Making my Nest Organized

I have been making my nest a little more organized so to speak.   Shuffling and rearranging and labels and whatever else we do when we do this little adventure.  Then usually play hid and seek of where we put things. 

I am lucky enough to have a bedroom that is my art room.  One time grandaughter came in it and said  "Nana, why did you choose the smallest room in the house for your art room? "  Well it is actually the same size as the other two bedrooms on this side of the house.  Just has lots going on in it.  LOTS.

I use to work in a tiny area in our utility room, just a little dab of room. But you know I have always figured out that the more room you have the more mess you make and you just have to clean up more.  Like a kitchen.  I have had giant kitchens and small kitchens.  Ours right now is small but I cook the same food out of it that I use to cook in giant kitchens.  When we moved into this home 5 years ago, can't beleive it has been that long.  Anyway when we moved in here I thought where is everything going to go?  Well it all found it's home and just sits there for when I use it.


                                               THE BEADS

 

I first started with my beads.  On a blog and goodness knows I can't remember whose but thank you talented lady for sharing the container idea with us.   She had used the containers from JoAnn's.  So I got online and they were on sale and in different configurations.   Of course you need to order twice as many as you think then you won't have to reorder again like I did.  

I was storing them in little plastic bags in a pretty box.  Well let me tell you I needed a hoist or fork lift to lift the box.   But now here they are all sorted in their little homes and I can unscrew which one I need and love it all.   Hubby put the shelves up for me and I can just pick and chose as I need them.  No hide and seek here, they are just sitting pretty and waiting to go on some fabric and be a CQ piece.  I have sequins and some fancy buttons and all kinds of goodies that a CQer needs in her work.

THE PRETTY BOX AND JARS OF RIBBON

 

You will see  the pretty box that held the beads.  It now holds pretties I sell on etsy so it will keep safe and no dust.  We do have massive dust here in West Texas.   I have a basket that hold purse handles and my jars hold my silk ribbon.  Grandson gave me the jars.  I rewound the silk ribbon on little wooden spools  ( thread use to be on real wood and I never throw sewing stuff away )I had from forever ago and sorted in colors.  I printed labels and I am in hog heaven.  

THE SPOOLS AND PRETTY BOX OF CIGGIES

 

Next set of shelves are more labeled tubs,  aka shoe boxes,  and some bigger fancy laces to pretty to hid on some wooden bobbins I had from a million years ago.   The little flowered box I covered and now stores my ciggies in them.  Well the ciggies I drew and painted.  

MORE TUBS AND FRIENDLY CRITTERS

 

More tubs and I had to give the friendly critters a tub of their own.    The computer was my friend in the labels, it is not always friendly.   I think sometimes it just wants to show me that this machine is smarter than I am.  It is but I don't want it to get the big heaf and it is a time stealer if you let it.  That is one reason why I retired from professional photography.  I didn't want to be tied to the computer and it was getting that way with digital photography.  I loved film.  You composed and exposed it correctly and printed and you were good to go.  Of course you can do tricky things with digi .  

MIXED MEDIA ART WORK

 

 

Some of my faeries and journal and just doings that share the art room.  These pretties share the wall with my CQ work and I didn't want to hurt their feelings and not say something about them.   I try to keep my wet messy art separated from my CQ work. Paint does have a tendency to splash and splish around.  My clothes attest to that.  I do have an apron but usually wait til my clothes get paint on them before I put it on.  You know the drill.   The art here is resting on a box I made years and years ago, the 70's, to hold my pastels. 

PART OF THE WALL

 

                                            Here it is all together.

There you go my doings for the time being.  I am working on a mermaid block right now.  Not elegant how I wanted but whimsical, I guess to match the drawing I did and printed.  I mean blue glitter and all.  You know how I like my bling.  

Thanks for stopping by and seeing what is going on in my world today. 

XOXOXO

Annette

Creating Art Anytime

Hello and February is  upon us.  I didn't realize I have been out of pocket.  So Happy February and hope all are keeping warm or cool, depending on where you are.  Just hang on and wait a bit and it will be visa versa. Cool and warm.

I try never to really really say I wish it were summer or I wish it were winter.  Each season has it's charm and beauty.   Now I do complain and say oh no the wind is blowing.  Did you notice that in any of my posts?   Usually when it warms up so does the wind warms up and lets us know it is here. I mean like Sunday here is suppose to be in the 80's and guess what Mr. Wind will blow.  Oh well that is how the cow ate the cabbage as the saying goes.   

In the winter when cold a good excuse to stay in and create and get lots of projects done.  We are not cold weather people at all.  I know don't laugh it does get cold to us here in Texas.  We are in the Northern part just a tad away from Colorado.  Well a tad on the map anyway.   In the Spring we "get" to start doing yard work and not as much creating gets done except at night when we settle down and watch some wonderful thing on TV.   I know not much on is there?  BUT Baseball will be starting soon.  Yahoo.

