My First Mini Album

I’ve made my first mini album!  I’ve seen so many cute ones on

Pintrest and decided I needed to make one of my own.

I made this one for a friend of mine who recently lost her mother.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sunburn to Frostbite??

Well, it was a crazy weekend here near Buffalo, NY!  On Friday, April 20th we had almost 80° weather.  I was out in shorts and a tshirt and got some sunburn on my legs and arms.  It was my team’s first softball practice and at 6pm it was still 70°!  Hard to believe the news was calling for snow at the beginning of the week!

Sunday was not so nice.  It was my older daughter’s first softball practice.  It was 39° and breezy = COLD!!  Oh, and the sporatic drizzle didn’t help!   The weathermen were calling for even colder weather and 5-9” of snow by Tuesday!

And, of course, it didn’t pan out.  I don’t know how many times the weathermen called for significant snow this winter and we were way below average!  Well, we got a little slush…a total of .8 of an inch that melted by lunchtime.

My poor flowers didn’t like the icy slush!  Glad to say it’s going to be sunny for several days…now if it would just warm up again!

Icy daffodil

Winter or spring?

Bleeding hearts in the slush

Not so delicate

Create

#3- Create.  I love to create.  I’ve always like to draw, paint, take pictures and make crafts, but my last 2 years of high school I really got into painting.  My senior year art class- we were supposed to create 12-16 pieces for our portfolios…I had 43 done by June!  This painting is in honor of all that I learned that year!

#3 Create
18x24 canvas

Just….Breathe

#2 in the series.  We all need to remember to relax and just breathe!  Life gets busy, kids get crazy, but always remember to make time for those important in your life- your family, your friends, and yourself!  This painting is dedicated to Chris, a great friend who always has time to chat and is just a wonderful lady…and who printed up all my letters for me!

#2 Just Breathe
11x14 canvas

Sewing

I’m not very expierenced at sewing, but I do ok.  My Gram needed a heat pack and I just happened to find cat fabric at the store yesterday.  So I threw together 2 different sized heat packs for her.  But, of course, I forgot to take pics before I gave them to her!

And, while I was out at the craft stores, I also found some baseball fabric and knew I had to make something with it.

So, first thing I did was take a yellow fabric marker and change baseballs into softballs!  LOL  Then, after a few attempts I made myself an armband for my iPhone for listening to my tunes!

iPhone armband

HOPE

You may remember the 8×10 canvas “Imagine” I did back in February (if not, take a look at my art gallery!).  Well, this inspired me to start a new series of paintings.  Yesterday evening a great friend made me lots of letters with her Cricut machine and today I got to work.

This first painting, acrylic on a 16×20 canvas, is titled “Shades of Pink for HOPE” and is dedicated to my cousin, Sharon, who is a ‘cancer warrior’.   For those battling cancer and those that have beat it… here’s a little HOPE for you!

#1 Shades of Pink for HOPE
16x20 canvas

WOW!

Wow!  It’s been almost a month since I’ve posted!  Can you tell it’s been busy??

Between doctor appointments, concerts, ice skating shows, Girl Scouts and beautiful weather, I haven’t done much art work.  I have, however, taken a lot of pictures!

Sunday the 18th was a great day.  It was cool (compared to the past few days) but a sunny, clear day.  The girls and I went to Losson Park for a walk then took out the softball equipement and hit the ball around for a while.

The girls in the park

Last week was particularly busy.  Wednesday evening Nina was in the West Side string concert- it was the West High School, Middle school and her elementary school!  Each orchestra played 2 songs then the all the schools played 2 songs together.  The elementary school stood on risers and the middle school stood in the aisles (while the high school was on stage) and they played from memory!  Nina was nervous about a difficult part but she played right through it!

March 21st- West Side String Concert

That Friday was the D.A.R.E. graduation- the 5th graders finished their drug, alcohol and violence education given by the West Seneca Police.  Nina and her friend Taylor won the essay contest for their classrooms!

DARE essay winners!

