Honey Girl Studio

Home For the Holidays......

2011-12-31T20:31:00.000-05:00

I love being at home. It's nice to travel to different places and see different things but it's oh so nice to come home. These ornaments are inspired by the "homebody" in me!

Chipboard covered with decorative papers and embossed with silver embossing powder with stamps.

Burlap house with a tinsel roof. I made the birds and keyhole from shrink plastic.

Are there any other homebodies out there like me?

Burlap Trees.....

2011-12-30T20:50:00.000-05:00

I've been kind of obsessed with burlap this season and got a little carried away with making trees out of it! I cut out chipboard and covered the front and back with burlap. I used Mod Podge to glue on the burlap first by using a paintbrush and layering on a good amount of Mod Podge then laying on the burlap then painting on another thick layer of glue. After it was dry then I cut it out.

The fun part was digging into my junk stash and putting the embellishing touches on them!

The trunks are made from an old folding ruler that was cut into pieces.

A Use of tiny boxes

2011-12-29T15:12:00.000-05:00

A friend sent me the cutest little house pendant in a little cardboard jewelry box recently and it got me thinking.......hmmmmm I could make ornaments out of the box and make my own little wooden houses, and that's just what I did!

I covered the boxes with scrapbook paper and glued thin tinsel crack around the outside of it. Then I made the houses out of wood and covered them with paper and ba-da-bing.....it's a sweet little ornament!

Have you recycled anything and turned it into an ornament this year?

Merry Christmas!!!!

2011-12-25T11:24:00.001-05:00

Wishing all my friends in blogland a very Merry Christmas!

Digital card made with elements (except for the snowman) from Christmas Cheer by Tumble Fish Studio which can be found at Deviantscrap.com

Bottle Brush and Book Text Trees Galore!

2011-12-22T19:43:00.001-05:00

Cream and white galore! Who uses the word "galore" anymore? I guess I do! I probably get it from my mom b/c she uses it too! This year I made a drastic departure from the traditional way I usually do my mantle. I've always done it in pine roping with red and green baubles and beads but I felt I wanted something more peaceful this year. So this is what I came up with..........

I got this very cool piece of pottery at a flea market for a dollar. It has a cream colored base with a bumpy white texture to it that reminds me of snow.......

A very tall hymnal music and text tree. The white candles were also a flea market find for one thin dollar.

Peat pots make great little containers!

I bought a whole bag of green bottle brush trees and dipped them in a solution of water and bleach for about 15 minutes. Large wooden blocks of wood covered with various decorative cardstock is a great way to elevate the trees.......

This is a big cloche I made out of chicken wire to go over the tree just to balance out the tall tree at the other end of the mantle. I cut the paper strips a little wider and cut the tips with pinking scissors for this tree.......

The white lights are doubled over and then wrapped with a cream strip of tulle. The use of the tulle diffuses the light and gives a soft glow.

This piece was created with chicken wire molded into a basket shape, glued to a candle stick base and filled with moss, tinsel and a glittery bird (with a hat, because all birds should wear hats).

So that's my mantle for Christmas 2011! What do you think?

2011-12-20T18:47:00.000-05:00

It's Christmastime! Here's my newest creation which I used a book for a base in which I glued the pages together. How about that clock face? It's backed with chipboard and it stands up by itself.

I used the Nestabilities "gears" to cut out the gears from brown cardstock. The house I made out of cardstock and glued burlap to the roof. I think it makes it look like a thatch roof. The bottle brush tree was green so I dunked it in Clorox and dyed it out white. Now let's talk about the picture. It's a picture from 1911. I think they are sisters? I backed the clear flat backed marbles with glitter copper colored paper and glued them down with clear calking hit with glitter. That calking is cheap and works great to glue stuff together and really looks like snow.

Merry Christmas!

A Red, Grey and White Christmas......

2011-12-17T19:39:00.000-05:00

Just playing around with Tumble Fish Studio's Frippery Kit. I created these collages with elements from her kit and then backed them with heavy chipboard and trimmed them out with thin tinsel to make them into ornaments.

Holiday Digi

2011-12-13T19:52:00.000-05:00

Playing around with a new kit by Tumble Fish Studio called Frippery.

I converted everything to black and white. I'm thinking about turning this one into a small ornament with silver tinsel around it.

Have you every noticed how we use the word "display" when it comes to Christmas decorations? Would you still use the word display if only hung up one Christmas ornament? LOL!

What's your favorite thing to display at Christmastime?

Winter Wonderland Book......

2011-12-11T15:10:00.000-05:00

He's ready for the snow.........are you?

The base of this piece is a book! I painted an old hard covered book light blue, glued the pages together and printed out a title for the spine and glued it on. The snowman's face has been hand sculpted out of paperclay and painted. I made the hat and scarf from a scrap of felt.

As I was glueing the pages together I tucked glittery snowflakes between the pages here and there to peek out. I secured a hanger on the back and he's ready to hang on the wall!

Rock-n-Roll Santa!

2011-12-02T19:27:00.001-05:00

Jingle Bell Rock! I glued all of the is stuff backed with grunge board onto an old record!

Many of the images I got from Tumble Fish Studio's Christmas Cheer Elements which can be found on Deviant Scrap.

Don't you just love the vintage-feel of the this Santa?!?!?

Jingle Bell, jingle bell, jingle bell rock.................

Chicken Wire Basket Tutorial

2011-11-27T21:07:00.001-05:00

Hey it's time for a little tute! Since it's time to do some serious Christmas crafting let's get down to it.......

You need a piece of Chicken wire about 18 inches long and 2 feet high. Put a dish towel down so you don't scratch your table or counter top.

I use these big tin snips to cut the wire.....

You will need a bowl that measures 6 inches across and is 4 inches or more deep.

Flip the bowl upside down and place the chicken wire over it.

Start to form the wire around the begin to mold it around the bowl working your way around the bowl.

Grab the wire and the bowl and flip it over so that wire is still molded around the bowl.

Now you are going to use your wire cutters and trim about 2 inches from the edge of the top of the bowl the whole way around and discard the wire you cut off.

It should look like this.......

Now for the scratchy part. Start to form the edge of the wire around the edge of the bowl. Press firmly.

Time for a trim job again! Trim the wire flush to the top of the bowl. Remove the bowl.

Now take a small pair of pliers ( used round nose) and bend the wire over so it won't poke you.

Your bowl should look like this......

I took three, 16 inch pieces of 18 gauge wire and roughly twisted them around to make a handle.

I put a piece of burlap in the bottom, filled it Spanish moss, glittered up a dollar store bird, added a hat and stuck him in a peat pot filled with tinsel. I also attached a cotton batting and cream felt flower to the handle. The whole assemblage was then glued to a glass candle holder base.

What would you put in your chicken wire basket?

Would you like more Christmas ornament inspiration? Then click on over to see what fabulous ornaments Tracey has made at Glitterbug Studios.

Birds....birds.....birds.....

2011-11-21T16:13:00.000-05:00

Fa-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la! Four calling birds! No I'm not working my way through the 12 Days of Christmas! These ornaments were made with the Sizzix bird die.

Chipboard layered between 2 pieces of decorative paper then cut with the die. I used glitter paper on the wings.

This one is my favorite one.......

Three French Hens....two Turtle Doves......and a you know what in a you know where!

Old "Time" Ornaments......

2011-11-09T21:31:00.000-05:00

Just finished these ornaments the other day. I got the Tim Holtz clockface die last Saturday and could hardly wait to try it out. I layered old sheet music onto thick chipboard and cut out the clockface then backed it on cardstock over a piece of heavy chipboard. Another smaller circle of chipboard serves as the base for the vintage angels which have been digitally created. These are pretty good sized, about 5 inches in diameter.

I popped the inner circle with the angel on out by about 1/2 inch with a piece of foamcore board. This gave me room to tuck the embellishments behind it and gave the overall ornament some depth.

Burlap seems to be my new material of choice this season.........and cream colored thick felt.

Old lace and tulle are always a winner for embellishing also!

It's all about a touch of glitter too, right? This one has one of my prized vintage shell buttons on it.

Here's a close up of the little fellow. Don't the buttons and lace look real? There is a lot of detail in the digital collages in the center of each ornament.

So what ornaments have you started to make?

Moving Toward Christmas

2011-10-26T19:22:00.001-04:00

The winner of the caged raven necklace is.......... Noah! Congrats Noah and thanks to all who entered and took the time to leave a comment. Thanks to the new followers who joined this week as well. You are all great! Honey Girl Studio has put away the black and orange paper and paint and started to break out the red and green, yes it's time to start Christmas projects! Have you started your Christmas projects yet?

This is a digital collage piece I did entitled "The Deer Sisters". Aren't they sweet? Jingle bells.......jingle bells........

The Caged Raven Necklace

2011-10-23T20:58:00.000-04:00

It's a Halloween giveaway!!!! This handmade necklace is made out of leather, yes leather! The cage, the raven, the background, all leather. The metal chain measures 19 inches long and there are 4 glass and lava beads dangling from the bottom. The cage measures about 2 inches long. The necklace would look great with a black turtleneck!

So how do you win this baby? Just leave a comment for this post about the craziest Halloween costume you've ever worn. I'll pick a winner on Wednesday and send it right out to you after I contact you for your address. Happy Halloween!

Poe in Paris

2011-10-18T20:30:00.000-04:00

Just a book I altered and entitled "Poe in Paris". What if Poe met the Raven in Paris on a rainy October evening? What if the Raven befriended him and then slowly drove him mad? That's what this book is about........

All of the pages are original digital artwork. Some of the pages were covered with fabric, lace and burlap. Silver and orange glitter leaves have been glued between the pages.

Black Glitter + Chipboard = Hallowornies

2011-10-15T11:19:00.006-04:00

What in the world is a "Hallowornies"? Well that would be a small Halloween ornament of course!

These ornaments measure 3 inches by 3 inches and are made of chipboard, layered with images and peppered with black glitter around the edges. They would look great on a Halloween tree.

She was toil and he was trouble....together they had a lot of fun and ate a lot of candy........

A Southern Halloween Belle...........

How cute is this little guy's illuminated face?

More "toil and trouble"............. as if you really need more of those things in your life!

Spooky Cat, don't you must love the 1950's-60's graphics?

"Boo", said the Pumpkin girl.......

