Half-Cracked T-Shirt

I made two t-shirts for an upcoming talent show. Two kids are doing a comedy act and they named themselves "Half-Cracked Nuts". The text was created using my Cricut and t-shirt iron-on vinyl from Expressions Vinyl. The iron-on vinyl t-shirt stuff was super easy to use. The nut was an .svg file from the Mardenz site that I cut from freezer paper using SCAL. I used matte fabric paint to do the two layers of the peanut. It was pretty easy to do.

Beware of Dogs Vinyl

We had a scare this weekend - some uninvited persons were casing our neighborhood in broad daylight, on a Saturday morning and even played basketball in one of the neighbor's yards when they were gone. I'm sure they were testing the neighborhood to see who would pay attention. Someone noticed but they were gone before the police could come. It made me realize that I needed to make people aware of the fact that we have three dogs...not that they wouldn't know that by ringing the doorbell...but I thought bustin' out the Cricut and using my SCAL would make a nice "BEWARE OF DOGS" notification for my doors.

I'm a WINNER!

I won! The place I buy groceries was having a Gluten-Free (GF) tasting yesterday. This is a BIG deal because this store has started to carry more GF products. I tasted just about everything and fell in love with the Enjoy Life Snickerdoodle cookies. The product demo lady and I talked a lot about her products. I had never tried "Enjoy Life" products before. The best part of the demo was the giveaway -- and I WON!! I got a beautiful New Balance gym bag, and all the products you see inside the bag! YAY!! I never win anything. Thanks Enjoy Life and Good Health Natural Foods!

Dollar Store Plate Makeover

The plate from Dollar Tree, and the chandelier SVG file was free. I cut it with SCAL. I was happy to find out that this design cut perfect the first time!! As a newbie to the Cricut and vinyl, I hate to waste a big chunk of vinyl trying to get my settings right - but this one cut perfect the first time!!

Carrot Treat Boxes

This is how I spent my Easter Sunday afternoon. I used the SVG file from Paper, Scissors, Ink's blog. I did mine a little different. I couldn't get the cone shape thing to work too well without creasing the paper, so I scored lines to make a four-sided carrot. I filled them with jellybeans. Next year I'll plan better and get these done earlier.

$5.00 Cord Cover

I bought this hanging lamp from the thrift store. I loved the damask pattern. The naked electrical cord was just plain ugly, but I didn't want to spend $19.99 for each 9' length of cover at Hobby Lobby even with a 40% coupon. Instead I bought a $5.00 flat sheet from WalMart and cut it into strips. I used permanent fabric glue to make tubes and then fashioned my own cord cover!! The way I see it is that I have an extra $35 to spend on craft stuff now that I saved that much in cord cover!! :)

Thrift Store Hanging Lamp & Wire Wall Art

This is wire wall art that I got at the thrift store. I work very close to one and can go on my lunch "hour" any day of the week. I paid $5.00 for this - it is probably close to 16x20". The wall art hangs in my craft room.

This is a hanging lamp I got at the thrift store. I paid $10 for it. The outside, when the light is off, is white. When the light is on, the damask pattern shows through muted.

Here is a closeup of the inside of the lamp. I need to make a cord cover for it - the plain electrical wire looks ugly. I bought a black, flat sheet at WalMart and I will make a tube and scrunch it over the wire to cover it. The lamp hangs over my computer & Cricut area in my craft room.

Cricut...

Where have I been? It's been nearly a year since I blogged last. I haven't done any "altered art" for quite some time - fulltime job, 3 dogs, and a 4th grader will do that to a person! I bought a Cricut. I'm probably the last person in the country who doesn't have one. I wanted to be able to do home dec. projects. Here are two of my first projects. The wash/brush set is a plain ceramic set I bought at WalMart for $2.00 each. The sprayer is from the $1.00 store and I put "bad dog" on it because I use it on my "puppy" to correct her...which doesn't work so well anymore.

Easter Egg Wreath

This is my try at an Easter Egg Wreath with a tut posted by Cindi at ThisIsMyLife... blog. My wreath dimensions ended up being 13" outside and 8" inside diameter. I used 48 eggs total. The bow was beautiful because Gigi made it for me, but then I messed it up and remade it -- that's why it looks so sad.

Set Me Free...

This is a 6 1/2" x 8" piece I started about 2-3 weeks ago. I got stuck part way through and it's just been sitting on my desk waiting for me to finish. Image from Lisa's Altered Art.

My first Zendala Mandala...

