Finally! A mushroom I can love!

As far as eating mushrooms go, I am not a fan.

Maybe it's the texture, maybe it's the flavor. 

Either way, I can do without them.

Unless...

It's a Mushroom Flower Sprite from Aurora Wings!! 

Mitzi has done it again and created an adorable new sprite image.

The very second I saw her, I knew she was destined to adorn my 

Mother's Day cards this year. 

But then I thought, what about foregoing the standard card

and creating a little gift instead?

My family has enough of my handmade cards to last them forever, 

but maybe a small mixed media canvas would be a nice change of pace. 

I began with a 4"x 5" small canvas, painted it using DecoArt chalk paint in 

the Timeless shade, and then used the Tim Holtz Gothic stencil to add some

Finnabair Texture Paste in Platinum Crackle.

I colored this Mushroom Flower Sprite with my Grandma in mind,

using RV Copics. I added some Stickles for sparkle and interest.

I used a Spellbinders oval and Elegant oval to ground my image.

Also decked out in some Stickles magic. Sprites need their sparkle.

Grandma loves flowers, so I broke out my stash of paper

flowers, and even popped a tiny mushroom in for fun.

I added a lovely pearl stick pin and some pearl and gold

dew drops for a bit of fancy decadence. Nothing is too good

for this special lady. I just know she's going to love it.  

I didn't want to start a fight over special gifts, so I made another

canvas for my Mother in Law. This one is a little different in that 

I used a 4" x 4" canvas, but stayed with the same basic background and

textures as the first one. 

I used BG and YG Copics for this color scheme.

I like to mix things up a bit with non-traditional colors.

And so far I have yet to color one of these Aurora Wings Sprites    

using flesh tones on the skin. Just one of my quirks when

it comes to little magical  creatures.

I used a different embellishment for height,

but still popped a sweet little mushy in there to keep everyone happy.  

This adorable little mushy is available today in the 

Aurora Wings shops.

To see more inspiring Mushroom Sprite projects be sure to stop by the  

Aurora Wings Showcase blog.

Thanks for dropping by today.

I'd love to enter these canvases in the following challenges:

Little Miss Muffet challenges - Anything Goes 

Southern Girls Challenge - 133 Texture

Inspiration Destination - Anything Goes 

Mod Squad challenge - Mother's Day

The Paper Shelter - #246 Pearls

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge  - Anything Goes

Altered Eclectics - Anything Goes mixed media

Crafting in a Beautiful Mess - Anything Goes 

Creative Artiste Challenge - Anything Goes -using flowers

Jo's Scrap Shack - Mother's Day

Short and Sweet

Today is the start of the new challenge theme at the

Aurora Wings Challenge blog.

The new theme is Flowers.

Pretty easy to be inspired, as spring is in full bloom everywhere you look,

and there are a ton of beautiful, flowery images available at

the Aurora Wings Etsy shop. 

I picked up a bunch of 4" x 4" canvas boards on sale at Mike's

last week, and wanted to use one for this project. I get tired of

making cards all of the time.

  

I decided to work with an image that I haven't colored up before.

This is 'Bunnirina'.

She's adorable, right?

The canvas was a nice gray color already, but it didn't

go with my color scheme. I painted it using Deco Art's chalk paint

in the color, 'Timeless'. This is my first time using this paint,

and I love the coverage and the quick drying time. Oh, and no prep

is a big plus, too. This chalk paint gave me a perfect base for the 

pearlized crackle paste put through a fancy stencil. I love that stuff!

First though, I edged the entire canvas using some distress inks.

They bled through the crackle paste beautifully.

Didn't someone say something about flowers?

I dug out a bunch of paper roses, some of which I colored

using Copics, some that I left natural, and a few were already

dyed. I managed to pop in a few pearl dew drops, too. 

I also worked in a pretty floral spray I picked up in the 

wedding section at Mike's. I really like the height and 

interest those types of embellishments add to a project.

As a last added element, I broke out with a new pot of

Rock Candy Distress dry glitter. It added just the right amount of

sugary sparkle the outer perimeter of the canvas. And then while I was

in a glittering mood I used some Stickles on the roses, too. 

Someone is going to make me cash in my creepy card for this project.

But I don't care. This is was so fun to make.

So sweet! 

I hope you'll stop by the AW challenge blog and see all of the other

fabulously flowery projects the DT have created for this theme.

Thanks for stopping by today.

I'd like to enter this in the following challenges:

Artistic Inspirations - Anything Goes with a twist of Spring

All Crafts Challenge - Anything Goes but No cards

Not Just Cards - Anything Goes

Kit and Clowder - flowers

Sweet Stamping Challenge - Anything But a Card

Fussy and Fancy - Spring Flowers

Very Anti-Valentine

It's been far too long since I've blogged.

