A Blog Hop Of Another Kind

Hello, again! I have been asked by Louise Gannon-Forsythe to join a fun and different type of blog hop. Its all about crafters getting to know one another and showing a little bit of what makes us tick and what makes you you as a crafter. 

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Question 1: What are you working on at the moment?

Currently, I am working on all kinds of things. I am learning to love the wonderful world of Art Journaling and Mixed Media. 

Question 2: How does my work differ from others'? 

I have always been a "different" type of crafter. I am scrappy in that, I use what I have or make what I don't. I don't need fancy gadgets and gizmos (insert ear worm here). I don't do the "typical" or the "in style". I just do me. :) For example: I will go to Goodwill and buy 99 cent clothes just for the sequins. An ENTIRE DRESS for a buck! Think of the SEQUINS! 

I thought this page about summed it up in a nutshell. I also really enjoy color. Color is the one thing that inspires me above everything else. Once I have the colors, it kinda just falls together. 

I also like making my own stamps. Nothing fancy. Just simple and fun. I make them out of erasers from the dollar tree. :) I told you, I just do me! 

Question 3: Why do I craft?

I honestly and truthfully can not remember a time where I didn't have some type of creative influence in my life. My mother was the strongest influence. She is an artist who was never really encouraged or discovered. I would spend hours sitting in her bedroom floor and watch her create a masterpiece with pencils and paper. Her favorite subject was horses, hands down. 

My mother always encouraged me to create. There was never a time when I didn't have an abundance of crayons, markers, pencils, pens, construction paper, artist pads and watercolor paint. For a family that wasn't well-off, these were affordable items that gave my mother some "quiet" time and me HOURS of inspiration!

I craft because its in my blood. I craft because I can't NOT craft. There have been times when I thought I would have to give it up and the very thought made me sick and slightly depressed. There are times that projects literally torment me until I can get them out! 

These reasons, and so many more, are why I craft. 

(I have always been a little...different, hehe)

Question 4: How does my creative process work?

Typically there are 3 things that inspire me to create. 

1: Color....I am addicted to color combos and color in general. Color drives me crazy until I can create something with it. 

2: A stamp or image...there are certain artists that just have a way of capturing my imagination and coloring and creating with them really get my creative juices flowing!

3: Paper. Specifically, patterns. Sometimes its all I can do to contain myself and NOT buy ALL THE PAPERS of certain brands. I mean seriously...sometimes....its painful how much I love patterned paper. 

Also, I am inspired by other people and take new ideas and play with them and develop them into something of my own. Pinterest is such an enabler!

I hope you have enjoyed this look at the inner workings of my rather odd brain. 

I have nominated the following talented, inspiring ladies and they will be posting next Monday, September 1st. I sure hope you stop by their pages and show some love!

The fabulous LIZZIE!!! She is my crafty bestie and so much more! Be sure to check her out!

Another beautiful crafty soul, ShaunnaMichelle Here: 

A pink explosion!

My mother enlisted my help in planning a baby shower for someone who goes to her church. She had a baby girl so my dining room has looked as though it was throwing up pink for the last week. As a mother of just one boy I am SO not used to this much pink!

We decided to go with a less fru fru look and a more sweet and slightly shabby look. Decided to go with a "shower" theme. Seemed obvious, haha.

I made a poofy cloud out of tissue paper flowers and sewed card stock rain drops together and attached everything with good, strong adhesive. We will hang it at the shower using command strips.

I went to Goodwill and found some baby girl clothing that was almost new and washed and hung it on jute with some small clothes pins to create a clothes line. The umbrella was bought at Hobby Lobby.

These adorable little boots will be filled to overflowing with baby's breath on the day of the shower. I think it will be a sweet touch to add to the table.

The napkins have 1 fork and 1 spoon wrapped up inside. I used a Fiskars cloud punch and some bakers twine to keep them wrapped up tight until the day of the shower.

Also from Goodwill, I bought different sheets and ripped up strips and tied them to some twine to create a banner/bunting type thing. ;) This will hang on the front of the table. 

I created these adorable cards for the attendees to write well wishes for the baby or advice for mum. I used the fiskars cloud punch again and then used a photo corner punch I had to layer the white cardstock with some old Martha Stewart paper (that was given to me. I don't buy her stuff)

I found this wicked adorable frame at Goodwill and HAD to have it to put the instruction thing in for the well wishes card table. It was the perfect color and the perfect size and it was only 99 cents! SCORE!

I really can't wait for the shower next weekend. And no worries, I will def be posting the set up cause, that's what I do! Hope you all are having a craft-tastical weekend and staying in out of this oppressive humidity. For those of you Down Under, I envy you your winter on days like today. Happy crafting!

