I have been blessed with wonderful people in my life.
As I have gotten older, I have become more selective on
who I keep in my life, and more diligent on whom I kick
to the curb. Do you enlighten or enrich my life in any way?
Do I feel good about myself when I'm with you? Do I respect
the way you live your life, and how you treat the people in it?
If I answer "No", to any of those questions, out ya go!
No regrets, only lessons.
One of the most incredible people I know is a spunky chick, we'll
call, "Kenzie". I have always admired this lady for how she treats the
people in her life. She is always thinking of others, and making
you feel like she loves you the best of all her friends. And she's good
at it, too. I always thought I was her special lady,
until I met all of the others...
Anyhoo, this chick has had some ailments and medical issues in the past,
at least we thought they were in the past. She never let how poorly she was feeling
keep her from anything she wanted, or felt she had to do.
But, back in June of last year, shit got real.
My Super Friend, Wonder Mom, Schmexy Lady, had had an aneurysm.
Let's be clear though, she had the aneurysm, but waited an entire week to
go to the hospital for emergency, life saving surgery! And she was only
37 years old at the time. Again, she was a wonder. A medical wonder once
she regained consciousness from her coma. Seriously, she had medical
staff peeking in on her just to see the wonder girl.
I always knew she was bad ass. Just sayin'.
So, it's been over a year, and her recovery is not over yet,
but this lady has grabbed the bull by the horns and showed it how
to really live. She climbed a big volcano in Hawaii all by herself to
celebrate her "Aneur-versary". Yeah, did I mention she's pretty
bad ass? I admire her tenacity, her drive, and her heart.
I love this lady's guts. A lot.
In case you were wondering about the egg pictures, Kenzie always brings
me fresh eggs from her chickens, and they always have faces on them.
She rocks.
So I made her something to hang on her wall to remember me
among all of her other conquests...
I really wanted to play along in the Stampotique Designer challenge,
to use "attachers" on your project. I knew I wanted to make a mash up
of a Kira critter with Torrente bat wings, so that was the easy part.
I began with a 4" x 4" gray canvas panel from Mike's. It was 70% off,
so I grabbed a couple. I stenciled some black modeling paste onto
it with the TH Gothic stencil. I used Wisteria and Black Ice Silks
for the background color. I'm still learning how to use these gorgeous
paints. I also used my gel medium for the first time by using it to glue the
black May Arts webbed ribbon down on the bottom. Next time, I'll be sure
to paint over it so it doesn't show as much. Still learning...
I made sure his wings were movable. I usually don't make
cool, interactive projects like shaker cards or moving parts,
but this was super simple, and fun.
I used teeny tiny Tim Holtz brad fasteners to hold the wings onto
I chopped off his arms and shortened his feet, too. Sorry. But hey,
I did grant him the gift of flight in exchange for his appendages.
I grunged up a TH "'Salvaged" word band, and attached it to eyelets with
more TH doo-hickeys and jump rings. And, I finally managed to part with my
very first button that my friend, Lynne sent me months/years ago.
Thanks, Lynne!
I also used my TH word dies for the first time, too! I cut it out a few times
with black card stock, which I glued together, and then a purple one on top.
I used some UTEE to give it a nice, glossy finish.
I thought "Authentic" was a good word to describe my dear friend.
And now, Kenzie is really into brain themed schtuff. Go figure.
I have had this brain charm for months and finally
figured out just where it belongs.
Oh, and for some fun texture I used my Goosebumps spray, but I didn't
clean out the nozzle the last time I used it (which you MUST do), so
I improvised and spread it out with fingers. It gives a good bat wing texture.
Thanks for sticking with me through this long winded post.
I had to gush about my friend who inspired this piece.
I hope she loves it.
I'd like to enter this in the following challenges: