Happy Holidays!

Wishing everyone and their families the Happiest of Holidays.  I will be kicking back for the next couple of days enjoying the grandkiddos and all the great food (gulp!).  I will be back soon with some projects I am finishing up and some things for the new year! 

Happy Thanksgiving!

Wishing the best and most plentiful thanksgiving to all of you as you gather with family and friends! 

Had A Great Class Today!

I took another canvas class today, and loved it!  I really enjoy working in the canvas medium along with all the dimensionals.  When I signed up for this class about two months ago, I didn't even know what the project was, it just sounded interesting.  I had done a class with this teacher before, the Paris book, and loved it, so I figured I would love whatever I was doing today-I wasn't disappointed.  Here are the pictures both front and back. 

 

I also have been busy working like crazy to get the house ready for holiday decorating.  Over the last week, I have completely taken everything out of the dinning room, shampoo'd the carpet, put everything back including cleaning all the glassware in the hutch, taking down the curtains and the sheers, washing and rehanging.  I started off Friday morning getting the lawn mowed and the leaves cleaned up before the storm hit on Friday afternoon.  Yesterday and today, I gutted the living room, and am waiting for the sheers and curtains to dry to I can rehang them.  The christmas tee is up and lit, but won't be decorated until Thanksgiving evening.  I also baked a couple of kinds of cookies yesterday, oatmeal chock chip raisin, and fluffernutter.  I also made a couple of loaves of banana bread, a sweet potato pie, a tamale casserole, and some burritos.  I really did enjoy cooking and cleaning this weekend because the weather outside was cold, windy and rainy.  Here is the simple recipe for fluffer nutters  that I got from here.  This is one of the easiest cookies I have ever done.

Fluffernutters
1 cup creamy peanut butter (I did use chunky, I like the peanuts in it)
1 cup marshmallow creme
1 egg

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  In a large bowl mix the peanut butter and egg until well combined with a spoon.  Slowly stir in the marshmallow cream until just combined.  You want to see the marshmallow cream not fully incorporated, almost like swirled through.  With a small-medium cookie scoop, scoop dough onto a parchment or silpat lined baking sheet. (I used my professional baking cookie sheets sprayed with Pam and had no problem) Bake for 12-15 minutes or until baked through.  Let cool for 5 minutes on cookie sheet before transferring to a cooling rack.  ( I also didn't bother to let them cool on the cookie sheet-I transferred them from the cookie sheet directly to the marble slab and let them cool),

This week, I will have to start my sewing if I plan on getting done before Christmas!  Not too much to do and once I get started it won't take long, but I need to look at my calendar and pencil in one full day to sew! 

Until next time-

Finished Another Chunky Art Piece

I finished my second chunky swap atc piece and sent it off in the mail!  I enjoy making these and they would be great for all kinds of thank you gifts and just something to make the recipient smile! 

 Here are the four side of the wine chunky atc that I finished. 

Not much else is happening in the art world for me.  I need to finish about four additional projects this week to stay on track for Christmas.  I am also planning on attending the Harvest Festival this weekend.  I am looking forward to seeing over 24,000 handcrafts this weekend! 
 Until next time-

November Dress Finished-One More to Go!!!!

I finished my November dress this evening and wanted to get it posted before the middle of the month!  My inspiration for this dress was drawn from the fabulous colors of fall, the oranges and browns.  I also wanted to incorporte what I was thankful for in my life.  I designed each of the tags to hang off the ribbon around the waist and each one is something that I am thankful for.  Some things are serious and some things are things I just don't want to live without!  My thankful tags are: love, grandkids, employment, happiness, health, stability,spirituality, coffee, freedom and blue jeans!! A little rest and then I will be designing my December dress. 

Since I am planning on hosting the Dress Up 2011 next year in one of the Yahoo groups I participate in,  I hope all of you will watch this blog for the particulars and I invite you to participate!!!  This year of "girly" art has been so much fun and the short bursts of creativity have gone a long way for me on the days that I wasn't really up to a big, creative project. 

