sticks n twigs

i am in a creative, artistic FB  group and signed up to participate in the May challenge to make something out of sticks to hang outside. there were several guidelines, one of which stated that you could not use more than 6 sticks.

i decided to use 3 sticks i had found in our yard. i also knew that i wanted to implement vintage items from my studio into my piece. i wanted some hard, rusty elements mixed with a little lace and a hint of glam for softness.

you can see the wire and lace used to tie the sticks together and the use of a religious piece i had picked up last year at a flea market. i nailed that into the twig because there was still little pieces of chain attached to each side.

i had purchased small metal tags and have the tools to print words- so i created my own tag and attached to my wire. i stamped the word into the tag and then, used white paint to make my word pop. i added a chandelier dangle for a little glam to this piece. i attached the dangle into the lace.

this shows the very top wire through the twigs and how i finished the wire off. i had only drilled through one twig at both ends- that one was thick enough. one of the other twigs is drilled at one end, but, not the other; and the third twig is not drilled at all. instead i used the natural branch bends to hold my wire in place.

this just shows the wire and lace tie with the natural bend in my twig below.

this pic shows again the attachment of the twigs and how i finished the wire tie with my create tag.

i had seen a thimble used for such a thing as below and had been saving mine to use for just the right project- and this was definitely it! i used materials in my studio to create my thimble of goodness. i love the small numbered circular tag.

this is a small key with a pearled pin wrapped and attached- again for a little softness. the key is attached to the religious piece.

here are all of my dangly items- one at each corner and my thimble which is my focal point and main feature in the middle. love my blue beads for a dash of color- and made a blue bead dangle for the lower portion mixed in with the fabric and string.

here is a pic of my overall piece. cannot wait to hang it outside on our back patio.

TGIF and ready for some tending to....

so thankful that today is friday and the weekend is quickly approaching....i had listened to a 21 secrets lessons from Rachel Olson Awes. she had talked about tending to ourselves. if you are a mom/ wife- we tend to put everyone else's needs ahead of ours.

part of the lesson was to draw and doodle and to come up with our list of we would like to tend to for us. i have been trying to come up with my list. so here are a few things i am hoping to tend to this weekend....

1. paint my toes (they are in desperate need!!)
2. sit in the sunshine and do nothing but enjoy some very nice weather 
3. paint- and see the paint on my fingers...makes me so happy
4. sew on paper and catch up on graduation cards- just love doing this
5. dance in my studio space when no one is looking :) who doesn't love to dance?!....i so love doing this!

you may have already seen the doodle before- she is one of my favorites. i seem to just love her look- she seems relaxed and happy- like she is looking up just a bit to the sun, and letting the sunshine just cover her face....i thought she is what i will be trying to capture this weekend.

thankful for FB friends

i do not remember why i was so resistant to join FaceBook, but, i have to say....i have met even more wonderfully creative people! i cannot believe it took me so long to get with the program...i was so missing out!

in the past week i have received 2 very wonderful packages of mailart and i am feeling so very thankful to have met these wonderful women! the package below even came all the way across the sea!

my studio space will be adding both of these to my space....brings me happiness and smiles! and again....feeling just so very thankful! happy tuesday!

one little word- will

i create for one little word and may's word is will. i had been working on inspirational ATC cards and this fit in perfectly. i painted and sewed and cut words and glued.....what is not to love right?!

so what "will" you do? here is what i "will" intend to do.....spend more time with day dream journeys, find the bright spots in the world, keep dreams alive for perfect happiness and let all of this creep in my soul.

ATC's

i am participating in an ATC swap this month. i had not done any ATCs in a long time....had a great time- although it took a bit to get back into working so small....i have been working in various sizes of art journals and canvas, but, even those have been at least 4" x 4". i used playing cards as my base to start all of the ATCs. i layered either tissue paper or paint to get a base down first.

here are some sneak peeks....this first one is actually the last one i worked on; by this time i was feeling like i was finally hitting my stride. love the stitching and lace and the phrase i found for her....

i had been saving men's neck tie labels for something good- and it happened to be to land on my ATCs. this has a sewing theme with stitching and a paper top circle from some thread up in the right hand corner.

this was my first ATC i made and i do really like her. i love the painted window screen...little rusty, layers of paint, and the broken edges.....i had bought the metal tags at a flea market...saving it for something good. she seemed appropriate. i have had this stamp forever- so glad i had her...she is cute and i don't always get to use her.

grad card with sewing- a video

trying hard to get this whole video thing down....thank goodness i have kids!! once again, they were able to help me get the editing done.

i have had several people ask about the sewing on paper and how it works and if it is hard on the sewing machine- so i thought i would show a demonstration through video.

happy mother's day

#mothersdaywishes #mailart #filefolder

'tis the season for graduation....cards! {2014}

preparing for all of the graduations that we will be attending starting this weekend. sunday is the kick-off to grad parties and go all through the month-every weekend....

trying to get the jump start by making my cards ahead of time. i love using text book paper in the back ground of the cards. i had an old chemistry book hanging out in my studio- so, those pages are now the back ground paper of my cards.

tickets....i love tickets!

i do love tickets....i was recently in a ticket swap and here are some of the tickets i made to share..... if you want to know how i made the tickets- watch this quick video here.

i had so much fun making the tickets....forgot i had some really cool stamps! with the swap- the tickets below are the ones i received- check those out! super cool! just loved all of them!

tag revival- a video (link is fixed!)

still working on my video skills and trying to get the hang of this whole filming, editing piece.....

i was working on another tag and had painted it into a mess. i decided i needed to walk away from the tag. so the next day, i thought i would film the process to show that even if you make a mess- you can always find another way to create something that you like.

so here is the video of the tag revival.....