Technique Tuesday

I love when I play and it turns out to be pretty cute!!

I think this recess period was a SUCCESS...

I gathered one of those $1 frames from Michael's (wonder if it is still $1!)
I took an old soft scruffy brush and DecoArt Decou-Page Matte.  

I applied the Decou-Page VERY thick on the front of the frame and inside where the picture goes.

I wrinkled the tissues paper that I had into a very tight ball and opened it carefully.  Don't sweat if you tear it, because you can easily apply another piece on top of the tear...so, no stressing during this project!

I cut a hole in the center (over the picture opening) and a line to each of the four corners so I could push the tissue paper over that edge...

This is the back.  I carefully trimmed the tissue paper. I applied a generous amount of Decou-Page to the edge and a little onto the back and carefully stuck the paper into the Decou-Page.  Again, no problem with torn edges.  I had a few and I simply applied another piece of wrinkled tissue paper onto the tear and gently added more Decou-Page to adhere it.

When this was finished.  I applied another generous coat of Decou-Page on top of the tissue.  I used a pouncing motion to make certain the paper had made contact with the glue underneath and also to make certain all the cracks and crannies were covered with the Decou-Page...no worries, again, because Decou-Page dries clear!  I used my hair dryer to speed the drying and then went and ate my supper...Priorities!!

I turned the piece over and did the same to the front.  I made certain to cover all the tears on the edges and any that were on the front.

I don't want to brag, but this is a miracle for me~~I only got just a little bit of glue on my pointing finger of my left hand!  That never happens with me!  

While doing this, a GREAT thought hit (and to my knowledge, there was no natural disaster that happened when I had the idea...again, it is VERY dangerous when I start to think!)

I went to my little clear container of all things rusty (bells, stars and snowflakes, anyway) and pulled out a package that I had bought at Hobby Lobby several years ago.  

DISCLAIMER:  People, THIS is why CRAFT STORES stock Christmas items early!  We are NOT all a machine who can paint for our crafts shows ONLY at the appropriate time of year, deemed by you who sit in judgment of retail...heavy sigh...SO, you might want to excuse yourself from the rest of this project since I DID probably purchase these snowflakes during JULY!!!  I most certainly would not want to MAKE you look at a WINTER item when it is 100 outside...

OK...Sorry...it frustrates me, but I am now back to my cheerful self and will tell you that I cut the jute off of the snowflake ornament and covered the hole with DecoArt Dimensional effects,  Paste or Snow Tex would work fine.

I also cut a piece of Acrylic Paper to go in the center.

Can you tell where the hole was?

I stippled Titanium White onto the snowflake and also onto the frame to form a snowman/woman (hey, I am trying to be politically correct, here, folks...LOL)

I lightly stippled some Teal Green on the left side, under the head, under the belly and where the pieces of "coal buttons" will go~~this is an easy way to add a shadow and anyone can do it.  If it gets too dark, just go over it with some more of the original white..

I added the face, coal and a tree...I added the face to the Snowflake...I dry brushed Payne's Grey around the edges and then, why stop there, I added some of top of all the "bumps" of the texture.  I had every intention of stopping there and flecking White on the piece, but I stuck my hand into a tub of treasures that stays on a shelf and grabbed some Metallic Lustre...I thought I had grabbed the Gold, and when I opened the top, I thought it was such a pretty deep gold...when I looked it was Orange Flicker...I LOVE IT!!!

I love those serendipity moments~~even in ART!

And here you have 

Baby Snowflake's First Picture! 

You are more than welcome to create one for yourself!

If you do, share it with me...

I love to encourage...

I have not used any techniques that require many years of practice...HOWEVER, the more you practice, the better you get!

I want YOU to know, that IF you want to do something, 

YOU CAN do it!

There are so many ways to do something and we have all found ways that work for us, but hopefully, we all are still trying to learn.

And, by all means, USE what you HAVE!

I use DecoArt because I think they are the best that I have tried!

I LOVE that they are made in Kentucky, 

which is not too far from where I live.

That MATTERS to me.

I hope that I have inspired YOU to create SOMETHING today...It doesn't have to be paint.

Do WHAT YOU LOVE...

Take time to do it as a TREAT, because when you are HAPPY and lost in your passion, then YOU become a better person and THAT makes your corner of the world a better place!

I am simply blessed to create~charlotte♡

WOW!!  

Monday Musings

Today I am rewarding myself by writing a post…

Yep, I enjoy just typing and letting the words flow…

No agenda…no specific subject…just typing

Monday musings…

I have gathered quotes for as long as I can remember.