I also wanted to post a picture of my cabinet that I store my dresses in.  It is an old picture and I hope to finish the cabinet and update the photo.  I found this doll trunk at a thrift store for about $3.00 I think, and I decided the best way to show off the dressed would be in simple black and white.  I then found a photo of the Eiffel Tower and mod podged it into the trunk.  I still need to do something with the outside and I'm not sure if I will use this trunk for the next year's dresses, in fact, I'm not sure they will fit! 

 Thanks for stopping by and checking out my newest dress!

Working on A Continuation of Dress Up.

I, like many others was sad to see the end comming to the Dress Up 2010 challenge that has been hosted by Margaret over at Alice and Camilla and wanted to keep going.  I was even planning on doing this as a personal ongoing art project.  When the moderator of one of my yahoo groups saw my dress on my blog, she commented to me that we should continue this as a group-I thought why not spread the fun for all and continue with the ongoing project.  Sooooo-I am in the process of designing a Dress Up 2011 button, and will post soon about the project, so those who want to play along starting in January in the next comming year are welcome to.   I am almost finished with my November dress and will be posting that soon!

I took a couple of real quick art mini classes over the weekend, a miniature charlotte shrine necklace and a vintage calendar-as soon as I take pictures, I will get them posted.  These projects only took about 45 minutes for the entire class, and I am already working on a different idea for the vintage calendar for my guy for Christmas, again I will post the picture when I get it done. 

Lots to do in the next couple of weeks,  I am putting together a dress up box for each of the twin granddaughters for Christmas.  I will look for a couple of trunks that I can alter with their names and fill them up with all kinds of things.  I already found some great tutu's at Walmart for 75% off making them only $1.25 each, I am adding crowns, necklaces, bracelets, hats, purses and making each of them their own princess robes.  I made the superhero capes for the boys back in February for Valentine's day and they were such a hit, I thought I would adapt them to the girls.  I am trying to make this Christmas a little more homemade and not so much about money-not sure if i will succeed but I am going to give it a try...

Until next time-
Charlene

It's Fall! And I Felt Like Baking!

I really had high hopes over the weekend of baking some banana and zuccini breads-but that didn't happen!  Still, I wanted to make something and so pumpkin spice muffins to the rescue-and these are healthy too!

Pumpkin Spice Muffins (2 points on Weight Watchers)

1  18 oz spice cake mix (I also use a carrot cake mix)
1  15 oz can of pumpkin

Heat overn to 350 degrees

Mix ingredients together
Cook for 20-25 minutes
Makes 24 muffins-these are uber moist and will keep for days in a zip lock bag!

Nothing artsy to show today.  I spent the weekend, pulling out "stuff" in the computer/craft room and looking over things and putting away things that I am keeping.  Amazing, how much stuff one can accumulate in such a short period of time!  I will be back shortly with some finished projects for some upcoming swaps I am in.

Until next time-

Better Late Than Ever!!

I finally managed to finish up my dress for Dress Up 2010!  I guess I had a really hard time trying to decide what the dress would look like-not because of lack of inspiriation, but I really could have put together about a dozen dresses for this month.  I finally decided on a witches outfit to celebrate the season.  I found this great paper I call midnite sky which I used for the base, added some black tule, some cutouts for the base of the dress and added a great little witches hat to complete the ensemble.  I am already thinking about my November dress!

I have started working on some of my Christmas swaps and will be posting pictures soon once they are finished.

It's raining here, and I think this is a good day for doing some art and baking some banana and zucchini breads.  I love to cook and bake when the weather is wet and rainy. 

I need to get moving and accompolish some thing today before the game this afternoon!  Gotta watch me so GIANTS!!!!

GOOOOO GIANTS!!!!

So while I am not an overly enthused fan of the bat and ball-I did manage to catch the game last night, and it was great!  The last time I remember the Giants in the World Series was in 1989 during the Battle of the Bay when both Nor Cal teams, the Giants and the A's were playing.  I also remember the horrible earthquake that hit and the delay of the last three games.  Usually, I consider baseball on tv a very boring thing to watch and I would rather be at the actual game with all the excitement and typical ball park food.  But this game was different.  I haven't watched the World Series since the Anaheim Angels played-and I have to admit I am enjoying the game!  So my short post for today is goooooooooo  GIANTS!!!!!!

