NEWBIE PARTY HERE!! WITH HELLO KITTY!!

Hello friends!!  I'm so excited you came to hang out with me and my BFF Hello Kitty!!  We are rockin' it today, for Debbie Doos newbie party!!  We were SOOOOO lucky to meet Debbie!  She is a super star for new blogs everywhere!!  So, if you are partying today, be sure to start with Debbie's blog!

As for my party, I'm going to tell you all how much I LOVE Hello Kitty!!  I've loved her since 1977.  I have a HUGE collection of Hello Kitty stuff, but since I've only been in the new house for like 6? weeks, the studio is not even CLOSE to being done.  And my collection is in pretty hot pink plastic totes.  Safe from water, and whatever gross stuff could possibly get to it.  But, I have a few Hello Kitty's inside, just hangin' out with me.  So, today, I am showing off just a very, VERY small sampling of my stuff.

This is Hello Kitty riding a scooter.  She is remote controlled!!  She also yells "wooo hooo". Awesome!

This is a very cool garbage can that I've had for a very long time.  Sorry about the glare!

This is 50th anniversary Hello Kitty!!  She is how old?  A kitty never tells her real age!!

And remember, that is just the beginning!  When I get my stuff back out, we will have a tea party with my Hello Kitty tea set!!

I am a fan of Hello Kitty's on facebook!  I "like" her page!  And, I sent her an invite to like mine too!!  I will keep you all posted if she does!!

Thanks for visiting us!!  Go visit the other newbies!  They are awesome!!

AN EXCITING PINK SATURDAY!!!

Hello all!!  Thank you for visiting!!  Today is my first Pink Saturday at How Sweet the Sound!!  Beverly is the lovely hostess of this awesome party!  If you love pink as I do, you HAVE to click the link and start there!  There are some amazing ladies there, showing off their pink!!

And since I have been very fortunate in my new blog life, I am being featured on Marilou's blog "Lulu's Lovlies" today too!  Why, you ask???  Because she is awesome, and I got published as you may have seen earlier on my blog!  AND, since my published work is PINK, it is a win-win situation!!

SO, here are just 2 of my "Pink Christmas" tags that were published by Altered Arts Magazine.  They love pink too, I think!

Thanks for visiting!! And a very special thank you to Marilou!!  You are awesome!!

DID YOU KNOW....

That I am in the current issue of Altered Arts Magazine?  Yes!!  The winter issue came out in January, but until I got my blog up, I had no way of showing you!!  I submitted 4 Pink Christmas Tags, and they are in this issue!!  I think they are gorgeous.  And I guess, they did too!!

I am so proud of my tags!!  I LOVE making tags in the firs place, don't know why.  Just fun to make, like ATC's.  And I was like WHAT/???? when they wrote to me, saying they wanted to publish them!!  I had to give my supply lists, which all included similar things, ephemera, book paper, ink, stamps, ribbons and embellishments to name a few.  But I also had to write instructions, which I wrote like a little story, and that is there too!!  4 PAGES!!!  Awesome!!

And, that's my story for today.  I am in the middle of 47 things, hopefully I can finish one of them soon to share!   Thanks for stopping by!!

NEWBIE MONDAY AT DEBBIE-DOOS!!

Monday is Debbie's newbie party!!  She is so sweet!!  She had this fabulous idea, to have a linky party for people who are new to bloging!!  You have to be bloging 6 months or less, and/or have less than 100 followers.  Perfect way to meet other blogers who are new, and looking to meet other newbies !!  This week will be my second party!!  Here's a picture of Debbie, isn't she adorable???

SO,  for today's party I wanted to show you this "altered", "mixed media" type piece.  I bought 2 awful rectangular canvas paintings, with this very interesting frame.  The frame, I thought, was fabulous!  So, what to do about the painting?  Cover it of course!!  I wanted to do something with my grandmothers antique doilies for a long time, and now I had a plan!  I started by using gesso and covering the odd fruit on the canvas, then added some old sheet music for fun

Looking good so far!!!

Just wanted to show you the pretty corners of my frame.  The whole reason I spent $2.00 for it!!

