I've outfitted the entire family....

It started with this little dress......

For Lucy and then this little dress for Emma.......

So, what to do for Mom and Dad?  Mom is a SHAM who loves to sew, cook and is one "crafty mama".....so I decided she needed an apron..

  Each piece has a surprise under it....Granddaughter reads this blog, so I'm not sharing......hehehe..........

Well, Dad is a plumber who moved from Florida to Oregon, as a child, thus the piece of the Florida map and under his blue jeans......

He's, also, a major Steelers fan.....a little disappointed, but a faithful fan none the less.  I wanted to address his plumbing profession, so I added..

a piece of a ruler, for measuring, and a water faucet handle to turn the water off and on!

I've, truly, outfitted the family and had very good time doing it. 

The girls dresses are on 12x12 deep canvases and Mom and Dad's are on 6x6 deep canvases.  The canvas was collaged and the clothing made with plaster and gauze over canvas.

In between, I'm working on an Altered Books about hats...Page 1!

Using an old photo album and wonderful vintage photos of men and women wearing the fabulous head wear of the late 1800.

I love the look of this....using a old photo, I copied it onto a clear transparency and placed it over a postcard from the 30s.  Women of mystery about to embark on a journey to see the world!

In my spare time, I've been playing and experimenting in my journal....

On the left, the brown "splotch" is really a piece of a bee's nest, wonderful material.....it's like very thin, fragile paper.  This photo doesn't show the striation....lots of shades of brown and cream...very lovely gift from a friend.   On the right page, I painted a tulip with watercolor and trimmed it out to glue on a background of strips of scrapbooking paper, then added some highlights with paint and pens.

Still aiming to "Create Every Day", doing alright so far.  I hope you are finding time to be creative, as well.

Thanks for stopping by, hope you enjoyed.  I love comments, feel free.

I am linking to Metamorphosis Monday at Between Naps on the Porch and Creative Everyday.

Teenage craftsman!

Last summer, our 14 year old Grandson told Grandpa "the woodworker" he'd like to make his own guitar and ask him to help. 

So, Gramps armed with wood and tools and Vincent armed with plans and ideas on how he was going to build the coolest  of solid body electric guitars EVER, were off and running.

Finding two pieces of pine, they planed, they measured, then they started cutting, trimming and sanding the wood, then the two pieces were glued together.......and looked like this.....

Holes were filled, holes were drilled and in between lots and lots of sanding!

Vincent lives about a half hour from us, so much of the sanding he did at home.

From about this point on, it was all up to Vincent and his sanding arm. 

A few weeks later, they were at this point....drilling more holes and fitting the electrical pieces.....

More sanding and fitting......

   By the end of summer....here is Vince holding the neck on with his hand but the body is ready to have the components installed.

Vincent's dad, Brett, cut and polished a piece of stainless steel to cover the front and back.  Vincent painted, sanded, stained, sanded and finally, varnished.

A fellow, Brett works with, helped them with the installation of the components and the wiring.

Finally, Vincent proudly shows Gramps the finished product.

Look at that beauty......

I know, I'm the proud Grandmother and all, but.....believe it or not most of the work on this project was done by a one talented, hard working 14 year old who had the determination to see this project through! 

Sure the adults helped and he couldn't have done it without them, but, I'd be willing to bet....he could now!

I've linked this post to Strut Your Stuff Thurs. at Somewhat Simple and Tickled Pink Friday at 504 Main and Creation Corner's Friday Link Party,  Tatertots and Jello's Weekend Wrap Up Party, Funky Junk Interiors Saturday Nite Special, Masterpiece Monday at Boogieboard Cottage

Little dresses...........

I use to sew A LOT, but I don't enjoy it so much anymore!  But, have I found a way to make dresses for little girls that I love doing!

I mentioned my new stash of art books in my last blog, well, I'm still talking about "Art at the Speed of Life", Pam Carriker is the talented author of the book.  What has inspired me, the most, is a project designed for the book by Sue Pelletier in a chapter called "Papier-Mache Dresses Collage". 

Last blog, I showed you the one I had completed for Great Granddaughter Lucy.

  This is a little better picture, I think.  You can see the little wire hanger.....well, the dress is a separate piece that is attached to the wire hanger and then wired to the canvas.  So, the dress stays attached but can be moved from side to side, so I tried to put something interesting under the dress, too.

Lucy's has a sentence cut from a book that reads "I use a small cup when at tea".

Here is Emma's, I just finished yesterday.

I added paper lace to the sleeves but used real lace on the bottom and topped it off with a ribbon bow.  The background is collaged with a tape measure, a piece of a dress pattern, a flash card and....

a little bee button and some fabric.

The dresses are done by cutting out a form from a piece of canvas and covering it with plaster of paris and gauze.  On the first one, I added cheesecloth as the top layer, this one I used tissue paper.  I have plans for a couple more of these.....there is so much you can do to make each piece unique.

Here's the happy couple....all ready to go live with their new owners.  Lucy's first birthday is coming soon, I think I might TRY to save them until then.

Always remember I appreciate your comments and love Followers!