Immediately following the DARE graduation, we left school and headed to the ice rink for the last day of ice skating- their ice show.  Each class shows off the skills they’ve been working on during the past 10 lessons.  Nina and her friend Sara are the only 2 in their class so they got to do a duet!

One of Nina's fancy moves!

Rae’s class had 3 girls in it and they skated with their teacher.

Rae in a spin

Friday night we joined the family to visit with my Gram celebrating her 94th birthday!  Then we had some friends over the first campfire of the season (and enjoy the end of our warm spell! LOL)

Saturday morning Raelyn made her 2nd sacrament- her first confession (sorry, no pics).  The church had a little reception afterwards with cake and juice for everyone.  Sunday we had plans to play softball but Mother Nature wasn’t going to let that happen.  It rained most of the day Saturday and into Sunday and it was not to warm, either.

It was a crazy busy month…and this is just the beginning!  Ice skating my be over, but softall is just about ready to begin!

A Creative Day

Today I had the rare opportunity to spend a couple hours in my room with little interuption.  I got caught up on my ATC FUN swaps and tried a couple “mini” ATCs- one is 1/2 the size (1×3) and the other business card size.  I have a lot of cards that I received from VistaPrint so I used those!  Here are a few, please see my ATC gallery for more of todays work!

These are my business cards.  I stuck them to contact paper to keep them together and painted them with gesso and acrylic

Business cards

This is a book mark that I made for a mingle in the FUN group

One of my minis- I liked them so much I had to make one for myself!

Black and White and Color

I belong to a very active ATC group – ATC FUN.  And through this group I’ve “met” (online but not in person) LOTS of creative ladies and love following their blogs.  One talented lady, Raeven, had posted a few black and white images that she added color to (check out her blog here) and I thought it was a great idea! So….I selected several of my favorite photos that I’ve taken over the past couple years, converted them to black and white and printed them.  I added some selective color with pastels and here are a few of my favorites:

Amarylis from behind

Lower Falls

Dew on a Petal

Twin Daffodils

My room

A while back I had posted that I now had my own art room.  It’s been a work in progress (and probably always will be) but it’s finally pretty functional!  I’ve made lots of scrapbook pages, ATCs and paintings in my new room.  It’s a pretty small room, only 7ft x 9ft but I’m making it work…it’s better than the dining room table!

This is the view from standing just inside the door

from the door

This table was custom made by my Dad for all my paper crafting.  Adjustable shelves hold all my paper and stickers.  Underneath I’ve attached an envelope for scraps and my stencils.  The shelf above the table holds my pictures that are ready for scrapping, Sharpies, and little bitty stuff! My cutter hangs just under the shelf.

my paper crafting table

I have a nice window in my room!  It’s recessed and has a nice wide sill that holds my dock for my iPhone and a few old Care Bears from when I was little.  The long hanging frame will slowly be filled with a few of my favorite pics of my girls.

above the table

To the right of my table is a bookshelf for all my scrapbooks in progress, stamps, ink and other accessories.  And some of my favorite artwork on the wall.  And my painting corner.

to the right of my table

On the same wall as the door (well, in the corner behind my table) is my painting corner.  Finally, a permanent spot for my easel, canvases and paints!  My dad built me the paint table out of scraps so it doesn’t matter if it gets a little messy!  I hung my brush roll with push pins on the wall to save a little room.

painting corner

Next to my painting corner (behind my table) is another bookshelf with ATC and smash book supplies plus other odds and ends.  On the wall is a little shelf with my softball stuff- one player made me an Orbeez filled softball and I had an extra trophy last year (a player dropped out after the first practice) so I added that to my shelf too!  On the back of the door is a shoe organizer I use to store all my adhesives- tacky glue, mounting tape, E-600, Mod Podge, etc.  And a left over Little Mermaid painting on the wall from when this used to be the girls’ playroom.  Little Mermaid is my favorite Disney movie so I left it on the wall for me!   There’s a little storage space under the stairs that I just added a few plastic bins to for misc stuff and my sewing machine.  Much easier than hauling it upstairs all the time!

from next to the table