Happy New Year and Christmas Thank You Cards

 When I saw the 'germ-free' stamp set I had to get it.  Cracks me up...and so appropriate for the times, yes?  I'm adding it to the Lawnfawnatics Challenge HERE.

Another card I have to share is a quick Christmas thank you card.  I LOVE this poinsettia die!

Wishing you a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Using My Gel Print Scraps

 I'm sure I've confessed here before that I'm a wee bit of a hoarder when it comes to paper scraps.  It's ridiculous really, but, in my defense, I really do dig into the stash and use them...EXCEPT for my gel prints.  They're just so pretty!  Reality is setting in though and I'm resigning myself to using up the little gems.  Today I've been working on Christmas cards...

This doesn't even scratch the surface of my stash but it's a start.

Ho ho ho!

Aussie Christmas Card

My friend, Denise, lives down under and I thought it would be fun to send her an Aussie-inspired card for the holidays.

 I think it will make her grin.  I just hope it gets there before Christmas!

I'm adding this to the Lawn Fawnatics "happy holiday critters" challenge.

Cheers!

Christmas Postcard

 As soon as I saw these little deer dies from MFT Stamps I KNEW I had to have them.  I think they are 2 or 3 years old and I only bring them out around this time of year (why is that?  I need to fix that.).  I thought they'd be perfect for a holiday postcard that I needed to make for a SwapBot swap.

I cut the deer out of some felt that I almost threw away the other day; it was cushioning some dishes that I transported several years ago from my mom's house.  I wonder what project she used this felt for?  Anyhoo...it's the perfect color for these little guys!  I love the texture it gives them, too.

Happy Holidays, y'all!

MFT Sketch Challenge #516

 I like to have a stash of thank you cards ready to go.  Earlier today I spotted a pack of Christmas-y looking card blanks I picked up at the store a few weeks ago.  Then I spotted the MFT blog post about the current sketch challenge.  The crafty gods are sending me a sign...let's get busy making some holiday thank you cards!

I reached by into technique vault with this one.  I dry embossed the lines using a stylus and one of my stencils.  I haven't done that in years!

Check out the challenge HERE.

25 Tags of Christmas: Day 18

 This tag is super simple -  black ink and gold embossing.  I was inspired by Lindsey's tag.

25 Tags of Christmas: Day 17

 Several of the tag-makers on this day used critters on their tags.  Immediately I thought of a stamp set from MFT Stamps that I love for this time of year, Ready, Set, Snow!.  (I think I love it because two of my kiddos love to snowboard.)  Here's my tag...

I think my daughter would kill me if I called her a snow bunny - LOL...

25 Tags of Christmas: Day 15

 The simplicity of Lindsey's black and white tag inspired me to create this one for Day 15.

Play along with Tracey's 25 Tags of Christmas HERE.

25 Tags of Christmas: Day 3

 The tag I made for Day 3 is inspired by Norine's tag; I loved the intricate dies she used and the soft colors.

I

 hope this stands up to being tossed under the Christmas tree.  :) 

Greetings From Seattle Christmas Card

 Woo hoo!  I think I might actually get some cards sent out this year.  Made a few of these...

I love this little house from Lawn Fawn.  Ho ho ho!

25 Tags of Christmas: Day 2

 I needed something handmade and Christmas-y for a swap so I decided to go with a gift tag.  Inspired by Karin, I made these little snowflake tags.

Starting to feel festive?  I am!

25 Tags of Christmas: Days 1 and 14

 It's time for the annual "25 Tags of Christmas" makes with Tracey McNeely over at In My Creative Opinion.  I thought I was just going to be a silent viewer this year...I don't really use 25 tags every year...but I saw some pretty cute tags and was feeling inspired.  Hmmm...maybe I'll switch it up and make some birthday ones in place of Christmas!

Anyhoo...my tags are going to be a wee bit out of order and since this is 2020 with all of its weirdness I've decided that it's okay to do it that way.  Ha ha!

This tag, for Day 1, was inspired by Vanessa.  I liked how she had the free swinging smaller tag on top of her base tag.  She used some cute penguins on hers, too.

Day 14's tag is inspired by Elena.  I had a tough time choosing which tag to be inspired by...I love Lawn Fawn products and they were the ones highlighted on Day 14.

Two tags down, 23 to go!

Birthday Balloon Pop-Up Card

 One of my coworkers is having a birthday next week.  I thought it would be fun to make her a pop-up card ('cuz pop-up cards are just fun!)...

I hope it makes her grin.

I'm adding this to the MFT Stamps Birthday Challenge: Balloons.

Justifying Art Supplies - Gel Print Napkins

 My husband doesn't give me too much grief about my ridiculous stash of art supplies most of the time.  But when he bravely steps foot into my creative space he is usually aghast at all of the stuff I have.  I tend to feel compelled to justify it.  This project puts my gel plate and acrylic paints firmly in the yes-I-DO-need-all-this-stuff camp.

