Creative Dawn

Hope everyone had a great weekend of partying and trick or treating.  Here is my costume.   I am Frida Kahlo.  I am part of her painting the Two Fridas.  I don't think anyone else would have this idea.  It definitely goes along with the Halloween vibe with the bleeding arteries.  The total cost was 13.00 a great bargain!  The skirt was 4.99 at the Goodwill, I just added the red paint for a blood effect.  The top was actually sleeveless and I have it on backwards it cost 2.00.  The sleeves are some lacy curtain panels that I tacked on with a little extra lace at the top they were 1.99 each.  The collar is popped up and a lace trim was also sewn on there.  The heart is a textured felt with a plastic cording for the arteries the felt was 1.00 and the cording .99.  Draw on a uni brow with eyeliner and add some bronze for my face and then I braided my hair and bobby pinned it to the top of my head. Now, it's time to re...

Well, Halloween is tomorrow!  Yeah!!!  My costume is done, I just need to put it on and add the finishing touches.  Another piece below.  Hm? My project for today was labeled a match holder.  Because we all have giant matches laying around the house and no place to put them.  Right?  It cost a couple of dollars at the Goodwill and was still in it's packaging.  I just added a few flowers and now have a pretty spoon holder for my kitchen.  Simple and functional. 

Just a quick idea today, I gotta work and my head is pounding!  Ugh!  I love the fishhook style earrings and needed a way to store/display them.  I bought this paper tray that is mesh and hung it on the wall and it makes the the perfect earring display.  It cost less than $5.00 at KMart.  It isn't gaudy or tacky looking at all and actually is kinda decorative too.

  Today, I have a drawing and it is one of three.  The rest will be posted soon.  At this time, I am waiting for the right frames to use for the pictures.  They are going to be proudly  displayed in my kitchen above the cupboards. Kitchen decor can be very boring sometimes.  Pots, pans, giant utensils, fruit and farm animals are just a few of the themes people seem to use.  Well, I love my geometric shapes, so that's what I got for decor.  Below is another part of my Halloween costume.  What could it be?  Only a few more days before I post the completed outfit!

This small house was originally a DVD holder.  I have another one that is a CD holder.  Both picked up at the Goodwill for a few bucks each.   This one I made as a Halloween decoration, the other one will be for Christmas.  It stands about a foot and a half tall and is a great table accent.  I decided on the haunted house idea and actually would like to add more fun decorations, but will probably wait another week or two for the decorations to go on clearance.  If I add more, I will update the project.  Have you guessed my costume yet?  Another picture will be posted tomorrow.  Keep guessing!

For my Halloween costume this year I have spent about $12.00.  It is unique and I would be willing to guess not many people would come up with this idea.  This is the first part that is finished.  Any guesses?  Here is a clue...this is a heart.  Well, what do you think?  The rest should be finished in another day or two.  I will post each item separately as they are done.  And no, it is NOT Lady Gaga!  That wouldn't be an original idea this year.  It is a famous female however!  Keep reading, that is if anyone is really out there.

Mirrors are a favorite thing of mine.  I don't know why, but painting and decorating them is really fun to me.  Maybe it is the design and the reflection of it, I don't know, but if I see a cool mirror, I have to have it.  This one jumped out at me because of it's geometric shape and it is possible to hang it two different ways.  The cutout design is unique and I have never seen one like this before. On to the design...I started by painting this cream, but didn't like it, so I changed it to green.  Originally all of the square shapes were also cream, but it didn't look right, so I started by adding black, then the red and the pink and finally the lavender.  Now, to me it also started to remind me of Mike & Ike candies.  The background with the green is reminiscent of the box and the squares like the colors of the candy inside and also some of the rectangles are similar in shape to them, so I named it the Mike ...

It is a triple heart design on my third day of hearts.  This small plaque was simple to begin with, but now it has a Sixties hippie style to it.  Flowers intersecting in bright colors.  Definitely a fun wall hanging that has a lot of personality.

 Let's go on a few days of hearts.  This is day two.  The picture on the left is how it originally looked, the right is after painting it.   It measures at about 12 inches tall and 4 inches wide a great size to accent a small area. Because of the cutouts, it was trickier to get an idea.  In the end, I painted it brown and then using the tip of my paint brush, applied dots in various colors and patterns.  The hearts are also painted a rust color.  I had a small spot between a couple of doorways where it fit in perfectly and it also compliments the woodwork. 

