These flowers are created from original acrylic artwork on canvas.
Flat enough to scrap or dimensional enough for altered art pieces. I will list these in my Etsy store this weekend. Each will be unique and there will be a limited number per series.Haven't we all had days when we've felt like this?
Saw it on Etsy.
Fell in love.
Had to share.
Have a great day!
Started creating this for Creative Therapy's Catalyst 98 which asks "What does your future hold?"
My future could hold anything, but whatever it holds promises to be exciting, interesting, and totally unexpected.
Piece says "my great wide blue serendipity shall be orange and violet with black polka dots..."
Not sure if this piece is done. Right now it feels like a background to me but I haven't quite figured out what to put in the foreground.
In the meantime, this piece has sparked another idea. Keep an eye out for a follow-up post tomorrow.
I created this layout for Method Playground Challenge 60 which was to use felt or wool on a layout.
I die cut star borders from red, glittery, self-adhesive felt and backed them with patterned paper.
Here's a layout I did about 5 years ago. I'm just sharing for the funny.
Journaling in contained in the 2x2 magnetic album in the bottom left hand corner (under small photo). Here is the journaling:
"Out of all the things I was told could, or imagined would, go wrong during our wedding, I never considered man-eating ladybugs. Japanese beetles to be precise, but they look just like garden variety ladybugs. Biggest difference? They bite hard! And alot! And without provocation. Seems Milwaukee was suffering from an infestation of the carnivorous little insects. And during our wedding, they infested the layers of my dress. I had to be shaken out after the ceremony. One particularly annoying red and black sucker decided to nibble upon my elbow for about five minutes of the ceremony. I tried to rub my elbow against my side to dislodge the pest without looking like I've suddenly decided marriage wasn't for me and that I was seriously considering running back down the aisle."
I created this piece in response to Creative Therapy's Catalyst 95 which asks "What's something you struggle with?".
As a full-time engineer by day, I struggle with disengaging my brain long enough to create without inhibition by night. 
I created this piece 8x10 so that I could frame it as a reminder that it is ok to not know every step of the process before I start.
Here are quick instructions for this piece:
1. Adhere book text to an 8x10 piece of watercolor paper.
2. Brush two washes of off white paint followed by by two washes of white paint, allowing each layer to dry before adding the next layer.
3. Choose, crop, and convert to black and white a photo of your choice. Print the photo on watercolor paper without gloss coating. Trim the background from the photo. Edge the photo with black ink.
4. Adhere book paper to light weight cardstock. Print clip art butterflies on the book paper/cardstock. Cut out butterflies.
5. Wrap wire around a pencil. Remove the wire from the pencil and pull both ends away from each other to flatten the spring into looped wire.
6. Place you photo on your background and trace around the photo lightly with a pencil. Remove the photo. Stamp multiple stamp images around the photo outline.
7. Adhere the photo to the background with foam tape. Push packing material beneath your photo, allowing the ends to stick out. Adhere butterflies, wire loops, and sprocket gears.
8. Add title.
EVOLVE
This is the one little word I've chosen for 2010.
- I would like to evolve artistically.
- I would like to evolve personally.
- I would like to evolve professionally.
Perhaps I will take some more formal art classes to hone some techniques. Perhaps I will try to publish some layouts. Perhaps I will publish a professional paper. Perhaps we will finally buy a house or consider expanding our family.
This is my focus for 2010.
And for inspiration, an ATC I made a while back:
Here is the layout I created celebrating my "One Little Word" for 2009 (layout is 2 12x12 pages, click the photos for larger, more detailed images).
Page 1:
Page 2:
Most of this layout was upcycled. The denim used in the background was from a "well loved" pair of jeans that started falling apart during all my 2009 "EXPLORE"-ations. The kraft colored circles were cut with a Cricut from a brown paper shopping bag. The title letters were cut with the Cricut from a newsprint magazine called "Skirt!".Here are my 12 Florida "Explore"-ations for 2009. Come back tomorrow to see the layout I created with all 24 "One Little Word" 2009 photos.
Yes, there is hiking (and mountain biking) in Florida.
Two, count them TWO water parks for my birthday this year!
Tiger cub petting.
Did you participate in "One Little Word" for 2009? How did it go?
If you're not familiar with "One Little Word", read this post by Ali Edwards.
In a nutshell, you pick one single word on which to focus your year. Your one little word acts in some ways like a New Year's Resolution, but instead of identifying a single action you wish to take during the year, your word identifies a focus for your year.
For 2009, my one little word was EXPLORE. This word had two meanings for me, I wanted to explore the depths of my creativity and my new home state. I envisioned ending the year with one art-related and one adventure-related story to tell for each month.
Here are my art-related explorations for 2009. I will post the adventure-related explorations tomorrow. Sunday I plan to share my one little word for 2010. And Monday look for a layout of the results of "One Little Word" 2009.
January - First formal art class, Mixed Media at St. Petersburg Art Center.
February - An example of my Photo-a-Day challenge for 2009.
March - My first attempt at art journaling.
April - Making my first home decor pieces. This was made for a friend (for her one little word).
May - Participating in swaps for the first time.
June - Creating an inspiration journal.
July - Taking a fabric scrapbooking class with Donna Downey.
August - Playing with collage.
September - Creating my own Etsy store.
October - Joining Method Playground's Design Team.
November - My first attempt at book binding.
December - My first time playing along to the "12 Tags of Christmas".
Didn't mean to worry anyone. I'm fine, just healing slowly. I haven't been able to be up and around for more than an hour at a time until recently, but I am starting to feel much better these last few days. I hope to be back to a regular schedule soon. Thanks for all the well wishes!