I've named these 2 moon brothers, Marvin and Darvin. They're ready for trick or treating, are you?

For a good time just add glitter!

I really like how these glass balls turned out. The glitter is in the inside so there is no glitter floating around. Sometimes after crafting with glitter I feel like a fairy godmother because I have glitter flying off of me with every step! I created tiny tags which are tied on the tops with ribbon and black and cream strips of tulle.

Whew, I know that's a lot of Hallowornies to view at one time and right about now you have an intense craving for candy corn so go feed your inner candy monster and stop back soon to see my next posting of my Poe In Paris altered book!

Golden Glow Peoplekins

2011-10-10T17:50:00.000-04:00

Margot grew the most amazing Golden Glow Peoplekins in her Victorian greenhouse!

This digital collage was created with the "Slightly Sinister" digital elements kit and the Pumpkin Patch kit by Tumble Fish Studio over at Deviant Scrap.

Poe and the Crow.......

2011-10-05T16:59:00.001-04:00

H is for Halloween! I created this tag with chipboard, Photoshop (the hat on Poe as well as the witch hazel label is from Tumble Fish Studio), die cut suede flowers and a green leather leaf and glittery "H".

Call him a raven or a crow or a black bird but wherever you call this guy just remember he's also a dreamer! Isn't he hilarious with his top hat? This pendant is 2 inches by 1.1 inches and is about 17 inches long.

Keep on Halloween decorating my little pumpkins!

Spooky Librarian Decor......

2011-10-03T18:59:00.001-04:00

Over the years, since I've been blogging, I've met and made friends with some truly amazing artists and more importantly, amazing people. There are those of us who consider ourselves "artists" at heart, even though our careers are not as full time artists. One such person is named Heather and she's a librarian by day and artist by night. Although I've never met Heather in person, I feel like I know her though our emails. She's an old literary soul with an artist's heart. I was thinking about Heather when I bought a few books at my local library's book sale to alter.

Don't worry no books were hurt in this altering process. Just the front of the books were altered. For this one I used some Tim Holtz paper along with black Core Cardstock which I distress, I think it looks like old worn leather.

This one says "Queen of Strange" in French.......

How about a Halloween Paris theme? This book was really a good read! It's by Doug Preston and Lincoln Child entitled "Book of the Dead"......what an awesome murder mystery set in a museum!

While I know that ebooks are popular, there is no substitution for the feel and smell of paper! So here are the books together in a little vignette. These books are going to a local gift shop to be sold.

Now, onward to a real artist, Catherine Holman. Cathie creates the most amazing folk art paintings. I always comment on her blog about her paintings......I tell her I want to walk into the paintings and live there. Her autumn paintings are especially beautiful. Well, Cathie paints these cute little cupcake paintings so I thought I'd try my hand at one, although it pales in comparison to hers!

Hey, keep that Halloween decorating going! BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

Feeling Fall....

2011-09-27T20:36:00.001-04:00

The leaves are starting to turn, the nights are getting very cool and thought are turning to autumn decor and Halloween decorations! Yeah Halloween decorations!.......did I mention Halloween decorations?
I made this "Boo Bannner" with vintage reproductions of postcards and copies of vintage pictures. It's made of chipboard and embellished with black glittery letters, decorative papers, ribbon, silk flowers and leaves and brads. I like the vintagy feel with the splashes of color.

This shot of the "Boo" banner is small b/c I had to shoot it so far away. Each pennant is 8 inches long and 6 inches wide at the top so it stretches out about pretty far.

Mantel decorating...................

I found these 3 little guys posing on the mantel......

Well, actually I made all of them. Their heads have been sculpted from paper clay. The bodies painted with acrylics.

I just finished making this crow..... I call him "Frank". He sings jazz and loves to read Poe (hence the framed picture of Edgar Allen Poe he's clutching).

How about these "boo blocks?!?!? I made them from repurposed blocks which I bought at TJ Maxx (they spelled out "Cherish" so I have 4 more to play with) for a steal. I painted them black and cut black and cream scrapbooking papers for the sides and glued them on. The fronts are Photoshopped with elements from my own collection as well as elements from Tumble Fish Studio's Odd Magic kit. Lastly, I sprayed the the entire block with matt clear spray.

Have you been decorating for fall? How about Halloween? :-)

2011-09-11T13:44:00.000-04:00

Hello friends! Don't you just love sunny Sundays in September! This is my favorite kind of weather and I'm getting into that autumn mood. I've created a few new "leafy" necklace which you can find over at Honey Girl Studio Jewelry.

The leaves are made of leather and embellished with autumn magic (also known as paint!)

Have you heard the crows talking to each other either early in the morning or in the late afternoon? These guys really do have their own form of communication.......a loud....geeeezzzzch! This pendant was inspired by the talking crows in my back yard. I bet you've never seen one wearing a top hat and spats though. It kind of has a steampunky feel to it with the gun metal chain and the metal cog. It's also over at Honey Girl Studio Jewelry.

Speaking of crows, here is a sneak-peek of a new paperclay crow I'm working on.....oh, and he will also be wearing a top hat and spats!

Hey, have a great week and stop back again soon! :-) Melissa

Got Petite Acrobats?

2011-08-28T21:19:00.000-04:00

Tumble Fish Studio's new kit called "My Picks" was released tonight over at DeviantScrap.com and this is my digital creation using the elements from the kit.......

He just looks like a mad magician.....you know the kind that would shrink people and turn them into tiny acrobats to perform in small venues all over the country! I borrowed the name "Dr. VanNostrom" from Seinfeld......remember Kramar pretended to be Dr. VanNostrom? :-)

Got Maters?

2011-08-24T18:25:00.000-04:00

Well, it's that time of year when the other "fruit of the vine" is ready for picking. Let's face it if you are a tomato fan then you know there is nothing better than a matie sandwich on toast with Miracle Whip or Mayo!

This digital collage has been created from Tumble Fish Studio digital kits: Etcetera and And So On.

I had an awesome big pot of 4 different kinds of tomatoes and they were starting to get a billion little green tomatoes on them when it started to turn yellow and then I noticed one morning that some of the leaves were totally stripped off of it. Much to my dismay this went on for a few more days and then I discovered this extremely evil tomato hornworm!!!! EEEEEKKKKK! It was so big and gross! I had Gary squish it b/c frankly I was afraid of that pointy horn. My matie plants never did recover.

If you find one of these on one of your matie plants make sure your roto-till the soil b/c they can lay dormant in the soil and hatch out the following summer (or so the internet gardening sites say).

Enjoy your tomatoes!

Assemblages and Don't Call Me Shirley.......

2011-08-14T18:36:00.001-04:00

A few months ago I had the good fortune of finding 8 inch by 8 inch shadow boxes at Hobby Lobby marked down to a ridiculously low price so I bought a few.......8 to be exact.

This one has been down with fabric flowers, a tin box painted with a crown, picture of the Eiffel Tower and black feathers. The lady in the box is from Tumble Fish Studio's "Diva's Digital Kit" and "15 Dresses Digital Kit".

Getting into that Halloween/Fall mood with this assemblage. I used a vintage chocolate label for the background. The girl dressed up as a clown is movie star from the 1920s and early 1930s, Clara Bow. She stared in 46 silent films and 11 talkies. She was known at the "It Girl" because she had it all as a movie star in the 1920s.

How exciting would it be to celebrate Halloween in Paris? Clara, the Eiffel Tower and the full moon are all raised from the background at various levels. The orange leather heart and the black suede flowers and also dimensional.

My crafting BFF, Tracey has a full sized dress form that she named "Shirley". Inspired by "Shirley" I made these dress form pendants made out of leather, painted and over-stamped.

The funny thing is that a few years ago I bought a stamp that said, "don't call me Shirley" and so I stamped it on back of the pendant.

Well, all you Shirleys out there, have a great Monday!

Dr. Who?

2011-07-21T13:16:00.000-04:00

Even though it is about 6,000 degrees outside, I had a Halloweenie feeling (I know, how sick is that?)

Working with Tumble Fish Studio's new kit called Male Persuasion I came up with this little collage. The background is from Studio Tangie and the frame is from Christina Renee.

"Dr. Charles Who was not amused with the younger owls antics.....after all this was owl obedience school not owl clown school! Hey, stay cool and know that cooler weather is coming.

Flying to Paris

2011-07-15T11:58:00.000-04:00

Tumble Fish Studio has created a new digital kit called "Oooo-La-La" and it can be found over at Deviant Scrap. As part of the TFS Creative Team I'm fortunate enough to get to play with all of the wonderful images.

I'd like to thank all of the people who came to Artie Gras last night especially my returning customers! Here a shout out to Beth, "Happy Birthday".....one of my best customers!

This little gem made out of a vintage domino is over at Honey Girl Studio Jewelry. Have a great Friday!

Skeleton Key Bracelets......

2011-07-12T20:29:00.000-04:00

I love old skeleton keys......big ones, small ones, flat ones....it doesn't matter, I like them all! I use them in my jewelry in a sort of melding together of the new and the old. I've used them in necklace designs now for a few years and always wanted to make them into bracelets. Finally I got the chance! There are many steps to bending and polishing one of these babies! My wonderful husband torched, bent and drilled them for me. I polished and beaded them.

Here are the steps:

Step 1: Gather your materials...a Nap Gas torch, a piece of metal pipe about the size of your wrist, a bucket of water, a Dremel Tool, fine steel wool and a flat head hammer, drill with small bit, and two sets of long nose pliers.

Step 2: Hold one end of the key with the long nose pliers and heat the middle of the key until it turns RED then quickly place it over the metal pipe and tap one end of the key to make it slightly bend.

Step 3: Switch pliers to the other side of the key and heat the middle to the end until it glows RED then quickly place it over the pipe and tap it with the hammer until it slightly bends at the other end. I don't need to tell you to not to touch the key as it is super hot....."don't touch the key"!

Step 4: Repeat Steps 2 & 3 if you need more of a bend. If you are happy with the bend in the key then drop it into a bucket of water to quench it. Leave it in there for about 5 minutes then take it out and dry it off. At this point you will notice that the torching has left a grey scale all over it.

Step 5: Take your Dremel Tool with a grinding nub and sand/grind off the grey scale until it is shiny. I left some areas dark in the creases of the metal to give it a patina. Next buff with fine steel wool.

