And The Winners Are............

We have winners for my handmade journal drawing!

DREAMERKINS! And for second place CARRIEZEE!

This is how it came out from Random.org just so ya know (I did however delete one entry due to she is a flaker and flakers don't win prizes in my game)

Congrats! I'll get these in the post as soon as I get addresses :o) 

Givin it away.................................at the Shores

Going Postal

Woot! A record number of posts in one month since I started this blog!
I have 4 swaps left on my dashboard then I am going to take a much needed break so I can get some things made to sell on etsy. My latest lil honey is for a swap where you were to make your own postage stamp ATC AND it is to be "postmarked". My partner likes nature inspired work and made mention of the Bloodroot leaf so I googled it (there I go learning on the job again) I saw the leaf and it's quite pretty no doubt but then I saw a photo with a bloom and really wanted to do it. I hope she likes the flower too.

 

I used those crappy scissors (made for right handed people so I had to hold the paper all wonky to get the notches right) to make the edges so it looks like a stamp. The background is colored by rust, I let some steel wool rust on bristol board, the flower is done w/acrylics. The postmark is entirely made up since I believe all our mail is cancelled in Rock Creek but it's MY stamp and postmark and that is how I want it :P ...........at the Shores

I do this best?

So, I'm late getting this out to my swap partner. We were to do an ATC and the swap was "Show Me What You Do Best", well, I don't really know what it is I do best but after thinking about it much too long I reached for my old friends, my acrylics.

English Cottage

The door just doesn't please me but no matter how much I mess with it it gets no better. Maybe the chocolate I am sending as a bribe will make up for my tardiness, this should have been sent two days ago :o/

Making a mad dash to the post office.........at the Shores

Believing in Tomorrow

I put the quote "Gardening is a way of showing that you believe in tomorrow" in a garden journal I just finished up for a swap - so true wouldn't you say? I really worked pretty hard on this, we had to make the covers durable so after covering them with fabric, I added a couple leaf skeletons and stenciled my partners initials from a stencil I cut and have sent to her for future use, I coated it with 4 or 5 coats of polycrylic. For the binding I did something new to me, it's called "Secret Belgian Binding" - no idea why they call it a secret because I found 2 tutorials online for it. Love the look:

Here is the inside cover, I handcut the stencil and really don't know who said the quote I put in there, it just said unknown when I found it: 

I also made 3 tabbed sections and each tabbed page has a couple little pockets to stash things in:

I hope she enjoys it as much as I did making it.

Wishing you a lovely garden of your own...............at the Shores

Wha?!?!?

Quick post here. I got my mail a couple hours ago and I found this in my mailbox! It was EXACTLY like this, I hadn't gotten the contents out yet - you can see the card inside has the opening toward the top and guess what?? Ok, I won't wait for you to guess, but there were 2 ATC's STILL IN THERE thank God! It wasn't even put in a "body bag" by the post office. Just how does this happen I wonder :o/ 

Just wondering...............at the Shores

Exercising the Brain

Wow, I just finished up a swap called "Exercise Your Brain" where you had to draw and paint something with your dominant hand then do the same thing with your "wrong" hand. I learned a few things, my brain DOES NOT want to be exercised and my lungs only work while using my left hand. I held my breath while using my right hand (not to mention I was tense as all get out). The easy part was drawing the bugger out - painting it on the otherhand was no so easy. Have a look:

"Being Koi"
the top is using my left (right) hand, bottom is my wrong hand

That poor tail!

Back to the left side - and breathing.......................at the Shores

Oh Happy Day!

Hehee...I just realized the last 4 posts titles ended with an exclamation mark - must be having an exciting week here ;) 
No new artsy stuff at the moment - I'll be working on doing an ATC with the WRONG hand here shortly, more on that in my next post.

I have had to rip out part of my shower because it leaked into the kitchen below :/ This renovation was just done a year and a half ago, sad it had to be redone, bad materials. Anyway, I had to pull the tiles up, grind all the grout and thinset off to reuse them since they didn't sell those tiles anymore (grrrrrr) replace the underlayment, caulk the heck out of it then reinstall the tiles and reseal the grout. This has been an ongoing unfinished project since the fall and I've been having to use hubby's shower which is terrible since he hates me leaving my "stuff" in his precious shower (another grrrrr - he doesn't share well) It was sort of like having to go to the Y to shower every day. Anyway, I'm back in business and sooooo very happy!

We bought bags of pebbles for the floor from the floral department at the store! It feels so good on the feet! A little foot reflexology while you shower, anyone?!

Here's a little tip from me to you, never, I mean never let your husband see that you can do things like this - you'll end up with more projects than you can handle. I think it just might be time for a shower...............at the Shores

Ole' !

