Monday, January 30, 2012

Rag Dolls

I'm linking up with Aimee for

With a new project...
"Make a childs toy"
I chose to make these dolls because
 it was one of those patterns
I found at a thrift store years ago and never used.
This was a good chance to use up
some extra fabric too.
Raggy Baggy Betsey and Buddy

Saturday, January 28, 2012

Spring Bag #2

Thanks, Aimee, for getting me going on my
stash of projects!

Thursday, January 26, 2012

Vintage Girl on Canvas

I can't believe this is the 3rd week of my E-course!
I don't want it to end, it's been a blast...
this project continues along the lines of 
previous ones with mixed media.
However on this one we used paints to 
complete the girl and her clothing. 
And used modeling paste to make her hair
so it has actual ridges and swirls that are
raised to the touch.
Because of where I placed her I was unable to
get her facial features to work so (as our
teacher says), "then leave it blank"...
so I did.

Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Chocolate Cherry Muffins

I wonder sometimes why I 
try new recipes with GF flour...
they never seem to be worth the time
and effort:( 

They came dry and tasted like paste...
hmmm and it got a rave review on the website
for GF baking? I wonder if maybe
people who have always eaten store bought
goodies are less picky than me...

Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Self Portrait

This is another project I did
for the E-course.
It is mixed media with a self portrait.
The photo was printed on regular paper 
so it would be very light and easy to cover, 
and then gone over with charcoal and graphite pencils.

Monday, January 23, 2012

Spring Bag

I'm linking up with AJ Crazies
for the Crafter's Weekly Challenge
 This week's challenge was to make a bag out of
fabric from your stash...because I have an obsession
with cutting out patterns and then not sewing the item,
I didn't have to look very far for a bag to sew!
This one was all cut out and ready to go, so I'm
so glad there was this challenge as now
it is done:)

Saturday, January 21, 2012

"Marks-All" Painting

The 2nd week of the E-course is still focused on 
sketching over multimedia.
This is my 2nd project.
I used a vintage pattern figure to trace
and sketch over.
I used graphite pencils and charcoal to do 
the sketch.

Thursday, January 19, 2012

Vintage Hardware Art

In our second week of the E-course
we are working with mixed media
and pencil sketching.
This is my first project.

Saturday, January 14, 2012

Catalog Journal

I'm finishing up my first week of
the E-course with my last
project for this session.
It is a catalog journal. 
You use a catalog-in this case
 Anthropolgie -
and gesso, paint, embellish etc.
until it becomes a place to 
record your thoughts or to add in
other photos or inspiration.
 The front cover was very dark and only had
the girl on it with some baked goods in baskets
behind her. I added the rest.
 These are some of the inside pages.
The idea is to cover up what you don't like and
keep the parts you do.
Anthropologie is ideal because their pages
are like artwork to start with so I kept most of the
pics intact with clear gesso
and used white gesso over some.
Definitely a fun, artistic week-
can't wait until next weeks classes!

Friday, January 13, 2012

Altered Journal

Just finished my 2nd project in 
the E-course,
an Altered Journal.
This one was something I would
never have tried without a class and 
so I'm pretty excited about it!
The girl is a magazine image that you completely
redo to make it your own, just keeping the basic
shape and shadows.
This started as a basic Sketch Pad...
amazing what can be done with
different mediums!

Wednesday, January 11, 2012

Vintage Journal

I'm so excited to be joining in 
my first E-Course 
called "Creatively Made"
Our first project was a vintage journal
made from an old book.
We cut out a hole for the picture in the 
center and then added a mixture of
papers to make up the pages. 

It is a 4 week course with many different
artists teaching techniques....
super fun!

Tuesday, January 10, 2012

Color Room Scrapping

I've really enjoyed using The Color Room
for Scrapbook inspiration.
Each palette comes with a scrap layout and
card idea if you have extra papers.


Of course if you want to join in and do the 
challenges you need to stay in the palette exactly
which I have not done yet...just
kept it close.

Monday, January 9, 2012

Crafters Weekly #1

I'm joining in at AJ Crazies
with her new link party
The challenge was to create a scrapbook page
using leftover fabric scraps.
Here is my take on that, using strips of fabric
under the pic and sewing a zig zag stitch around the 
edges and through the middle to hold
them in place.
Anyone can join in so I hope you will...
she's got lots of different crafts coming up
so you may find one that inspires you.

Wednesday, January 4, 2012

Blueberry Oatmeal Muffins


I'm linking up with Aimee again...
I'm not putting the recipe for these muffins
because they were TOO sweet!
I know that's hard to imagine but they had
honey and sugar in them and then
brown sugar in the streusel topping
and it was too much.

Monday, January 2, 2012

Laundry Room Redo

I think this post is a real milestone for me...
I have never left a room the same way 
for 12 years before redoing it, but
I did with this one!

Laundry Room and Entrance
from Garage

 My inspiration came from 2 thrift store purchases-
2 wire baskets and a black and white tablecloth.
I used the cloth for basket liners and had enough
left for a valance.

 I used jars I had already and made chalkboard 
labels and filled them with the necessities.
The laundry prints are free from
 The one original decor item in the room
(besides wall color) that I kept,
was the branch mural I painted when I first moved 
into this home. 
I also painted the bench white,
which gives the room a really fresh feel!

 My key wall with a great old window treasure
from Main Street Station.
It has a pen attached so you can leave notes
etc. for people to see as they grab their keys.
 And my fave find (also from Main St. Station!)
a yellow metal basket for "out the door" items.
This room feels so great now that I may actually
enjoy doing laundry...no, that would be a real stretch!
But it did turn out really "happy" and for 
such a reasonable cost, just a few thrift finds, and
some elbow grease. Plus I got 
it really cleaned and organized at the same time 
which feels wonderful!