Step 6: Drill a small hole in the end of the key where the little hickey sticks out (the part that goes into the key hole).

Step 6.5: Bead as you see fit!
These babies are over at Honey Girl Studio Jewelry if you'd like to call one your very own!

What Goes with Everything?...black & tan

2011-07-10T11:24:00.000-04:00

My crafting BFF, Tracy (over at Glitterbug Studios) and I have been on a Black & Cream or in my case Black and Tan kick. Those color combos go with just about everything no matter what your color palate is. Tracey has been creating the most amazing assemblages out of vintage cheese boxes.....imagine getting your Velveeta in a wooden box but that was the case awhile back.

This assemblage is in a woodbox (not a cheese box) that measures 8 inches tall by 4 inches wide. I Photoshopped the shelves with all kinds of goodies on them in the background but they really look 3-D due to the way the shadows fall on the objects. The little boy is from the Vacay kit from Tumble Fish Studio.

I've named him Charles and he's backed on chipboard and popped out about 1/2 inch from the background using foamcore board. He's the curator for the "Combs Conservatory". They conserve and preserve all of your favorite ephemera and he takes his job very seriously as you can see from the look on his face!

Tracey gave me this dress form and it was extraordinarily ugly. It was painted white with a light purple apron.....uggghhhcchhh! Enter the black paint, light tan paint book text, velvet ribbon, lace, glue and ta-da.....something new and improved!

The roses are made out of tan suede which I upcycled from a jacket.

Firefly

2011-07-07T17:36:00.000-04:00

Depending upon what part of the country you grew up in you either referred to them as fireflies or lightening bugs. Those magical little creatures still make me smile when I see the last rays of sun slip below the horizon and the darkness slip in. Remember chasing them barefoot through the dewy grass, collecting them in glass Mason jars as a kid? This digital collage was inspired by lightening bugs!

The Firefly Fairy

This collage was created with the "That's the Ticket" digital elements kit and the background from the "Dark Glow Papers" kit from Tumble Fish Studio. The fairy is from my personal collection.

Makes you want to go out and catch some lightening bugs tonight, doesn't it? ;-)

Down the Hole!

2011-07-04T10:30:00.001-04:00

Happy 4th! Last night there was a barrage of fireworks and firecrackers and I'm anticipating even more tonight in the neighborhood. I once had a beagle that would totally freak out over the loud sounds that this time of year produced....the poor thing, he would get so worked up! I bet he wished he could have escaped down a rabbit hole!

This digital collage was created with the following: background and scrap words from Tumble Fish Studios, Journal Papers Kit and Journal Words Kit;
tree and ground from Finecrafted, Innervoices Kit; watch face from Maya, Steampunk Kit; white rabbit from personal collection.

Every summer around the 4th of July, Gary and I go to North East, Pa (about 20 minutes north of Erie) to an orchard to pick sweet Bing cherries! We've been going there for about 16 years now and something strange happens every time.........no matter what containers we bring with us, we seem to always pick 32 pounds of cherries! Here's my theory on this, I think that we start picking and around the 30 pound mark we start to get tired and pick a few more pounds and then call it quits because we are getting hungry! So we hop in the car and motor on over to the Freeport where they have the most crunchy delicious Lake Erie perch sandwiches (I dream about these sandwiches in middle of January!)

Yes, Gary and I blew our fried food allotment for the month on this lunch but it was worth it!

Hey, have a safe and happy 4th, don't eat too much potato salad!

A Cinch by the Inch........

2011-07-01T09:02:00.000-04:00

Have you ever heard the saying "life is a chinch by the inch but hard by the yard"? Well, I took that saying and translated it into jewelry. Everything except the heart with the mermaid, are made out of a cut up yard stick. They measure one inch across and 1.2 inches tall. I cut up one of those old, thick yard sticks so it's very sturdy (they don't make them like they use to!)

The tiny collage was on this one was made digitally using elements from Tumble Fish Studio's "Flower Land Gnome" kit.

This pink mermaid is a charm I created using the Inkjet Shrink Plastic. Remember the Shrinky Dinks? This is the new updated version of them. Here are a few suggestions I learned through trial and error....
bump your opacity down to about 67% before printing out the sheet b/c as the piece shrinks, the color intensifies....... also make sure you pieces are 50% BIGGER then what you want them b/c they shrink to half the size....... also after you get the pieces shrunk, spray a clear coat over them because if they get wet, the color will smear. So with all of that being said, here is a piece with lots of yummy summer colors. The mermaid was created with the body from Studio Tangie's "Oceans" kit and the face is from Tumble Fish Studio "Diva's" digital kit.

The next two yardstick necklaces are traditional cut and paste collage sealed with resin......

This is a digital collage made with elements from the At The Beach kit from Tumble Fish Studio.

Have a great Friday!

The Twilight Club

2011-06-22T21:35:00.000-04:00

Twilight is my favorite time of the day when the golden sun starts to dip below the horizon and the sky is streaked with orange sherbet and slate blue with jets of purple then the sun disappears and the fireflies begin to dance about.....ahhhh twilight!

My new digital collage was inspired by this time of the day. The elements are from Tumble Fish Studio over at Deviant Scrap. All of the elements except the boy are from Tumble Fish Studio.

Nobody knew what really went on at the exclusive Twilight Club, only that people whet in empty handed and came out with giant toy sailboats and giant glasses. Hmmmm, kind of makes you wonder doesn't it?

Got Jewelry? I do!

2011-06-21T16:08:00.000-04:00

I've been working hard on new pieces! To check these necklaces out in detail just finger tap dance your way over to Honey Girl Studio Jewelry!

Do you think I'm wearing too many at one time???? Honestly? Lady Gaga could rock this look!

Odd Blue Magic

2011-06-20T17:39:00.002-04:00

I was playing with the new digital elements kit by Tumble Fish Studio entitled "Odd Magic" and decided to show 2 different ways of using the elements. The first is an assemblage that I made using a Flip camera box (I saved the box b/c of the little recess in it). I covered it with vintage text and Mod Podge. The gears are made out of leather. The gear on the heart and the clock is from Studio Tangie.

I really like the leather handle on top! It's a Tim Holtz Sizzix die.

The second way of using the elements is in a digital collage I made from the "Odd Magic" kit by Tumble Fish Studio. I recolored her hair, the heart and the rabbits. You've heard of black magic right? Well this is odd blue magic (that's what the heart says in French). See you never know what will happen with odd blue magic!

To check out how my friend Tracey used these images check out this post on her blog!

Busy Week!

2011-06-15T14:21:00.001-04:00

This has been a busy week so far! I've got exciting news.....Marsha at Tumble Fish Studio has invited me to be on her Creative Team! She creates the most amazing digital elements kits to use in Photoshop and they can be found at Deviant Scrap. I will be using her digital elements to create altered jewelry like the 2 pendants you see below. They are created in Photoshop and then printed on InkJet Shrink Plastic.

Super Hero Life Guard 1927 Necklace

The life guard was created with digital elements from Tumble Fish Studio and the green fish is from Studio Tangie. The heart layered behind it is painted and stamped leather. She's available over at Honey Girl Studio Jewelry.

Dottie DelMar Pendant

Dottie charm: face and crown from Tumble Fish Studio and fish body from Studio Tangie.

I was also pouring resin this week.....ICE Resin that is. I LOVE this stuff!!!! It has always set up for me without any problems and dries crystal clear with no clouding or stickiness. Whenever I'm at a flea market I always pick up little spoons to fill with goodies and resin to make necklaces. These are also over at Honey Girl Studio Jewelry.

Yesterday I went to my crafting BFF's house. We went to a few little shops then came back to the house to work on Shirley. Meet Shirley...................

Tracey bought Shirley a few months ago. She is a foam dress form and kind of spongy so Tracey wrapped her in Rigid Wrap to make her harder. Pretty smart, eh?

Tracey, Shirley and me.....Shirley's smiling too.....kind of hard to tell with no head, but trust me, she's smiling.

So Tracey had this idea to cover Shirley in many layers of tissue paper. So we decided to put on the first layer.........

Hard at work not hardly working!............Shirley said the brush tickled.

About an hour and a half layer and almost a whole small jar of Mod Podge, this is what Shirley looked like. She's going to be awesome with the other layer added! You can check out the progress of Shirley on Tracey's blog, Glitterbug Studios.

Seaflower and Butterfly Necklaces

2011-06-05T21:01:00.000-04:00

Many months ago I saw flowers made out of organza-like material and I thought "I could make jewelry that way"! So I bought some material (100% polyester) and a candle. Now you are probably wonder "what in the world is the candle for?". You use the candle to singe the edges of the flower layers so they won't unravel. I think a pillow with big flowers would look really cool (note to self.....put that on the "to do" list). You can find this necklace over at Honey Girl Studio Jewelry.

If the world laughs in flowers then surely it must giggle in butterflies! I watch a few of these delightful creatures dance their way through my perennial garden this afternoon. This necklace was created from a Scrabble tile.

Hope you all had a great weekend! Make it a good week as well!

Water and Shade............

2011-05-30T13:09:00.000-04:00

Happy Memorial Day!

It is very hot and humid here in Northwestern PA today! A beautiful sun filled day with 87 degree temps. Two things would be great right about now....one would be water to take a swim in and the other is a shady spot to cool off in. Those 2 things inspired my two newest necklaces. You can find them over at Honey Girl Studio Jewelry.

water.......

shade.........

Ahhhhh.................

Enjoy your day!

The Key to......

2011-05-25T20:42:00.000-04:00

Well, here are a few things I made with my flea market keys! I drilled holes in this one to make room for jump rings to dangle charms. It helps to have a drill press as it makes drilling the holes a breeze. It lays really nice on the neck right at the collar bone notch. The trick is to get it even on both ends so that it will lay correctly. I have so many other ideas for using keys in necklaces!

Still in deep like with the shrink plastic for the Inkjet printer......that's how I made Talula Blooingdocker on the key below. Both keys are over at Honey Girl Studio Jewelry. When I was about 3 years old I had a doll I named LauraMay Bloomingdocker.....where I got that name from I have no idea! So, I stole the name from myself to name this necklace......this is LauraMay's sister, Talulu.

Got Beach?

