Completed Zentangles, blogging for 4 years now...

I am not sure where time has been going but it has been going by fast. For one thing I didn't realize that this month I have had my blog for 4 years.... Wow. I started it when I started doing Creative Everyday - November. I need to pick up speed again and start posting more often. I also didn't realize that I had not posted for a few weeks. I had some company, one of my cousins came for a visit. Here is a picture he took in my front yard of a beautiful Idaho sunset....

I did manage to complete a couple of zentangles that I had been working on for a while....

I have started another along with some other projects that I will post soon.

Well thanks for stopping by and looking! I do have more pictures to post.

Flygirls ATC CaRdS and TrAvEl

These past few weeks have been busy with work, travel for work and making some art... This past month (September) I was hostess for the ATC group I am in. What fun to get mail...

Open, look and sort....

Pack them up again to send....

And enjoy all that was sent to me as the hostess....

These are my cards that I made to trade for this month...

Even with all the technology it is still exciting to get a piece of mail and art to boot.  These are a fun group and talented.

Thanks for stopping by and looking!

Class calendar complete....

My daughter is a first year teacher and I made her a calendar for her classroom and here is the finished piece:




I did layers to make the background by painting and using bubble wrap, spray paint (using the Tulip fabric paint cannon - great product!), masking technique and makers. I also did the months and numbers digitally using my Corel photo program and then of course everything was then laminated after printing.... then cut out and the use of wonderful velcro to make everything stick! It was so much fun to make.

Thanks for stopping by and looking...










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Liberate Your Art... postcard swap

Kat over at Kat Eye Studio has hosted a postcard swap called Liberate Your Art. I participated last year and again this year. Here are the lovely postcards that I received this year:

Starting from the upper left corner to right these are the artist:  Marji Thompson, Marilyn Lamoreux, Julie C Phillipps, Deborah Tisch, Valerie-Jael and from Kat our hostess. They are all so wonderful and in this day and age of technology, it is fun to get something in the mail. If you want to see more... come join the blog hop and see a great collection of postcards that were swapped. 

Thanks for stopping by.... of to work I go.

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Creative fun making a classroom calendar...

Recently while I was off of work recovering and my youngest daughter got her first teaching job as a fifth grade teacher. I always knew that teachers had a lot of out of pocket expenses but didn't realize how much until now. One of the things that a classroom needs is a calendar... well we couldn't just have one of the blue deals that you slip the month and dates into a plastic pocket right? Not when you are artsy crafty.... so here are a view pictures of the beginnings of a classroom calendar....

I started off with a large deep canvas and this screaming green.

Some thought "oh my" not so good....

Next came the layer of purple and texture using saran wrap.

Then I cut out squares of a film to create a mask (I tried painter's tape first

and did not like it). I then spray painted a turquoise (I created the spray

paint my self using a deal the Tulip puts out, I will have to take a picture). I then

used white paint and bubble wrap for more texture.

This is a close up that shows the masking off of the squares and painted texture.

I have to run to work now so I will post a picture of the finished product and the Tulip spray paint deal later on....  thanks for stopping by and looking!

Out of commission....

I have been out of commission for a few weeks... had some surgery (girl stuff) a couple of weeks ago and I am getting back to normal... or at least my normal. I am amazed at how it has zapped me but, I thought in the next few weeks I could catch up on some posts and show you somethings I did before my surgery and some things that I have been working on in between resting.

I started an on-line painting class at the end of July. I have a couple of more canvases that I did....

I learned how to use some different brushes and create the background

learning different techniques for to create a background

added paisleys (in the lesson it was fish) 

I used bubble wrap, made my own stamp.... not finished

I have learned quite a bit, need to finish watching more of the class videos. This class is by Kelly Hoernig who is in my Flytribe Group. I am working on a new canvas making a classroom calendar for my daughter who has her first teaching job Yeah!

Thanks for stopping by and looking!

My July ATC cards for my Flytribe group, Barbie and Skipper

I have been on vacation so it give me time to do art... One thing about magazines is looking back on older issues and finding something you want to try. I was looking at my Cloth, Paper, Scissors issue from September/October 2010 and there was an article about making your own stamps for faux silkscreen so I thought I would give it a try doing my July Flygirls ATC.

Here is my butterfly drawn on a craft foam sheet...

I then cut it out into separate pieces....

(I should of taken some more pictures of the stamping process) Here are the butterflies after I stamped them and painted them and added some detail. I need to buy some more stamps because I had old ones and had to had a little paint to them....

I then did some echo stitching on them....

And then the finished card....

Ready to send in the trade...

One of my favorite blogs is Jamie Fingal Designs - she has fun quilts and her Barbies help her out... I had told her one day I needed to get mine out and here they are... Barbie ans Skipper from the 60's (they were mine that I played with).

I am going to try the foam stamp process again but use a stylist instead of an ink pen to make the indentations, get some more stamps and make sure when I stamp I leave a little space in between. It was fun to bring my Barbie and Skipper out, my sister and friends used to play for hours with them in our backyard making a town. Skipper's dress was crocheted by my Grandma... good memories.

Well, thanks for stopping by and looking. Hope you have a great day!