And, after that fabulous beginning, I added my ONLY UNPACKED PAINT, yellow.  More layers of patterned papers and paint, adding matte gel medium to the mix too, I finally got a background I could be proud to show!

Then, I cut some roses out of some patterned paper and using gel medium, attached them to the canvas too.

After this dried, I planned out where I would put my doilies.  I then painted on some glue, so it would be a thin layer on the canvas, but sturdy enough to hold my doilies on there for a very long time!  I placed them as evenly as I could.  The 2 outer doilies are the same, and the one in the middle was a bit smaller.  Here is my finished product!

I hope you love it as much as I do!  I am proudly displaying this above my foyer table that I showed briefly last week.  It is my goal to have it totally decorated this week!!

So, go off to Debbies, and click on all the links that inspire you, or make you want to see more!  I bet you click on them all!!  There are some really fabulous ladies there, with wonderful things to show off!!

Thanks so much for visiting!! 

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HAVE YOU HEARD...

Of the BLOG GUIDEBOOK? They are the premier blogging resource which offers a free listing to all bloggers!  They advertise for your blog for FREE, or, for a small fee, you can have your blog listed in 3 different categories.  Such an awesome place for bloggers.  You can get "How To's", or "classes".  You can find resources, and you can find out about linky parties too!  I only just learned about linky parties, and they are a blast!

If there is anything about blogging you need to know, the Blog Guidebook will have the answer!  Go check them out!!  I did!

Happy Blogging!!

JUST FLOWERS

Good day to you all!  I hope everyone had a fabulous Valentines Day!

I wish I had something charming to say, or something wonderful to show you, but no.  Not yet at least!

So all I have is "Just Flowers".  I got these on Valentines Day.  A mixed bouquet of beautiful flowers!!  Daisys, lillys, carnations, baby's breath. And these gorgeous leaves!  Long waxy green leaves, very shiny and beautiful.

Do you see the awesome squiggly things coming out the top?  They are so pretty.  I use them  on my Christmas tree.

Do any of you have pretty pictures of your flowers?  From Valentines Day or any day!  I guess you can all tell I am so anxious for spring it's unbelievable.  We are all getting cabin fever in my house!!

And, if anyone is looking for something fabulous to read, Debbie doos is having her "Tuesday Coffee Talk" series today.  Her guest is Amy from Mod Podge Rocks!!  Awesome totally, go check them both out!  You will not be disappointed!  These ladies really understand what it's like to be a "newbie" to this huge blog world.  And their tips are invaluable!!

See you again Friday!  I hope I have something charming for you then!  Tomorrow, I will be hopping to all of my blog friends, so I will check you all out then!

LOVE STORY ANYONE????

Hello All!  Welcome to my love story!  You should have arrived here from  Karen's blog, since it is her linky party!!  She is our host for this "Share your Love Story" party!  And, I think, since it is Valentines Day, it is a perfect party!!  Karen designed my blog, and I think she is awesome!!  But, enough of my love story with Karen.  Lets move on to my actual love story!

My story begins in High School.  Yes, I married my high school sweetheart!  And, I have been married to him for 20 years this September.  It has been an amazing 20 year whirlwind.  We laughed much more than we cried, we loved more than we thought would ever be possible, and we are happy and content.  That is true love.

He really is a special man, for so many reasons.  But, I'm only going to share these few.

He buys me sushi just because, and he supports my Hello Kitty habit, and my love of expensive purses.

He told me once that he rushes home every day, just to see me.  I said "really?"  He said "yes.  even if you are bad, or....especially when your bad!"  Now, I have to explain.  When he says "bad", he means stuff like, "um.  I spent all of my money on art supplies", or "guess what?  I repainted the living room!!".  Perhaps even "I went out to the "junque" stores today, and I bought all new vintage furniture!".  That is what he's talking about.  And, these little "bad" things that I do actually amuse him, bring a smile to his face, not anger.  So I hear, a lot of men would be really mad about these things, but not mine.  I am very lucky.

