This and That.....

....well today started out good and quickly went downhill only to rebound again!! LOL I was outside snapping some pics of the now blooming and just gorgeous Azaleas (in my footwear of choice, flip-flops). I feel something on my toe and glance down to see that I'm standing in a patch of poison ivy that has somehow sprung up in our yard near the azalea hedge!! Ack!! This has serious connotations for me, with compromised skin to begin with. So, I calmly walked in the house and began scrubbing my feet, shoes and then hands!! Somehow, so far, I have remained unscathed!! Hubby says that since it was a small contact and I immediately scrubbed the area I should be fine!! Here's hoping!!

So, I quit taking pics after that but did take a few to share. Our school district has built a HUGE new High School that will open in Fall 2009. They have put out a call for photos of our area to showcase the walls. I was hoping to submit some pics for consideration. These are from this morning:

White Azalea - my fave

Bright Pink Azalea

Pale Pink Azalea

Japanese Magnolia

My Camellia

and these are some I have taken sometime over the course of the 14 months I have now lived in South Georgia that I may submit. Any favorites?? Enjoy!!

Fallen Cone

Pine Cones

Hanging Moss

Hanging Moss

One of my very fave pics

Shredding Scissors

So, I went to an Estate sale this morning. Nothing really caught my eye but I headed to the kitchen to check out the offerings there. I pick up a strange looking pair of scissors, labeled "Shredding Scissors." Interesting.....not exactly sure what they are for, but I "knew" I needed them. Hey they were only $2!! Yes, I know.....girl math strikes again!! Sorry honey.

So, I get home and open them up.....they are these nifty, multi-blade scissors. Yep......they cut 5 lines, side-by-side. So, what can I do with these?? Well, you COULD use them for their actual purpose of "shredding" up a document instead of firing up the big shredder. Or.....you can fringe the edge of a piece of paper or card......or you can make tons of tiny square confetti!! I'm sure I'll come up with more as I take time to play with them. Here are a couple of links so you can see them and what they can do:

http://www.coolhunting.com/archives/2006/06/shredding_sciss.php

http://www.containerstore.com/browse/Product.jhtml?CATID=62523&PRODID=10020976

I also bought a snowman candle warmer from Lang, a vintage locking jewelry box and 2 old mini muffin tins to ART on.

Now for some ART....

.....I am currently participating in a Magic Wand mingle. Here is my finished wand, currently zipping along on it's way to the West Coast. I named it "Starry, Starry Wand".

I started with a star shaped photo holder, added a copper tubing handle and sprayed it silver. I added crystal beaded dangles in each star and then the stems are all beaded in glass beads on wires. I added 2 kinds of Christmas Icicles for some flair and wrapped the handle in holographic silver star ribbon. It was further embellished with silver die-cut words and sheer white ribbon. The end of the tube is filled with a faceted cubic zirconium. All in all I like how it turned out.

Also I am participating in an Easter Egg Garland swap. I had to make 20 eggs and will receive 20 in return that I can string as a garland. Here are my take on the eggs!! I cut out the egg shapes from cardstock. I layered and trimmed varied widths of print papers, added rick-rack and ribbons, pounded in some eyelets, added some rimmed vellum tags and silk flowers and finished up with some glitter. Not my usual style or palette but I think they work for the intended outcome!! :::Smiles:::

Yes, I am still alive.....

.....just behind. I had to take a break before the parental units came for a visit and then still to get the house and studio back on track!! Whew!! What a crazy 2 weeks. We had such fun with the family, even though the weather wasn't cooperating as much as I had hoped. We spent time at the beach twice while they were here. Here a few highlights of the trip. I managed to check off 3 items from my "bucket list". 1) Find a starfish (and it is HUGE, nearly 10-12") 2) See stingrays swimming while at the beach. (ummmm.....be careful how you word those bucket list items.....I was about 15 yards off shore when suddenly there were 6 of them swimming around me.....totally cool. I wasn't worried at all.....but everyone else freaked out when I told them about it later) It was awesome. 3) I wanted to see manatees just out cruising around in the water. There is a power plant near Bradenton, FL that has a manatee viewing park. Too cool.....there were 30 of them just swimming around with some sharks and sting rays thrown in for fun. I was totally enthralled!! Plus we found quite a few sand dollars off Anna Maria Island, FL. We never seem to find them at the Cape. Here are some pics to enjoy!! :::smiles:::

The Studio is clean....

.....who knew?? I wasn't sure if I'd win the battle, but I have emerged victorious. I am blessed to have a wonderful guy who loves me AND my stuff. He doesn't mind the occasional glitter in his hair and beads on the floor. He would, prefer they stay in the studio.....yeah, like that'll be happening!! :) So, he let's me, ummmm, hoard? toys without too much grief. I had pared down tremendously when we moved across the country a year ago. Well, I've been making up for lost time baby!! I have rec'd several wonderful boxes from friends, jam packed with goodies for the studio and have of course picked up some good resale finds, sale ourchases and of course necessities over the last year. Then 2 weeks ago I ran into the mother of all yard sales. It is staggering the amount of goodies I bought. I spent $60 dollars and got over $600 worth easy. Here are a couple of pics of my "haul"!! LOL

So, on top of my smaller than before studio, missing all of my upper cabinets, I had all these wonderful new toys to find homes for. So, what's a girl to do?? Empty everything and start over. Yep......does this make you shudder? I emptied EVERY drawer, shelf, container and the CLOSET :::insert horror film scream here::: and redid them. It was a HUGE job but I am soooo happy with the results. I still need to get this yummy wire shelving unit I found and several more plastic storage bins but that will have to wait a couple of weeks. For now, one half of the closet is just stacked containers and boxes (which is no good if you need something from the bottom). I threw out 3 huge bags of trash......I know I know.....deep breaths. I have one huge box of goodies to send to some ART friends back home.

