For One Moment - Little Snippets of my Life and Art...

What's on Your Workdesk Wednesday? As always I'm running late posting my workdesk, but a busy day at work and then I had errands to run  which kept me away from my desk until late this evening. Once I finally had a chance to sit down I dug out my acrylics to work a bit more in my art journal.   My daughter brought me a snack of popcorn and I had to be careful not to eat my brushes or try and wash them out in the popcorn cup. If you look close on the right side you can see Momma Cat.   She thought I needed supervision and it was all I could do to keep her from walking through the wet paint! ...then when I wasn't paying close attention my other black cat, Sneakers, walked right through my little puddle of black paint.   Now THAT was fun trying to get it all off of his paws.   He wasn't too happy with me after that! and here's a little close-up of the journal page that I'm working on. Stamps are by Stamp Camp .   ...

What's on Your Workdesk Wednesday? A clean desk that's what!! As usual I'm a bit late linking up...but at least I made it!! If you want to see what everyone is up to for What's on Your Workdesk Wednesday , be sure and hop on over to  Julia's Stamping Ground and take a peek at everyone's desks.  Not much art going on this week, but I did manage to clean my desk, so I can mess it up again! ...and I have a new little stash of goodies that I picked up at the Scrapbook Expo in Orlando this past weekend. ...a little bit of bling ...some neat chipboard laser cuts by Petticoat Parlor . I can't wait to use these!!  Aren't they cute!!! I'm off to post this and see what everyone else has been up to! Have an Artful Day everyone and thanks for stopping by my little corner of the world! Anna

What's on Your Workdesk Wednesday? A MESS...that's what!!! My stencil cutter is still on my desk cause I'm planning to do some more stencils...just haven't had the time yet. There's also a couple of stamps and cute little bird shaped wood album from Genuinely Janes  that I won from couple of blog hops. Baby wipes, Copics, Brushes and more...now to clean the mess and put some of it away so I actually have room to mess it up again! I'm a bit late linking up today...but if you want to see what everyone is up to for What's on Your Workdesk Wednesday , be sure and stop on over at Julia's Stamping Ground and take a peek at everyone's desks. Have an Artful Day! Anna

Mixed Media Monday April Creative Dare The April Creative Dare for Mixed Media Mondays was to think of FIVE WORDS describing what your life means.  Your purpose!  What FIVE WORDS encompass what you want to be remembered for?   It was so hard to pick five words that would be all encompassing of what I wanted to be remembered for...because each time I would decide on one, it seemed so trite and superficial. Finally I gave in and picked the ones that I hope best describes me...and I hope that my family and friends see these qualities in me.   ...as I'm fighting a nasty cold and just didn't have the energy to dig out my paints, inks or pencils, I decided to take a different route for this month's Mixed Media Monday's Creative Dare.  I started with a scanned Gelli print Ghost print/ cleanup paper.  I liked the colors and the texture and thought it would be perfect for what I was envisioning. I first downloaded it to my iPad and usi...

What's on Your Workdesk Wednesday? ...as for mine, I took a bit of time to paint earlier this week and the remnants of that are still sitting on my desk.  I've been taking a free class from Kat McBride called Let's Paint Fabulous Faces! and I finally got all the right paints and brushes for the class and had the time to actually try my hand at it.   I want to be able to add little faces into my journaling and art and I'm hoping that with a bit a practice I'll at least get  faster  at painting, as it took me forever to get this far.  I like how she looks so far though...so I know it is just a matter of practice, practice and more practice! My son brought home his prom pictures yesterday and they are sitting there waiting for me to divide them up so he can give part of them to his girlfriend. ...and there is also a lovely postcard from a friend in a postcard exchange group that I belong to that came in the mail yesterday.  It has a wonderful litt...

What's on Your Workdesk Wednesday? Didn't have the time this week to pull out paint or inks and play, but I did pull out the of my heat emboss-able film and my woodburner/stencil cutter and cut a few stencils to use with my Gelli Plate and sprays. I printed out some shapes and dug out a piece of glass from a picture frame. I used the page with all the circles as a template to cut some lumpy odd shaped circles which was really what I was wanting. I cut a joyful silhouette and some other shapes that you can't see in the pictures. I was really pleased with how they turned out once I got the hang of it and can't wait to try them out! I may go back and try to make another stencil and cut them as perfect circles.   We will see just how ambitious I get! Be sure and stop on over at  Julia's Stamping Ground   for  What's on Your Workdesk Wednesday  and check out what everyone has been up to.  I'm headed over th...

