I have been wanting to hand paint rocks forever, especially now, with my new word~ Thrive. Plus, I had the idea to have a word-rock to hold and focus on when I’m feeling a little less than present.

I used acrylic artist’s ink. My ink is a bit old and sorta chunky making it difficult to work with. I need to get more, because I love using it. I still have to brush some clear varnish over these to protect them.

I love how they look in my wooden thrift store bowl (that usually keeps my garlic and onions). I might have to start looking for another wooden bowl to house my bulb vegetables.  A collection like this would be awesome, yes? I sanded my bowl just a tad, then rubbed it with oil when I first bought it. It is one of my most treasured thrifted finds.

P.S. Don’t forget to sign the petition to vote NO against SOPA/PIPA .  Learn more about it HERE!!!

Indoor plant markers of all the grandkids for my mom.

Cranberry Shrub for our friends. Shrub is a sweet vinegar syrup that you mix with seltzer water and sometimes vodka, if you like.  I’ve made it before and I make it every year for our friends.  It’s a big hit.

Recipe:
Combine 1 cup cranberries, 1-2 inches coarsely chopped and peeled ginger in sauce pan with 2 cups apple cider vinegar. Bring to boil and then pour everything into glass bowl with lid. Allow to sit for at least 24 hours. Next day, strain mixture into saucepan with 1 1/2 cups sugar, juice and zest of one lemon and 1 orange. Bring to boil then simmer for 5 minutes. Allow to cool and pour into bottle.

This can be made using cherries or rhubarb (without ginger) instead of cranberries. I’m trying cherries the next time they are in season~yum!

I also made hand warmers, photo note cards, a little bit of jewelry and a lot of baked goods.

Now, I’m off to work on my word of the year!

All I have to say is…

it was a glittery blizzard over here

and I LOVE them.

Happy Friday!!

Well, I’ve already shown you the wonderful gifts I received from the very lovely Tif, whom I was extremely lucky to be paired up with, for the Mousy Brown swap (thanks Em!!).  Now I get to show you what I made for her…

A little paper clay mouse, two magnets (cupcake and coffee) and a  small hand-painted dish with some postcards and a knitted flower brooch (that I forgot to take a picture of).

It seems that it was very well received, which is so good to here.  You can see all her little gifts being put to good use HERE over at her blog.

I pulled out my plain black t-shirt the other day and decided it needed some kind of pizazz.  So, since I’ve had my sewing machine out from making costumes, I thought I’d have some fun with pretty scraps of fabric and some free motion sewing.

First thing that came to my head was a sugar skull, which is what’s in my mind this time of the year. I’ve been seeing so many fun DOTD things over on Pinterest that I couldn’t help myself.

Check out this pretty face, awesome painting, this sugar skull cookie (YUM!), fun skull eggs,  pretty hair thingy, this bead and cool filigree skull.

I am completely fascinated with Day of the Dead (Dia de los Muertos).  The All Souls Procession,  here in Tucson, Az , is one of the most amazing things about Tucson.  It’s a really amazing event.  I went last year, despite an aching back and was so glad I went!

I made these Day of the Dead Calavera (skull) planters. I thought the plants would make great hair or fancy hats.  Sugar skulls, and other decorated skull like things, are given to the living and the dead.  It is similar to giving valentine’s as a way to say, “I love you forever”. I thought these would make great decor for a DOTD party or given to friends/family as gifts to celebrate life.

Here’s what you’ll need:

Now here is what you do:

1.  Thin out some white paint with water and so a white wash over the pots. Dry.

2.  Sketch out your skull face, then fill in with black paint. Leave as is, or go to the next step.

3.  Add colorful designs and use a black paint or a black marker to add swirly curly cues.

4. Pot your plants. I used succulents, but marigolds would be great too.  Marigolds are also known as Flor de Muerto (“Flower of the Dead”) which are thought to attract souls of the dead to the offerings (or altars).

I’m not a huge fan of making my own jewelry, but I do it because I love beads and because I can, if needed.  I have found that I am easily frustrated with small objects and using my fine motor skills.  Plus, my eyes just aren’t the same as they used to be. *Sigh*. So, once or twice every other month, I pull out my bead collection and try to make something, usually a gift. I have beads from 4 years ago that still are waiting to be used.

I do like to make simple beaded earrings for friends and myself to wear at work. Often I am told, “You should sell these”. I think to myself, “Man, if I had a dollar for every time I was told that, I’d be a millionaire already!”  But, it doesn’t really work like that does it?  All you crafty/artsy folk know about that, don’t you?

Yesterday started the birthday season for my friends and family. At least 9 birthday in the next 30 days that I can think of. That means gift making and quickly getting behind on Halloween crafts/costumes and Holiday gift lists.  Well, I shall do the best I can and thank goodness for Etsy and other awesome jewelry shops, because I’ll be visiting often for gifts.

I made a new art journal to paint portraits and use some of my new stamps in. It’s made from red rosin paper which I’ve used before here, here & here.  It comes from the hardware store in a humongous 500ft roll for around $12.  Mostly I use it to protect my table and floor when I’m being messy, but it’s even more fun to paint on and use it as canvas.

I cut eight big sheets of it, 18×10 inches, and folded them in half to make a booklet of 32 front and back pages.   Each sheet was painted with a thin layer of gesso, with more colorful layers of acrylic paint added on top, for strength and durability.  Then I used the Coptic stitch to bind all the pages together.

Now, I have loads of pages ready to go when I want to practice painting more faces and people.  It’s much less pressure to practice in a journal, than on a fresh canvas or wood panel.

Books & Journals :: ECO Books :: re-bound

I also picked up some books at the library for more journal making inspiration.  Fun, fun!

I’ve been spending some time over the last few days doing a little carving. Mostly, I’ve been trying to make stamps to add texture and patterns to my art journals.

Since I haven’t carved or stamped in a while, my ink pads are a bit dry.   I may have to try acrylic paint instead. I don’t think I have ever used paint with my stamps before.

Here they all are, some new and some old.

I was inspired by Robayre‘s and Matirose‘s collection and wanted to share my collection (and quickly growing obsession) with rings.  None of these are really fancy or expensive, they are just from my fun and fabulous collection.

Most of them I have made with old buttons (clay and wood too) and some are vintage costume jewelry given to me by my grandfather (he liked to pick up sparkly things at yard sales, for his granddaughters).

I use E-6000 adhesive to glue buttons on to ring blanks.  It works pretty well. I usually take off my rings if I’m going to have my hands in water for an extended period.