my entire life growing up that's what my mom has used. :) hope you like!

"my grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." -2 Cor. 12:9

the verse that really spoke to me today. :)

creative inspirations

i was recently inspired by one of the greatest stories ever written and made into a movie; "Pride and Prejudice" by Jane Austen. i love love love the book and have watched the A&E version countless times since i bought it on dvd. but recently i have been dying to watch the newer version with keira knightley. so i made my husband run to blockbuster and rent it. :) anyway, after watching both versions within a couple of days of eachother this is what emerged. two small collages each with a line from the book. the first one being; "he's handsome and wears a blue coat. " which i later found out i got wrong for it really goes; "he's very handsome and wears a blue coat." o-well right? :) anyway the second one is; "for a single man in possesion of a large fortune must be in want of a wife. " oh i just love that line! :) lol, and so there you have it. i used clippings from a 1949 "good housekeeping" magazine my mom gave me for my birthday. it's filled with the most amazing adds for dishwashers and refrideraters! as well as lots of little adds for the best panty-hose, shoes and girdles! absolutly fantastic! there are several things that have given me ideas of whole collages i could create! oh but there is just not enough time in the day to do all the things one would like. well to continue on....this next picture is of a mini matchbox i
altered. it was fun to do and conveniently only took one afternoon mostly while i was waiting for the paint to dry. :)

this piece took me almost a year. mostly because i had a few large interuptions. first i had a baby and then we moved. but it was my first large piece of art so it was a loving and lesson learning endeavor. this next one was a valentine i made for my husband. :) i used some old lace and a broken piece of jewelry that was my great grandma's. in my other one i used some sheet music that was from my great grandma's collection of "Etude" music magazines dating from as early as the 1920s! i love that i am getting to use things from my family.