I am in a swap where you make a pinata and stuff it full of crafty goodness for your partner. Talk about taking me back to childhood! You were to take a smallish ballon and cover it in tissue paper then pop and remove it, cut open the top, insert the fun stuff then cover the hole - if all goes according to my plan when she pulls the "handle" the top should come off, but I wonder if it will work since that decoupage is tough stuff - she might need a saw!

She likes purple so there are 2 spools of purple trims, I made a mini book and there is some purple glitter glue. She also collects magnets so of course I had to send an Ohio State one - there is also a box of Zots (glue dots), foam pop-up squares, a little bling, tea and candies...it's full and I nearly didn't get the Zots in because the box was toooooooo big but I cut a bigger hole and crammed it in there LOL 

UGH - it's freezing here, one day we have 84 degrees and today it is windy with the high to be in the 40's...what the heck?!? Doing a Mexican Hat dance and missing Hilton Head.......................at the Shores

GIVAWAY!

I've been making lots of blank journals and now I've picked one to give away (see pic. below) - that's right, I'm giving it away on April 29th using random.org to pick the winner. All you have to do is leave a comment and if you follow this blog I will throw in a matching beaded book thong! 

If you are from SB, please list your username so I can find you if you are the winner. I'll send a smaller one with regular paper to the runner up!

This is covered in black and white batik fabric (doesn't look like it in the photo, I know) and I attached a printed onto fabric piece of my spraypaint artwork , the binding is red and the paper is white Strathmore 70# acid free, drawing paper, there are about 120 pages. So comment, comment, follow, follow me................at the Shores

*I've had to edit the givaway date

At the Fillmore!

I've been working in teeny tiny land again, surprised? Probably not. I have a friend that LOVES Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young and any form thereof. I needed to make an ATC for her and after thinking about it I decided I really, really wanted to do one of those concert posters from back in the day that they had to advertise shows at the Fillmore which I absolutely am crazed for and after poking around on the internet I decided to do the poster that was printed for one of their first ever shows after Woodstock in 1969 the original was done by Greg Irons, well, come to find out they had to cancel and Janis Joplin and Santana stepped in to replace them. So, I guess you could say this is a copy of a poster for the show that never was: 

My printing is horribly crooked at the bottom but hey, I crammed all that on a card 2.5"x3.5" so I'll cut myself some slack this time. Actually if I didn't know her pretty well, I would have kept this (ah, the eternal hippie should-a-been)  but I know she'll really appreciate it so off to MA. it goes tomorrow.

During my researching I found a book I just gotta have but its a little pricey so I guess I'll think about it *sigh*

So - done for the day, I'm here crosseyed and drooling.......................at the Shores

Perfect Imperfection

I'm baaaaack! Back from the land of sunshine and sandy beaches. Had a lovely time with my mom and sister on Hilton Head...a perfect week of breakfast...beach...lunch...shopping...dinner...reading and maybe some arsty stuff thrown in there, truly the good life! We parked the car and rode everywhere on bikes the entire week.
  
So, I learned a little something today. Did you know there was such a thing as an imperfect flower? ugh, maybe this is common knowledge and I'm just a dufus Imperfect flowers are flowers that only have one set of reproductive organs, so they are either male or female. While perfect flowers can reproduce entirely within one bloom, imperfect flowers need two separate flowers in order to pollinate themselves and create seeds. Imperfect flowers may be pollinated by animals, insects, weather or humans, but they will always need some sort of outside facilitation in order to reproduce. I suppose I knew there were these types of flowers that need bees, wind and the like but never knew they had such a name. What a sad label they carry, worse yet it was given to them by imperfect people to boot! Now, there you have it kids, your science lesson for the day or maybe proof I'm just a dufus.
Which brings me to my little imperfect ATC:

Perfect Imperfection - A Squash Blossom

Still working on painting flowers, I love them and grow them but rarely actually paint them, can't say why - just don't.

I'm off to dream of more science lessons for yas out there...........at the Shores

Just Tired

Wow - every time I have a patient visit the life gets sucked out of me, I'm exhausted, I have no clue as to why spending a few hours with one nearing death does this but it happens every time without exception over the last 5 years in working with hospice. I have so much to do before going on my trip tomorrow night but all I want to do is sleep - maybe that is just what I'll do, then get up early and get what needs to be done done....yes, good idea. I'll leave you with the April Fools sunset from my bedroom window taken just a few minutes ago:

Saturday I'll be on Hilton Head with my mom spending our annual girls week at the beach, hopefully my sister will make it Tuesday or so...I'm bringing my paints and lots of 8x10 canvases of course.  

Wiped out........................at the Shores