The Hummingbirds Are Hungry...

It is almost time for the hummingbirds to leave our area.

My feeders on the porch are empty.

Oh, NO!

You can see them coming to take a look.

She is drinking the last wee bit in the feeder.

Inside I go to make some hummingbird elixir...

I will add this to the feeders as soon as it is cool enough for them to drink.

I sure do miss them when they leave...

Thanks for stopping by...

Are you a Green Crafter?

I have been a green crafter long before it was cool.

As a child, I used what I had to create.

That might be pebbles and twigs from nature, scraps of fabric or paper, tin cans, or anything else I snagged from the trash.

I continued that trend my whole life.

I am so pleased that many others recycle or repurpose or reuse.

Do you have any of these items around your house?

Old Jeans?

Brown Paper bags?

A board book?

Canning Jars?

Fabric scraps or old clothing?

Dryer Sheets?

If you do, and you love to create, you need to get a copy of the Autumn 2015 GreenCraft magazine from Stampington.

Inside, you will find over 80 stylish projects made from these and many more common materials....

For example, remember those jeans?

They can become this

 Made by Nikki Meiners.

or this

made by Julia Schneider.

or this

made by Melinda Barnett.

Brown paper bags

made by Lorrimarie Jenkins.

A board book

made by Vanessa Spencer.

Canning Jars

from Michelle E. Black.

Little bits of fabric can become

from Ashlee Park.

Dryer sheets can become a variety of useful new projects like this

or these:

Here is where I admit that the dryer sheet projects in this issue are all made by me.

Really.

If any of these projects inspired you, you need to go grab a copy.

GreenCraft is available at major bookstores, many craft stores and directly from Stampington here.

Even better, I am lucky enough to work with Stampington again for another giveaway.

Leave a comment below telling me your favorite thing to recycle and what you do with it to be entered for a chance to win your own copy of GreenCraft.

I will be choosing a winner from the comments next Sunday and the winner will be announced Monday.

Stampington will send the copy directly to you.

It does not get much easier than that...

I cannot wait to hear what things you recycle and how.

Thanks for stopping by...

Linking up with these great blogs.

Mixed Media Collage

Ok, I am going to be honest.

I have never really played around with that layered mixed media style.  

It seems so complicated and mysterious.

But this summer I bought a Tim Holtz burlap wall hanging with numbers on it that seemed perfect to test the process out on.

I picked it up at the thrift store for $2.

Here is the finished product.

This dialogue is one of my favorites.

I started by using some gesso over the existing numbers/design.

I did not think to take pictures on that journey.

Only the destination.

I used a variety of stencils from DecoArt as well as their Media Misters.

Man, are those things awesome.  

They are so saturated with color. 

I really liked using them with the stencils.

The only part of this I tried and did not like was when I tried to use the large tree branch stencil with the yellow mister.

On this design, it just does not stand out.

I also used the One Step Crackle to add some very subtle texture.

To make the texture pop, I used a wash of black paint and then wiped away the excess.

Some little punched butterflies add some dimension as well.

This canvas sums up how I am feeling about my art lately...

I just try.

It may work, it may not.

Every little part of it teaches me something.

And every little bit of experience adds a little more wind beneath my wings.

Every attempt is a chance to soar....

I'll take it!

Thanks for stopping by....

                Linking up with these great blogs.

Workbench Wednesday: Canning Lid Ring Pumpkins

Inspired by a canning ring pumpkin I saw  in Mary Jane's Farm magazine, I decided to try my own.

Pen N Paper Flowers made a fabulous white version with book page strips added.

I bought a couple dozen mason jar rings at the flea market and set off to make myself a pumpkin.

I followed her directions and tied together about 2 dozen rings.

Then I spray painted them....

That did not work out. 

 I had to keep moving and respraying them, many, many times.

So I cut my string that was holding them together and repainted each one separately.

This was actually much faster, easier, and used less paint.

I did some with white paint and a few with ivory paint I had leftover from another project.

Ready for the next step...

Gluing on the book strips.

This took forever. 

Each lid needed more than one strip.

For my wide mouth lids, each ring needed 2 1/2 book strips.

Each pumpkin has 24-25 rings.

Once the strips were all glued on, I used cotton twine to tie them all together into a ring.

Then I cut a piece of a log about 3-4 inches long.

I glued it to the top of my pumpkin and covered the glue with spanish moss.

I also turned it over and added extra glue underneath to reinforce it and then used Spanish moss to cover the glue there as well.

I do love the way it turned out.  I am sure the other rings are on their way to becoming fall decor as well.

Thanks for stopping by....

                 Linking up with these great blogs.

Another little Teacup Mouse

Last fall I shared some sweet felt mice and mushroom cups here.

On the workbench recently I noticed a few of the mushrooms remained and I know all the other cups have sold so I made this sweet little guy.

I feel like I want to make some new ones.

I feel like they might be different.

I would like to do some all white and cream ones.

Like a winter fairy forest.

Maybe even make the mice white with really big ears...

Sounds like the perfect thing to do when the weather cools down, doesn't it?

I may have to go dig out some things and cut all the pieces so they are ready to go.

The perfect project for when I don't feel like thinking too hard.

I love hand stitching for those kinds of times...

Thanks for stopping by...

                  Linking up with these great blogs.

Needle Felted Bunny

So how cute is this bunny?

Pretty cute, right?

He started with one of those needle felting kits.

I love those.  

They come with a mold.

After you make the front and back, you just felt them together.

When you finish your bunny, you can make more bunnies.

Since you already have the mold, you just need to purchase more wool roving.

You can make a bunny any color you want.

I love this brown roving the bunny came with.

I like the way he turned out but I think I was hoping for a more natural bunny.

Like a real bunny.

This one is like a cartoon bunny.

Still, he is a cute bunny.

I felted him much better than the dog I made last year.

This bunny is very firm.

He fetched a second place ribbon at the fair...

Yay, bunny!

Thanks for stopping by....

Linking up with these great blogs.

Starting an Art Journal...

Last year I decided I wanted to start an art journal.

I traded on Etsy for a set of old medical encyclopedias.

They were exactly what I wanted for my journal.

I went through and tore out pages for tabs so I will be able to add lots of goodies.

I glued the other pages together where I wanted to to make the pages stronger.

I gessoed a few pages.

And then it sat.

Nothing.

So this summer I got it out.

I started to play with a few pages.

Are they great?

No.

But I love it.

Each page is a chance to play and experiment.

This is my first art journal so there will be lots of bad pages as I learn my style.

I am ok with that.

After these pages were photographed, I actually added more.

I think I like them better here.

Live and learn.

I have never really been a stencil person but I am trying it out in here.

I like the layering.

I used DecoArt Media Misters...

Man, are they awesome.

Such rich, saturated color in a spray.

I have been known to make my own spray alcohol inks but they are a lighter series of color.  

It can be good.

But so are these misters from DecoArt.

I have a feeling that this first journal is going to be a series of experiments.

I am ok with that.

If I am not liking the page, I can gesso over it and start again or just go to the next page and see how it goes.

Have you ever done an art journal?

I will show you pictures every now and then so you can see how it is going...

Thanks for stopping by...

                 Linking up with these great blogs.