Bird

I stumbled across this photo I took of a door ornament!  The bird caught my eye.  I'm thinking I can incorporate this image into my art in some way!  Round Top/Warrenton....my what a person can find there.  That's where I saw this great bird ornament.  Might just use him on a Christmas card.  Merry Christmas to all of you!

Memory Box

Wow!  I sure have been away from my blog for a long time!  Busy making Christmas ornaments and Christmas cards using copies of my latest creation!  I painted a Christmas angel and am using her in most of my holiday endeavors.  You will soon see the fruits of my labors...but for now I'm going to show you the burlap covered memory box I made for my dear friend to give as a wedding gift to a very special bride.  As you will see, it is a combination of fabric and layers of all sorts of found objects, trinkets and feathers!  It is a collection of many of the bride's favorite things.     This is the inside of the lid!

 Tucked inside of this tiny leather bag is a note from the bearer of the gift.

 Each bridesmaid and honored guest  who attended the pre-wedding party wrote a special note and tucked it inside this little burlap pouch that was then placed inside the box.

This is a view of the top of the lid.

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Pink Dancing Girls

Pretty in PINK today! These little dancing girls are so happy to be part of the
Spring Recital! Each one  was lucky enough to land the role of "Rosebud" on  my mixed media collage!  If you like pink,,,and what gal doesn't...hop on over to this fabulous blog and see all the eye candy featuring one of my favorite colors....PINK! (click on the word "PINK".!

Painted Shutter

Yes, thank you sweet Lord.  We are finally having much needed rain in Central Texas.  Oops...now the sun is shining!   In the meantime, I'm showing you a window shutter I painted several years ago for a local fundraiser.  A silent auction was held and the proceeds from the sale of the shutters were used to purchase new shutters for a wonderful old historic home in my town. The gals you see painted on the shutter are my fabulous GOS group (girls of summer)!

And today, I'm mentioning a wonderful blog for you to visit.  Stop by talented  Lynn's blog and see all of her creative endeavors.  She's had her blog for three years and is celebrating!! Enjoy!

In a couple of days I will share with you something beautiful I made for a friend to give as a gift!  Until then,,,,happy blogging and creating.

Pink Inspiration

Picking and stirring through things in the studio produced this array of pinkness (if there is such a word) with which to create something unique. Perhaps it will be a mixed media collage using the pencil sketch or maybe it will be an mint tin pendant using the beads and vintage bracelet.  One thing is sure, I will certainly be using the paint brush on this project since I almost always slather gel medium and paint on my substrate!  And my clothes for that matter!  To see more pinkness click HERE .

What's Behind More Blue Doors? Blue Monday

O.K. friends...what do you think is behind these blue screen doors?  I'm a little afraid of what might be behind the first one.  There appears to be a hunting weapon of some kind propped up right next to the door.  I wonder if evil lurks within.  Perhaps some kind of lunatic lives there who comes out only at night, grabs his gun and takes off in the woods when the moon is full.  And I think he has very long fingernails too because one evening he was locked out and tore the screen trying to get back in.  And the behind the second door, there probably lives a kindly little Czech grandmother who bakes kolaches for all the little neighborhood children.  To see more Blue Monday goodies please pop by Smiling Sally's Blog HERE!  Enjoy!

Bras for the Cause - "The Girls"

A couple of weeks ago my dear friend, Mary Linda Hays hosted a breast cancer awareness event at her fabulous shop called Frills.  (You can find Frills on Facebook)! I was one of the locals who accepted the challenge to create a special bra to be displayed and auctioned off at "Bras for the Cause."  Proceeds from the auction benefit our local Relay for Life.  What an exciting evening we all had.  My bra, titled "The Girls" was modeled by Mary Linda's husband and my childhood friend, Harlan. He did a bang-up job presenting my bra and that of fellow artist, Karen Burges.  "The Girls" took the prize for "Best Themed Bra."  Yea!  A big thank you to Mary Linda and her great staff for a special evening for a great cause.  Think Pink this month and take care of yourselves girlfriends.  See more interesting and yummy pink things HERE.

Pink Saturday - Happy Day and More from Warrenton, Texas

There is just soooo much to see at Round Top/Warrenton.  I really enjoyed seeing these panels that came from a vintage carrousel in France.  Would have been lots of fun to ride on that one for sure. And the iron or tin roses were pretty cute as well.  See more pink goodies Here  at How Sweet the Sound!

On the Road to Round Top/Warrenton, Texas

The battery died in my camera just as I began to find pink things to take pictures of....so I had to take this one with my phone!  Wish I could be on the road again to Round Top.  Boy, did we have a great time!  This cute trailer was parked by the fabulous booth situated in a little weathered garage not far from the Junk Gypsy booth near Zapp Hall! See more pink things HERE

Blue Monday! Dancing Shoes

I'll tell you one thing, if my feet could stand it they would be wearing these blue gingham high heels and dancing the night away!  When I was a kid I always said I would  wear high heels and especially those with no back.  You know the kind.....the ones the movie stars like Marilyn Monroe and Elizabeth Taylor seemed to wear.  You may ask if I am wearing them as I write this post....the answer is , "Not tonight." To see more fabulous blue things click HERE  and see what people have posted on Smiling Sally's blog.

Pink Saturday on Sunday!

Just can't seem to get it together for this great Pink Saturday challenge.

http://www.howsweetthesound.typepad.com/  Czech this out...you'll see some really yummy pink things posted HERE  .  I have been gathering pink things to use in a project. When it's complete I will share it with everyone! The little paper flower bouquet from the 50's brings back lots of memories of shopping at the local five and dime store.  My favorite store was called McCrory's!

Happy Blue Monday - What's Behind the Blue Door?