In making more frequent trips to the thrift stores, I have discovered that there are A LOT of heart motif items.  If it's not in the shape of a heart, it is decorated with one.  Paint can cover up some of them, but the ones that are cut out are more challenging.  I struggled with this one for a while until I came up with a combination craft/painting project.  I have a ton of miscellaneous buttons, so I hot glued them around the border and then painted welcome on it.  Let me know what you think!

Calender page number two!  Try to NOT get this song stuck in your head!  An oldie but goody for sure.  I had fun drawing the swirling lollipop on the far right.  It took a while, but the result is awesome.  Just a short post today, I have to work and take care of a few other things.  Hey, is anybody out there?  I need some more song suggestions.  I'll just keep posting.  Martha Stewart, I'm waiting for your call LOL!

                                                          I bought this for .89!  The legs were slightly wobbly, but all I had to do was tighten the screws.  It was marked at .99, but at the Goodwill, if you carry out your own furniture you get 10% off.  My inspiration was a mirror that I love and had painted years ago and also, the wall hanging tray from 9/29/2010.  The designs are different, but the blocked motif is the same.  I really like the idea of several designs in various colors in one project.  The options are limitless!  My table now resides in the entry way of my home welcoming everyone and it is also by the mirror that helped inspire it....

I know, more Halloween, but there is only a little time left before the big day is here.  This little plaque started life as a teacher wall hanging, but is now dressed up for Halloween.  The tricky part was trying to decide what to do with the bell design, at least, I think that is what it was supposed to be.  It's a small piece of wood glued to the plaque, so I had to figure out what to make out of it.  It kind of looked like a broom to me, so that is what I painted it as.  At first, I didn't like how the project was going so I just started to 'doodle' and make squiggles and the result was good.  I really should start mentioning the dimensions of some of the projects that I have done, so here goes.  This one is approximately 4 x 10.  

  So, today, I had to get up earlier than normal for a work thing that was extremely boring.  I have been kind of listless and not very motivated.  I am sure it will happen again throughout this year.  I do have a small project though!  A little Goodwill find that I had a difficult time trying to figure out what to do with.  It could have gone Christmas or Halloween but in the end it was the pumpkin theme that won out.  If it had been for Christmas it would have been a snowman.  So first, I did paint it white and then changed my mind and it became a fun stack of pumpkins. I also did a little baking today.  It's getting cooler and it's a great way to warm up the house.  My friend Jess was recently asking me to make peanut butter cookies because they are her favorite, mine too!  So, I got out my Marjorie Johnson baking book and used her recipe.  YUMMY!  She has a blue ribbon cookbook and everything that I have made is awes...

Tomorrow, I am going to see an acquaintance of mine that runs a flower shop.  I have asked her in the past if she would sell some of my cards and she said yes!  So I have to stop in and drop off my wares.  There are only 10 to start with to see how it goes, but I have my fingers crossed.  I wasn't sure about the pricing, but they are all done by hand so hopefully people will appreciate them.  Will keep you posted on the outcome!

I had posted earlier about the calenders that I give for gifts every year.  Food related music is this years theme and I have just completed my first one.  The song inspiration is The Beatles - Strawberry Fields Forever. It is also one of my top 5 favorite Beatles songs.  I did do a bit of a Peter Maxx influence for this one since he is associated with the sixties era and I love his work.  This is the song that really sparked my calender inspiration for the coming year.  There are a few songs that I already plan on using, but am up for suggestions for others.  Please comment if you come up with a food song that would easily lend itself to artwork.  No Weird Al please!

Let's face it, everyone has to eat and most people enjoy sweets, so giving gifts that are food related are always welcome.  As the holiday season approaches, I will share some of my favorite food gifts, but for now, I will show you what they will be packaged in.  I got this cute little crate at a thrift store for less than $2.00.  It wasn't bad, but I had to make it my own.  I just painted it a cream color and then decided on an apple motif.  It's fall right now so the apple idea was inspired by the season.  All I need to add to it for a total gift is the food.  So there you have it, two gifts in one, a decorative container and whatever I bake to put inside.

I came home from work and needed something to do while I waited for Project Runway to start.  First, I grabbed the peppers out of the fridge that one of my customers gave to me and made some salsa.  I had hot banana peppers, habanero and Thai chilies.  After dicing the peppers and very thoroughly washing my hands, I added in some tomatoes, cumin, garlic salt and oregano, it was spicy, but good.  What next, that was quick, baking sounds good.  I usually bake something at least once a week, mostly cookies to share at work, but today, muffins with a little twist sounded interesting.  I paged through my library of cookbook and came across a recipe that was called Pesto Surprise Muffins.  Mm...but I don't have any pesto, what to do...I just made salsa, would that work?  I made the recipe and made two substitutions instead of Parmesan I subbed cheddar and used my homemade salsa instead of the pesto.  They turned out good, but next time I might ad...

