Freebie!

Use it any way you choose, the sunflowers came from one of my photos and Playing with Brushes provided the Texture.
Playing with Brushes is a Flickr group, you can join here's the link.

Fall Inspiration & Freebies

Totally inspired by all the graphics popping up lately on the web, I thought I would play a bit myself. Sometimes it's nice to create something without using the glue.

Here are a few I have put together yesterday. If you can use them, for anything please do! Just click on the picture and right click and save. If you want to link back to me that's appriciated, but not necessary.

This week I have been inspired by Tiffany Jane and her beautiful Fall creations {now for sale at her Etsy Shop} and of course the lovely photos from Wren Cottage.


Who has inspired you lately?

it's all about the images

While looking through my favorite Free Images site on Flickr {because I need a new banner} I came across a few images I just had to have for my art and a terriffic new website!

It is loaded with all kinds of Goodies!!! I can get so excited about this stuff, just like a little kid. So without further adu...Images & Art By Kim..please go check it out! She not only has images, but tutorials, supplies and many many resources for you. If you are new to altered art or have been playing around in this kind of medium for awhile this site is for you!!

Finally, let me say I have finally added camera batteries to the grocery list, so maybe I will be able to share some new photos with you soon :)

Something seems to be amiss with this blog, sorry Desia I didn't know you left a comment until today, thanks for the welcome back note you left me :)

I took a big leap forward in my art yesterday and began to pursue my hearts desire, by incorporating painting into my mixed media work. I wish I had batteries in the camera so I could show you what I did, my very first person.....and I was so thrilled at how she turned out! This is something I've been dying to do but was very apprehensive, even fearful. You know those little gremlins in your head can be rather nasty at times, I'm just glad that this time I chose not to listen.

I also made another decision to delete my typepad blog, mainly because my laptop took a nose dive, so I'm back here at blogger for now and glad just to be able to blog.

Here's a picture I took of our booth at the craft show, the one mom and I do every year. But this year it was mostly her quilts and hand-sewn things. I had a few articles, but that's about it. We have been talking about not doing another craft show for awhile, because I am quite burned out on the whole thing. My thought is to start filling up our Etsy & Ebay shop with art very soon! I'll be sure to keep you posted.

For those of you who have been asking for soap, I promise it will be soon. I have several bars curing now but I still have many more to make {my vacation was a bit overextended} now I'm in a rush to pull it all together, but I will email each and every one of you my friends, when it's all ready to go and will have it on my Etsy shop as well.

need inspiration for the weekend? hope this helps.

1. Untitled, 2. a walk in my dreams, 3. light, 4. Music washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life. ~Berthold Auerbach, 5. Untitled, 6. Vintage scrap with moterh of pearls, 7. i can hardly believe it!, 8. rust fence, 9. days of summer :: 17, 10. Altered Wedding Drawer Theater, 11. Country Homes Scan 5, 12. Untitled, 13. Cowgirls, Grenwich Village, 14. angel, 15. Dolce Vita16. Not available

Creating A Cozy Little Cottage

This one started with little more than scrap paper and glue. Don't we wish the real thing was that easy? My little farmhouse was made back in the 20's and although it has lots of wear and tear that's visible it continually gives me inspiration and I'm grateful for it, but I didn't always feel this way.
How do you feel about your home? There was a time when I would apologize to friends and family because my little house wasn't as pretty as all the other little houses. I felt sorry for myself because I couldn't afford to make it look like all the others, until the day I felt the Lord reminding me what a blessing my little farm home was. Ashamed of my complaints I set out to change the way I looked at my home and in turn I began to appreciate and love it's little imperfections. It's amazing to me how things can begin to take on a new life once we change our perspective, whether it's in a relationship or the way you look at your home & family.
Because my thoughts had changed toward my home, my desire grew to make my little farm house as homey as possible, here's where I started;

Simple Ideas to Make Your Own Home A Cozy Little Cottage:

1. Start with a new perspective. Simply put, you need to be thankful for what you have first. Start by walking through each and every room of your home and saying out loud one or two things you are thankful for. Stating out loud what you are thankful for can really turn your thoughts around and this applies to just about anything.

2. Start with one room at a time. We can all feel overwhelmed when looking at a huge project, so remember you can eat an elephant one bite at a time. I desperately needed to clear the clutter first, cleaning while I went. Being the pack rat that I am, I have lots of junk for my art and stuff I've held onto for years, so this wasn't easy to accomplish but I'm so glad I did it.
Here's a great resource full of organizing tips.
Give away what you don't need anymore, helping others is so much better than throwing good things away.

3. Start with the simple fixes, like paint. You can make most things look as good as new with a fresh coat of paint. Big discounts can be found on what I call the "oops" shelf at Lowe's or Home Depot. Try your hand at creative stencils on the wall {like ivy}, if you make a mistake, paint over it.

4. Try making some simple handmade curtains, here are some instructions I came across for valances. Look for inexpensive fabric at the thrift store, I actually bought sheets to use because ours didn't carry fabric at the time.

5. Need some art on the wall? Try creating this project!

6. Since it's summertime and heavy quilts or covers are usually stored away why not bring them out and hang them across the back of your couch or rocking chair? Have a few favorite sweaters shrunk in the dryer & you can't wear anymore, try making it into a new cover for your couch throw pillow.

Simple thankfulness can make for some positive changes.