I was the geek who had them on index cards and filed by subject…

I get to use quotes when I do my blog…it gives me such a sense of peace and inspiration.  I don’t share things if they don’t speak to me.  I NEVER (crap, nothing is never or always) type this blog with a finger pointed toward anyone specifically, but INSTEAD, firmly pointed at the LOGS in my eyes.  It is a way for me to sort through my feelings.  I REALLY need to take Mother’s advice not to share EVERYTHING I KNOW…

So WHAT did I do to get rewarded?

Well, I tell you, Yesterday, I got 2 patterns written and loaded on ETSY.  Patterns that have been sitting around for about 2 years, I think…maybe longer…maybe not so long!  Luckily, both of these projects HAD already made it to “the book” and out of a stack.  As a matter of fact, I am down to ONE stack that must find another home besides on the floor. Oh, and I created 2 treasuries on etsy!  WHOOP, there it is...

The green notebook is about one year of patterns...The white notebook holds ideas and my color charts from DecoArt

Step Back, folks, the hands are flying as I pat myself on the back…I don’t want anyone to get hurt!

This is making some of you shiver in fright, but I emptied 2 Artist Club Boxes of sketches, notes, ideas…things that needed to COOK before they were served…I have made some progress and that can’t be a bad thing!

Unless, as I look at these pages, I start making OTHER pages…sigh

It is the name of the game and a hazard of having ideas stomping on top of other ideas in this ole brain of mine!  Yes, I understand why that frightens you!

I have no rhyme or reason as to how I design.  Sometimes I find a surface and start painting.  Sometimes it ends up as I envisioned it…sometimes not…it is good at times…it is horrid other times…One thing that remains consistent, is that I will quickly draw a sketch on ANYTHING that is within reach, and that reminds me, I have a sketch inside one of the books I was looking through the other day…now, where did I put THAT book…

I have tried to be more disciplined by actually drawing a pattern before I start painting.  It works at times…it is an epic failure at times!

Hmmmmmmm….it sounds a lot like life, doesn’t it!  =)

The one thing I know for sure, I must generate more than my fair share of dead trees with all the paper I use.  The BEE KIND pattern alone, used 11 sheets of paper just for the line drawing!!  AND for some, sick reason, I feel a need to keep them all, so into a paper sleeve they go and into a notebook to make themselves at home~~Eventually…When the stack of paper sleeves start to slide, it really is time to put them into the notebook!

11 pages!!  And this was only for the line drawing!  LOL

Until this happens…they find themselves living in a nice big pile…PhD~~Piled Higher and Deeper…or would that be PhD~~Projects Half Done??!!

I am positive, I shall NEVER EVER run out of things to laugh at as long as I exist!  I am a big ole pile of silly!

PLEASE don’t take any of this as a complaint.  I am trying to JUSTIFY to you and to me WHY I am so messy and don’t think for one moment that I do not love it, for I DO!!  To be able to possibly encourage someone or to inspire someone makes my soul sing!!

I really hate admitting that I have become my mother…Not the good parts, but the parts that DROVE ME CRAZY…

Reminds me that she often told me that WHEN we don’t like something in someone else, it is because it USUALLY in within us, and we don’t want to admit it…

DANGIT!  I hate when people prove me right about things I don’t want to admit…heaviest sigh yet…

Hello Kettle—You’re BLACK!  (Big Smile)

Gosh, my brain went WAY off course.  I meant to share some food thoughts since on FOOD Friday, I was up to my elbows in trying to get ahead of a deadline, because, after giving myself a good “talking to”, I decided that it is absolutely unnecessary and rude to wait until the last moment to get something finished that could EASILY have been done weeks ago.  I told ME that I should NOT start something else until the PREVIOUS project was complete… (giggles and grins have broken out on my face and I am just about to really, laugh out loud!) 

Oh, good grief, HOW would that possibly fit into my life as a procrastinator?!  NOW, who is afraid!  WHAT??!! To lose a part of me that is so deeply ingrained into my psyche!!  Oh, NO~~that cannot happen.

Now, you might understand why a project for June was finished a few weeks ago, yet the project due for August 1^st was only finished on Saturday!  Ok—Let’s just take a moment for you to roll your eyes in amazement! (Jeopardy theme will be hummed as you compose yourself after laughing AT me…)

The good news is EVERYTHING that is due through December, is finished and submitted!!  Happy Dance.

In watching the news today, I found GREAT EXCITEMENT to see that the temps will only be 88 for two days!! 2 days!!  I also found myself excited to see that the Titans report to training camp on Friday!  This is the time of year when I find myself Hopeful that we can return to a winning season~~Yes, I understand that this is unrealistic, but HOPE is sometimes all I have!

I HOPE that I have given you a few moments to forget about your troubles and to see, in me, you can find silliness and a reason to laugh.