Then we have Summer, now when it gets triple digits and it does get toasty here but no humidity at all.  That is a good thing. A great excuse to stay inside under the air conditioner and create my pretties.  Whatever is on my plate at that time.

Fall is my favorite time of year, things are still pretty and colorful and the temps are usually the best and not much wind or anything and then back to Winter.  

Basically all year is a good time to create and sometimes the yard and tiny bit of flowerbeds we have now get prettied up.  We use to have lots of flowerbeds  but only a good trimming once a year and it was good to go and I did love it because it looked so lush.   I have a sort of fairy garden started and will work on it again this year.  When it is show off material I will share.  

February is the Valentine month and on Face Book I said I just don't think you should give just because of a made up holiday.  Anytime is good to give presents even if only a package of pink coconut snowballs.  A Random Act of Kindness to someone or a RAK.   But when it come to Grand Children now that is a different story. Any excuse to give them a present is good for me.  Even if it is a Tiddly Wink holiday.  Do they have one for that?  Have I missed on giving and spoiling the grands for Tiddly Winks?

I made a couple of Valentines for the grands and did get carried away.

 

Can you tell this one is for the Princess?  I try not to make two things alike but this project is closest to alike that I have gotten.   And sorry but I forgot to take a pic of Grandson's  card but his is pretty close to this but he did have as much lace on the middle of the page.   Of course we had to tuck a little check in the last pocket. 

These are a duo Accordion book.  I did fasten it on the main board with some heart brads that I had from my scrapbooking days.  Good job I hang on to things. The paper lace I used on here is a million years old also.  I printed the valentines off of the internet but on the front one did put their name on it also. 

 There you go,  my take on Valentines and creating.  Thanks for stopping by and seeing what is going on in my world today.

                                                                OXOXOX
                                                                 Annette 

When to say Uncle

Uncle !!!!!  One of the words you hear on TV.   When you say uncle and that means enough, I give up or I am finished.  It is funny the words we use and for different situations isn't it? 

Sometimes I have a tendency to use the words wrong and dear Hubby will say you mean this don't you?   Probably  I do.   I pay attention to details, especially when I watch Movies or TV shows.  I can tell you what they had on the walls etc really important things like that.   Once, years ago mind you, I needed a new typewriter ribbon for a little manual-gasp-typewriter  my Mother In Law bought for me.   She knew I like to write about nothing but did like to write with my imagination.  Still have the typewriter by the way.   I went into the local office supply store and asked for a typewriter ribbon.  The sales lady knew me well and said what kind Annette?  I promptly said a black one.  She just laughed and said Annette only you would say that, no I need to know the make of the typewriter.  Of course I had to go back home and see the make of it.  Who would have thought you needed to know the make of if it.   I surely didn't.  

I finished my February block and finally had to say UNCLE with it.  I just kept adding and adding things and every time I thought I was finished with it and announced it to my patient Hubby he would say yeah yeah I have heard that for 3 days.  He was right and finally I thought UNCLE !!! I am absolutely finished with it I just fell in love with this little block and didn't want to leave if half finished   

My last post it was half finished in my book.

Soooooo with no more yacking here is the block and it's little close ups. 


                                                 THE FINISHED 8 INCH BLOCK

     

CLOSE UP OF THE CENTER AND ALL THE LITTLE BUTTONS THAT EACH HAVE A STORY TO TELL.  THEY WERE RAIDED FROM MY BUTTON TIN FROM YEARS AGO, WHEN I USE TO SEW EVERYTHING.  

 ANOTHER VIEW OF THE CUTE LITTLE ROSES AND THE DEPRESSION GLASS BUTTONS

 

THE TOP OF THE HEART BUTTONS AND THE LITTLE BIRDIE HAD TO FLUTTER BY AND SEE WHAT WAS GOING ON.

JUST ANOTHER VIEW OF THE BUTTON HEART AND OF COURSE I JUST HAD TO ADD MORE PEARLS AND LITTLE PURCHASED ROSE BUDS

 

AN INSPIRED70'S OR EARLIER YOYO , THIS ONE I MADE WITH LACE AND SOME ORGANDY RIBBON .  I FORGET TO MAKE THESE CUTE LITTLE THINGS, I MEAN IT TAKES JUST A MINUTE TO DO IT.  

There you go some close ups of my block for February.  Now I hope this brings a tad of sunshine to your winter day.  Now I know some of you are enjoying Summers so we will send you some of our refreshing cool weather, just a tad. 

  Thanks for stopping by and seeing what is going on in my world today.  