2011-05-23T18:12:00.000-04:00

The first public beach in the United States was Revere Beach in Boston, Mass. It opened on July 12, 1896. An estimated 45,000 people showed up on opening day. This new necklace is a tribute to any beach you have ever loved to visit! It's over at Honey Girl Studio Jewelry.

Here's a little update about Buddy the Wonder Dog. For those of you who follow my blog, you know he got hit by a car on Easter morning and was in pretty bad shape......broken back leg, punctured front leg, and half of his face just about ripped off! Well, here he is today. His face is healed up and the cast is off his leg (but he's still not putting it down to walk). Buddy is a tough doggie!

Steamy Summer

2011-05-22T21:05:00.000-04:00

Well the weather was beautiful here today in Pennsylvania......80 degrees, blue skies, sunshine and a slight breeze.....wow! I hope all of you in Blogland had a good weekend. I've been working with incorporating metal and leather into my jewelry lately and came up with this little Steampunky pendant. The outside is leather, overstamped Staze-on ink with text. I cut out the keyhole with the Tim Holtz die. The little guys inside are inventors and are sealed under resin which I poured into the keyhole. These little guys have invented a lot of things but the thing they are most proud of is the "love machine" they invented! If you'd care to learn more about this necklace you can hop on over to Honey Girl Studio Jewelry.

So this morning my niece, Andrea and I went to a flea market. I hit the mother load of keys! There must be over 100 keys on this ring. I plan on using them in my future creations.

I cleaned these ones with Brasso. That stuff really cuts thought the crude on keys. Some of them are actually quite pretty with the scroll-work designs. Oh yah, I've got plans for these babies!

Have a great Monday!

Hippy Luv Jewelry Line.......

2011-05-18T21:45:00.003-04:00

I've added several new categories to my Summer 2011 jewelry line. Here is a peek at a few pieces of the "Hippy Luv" line. It has a hippy/organic feel to it. I've used a lot of leather and wood in these pieces. You can check them out at the Honey Girl Studio Jewelry Shop.

An original bead created in Photoshop with component elements. The heart is painted/distressed leather. Her name was Simone and she lived in the heart of the artist area of Paris!

Summer of 1969.... peace....love....guitar.....

Painted leather heart layered with a tiny wooden guitar. Pretty cool eh?!?

Summer 2011 Jewelry Is Here!

2011-05-10T18:25:00.000-04:00

It's here! Summer 2011 Honey Girl Studio Jewelry!

Just a little sneak-peek! Go to my Honey Girl Studio Jewelry to get the particulars.

Girls on vacation........

Feeling crabby? Then you need a leather, shell and glass bead necklace!

Her real name was Violet but her friends called her Poppy! Art pendant on glass bead and coral bead necklace.

Gnome.....on a chain......

2011-05-02T21:27:00.000-04:00

When I was a wee person I was obsessed with elves, pixies, and yes, you guessed it Gnomes. When I was about 12 years old, my mom bought me a book about Gnomes and I think I just about "looked" it to death! Well, here is it some 32 years later and I'm thinking about Gnomes again because last month I took my great niece, Riley to see the movie Gnomeo and Juliet (very cute movie).

To celebrate the Garden Variety Gnome I created this "Gnome Junque on a Chain" necklace.

The Gnome centerpiece is a mini-digital collage I created. The necklace is layered with 20 different charms from handstamped metal to fabric leaves to leather flowers to glass and coral beads.

I still think Gnomes are cool........somethings never change!

If you are interested in purchases the "Gnome Junque on a Chain" pop on over to the Honey Girl Studio Jewelry Shop.

Are you a bibliophile? My friend Heather is and to a certain degree I am too! (get your mind out of the gutter....a bibliophile is someone who loves to read and collect books). Heather is actually a librarian so I made her a "Book Junque on a Chain" necklace. Heather is an awesome altered artist in her own right, you can check out her blog called Creative Solace.

The necklace measures 18 inches long and the centerpiece of it is a handmade leather bound little book! I also added an inkwell, old metal nib (don't impale yourself with it Heather!), agate beads, glass beads, metal stamped house, wooden handstamped beads, leather leaves and leather flowers.

I wish I could have taken these pics outside in natural light, these pics were taken inside with that "yellow" glow!

Here is the book open with 8 pages to write on.........you could write a tiny story....about......Gnomes!

Now for some good news even if it doesn't like it......long story short, if you follow my blog you know about my mom's Border Collie/Aussie dog named "Buddy the Wonder Dog" and you might have seen pictures on my blog of us snowshoeing during the winter months. Well, on Easter Sunday morning Buddy got hit by a car and was pretty messed up. My brother Jeff ended up taking him to the Akron Animal Hospital and they did an amazing job stitching him back together. He had two bad puncture wounds in his front leg, broken back leg (it took 10 pins and metal plate to fix that leg), some reconstructive surgery on the left side of his face (took an ear flap to graph skin on his lip) and he has 2 drain tubes sticking out of the side of his face.

Needless to say the "Budster" is not feeling so hot and he hates the giant cone collar he has to wear for another week but he's on the mend thanks to my brother (what a good guy) and the surgeons at the Akron Animal Hospital. He had his one week check up today and the Drs. said he's making great progress!

Junque on a Chain!

2011-04-25T16:43:00.000-04:00

Wow, it's been almost a month since my last post! I've been trying to get motivated to work in the studio but it's been slow going. I've been working on a new line of jewelry for this summer's art market and I believe I'm going to call it "Junque on a Chain". Junque on a Chain comes in different themes and no two will ever be the same. Here's a look at "Paris Junque on a Chain".......

These necklaces are truly mixed media. These pieces are created with any, some, or all of the following: handstamped metal, metal charms, glass beads, acrylic beads, shrink plastic, leather, hardware, gears and just about anything that you can drill a hole in to hang! The bead-ball necklace is thicker than the smaller ones which allows the charms to lay separately and not all clump together, consequently it hangs nicely. My friend Tracey and I worked together on her "Steampunk Junque on a Chain" necklace, if you want to eyeball it hop on over to her blog by clicking here.

I'll be putting new Junque on a Chain necklaces later this week into the Honey Girl Studio Shop.

Smacking Metal and Egg Decorating

2011-03-27T19:19:00.000-04:00

Sunny but very cold today = stay inside and gaze outside and smack the crap out of metal. I'm working on my new line of jewelry for this summer so I made a few metal stamped charms today.

I also made a few Shrink Film charms too......

and working on some leather flower charms......

and embossed charms.........

This is a collage I created this afternoon while Skyping 2 hours with my friend Tracey. She was working on a giant Easter egg. Ethyl loved to color eggs and planned her egg-cellent masterpieces months in advance of Easter!

Hope you all had a great weekend!

Spring Birdies!

2011-03-17T18:54:00.000-04:00

Happy St. Patrick's Day! Today was the first day around here that it seemed like "spring" as it was 60 degrees with sunny skies. I almost forgot what the sun looked like! I made these little birds back in February while dreaming of warmer weather and melting snow. I didn't take picture of them until today.

The little critters flew right into my dwarf ornamental pines!

I stamped plain muslin material with Staz-On Ink then cut this guy out and sewed him up!

These two birdies were deep in conversation....."Tweet?"

Well you know there is always one "difficult" one in the group!

Here's to warmer, sunny days!

Lavender Boy

2011-03-02T20:03:00.000-05:00

Hi digital artist friends! This is a little gift for you just in time to use in your spring projects. For personal use only, not to be copied and resold.

Have fun with him and you make something send me a link, I'd love to see it!

A Garden of Petals and Metals

2011-02-28T21:36:00.002-05:00

Well I don't know about you, but I really have to do something to urge springtime on so I'm getting ready to start some veggie plants from seeds inside. The planting of the seeds got me thinking about gardening which in turn inspired me to do this collage.

Hortence loved her unique garden of petals and metals! I created this digital collage from elements by Finecrafted at Deviant Scrap.

It's a steampunk style take on a traditional Victorian garden. You know how those Edwardians were, pretty uptight? Well not Hortence, her metal petals were all the rage. She trimmed her flowers with tin snips! My crafting sista, Tracey at Glitterbug Studios is going to be really surprised when she sees this one! Check out her Feb 27th post where she interprets "Fly Me To the Moon" steampunk style!

B is for Bird (in English that is)

2011-02-27T13:05:00.001-05:00

"B" is for "bird" and "M" is for the metal tape I created this piece with. I like the worn industrial look that metal tape gives this piece.

This is the completed piece, it was created on an 8" by 8" piece of canvas board. It truly is a mixed media piece, here are the materials used on it: canvas board, chipboard, glass tile, metal key, metal brads, wooden yard stick, metal watch gears, glass bead, leather heart, metal watch face, metal tape, glue, book text, ink, rubber stamp, 8 oz. of Arizona Green Tea, a piece of celery with fetal cheese on it (the last two items are optional, it's what I ate while making this piece!)

The bird, crown and scrolls were cut from chipboard, glued down and then taped over with the metal tape.

I created this embellishment buy cutting an old yard stick, stamping on it, swiping over it with distress ink and then covering a chipboard book plate with metal tape and then distressing it. I added the metal piece at the top with 2 metal brads.

A small glass tile backed with a mini collage.....

This embellishment is a leather heart stamped over with script text with a tiny distressed green leather leaf tied to it. An old metal watch face was vintaged-up with mushroom alcohol ink and a sanded green metal brad.

How about that cool old rhinestone earring? That would kill the old lobes! Looks like something Great Aunt Millie would have worn! I think it looks better as an embellishment.

So you are probably wondering how I distressed this metal tape to give it that "beat-up" look. It was pretty simple and also personally rewarding to me as I got some frustrations out on it. After I covered the entire piece with the metal tape I took my Tim Holtz hammer with the nubby end and pounded he crap out of the metal tape (that's what gave it the round indentations), if you don't have one of these hammers then you can use the rounded stylus end of a paint brush, tip of a marker cap or basically any thing that will make an indentation.....just experiment, you really can't screw it up! Next I used a tracing wheel to make the dotted line indentations and my fingernail to make the random straight indentations here and there, then I chewed on a corner....not really, I was just seeing if you were paying attention. To get the blackened areas, using a black copic marker, I colored the entire piece (I did 1/4 at a time), making sure to really get around the raised areas, then I took a piece of fine steel wool and sanded off as much of the black as I liked leaving most of it around the raised areas to give them definition. Lastly, I glued on all of the embellishments and glued a hanger onto the back of the piece.

