Christmas Tree(s) with Mantel

Well folks… only a few days ‘til Christmas… are you ready??

NOT ME!! LOL!

I am just now getting my tree(s) up and I haven’t done any shopping at all!

I wasn’t even going to put up a tree this year.

Been VERY busy taking care of my sick fur baby. 

Not sure what’s wrong… at first they thought lymphoma but now they think maybe autoimmune… so??

Let’s just say we’ve had a rough go these last few weeks!

 Praying he makes it through and continues to do well on his meds.

Soooo… with all that going on… I have not quite been in the Christmas spirit this year.

But, when Neeko would fall asleep, it gave me some down time…

So I thought what would be easy if I did have a tree???

 How about the two light weight artificial pre-lit trees I usually use outside??

A Flannel Twig Branch Christmas Tree

 

Every year at Christmas, I find myself making at least one or two Christmas creations and/or crafts.

Christmas Mantel 2013… A Snowy Christmas Village

Hi Everyone!

Hope you are finding this season Merry and Bright!

Finally finished my 2013 Christmas Mantel… yay!

If you like festive and color… then this is for you!

This year’s theme/scene is

A Snowy Christmas Village…

but not the villages you are use to seeing!

Nope… this is a Kendra style Christmas Village…

Fall Mantel 2013

Hey everyone!  Sorry I haven’t posted in awhile.

It turned out to be a busy summer… with projects in our backyard.

We had to fix some drainage problems and are still in the process of relaying stone.

It has been the longest and hardest DIY project e-vuh… lol!

However…

I did get a chance to finally create a Fall Mantel! 

I know… I know… it’s already October… but better late than never… right?!

So…without further ado…

here’s my Fall Mantel!

This was a fun one to create!

Not sure if you can tell… but I’m using two panels from my old crate table.

I also used fabric and paper to fill the center of each framed piece.

The glass vases are filled with apples, wood pieces, leaves, along with wheat and berries (fake of course). 

Love the way it turned out!

Happy Fall Blessings!

linking to:

Funky Junk Interiors

 

 

A Southern Porch in the Making… part three

 

In the last post, I showed off my pretty faux tiles I painted on our porch … here.

Next up… the columns…

The paint was peeling… here… and I knew it would be an easy fix!

A Southern Porch In The Making… part two (Faux Tiling)

WARNING – LONG Photo Heavy Post!

I shared with you the downers of my dreamy southern porch and the big plans I had for it…here.

Well… it is FINALLY starting to shape up.

So for this post… let’s talk concrete!

I showed you the “ugly” of our existing bare concrete.

Not being able to afford new concrete… or tile… or something cool…

my solution was suppose to be an easy spray on stain.

From Shipping Crate to Crate Table to Crate Art

 

OK… are you sitting down?

Don’t pass out…ok?

Remember this?

My Sweet Dog Sandy

 

Letting go of a fur baby is hard.

I had to let go of my cat… Smokey… last September and didn’t expect all the emotions that flooded me when I had to say goodbye.

Today… I want to pay tribute to my sweet girl… Sandy.

A Southern Porch In The Making {part one}

 

The first thing I fell head over heels with when we bought our house a few years ago was the huge front porch!

It spoke to the southern girl in me as soon as I saw it!  I had visions of family and friends gathering on this front porch for evening chats while sipping on some sweet tea or drinking coffee.

YES SIR-reee!  A True Bona-Fide Southern Porch!

However… there were problems with the porch from the get go…

Using Old Items and Recycling for My Art Supply Storage

 

Since Mom and I started renting an antique booth, I have come across many pieces that I want to keep!

This Old Grape Crate is just one of the things she had that I couldn’t let go of... yet.

I am currently using it in my art studio…

 

Thinking about Stone Veneer…

 

Hey all!

Yes… thinking about doing some much needed updates in the home.

And yes… thinking about using stone veneer to do some of it.

Went to Lowes the other day to look at product and prices… just not sure which product I want to go with??

They had M-Rock and AirStone in a box and then special order stones.

As some of you have seen…

I have real stacked stone around my fireplace.

Our “Artsy” Antique Booth at Deja U in Dayton, TN

 

So what is an artsy antique booth and where is Deja U… you might ask?

Deja U is an antique store in the quaint town of Dayton, TN.

My mother and I have decided to rent a booth there.

She has the antiques and I have… well… my artsy, creative “stuff”.

I hope to sell some of my creations/projects along with my paintings there… or at least try… while mom will sell her antiques and collectibles.

Let’s take a tour of the place… shall we?

DIY French Country Cottage Kitchen Art Decor

 

Since I’ve been on an art kick lately…

I wanted to show you some kitchen art I recently made.

I had to go thrifting ((fun)) for this one… buying cooking utensils for it.

So… note…

if you plan on throwing out your used kitchen utensils… think twice!!

You might can use them for kitchen art!  :)

Ok… Let’s begin…

This is how I started…

After finding and gathering a bunch of kitchen goodies,

(the before)

I played around with the configuration and composition

again and again and again…

(even took photos to help me remember where I placed things…ahem)

and finally came up with a basic pattern…

but I decided to change my surface to wood…

so…

I cut up some 1x2’s I already had, lined them up and glued on some scrap wood strips to the back of them to hold it together.

I had looked for recipes and menu’s online… printed a few things off and glued them to the surface of the wood.

(another before)

I have an inkjet printer so I used cardstock and made sure the ink was dry… you may still get a little ink bleed… but I didn’t mind it too much.

I also painted a few pieces and used some wood embellishments.

I finally came up with my “final” layout (changed it some as I started gluing).  And then I just glued all my thrift store finds down.

