Inspired to share

I saw this video on youtube this morning.  I have been mostly been using youtube to entertain myself with funny silly videos and scrapbook how to videos, but today I saw this video pop up and I was drawn to it.  This woman is amazing and inspiring and if I have a daughter I would speak this poem to her.  I watched all 15 minutes of it and then watched "If I had a daughter" probably about 5 times till I decided that I would share a poem of mine.  Something from my journal, something NO ONE has ever heard or seen before.  I write poetry when I'm inspired to, which lately isn't often mostly because I have become more visually inspired.  My altered art is where my creativity currently is.  I return to poetry on occasion and I will always go back there.  So without further ado, I hope you enjoy.

the vacant halls don't hold

your voice anymore

i can't walk through the door

to see you in your spot

no more stories to share 

once a home now a shell

your picture is here but your 

presence is not

i can't bear to walk through the door

or move your things 

for i fear i will lose your memories

your love your kindness

so the windows stay dark in your shell of a home

cause your not there to light them

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Some of the other ladies...

So of course the mystery project wasn't just me.  There were 12 other ladies involved in the project.  Not all of them have blogs but I sending you to the ones that do.  Then of course if you find what we are doing interesting and your an artist yourself or would love to be one you can join us at the vintage room.  Its a wonderful art group with great ideas and projects.  We are mostly local but we do have and will except members from anywhere and everywhere.  Feel free to join us we love new blood and you could always make a special trip to visit for one of our gathers someday. Oh and if you join our group you can see all of the talented ladies work on their mystery project, but here are the other ladies that have posted their mystery projects:

Tabitha at Tabitha's Trinkets (by the way my best friend in the world!!)
Peggy at My Inner Playground (an amazing and talent woman who I am proud to say is my friend)
Maura at Two Crafting Sisters (a newbie to the vintage room, but has hit the ground running and is extremely talented like the rest of our group!) she hasn't posted her's yet but probably will soon. Pin It Now!

Mystery Project 2011 revealed

So here it is the Mystery Project 2011.  I went with a beach theme because as a kid we collected treasures that just sat in a box.  I made some of those treasures into something beautiful.  Below is the other part of the project.  We had to write something about why they project was important so I sat down and wrote about childhood memories of going to the beach.  I love how it came out. Then yesterday we unveiled the projects each one was amazing.  The thought and detail that went into each beautiful project was so amazing and each one was so different, but in some ways similar.  I walked around a few times and saw something different each and every time.  Every time we gather together I am more and more thankful to be apart of this wonderful group of women.  They are so positive and warm.  I'm always excited to share progress in my life with them because it always seems like they are rooting for me!!  I'll share more about the party and a special surprise a little later.   

The Beach
Year after year my family returns to the beach.  Some of my fondest childhood memories are at the beach.   Walking the sand shores in early morning light looking for shells with my mom and brothers, walking in my Dad sandy steps while listening to music.  One year in particular I remember warmly we were walking to shore in the early morning as usual and in the distance you could faintly hear music.  As we approached in the fog there standing on the edge of the water playing for the waves was a bagpiper.  Hearing the sweet whine of his pipes in and out as the wind blew in my direction.  It gave me goose bumps that beautiful, magically morning.  It’s never happened since sadly but it is a morning I will never forget.  Other mornings were spent collecting shells and other treasures to remember our trips.
The afternoons were spent on the beach in the baking sun and cooling off in the water.  We spent hours on a sheet playing in the sand listening to the surf, gulls, lifeguard’s whistle, the roar of the crowd around us, and the sounds of the boardwalk.  Around noon my brother Bobby and I would take our youngest brother out to the car to eat Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches with kool-aid and chips.  Bobby and I would make the sandwiches and watch Chad till we were done and then wander all the way back to our blanket on the beach.  We would stay till the beach would close and we heard a recording blasted on the loud speaker that would end with “stay out, stay alive, stay out, stay alive!”
The evenings were spent one of two ways.  The first was we would go back to the camp ground burnt and tired and hangout there at the pool, fishing, reading and spending time around the fire.  The other way we would spend our evening was we would go back to the camp get changed and go back to the boardwalk.  My brothers would play games.  I didn’t see the point more often then not I would not win anything so I would spend money on shopping in the trinket, “surf” shops or buying the fried food I enjoy.  We would eat pizza at one of the many pizza shops and fireworks would close out the night.  Sadly these days have ended, and if they begin again they won’t be quite the same.

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No art :(

I just wanted to post because sadly no art has been created in my craft room lately.  I have busy cleaning the house and subbing.  On top of that now I'm sick not fun.  I'm doing what I can to feel better because I have a very busy weekend ahead and the last thing I want is to be sick.  So for now you will have to settle for pictures of my beautiful babies.  The top picture is my beautiful Penny and Patches on their grandparents bed looking adorable and the bottom one is my buddy Raven hanging out in a shopping bag.  They are the best when don't feel good.  They love to spend time with me.  Now if I could only train them to bring me a drink and clean the house that would be awesome!

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You know what I dislike

No pretty art to share today I just want to rant a bit.  I dislike money....Why because you need it so much.  This pasted month or so I have had little to no money.   Which I would be fine with if it weren't for the fact that I want/need a list of things for various parts of my life.  I needed clothes for work that were professional looking so I decide to go thrifting when I finally got some money.  I'm not too proud to save a buck.  I said it I HATE buying clothes for full price.  I really do.  Very, Very rarely do I do so and if I do its on things I will wear I million times over.  I'm tired of my ho hum wardrobe, tired of concert tees and jeans.  So I bought thing that were style wise out of my element.  Things I would never ever purchase for full price.  I proudly spend maybe $40 on 3 tops and 3 pairs of dress pants!  I need a hair cut,  I have been putting it off for a very long time...maybe a year.  I know the hair dressers are screaming at me!! I hate getting it cut, I'm never sure how I actually want it and I'm too afraid to cut it all off so I just ended up having it trimmed.  I finally know what I want to do.  I'm taking a risk and I want to cut it just long enough that I can wear it up off my neck during the summer.  I also need dress shoes.  I of course want my basic black and brown heels and flats but I want to also get a few pair of shoes with pops of color.  I'm tired of my heels I have had since student teaching that by the end of the day my knees and feet are killing me, because they are that worn.  Then there is accessories but those are easy... I can make myself stuff or find cute necklaces at target and what not for kinda cheap and of course I have this wonderful best friend who makes beautiful jewelry for me once and awhile.