Then, we had children.  2 boys, Large is 14 and Small is 11.  That is when we knew that kind of love that you only feel when you are holding this beautiful miracle.  And my boys are just like their father when it comes to me.  They say I am the "princess", because I am the only girl.  Even the dog and cat are boys!!  So, they were raised with a father who is so good to me, so they are just as good to me.  They never forget to kiss me goodnight, or tell me they love me every single day, no matter who is there, or where they are.  When I am "bad" and do crazy things, their favorite thing to say is "Oh Mama!", like it's OK.  We expected it!  And it's fine!  And yes, they actually call me Mama.

My men this past Christmas

Me and my love

And there it is.  That's my story, and I'm stickin' to it!

Thanks for visiting!  I can't wait to read your love stories!!

SUNDAY SHOWCASE PARTY AT UNDER THE TABLE AND DREAMING!!!

Hello!!  And welcome to my first blog party!!  It is Sunday Showcase Party at Under the table and Dreaming, by Stephanie Lynn.  As this is my first party, I got the rules a bit wrong, but since it's my first party, I hope everyone will forgive me!!  The party rules are as such:

*Party is open to any project you've made or created
and would like to showcase this week!
*Please do not link to Etsy shops or selling sites directly
*Link to your actual post title, not your blog homepage
*Please add the party button to your post {code above} or a link back to the party so others can be inspired to join in the fun
*Mingle, Visit Some Links, and Leave Some Comments

SO,  my  item for today is not one that I've created.  It is one I received from my husband as an early Valentines Day gift.  You see, I love Tarina Tarantino, so my husband bought me one of my favorite things!!  A "Pink Head" bracelet!!  Pink Heads are Hello Kitty with fuchsia hair!  Tarina has fuchsia hair, and Sanrio  (the makers of Hello Kitty) asked her to make a line using her!!  How awesome is that???  What's even cooler is that he bought me a bracelet!  Here it is:

OK!  These aren't the best pictures, but I was so excited to join the party!!  If you click on Tarina's link above, you can see her whole pink head collection.  Isn't my husband awesome???  I think so!!

The doilies in the first picture are handmade by my grandmother.  I am searching for something to make using them.  If anyone has any ideas, please let me know!!

Thanks so very much for letting me join in this party!!  I promise to "make" something for next week!!

I can't wait to start checking out what all of you have made!

2 PAGES AND 16 TOTES

I'm back again!!  I said I'd show some FINISHED pages today, and believe it or not, IT"S TRUE!!!

I never thought I'd get these 2 pages done!!

I've told you all about my house looking like a crime scene.  It is madness, boxes, bags, furniture, junk EVERYWHERE!!  But, I put all of my art supplies in totes, not boxes.  Heaven forbid they got wet!!!  And, I numbered every tote too.  I have 16 huge  plastic totes filled with art supplies.  And, they are in the middle of this madness.  So, I am like on :"art survivor" or something. I have to dig, move junk, try to carry stuff, which I can't do in the first place, and just use what I find.  In the 2 pages I've made, you will see yellow paint.  Why on both pages?  BECAUSE IT WAS THE ONLY PAINT I COULD FIND!!.  I also used other random things that I found.  It is madness!!

So, first, I want to show you the Art Journal Everyday page.  I am most excited about this page because I made my very first collage person!  I got a copy of "Womens Health" magazine yesterday.  Really??  Anyway, I was able to get the legs, feet and one hand from there, and the torso and head is from a collage sheet I bought from Artchix Studio (who are awesome by the way).  I think it is cool!!

close up of collage!

The second page is my page for A Year in the Life of an Art Journal.  The prompt is "Time".  The Challenge element is "Numbers".  The song is "Butterflies and Hurricanes" by Muse.  I like that song, so I wrote some of the lyrics on my yellow page.  I also used some inks that I found.  And, how perfect is this, I actually found a  clock stamp!!  The wings on the clock came from Artchix Studio as well. 

So that is it for me today!!  Remember, Monday is Valentines day!!  I'm doing a "Love Story" linky party then, hosted by Karen at My Desert Cottage.  There is still time to join!

Have a fabulous weekend!!

SQUIRRELS AND ART JOURNALS!!

Hello to all!!  Hope the weather where you are is warmer than here!!  -1  is a bit much, don't you think?