Hey, let me know if you've used metal tape in a project or if you plan to in the future!

An American in Paris Altered Book

2011-02-17T18:49:00.004-05:00

This is an altered book I've been working on for a week now. There are all kinds of goodies tucked into it, protruding out from the edges. I wanted it to have the feel of a carelessly thrown together scrapbook of an American traveling in Paris in the 1920s. I used a lot of vintage scrapbook papers from the Tim Holtz collection. I also incorporated a few of my own digital collages and I threw in some textiles just for fun.Each individual page is glued together to the one in front and back of it with the papers secured between them so the book lies flat. You could hang it or just leave it open on a table.
How cool would it be to go back in time to the 1920s and really be that "American in Paris"?This book will be posted on Ebay this weekend so check back if you're interested in it for the link!

Winner!

2011-02-17T18:06:00.003-05:00

The winner of the One World One Heart event is.......... Joanne from the Vintage Dragonfly blog.

Congrats Joanne! Thanks to all of the people who visited, left comments and became followers! It was a fun time.

:-) Melissa

The Secret Garden

2011-02-14T18:08:00.006-05:00

With all of the seed catalogues I've been getting the past two months, I've been dreaming about flower and veggie gardening. One of my favorite children's books is The Secret Garden by Francis Hodgson Burnett. Inspired by the book I created this altered book which can be hung on the wall.
The image of the girl is public domain which I colorized as well the door image. I cut a niche in the book about 4.5 by 5 inches and started to build my secret garden.

The leaves and branch are hand cut from book text painted with twinkling H2O paints then embellished with glitter.

I love the little fox looking up at her. There was a brief mention of a fox in The Secret Garden book.Here it is hanging on the wall......it's not crooked, my camera angle was crooked or should I say, I was crooked when I took the picture.
The book I altered was a Readers Digest condensed book. They work great because they are thick and you can get a nice deep niche.

Well, I'm off to alter another book!

One World One Heart Giveaway!

2011-01-30T12:09:00.005-05:00

Hey Kids! It's here....the One World One Heart Blogging event! My name is Melissa and I'm a speech-language pathologist by day and a mixed media artist by nights and weekends. I've been creating things as long as I can remember. My mom is pretty crafty so I guess that's where I got my need to sew, glue, cut and tear apart things! My husband is great because he understands this need to sew, glue, cut and tear apart stuff! Life is good when I'm sewing, glueing, cutting and tearing apart stuff!

This is my give away for the event. It measures about 7 inches high and is truly a mixed media piece with a little bit of everything incorporated into it.....stamping, Photoshopping, collage, stitching. So to have a chance to win it (the drawing is on Feb 15th). Just leave a comment!

I don't know why but in January and Feb., every year, I like to do some handsewing and stitiching. It seems like I'm forever hunting for a needle. I use to stick them in the hem of my curtains (my mom told me that my gram did the same thing!) but after seeing so many cute needle books on different blogs (here's a stunning one that Shelly O made), I was inspired. Mine are pretty simple compared to others. They are about 5 inches tall and 7 inches wide when opened out with 3 felt pages to keep the needles in.

I really like this dark charcoal grey with the red and aqua.....really pops!
The inside.....
Ok, now this little bugger I'm quite smitten with! It's .......wait for it.......................................

an owlPad!!!! LOL!!!! It's a sleeve I made out of felt for my iPad. If you have one you know how slippery those little devils can be to old. I actually have a hard case for it but I also needed a sleeve for it too.

I put a big pocket on the front to keep the charging cord in. I also lined the top flap. I have to tell you, I love my iPad. If you have one, you know what I'm talking about. I've become one of those Apple converts!
Alrighty then....saved the best for last. Yesterday afternoon I was Skyping with Tracy and her daughter was making eclairs so she gave me the recipe and this was the result. Pure puffy, sweet heaven!
Thanks for stopping by and stay warm!

Frigid January Crafting

2011-01-23T13:16:00.004-05:00

Since January has been extremely frigid, I've been staying inside and crafting. Too cold to snowshoe or even walk outside for a short distance. Today is was 11 degrees with a windchill of zero! Yes, I said zero. This cold is really starting to give me "SD"....snow depression!

This piece is entitle "Serendipitiy". I've always liked the sound of that word. It's defined as "the faculty of making fortunate discoveries by accident. Sometimes when I'm making art I stumble upon a bit of serendipity also known as happy little accidents in my case!

This piece is truly a mixed-media pieces as I created the fairy with Photoshop, hand sewed and embroidered the heart, and stamped and glued the heart background. It's going to be my giveaway for the One World One Heart blog hop in February.

I did some green crafting on this baby. This was the box that my Flip camera came in. It was such a well made and sturdy box that I saved it to use later. The recess made a perfect little recess to collage in. I created the girl in Photoshop. The elements used were from Tangie Baxter's collection at Scrapbook Graphics.

Ahhhh, she looks so sad. She probably didn't get a Valentine from the one person she really wanted one from!

Ok, so the last thing I'm showing today is a new spin on the traditional snowman. I got old German book text in a swap last year I participated in and tucked it away using pieces here and there. I came across it the other day and glued it onto a round piece of 1/8 inch bass wood. Painted on the face with acrylic paint and glued decorative paper for the hat. I'm pleased with how it turned out.

I'd like to make more snowmen with different languages. If anybody has French, Italian, German or any other languages of old book text I'd like to trade you some decorative papers for it!

Hey if you're looking for some interesting music, try Pink Martini. It's sort of a 1030s Gypsy Jazz meets old school Cuban dance club.

Stay warm!

Mr. Chocolate

2011-01-15T20:45:00.003-05:00

Still "Frittering", extreme "Twittering".

Four words per sentence.

Just for January.

It's driving me crazy!

Mr. Chocolate.

Ready for the close-up!

Say "cheese".

He's going to Jacque.

Life is like a.......

You know the rest.

Kindness matters, right?

Smiles-

Melissa

Snow Angel

2011-01-13T20:59:00.004-05:00

The finished Snow Angel!

Carries a magic bag......

Flaps her vintage wings.....

Flies through frosty air......

Sculpted with paperclay.

Painted fabric body.

Tulle skirt.

Fiber scarf.

Velvet band.

Vintage rhinestone snowflake.

Chipboard wings.

Opps! Forgot the halo!

Needs a name?

Studio Happenings.....

2011-01-12T20:23:00.005-05:00

Work In Progress........ HeartGuy

He'll live with Jacque!

Look Ma! No eyes!

Crushed by wings! ARRRGGGHHHH!

Snow Angel teaser.....

Stop back tomorrow.

She'll be completed then.

:-) M

Pastel Glittermen

2011-01-03T20:47:00.008-05:00

Making pastel glittermen ornies.....

quirky men of snow.........

with glittery funky hats......

1940s inspired eyeballs.....

Pink/blue wintery dreams......

Goodnight, sleep tight glittermen!

Happy New Year!

2010-12-31T18:38:00.006-05:00

Well, all the decorations are down, the house has been cleaned as well as my studio and I feel like I'm starting the new year well organized, which is a good feeling. I'm approaching 2011 with a minimalist attitude. I redesigned the blog to make it easier to leave a comment, took away the music and cleaned up the sidebar content.

For the month of January, I'm going to do a little experiment..... I call it "frittering", it's extreme Twittering. I can only use 4 words to talk about a picture I post. I call it "frittering" because I'm going to try not to fritter away a lot of time this year!

Thank you to all the followers and visitors who have stopped by the Honey Girl Studio to check out what has been going on this year. I appreciate your comments and enjoy reading them! I see I'm at 200 followers (I'm a dork and inadvertently became a follower of my own blog as I was screwing around with the dashboard settings and now I don't know how to remove myself!) so the 201st person to become a follower is going to get a little art surprise sent to them!

So let me start my Frittering now by leaving you with these words......

Happy New Year!

:-) M

2 Birthdays...One Day!

2010-12-29T21:10:00.002-05:00

Today is not only my birthday but also my dad's birthday! He turned 80 today and I turned 44. Here we are pretending to take a big bite out of the cake (chocolate with whipped cream frosting....yummy!)We always celebrate our birthdays together, it makes the day double-special for both of us!

Thinking Pink!

2010-12-28T18:20:00.002-05:00

Hey friends! I finally got my studio cleaned up and now I'm feeling much more creative. I was talking with my crafting BFF, Tracey yesterday and we've decided to use up what we have and look at our materials in different ways. Sometimes we get stuck into one mindset so I'm going to try different techniques, colors and assemblages this year.I bought a bag of wooden turnings and blocks the other day and pulled a wooden knob out of the mix. I turned it this way and that way and the word "mushroom" poof! popped into my head. That's how this little ornament was created. I usually don't work in pinks but I thought it might be fun to try to create a line of pink ornies.
In the bag were these wooden turnings, they measure about 1.5 inches tall. I painted them white, painted a simple face and then commenced to glittering them up! I also made tiny pink felt hats and glittered them up too.
The little wooden bowl was in the bag too so I painted it and then filled it up with my men, folded antique sheet music, bells, glittery balls and pink & white candy canes. I glued a little snowflake onto the bottom of the bowl.
BRRRRR, it's still very cold here. Stay warm wherever you are!

Merry Christmas

2010-12-24T15:20:00.001-05:00

I'm wishing all my friends out in blogland a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Thank you to all of the people who check in every now and then and leave such lovely comments.

Smiles-

Melissa

Holiday Dudes!

2010-12-21T20:02:00.006-05:00

You know when somebody asks me how long it takes to make something I give the patented answer "oh, about 20 minutes". I always give that answer because in my mind I think or really believe that it will only take 20 minutes, however that is not always the case.

These are the Holiday Dudes that I've been working on for.........no, not 20 minutes, but rather 3 days. Yes my friends, I said 3 DAYS!!!! Unbelievable, they look simple but there are so many steps to make one. I made 13.

If you follow my blog you will notice that they look just like the big Holiday Dude I made about a month ago. I think they are stinkin cute but gosh if I was going to sell them I'd have to charge at least $229.99 each!

I've named them.....here we have Spice, Sugar and Mocha.

