True to My Word

Well, here I am again, and true to my word, I'm updating you on all I've been doing for the past few months. Let's start with right after Mother's Day. I dance in a liturgical group at my church and our dance director has resigned from his position at my church after serving in that capacity for seven years. Well, as a token of our love and appreciation for him, the group wanted to get him a plaque. My creative side balked at that idea, so I volunteered to create something for him from all of us.  Here is the outcome of my creativity:

This is the mixed media piece I made. First off, using the logo and images from our group, I printed them on canvas paper (the fonts I used were not filled in which allowed me to do so with acrylic paint and/or Stickles. A day before printing, I used random watercolor doodles to add some character to the canvas. Once dry, I used a Recollections Chevron stamp and inked it with Versamark Watermark stamp pad, then spritzed it with water and stamped the canvas for some dimension. Next day, I printed to image/logo to the canvas. I then went to work. Using Stickles Platinum. I filled in the director's name. For our logo I used blue acrylic paint, then once that was dry I applied clear Stickles (which gave it that sparkle effect).

For the dancers, I used some African fabric I had stashed away. I cut a mask of the last two dancers on both sides, then traced the cut out onto the fabric with while pencil. I cut the dresses out (one red, the other green) and applied them to the dancers' image on the canvas. I then used the Stickles Platinum to add dimension to the dresses.  For the two dancers with the gold dresses, I used another medium -   Flower Soft. I added glue to the image and sprinkled it with Gold Flower Soft. Once that was dry, I went to work on the guys. For their shirts I used purple acrylic paint and followed that up with clear Stickles.  Here's a close up look at the dancers:

Once the canvas was dry, I mounted it on a piece of brown fabric. I cut the borders of the fabric using my pinking shears. I glued the canvas to the fabric, then attached it to the red African fabric. Finally, I attached it all to a woven place mat I had purchased years ago from Marshall's. To finish, I painted gold acrylic onto some Popsicle sticks, then used the Stickles to draw a pattern on them. Once they were dry, I used the pinking shears to cut the sticks and attached them to the piece. I also used acrylic on a few buttons and attached those also.

Of course, we can't have a gift without a card. Here's the finished product to the card I made. I used the Praise Dancers digital stamp by Fine Arts by Robert Jackson. I used Gimp to fill in the colors of each dancer. Once that was done, I saved it with a transparent background and added it to the background image. I then  cut that with the pinking shears and attached it to rounded card stocks (fluorescent yellow and aquamarine blue). I attached all the this to a colorful piece of fabric I'd purchased at WalMart. I finished the card by cutting out a label and stamping "We'll Miss You" to it, then embellishing it with a spot of bling.

Busy Season

Hello all,

I know it's been awhile since I last updated my blog. It's not because of lack of creativity, however - but because I've been very busy!

It all started with Mother's Day. My oldest daughter decided she'd treat all the women in our family (relatives and closed friends) to a Mother's Day dinner - cooked by her. Now that is what I call a treat! In all the years that I raised this child, she never showed an interest in cooking. She was not as resilient as her younger sister, who, when hungry, would go into the kitchen an concoct something to eat. This is my child who was a fast food junkie as a teenager (not because I didn't cook - I did this everyday) but because she found it easier to just buy a hamburger or tacos when she was hungry.

To my amazement, this all changed when she went away to college. Hard times have a way of teaching one survival skills one would not expect to ever need. Cooking became the survival skill for her. When money was scarce, she found it less costly to purchase the ingredients she needed for a complete meal (it was cheaper to buy taco shells and ground beef to make her own tacos, than it was to purchase tacos at a restaurant or fast food store).

Even though she mastered the art of cooking, she hasn't yet attempted to make her own desserts, so she left that up to me.  I'm sorry I don't have a photo of the food she prepared - Spaghetti and Ground Turkey sauce, Salmon steaks and Mashed Potatoes, and for our veggies she baked Asparagus with ground garlic and butter - yum! Anyway, I made a cake and decided to go all out and practiced my decorating skills, lol! It's not professional, but to my family and friends, it doesn't matter. They love the taste and consistency of my cakes. Here's a photo of the cake:

I will try to update you on all the other creative things I've been doing since my last post. Hopefully I can do so in the next coming days.  In the meantime, be blessed!