Creative Dawn

There is a benefit for a of mine this weekend and he loves hard rock music.  I have been trying to think of what to make that would work with his favorite genre but my style isn't really conducive to that.  This is what I came up with.  These cards would also work for Halloween.  My idea was to give this along with the skull pillow from a few posts ago but am not sure right now.  The cards are very unique and hopefully someone would appreciate them.  It can be difficult to come up with an idea when the persons interest isn't a specialty of yours.  We'll see what happens and I will post what my final decision was in a few days.

At work recently we started to receive Halloween and fall items and it has inspired me to start making some stuff for this time of year.  The pictures for this pillow are not that good, it looks better if you actually could see it.  I cut out a skull and cross bones from black felt and then stitched it to black felt with red variegated embroidery floss.  The border is a combination of red and orange felt.  Hopefully you get the idea from the pictures. Oh yeah, last night was my class reunion and the games went over very well.  I was so excited that people enjoyed them!  It was a great event and we all had a great time catching up.  We reminisced about the past and created a few new memories!

Can you believe I got this Halloween decoration at a video store?  It was fifty cents!  The store was going out of business everything was for sale.  You never know what you will find at a sale like this.  It was kind of cute for Halloween, but it's even cuter now for spring.  It was not easy to rip off all of the leaves and raffia they were held on with some sore of super glue and because of this some bits were left behind.  For this reason I decide to add the flowers on top of the chick.  There was also left over glue on what was the front so I used the other side for my project.  It was simple to do, paint on eyes and a beak and flowers.  It took longer for the paint to dry than it did to put it all together.  It will hopefully help to inspire a feeling of spring since tonight we actually have snow predictions.  YUCK!  

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. 

  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!

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.

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...

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...

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!

My favorite holiday is this month, Halloween!  I am a big kid, I love to dress up and just have fun.  You will see quite a few Halloween projects this month.  A few have already been posted.  Here is my latest.  Sometimes creativity is seeing potential in an item that no one else would ever imagine. This little guy was started with a base of green paint.  A large white button painted to look like an eye was hot glued on.  The hair is purple and black yarn that is actually stuffed into half a toilet tissue tube and glued in the center.  A fun quick project made out of a odds and ends and in the end probably cost less than a dollar to make!

Go to any thrift store and you can find something like this cutting board.  They come in all shapes and sizes.  And I just love Halloween, so I did this one in that theme.  Just so you know, I DID NOT use stencils for this one.  It's all freehand.  I love doing fun lettering, and being an artist, it is the most common thing that people ask you to do.  - Can you make me garage sales signs, I need a sign for free kittens, etc. - So, I have become a lettering pro.  This particular decoration was donated, along with a Halloween teddy bear to a benefit one of my friends did.  It helped to raise money for a person struggling with MS.  It feels good to be able to use my talents to assist others!

Halloween is one of my favorite holidays. Even though I am an adult, I love to dress up and have fun. This year I have been flooded with craft/art project ideas for October 31st. I got the black wreath last year after Halloween on sale for 75% off. I can't remember the exact price, but it was a good deal. It's been in a corner with me looking at it trying to figure out what to do with it. I was going to the grocery store and was passing by Michael's, so I stopped. The ribbon has spider webs on it and was 1.19, eyeball were 4 to a pack at .99 and the paper mache skull was 1.99. It maybe took a whole 10 minutes to put together. The only thing that took longer was waiting for the paint on the skull to dry. It should look great on my front door ready to greet the kids on Halloween :) Updated 10/8/10.  I was shopping and these orange leaves caught my attention.  A bargain at about 1.00 each pick so I got two.  I took them apart and hot glued them onto the wreath.  It...