Arty party 2014!

The ladies and I such a lovely day today making cards and just enjoying each other's company!  Here are some of the cards we made. Each person adjusted her card just a bit to reflect her own personal style, and we all seem to inspire each other.  Girl time is so special !

Have a great weekend an please find time to spend with your favorite people!

Hugs!

The queen is done

Here she is in all her glory...sorry for the bad photo.  I just finished her and it's pretty late.

Will post better photos this week!

Just a pretzel container

I can't help it.  Sometimes I just look at varied things and imagine them upcycled into something new . I had looked at this empty pretzel container at work for several weeks.  Why hadn't they thrown it away...I had enough projects already that I needed to complete.  Ultimately , I couldn't take it anymore and I brought the container home.  Here it is, painted with gesso:

Next, I painted it yellow and black:

Starting to look a little more like a bee already.  Now I needed a head for my bee.  I created the head fom a pink balloon and some plaster gauze.

That's her nose; yikes!

What's next?  Legs of course.  I used wire and attached them to the container, then wound black pipe cleaners around the wires to create the legs.

Gotta go for now...need to let the plaster dry and work on the wings....oh yes, I decided she needed a crown too.  Might as well be the queen if you're a bee, right?

I'll post the rest one I get it all completed!!!

Canvas for my daughter

Has it really been since May...why haven't I blogged.  I've thought about it, but just didn't feel like it I guess.  Things have been rough at work...enough said!

I just now finished my daughter's canvas that I started in May.  I love how the sunflowers turned out, but wasn't happy with the bottom of the canvas....

 I just needed some time away from it.  So, I rolled it up for another day and that was at least a month ago.  Today my daughter asked me if it was done and I told her that I would work on it...well, it's done.  And the best part, my daughter said she really likes it!  Yay!!

I'm very pleased!!

Have a great day!

Jeanne

Some new work!

It feels like forever since I last blogged, and longer still since I have completed any scrapbook layouts.  Recently I've decided that I need to work on layouts again since I have probably a zillion photos to scrap and I need to use up some of my stash so that I can buy more.  Yes, my name is Jeanne and I'm a paper hoarder.  The say the first step to recovery is to admit that you have a problem!  Ok, I'm going to tell you a little secret...shhhh!  I hoard fabric too!  Hee, hee.  I've had the fabric problem longer than the paper problem!!  I just love designs, texture and color; is that SO bad??

Anyway, here are a couple of new layouts, sans photos!

This second one is for my 7 year old ballerina!  I love how it came out.

The next project I'm working on is a wall canvas for my 15 year old daughter.  She has a favorite quote by Mary Oliver that she wants to hang up in her room.  She printed the quote off the internet and then asked me to make a "poster" for her room.  I was thrilled that she wanted me to make something for her as generally she does not have much appreciation for my art...

Here's the quote:  

Tell me, what is it you plan to do 

With your one wild and precious life?

(Love this!)

I've decided to make a canvas wall hanging instead of a poster because I rethink it will look really cool as a wall hanging, and like the challenge of creating on fabric.  

First I cut a large piece of canvas, 22x26", (poster size), and Gesso'd the whole thing.  Instead of using a paint brush, I used a credit card to apply the gesso to the canvas fabric.  This works quickly, cleanly and applies a smooth and level layer to the fabric as you can see below:

You just need to make sure to scrape any lines that are sowing until smooth, or you will have a striped background...that might be really cool, but not for this project where I want to place the quote in the middle of the canvas.

I'm going to let this dry overnight and then will start spraying, stenciling, stamping and painting tomorrow night.  This will be the fun part!

A nice large tote!

Recently I found a free tutorial online for a cute tote with side pockets and I just happened to purchase some Graphic45 Ladies Diary fabric that would be perfect for this.  Well, it really was pretty easy to put together and the tote is large enough to carry lots of goodies around with me.  Perfect timing too!  I am headed to a paper crafting show with a friend this weekend.  Guess I will have to fill it up when I'm there!

I actually made 3; one for me, one for my friend because she is such a sweetheart, and one for another special person, but that's a surprise....shhh!  Don't tell...

The fabric on the bottom is sewn tocreate 4 pockets around the perimeter of the tote.  (Sorry about the quality of the photo).  If you're looking for a tote pattern like this, I found it, along with a couple others, on Loralie Designs.  Check out her beautiful fabric while you're there too; she's quite a talented lady.

Bye for now!!

2nd camera box

What can I say, I really like making these camera boxes!  this one is a bit different with an accordion style interior for storing photos.  I made this one with Graphic45 papers.  Check it out:

Hope you like it...there may be more coming...

Camera chip album

I recently picked up a little chip album from Michael's and wanted to create more of a 3-D project, so I started making a box of sorts...I used one of Prima's beautiful paper lines, "Lyric" (just love the graphics on this one)!

I also wanted to show what the chipboard pieces actually look like, next to.the camera box.

I added a lot of sparkle to the lens and box with some bling I found ar Michael's too.  Then in really went to town adding Flores and other embellies and made a mini album to fit inside the box...

Here's the little mini album I made too!  I may have to make a couple more...  This box was quick and easy; it's the embellishing that takes time.

Hope you like this. 

Valentine cards

I sat down recently and cut a whorl bunch of hearts out of some sticky back canvas that I had been hoarding.  I played with the hearts and came up with Valentines for everyone.  I was really pleased with the results too!

I did add some sentiments too...but no peeks on that!!

Happy Valentine's Day!!!

Tote is done

Here's a picture of the tote - I lined It with canvas so that it will be strong and durable.

Burlap tote

It's been so long since I posted...but you know, holidays are for families...not for blogging.  Well, I've been doing a little sewing lately, some good projects, some not so great.  I thought I would make a cute, easy little skirt for my 7 year old, and well, let's just say it was a good learning experience.  Then, I decided to try again with a different kind if fabric and another learning experience was born....hee, hee!  I will go back to the skirts and recreate them at some point into "wearable" items, but for now they have been set aside...

But right now, I am working on a burlap tote that will have an artsy side pocket.  I purchased this really cool new Stencil that I just had to try out right away.  This new stencil has 2 face images and both are so cool.  Here's a shot of what will be the pocket:

Isn't this so cool???  I Gesso'd the burlap a bit and then stenciled, sprayed, inked and painted over the gesso.  I really love how this project is coming together!  Hope that you find some inspiration in this project.  I will post a photo of the tote when it is complete.

Oh, and Happy New Year!!!!