I had some fabric paint in my stash, but not much, so I used a fabric medium that made regular acrylic paint work on fabric to be washed.  I'm so happy with the way these turned out.  Too bad about the whole pandemic thing...no dinner parties any time soon...

Happy Creating!

Fun little Halloween card

 I was sending out some ATCs for a swap and decided to make a fun haunted house card to go with it.

Happy Halloween!

Creepy Pumpkin Home Decor

So my artsy endeavors have taken a turn towards the dark side.  I DO love Halloween and inspiration struck last weekend.  I now have a creepy light switch plate!

Too bad it's too late to add Halloween stuff to the Elves In The Attic.  I'll  save some for next year...

Happy Halloween!

"Hey, Little Boy" Canvas

 Here I am again with another 6"x6" canvas.  I think I've told this story here before, but it's an important part of this canvas's story.  

A friend of mine has four amazing sons.  When her oldest was 11 (about the time of the Ferguson riots) she made a comment about the discussions she has to have with her boys starting when they are very young; they are an African American family.  I was shocked.  It had never occured to me to have those discussion with my two caucasian sons.  It was an eye-opener and game-changer for me.  This is a great family - they are kind, compassionate, intelligent, thoughtful people  pillar of the community types.  Over the past seven months she has shared some of the experiences her sons have had out in public with people being blatantly racist, hostile and rude.  I don't know why I continue to be shocked that some people feel it's okay to treat others this way; we live in the Pacific NW, not the deep south.  

Anyway, I thought of her boys a lot as I finished this piece (this is not what I started out to make).  I thought of other kids who come from families that struggle economically, socially, and with other issues.  This quote, from The Help by Sue Monk Kidd, felt like a perfect fit.  I wish every child had someone whispering this in their ear each day.

Thanks for stopping by and reading my ramblings.  😃

I'm still alive!

 Wow.  It has been a really long time since I've posted.  Part of the reason is that several months ago I read somewhere that blogs are becoming a thing of the past as people use social media platforms like instagram, twitter, etc. more to share their art.  It made me sad.  I love roaming around people's blogs and it feels less frenetic than frantically trying to keep up with my social media feeds.  I thought about giving up on my blog...I did give up on my blog.  But this morning I decided that it doesn't matter if anyone actually stops by.  At least this provides me with a place to document what I've been doing with a little more space to write about it... so here goes.

Back in July I took a virtual class with Deb Weiers.  LOVE her art; it's very whimsical and goofy.  I was totally inspired and when my friend, Angeli, told me about a local art fundraiser looking for donations I thought it would be a perfect excuse to get busy creating. 

This is really different for me.  In the past I used a lot of stamped images and created with them as a focus.  This art is very different though and stems from my own messy brain.  I made four  6"x6" piece canvases for the auction...and they all sold.  Cool!

The first one is "Bill Loves the Ladies".  Growing up my parents had a friend named Bill.  He was short and bald and quite the flirt.  I see Bill every time I look at this picture.

This is "Nose of A Boxer, Heart of A Poet".  When I'm making these I start with random scribbling, splattering, etc and then look for an image to emerge from the chaos.  This poor guy had a pretty bumpy nose, but his eyes looked kind of melancholy and thoughtful to me.  His hair was a pain in the ass, but sometimes art is that way, am I right? 

"She Was A Dreamer" was a struggle to complete.  I had her almost finished but the background and her schnoz were giving me trouble.  I can't tell you how many times I stared at her and then set her aside waiting for inspiration to strike.

"Sunday Morning Blues" was the first one to be finished. I love the crazy hair and bright colors on this guy.  His bleary eyes made me think of somebody who partied a little too much on Saturday night.  Ha ha!

These are so much fun to make and they take me days to finish.  I have to set them aside and come back to them over and over again but it's a real feeling of satisfaction when one is done.  Now I need to get busy and make some more because the family asked why we don't have any...

If anyone is out there and stopping by thank you for checking in!

The 100 Day Project - Days 91-100: Unthemed and ALL DONE!

I can't believe it!  The idea of creating the same thing, sorta, every day for 100 days sounded so daunting way back in April.  And yet, the end is finally here, my friends.  I learned a lot and am relishing a good thing that came out of this pandemic...lots of arting time.

Here's a gander at my last batch of inchies.  I didn't really go with a theme this time.  Mostly I just rummaged around on my desk to use what was on there.

Ever wonder what a pile of 100 inchies looks like?

And just like that The 100 Day Project is a wrap.  Thanks for stopping by to take a gander at my artsy endeavors.  Happy Summer!

The 100 Day Project - Days 81-90: Flowers

I don't really grow many flowers in my garden but I do appreciate them nonetheless.  I celebrated them in all of the their diversity in my inchies for this batch.

Hooray!  There is only one more batch of inchies coming up...10 day left!