I know these are nothing new. I've been seeing them on some of the blogs I follow so I wanted to give it a try. At last something I can do at work with just a journal and a few pens!

Coat Check Girl

Another piece I got done today. I tried out my Distress Stickles on her scarf. Jury is still out on how much I like them but they worked okay - they dry much flatter then they go on. Replaced her buttons with some neat little sequins I got from CollageStuff. BG is a mish-mash of different papers and then painted, stenciled and stamped on top of. Guessing I'm going to try and get back to work tomorrow... (Girl Image is from Lisa's Altered Art)

Heart String

I'm fighting a really bad cold, so I've been stuck inside and haven't had much energy. Today I decided that I needed some art therapy, so I put this 4"x6" piece together. I tried to do it quickly without thinking too much...I think that's where I get frustrated - oh and looking for stuff I know I have somewhere! I'm also trying to stay away from the brown/sepia colors where my comfort zone is. Have a good day.

Bad Weather = Beautiful Sunsets

We had a cold front come through this a.m. which took out our power and caused a power surge that burned up the phone box attached to our house. We are back w/phone and internet on a temp. line. The wind picked back up this afternoon, just before sunset, and the sky was a gorgeous orange and then spotted this rainbow that had appeared. A beautiful ending to a rather crappy day! BTW--this photo was not photoshopped! It just came out of the camera (Canon PowerShot A560) and I compressed it for my blog.

Swimming

The holidays are over and tomorrow will be back to a full week of work. It seems that my days off always go much quicker than my actual 8 hour work day. I did this piece today. The fish, and shell "hat", are Victorian scrap from CollageStuff. The boy is from Digital Collage Sheets.

"Grateful" '09

My friend Sandee posted about the Creative Everyday Challenge for '09 and also referenced Christine Kane's blog. Christine Kane has a different take on the whole "New Year's Resolution" mindset. Christine theory is to approach the New Year with a one word as the "theme" for the year. Sandee's word for '09 is "release". I decided my word is "grateful". There are lots of things I have to be grateful for going into 2009. One of the most important is taking back my "free" non-working time for ME and my family and not solving the problems of the rest of the world! This is a 4x6 piece I started on New Year's Day reflecting my choice for '09. One of the things I love most about this image is the lack of shoes on the little girl's feet! I hate shoes too!! Happy New Year! Image and wings from Lisa's Altered Art.

If Not Now...When?

Wow! This is my first "art" for many months. I don't know why I didn't start back out with something like an ATC, but I ended up doing a 5"x7" piece. The image is from my personal collection of photographs. I used one of my TH masks that I got from CollageStuff. I could've sworn I'd ordered the "time" mask, but I double-checked my invoice and I hadn't. The border that runs up the left side (vertical) of the piece was done with TH's border mask. The rest of it -- well, what can I say? -- it's a mish-mash of whatever I could think of. My skills are beyond rusty! The idea for the text came from an interview I'd heard on the news about a man who'd written a book called "If Not Now, When?" and I loved the idea of that phrase. It applies to so much in my life right now.

Pink/Orange Altered Journal Spread

This is the last journal that I had to work in for the "We Dream In Color" altered journal RR. I've been holding this for about 5 weeks and need to get it back to Megan. I hope she likes it! Megan's color theme was pink & orange. This is the first real art of any kind that I've done since the summer.

INBOX Sign

This is my only artistic creation in well over a month. It's a sign I made for my office at work (5"x7"). Everyone else used a marker on a 3x5 index card but I had to make mine glittery!! I broke down and used a piece of flocked vintage wallpaper that I'd gotten from Donna at Under The Red Roof. I have two packages of different styles, but they are so beautiful that I haven't wanted to use them for any projects for fear of messing them up. The letters came pre-glittered (silver) and then I attached various trims. The single strand of silver sequin trim at the top of the sign was a find at a thrift store---probably near 10 yards of the stuff all wound on a giant spool---for $4.75! Now that I'm settling into a routine with work and school, hopefully I'll start getting my creativity back on the weekends. I even bought some black and silver glitter at WM today!! :)

Goodbye, Friend!

(click on photo to read)

Goodbye, Friend! You were always there for me. For the past 19+ months, I know that you were the ones I could always count on...through good days and bad days. Now, when I get dressed for work in slips, and pantyhose, skirts, blouses and dress shoes, it is you - dear yoga pants - that I will miss the most (and my beloved Crocs too). We'll only have weekends from now on, but I will cherish our fond memories.