Until next time-
Charlene

Still Trying To Get Caught Up---

I am still trying to get caught up on my commitments-I feel so behind!  I did attend a class on Saturday, a halloween printers box, it was a lot of fun and I enjoyed putting my spin on things!  The worst part was cutting all the papers to fit in the little openings.  Once that was done-I could create.  I have three class lined up for November.  I might make my six "artsy" things and then some resolution for this year.  I also completed and sent off in the mail my tiny coffin for the coffin swap.  I ended up including a bag of halloween goodies for altered art and a happy halloween small sign made from scrabble tiles.  

I am still trying to get my October dress done for the Dress Up 2010 project. By the time I get done with October's, I might as well do the November one also. 

Here are some pictures of completed projects:

 This is one of the chunky atc's I finished for a swap I am in.  I loved working in

the three demenisonal world!  I am stuck on the Alice in Wonderland theme at the moment!  I am working on my second one-a wine theme and will post pictures when that one is done. 

I have also cut out the pieces for a rag quilt with a pink girl/survivor them for a friend at work for Christmas.  Once it is finished I post the pictures of it. 

For now, it is back to trying to finish some commitments for the promised dates.  Happy arting to everyone!

Charlene

Has Time Really Passed So Quickly?



Altered $ Store Vampire



I didn't realize I have not posted in almost two weeks!  I have been so busy trying to get projects done and clean the "art" room!  I have had an obsession lately with Alice and Wonderland and altered objects for halloween.  For many years I didn't decorate for halloween, just for fall, but this year I am really enjoying creating things out of throw away objects and turning them into "art"! 





Altered Scrabble Board







Halloween Alice Canvas



Candlestick baby witch



Captured Pumpkin Fairy



I also managed to complete my September dress for the Dress Up Challenge.  Nothing like being almost into October before completing this!!!!  I was originally going to do a jumper that I remember when I was going to elementry school way back when.  Then I started thinking about all the my grandmother and how she was dressed each time I saw her when I would come home from school for lunch.  My father was in the military and my mother worked, so I spent a great deal of time with my grandmother-this dress reflects her "house" dress with an apron she always wore.  Even though she died in 1972, I still miss her!

That's about it for now.  I hope to be back soon with some additional halloween art and updates on some ATC's, chunky ATC's made out of wood, and pictures of my miniature coffin that I am getting ready to put in the mail.

Have a great one!



























Never Enough Time!

It seems there is never enough time to get everything done I want to!  I always manage to get the "unfun" stuff done, but then there is no time for the "fun" art stuff I want to accomplish!  I did manage to get a couple of things completed or at least almost completed, but I am frustrated that I can't dedicate the kind of time to what I really want to do.  I did manage to get some ATC's done and a good start on an altoid tin altering, some puzzle pieces almost done, and my miniature coffin for a swap just about ready to ship.  There are times I wish I could just take a vacation from household duties and spend time "being artsy" and complete things I need to do.    Here are some of the pictures of things I have completed:

I am once again going out of town for the weekend and I am planning on taking a couple of projects with me to finish up.  I am also thinking about taking the material to cut up for another rag quilt for one of my friends birthdays next week-I need to get on the ball!  Her favorite color is pink and I have a couple of the fabrics but would like to get a couple more so I can get all the cutting and sewing of the blocks done while I have some down time.  I also need to do my September dress for the Dress Up 2010 project-I am a little behind on that one too-so maybe I will take that project with me also!

That's about it, I will give you all a progress report when I return on Monday!  Happy weekend!

Getting Ready for the Weekend-

I am really gearing up this week to finish up the swaps, a couple due next week, so that I can freely commit myself to more.  I have some pictures below of things I have finished up, a couple of ATC's for swaps and both the front and back page of a fall chunky book swap. 

I have also signed up to take some additional classes at the Stamp Art Shoppe in October and November.  I was going to take some additional classes in October but I will be out of town and can't cancel since it is already paid for! 