I call them "Holiday Dudes" because they really aren't snowmen and they really aren't gingerbread men either. Any suggestions? What would you call them?

The Holiday Dudes got all wild and crazy, lit up on egg nog and took a tear around the living room chasing each other and ended up on the wreath. They all started badgering me to take a picture of them!

After I took their picture, I gave them another cup of egg nog spiked with Nyquil and tucked them into a bowl for the night. Nighty-night Holiday Dudes!

This little guy is going out tomorrow to Gina over at Home Girl Shop! I also have a trio going to my crafting BFF, Tracey.

Have a Cool Yule!

Snowshoeing,fudge eating and popcorn making......

2010-12-13T20:27:00.009-05:00

As most of you know, I really can't stand winter, but living in Western Pennsylvania where we are on the edge of the snowbelt, I've learned to embrace it and in doing so I enjoy snowshoeing. Saturday was a perfect day for Buddy the Wonder Dog and I to go on our first of the winter season snowshoeing trek! I went to my mom and dad's farm where I take their dog Buddy with me.We set off across the field heading toward the woods but it was the last day of deer season and I thought we'd better stick to the fields.

The snow sparkled like millions of diamonds in the sun.

The trick to snowshoeing in a cut cornfield is to stay between the rows. When I cut across the rows I have all the grace of a water buffalo in a ballet! Just look at the remarkable blue sky!

So I got back inside, warmed up and had just a little bit of fudge. I love fudge and my mom makes the best! It's smooth, creamy and oh so chocolaty.

My niece Andrea came over to my mom and dads' on Saturday too. She thinks I'm crazy because I make up Christmas songs and make her sing them along with me. That's ok, everybody needs a "crazy aunt" in their lives.

My great-niece, Riley was there too. She's pretty funny, we kind of have the same sense of humor. She was looking at her grandpa while he was talking to her like, "you are so full of crap grandpa Jeff" but didn't say a word to him, she just had that sly smile on her face. I think that Riley thinks I'm goofy too, but that's ok, everybody needs a "crazy great aunt" in their lives!

Nanny (my mom) and I whipped up a batch of "Freda Popcorn". What you ask is "Freda Popcorn?" Well, about 18 years ago I worked at a hospital as a speech pathologist and I had a sweet little lady who had a stroke and I saw once a week for outpatient therapy and her name was Freda. She was an awesome cook and would always bring me new recipes. She gave me this carmel popcorn recipe which my mom and I make almost every Christmas.

Freda Carmel Popcorn Recipe

pop 12 cups of popcorn and set aside in a big roaster

In a heavy sauce pan melt 2 sticks of butter, stir in 2 cups of light brown sugar and 1/2 cup of light Karo corn syrup and bring to a boil for 2 minutes, stirring constantly.

Take off the heat and stir in 1 tsp of baking soda and one tablespoon of vanilla.

Pour over the popcorn in the roaster and mix until it's coated.

Bake at 250 for 30 minutes, stirring ever 10 minutes.

Store in an air tight container. The girls had a good Saturday!

Popcorn update: I came home from work today and stuffed almost half a gallon bag of it down my throat! It's addictive!!!!! YUM!

Decorated mantel with a little help...........

2010-12-06T18:24:00.006-05:00

Today was a gift from the snow-god, Blizzardacus, in which he dropped enough snow last night for school to be cancelled. Tonight we are expecting anywhere from 5 to 16 inches of snow, depending upon the how the lake effect snow machine fires up. Isn't it funny how the weather man gives such a wide span to cover his butt? I could be a weather person in that case...."today folks we are going to have anywhere from 3 inches to 29 feet of snow, so get the shovels out". Well I used the time wisely late this afternoon and finished decorating......I had a little assistance, if you can call it that. This guy was very helpful with his super long arms, he could easily hold onto the bead garland. This dude was no help what so ever, he kept giving everyone this shy sideways glance and kept wishing then "Happy Holidays!". These snowmen are a hard bunch to work with, they are VERY unfocused.Ok so I, by myself got the greens on the matel and started to place the dark green glass balls and large metal jingle bells when this guy started to poke me in the nose with his aluminum tree.

Well, I finally just finished but not without somebody getting stuck in the gumbal machine.....

Sunshine climbed into the gumball machine and got stuck. He then yelled out for me to bring him his snow, bottle brush tree and red and silver balls. I think he's planning on hanging out there until after the holidays.

Todays giveaway is a set of 3 original Christmas postcards I created. These are actually the ones I will be sending out myself this year. Leave a comment and I'll draw a winner on Thursday. Sorry the pictures of them are a little blurry but then again I'm a little blurry after deal with those snowmen for a few hours!

Winner Announced and Snowman Popcorn Wrapper

2010-12-05T18:11:00.004-05:00

Winners announced: the winner of the Tussie Mussie is Roc and the winner of the bird pendant is Saskia! Congrats girls, thanks for following my blog and a special thanks to Tracey for providing the Tussie Mussie.

Ok, so my crafty BFF, Tracey, said that I was crazy for trying to do 30 days of give aways in a row and I have to admit she's RIGHT! I'm finding that I'm not having enough time to get everything I need to get done for Christmas such as decorating, washing underwear & socks (yes that can fall into this category), baking Christmas cookies and pizzelles, etc., as well as work on a new project every night sooooooooo, I'm renaming my little Holiday endeavor 18.524 Days of Holiday Giveaways! It has a certain ring to it, doesn't it? So that means there will be a give away a day for this week & Saturday and Sunday will be the last day. Next year will be different.....I've got a plan.....I'll make everything in the summer for a proper 30 Days of Holiday Giveaways!

Alrighty then, let's get to it. I wish I could say that I came up with this clever little gift but I got the idea from Mary Jane over at The Bee Hive Cottage blog. She got the idea from Laurie Furnell. You know, these blogging artists have become so touchy with giving credit and following the provenance of the creation that I'm almost afraid to make anything that looks remotely like something somebody else made. I don't think anybody has the copyright on the circle shape and the triangle shape so I made my own face with Photoshop. LOL! It's a popcorn wrapper snowman...........

It's really very easy. Here's what you need. A sheet of white cardstock with the face printed on it in the center, a package of microwave popcorn, a pair of the magic gloves (you know the little ones that stretch out when you put your hands in them), tape and a piece of 7 ribbon about 7 inches long.

This is the face I made with Photoshop, you can use it, lick it, sell it for a gizillion dollars, eat chicken off of it, give it away, put in on a shirt or the back of a pair of boxers, shoot, I really don't care how you use it because I'M GIVING IT TO YOU. Insert it into a Word document, set the margins to zero for the top and the bottom. Center the face, you will be able to get 2 onto an 8.5 by 11 inches piece of paper. Cut the paper in between the two faces. Wrap one of the papers with the face around the popcorn packet overlapping the edges and tape it in the back. Stuff one of the gloves up into the other glove, slide it onto the top of the snowman's head and tie a piece of ribbon right below the fingers. Attach a tag to it and ta-da.....Christmas munches for the chow-hound! I was thinking that you could also tape together a few packets of hot chocolate and put the snowman face wrapper around them.

Leave a comment if you'd like, you know I like hearing from you all! I also like visiting your blogs and getting ideas and inspiration and sometimes a chuckle.

In the Meadow We Can Build A.......

2010-12-04T20:02:00.003-05:00

Snowman! Hey guys, it's Day #9 in the 30 Days of Holiday Give Aways. It has been so cold here in Northwestern Pennsylvania this past week......"unseasonably" cold as the weather man calls it. I'm sitting here watching the PBS David Foster/Andrea Bocelli Christmas Special (I really miss those TV Christmas specials or the 1970s and 80s) and the stage is decorated with these gorgeous flocked trees. So, I'm naming todays' give away ornie, Mr. Flocker. He dances through the winter wonderland turning each evergreen into fluffy, sparkling works of natures' art. This is a 6 inch tall ornament made of wood with a chipboard hat and hand lettered around the edge with the lyrics from "Winter Wonderland" and sprinkled liberally with glitter. Leave a comment to be in the drawing. I'll draw the winner on Wednesday.

Congrats to the following Jingle Bell Snowman Zipper Pull winners:
Dianne, Lynn, Leila, Terri, and Christa.
The winner of the Christmas CD is Bev.
Tomorrow I'll be randomly pulling the winner of the Tussie Mussie by Tracey so hop back a few postings to enter!
Smiles-
Melissa

Christmas Bird Pendant Give Away

2010-12-03T19:54:00.004-05:00

Day #8 in 30 Days of Holiday Give Aways! This Christmas Bird Pendant measures 1 inch wide by 2 inches long. It's a mini collage, sealed with glossy resin and hanging from a black sueded necklace.
Leave a comment with a name for this little guy. I'll pick the one I like the best and the winner will be announced Sunday! Tweet! Tweet! Hope you had a happy Friday. I'm so glad the weekend is here!

I (heart) Christmas!

2010-12-02T20:48:00.005-05:00

Day # 7 in 30 Days of Holiday Give Aways and I'm feeling much better than yesterday....thought I was getting a sore throat, but woke up this morning and was fine. The give away for today is a chipboard embellished heart ornie. It measures about 4 inches across and sprinkled with glitter here and there. The back is covered in vintage sheet music. The Santa image is from a vintage Christmas card. Leave a comment and you're in the drawing for it!

Make sure you check out previous blog postings for the previous give aways.

Tomorrow's give away is going to be jewelry.....

Christmas Tussie Mussie Give Away

2010-12-01T21:15:00.005-05:00

Day #6 in the 30 Days of Holiday Give Aways and I got some wonderful help from Tracey over at Glitterbug Studios. I'm feeling under the weather today.....I've got a cold coming on and I told Tracey this tonight on the way home from work so she graciously provided the give away for today. Now isn't that a good friend? She's a master of the Tussie Mussie creation! How cute is this baby? You can fill this cone with candies, gift cards, greenery or just about anything you'd like. I'll do a random drawing on Sunday so if you'd like to be in the running just leave a comment. Become a new follower and you'll be entered 2 times! If you are already a follower, leave a comment and mention my 30 Days of Holiday Giveaways on your blog with a link back this blog and you'll be entered 2 times for the Tussie. Whooot! Now let me see........where did I put those kleenex?????............Tylenol?........hot water bottle?????????