I have been blessed with many gifts.  Laughter is probably at the top of my list as my favorite.  There was a time I didn’t think I would ever laugh again.  Life was dark…hopeless…HARD!  There was little joy…little to find humorous.  It was a time, while I did NOT want to die, but if I had died, I really didn’t care!  It was a time that taught me NOT to judge people who commit suicide so harshly, because, at that moment in my life, I UNDERSTOOD hopelessness and I remember having a conversation with a friend that while I DID really want to live, sadly, I KNEW the depression of finding nothingness.  I was in a situation that I did NOT understand and I did not deserve, but you know what, SOMETIMES we GET stuff we do not deserve~~good or bad! Funny how life is like that…SOMETIMES we have to walk in someone’s shoes before we can understand.

Compassion is slowly becoming a part of my life.

It is a lesson I have needed to learn.  I have always said what I thought, but from watching people and hearing people talking about ME, I understand that I do NOT want to be like them or to be as they see me…

…SO the process continues AND I shall laugh…

AND sort stacks of papers!

I am simply blessed to create~charlotte♡

Oh, Happy Merry Christmas in July!
Only 5 months until Christmas in December!

Serendipity Sunday

Bee Humble

Bee Kind

Bee Joyful All the Time!

These words have been running in my head for the past week.  I even awakened with these words in my head and vowed to get this put into a pattern TODAY.

I LOVE the message.

I have also been obsessed with the seeds that we are planting.

As I have stated dozens of times, I was raised by a Mother who did NOT believe in coincidence.

These two thoughts that have been running in my mind, amongst the clutter o’ crap in there, have given me great encouragement to be better.

I am working, oh, so hard, on removing the “clutter o’ crap” from my mind and filling it with ideas, messages, and words of GOODNESS, KINDNESS and HOPE…

I want to be a beautiful flower who BLOOMS with possibilities.

I want to plant SEEDS of KINDNESS…HOPE…GOODNESS…POSSIBILITY…

Choosing BLOOM as my “word” of 2016 has caused me great pause in many areas of my life.

I have spent time contemplating WHAT it is that I want.

My “wants” have changed greatly, in some ways, since being a kid of 21 to an “old maid” of 53, BUT at the basis of my desires, I SIMPLY, like most everyone else, WANT TO BE HAPPY.

I CANNOT buy into, nor WILL I buy into this “crap” of America NOT being great.  Can we improve?  You bet your bottom dollar, we can, and should, But to imply that we are not great, is WRONG.

NOTHING I do or say will ever make one bit of difference in the world, as a whole, BUT it is making a difference in me, and by CHANGING ME, I am changing my little corner of the world, and WHO KNOWS, maybe those seeds I plant will grow MORE beautiful FLOWERS of peeps!

As I scuttled to meet deadlines this week, I found myself, again, THINKING what I want to accomplish with designing patterns.  I joked that I KNOW I will never be a BIG BRUSH, but I do hope, in some way, to be a small 20/0 Liner in this decorative art world.  I have absolutely no desire to travel teach, or to be “famous”, I just want to spread JOY in my little quick and easy designs, and to spread the message that there is PLENTY of room for all of us and that ANYONE who wishes to paint, CAN paint.  I don’t want to be in the middle of “You STOLE my design” or “THAT is my idea” or “don’t PAY to have someone cut your wood because THAT is wrong”, “You DID NOT pay to teach this”…sigh…

DON’T send me nasty comments, because I think, I know as well as anyone, about Copyright, but at the end of the day, is THAT how you want to spend a chunk of your time SCREAMING and sending nasty VAGUE COMMENTS across social media???  I ALSO understand this being a livelihood for MANY artists, and I UNDERSTAND that everyone deserves to be paid, BUT again, at the end of the day, You will NEVER change one single person who THINKS they are entitled, and THAT applies to the designer as WELL as to the customer.

Let’s face it…THERE are ONLY so many ways to paint a SHEEP….to paint a SNOWMAN…to paint a SANTA…to paint EYES…to paint a HOUSE…and on and on…WE ALL are THIEVES who steal our ideas from the MASTER DESIGNER!  WE copy His work each time we lift a brush, and you don’t hear HIM complaining…NO, He encourages us to go “deeper” and to “learn from HIM”…

AND again, I understand, IF you came up with an ORIGINAL and UNIQUE idea, then YES, you SHOULD be able to get your due credit, but ONCE an idea is put into SPACE, it is out there to take on a life of its own…SO, We must ALL decide how we want to spend our time…

AND HEY, in MY WORLD, a 20/0 liner, although small and unassuming, is one of the most important brushes an artist can own!  ROFL…NO, again, I am NOT saying I am ALL THAT and a BAG OF CHIPS, but I AM important, because GOD created me in HIS OWN IMAGE, and that makes me pretty special, AND makes you JUST as special.  WE ALL are SO VERY LOVED!