Although it is cold, the poor squirrels are out.  If any of you remember from my other blog Scrappy Arts N Thoughts , I used to have a little forest in my back yard.  So, I was so sad to move and leave it!!  Even though I have far more property in my new house, I didn't think I'd have my little squirrels anymore.  But today!  They came home!!!  OK.  Maybe they aren't the SAME squirrels, but they are squirrels, and there were 3 of them today right on my back deck.  Here's some pics...

Aren't they adorable???

NOW, on to the Art Journal!!

My friend Marit, who is an AMAZING art journaler, posted the other day about a really wonderful blog Balzer Designs.  It is the official blog for Julie Fei-Fan Balzer. who is awesome!!  And one of the things you can see on her blog is "Art Journal Everyday".  It is here that you will find the coolest thing!!  I'm always making excuses for why I don't have time to create.  The dog ate my homework, the kids are fighting and I have to go break it up, the cat stole my paint,........on and on my excuses go.  Awful.  So Julie has issued a challenge, of sorts to me.  The concept of only 10 minutes a day is always available.  ???  But, but....all of my excuses.????  She is right.  10 minutes.  Everyday.  10 minutes.

So, I really do have a real excuse, I just moved into my new house 10 days ago.  I am trying to "work" with NO SUPPLIES!!!  But I am doing it!!!  I said I would when A Year in the Life of an Art Journal put up their first prompt, and I had to use my 11 year old's school supplies, and I will do this now!!!

These are my first pics.  Julie divided it into 5 categories, and I picked painty.  I did the first 3 of 5 "instructions"  which are to prepare the surface (gesso) and paint with a credit card.  Then, scratch something in with a toothpick 

This is the spread.

Can you see the scratched in words?

Can you see the skeleton????

So, I scratched around the skeleton that was the page to begin with, before I painted on it, and I scratched the words "Inside of Me" on the other side.  I am really happy with how this is turning out!!

I will show you the finished project on Friday!!  Until then, have a fabulous day!

FACEBOOK? FOR REAL??

Hello!!

IF YOU ARE HERE FOR THE FABULOUS DEBBIE'S "NEWBIE" PARTY, YOU ARE IN THE RIGHT PLACE!!



SO, I'VE LINKED TO THIS POST, FIRST TO COMPLAIN ABOUT HOW HARD IT IS TO BE A NEWBIE!!  AND, BECAUSE I WANTED TO SHOW YOU ALL THAT I AM UNPACKING, AND TRYING TO DECORATE!!

THANKS FOR VISITING!  I HOPE YOU COME BACK!!  IF YOU FRIEND ME, I WILL DEFINATELY FRIEND YOU!  IF YOU "LIKE" MY FAN PAGE, I WILL LIKE YOU BACK ON FACEBOOK!!

SO......
Have you seen the "facebook" badge on the left side of my blog?  That is right!!  You aren't seeing things!!  I made a facebook page!!  BUT, as usual, nothing is easy, and it always turns into a fiasco!  Wanna hear about it??

OK.  So, my blog designer, the fabulous Karen, talked me through making my page.  It was supposed to be a facebook "fan" page only.  But, I am a facebook dork.  I started asking people to be my friend, instead of asking them to "like" my fan page!  And, I couldn't figure out 20 other things, so I talk to my pal Christi (who you can find at facebook "Christi Hubbart", and of course, IDK how to give you a link to her page).  She gives me some help, and I move on.  I talk to a pal from Scotland, Helen, and she helps me with getting my blog to my fan page. But, now I don't know how to get to my friend Alison's "network blogs" thing!!!  And, in the end, I have a facebook page, and FAN PAGE!!!  So, if you are interested, just click on that badge I told you about on the left, and "Like" me!!  Because I {heart} all of you!!!

SO, after spending the last 4 days working on something that literally took my 14 year old son 5 minutes to do, I also had to try to make my house look more like a home, rather than something a tornado hit.  I got a bunch accomplished, but it's far from done.  I took a picture of my foyer to show you all!! 

I know, there is a box in the picture.  That is just proof, that I am actively unpacking!!

Here is a picture of my sign above the front door.

This is my antique table, that I got a few years back.  I stripped off the old paint, sanded it, had my husband do the hard stuff (making everything sturdy and adding the shelf at the bottom) then I stained and painted it, and I peeled some of the paint while it was drying, to get that old look.  It was broken, and painted an odd shade of green when I got it. 

