The "Dreamy" Kit from The Greeting Farm!!!

Well, I have been SO super lucky to get to Preview the '"Dreamy" stamp kit from The Greeting Farm!! I knew the minute I saw it, that I was going to LOVE it!! And I was right!! There are so many perfect stamps for backgrounds and main images!!

This one was my first canvas using the "Dreamy" circle stamps to make the lollipops and "Dreamy" hexagonal texture stamps for a little bit of background texture!! I drew on the circular stamps with my Faber Castell Pitt Pens, stamped them onto plain paper and cut them out!! I hand drew and cut out the mason jar shape.  Then I cut paper straws in half to make the lollipop sticks! 

 To make the background,  I used a dictionary page (with lollipop on it!) and the Blazonry stencil from Crafter's Workshop with blue paint. 

 I had so much fun!! I just can't wait to show you all the rest of the mixed media canvases and boards that I have been able to make with the 8 1/2 x 11 kit!!

The kit is going to be released on June 15th!! Mark your calendars for sure!! These stamps are uber versatile and super fun!! To see the rest of the amazing "Dreamy" Kit Preview, make sure to visit all the other preview posts and the The Greeting Farm Blog!

Think I have been in the Sun TOO much!

At the pool my girls and I eat animal crackers!! We buy the little bags at Target for a dollar and then we just eat and eat!! We love them!!

  When I was looking at my sketch book, I realized that I had all kinds of little animals inspired from different places that were just sitting there, waiting!! They reminded me of the crackers we have been eating . . . here they are!! 

Tennis Season and time to paint!!

I love this time of year because there is tennis on tv all morning!! I know.  Really. Tennis? I love the game and if I can't have football on tv, I am going to have to watch tennis.  In fact, I kinda have two sport seasons, tennis summers and football fall . . . love! So I turn on the French Open or Wimbeldon, grab my morning coffee and sit down at my desk to create.  Really my favorite mornings!!

And this summer is moving right along!  Father's Day is coming up soon, in fact we are going to be celebrating early because we will be at an ice skating competition all Father's Day weekend.  And I KNOW, that is not the ideal father's day, even though he loves watching Grace skate!  Luckily, we thought ahead and plan to do something this weekend! I used this adorable Greeting Farm Stamp. It reminded me of my hubby because he loves to drink his coffee in the morning!!  And the quote, totally doesn't fit the page, but it certainly fits our life!!

This is the strangest page I think I have ever done.  It started out with tissue paper and gesso.  But I hated it.  When I took the girls to 5 Below for some summer goodies, I saw this duck tape . . . and fell in love!! I just KNEW that I wanted to put it into my joural.  Luckily, I had this really ugly page and it screamed for tape!!  After I did the framing, I realized the middle needed something plain-ish . . . I don't think i am done here but I adore the 70's flower Duck Tape!!

In my journal I really do find myself creating pages about things going on in life around me. Sometimes there are things just out of my control and I just wish there was something I could do.  I have found myself creating quite a few pages lately about family.  This is the first one . . . I don't know why I thought about kites but my other one is of a sailboat, so there must be something about wind and sails.

Just some pages . . .

The pace has slowed down around here.  We have had lazy mornings and afternoons at the pool . . . just the way summer should be.  Well, the first week of summer anyway!!  Gymnastics, ice skating and tennis will be picking up again next week and this Mommy Taxi will be back in full swing!!  But I wouldn't change a thing around here!!

I bought some new watercolors . . . they are YUMMY!!!  The 5 Birds is CRAZY!!  But that is just how we are around here!!

 And my little Gracie stamp, from The Greeting Farm . . . makes me smile everytime I use her!! I  embossed her and the flowers and then colored them in with my new watercolors!! So much fun to do!

It is finally Summer Vaca!!!

Whew, so I survived the last few weeks of school!!  I only forgot to bring a child to one event . . . so I consider the last two weeks a success!!  I also had a horrible case of asthmatic bronchitis and really felt under the weather, but I am feeling much better and only coughing occasionally!!  Yeah!!  School is out now, so we will be sleeping in and then running to our usual activities. 

Finally, the weather is beautiful outside this weekend and we spent yesterday afternoon at the pool!!  But I spent this morning at my desk, trying to finish up a couple of projects. . .

The first is a crazy piece.  I found this little wood plaque at Goodwill for .99 and knew that it would make a great little piece to alter.  I really have wanted to make a whimsical mushroom house . . . so here it is. I adore the Allison Kreft Webster Pages and I cut these pieces out of her Composition and Color line!   I went a little over the top, but I like the way it turned out even if the picture is a little crooked!!

Earlier this month, I went to a WOW Embossing event at Altered Angel.  I LOVED the piece we made and I fell in love with embossing!! Who knew it would be so much fun to watch the powder just melt under the heat gun!! Too much fun.  So this page in my art journal is just me playing with the new stamps and powders that I bought!  It is a little crazy, but I think I will be embossing a lot more in the future!!

 I have been wanting to make a rowhouse picture for a long time.  There is a picture of rowhouses on a hill in Ireland that caught my attention on pintrest a long time ago and I wanted to make it out of paper.  I also wanted to use colors that I don't use as much, so I grabbed some Studio Calico Darling Dear and started cutting.  I really love the patterns of the paper, but the page is a crazy mess!!  There are perspective issues and a really ugly green at the bottom.  This is most likely not the finished page, but this is what I have so far!

Enjoying a Super Busy week by doing all the things I don't need to do!!

So school gets out in a few weeks. So of course I have a million things going on around here!!  Tennis playoffs, the Susan G Komen 5K, making S'mores bags for the school cakewalk, planning a tennis scavenger hunt, Julia's birthday, Mother's day, end of the year party planning and more tennis!! I just have put too much on my plate!! So what do I do when I have too much to do???  I sit and play!!  In fact, I sat and played at Altered Angel with my Thursday's Angels and made this fun owl canvas!

I actually found the brown canvas at Goodwill.  It  had white decorations on it, but it had obviously been sitting in the sun and was absolutely faded!!   So to start I mixed my acrylic paint, clear gesso and glazing medium.  That way I figured I would have a ground and pretty transparent paint to show off the original shapes in the background!!  Next I cut out and glued on my owl and grass. I also put some paint, rub-ons and tissue paper around the edges to liven up the background.  I REALLY like how she turned out!! I am going to hang her on the wall near my desk I like her so much!!