Click HERE below to play I Spy with Linnie Blooms!!!   Come see me guest design later this month!!

Magazine Holder Redo!

Remember I posted this ugly thing . . . 

 

Some Annie Sloan, Duck Blue . . . and some General Finishes Gel Stain . . . and Voila! It is now a much cuter canvas and paper holder! (please forgive the spot on my lens . . . it was only on a few pics, so frustrating!)

Chalkboard Fun!!

So, keeping things simple . . . with The Greeting Farm Garden Variety Tuesday!! I made a card with 'faux' chalkboard paint!! Just plain simple black background with a white 'chalk' Gracie stamped on! I used a white gelato to stamp her originally. I needed to turn up the color though and I used my favorite white gel pen to go over her lines and doodle around her! Simple and fun!!  (Even though the chalkboard was super fun, it was very hard to photograph without major glare!) 

 I also added in the little present. I made the little box with a Linnie Blooms canvas piece. I water colored the canvas and then glued on the ribbon!! 

Then I wanted to play more with the 'faux' chalkboard!! Here is my favorite summer herb . . . basil!! I used Linnie Blooms canvas pieces to make the basil leaves!!

First, I covered the canvas pieces in gesso and the paper with black paint.

My second step was watercoloring the green onto the canvas leaves.  I mixed in  a couple of different greens and the canvas took the color really well!

 I wanted to add a little more texture to the 'basil' leaves.  So I used my handy dandy Distress Ink and a fun Christy Tomlinson stencil! When they were dry I glued them onto the paper and finished off the journal page!

A couple of weeks ago I found some plain wooden frames at The Queen of Hearts Antique and Interiors store in Alpharetta!! I adore that place!!  I painted them up with some Annie Sloan chalk paint, strung some wire from the frames.  Now I can hang my little pieces to dry or display! Fun crafty time around here . . . now to just hang them on the wall!

PS - If you stop by, be sure to leave me a comment!!  I would LOVE to hear from you!!

Bugs and Exciting Projects!!

First of all, I am SO excited to have been chosen to be a guest designer for Linnie Blooms Design Team!! I can't wait to get my hands on her new line and create!! So much fun!! You can click on the button on my blog and it will take you to her website!!  There are so many talented designers  . . . it is going to be amazing!!

Secondly, I am still in the middle of the Wild Art Summer Class!! This was my watercolor project this week!! I just love that Junelle's classes make me feel like I can be successful no matter what we are doing!! Watercolor? Me?  Well, it is getting better slowly!

Thirdly, it was WAAAY past time to start a new project!! So I found this little old magazine rack at the thrift store. I REALLY want to make it fun again because now . . . not so much cuteness here. So this little guy is now getting a new look! Here are the before . . . and I know you can't wait for the after!! 

Summer is here for sure when the cicadas are singing in the trees!! My brother and I used to catch them when we lived in Texas.  I think we used to find more shells from them rather than live ones, but this guy landed on the deck the other morning and I couldn't help but take pictures, of course!! They really aren't cute. Their wings are so delicate, like a dragonfly, but their eyes are so buggy . . .  but I thought these pics were kinda fun!!

The Greeting Farm Kids Challenge!

My girls had a blast with this challenge!! They just LOVE it when I let them use my stamps and paper!! They both loved making these cards and I loved listening to the reasons they drew certain things in the pictures!! 

Faith said she only wrote "Hello" in cursive because it was the fanciest word in the sentence!

Grace said that the houses made her think of a castle, which is why her card is for a Princess's Birthday!

Journal to Canvas!

Last week I water colored an ice cream cone in my art journal. I thought that it might make a fun canvas . . . Thank you rainy day for a fun art play day!!

 

So Much Rain . . .

I feel like I haven't done more than take pictures recently. These were two I took tonight of these strange mushrooms that we have in our backyard!! I don't remember a time in Atlanta when we have had so much rain. But this spring and summer have been SO wet. No drought here right now!!

Finally the Rain Stopped!!

 I feel like it has been gloomy and rainy for weeks . . . but finally we have had some morning sun shining!! So I took my camera out with me these last couple of mornings while I walked our neighbors' dog!  I tried to play with settings . . . and do different things with the camera.  Thank you Junelle Jacobson for sending us out on assignment!!

My Stargazers are finally blooming!! It looks like there are actually going to be several blooms!! I can't wait! 

This is the lantana from the deck planters.  The colors are absolutely amazing!!  I might plant more of these next year.

The mushrooms are evidence of the crazy amount of rain that we have had . . . they are everywhere!! 

 

My Gardenias are blooming again for the second time this summer.  I wish I could just bottle up the wonderful smell for you too!!

 

These are the blueberries from the backyard.  This year we have managed to pick a pint or two!! We really do need to plant more . . .  and these are a couple of elephant ears from around the neighborhood!!

Fireworks and Lightning!

I love using The Greeting Farm stamps in my art journal, especially, their Dreamy kit stamps!! So here is my Farm Fresh Friday Red, White and Blue Ribbon Challenge Page and for the Garden Variety Anything Goes Challenge too!!

 I started with my Gelli Plate.  I used a Crafter's Workshop Stencil on the plate to make my 'firework!' Then I embossed and colored the 'Dreamy' kit houses on a separate piece of paper, cut them out and glued them onto the background! I cut out my red, white and blue ribbon to make the banner!! (The banner kinda of slid down into the middle of the book, whoops!)  It was so much FUN! I hope you enjoy it! 

It has been raining here in Atlanta for over a week!! I feel like I am going to float away!! Luckily, we had some amazing company come and spend time with us this last weekend!! And since our 4th of July celebration was rained out we actually celebrated on 6th with them!! Amazingly, it was still raining and thundering (but more sporadically than it had been the days before.) 

As we set off our little fireworks in the driveway, we could see the fireworks from larger displays set in the backdrop of some pretty dramatic lightning. It was amazing!! The kids started blowing bubbles outside while we were out watching fireworks. The grass was still so wet that the bubbles would land on the grass and not pop!! They almost had half the yard covered, it was a fantastic sight!! Here are a couple of pics of bubbles that I took ... they really do not do justice to the beauty of the bubbles on the lawn!! 

You have left the planned route . . .

Camping . . . watercolor style!

This is my journal page from today. It is another project inspired by The Wild Art Summer Studio! I just LOVE learning about watercoloring and sketching!  I might not be all that great but I simply adore trying!

 This tent is just like the green tent we had when I was a kid. It was made of canvas and always smelled a little musty. We used to set it up in our backyard and camp overnight with friends. I remember it being SUCH a big deal to sleep outside . . . even though we had a fence and my backdoor was only a few steps away from the tent door. I think I just might camp in the backyard with my girls this summer . . .