My {First Ever} Canvas Painting.

So, I'm inching closer to 30 than I would ever like to admit.  I have a birthday next month and {until I perfect time travel, which I'm having difficulty with the ripping open the space/time continuum part} it will officially be my last year in my 20's. *gasp*.

I find that I'm changing as I "mature" (can you call it that?)   I'm broadening my horizons and trying foods I've always feared.  Nothing fancy, mind you.  I fear green peppers.  I'm listening to music I used to mock. I'm attempting to sew. Yea.  It's weird.  I've always envied those artsy types that embrace a creativity I so lack.  I try, I'm just way to "Engineery".  I can whip out a powerpoint arguing a business plan in my sleep.  Throw an empty sheet of paper in front of me, a yard of fabric, or an empty canvas and I struggle.

Moving on.  I also find I'm spending less money on toys than I used to.  My phone is over a year old and I haven't purchased a video game since Fable III.  I know - shame.  I haven't even turned on my PS3 other to watch Netflix is well over a year.  Part of that is because I found WoW, and my huntard *must* be geared to the extreme, but still...three years ago, I would've pwned Mass Effect 3's ass and still had waking hours left to get my Druid to 85.  

So, if I'm not spending my money on video games, what am I spending it on?  My house.  Yes.  It's so odd.  My husband and I just bought our very first bedroom set.  This is the second piece of furniture we've purchased for ourselves.  Everything else is hand-me-downs.  With this new bed, I wanted to decorate.  I saw an abstract that I fell in love with at Gordman's.  It was a reprint on cheap canvas and it was $100.  I was shocked.  I thought, "Why the hell would someone pay this much cash for a cheap reprint?  I could do that for way cheaper and have supplies left over to do it again."  

....Right?!

*click*  l i g h t b u l b.

I rushed to Michaels and purchased canvas, brushes, paints that match my bedroom, and an easel!  (I was way too excited about my easel.)  I also bought some supplies for my three year old to paint with me.  I had an idea of what I wanted - an abstract with my daughters handprints somehow intertwined. I put the canvas in front of me and hated everything I painted on it.  After multiple iterations of  drying and repainting, I'd settled on a background.  Then I proceeded to paint my daughter's hand and told her to have at it.

This is what we came up with:

I'm not sure if it's any good.  I'm no critic.  What I do know is that I love it, and my Rizzobear had a blast contributing.  It is now hanging on Mommy and Daddy's bedroom wall in all of its glory.

For those who are curious:  Yes, my daughters skills far outweigh my own:

Thanks for looking!

Heart and Soul: April SFYTT

Just a quick post for the April SFYTT.

Here is our sketch:

I wanted to do something really simply, so I used the inky watercolor technique on some watercolor paper.  The Butterfly and Sentiment stamps are from Unity Stamp Co's January KOTM.  The music notes are from Papertrey Ink's Background Basics, Music Notes set.

Inks are from Stampin' Up!'s 2011-2012 line.

Happy Birthday To One Of My Favs!

Inspired by Pinterest, I made this for one of my favorite little girls.  Part of me is hoping her Mommy and Snowdaddy don't see it, but if they do they have to *promise* not to tell her!

So, what did I make?  I made Olive her very own Kleenex box cover up!

Here is the front.

Both sides are the same with butterflies.

And the back is a birthday cake.

The top has a few more butterflies, and of course the hole for the kleenex box.  It's totally reusable too!  Just slip the empty Kleenex box out of the bottom and replace with a full one!  If it's not your birthday, just rotate the box to the butterfly side!

Now, you ask yourself, what on Earth does an eight year-old girl want with a Kleenex box cover.  Well, duh!  It's pretty!

Ok, ok, ok, so it serves another purpose.  It's just a ruse.  Little Olive goes to blow her nose only to find that there's only one Kleenex!  

MONEY!!!

...AND MORE MONEY!!!

She is currently in love with Skylanders.  I didn't know what they were, so I looked them up and could believe it was SPYRO!  I love love love love love Spyro.  I still bust out the original for the PS1 every once in awhile.  The series went to the crapper when Universal bought it out from Insomniac, but the originals were epic.  So, I printed off and colored a Spyro for her birthday "card" and the end of the monies.

I hope she likes it!

Thanks for looking!

Rizzo's Good Girl Chart

My Rizzobear decided to wait until she was three to hit the terrible twos.  Her behavior lately has been whiny, rude, defiant, and outright appalling. I can't believe I'm already saying, "What happened to my precious baby girl?!"

Rizzo is also a people pleaser.  She responds fantastically to positive reinforcement.  When she was potty training shorty after she turned two, I made her a potty chart.  It took two weeks for her to be potty trained, and she's only had one accident.  I blame her Gie Gie (my Mom) for that one.  Rizzo was so excited she had come to visit that she didn't realize she had to pee until it was too late.  So, long story short: Rizzo loves to get that sticker!

When her behavior started getting rough around the edges, I thought perhaps a "Good Girl Chart" would be just the ticket to nip it in the bud.

Here is what I made:

The base is Stampin' Up!'s Blushing Bride.  The white is Papertrey Ink's White cardstock.  The pattern paper is from DVCW's Dots, Stripes, and Plaids paper stack.

The frame is one of the fabulous freebies given away by Tiddly Inks during their 2 year anniversary.
 

I printed off "Rizzo's Good Girl Chart" on Papertrey Ink's white cardstock and cut it out using Papertrey Ink's Mat Stack 5.

This little fairy beaut Tiddly Ink's Wryn - Fairy Friends colored using Copics.

And this darling fairy girl is Tiddly Ink's Fairy Wishes.  I just adore Wryn!

 

Rizzo got to do the butterflies.  They are from EK Success (purchased at Michaels, I believe).

For the rewards, if she's good girl all week (of course, I allow some give...she is three), then she gets a special prize on Saturday such crafting time with Mommy or a special dessert.

I also did myself a favor my placing a hollow backing to the back of the frame and making the list tabbed so I could reuse this chart.

Here's hoping this works!  Thanks for looking!