30 Day Creativity Challenge: Day 6

Last week I was in the painting mood, but didn't have any new canvases. I did however have some old canvases of horrific paintings I'd done over the years.  The kind that you do when you're going through something and you just paint to "get it out".  I decided to paint over one of them.  As you'll see, I'm no artist.  I simply paint because it makes my heart sing.  I feel content, joyful and free

Stormy Window

In the background you can see some of the orange paint from the original painting, which I like.  I love textures, patterns, mixing things up

Apparently I also paint with my tongue hanging out of my mouth!  My husband poked his nose into the room and said "whats with the tongue?"  At first I was mortified, but then I thought..."well that's just more proof that you're doing something that you love".  Have you ever watched kids when they're REALLY into something?!  

And one final note.  I'm pained to announce (and it was painful to realize) that I can't produce something creative everyday.  It sucks, it really, really does, but that's my reality right now.  I don't like it, I really hate it, but life is just not cooperating with me.  So....my altered guideline for myself for this challenge is that I WILL do 30 days of creativity, they just won't be consecutive

30 Day Creativity Challenge: Day 3

The curtain falls, the lights go on and you're suddenly blinded.  You blink your eyes until they adjust.  Then you stand up, stretch, and look around at the crowd.  Yep, it's intermission.  

For your viewing pleasure

Ok, yes I'm stalling.  Yes, I didn't do anything creative today.  Nooooo  I don't feel bad about it.  I can always make you laugh!

ICANHASCHEEZBURGER.COM

Mondays stink.  Onward.  See you tomorrow night!  =)

30 Day Creativity Challenge: Day 2

Guru Ratings

Today was a busy day for me, but I did manage to whip something up.  What worries me is if today was a challenge, what will the work week bring.  After working at my day job for eight hours I'm usually mentally drained and just want to veg out - so it should be interesting to see what happens.  But, here's a thought...maybe it will energize me to sit down and mess around with my supplies and try to come up with something unique

Volunteer

Today I made a bookmark.  I know what you're thinking..."big deal, anyone can make a bookmark", but that's not true.  My sister and I used to volunteer - teaching a class at a local women's half-way house and it was called "Art Education".  We had a teeny tiny budget, practically nothing, so we had to get very creative with our supplies.  One day I taught the women to make a pin out of cardboard, magazine pictures and glue. You would have thought I'd handed them the moon.  That's the way it usually was working with these women. Some of them had nothing; and knew nothing about nurturing themselves through creativity. They were incredibly grateful, but they didn't have to tell us that, we could see it in their eyes.  Next to raising my kids, it was hands down the most fulfilling time in my life!

Written and Illustrated by Holling Clancy Holling

I picked a childrens book for my illustration. I pick these up at thrift stores because I love their colorful, quirky, uplifting illustrations.  And who in the world was it that decided that adults don't need their books illustrated too!  Maybe we'd all be happier if we had colorful and quirky pictures to look at as we read our books!  I'm just sayin' 

Holling Clancy Holling

So I picked out my illustration and cut it out with my xacto knife (my favorite tool).  Then I cut out my backing from the back cover of an old sketch book, and glued them to each other. NOTE TO SELF: don't trim the bookmark after it's been glued to the backing.  Some excess glue clogged my cut, which shredded the illustration along one side. =(  The back of the bookmark looked very bare, so I stamped a design onto it, but I don't like it so I'm not showing it to you =(

I punched out a hole and added a piece of brown ric rac trim.  I think it's beautiful!  Thank you  Holling Clancy Holling!

WALLAH!

And I did promise to show you the completed Button Card.  I chose fine wire for attachment.

Have a great Monday, see you tomorrow night!

Jive Turkeys

I went outside today to check on my potted plants and I spied a bunch of turkeys in the lower yard.  I saw this gang of turkeys in the upper yard the other day too, but they ran away before I could get my camera adjusted. Today, because I was in the middle of listing items in my Etsy shop, I had camera in hand. I tried as fast as I could to zoom and snap before they ran off. 

I managed to get a few shots (not that kind of shot, sheesh) as they booked out of sight.

I kicked off my flip flops and snuck up on them around the corner. 

Off they ran again!  I snapped away and stayed on their heels to the edge of the woods! Snap, snap, snap. I got you, turkeys!  Success!  

After all that excitement I decided to take a nice little walk around the meadow to see what I could see.  Enjoy...

Thanks Turkeys!

The turkeys must have notified the Squirrel that I was coming.
He made his eyes light up and glared at me.  How rude... honestly!

Busy Bees

My finds for the week...

Driftwood Under the Hood

My first blog. My first post on my first blog. No pressure. Oh, maybe I'm supposed to say Hi to everyone first. Nah,that's cheesy. I don't do cheesy. Hmm, feels slightly intimidating. I feel nervous.  Nah. YES! No. It's no big deal. It's therapeutic, and people tell you you're funny. People have always told you that you're funny. Funny is good for blogging. Heck,funny is good all the time. Well,not according to Mom, she says "there's a time and a place...bah, blah, blah". But according to ME we need more funny in the world.  Funny is what got me through.  Funny got me through it ALL.  So, be yourself; be your silly, funny, sometimes inappropriate self, and make someone laugh. It's what you do best. So be your best.  

OK people, I'm glad that's over with.  Now I can be myself.  Now it's on, like Donkey Kong.

Gedeon

I was not going to do a Blog! Too time consuming, or so I thought. I started checking out other people's blogs and they typically posted once a week.  I could handle that. And as far as time goes, I have lots of extra time now. My kids have gone off to college. It's just my hubby and I and our animals. Oh yeah, and one gazillion things that I've collected from the woods, beaches, stream beds, thrift stores, flea markets and antique stores; and dragged with me from place to place since I was about 12 years old. And come to think of it, Grandma also supplied me with quite the stash of natural materials from her own jaunts.  So that kicks my total up to a gazillion and a half. 

Grandma didn't mess around. She had quite a cache in her basement. My Grandpa was not her biggest fan when it came to that "stuff". She would make him strap huge pieces of driftwood to the luggage rack on the way home from vacations. My Mom told me that one time Grandma even made him stick a piece under the hood, because not only would it serve as a good place to put it for the ride home, but it would dry faster there! I can just picture my Grandpa rolling his eyes and sighing. Grandma was the bomb!  

So there you have it. That was the beginning of my way of life.  Picking my way through forests, beaches, streams, thrift stores and your garbage pile, and turning it into something unique, if only in my own eyes. 

Some of Grandma's Creations (age of 80 +)

Some nice finds from this week...