                                                          XOXOOX
                                                            Annette

WIP and Something that Hardly NEVER EVER happens in my world

WIP----  nowdays they have WIP's , OMG  and whatever in the world saying different things and expressions.  So many of them I cannot keep up---BUT I do know what WIP stands for.  Work In progress!!!!!   I could write a little piece about the abbreviations and all the cell phone goodies but won't.  I do hope it doesn't come down to that people don't know how to talk and just do letters of the alphabet for communication.   I think y'all know how I feel about that subject, guess my pet peeve  ( one of them) about cells is people lighting those things up in a movie. Give me a break what is that important that you have to use a phone in the movie?  If something that important is going to come thru why in the world are you at a movie?   AND you don't even have to put it on Facebook that you are at the movie.   Just saying, like I said I could go on and on about this rudeness but won't.  See?  My soapbox could go on and on. 

Now this is one of my newest WIPs.  Yep used that sort of word.    I am playing with Crazy Quilt Journal Project again this year and this is the in the middle part of my block.   To me the part of when the square gets it's own little personality and sings to me.   

Being February I thought why not a heart?  I saw this idea on Pinterest.   I didn't see who came up with the idea but hers was really pretty in the pinks.  I only had a tad of pink silk ribbon so used some real satin ribbon for the pink you see here.   So red, being a dark pink, got to be the choice of color.  

So with fabric sewn together and some embelishments put on here and there the block is being created.   It could be ok this way but you know I love the bling so will try and finish it this weekend and share the whole finished piece.  The top right corner is a lace yo - yo type thingie I added and will play with it also.

I don't have a clue of what I am going to do with the squares but they keep me off the streets and keep me busy while watching TV with hubby. 

 

Now you may be asking what in the world  hardly never ever happens in Annette's world? 

 

A SUN RISE!!!!!!!

A beautiful Texas Sunrise at that.  I have not altered this sunrise one tiny tiny bit.   I just don't get up at early to see them.  I have heard they exist and Hubby does take pics of them for me to prove that they really do happen and the sun just doesn't pop up and say here I am.    Get busy and remember an early bird gets the worm.  Thank goodness I don't eat worms.   I would never get to eat.    The world just shouldn't have to bring beauty like this before 7 A.M.   Of course I may be the only one in captivity to not see these beauties every morning.  

 There you go what is going on in my world today.   Thanks for stopping by and seeing what is going on in my world.  

                                                                       XOXOXO

                                                                       Annette

 

How I did it Angel Wings and my A vs P

Now this is going to be an odd combination of subject matter but you know sometimes even in life odd or different things get combined together.  In fact sometimes in cooking you can add different things together and get something really yummy.  Also, sadly you can get something that tastes pretty bad and even the dog won't eat it.  Trust me I have done that before.   Usually the trash will accept it though and I can safely say that 100% of the time it will not throw at me what I have put in the trash.  Not yet anyway.

OK,  now I have a friend who wants to know how I did my angel wings in the last post.  So here are some pics of what I did them with.  


I used my trusty palette knife, thank goodness I have several of them, they get pretty clogged up and some I have had since------------gasp-------the early 70's.   Golden light molding paste is one of favorite doodads to play with.  You can put it down with a stencil as I did here or smear it around with the palette knife and make--waves, clouds or just some great texture.   I have these sweet little stencils  from The Crafters Workshop  and they are small in size but powerful little gems. 

You can put the paste down then paint over it with color or put color on and wipe it off or as I did just use it on top of color and let dry white and of course before it dried I added some mica flakes.   Glitter is like diamonds a girls best friend, at least in my book.   I hand drew the shape of the wings and the little feathers at the bottom of them.  The feathers I just added some white acrylic paint and kind of feathered the paint with molding paste in the center of it. 

 

A close up of the wing/stencil.   

 

Here is my January set of pages, it was suppose to be a book or parts of a book that inspired you in some way.    I thought of a book and then this popped into my head,  No it is not a book, an awesome movie, but has a good example we should live by.  You should not judge a book by it's cover.  I mean if it is ugly it might not be mean or really ugly acting.  And as you know some things (people) are really pretty and pretty ugly inside.  This is why I thought it was a good example of life.    This movie, A vs P   ( Alien vs Predator) I have seen it many many times.  MANY to the point of when I am in my art room and it is on TV dear hubby turns up the sound and I can tell him exactly what the scene is.  It blows his mind away.    My friend Ginger bought the DVD for me the day it came out, she knows her friend for sure. 

One creature is evil, very evil and by some standards the other is evil also. BUT in the movie the predator is good and works with the humans to kill the Alien.  So this is why I thought you should not judge the Predator by how he looks.  Told ya it was off the wall. Sooooo here it is.  I so enjoyed doing this and hope I don't get put in the corner or kicked out of class at Roses on my Table.  Just a journal journey section where we do what we want and no rules.  My kind of place. 

