Think Happy Thoughts

Another art journal piece I made using techniques from Dina Wakleys AJ103 class. This is a phrase my mother said to me many times when I was a child, and I found myself repeating it (to myself) the other day. It's funny, because I say these same things to my children yet.
Advice for the day...'Think Happy Thoughts'. Have a wonderful week!

A Day for Thanks Giving

Just a few of the reasons I have to give thanks.

I hope you and yours enjoy a wonderful holiday!

Happy Thanksgiving.

Deer Widows Weekend

Here in northern Michigan people take their deer hunting season seriously. They even close the school districts for the day...really. My husband and son hunt, and I prefer not to be within hearing distance of gunshot on opening weekend, so I usually make the trek to my girlfriends house in Ann Arbor to avoid the whole situation. This usually transpires into some crafty goodness and this trip was no exception. My friend had a stack of unfinished wood products, trays, frames, boxes and a lovely set of drawers, which she allowed me to play with.
I also covered a tray for the holidays.
It was a wonderful relaxing weekend, thanks Bon. Nothing like spending some time with a friend doing what you love most...playing.

Thanks for stopping by.




Let Them Fly Away

I received so many kind and encouraging words in my previous post, and I just want to say thank you, kindness always helps, doesn't it? Now on to brighter days...

This is an art journal page that I created for Dina Wakley's, Art Journaling 103 Class - a study in Composition and Color.
The journaling reads 'Sometimes, you have to let them fly away.' I was trying to capture what it felt like when my children grew up and the process of letting them go.

The class has been fantastic so far. The lesson plans have been quite comprehensive, offered in PDF and a video format. I have never had any formal art/design training of any type and I felt that it would be very helpful, and  I can see that it will be. The background was created using a scraped paint technique using stencils as design elements. Dina offers several art journaling courses, you may want to go take a peek.

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you're looking forward to a great weekend.

Saying Goodbye

If you're not a fur baby lover, you will probably just want to skip this post.

I've owned one dog in my life and he was my best friend. I had to say good bye to him on October 25th, and it has taken me this long to be able to write a post. Overcome with sadness, loss and a huge empty space in my heart and in my house, but Ben deserves to be mentioned here.
 Ben spent endless hours with me in my craft room and everywhere else life has taken me the past 14.5 years. We shared endless adventures, he and I...and literally thousands of walks. He swam in the Mississippi River and ran through the mountains in Colorado, Arizonia and Idaho. I think he has swam in most every state I've ever traveled. He lay at my feet every hour of the day in our various homes. Ben laid by my side if I were ill, once for almost 3 days straight, and wiped my tears if I were sad. He was my youngest child and he is missed.
Yes, he had a wonderful life, the best actually, and this does console me. I don't think anything could ever replace the joy I've had with him in my life. His spot in my heart, was a very special place and I was lucky to have known him. My time with him was a gift, good bye my sweet boy.

Crown Royale

My grandson is turning 12 next week and of course I needed to make him a birthday card. What do you make for a 12 year old boy? I don't have a rock guitar stamp, but I did own this Club Scrap stamp that I thought was kind of rockin'. I used a piece of plastic acetate that was recovered from the trash to stencil the oval design, did a little masking after I stamped the crown. To be honest, I raised two girls and really have no idea what pre-teen boys are into these days. Hope this works for him.
Happy Birthday Skylar...hope it's the best!

By the way, what do you think of the new blog layout? My daughter Katrina hooked me up...thanks hon.

Have a really great week.

Paper Quilt

There was a challenge last month at the Gingersnap Creation site to make a paper quilt and then create art using the paper. If you go to Mccallsquilting.com there is a plethora of wonderful quilting patterns. I used the Crystals pattern to create this quilt.
 
 The paper are from Echo Park. I chose a simple pattern and was glad that I did. For my project, I made color copies of the paper and saved my masterboard.
I signed up for a swap to make pennants for a Christmas banner that will spell JOY. I created the three J's for this project. I decided that a quilt should have a little sewing on it, so I got out my machine and did a little outline sewing on the paper.
This is my finished pennant, that went in the mail this week to my swap partners.
and a close up...
I made a couple variations for my partners and myself. The scraps were used to create a few cards. The first J's I made, were not large enough for this project, but worked great for cards.
I was too late to enter the challenge, but it was a creative blast for me. I've traveled so much this fall, my creative mojo was in a slump. 
Changing subjects here...I've never liked my blogspot background since I've changed it...anyone have any suggestions?