I am linking to Metamorphosis Monday, Make It Monday,

Amaze Me Monday at Dittle Dattle and Sue's Rednesday and Common Ground's Vintage Inspiration Friday, Passionately Artistic's Linking Party

Inspiration heaven......

That's where I've been for the past couple weeks!  Used my Christmas gift cards to buy art books...four really, really good ones plus a Stampington Journaling magazine.

I have been inspired to try some new, and some old, collage and painting techniques.

One of my favorite of the four books is Pam Carriker's "Art at the Speed of Life".  This is what that book has inspired me to do.....so far. 

This is a 12"x12" canvas, the background is collage and acrylic paint, the little dress is canvas covered with gauze, cheese cloth and plaster then collaged and painted.  So fun to do!

Join me at Vintage Inspiration Friday,  The Answer is Chocolate's Open House Link Party.

New journal pages......

Wow!  I have played with paint and paper A LOT this week....worked on a painting, some envelopes for the swap and my journal pages.............like this....

Be a little more interesting AFTER I write on the pages...

  experimenting with pens, paint and pages from the phone book....

detail of left-hand page, facing page below says "let them grow"..........

"Creativity takes a leap, then looks to see where it is".

Makein' use of some fabric "yo-yos", that I have in my stash!

Totally, loving how this page turned out!

Live well, laugh often, love much and eat blueberries!  Oh, yeah!

This is it for now....but there are many pages left in this book to cut and paste and paint and write and, and, and.  

Join me at Boogieboard Cottage's Masterpiece Monday and Creative Everday

Who knew, collaged envelopes!

The other day, I shared one of the envelopes I made for a upcoming swap, well, here's another one.......

Yes, there is an envelope under there.....somewhere!

This is a white, birthday card size envelope that I covered with pink satin, some sheet music, some homemade paper, ribbon and lace.  Notice the pocket full of vintage calling cards, a 1893 calendar and an advertising card.

And then, there is the back side..................

I know, you still can't see the envelope.  I covered the back side 'cause I didn't like how the top stitching looked.  BUT, I added an envelope.....and it contains.......

This little card made with cotton batting and denim check fabric and a cute little pre-made piece........

That says "Dare to be yourself"! 

The idea is that these pages will be bound, in some fashion, and made into a book.  They are so darn fun to make......I'm having a "envie-ball".  Hope you enjoy,too.    

Join me at Met Monday on Between Naps on the Porch.

Crocus are pushing up.......

I feel guilty mentioning this.....but my crocus have pushed through the soggy soil and the little purple flowers are givin' it their all!

AND they are my favorite color combo....bluish purple with gorgeous orange stamen.  It just makes my heart sing to look at them!

In January, I said I was going to attempt to be creative everyday in 2011.  One of the ways I am encouraging that creativity is by starting a journal.......here is the cover.......

and a couple of inside pages.......

I've been doing a garden journal for several years.  This journal is going to incorporate more daily stuff, along with what's happening in the garden.

While we talking creating, pictured below is a sneak peek of an envelope I've completed for the upcoming  "envie" swap!

Here's hoping the snow storms end soon so the rest of the country can enjoy bits of spring color bursting from the soil! 

I'm linking to A southeran Day Dreamer's Outdoor Wednesday

Horses, stamps and half-a-terrarium!

Crazy busy week with a fun filled ending!

Yesterday, Saturday, we journeyed over to McMinnville  to watch our, almost 17 year old granddaughter, participate in the Oregon High School Equestrian Teams District meet.

This was the first time she and her horse, Oreo, have been a part of such a meet.  The event was spread over four days and included 25 high schools.  Here, she and Oreo are doing an event called "reining". 

Another Granddaughter and her two girls came to watch, too, and afterwards we were off for some shopping and lunch (after a little cuddle with Ben).

"Mac", as it is commonly referred to, is a small collage town with a great downtown shopping district.  There is an incredible fabric store and an art store "to die for".....not to mention some great restaurants.  All of this is located in the heart of Oregon's wine country.

A while back, I bought some material that is used to carve your own rubber stamps.  I've made stamps before using just an X-acto knife but I decided I wanted to get a set of carving tools....I found a set at the "to die for" art store and came home and carved these.

Some times, mistakes make for some cool results.  In the bird stamp you can see where I drew a different style bird on the material first, then changed my mind, and carved the larger bird.  Now, I have a bird within a bird....a weird concept....but I like it.

Well, now, that was fun!

But, wait there's more, I said I've been busy....on the way home we visited a flea market.  For a "buck", I found a cool little terrarium.....all white and shabby with a pointed roof-style top. 

Guess what, getting out of the car the top fell off onto the garage floor and smashed to pieces......shoot!  Time to make some lemon-ade, so here it is................full of shells, not plants.

Not bad for half-a-terrarium!

Been working on my journal and creating some envelope art for a swap, too.  I'm just having too much fun.  Think today will be my day of rest and then we will see what next week brings.

I'd love it if you choose to become a follower and left a comment!  Enjoy......

I am linking with Metamorphasis Monday , Creative Everyday, Coastal Charm's Nifty Thrifty Tuesday