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In my store....
I have the flowers that I made from recycled light bulb boxes....
And I have cute little bug ladies, in several color combos...
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Leann has the carrots that I mentioned previously...
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She also has some pretty new scarves.....
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Good stuff. :-)
Finally! They sat in a pretty bowl for a month and now they are where I envisioned them - as 'buds' emerging on spring branches.
It took a while to make the flowers themselves, but this part was pretty quick. Todd pruned our fruit trees and I gathered a handful of branches off the ground for my project. I simply hot glued the flowers on the branches, keeping the larger blossoms at the bottom and the smaller blossoms towards the top (just like in nature).
It turned out really pretty, I think.
Reuse. Recycle. Create.
My vase of 'spring branches' looks beautiful in my living room. It's a fun, colorful project - give it a try! :-)
I keep a little notebook where I put all the inspirational images that I tear from magazines. Pretty pictures, techniques, color combinations.... I use it as a springboard for ideas.
(The cover is from an illustration I did several years ago... I used cafepress to make the notebook.)
I thought I'd share a product I am working on and show where the idea originated. I'm sorry I can't give credit to the designer of the inspiration - I tear out the small image that interests me and tape it into my book. If anyone knows who to give credit to please let me know and I will.
This is my inspiration.... flowers made from layers of corrugated cardboard....
I have a plethora of empty lighbulb boxes. (It's actually pretty scary how often I have to change lightbulbs all over the house.) If you know me by now you will know how I love to save things for creative reuse.
The inside of the lightbulb boxes have a corrugated texture. That's where the inspirational image influenced my idea. I used a flower punch to make some flower shapes and since the box is white I decided to soak my flower punches in dye. A pleasant surprise occured... the layers of the flower punch came apart, giving me a ruffled layer and a smooth layer. I was able to mix and match to make some pretty combinations. I added a circle punched from recycled magazine text and then a button to finish off the flower.
They are sitting on my art table and are taking on a lovely three-dimensional shape as they dry. I'm not sure how I will attach all the layers - glue dots, or maybe embriodery floss through the button and layers. You'll have to stay tuned for the final result!
~ reuse recycle create!
A few new things in my store - watercolor flowers, created from my original illustrations and then printed and hand cut by me...
Glitter Belly Bunnies..... I had bunnies all over my art table and I kept thinking of a Bugs Bunny cartoon where the rabbits were multiplying!
They are soooo cute! I'm thinking about making a bunny banner for myself!
One more thing that I am currently working on.... lists. I am not a list maker, but one of my goals for the year is to try to become one to make my life easier. I thought if I had some cool designs to write my lists on it would make the process more fun. So, I am designing some! Here's a peek at my sketchbook and a printed sample (which I already used today!)...
I have a few more designs to work on - can't wait to see the final collection! :-)
Oh Spring, how I long for you. You are like a dangling carrot at the end of our long winter.
I know you are coming. My hyacinths and daffodils are peeking their green tops up through the soil. My husband is out pruning the fruit trees amid the remnants of quite a few snow and ice storms.
please hurry, Spring!
I have been waiting for Todd to prune the fruit trees. I have an idea for my paper roses, which are sitting in a pretty bowl and awaiting their creative destination. I need the prunings from the trees, so I will head out shortly and see what is laying around for me to use.
I look for ways to add some pretty touches to my home and I recently gave my 'deck of me' cards a new home in a big glass vase.
They have been in a box for several years because I never finished the whole set of 52 cards. I figured if I got them out and put them where they are visible (and pretty to look at) I will hopefully get the urge to finish the set.
I love them. This is one of my favorites.....
I mentioned a dangling carrot earlier in the post... do I have something ***cute*** to show you!
My sister in law Leann crocheted the sweetest carrots I have ever seen! They are adorable!
I suggested that she should make a bunch and sell them in her Etsy shop. Look at the roots on the bottoms of the carrots! Each carrot is unique. Even Ben loved them. He carried one around with him.
So neat! I'll let you know if she has any in her shop.
I'm off to look for fruit tree branches! :-)
Todd and I took the kids to Florida for a vacation. We had never been to Disney and an opportunity presented itself for us to go, so we did!
We drove down, arriving late on Saturday, February 5th. Nana and Pappy have a house for the month of February so we stayed with them.
I have to admit right off the bat that I was enjoying myself before we ever got to any of the parks. I have a *thing* for plants and flowers and seeing all the palm trees (which certainly do not grow in PA) and flowers blooming in early February made me smile. And the groves of orange trees - how neat!