Southern Girls, Challenge # 95 Texture

I am so excited to share my first DT post with you for the Southern Girls Blog Challenge. I can tell its going to be a blast!

This time around our challenge is Texture!! I love texture. It can really add a lot to a project! I was given this fabulous Dilly Beans image to play with, "Tula's Heart"  I love all things Dilly Beans, so it was exciting to get to play with a new image!

I used papers from Dear Lizzie's "Lucky Charm" pack. I colored Tula with Copic markers. I tried a new hair color. I kinda like it! I used my copics to create texture on her sweater as well. The frame is from Jillie Bean Soup. I popped out part of Tula's headband. To add texture, I used sparklets. I am in LOVE with sparklets! They have a nubby texture and sparkle like crazy!

Be sure to hop over to the Southern Girls' page to check out the rest of the amazing projects and enter for your chance to win some amazing prizes!

Galactic Sunday

Its that time of year again. That time when I begin to obsess over details of a certain little man's birthday party. This year he FINALLY wanted Star Wars, something we have been hoping for for almost 8 years, hahaha. Seriously think its going to be a fantastic party. Lots of fun things planned.

Here is the first of many projects. As always, when the party comes I will do another post recapping everything that we did and be sure to check me out on Pinterest. I have tons of parties planned and posted!

So, light sabers. We have like 4, 2 of which make noise, but when you are talking about most likely around 20 kids? I needed to have some more price efficient light saber action.

Pinterest to the rescue, as always. POOL noodles. Totes awesome. Also, extremely price efficient. The dollar tree had noodles for 1 dollar, and each noodle makes 2 light sabers. 50 cents PER kid? Not too shabby.

I made enough sabers for 20 kids. Might go back and get a few more to make 25 or 26. We shall see. For now, lets stick with 20.

Walmart has their Duck Tape on sale for 3 dollars a roll. I used about 1.5 silver rolls, and about a half of a black roll to create the handles. I didn't try any cheaper tape, but perhaps it will hold just as well. To cut this tape you are going to want a good pair of sharp scissors that had adhesive resistant blades. This pair is from Fiskars.

 I had hubbs draw me out 3 simple designs for handles:

Then, I got to work. I had a cardboard box from my work and covered it in blue wrapping paper from the dollar tree and printed out a label from here. 

It took me 2 or 3 hours to get all of these done (with minor interruptions). For the silver in the handle it took 4 strips of tape that went all the way around. So, basically, stack 4 strips on top of one another and that is how long your handle will be. 

All in all I think the kids are going to have a blast "training" with balloons in our Jedi Training Area at the party. 

Hope this inspires you to start thinking about fun things you can do for a party! And, may The Force be with you!

Art Journal Fun

A couple of days ago, Kristy and I got together to get messy and create some art. I decided to create another page in my art journal. I am still getting the hang of this art journaling thing and it seems that I am having a few more misses than hits. I am still learning how to use the paint and sprays together and in the humidity here in TN its hard to get things to dry properly in between.

However, I plan to keep all of my pages. They are examples of my progress and of everything that I have learned on my journey.

Kristy had some Dina Wakely stencils so I used them to help create this page.I used a hotel room key to create the pattern in the blue behind the photograph. If I had it to do over I would not have outlined the birds in the black and I wouldn't have tried to stamp the mustaches. Other than that I dig this page. Its kinda crazy and kinda fun all together. 

Thanks for stopping by! Hope you are inspired! 

Tag, You're It!

Yesterday Kristy and I got together and got messy! We have been playing with mixed media and art journaling a lot lately. When we get together, its a blast for sure. The ideas are flying and art is being created!

I set the room up with all of our goodies and when she arrived we got to work!

I focused mostly on using Prima dolls by Julie Nutting to make a couple of tags. I find that as much as I adore the Prima dolls, they are so LARGE! I mean...the tags have to be HUGE but they are so awesome.

This first tag was made using Kristy's newest Prima Doll. She is SO adorable and I LOVE her skirt! I layered and created dimension with her skirt. the background on the tag was created with Tattered Angels "party pink" spray and acrylic paint that I mixed to match the papers. The papers are from Glitz "Uncharted Waters" and Paper House "Artist Paper Mix". The Quote on the bottom of the page is from Heidi Swapp.

Here is the other tag I made. I used my own Prima doll for this one. 

I used the same colors of paint that I previously mixed and used some random papers that I had laying around. The words are from Cosmo Cricket. I cut part of her legs off to create a smaller tag. 

I had so much fun crafting yesterday. After the week I have had, it was SO nice to relax and let my brain create something. Thanks so much for stopping by and I hope you are inspired!!