In January, I made a New Year's resolution of sort, to make time for art this year.  I set a goal to attend six different art insipired events, classes, museums, etc.-so far I am doing well with my goal.  I also realized that in keeping the affirmation to myself, I found time to do some art on a personal level and what I have gained from that one small change in my life is emense.  I have given myself permission to play-something I had lost touch of. 

Thanks for stopping by and everyone have a great weekend!

Finally Finished My Trunk

I have had this trunk for about four months now and just couldn't get motivated to get it done.  The inside is pretty much done-I may add some pink here and there, and I still need to do something with the outside maybe some Paris/France travel labels.  Anyway, I managed to get the inside done and it is now on top of the scrapping armoire with the little dresses hanging it it. 

I also attended a grunge girl necklace class today.  Boy did I have some fun painting and collaging to my hearts content!  I didn't quite finish my necklace and I do need to add some more "stuff" but for now it looks pretty good!  I really wanted to do a necklace with sort of a beach/ocean theme (seems to be my thing right now!) but I didn't get a class list of what I needed so I made due with what I had only buying a couple of extra things.  I found a collage sheet I liked and only after I was working on this little book necklace did I realize that my theme was Italian.  Now, my sweetie is part Italian-so for whatever reason I gravitated to those images.  And, since I have a lot of his mother's costume jewlery, some great pieces that are broke and I couldn't bear to throw them away, I will be adding those to the "Italian"necklace also.  I should mention his mother was full Italian.  I am thinking I would like to do a couple more of these for gifts for the upcoming holiday season.  Anyway-I had a very productive art day-and I managed to get the front yard mowed, a couple of plants replanted into pots, and some of the lava rock dug out of the front planter-so I feel a real productive day has been accomplished.

I hope everyone enjoys the rest of their weekend! 

A Birthday Party and Some Art

I spent the better part of today celebrating my grandaughters' second bithday and with twins there is always twice the fun, oh-and mess!  I spent a great deal of time cooking this morning and picking up the cake, my son barbecued ribs (he is a chef) and man were there people there!  I think just in family alone, there were at least thirty people! 

I also managed to finish up a couple of swaps and get them into the mail.  The spider ATC is a interactive waterfall and the Mermaid ATC.  I have lots of projects in the que which are comming due within the next couple of weeks so I need to get busy. 

This morning I also crocheted the grandbabies, all four of them, sock monkey hats for Christmas, I will get a picture of them posted once I download them from the camera.  I thinks that's all for now, have a great rest of the weekend!

Happy Wednesday and New Art!

I finally was able to get photos taken and uploaded with some of the finished projects/art work that I needed to ship off for swaps.  I was also able to find some great "stuff" while thrift store shopping the past couple of days.  I really should take pictures of things which is much better than trying to describe what I found-but since I didn't take pictures, I will just tell everyone.  Some small pompom trim, an printers tray, a metal umbrella wall hanging (which I will repaint) to keep all my baby shoes in that are waiting to be altered.  A combination quilt hanger and shelf, some great rhinestone costume jewlery earrings, a blue glass starbucks mug to add to the collection, a pin up girl tin (about the size of a bandaid box), a vintage valentine box, some vintage hangers, some vintage wrapping paper, another small wooden compartmental box with a plastic see through slide lid, and two christmas punches-all for $11.00 with my senior discount!  Now, I don't think I really qualify age wise for a senior discount-and I really could take this action one of two ways.  Either I look old enough to be a senior, or (my prefrence) the lady was being really nice and giving me a discount!  Either way, I just love when I can find things that I really will use in upcoming projects!

Now, I have finished both the April and August dresses in the Dress Up 2010 challenge, so that means I am all caught up! 

My inchies for the FAB 26 swap and a party hat for a doll I am planning to alter:


I think that is about all I have to show you for now!

Oh, but I did mange to make up a batch of  chocolate peanut butter cup rice krispie treats over the weekend, I got the recipe from here.  They are fabulous!  WARNING-make sure there is enough milk in the house before you eat one-they are over the top! 

Everyone have a nice day and I will see you in a couple!