So here you go, I used some strip burlap on here and some of the tape washi I think it is called and hand drew some curly ques  on it.   Now the lines on there is from a stamp I made out of egg cartons, the foam kind and glued them all on another piece of egg carton.  Some high tech stuff going on here. 

 

So there you go my art as of today.    I have another project I am working on right now, for the grands of course. oxox

Thanks for stopping by and seeing what is going on in my world today.   

OXOXOX

Annette

My Art Guardian Angel or Shooting from the Hip

Now I know that might be an interesting question and did you even know you have an Art Guardian Angel?  Well I certainly didn't know it.  Oh I know we all have many Angels around us and that I am thankful for.   I know this may be a different subject for me but just kind of leads to this little gal.    I was once told I had many traffic angels.  Very protective when you are traveling and Hubby and I always say come on gals Annette is getting in the car.  They say amongst themselves ok who is riding shotgun with her?   Now I know this may sound flippant or light on the subject but trust me I am not that way about it at all about Angels. 

I am taking another year of Lifebook 2014 with Tammy.   I did take 2012 and did over 35 of the lessons and last year 6 or 7 of them.   Might have been my state of mind or something but thought ok Annette try one more year.   She offers many teachers during the year and each teach us different  art techniques which I love doing.    I believe 52 lessons in all, some have  interviews with the teachers but most are lessons.  

Tammy's was the first lesson and I tried as hard as I could to copy her lesson.   I was bound and determined to follow it to a teeeeee.   Well I didn't.   Bet that was no surprise to you at all.   I did sort of do the wings like she suggested but did use Golden molding paste with a stencil to make the pretty design on the main part of the wings.   I then drew the feather part of them and just used paint.  

This little gal is who turned out.   Now last year I did an Art Fairy and she had a cute little pink tutu, a wand and other fairydom pretties.    You noticed I made up a new word there.  Fairydom.   Guess it goes with the territory of being an artist.  Artist license I suppose. 

  

                                            Here she is with my word for the year Create. 

I did mess up and  did not use watercolor paper I grabbed the wrong paper so to me she looks like she has a Howdy Doody  mouth area.   Howdy Doody?  A puppet from the 50's   The paper wrinkled and good lesson to remember-Annette make sure you grab the right paper.   I splished and splashed colors and paint on here and added some copper paint here and there on the flower in her hair and the butterfly wings and some touches here and there.   Now when I started her she was very dark headed but this color is what it wound up to be.  Funny how they have a mind of their own.   I really never plan what I do just let it flow and play.    If I plan it usually turns out ugh and winds up in the trash in many pieces.  OR covered with gesso and painted over.  

I was going to make her look more fantasy but nope not what she wanted.   Now if you are artsy you know exactly what I am talking about...... art just evolving from the heart and there you go.   I think I have told you that is how my Crazy Quilt work gets created also.    Just shooting from the hip.

When I was doing professional photography a dear and sweet friend told me to tell other photographers that I shoot from the hip with my work.  She loved it because I didn't pre plan what and how I was going to photograph my clients.  After visiting with my clients when they first entered the studio I could see their natural attitudes, their body language and get them to relax to be themselves.  

Now I know lots of you are in the North East and are suffering with the bitter cold and ice and snow so keep warm and safe.   We are here in Texas and we have a nice sand storm going on or you could call it a natural facial scrub if you have to go outside. 

There you go what is going on in my world today and thanks for stopping by.

                                                              XOXOXOX

CQJP 2013 done and done

Hello hello, here we go another start of another year.   I hope you all create to your hearts content this year.  

I have just finished my 2013 CQJP.   We had a persona challenge to make one block of at least 4x4 inches for each month.  Mine was 8x8, I certainly needed room to add beads and pretties.   I just mainly made a book, front and back covers newly done and put a pretty spine on it.   What am I going to do with it?   No one knows, who knows when I go to heaven they may sell it in a garage sale for $1.   I did make it so it can be cut apart for other projects.   Who knows I many get a wild hair and cut it apart and sell on Etsy.   It is done though and loved every second of it.

 

Did you notice I used one of my Faereis on the front.   Love those little gals.

 

I have started 2014 CQJP and have my first one finished.   I made it smaller 5x7 but not sure that will be the size for the whole book.  Kind of like sizing down when I scrapbook.   From giant to 12x12.   IT was hard to do.

 

Now believe it or not it is all white, so many shades of what but it is white.   I had to use one of my faeries on this one also.   I printed her on silk and made the colors almost "not" so was perfect for this white block.   I had to add some bling thread to her hair to go with the shimmer and shine of the whole block. 

Thanks for stopping by and seeing what is going on in my world today.  

                                                           XOOXOX
                                                           Annette