I was inspired by some other ART bloggers who vowed to not buy new supplies for 2009, period. Okay, well, while I share their enthusiasm, I will not set myself up for failure. I am going to limit severely any new items I buy. I know for a fact that I can't go a whole year without buying adhesives and probably some paper. Beyond that, I imagine I can come close. Anyone willing to play along?? Several gals in one of my ART groups are trying. I figure if times get desperate, we can all band together and ship a box of "new" toys to an ARTist friend in need and receive one in return!!

Anywho, here is the clean studio. I do miss my ART words. In my studio in Illinois I had all of my fave ART quotes all around the ceiling. Hopefully now that it is clean, DH will take pity on me and put some back up. They won't all fit, but some is better than none!!

Are you living your dream??

After 44 years, I sure am getting closer to my dreams than I have ever been. My friend, Susan, http://drawerfullofdreams.blogspot.com/ , posted some fun info on her blog. It is a site called "Find your spot". That is exactly what it does......it is a quiz you take and after all of your answers are tabulated, it gives you a list of the top 24 places for your to live. You can then visit the spots, look for jobs, view homes for sale, read reports......and much more. It was amazingly accurate for me. While it didn't pick the town I live in now, (which would NOT be my dream choice, btw) it did pick 2 within 50 miles and also 2 of my top dream destinations of Bradenton, FL and Savannah, GA. How cool is that?? You really should give it a try......after all.....the clock is ticking on your dreams!! The quiz can be found here: http://www.findyourspot.com .

Here is what my dream looks like:

Here are MY top 24!!

Deland, FL
Biloxi-Gulfport, MI
Bradenton, FL
Savannah, GA
Fairhope, AL
Dothan, AL
Daytona Beach, FL
Lakeland-Winter Haven, FL
St. Mary's, GA
Mobile, AL
Galveston, TX
Corpus Christi, TX
St. Petersburg, FL
Pensacola, FL
Beaumont, TX
Port Arthur, TX
Gulf Shores, AL
Orange Beach, AL
Tallahassee, FL
Fort Pierce, FL
Rockport, TX
Myrtle Beach, SC
Brunswick, GA
Hattiesburg, MS

So, where will your dream destination be??

If you take the quiz, come back and let me know if it was accurate for you.

:::smiles::: Enjoy!!

Mardi Gra Masks

I am currently involved in a Mardi Gras Mask Mingle in one of my ART groups. The first mask pictured is my creation that will be heading out to it's new home on Friday. This is something I had not really ever created before. It was fun.

I took a black pre-formed mask. It was outlines with vintage gold sequins and antique gold and antique silver ART glitters. I added an enormous amount of brightly colored poufy feathers to the mask. For the stick handle I spray painted a piece of dowel rod black. When it was dry, I tacked a piece of curling ribbon to the top and then twirled it down the stick, securing it again at the bottom. I then added another layer with "aluminum" spray paint. When dry, I removed the ribbon. It was further embellished with long strands of iridescent Christmas Tree icicles and 2 coordinating shades of curling ribbon.

I love how it turned out. This was definitely a unique mingle!!

This is the mask I rec'd from Diann. Thanks go out to her!! It is lovely!! It looks smashing sitting there on the piano, don't you think??

You can check out her art on her blog here: http://diannsartspot.blogspot.com/

Mosaic Table Recycled Project

Here's the table I bought from a garage sale for $2. It was missing the glass top and was a drab brown color. Wonder husband cut a new wood top for me and I painted it my fave color, black. I saw these great tile mixes at Home Depot that were the perfect colors for our house. However they were $10 each and I needed between 10-15. Not happening. So, I bought 5 ceramic floor tiles that were the same colors (good luck finding a sold black, non marble floor tile, btw). I spent an afternoon with a hammer whacking the little buggers up. Good therapy for me.....not sure the neighbors agree!! Then I just did a random pattern using all 5 tiles. I finished it up with gray grout. I'm pretty happy with it! :::smiles::: Total cost for the project was around $25. Now when we sit on the front porch in the black rocking chairs we have a table for the phone, a good book and a glass of sweet tea!! Want to come visit??

14 days of Valentine's - Days 12-14

Oh how sad....the fun has come to an end!! But what a delightful journy it has been!! Here are the last 3 wonderful gifities I have rec'd!!

Day 12 is from Christy. This cute little heart has an added facet.....it has a mirror on the back. How clever is that??

Day 13 is from Barbara and is an amazing fabric wall hanging!! Wow!! Love it......can't wait to decorate my studio!!

and finally Day 14 is from my dear Friend Angie!! What a cool combo....felted heart on a crocheted background. Awesome pin!! Thanks Ang!!

Special thanks to Jeri for bringing us all together for this Valentine's ART journey!! Now, what gift will I get to open tomorrow ??? :::grin:::

One World, One Heart Bracelet Winner

This has been such an amazing experience!! I had over 250 visits to my blog. That is tremendous!!

I am happy to announce that the winner of my bracelet is Charlene Hormann from Kansas!!

You can check out here blog here: http://thehormanns.blogspot.com/

Congrats Charlene!! I hope you enjoy wearing your new bracelet. :::smiles:::