What's on Your Workdesk Wednesday? As usual I am running late in the day posting my  WOYWW !! Crazy busy day with 3 different doctor and dentist appointments for kids,  plus working at my day job for me. Be sure and stop on over at Julia's Stamping Ground for What's on Your Workdesk Wednesday and check out all the fun of having a peek at what is on everyone's work desk! Here is what is sitting on mine tonight. I had to take my daughter to the dentist this afternoon,  so while I was waiting I pulled out my Gelatos and journal. I'm taking Kat McBride's "Let's Paint! Fabulous Faces" and wanted to see what I could  do with just what I had on hand at the time. I started with a page that had a bit of yellow acrylic  where I had cleaned my brush when I was working on another project. I finger blended the hair and face and set in the lips all with my fingers. I used some Pitt pens and Big Brush pens to start the eyes.  ...

Saturday Morning Gelli Time! Took some time this morning to play with my Gelli Plate by Gelli Arts .  Boy was that fun!  Time slipped away as I layered paint and pulled print after print from the plate. I had started out the morning with a headache...and somewhere along the way I realized it was gone!  Gelli Printing worked better than a pain pill!! Here are just a few of the prints I pulled.  I played in all kinds of colors...but I did realize I need to make or buy a lot more stencils.  You'll notice a few Eiffel Tower and pig prints in the mix.  My youngest daughter loves purple, pigs and the Eiffel Tower, so we have decided to do some artwork and to write a children's book with illustrations called Purple Pig in Paris.  I cut the pig stencil and the Eiffel Tower stencil and these are my first attempts at putting them together...still have some more stencils to cut and planning to do before we do the final prints. Just another sho...

What's on Your Workdesk Wednesday? Whew! I I almost forgot WOYWW !! Crazy busy week with little time to sit at my art desk, but I did manage to pull out my new Gelli Plate from Gelli Arts and throw down some paint one evening.  The papers were still laying on my desk where I had spread them out to look at them after they dried.  Can't wait to dig out the Gelli Plate and play again soon! I'm posting this over at Julia's Stamping Ground for What's on Your Workdesk Wednesday. Everyone has been posting pictures of their art desks and let me tell you, it is so much fun to have a peek at what everyone else is working on!  You should check it out and play along!

 Tattered Florals Necklace Back in February... Tim Holtz posted a  Tattered Florals Challenge  on his blog and offered up some awesome prizes to five lucky winners.   I chose to make a necklace for a lovely friend who had a birthday this week and now that I've given it to her, I can post it on my blog. ...and here's a couple of close up shots. I cut my Tattered Floral parts from upholstery fabric samples using the Tattered Florals Die and the largest two rounded petal flowers. I cut several of each layer and dyed them, along with the Crinkle Ribbon, with  Picked Raspberry and Peacock Feathers  Distress Inks, as well as Spiced Marmalade and Peeled Paint Distress Stains.  I put the Stains and Inks on my non-stick craft mat and misted them with water and rubbed the parts through the inks. I scrunched them and dried them with a heat gun until they were almost dry. Then I used a Long Fastener and layered up the flower parts along with a flow...

What a Wonderful World This canvas was created for Tracy Weinzapfel's Mixed Media Mondays  March Creative Dare . The challenge is to create a piece of artwork illustrating one of your favorite song AND to incorporate a button. I took a day off of work today and spent a good portion of it at my art desk playing in my paints and working on my canvas. One of my favorite songs is "What a Wonderful World" by Louis Armstrong.  I am always in awe of this wonderful and beautiful world we live in, so that is the song I picked,  ....and f or the button portion of the challenge I used little tiny red buttons for the roses. I'm thinking I should have used some modeling paste  or artist cement  to build up texture in my tree.  Oh well, I'm not going back to rework it. It really was a challenge to photograph once I finished, because I added just a tiny bit of Perfect Pearls  and even though it looks great in person,  it doesn't tr...

Liebster Award - Thanks Lori! Lori at Lori's Happy Place nominated me for a Liebster award a couple of weeks ago. At that time I was super busy and not feeling so great, so I put this post on the back burner until I could get it posted and nominate some of my favorite little blogs! What is a Liebster? Here's some information - THE AWARD This award was designed to be a blog award in the pay it forward fashion. Once you've been nominated, you award it to blogs that you like that have fewer than 200 followers, to encourage new visitors to visit these new blogs. ACCEPTANCE Thank the person who gave you the award and link back to their blog, post the award onto your blog, give the award to five bloggers who you appreciate that have fewer than 200 followers, and leave a comment on their blog to let them know that you have given them the Liebster Award! So I want to say Thank You so MUCH to Lori at Lori's Happy Place who nominat...