So, Today, I give GREAT THANKS for the ability to paint—in my own style—in my own way—on my own level—through my own eyes as I see things.

Also, I give GREAT THANKS for those who have encouraged me.  Susan Kelley of PUDDLES OF PAINT has been a great help.  Her kind words and suggestions of improvement mean so much to me.  To take time from her busy schedule, means so much.  Yep, I am certain I have caused her more confusion that she deserves, but sometimes we NEED someone to slow us down!  ROFL….ok, that is my story and I am sticking to it!

And that brings up another thought in my head.

Last night, I did my monthly grocery shopping at Walmart.  The cashier was an older lady, whose skin was wrinkled from the sun.  She was SLOW.  I kept feeling empathy for all of us as we waited and for those behind my VERY FULL buggy.

BUT as I thought about the moment, I realized that there was absolutely NOTHING for me to get angry about.  I DID NOT need to run to FB and tell everyone what a HORRIBLY SLOW cashier I had and how WALMART needs to get its act together, and on and on…PLANTING SEEDS OF ANGER…

AND yes, I realize many of you will say ISN’T THAT WHAT YOU ARE DOING NOW? 

No, hang with me for a moment…

The cashier, as I said, was an older lady.  I can only make assumptions that she has probably had a life filled with struggles, as I concluded by the lines on her face and her working at an older age, BUT then, NONE of that MIGHT be true.  IT is simply MY analysis.  I spoke to her and asked HOW she was doing.  Her face brightened with the most BEAUTIFUL SMILE I have ever seen.  SHE RADIATED JOY.  I watched as she would struggle to find the bar codes, but she would find them and carefully bag the items.  I asked her jokingly, if it was HOT enough for her, and again, that beautiful smile appeared.  I sensed she was NOT a BIG MOUTH like me, and I decided to not chat and confuse her, and simply helped to keep the items on the belt in order and to get the bags into my cart.  I smiled at her, and at the others who stood in line, as I wondered WHERE are we going in SUCH a hurry at 10:45 at night?  SERIOUSLY??

She was lovely.  She did a good job.  Yes, I think she did the BEST SHE COULD do.  Here is my question:  WHY is it so frustrating for us to accept someone’s BEST as inferior?

THIS is HOW I think we can make our COUNTRY GREATER—accepting people as PEOPLE.  WE are in a rat race to be the BEST…the FASTEST…the FIRST…

We have thrown these unrealistic standards onto our poor, sweet children and our expectations, while well-intended, have children NOT getting to be CHILDREN…

We extol the “good ole days” as we YELL and SCREAM at each other to HURRY UP…We don’t take time to KNOW each other…SOOOOOOOO…

TA DAH…

As my Serendipity Moment of the week, I want to give THANKS for that sweet little lady at Walmart, who gave me the biggest, brightest and most beautiful smile that I have seen in a long time, for ALLOWING me, YES, giving me an opportunity to STOP and THINK for just a moment about HOW we treat those who give us their best.  This unexpected blessing to be reminded that LIFE goes too quickly is a lesson I, again, needed to re-learn.

When we are STOPPED in traffic, instead of worrying that WE will be late, give THANKS for the moment to sit and BREATHE.  There is not one single thing your anger will change except for making yourself sick! Also, think about the person who caused the stop~~PRAY for them and the responders and for the families…be THANKFUL you are safe…and REMEMBER, things HAPPEN and sometimes you have to plan better and leave earlier.  Oh, HOW we HATE to be reminded that WE MAKE MISTAKES, too!  Oh, how we LOVE to point that old proverbial finger at others who CAUSED our frustration.  Oh, how we HATE to be “called out” for planting “seeds of hate”.  I promise, in 10 years, you will probably not remember that moment…

When you get behind someone taking too long, at whatever it is that YOU are doing, talk to the person behind you, if there is someone around.  Take that moment to BREATHE and give thanks for ALL the blessings that YOU have…LOOK around you and SEE what is in your little corner of the world.  I can almost promise you that you will SEE something you haven’t noticed before.  Fill your mind with POSITIVE thoughts...get rid of those ugly thoughts that have no place, other than to SPUR you on to GOODNESS…

BLOOM…BE in FULL BLOOM…LIVE your life in FULL BLOOM…Plant Seeds of kindness…of JOY…of HOPE…of TOLERANCE…

BE a REFLECTION of HIS LOVE…~I am SIMPLY Blessed to create…charlotte♡

I finally wrote the pattern for this piece that has been sitting around for probably 2 years, maybe more, maybe less, but it is now In my etsy shop (click here to magically appear there!)—both the original piece and the pattern!  The pattern includes 3 small bonus projects, too, because, THAT is a kind thing to do~~LOL