And, that's all for today.  Why am I always such a menace!!! 

Have any of you had this much trouble with facebook?

A YEAR IN THE LIFE OF AN ART JOURNAL

A Year in the Life of an Art Journal is a blog, that I've been following since last year.  It is an art journaling blog, where Rachel, the owner of the site, gives us 2 prompts per month, and we do with it what we want.  She also has a bunch of guest designers, who are awesome!!  This year the prompts are given in 3 parts, the prompt, a song, and a product or technique to try.  The first prompt is:

• starting NOW
•  Waiting on the World to Change by John Mayer
• Foot photo

Now, I have to explain some things before showing you what I came up with!!

As you all know, I moved.  I've only been officially moved in for 4 days!!  I packed my art supplies first, because I KNEW, that if I didn't, I would make stuff instead of pack! 

SO.  The first of the year comes, and with it comes the email from A year in the life of an art journal, talking about getting your journal ready.  I  read it, I am jealous.  I packed everything.  I pout about it for a little bit, and, with a sigh, I went back to my packing.

Then, 2 weeks later, I get the next email, which explained the prompt above.  Now, I am angry!  I don't want to wait to unpack (which will not happen until fall), I want to get to work now!  I don't want to be behind!  What do I do????

I go into the boys room.  There HAS to be something in there!!  And there was!!  There was a spiral bound book, with white cardstock weight pages in it, a box of markers, and some random paper from a previous book report.  But, the big item I found was some water colors!!  A strip of watercolors, that children use to paint with.  JACKPOT!!

Now, I felt like this was going to be a challenge!!  And, I liked it!!  I was ready to spend, just a little time a day, for  couple of days and get this done!!

I used the paints first, some on the white pages, some over the papers I put on the page.  I also made a little envelope type thing, that I tied with some rope. Then, I used the paint brush and water to sprinkle some on the water colors so they would run.  Inside, I wrote the things that I want NOW!  And I wrote the word I have for the year.  Last year was positive thinking.  This year it's patience.  I am not patient.  I want everything done NOW.  I don't want to wait for anything.  I'm in a hurry to get somewhere, I'm always trying to get projects done before they are due.  This is bad for me and for everyone.  So, when things are going too slow for me, I have to take a deep breath, and be patient!  Anywho, here is my offering.

Sorry so long, and rambling!  If you are a frequent visitor of my blog you will know, that's just how I roll!!

This page has been on my gallery blog as well, but I wanted to share my crazy story, and post about it too.

Have a fabulous day!!!

HELLO!!

If you are here from Scrappy-arts-n-thoughts, you are in the right place!!

What is UP!  I am so excited to be writing my first post for my new blog!! Totally awesome.  My blog designer, and new friend,       Karen  Valentine, is amazing!!  Click on her name to see her custom blog design blog.  Believe me, you have to see what  she can do.  But, she also has a personal blog, My Desert Cottage, which you can visit on my left sidebar blog roll.  Her work, and her home are a delight.  So check it out!!  This blog has so many new features for me to use and try and load and there is much to be done on my part.  Karen set it all  up the way I wanted it, and I have to carve out little bits of time each day to fill it in.  The about me is done (for now), and the gallery has like 3 things only, but I'm workin' on it!!  AND, you can grab my new badge on the left of the blog, just copy and paste the code!  How rad is that?????

SO, I am so backward, I don't know where to start!!  We realized late last year that we needed more space, and went on a house hunt.  Not the best time of year, but we thought we were just looking.  We put our house on the market, and began looking for a new one.  Assumed that it would take forever to  sell our house, but no!  Sold in like a week!  So now what the hell am I supposed to do?  Now, in the dead of winter, in the middle of snow, I'm looking for somewhere to live.  Long story short, between packing, changing the kids schools, all the utilities and mail, it has been ridiculous.  Unbelievable.  But, we are here now, in our new house and it is great, except I am living in a madhouse of boxes!  Holy crow, it will take me 10 years to unpack.  But, for now, I will make do!  I think the unpacking is the fun part!!

So, stay tuned!  I'll be back !!