We spent Sunday recuperating from the long drive and then on Monday, the 7th, we visited Downtown Disney. Ben was looking forward to the Lego store that is there and we were disappointed to find out when we got there that it is closed for renovations. They had a big, temporary Lego store tent set up instead. He did get to see a few of the Lego displays that were outside of the original store area, like this neat sea dragon...
We went into Goofy's candy store and played around in front of the funny mirror...
We were giggling at Sarah's fingers and Todd's face. And I'm looking a bit hippy!
The kids loved Stitch on top of the roof - he would spit water every so often and if you stood just right you could get wet...
We went to the Rainforest Cafe for supper...
That's an awesome place! The walls and ceiling are covered with greenery and there are trees and it's like you are in a jungle.... the animals move and every so often there is a thunderstorm.
On Tuesday we went to Universal. We wanted to see the Wizarding World of Harry Potter.
Oh. My. GOSH.
It was amaaaaaaazing! Me, the big sap, cried when I walked into that part of the park. It is sooooooooo neat! It's like you step into the book!
Here we goooo......
The Hogwarts Express is right inside the entrance and the kids met the Conductor....
Everything is very true to the books. The pictures even move! Ben was checking out Gilderoy Lockhart's books in the window display...
Sarah and Ben had such a neat experience in Ollivander's Wand Shop. Mr Ollivander chose them - he personally helped Sarah and Ben get the right wands! If you are a fan of Harry Potter you should put this park on your 'to see' list. That was the highlight of our day there, for sure.
On Wednesday we met my brother and his wife and family at the Magic Kingdom. They were down the same week as us, so that was perfect timing.
The kids all met Buzz Lightyear...
And the Indy Car ride was a big hit....
It was a neat to walk around together in Disney...
And I had to laugh when my brother Eston went for snacks and came back with a tower of hot pretzels!
At the end of the day we got a family photo in front of the castle. I didn't know that the castle changed colors at night - a pleasant surprise!
We took the day off on Thursday to relax. Three days of adventures wears you out! On Friday we went to Epcot....
When you see something all your life on TV and in pictures it takes some getting used to when you see it in real life. I am referring to, what my family lovingly calls, the giant golf ball. I just had to keep looking at it. Amazing.
The kids met Stitch...
And then we walked around the countries. Sarah spied racoon hats in Canada and that was what she wanted to spend her Disney dollars on....
We met Peter Pan and he was very excited to see Sarah wearing a raccoon hat! He asked her if she was one of the lost girls....
We had fish and chips for lunch in England and the kids posed in a phone booth...
My favorite country was France. Because of the flowers and topiaries, of course. :-)
One more shot of the golf ball... The sun was setting and it looked golden.....
Neat.
Saturday was a down day again. Todd's sister Amy and her husband and kids drove to Florida through the night so they were beat when they got there. They stayed with us at Nana and Pappy's house. On Sunday we were off and running one last time... back to the Magic Kingdom again. We missed half the park when we were there on Wednesday.
Sarah and Ben got to meet Donald Duck. He was wearing a raccoon hat and Sarah didn't have hers on! Darn!
We all went on the magic carpet ride and it looks like Gabe and Ryan were having a good time back there!
Some of us went on the carousel....
(notice the 'bunny ears' behind Sarah, courtesy of her daddy)
The day was magical. When we were leaving I had to stop and get a picture of the atmosphere on Main Street as the sun was setting and evening was approaching....
We will definitely go back!
I have to leave you with two more pictures. Out on the highway there is an area of power lines and I thought this little *detail* was really cute....
I tried to get a picture at night when the ears were lit up and we were driving by... It didn't 'get', but yet it is pretty neat nonetheless....
We left Monday morning, the 14th, for the long haul back to Pennsylvania. Eighteen hours straight through on the way home (we stopped and stayed overnight on the way down). Whew!
I hope you enjoyed my recap - it was a great experience for all of us! :-)
I'm excited to see several more of my designs using STYROFOAM™ brand foam popping up in current magazines!
My butterfly topiary and egg are in the April 2011 issue of Crafts 'n things magazine. My needle felted egg garland is in the April 2011 issue of Create & Decorate magazine. Amazing!!!! :-)
side note: I have been editing our pictures from Disney - a big process considering I took several hundred photos! I can't wait to share! :-)
Yup. You're right.
We were visiting Mickey. More to follow! :-)