I kinda miss it. I got super burnt out after the 31 Days of Halloween.

I was creatively paralyzed for the entire month of November and most

of December, too. I think I have successfully corralled my mojo, 

slapped a saddle on that bitch, and am ready to ride.

The new theme over at Aurora Wings is 

Pro/Anti Valentine.

C'mon, let's face it, Valentine's Day isn't for everyone. 

After 40 something years of falling prey to the financial

expectations of the holiday, the glitter and sparkle has faded.

I'm over it, and have decided to not hold my husband to an unattainable

standard set by big business any longer. He's still pretty drained financially

from Xmas, so it's not a big deal. Besides, he spoils me periodically

with flowers and trinkets all year long anyway. He's a keeper.

So with all of that said, I have decided to go with the 

Anti-Valentine option of the challenge.

I chose to use my absolute favorite Aurora Wings Flower Sprite, 

the Corpse Flower Sprite.   

He's perfect for an anti-Valentine, dontcha think?

I began by coloring the sprite in lovely purple shades.

The first time I colored him I kept him in red shades.

I think I like the purple better. 

I manipulated the image in Gimp, and laid the text over the top of it.

I also sang "Love Stinks", by the J. Geils Band the entire time, too.

I decided to make a 6"x6" canvas, and prepped it using brown acrylic paint,

 and crackle medium on all of the edges. I rubbed a darker shade of brown paint

into the crackle once it was cured to make the cracks really show up.

I distressed various papers in browns, that complimented one another.

The use of distress ink in walnut, and frantage really helped to tie it all together. 

I added a couple of paper flowers and some burlap ribbon for some added 

interest. I really love all the textures. 

I also used some pearl thingies on top of a nearly over-distressed doily.

I mean that thing has more ink on it than the rest of the entire project.

Very absorbent little sucker.

I used Platinum  Stickles on the distressed edges of the papers on the

perimeter of the canvas. Gives it another nice layer of sparkle. I also like 

to splatter white Dylusion ink on everything for a nice, cohesive effect, too.

And lastly, I added a smattering of lavender jewels to tie in with the purple

Corpse Flower. 

I am pretty pleased with myself this time around.

Please stop by the Aurora Wings challenge blog to see all of the 

other wonderful work by the rest of the design team.

Who knows? You may be so inspired that you'll want to play along with 

us this month. Stranger things have happened.

    

My Macabre Monthly has begun!

Have no fear, I am only talking about the newest incarnation of 

Haunted Design House's Macabre Monday challenges. 

We have decided to begin this year as a monthly challenge

 with really inspiring themes that are left to your interpretation. 

No sponsors, but we will be honoring our monthly chosen winner 

with an exclusive badge just for that challenge.

The more exclusive badges you collect, the better your chances are of

winning an incredible array of artistic goodies from the Minions at the end 

of the year.  

Sound like fun? I think so. 

Wanna see what I made for our first challenge

"What's New Pussy Cat?"    

I decided that my first project for 2015 was going to be a 

mixed media canvas. I really love the freedom this kind of 

project allows. No rules, just add schtuff to your heart's desire.

I began with a 4" x 5" canvas base, painted it with green acrylic paint,

and stenciled a diamond pattern using a pearlized crackle medium.

I got this new stamp from Stampotique called, "Spotted Monster" ,

and I added the wings also from Stampotique, to give him the gift of flight.

He's all colored with Copics, and some Rock Candy Stickles for texture

on his wings and spots. 

After all the paints and mediums were dry, I still wasn't convinced this was

a done deal, so I added more crackle paste randomly on the canvas.

Then I broke the seals on some Silk acrylic glazes I had been dying to use.

They really add a nice subtle touch of color and shine. I ended up using my

fingers to apply it so it didn't look too deliberate. 

I added a Tim Holtz tag at the top with some black tinsel twine.

I also used some new TH stars, along with some pearls to give the

feeling of the starry sky. 

And it's not cool to forget about the sides of the canvas.

I added all the words using green tissue paper and stamping the words

directly onto it using Memento ink in black. 

I glued it down using Golden matte medium and it made the 

tissue paper disappear. I have a hard time stamping directly onto canvas with 

any success, so this really made my day. 

Thanks for dropping by today.

I hope you enjoyed my first creation of 2015, and that you'll join

me throughout the coming year to see more of my artistic ramblings

and shenanigans.   

I'd like to enter this in the following challenges:

Stampotique - SDC176 Anything Goes

Altered Eclectics - Anything Goes 

Rhedd's Creative Spirit - Mixed Media only- anything goes

Simon Says Stamp - Anything Goes