This is the final art piece…

I think it looks rather French Country Cottage.

This art is rather heavy… so if you want a lighter piece… use lighter wood… I just used what I had!

I had so much fun creating this mixed media kitchen art (restaurant art as my friend Kolein coined it).

It would look perfect in a little French Café… don’t cha think?!  :)

 

Sharing My Art… embracing all my creative ambitions

 

About a month or so ago I got into a creative zone…

(image: Graphics Fairy)

yes… I am still being creatively ambitious!

Let’s see… decorating my spring mantel, painting, sewing, and crafting…

(Graphics Fairy)

I CAN’T  SEEM TO STOP…  LOL!

I’m TOTALLY (((embracing))) the name of my blog these days…

‘CREATIVE AMBITIONS’!

And thanks to some e-courses from Jeanne Oliver,

I am inspired and motivated to keep creating and following my dreams!

Today…

I want to share with you some more of my mixed media art I have been creating…

***can we say nervous butterflies right now??***

This is a series of GIRL paintings I just finished.

Faith, Grace, and Hope

These are 16x20 canvases… acrylic paint and texture… with paper, wood and fabric embellishments.

They all have writings on them… some taken from scripture.

Under each window is an old hymn based on their names.

And here is another painting I am working on…

This is ‘Inspire’

A 6x6 canvas, acrylic paint with wood embellishment.

 

I am so enjoying painting right now… and using different media to create these pieces!

Thank you for letting me share them with you!

I know my blog has been more about my adventures in DIY creations…

but I really want Creative Ambitions to be about all my creative ambitions… to inspire not just a certain group of friends but many!

I am also thinking about selling my paintings/art again…

I already have an empty blog for them and an empty etsy site from long ago…

but for right now… I am trying to explore all my gifts!

Finding the ones that fit and the ones that don’t.

and while I wait for the right time for me to start selling my creations…

I ask, seek and knock…

and then

***practice, practice, practice!!***

Spring Mantel 2013

 

The trees are starting to bud and bloom here in Tennessee.

It definitely put me in the mood to get my mantel decorated for Spring!

I decided to get a little “artsy” with it (as I always do) and make these…

Tin Can Flowers

I used Tin Snips to cut the cans up and manipulated the pedals with my needle nose pliers.

DO NOT do this without gloves… it WILL cut you!

I hammered holes in them, cut some fabric circles and hammered upholstery tacks in for the center.

Cute eh?

Now… onto the whole mantel…

Just Being Creative

Here’s a little update of what I’ve been doing…

Creating!

YEP!  I have been so inspired… so motivated… so excited to just… Create!

(image: Graphics Fairy)

Let’s see…

I have been creating mixed media art (that includes rusting metal… so fun), thrifting (just had to throw that in), creating a journal,  and sewing! 

YES… sewing! 

Rather… trying to learn how to sew!

****I’m also in the process of creating my spring mantel and working on a very creative project with a very sentimental birdhouse (this one may take awhile… if I can even do it!)****

And as this creative force hit me @ a week ago or so… the Lord led me to share this journey with my creative friend Kolein…

She is now my creative sounding board accountability partner… and I hope I’m a good one for her!

AND then…

and then, and then…

the Lord led us to this…

Jeanne Oliver e-courses!

WOW!

These classes have so enriched both of our lives…and we’ve only just started!  We so needed these… didn’t we Kol??

((Jeanne Oliver Designs.com/blog))

OK….

Last time I shared with you my first e-vuh mixed media art project…

WELLLLLLLLL…

I went back and changed the coloring on it…brightened it up a bit…

        

 before and after…

This time…I think I will let it sit on the easel for awhile just to make sure I’m done.

Now… onto journaling…

Here’s a journal I made… an art and writing journal…

it was so much fun to create my own.

 

(I accidentally glued the back inside cover… upside down! Oops!)

As I ventured into learning how to use a sewing machine… I decided to see what it would do with paper… and that is when I began to sew pages together and watch tons of videos on bookbinding… tons out there online… so if you want to try it… just google it… it’s pretty simple… just takes time.

Can’t wait to start writing and cutting and pasting!!

SO… as Spring approaches…

(image: Graphics Fairy)

Hope this inspires you to get out those paint brushes, get out that glue and paper,  get out that needle and thread, get out that hammer and those power tools…

and

 Just Create!!

 

Trying Mixed Media Art

Hi everyone!

Can you believe that spring is less than a month away?

WOW!

I am already working on my spring mantel… but still enjoying my winter mantel.

My only hint to it are flowers… creative flowers.

NOW…

let’s talk art…

mixed media art.

As some of you know, I use to paint and sell folk, whimsical type paintings…

A Ruffled Vase for Valentine’s Day… or any day

So… to carry along with the ruffled theme this week…

you know… because of my Ruffled Bag Win and all… lol.

I decided to make a Ruffled Vase to put some real and fake roses in.

Very simple project…

A Ruffled Bag Win!

 

I won!  I won!  I won!

You have to understand…

I NEVER win anything!  It may be cliché to say that but…

I actually quit entering contests a long time ago… because I never win.

But the tables have FINALLY turned!

YEP… I WON!!

Shipping Crate Desk Along Side My Winter Mantel… Very Cozy!

 

OK… this is my second post of the day!  (not normal for me…lol)

In my last post… I showed you my new shipping crate desk I built.

Well… it rained everyday as I worked on this thing… for like 9 days or so straight.

No SUN!

So… what did I do to help with my cabin fever when I got through building?

Well…

I rearranged the ol’ furniture and stylized a little bit!  FUN!