  Then there is my ultimate WANT the things I can't get enough of...Craft supplies!!!  I haven't walked into a craft store in at least a month for something more then maybe glue dots or a cricut mat.  IT IS KILLING ME!! I can't go to Micheal's without feeling guilty cause I need all the above things and shouldn't be buying something so silly as craft supplies.  I will not die if I don't get craft supplies, but I must admit that I feel great to be able to buy a shiny new something from the craft store.  Its like a drug I guess, a high and from all highs your get down.  I often come home and think should I have bought this really?  But it always ends with me stuffing it in where it belongs for me to forget its there and then months later I remember oh yea I had to have this.  This weekend I'm allowing myself to go to a craft consignment sale to spend the $20 I have on some second hand craft stuff.  I think its my reward for behaving for the last couple months and actually spending money on something I need.  I guess I'm done ranting I hope you can at least enjoy/relate to my rant. Pin It Now!

A birthday gift, A Sympathy card and Alphabet atcs

So this past month had some different events that I needed to make stuff for.  First was my friend Lori's birthday.  I made her a card which for some reason I didn't photograph...oh well. Then I made her an altered cabinet card, which I altered with gesso, and green paint then added stamped images and diecut flowers (from my cricut), of course I used brads as my flower centers and some pretty lace to finish it off.  I also made her an altered tag which is pictured above.  I went with a bird theme for her art, I'm not sure why but when I think of Lori I think of birds.  I think she likes them I'm not sure where I get that idea from but it works. Who doesn't like birds. Then I made her a 4x4 again with the bird thing going on.  The big beautiful bird cage in the back ground and the pretty girls in the nest.  

Then a dear family friend's dog passed away and boy do I know how hard that is.  So I decided to make a simply sympathy card for them to let them know that they were in our thoughts.  Losing a pet is equal to a human being in my book.  My pets are my children.  I lost 3 beautiful ferrets last year for various illnesses and my best friend Buster.  It makes me sad just thinking about it, but I think Buster was the hardest.  I know it sounds  a little strange but through high school I cried on his shoulder all the time.  The best thing about him was how he just sat there and listened to me.  He was patient and kind and there will never be another Buster.  One of my girls does remind me of him sometimes just her mannerisms and sweetness, but she doesn't behave quite as well as he did, but I will move on...The card was cut out on the cricut.  I welded the image of the dog onto a circle card and then cut the "with Sympathy" on its own.  I love how much I have learned about my gyspy and cricut in the last month or so.  I'm becoming pretty good at making new stuff with it and I have been using my cricut soooo much more now.  I also made the envelope which I welded the paw print on to.  To make sure there was no problem when I mailed it I took a small piece of plastic from the packaging of a sticker sheet and packing taped it in place on the inside of the envelope before I folded it and glued it. 

Now last but not least are my M,N,O cards for my Alphabet atc swap in the vintage room.  I'm having a lot fun with these.  M is for Mirror, N is for Neighborhood, and O is for Oven mitt.  The oven mitt was done on my cricut.  The Neighborhood took me forever (and I decided to keep it) and the Mirror actually came to me pretty quickly.  I was surprised these are not my usual style as far as my atcs normally come out but I think that's okay sometimes.  Well that's all I have for now I'm sure I will be back soon with more to share. 

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How to create: My Easter Altered Tags

This is a step by step, or as close I can do to how I made my April Altered tags.  I did this one 3 times till I liked the final product.  I took two tags and put them through my cuttle bug in an embossing envelope.  I went with the Script because it was the most fitting to the theme of Easter.  Then I took my distress ink in Wild Honey and Scattered Straw and inked them using my blending tool.   

Next I took out my Close to my Heart egg stamp set (this was a stamp of the month last year I believe)

I pick a few eggs out that I liked and stamp them with Versa mark ink on white cardstock. 

 Took my chalks and a make up sponge and picked a few pastel colors.

 Then chalked them so they looked like the ones below.

Below are all the eggs finished

 I then cut them in strips cause I find them easier to cut with my little scissors that way. 

 Then Carefully cut around the images and then up them aside. (Boy do I wish I had a video camera with the stand so I can do videos instead of all this)

 Next I dug through the scrap bins and found two brown scraps of different tones and cut them into strips with my paper cutter.  I then did I simple basket weave that was wide enough for my tag and I eyeballed the height. 

 Every Easter basket needs grass right.  So I went the scrap bin again and found two scraps of green in different tones and cut them with my scissors into very thin strips. 

 To give mine the "grass" feel I balled them up in my hands. Creating this: 

 Next up I flipped my baskets over and added adhesive in a strip on top of the basket 

 I added the grass and then added more adhesive to glue them down.  Then I layered my eggs on the tag itself about were I want them so they would poke out over the grass and basket. Followed by gluing my basket in place on top of them. Then I did all the trimming around the edges that needed to be done.  After all that I cut two strips of white cardstock and stamped Happy Easter then scored and folded them, cut "v"s on either side to create the banner look.  After I glued them on I decided they looked blah so I added some purple Stickles around the edges.  I think the came out pretty cut. 

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