I just wonder.... what IS behind the blue door?  Does anyone ever peer over the transom window at people passing by?   Is it a dusty storage building?  Do skeletons live there?  Could this be where Francine and Hunky Jones create beautiful art?  Or, perhaps Ignac Krepchak once had a photography studio behind this blue door. To see more blue things stop by and see sally and the gang at http://www.smilingsally.blogspot.com/

Pink Saturday

Check out this fabulous blog:  http://www.howsweetthesound.typepad.com/

and see all the great posts for PINK SATURDAY.  I just love to put pink and green together!

WOYWW? Just A Swangin'

Woo Hoo!  My work desk has been filled with blue fabric swatches the past two days.  Here is the finished creation I promised you on Monday.  Now it's back to the studio to work on other projects, mainly a beautiful burlap box.  Stay tuned! To view more WOYWW creations or projects in the making check out  http://www.stamping-ground.blogspot.com/ or click on the WOYWW button on the left side of my blog page!  Happy Wednesday y'all!

Blue Monday Fabric Collage In the Making

We are having horribly high winds and devastating wildfires here in Central Texas due to hurricane Lee.  Our prayers go out to those who have lost homes and property. 
I hurriedly snapped this grouping this morning before it was gone with the wind.  This is really just a sneak peak of what I will create later today but I was impatient, as usual!  I'll post the finished product later...stay tuned!  In the meantime,,,tell me about your fondest memories of swinging in your backyard! Go to Blue Monday on Smiling Sally's blog to see more interesting things made by some creative individuals. http://www.smilingsally.blogspot.com/

Hello!

Hello There! Can't wait for you to see what I'm working on this weekend!  Stay tuned!  In the meantime...here's a piece I did several months ago!  It honors my old elementary school, Twelfth Street Elementary School.  Sadly, it is no longer standing! Fun times at that old school and on that playground!

Fine Rusty Junk!

WOYWW! Today I was the lucky recipient of some fine rusty junk!  My friends invited me to come pick through a box of things they left on their carport for me.  What fun I had looking through all the stuff they discarded.  Thank you Jackie and Harold!  I can't wait to create something new with this fine junk.  Hey, who can find the animal teeth or the crystal prism? Czech out  WOYWW see what others are working on today.

What's On Your Workdesk? Wednesday

WOYWW!  While my computer takes her happy time loading I go back and forth to the work desk and make handmade greeting cards. I like to cut the corrugated cardboard beverage sleeves from Starbucks into small pieces and use them on each card for a little "punch".  Often times I use trinkets found on the floor of my studio (scary) or on my workdesk. Gold and colorful thread works nicely, too!

Blue Monday - Paper or Plastic?

http://smilingsally.blogspot.com/

Paper or plastic?  Paper, of course!  I'll be teaching my paper bag hat making class at the fabulous Frills in Taylor, Texas on Thursday evening, September 1!  Seen here in the photo is a sampling of the kind of hat you can create from a simple paper bag.  All you need is: a large paper bag, acrylic paint, tacky glue, trinkets and silk flowers/leaves!  My hat is BLUE, but yours can be the color of your choice!  I just love this aqua/lagoon shade of blue.   Click here to see more BLUE creations on the "Blue Monday" blog site.

More Newel Posts

More interesting newel posts!  We saw these when we were on our recent trip to the beautiful North Woods of Wisconsin and the fabulously green fields of Indiana!  The stone walkway was built some time during the 1930's.  Isn't it exquisite?

Don't Fence Me In!

I've seen bicycle fences many times before in Georgetown and also in Salado, but never one with rainbow colored bikes.  This one is so much fun!  It is in front of a wonderful junk store between Rockport and Aransas Pass, Texas.

I bought an original nude pastel for $2 there!!  Plans are in the works to give it a new mat and frame.

Knob!

Here's the other ornament...actually it is a knob on an iron gate instead of a newel post.  Oh well,,,ornamentation none the less!  I just love the color and shape.

Newel Post

I just love interesting newel posts.  The one in this photo is located in downtown Bartlett, Texas.  Another really pretty one is located at a family cemetary in Granger, Texas.  I'll have to post that picture later,,,when I figure out how to transfer pics from my new camera to my computer!!!!

Bangle Bracelets

Working on some mixed media bangle bracelets.  Thought I'd show you a few of my creations.  They are full of all sorts of ephemera from old phone books and my favorite, verbage from an old Czech farm and ranch journal!

Preparing for Fabric Collage

As you can see I actually did create some velvet leaves to go along with my cheesecloth roses. Yesterday I happened upon a great yard sale and bought a vintage, albeit, plastic sewing box, sans vintage package of sewing needles. The lady who checked out before me grabbed the quaintly illustrated package of needles. Never the less, the sewing box was a great find since it did contain a chrome tatting shuttle AND a great pair of pinking shears! I immediately put those little shears to good use and cut my leaves from some velvet from my special stash. After handpainting the veins with gold acrylic paint, I decided they will do just fine in my next fabric creation.

Now, as for the pieces of fabric you see laying on the scrubs....they just got a good soaking in coffee to stain them and now they are drying in the hot Texas sun!

A Rose Is A Rose Is A Rose!!

Just created these little cheesecloth roses and had to share them with you. Now all they need are some velvet leaves. Come to think of it I do have some green velvet in my fabric stash. Stay tuned for leaf creations!

Getting Ready for Upcoming Show

Putting finishing touches on several creations to take to a great show in Copperas Cove, Texas for First Friday at Frames and Things, May 6.

Collage Retreat with K.C. Willis

What a wonderful weekend of learning from the pro, K.C. Willis from Longmont, Colorado. Met some very talented gals...kindred spirits who love gluin' and junkin' just like me!

Doll Heads

Working with some porcelain doll heads. Crack the face off and collage them to a canvas and start gluing and painting. Lots of fun!