birthday wishes

yesterday was my husband's birthday and no one (in this household anyway....) can have a birthday without a homemade card. or more a postcard- i used circle scraps, and i had used the diamond stencil and laid it onto another paper, and allowed to dry. using the book paper is somewhat flimsy- so, i glued it onto a piece of black cardstock for support and then, sewed the whole thing...love sewing circles and the little zig-zag off the page. top off with a stamp (mixed media essentials found at Paperbag Studio), and some washi tape.

 and what present doesn't want homemade wrapping paper?!....well, this one did! so, i painted up some newspaper with acrylic paint, stencils and again- some stamping. birthday done!

throwing paint with my mom/ mother's day

to celebrate mother's day yesterday, my mom came over to paint and have supper. we each had a larger project that we were working on, but, on the side painted on smaller pieces- which is what i have included today.

i love my mom's collage.....but, she always says i have the best scraps in the world in my studio :) her collage is on a strip of watercolor paper with scraps and paint found in my studio. we put a frame around it to see- ooooh, la, la!! stunning in a frame.....

 mine here is acrylic paint on yupo. i had already painted what i thought was the background, and when i started to paint over the top- my first idea was not panning out, so, option two emerged, and i went with it to create the princess below.

artist's reception

tonight there is a reception for a small group of artists that participated in a fall show last year- which i was fortunate enough to be a part of. i stopped down to drop off a few more small paintings that i had made and while i was there a young lady bought one of my pieces. so my best friend, and shop owner introduced us.

there is something special about having a piece of work that you have created loved by someone enough that they need to buy it on the spot. but, you know that feeling....seeing something that you just know you have to have; to add to your collection and hang on the wall- and then, walk by and love each day. so cool....

one of the local newspapers also did a nice article about the show tonight here....

creative houses

 i had been inspired by a recent purchase to paint some houses......they are whimsical to me. my initial plan was to do them in black and white....but, as you can see- that is not the path that my fingers and heart took....

 i used acrylic paint and stencils for the circles and doors and trim were made with my favorite stamps from paperbag studios.

 i also used pencil and glimmer mists.....have i inspired you? leave me a comment so i can come and visit you!

positive influence

painting yesterday lead to quite a few things.....including this trio of paintings with a message that will hopefully speak to someone- certainly had spoke to me yesterday...

 these are on 4x4 deep dish canvas- these are a nice size to warm up on, and if people like your art, but, cannot afford a larger piece- these should definitely be within almost everyone's budget....acrylic paint, overpainted scraps, ink, stamps (have you gotten your set yet?! i seriously love these stamps.....), and some happy words.

 i will be so sad when the book i am using is finally so used i cannot use it any more....but, i have to say, it has been a wealth of inspiration and delicious words on many things for me! happy monday!

i have a winner....

i was so excited to see the wonderful comments left for the paperbag studio/ mixed media essentials give away!! and my winner is.......April Cole!! Congratulations April!

I used the randompicker to draw for the give away.



thank you so much to everyone that left such nice comments- it was greatly appreciated and i hope i inspired you to purchase your own set of these wonderful stamps and to stop back and see what else i have been up to!

mixed media essentials blog hop

 i was fortunate enough to have been selected to the Mixed Media Essentials- Paperbag Studio design team....we are doing a blog hop to help showcase some of the possibilities these stamps can be used for....check out the other team members in the blog hop participants.

the designer is Roben-Marie! 

if you are looking for easy to use stamps that can be used for backgrounds or as a main focal point- these stamps have got to be in your studio's arsenal of creating tools! you can purchase your own set of stamps here at Paperbag Studio.

i loved all of the stamps and their versatility! i made journal pages, cards, tags, and collages....i stamped them in colors, or simply in black-and could still add some color accents.

Blog Hop Participants:

April Cole:  http://aprilmariecole.blogspot.com/

Carissa Paige:  http://carissapaige.blogspot.com/

Cynthia Shaffer: http://cynthiashaffer.typepad.com/

Danielle Donaldson:  http://danielledonaldson.com/

Jen Osborn:  http://identityseven.typepad.com/themessynest/

Kristin Peterson: http://alteredstatesstudio.blogspot.com

Lorraine Bell: http://serendipitystudios.squarespace.com/

Roben-Marie Smith: http://www.robenmarie.com

Sandi Keene: http://sandi-keene.squarespace.com/

to help celebrate the launch of these stamps, i am doing a give-away  of my original bird collage below. if you are interested please leave a comment on this post with an email address so i can contact the winner. you have until  5pm, CST on friday, may 3 to enter this give-away. i will then draw for a winner and contact one lucky person. thanks for visiting- hope you will stop back some time, and good luck!