Everyday I try to decide what to blog about and sometimes my brain is sleeping.  Sometimes, the creativity is oozing out my ears, well today is one of those days.  I could save them up and use them throughout the rest of my 365 days, but whats the fun in that?  Besides, I need to make room for other things, so here goes.  For one day only...3 ideas in one blog! Idea number one...I got this at the Goodwill for 1.99 and tried a few different ideas.  It was going to be a Christmas decoration, then just a general home decoration and finally I settled on Halloween.  I painted it green and got a monster!  He is a cute monster and looks great on my table with some of my other holiday decor. Idea number 2 is costume related.  I am not a store bought costume person, I have to make it or it's no fun for me.  So over the years I have had many unique costumes.  My go to costume is Cyndi Lauper.  Heck, at least a quarter o...

This is a great way to relax and still do something creative.  I love to embroider and watch TV especially on a rainy or snowy day.  Flour sack dishtowels are practical and make great gifts.  Everyone can use more towels!  This set is going to my husbands grandma for their family cabin, hence the cabin theme.  The iron on templates are at most craft and fabric stores for a few dollars.  You can use them multiple times and even if they wear out, you could still use them with fabric tracing paper.  I use a basic back stitch and keep it simple since the towels will be used a lot I don't want to get to fancy.  To the left is my recent findings at the Goodwill and to the right is the amount I spent.  It was half off all blue ticket items and the table was marked at .99.  I got 10% off the table for carrying it out myself.  What a deal!  Look for these bargain finds in upcoming posts.

First I am going to start with some costume ideas.  As I have said in the past, I love Halloween and dressing up, but, my husband Aric is not much for getting in the spirit of things.  Getting him to dress up can be a challenge.  So I go with what he likes and try to keep it simple.  1)  His favorite comedian of all time is Sam Kinison.  His look was easy to imitate.  Black shirt and pants, a long duster coat and a head scarf with skulls which was the only thing I had to buy.  He loved the costume and actually uses the scarf. 2)  Bluto from Animal House.  Khaki shorts, messy hair, an excuse not to shave, tennis shoes, a plaid button down shirt and a black sweatshirt with COLLEGE on it.  He had everything once again except for the sweatshirt which I bought and was very inexpensive and then ironed on the lettering.  He still wears the shirt also.  You could also add in a bottle of Jack for a prop too! 3)...

I am really not sure what this is supposed to be.  An odd checkerboard?  Well, I am sure of what it became, a new Halloween decoration.  It came from the Goodwill for a few bucks and now is in my entryway as a cool wall hanging.  Measuring at about a foot and a half tall it makes a great welcoming piece. When it comes to Halloween, I love pumpkins!  The bright orange with the black contrast really jumps out at you.  Actually yesterday, while decorating my home, I realized how many pumpkin decorations I had in comparison to ghosts, haunted houses and other miscellaneous items.  You gotta love a toothless grin!  I did paint this one all freehand, no stencils.  I painted the background orange to begin with and then dry brushed a lime green over it.  The effect is kinda cool and worn looking.  Hope you like it and it gives you some ideas!

I found this frame at the Goodwill for a few bucks.  I liked it because it had a handmade paper quality.  It's been gathering dust for a while now so I had to either get rid of it or do something with it.  So I went through my cards, and tried a few different ones.  This one looked the best in the frame.  I always hope that when people receive my cards that they display them.  Many store bought cards also have a great artistic quality. Why not frame it up and show off the artwork. This frame is for a 5 x 7 picture and the card is approximately 4 x 6, but the whole frame is made out of the same material so it doesn't really need a mat.

This is another thrift store find.  Chess board on one side and Chinese checkers on the other.  It cost 1.40.  I wasn't sure what to do with it so I just painted it a solid color and waited for an idea.   I was looking through my jewelry and came across this necklace.  I loved the shapes and colors, so I used it for my inspiration.  It's interesting how sometimes while looking at magazines, shopping or just watching TV can help you to come up with an idea.  It just hits you, DUH, why didn't I think of that before!  The shapes also remind me a bit of Joan Miro.  A lot of his work has that kidney bean shape.  I am really liking this 365 project so far.  Having recently moved, I have more wall space to cover and now, my walls are slowly filling.  I may have to try a little Seurat style soon.  He is one of my very favorite artists.  The pointillism may be a bit of a challenge and also...