The winner of the Christmas CD is Bev over at: www.countryfrogcreations.blogspot.com
Congrats Bev!

12 Days of Christmas Gum!

2010-11-30T19:54:00.004-05:00

So Day #5 in the 30 Days of Holiday Give Aways was suppose to be a template for this sleeve to go over the pack of gum, however my scanner was not cooperating the way it should so I'll just give you the easy instructions. You know they just estimated how much the 12 presents from the 12 Days of Christmas song would cost this year and it was a whopping $97,000 dollars. I have a much cheaper version...........the 12 Days of Christmas Gum which will cost you all of $1.19!
Take a pack of Dentyne Ice gum and slide the sleeve off of it. Carefully pry it apart at the seam, flatten it out onto a piece of colored cardstock and trace around it. Cut it out and score the lines where you would fold it. Glue some colorful snowmen on the front. Fold and using a scrapbooking tape runner, tape up the side tabs by overlapping them. Using a thick Sharpie marker write the numbers 1-12 on the back of the gum. Tuck the pack of gum into the sleeve and write "to" and "from" on the back of the sleeve and ta-da, you are done! Now you can whip up a bunch of these babies for your friends, your kid's teachers (they chew a lot of gum, it helps with their jaw clenching), etc.....
You know you could even stick 2 sleeves together and turn it into "Advent Gum"!

Free Santa Tags

2010-11-29T17:52:00.003-05:00

Hey, happy Monday! It's Day #4 in the 30 Days of Holiday Give Aways here at Honey Girl Studio. I love the Christmas images from the 1950s and 1960s and I gravitate toward that look in my art. My friend Tracy calls it "kitchy" so I guess I should start saying "Merry Kitchmas"! These Santas have so much personality. Please feel free to use them in your art work or as tags for gifts. They'd even look good in the middle of paper rosettes as an ornament or perhaps as place cards. Have fun and be creative with them!

Snowman Jingle Zipper Pulls Give Away.....

2010-11-28T19:51:00.005-05:00

Hey everyone it's day #3 in my 30 Days of Holiday Give Aways! It sure was cold here this weekend and the cold weather inspired me to create a a few snowman zipper pulls. Oh and did you notice, I broke out the Christmas tunes?????

An added bonus of these little guys is that they jingle! I've got 6 of these babies to give out. Here's the skinny on how to snag yourself one. The first 3 NEW followers to post a comment will receive one. If you are a new follower don't forget to leave and email or link where I can reach you. And, the first 3 people that are ALREADY followers to post a comment will also get one. Wheeeeewwwww-whoooooooo!!! (sing to the tune of Jingle Bells) Jingle pulls, jingle pulls, zip up to your chin....

Don't forget to spread the word about my 30 Days of Holiday Give Aways on your blog! The more the merrier!

If you don't win one, they are easy to make. Email me and I'll send you the directions!

Ok, I've gotta go get ready the give away for tomorrow! G-night!

Christmas Give Away!

2010-11-27T16:07:00.006-05:00

In the meadow we can build a snowman........... Well, maybe "sculpt" a snowman! Last weekend I went to visit my best crafting friend Tracey (Glitterbug Studios) and we spent the day together crafting, laughing and running around. This guy is a little snowman assembly that I made to take to show her. The base is a wooden candle stick with a mercury glass blue votive candle holder turnd upside down and glued on with E-6000. The head was sculpted with paperclay.

We put all of our creations on a table in her studio. I love her Eiffel tower and Peace Wreath.

Yesterday I got to bead a little bit and created this multistrand bracelet. I must have been channeling the peace sign wreath from last weekend! Lastly, here is the free-bee for today. It's a CD cover which mesures 5 by 5 inches. Every year I burn a new Christmas CD with various favorites and design a cover. This is the one for this year. Leave a groovy comment and your are entered into the CD give away. If you're a follower, you'll double your chances to win. I'll pick a winner on Wednesday. Good luck!

Free Candy Cane Fairy

2010-11-25T19:18:00.008-05:00

I've changed the name of today, better known as "black Friday" to "Candy Cane Friday"! While I applaude the shopping intestinal fortitude of those who venture out into the malls of America on this wonderful Friday, I, myself do not have such shopping resolve, therefore I'm hanging at home and going to my mom's house to finish the outside decorating.

And so begins the countdown to Christmas! This little guy is the Candy Cane Fairy that I created. Please feel free to use him in your artwork, athough he is not for resale on a CD or collage sheet.

I'm working on a new set of 4 Christmas postcards and here is one of them using the above image. If you create something with the Candy Cane Fairy, I'd love to see it!

Happy Thanksgiving!

2010-11-25T10:42:00.002-05:00

Happy Thanksgiving to all my friends in blogland! I'm thankful for my wonderful husband and family and creative friends. Thanks to all who visit my blog and leave such nice comments! Tomorrow starts the 30 day countdown to Christmas. I'm going to post everyday for the next 30 days. Thoughout these posts will be awesome giveaways so check back everyday! Ok, now get outta here and go eat some more pie then take a long nap. :-)

Something Glittery......

2010-11-14T17:47:00.007-05:00

There's something sparkly going on at the Honey Girl Studio............

Something round and scalloped..........

Something delightfully frilly without being too frou-frou............Something called a paper wreath! How cool did this wreath turn out? If you would like the steps on how to make it go to Enchanted Rose Studio. Tina has a really nice tutorial with pictures. I followed her directions and it was pretty easy. The next one I make I'm going to glue in little red and silver glass balls. I didn't glitter every circles' edge mainly because I was too impatient and wanted to get it together!

I actually made 2 wreaths this weekend. I'm getting into the Christmas mode. I like the simplicity of this wreath. I'm finding that as I get older I like more simple, pared down things. I really like the white/silver/winter white combo and I'm considering doing my mantel in that scheme this holiday season.

I used a styrofoam wreath base and wrapped it with cotton batting then I cut strips of white linen and wrapped it around it followed by white ric-rac.

The little acrylic snowflakes and shell buttons are secured with pearl head pins.

Hope you all had a fantastic weekend!

Christmas in Paris

2010-11-11T19:10:00.002-05:00

This week in Western Pa has been beautiful, warm and sunny days of about 65 degrees and cold frosty nights of 32 degrees. The cold nights have got me thinking about Christmas decorations. I created a template for this Eiffel tower and created it from chipboard and decorative papers. Hmmmmmm, kind of makes you wonder what Christmas in Paris would be like.

I think the tiny bottle brush tree is so cute!

What Christmas Eiffel tower would be complete without a snowman?

The tower measures about 7 inches tall.

NOEL!

Ornaments Anyone?

2010-11-07T18:04:00.008-05:00

I've been in somewhat of a creative funk for the past few weeks. I'm sure you all have had periods of time where you just couldn't get into the artsty swing of things. Well, this morning I work up bright eyed a bushy tailed at 6:15, went into my studio and started to create! The funk has been broken! Perhaps it had something to do with the time change? I had chipboard stars and decided to turn them into ornaments......It's hard to tell in the photos but the bears and snowflakes are covered in a beautiful ultra fine glitter. I had a piece of sheet music from 1919 and the title of the song was "Romance" so I tore it off to use on this ornament as it just seemed to be perfect. The bears are raised off of the star by about 1/4 of an inch.

This little guy is holding a shiny silver bell, ringing in the holiday season. He is also raised off of the star by 1/4 of an inch. A Scrabble tile and piece of vintage lace round out the ornament.

Hark the Winter Angel Sings! I tied in the basket of lillies she's carrying into the theme. Sewn to the vintage lace are 2 bisque calla lillies and a teal colored pearl all lightly dusted with ultra sepia glitter. The star has also been covered with the glitter.

Now you know I couldn't create ornaments without sticking a bird in somewhere! This one was created on an old CD for the base.

Rememeber the mini CDs that never quite took off? Well I found one and turned it into a little ornie. These three bears remind me of "Three's Company".....come and knock on our door.......we've been waiting for you. I'm going to name them Jack, Krissy and Janet.

My best crafting friend, Tracey says that I have a "kitchy" side to my art and she's right! I like to get whimsical from time to time so here are 2 in that category.....

You know, they always have "sister" and "friend" ornaments but what about a "cousins" ornaments? We all have a favorite cousin, right?

Happy Halloween

2010-10-31T20:13:00.001-04:00

Happy Halloween!
Hope all my friends in blogland had a terrific candy-bar packed Halloween!
This is "Boo" my newest little paperclay leopard doll......

It's Snowing Men......Snowmen that is.....

2010-10-24T10:45:00.009-04:00

Since Halloween is almost here it's time to switch to gears. The frosty nights speak of impending flakes......snowflakes that is not your visiting relatives! Tracey at Glitterbug Studios and I decided to challenge each other to make a snowman and do a cross-blog posting.

Let me introduce to you......Mitten. Tracey made this fabulous man with vintage appeal! He's all ready to go out caroling. Isn't he cute? To see more pics of Mitten head on over to Glitterbug Studios. She is becoming quite the Paperclay maven! I love the little "coal" eyes. Mitten measures 15 inches high.

Now, let me introduce you to my little snowguy.......please say "hello" to Sugar. Sugar is made out of cream colored felt. His eyes and mouth are french knots and his nose was embroidered with a straight stitch with DMC floss. I lightly dusted the top of his head and cap with coarse white glitter. He measures 12 inches tall. I was inspired to make Sugar by this glass jar full of yummy Christmas goodies. Isn't it funny how you can get an idea just by looking at a jarful of randomness?

So onward to the pattern. Now remember you can copy and save this pattern for your own use and even make little snowmen to sell, shoot you can even resize it and make little itty bitty ones or giant ones, but please don't sell the pattern because that would be very uncool and bad karma would then come your way in the form of every snowman that you try building this winter looking like a big pile of crap, and I really wouldn't want that for any of my friends in blogland!
So you're asking right about now, "where are the instruction Melissa?" I would never leave you hanging like that! Just to let you you know, I used a sewing machine with Ecru colored thread but you could just as easily hand sew too. You will be sewing on the front of the pieces which means there is no turning of things right side out!

