Get Inspired by Your Reading Materials!

Oh my goodness! I have to say it...I absolutely love this piece! LOL It's weird and funky and those shades of green and mysterious dots/circles give me an artistic orgasm! Ooo, baby baby...This piece was created from Helga's Challenge on My ARTistic Life. The prompt was "Get Inspired by Your Reading Materials" and incorporates the dots/circles from last weeks' challenge. What fun it is to be challenged to try something new. Thanks Helga!

Hilda Conkling The White Cloud

Inspired by my new journalling obsession and Hilda's words, "there are many clouds but not like the one I see" ... Delicious poem!

Hilda Conkling Waking the Moths

I love the simplicity of this poem "I awake them one by one from their sleepy hours"...isn't that delicious? Gives me chills and inspired me to create this altered book spread. OH, and this color combination is one of my new favorites; teal, lime and yellow!

Hilda Conkling Land of Nod

Another Hilda challenge hosted by the generous Gale Blair at Paper Whimsy....aaahhh....such whimsical dreams in the land of nod.

Hilda Conkling Loveliness

Vibrant? uh, yes! LOL

I just love Hilda Conkling...wasn't she amazing? Just a few words in this poem, yet so much wisdo there....

Lemon Sugar Hand Scrub

I love using this hand scrub after working at the art table all day! Jan DeBellis is hosting an Apron Recipe Card Swap on the Paper Whimsy Forum and I am tickled to share this recipe for the first go-around...won't you come and join in the fun?

Lemon Sugar Hand Scrub

Ingredients:
1 ½ Cups Sugar
1/3 Cup Kosher Salt (or substitute more sugar)
3/4 Cup Olive Oil
Zest from one Large Lemon (or other citrus zest)
¼ Teaspoon Lemon Extract (optional)

One recipe makes 2 cups, enough for a 1-pint jar, or 2 half-pint jars.This project is great for reusing old jars that have been cleaned out; jam jars, sauce jars, or canning jars that you might have around.

Directions:

• Step 1: Combine sugar, kosher salt, and olive oil in a medium-sized bowl. Stir until the oil is evenly distributed throughout the sugar and salt mixture.
  
• Step 2: Using a micro-plane zester, grate the zest of 1 large lemon. Add zest to the bowl and stir to combine. If you would like a stronger scent, add 1/4 tsp lemon extract.
  
• Step 3: Spoon the scrub mixture into a clean jar. Make sure to wipe up any spills on the outside of the jar. Tighten the lid and decorate according to your tastes.

October ATC Lottery

October's ATC Lottery Theme is "gratitude" and the first thing I thought of is that I am grateful for imagination. What are you grateful for?

Name Banners for Children

Someone I work with just had a baby and I thought it would be fun to make name banners for his newborn son and existing daughter. I won't overwhelm you with all twelve of the pieces but here is one from the boy's and one from the girl's. This was such a fun project that I might have to make one for myself! :-)

Autumn ATC for Lottery

Paper Whimsy Forum has started up a new ATC lottery each month and here is my entry for September...it's been a LONG time since I made an ATC and it was fun!

Hilda Conkling Wishes

Another Hilda Conkling Challenge piece hosted by Gale Blair for Paper Whimsy Forum members only. Come on over and join in the fun! I adore the imagery of Hilda's poetry and look forward each month for the new free collage sheet & poem. Thanks Gale!

Get Inspired by Patterns!

Last week on My ARTistic Life, Helga challenged her readers to "Get Inspired by Patterns". Since I had a few moments, I decided to play along. It was fun and I started seeing circles and dots in lots of places I might not have noticed before. Here is the finished piece for the challenge.


I enjoyed using different techniques for the dots; scrapbook paper, punched paper, punchinella, paintbrush tip, markers, watercolors, masks and stencils...just to name a few!

I didn't get my photo submitted in time for Helga's drawing but I was busy creating a patterned image that popped into my head during a deep-tissue massage. What do you think of it?

Thanks Helga for the challenge...it was inspiring!

Journey to Imagination

Gale issued a challenge and I couldn't resist. Hop on over to the Paper Whimsy blog, pick up your free "doors" collage sheet, work your magic and join the fun! I love the gorgeous door in the background and for some reason just needed to have some adorable vintage cats wandering by. Wishing you a wonderful journey to your imagination...who knows you might want to live there. Hugs, Carol

One Good Freebie Deserves Another!

I started working on a "doors" collage challenge hosted by Gale Blair at Paper Whimsy (challenge and her doors freebie found here). This afternoon, I antiqued an old clock-face to use as the background for my collage and thought some of you might like to use the image in your own art work. Here is a jpg scan of it....click on the image to view it full size. Feel free to use it in your art in any way you like, I freely give it to you. If you would like to share what you created using it, send me a link to your blog post and I would love to post your blog-link here. Have a creative weekend! Hugs, Carol

dia de los Muertos

Oh My! Where did the summer go...I have been so out of touch online but have had a wonderful time with friends, family and fitness. I will soon be back on track with blogging but wanted to share a collage I created tonight using images from Itkupilli Shop, dedicated to the Mexican holiday, dia de los Muertos. What a wonderful time of year when villagers go to the cemetery to visit their loved ones and invite them home to enjoy a feast of their favorite foods. Family members share humorous stories about their departed and celebrate the lives they had lived....isn't that wonderful?