What's on Your Workdesk Wednesday? Good morning everyone!!  I'm up and at it, getting kids off to school.  I can't believe that it's been a full week since I sat down at my desk...but it's been a busy (and rough) week and I've been productive in other ways. I actually spent some time at my desk last night playing with DecoArt Americana paints and a canvas. It was very relaxing and I even remembered to snap a picture to post over at Julia's Stamping Ground for What's on Your Workdesk Wednesday?   You should check it out and play along! I do have to say it was a bit of a challenge though, as both of my Quality Control Officers, Sneakers and Momma, kept walking across my desk to check on my progress.  Luckily I managed to keep them from putting little cat footprints on my canvas. I have something in mind for Tracy Weinzapfel's Mixed Media March Creative Dare and I'm hoping that I can translate my vision to canvas.  So f...

What's on Your Workdesk Wednesday? Really not doing a lot creatively yet this week, as I really haven't had the time.  BUT, I have been doing a bit of what I call busy work, and have been cutting out tons of die cuts to add to my stash.  I like having a bunch cut out and ready to go when I need them.  I can do a few at a time and then come back later and do some more. I was busy getting things done this evening when I remembered that I needed to take a picture for WOYWW (What's on Your Workdesk Wednesday), so I grabbed a quick shot.   I think I've got a pretty good stash cut out now and it's time to clean up my desk so I can inky! I've finished my March Tag for the 12 Tags of  2013 and you can see it still sitting on my desk on the right at the back...and now I need to get my Tattered Florals challenge done.    I know what I want to do...just need to get it done!!   I also need to get hopping on my March Challenge for Tracy Wein...

March When Tim posted his March tag for the 12 Tags of  2013  I knew I was going to have to do some major improvising because although I have a lot of Tim Holtz products in my stash, the only things I had this time was the Foliage and Memo Pins.   It took me a few days to wrap my head around it... but in the end I'm really happy with how my tag turned out  and it was nice to have some creative time at my art desk. Thanks for stopping in and feel free to leave me a comment and let you me know you stopped by! Anna I didn't have the Fringe Die so I  cut my grass by hand.  I looked at the picture of the die and sized my grass to match  Tim's.  I had Green Co-ordinations but not the Kraft one...so my grass is green on both sides of the fence.  I sanded the paper first and then gave it a good dose of Walnut Stain Distress Ink before cutting.  Then after I put it on my tag, I gave it a little hint of Picked Raspberry. ...

What's on YOUR Workdesk Wednesday? My desk is actually fairly clean as I have been working very hard at putting away what I use before I go to bed at night.  Since I share my desk with 2 kitties, it doesn't do well to leave pots of paint and water or piles of inkpads out on the desk. Here's a journal page that is on my desk this morning.  I had tucked it under the desk on a shelf to dry overnight and pulled it out to take a look at it this morning. I've been really bad about posting my WOYWW (What's on Your Workdesk Wednesday) as usually I don't have anything on my desk on Wednesday.  I don't do much art at my desk on Tuesday nights and I'm off and running on Wednesday mornings to my day job.  But this week, I had started a project on Monday for Mixed Media Mondays and wanted to work on it some more. Well...it's off to the day job!  Board Meeting day and I have to minutes to take, so it will be a long one for me. See you soon! ...

February Finally had time to work on my February Tag.  I didn't have most of the supplies that Tim used this month for his 12 Tags of 2013 ...but I loved the vibrant red of Tim's tag so I jumped in to see what I could come up with.   I pulled out my Distress Inks and rubbed them into my Craft Sheet and spritzed, then swiped my tag through the inks to give it the brilliant red.  I dried the tag with a heat gun and then flicked with more water to give it the mottled background. I dug out some Valentine and Love themed rubber stamps from Just for Fun Rubber Stamps and stamped a white card background and the tag.  I distressed the edges of the card with Barn Door and Walnut Stain Distress Inks.   For the Co-ordinations cardstock I didn't have any black so I took a greenish gray color and colored it with Black Soot Distress Ink and embossed with a Cuttlebug emboss folder and tore out the words "loving" and "you".  A little Recollections blin...

"Be" Spent the afternoon painting, spritzing and playing in my inks and paints.  You should have seen the many bottles that covered my desk.  I can see a dozen still sitting here...and the other 2 dozen have already been put away.  I think I used a little bit of everything, layering and dripping.  The picture really doesn't do the colors justice.  I'll have to try and remember to get a picture tomorrow when I can use natural light.   Here's a few up close shot of the progress....at least for a while.  Then after that my fingers got too inky to pick up the camera! Supply List Distress Inks, Distress Stains, Folk Art acrylic paints, Susan Pickering Rothamel's Pinata Color, Sherrill's Sorbets, Gelatos, Faber-Castell Big Brushes, chipboard letters, Dyan Reaveley stencils, StazOn reinker Lots of stickers!