Cut 2 bodies, 4 legs and 4 arms and 2 hats out of felt. Making french knots put on the eyes and mouth and using a straight stitch make a nose using DMC floss. Next cut out 2 little red circles and attach them to the front of the body using french knots. Pin together 2 legs and sew around the outside of them, repeat for the other leg. If you'd like use red DMC floss and a chain stitch to add stripes on his legs. Sew the arms the same way. Pin together the 2 bodies and tuck the two legs into the bottom of the body and stitch right over the legs to hold them on. Continue to stitch around the outside of body about 1/4 of an inch in from the edge and leave about a 2 inch opening on the one side to put the stuffing in (I use Polyfill). Sew the hat and put just a little stuffing in it. Lightly stuff the snowman and hand stitch up the opening. Hand sew the arms on each side. Hand sew the hat on the head at a jaunty angle. Embellish with whatever you want to add on to him!

If you make one of these babies, I'd love to see it! Send me pic and I'll put it in a future blog posting with a link to your blog. Happy Snowman making! This is a great way of making a snowman without getting your hands cold!

Fairy Door Necklaces.....

2010-10-18T10:25:00.006-04:00

Again, the falling leaves have inspired me in my newest creations........ fairy door necklaces. The leaves are made of leather and the doors are metal. The coolest thing about the doors (other than them being so stinkin' cute) is that they open! Yes, they open and there's room in there for a picture or little message. The door closes securely with a little magnet in the inside. What would you put inside it?

I love the fibers in this necklace, I was trying to create a "foresty" look.

If you'd like to wear one of these little fairy door necklaces, please visit my jewelry blog:

Honey Girl Studio Jewelry.

Autumn Leaves Jewelry

2010-10-13T19:19:00.005-04:00

It is in autumn that I feel very blessed to be living in Western Pennsylvania. The bright blue days of October showcase a jewel-tone parade of falling leaves carelessly floating through the air. The blazing brilliance of colors never ceases to amaze me......

A few weeks ago my mum and I went to a local quilt show and discovered a woman creating these wonderful art quilts. No doubt she was inspired by the showy array of foliage. This is a quilt she was working on.....

This is a finished quilt. She creates them with tiny snippets of fabric which has been backed with Wonder-Under. The machine quilting is random. I think it looks pretty realistic. I'd like to try my hand at one of these someday.

I think Maple trees are my favorite. The colors are just so vibrant.....the reds, yellows and oranges! This is a picture I took this weekend. I was standing in my mom and dad's drive way shooting down toward the little village of Hadley........

Plus, the Maples hold a special place in my heart because the gentle giants surrounded the house I grew up in. This is the house! There were many more Maples around the house but they had to be taken down when they got too old and rotten on the inside.
So as many of you know, I draw a lot of inspiration from nature and this is an excellent time of the year to do so. These are my new pendants I created from leather. This one has a bronze shimmer that is hard to see in this photo. The cascade of shell and stone chips is suppose to mimic falling leaves. The words on the leaf are types of trees.

This leaf has a shimmer of copper, russet and bronze to it. I made it a little steampunkie with the metal gear attached to it.

I really like how this one turned out! The cascade of iridescent pearls in dark egglant, bronze and pale gold really pop on this piece. You can find these necklaces over at Honey Girl Studio Jewelry.

How do leaves inspire you in your artistic pursuits during the autumn season? In other words, what "leafs" you inspired?

Pumpkin Goblin Winner Announced......

2010-10-10T15:59:00.004-04:00

And the winner of the Pumpkin Goblin is..........(insert drum roll here).... Dianne C. from
Dianne Rambling On. Congrats Dianne! I hope he doesn't cause too much autumn mischief in your home! Please email me your address and I'll get him sent right out to you this week.
Thanks to all those who left comments and became followers during this giveaway. There will be another give away coming this week so stop back!

Good Weekend/Weekend Goodies

2010-10-03T19:23:00.003-04:00

I hope you all had a good weekend, I know I sure did! On Saturday I went to Strongsville, Ohio with my friend Donna to a stamping convention. This is what I bought......

I'm very excited to use the new Tim Holtz rosette die you see above. I watched the guy do the demo and he made it look pretty easy. We had a lot of fun watching the demos and checking out the new goodies. I'd love to be a demo person for Tim Holtz products!

Donna gave me the recipe for this potato soup.....it's super easy and sooooo yummy!

Easy Potato Soup Recipe
In a large pot in 2T of olive oil saute 1/2 of an onion (chopped), 2 stalks of celery (chopped) and 1 large carrot, finey chopped until soft. Add 1 box of chicken stock (about 5 cups) to the pot and 1T of parsley flakes. Next stir in one packet of McCormicks Country Gravy and one bag of Oreida frozen hash browns. Bring to a boil and then turn down to low and simmer for about 20 mintues. I can't get over how delicious it is!

Today I got to play around tonight with Photoshop and make a few digital collages. This collage was created with the following elements: steward boy, Eagle Rock ticket, black and orange ribbon, pumpkins, and orange and white stripe paper in oval frame by Marsha at Tumble Fish Studio at Etsy; white box, corn stalks, metal oval, and books by Lorie at Scrapbook Graphics; black glitter lace by Lisa at Scrapbook Graphics.

I call him "The Pumpkin Steward" as he's the one you call upon to fetch your pumpkin from the field, his tall shiny black boots glistening in the moonlight as he makes his way through the patch with only the aid of a candle in a jar to guide him.

Speaking of pumpkins.......how about this crazy pumpkin that I took a picture of a few weeks ago. It almost looks like it's covered with peanuts! After some sleuthing on the net I found out that it's actually a type of squash called Cucurbita Maxima and I guess they are delicious.

Lastly I'm leaving you a with a picture of Veepers. He's hanging out in the pie safe which is decorated for Halloween and no he does not look happy.....that's because tomorrow is MONDAY and there's a giant spider tickling his toe! Have a bearable Monday! I'd say have a great Monday but we all know there is no such thing.

Got Frost On Your Pumpkin?

2010-10-01T18:17:00.006-04:00

A special "Thanks you" to my friend Tracey of Glitterbug Studios for making me this new awesome Halloween banner! Isn't it cool?

Brrrrr, it may possibly frost this weekend here in Northwestern, Pa! The weather in this area around Halloween is a total crap-shoot. The big joke is that you know you're a Western Pennsylvanian if you buy your Halloween costume 2 sizes too big so that you can get your winter coat on underneath it! That saying inspired me to make this 3 by 5 inch collage. The witch is wearing her winter coat because it gets pretty chilly zooming around on a broom. The background was digitally created with elements from Tangie Baxter and the rest of the collage was handcut and glued from my bits and pieces from my own collection. of goodies.

The Autumn Key Pendant winner is Jill at Bucks County Folk Art. Congrats Jill!

Please visit the previous post to enter to win the Pumpkin Goblin!
Remember keep the frost off your pumpkin and stay warm! Smiles :-)

Halloween Give Away!

2010-09-26T18:57:00.002-04:00

My friend Tracey over at Glitterbug Studios and I have decided to do a dual giveaway. To celebrate Autumn & Halloween we have worked on two little paperclay and fabric figures. Tracey made a fabulous witch. You can check it out at her blog: www.glitterbugstudios.blogspot.com

Look who I found stalking through my flower garden!!! He's a pumpkin goblin and he's what I'm giving away!

His head has been hand sculpted with rigid wrap and paper clay. Just look at that mischievous look. There's no telling what kind of trouble he's planning to get into.His 12 inch body is painted fabric and his arms and legs are bendable. He sports a felt cap and a skirt of autumn leaves and fibers. He's waving to YOU and saying "come enter the drawing for me!"

I'll draw the winner on October 10th. So to be in the drawing, you need to just leave a comment and if you're not a follower please consider becoming one by signing up on the right. If you have a blog it would be really groovy if you mentioned this give away and a link to it too.

I have no idea what his name is so maybe you can help me out and leave a name suggestion!

Works in Progress, Halloween Decorating and a Give Away!

2010-09-23T20:19:00.006-04:00

Hello! Happy first day of Autumn. I love autumn....the colors, the smell of leaves, the cooler weather and the start of decorating! These little guys are part of my autumn celebrations. The head on the left is going to be a pumpkin goblin and the one on the right is going to be a kid dressed up as a leopard! I will choosing one of the them for a giveaway coming up soon so stay tuned!I put up the Halloween tree this past weekend. I made most of the ornaments on the tree, some friends have either given to me or I've bought. I think I like my Halloween tree better than my Christmas tree!

My mom and I made the pumpkin guy topper many, many years ago. We've always crafted together! The little beagle on the bench is the perfect dog.....he doesn't bark, doesn't need to be walked and doesn't move!

A shot of my mantle, shooting from one end to the other.

Not only am I celebrating the glories of the fall season but I'm celebrating the end of my back pain. For almost 4 months I've had a terrible pain in my upper back/shoulder area and have had a lot of pain when breathing. Long story short, finally found a dr. yesterday that found out what it was........

Two dislocated ribs!!!! He popped them back into place and instantly I could breath and the pain was much less in my back!

So to celebrate finally not feeling terrible, I'm offering one of my vintage altered key necklaces!

To be entered in the drawing, just become a follower and leave a comment. If you already are a follower, then just leave a quick comment and give me shout out on your blog with a link to this post. I'll draw the winner on Wed. (Sept. 29th).

The vintage key has been painted orange and wire wrapped with orange wire, embellished with a vintage starburst and 2 danglies of glass beads. The handmade fabric cord measures 18 inches long.

A Day of Crafting!

2010-09-19T18:46:00.006-04:00

Hey, I haven't posted in a while, I've had computer problems.....I had two laptops come down with a bad virus to the point that they wouldn't even work. I'm seriously considering getting a Mac!

Today, my good friend Tracey from Glitterbug Studios came to visit me for a day of crafting!

This is the pumpkinman I made........his name is Angus. You can check out Tracey's pumpkinman at her blog. She went with a black/white theme and it's pretty darn cute!

First we started by covering my dining room table with every imaginable art/craft supply from our stashes!

Here's Tracey with the plain muslin dolls we started out with. We bought them at the Pat Catans. They're 12 inches tall and bendable......the dolls not Tracey.

The head started out as a plain old plastic pumpkin, you know the kid you get at the dollar store. I then covered it with Rigid Wrap (I got this idea from the current Cloth, Paper, Scissors magazine). It's a roll of fabric covered with plaster that you can cut into strips, dip in water and smooth onto just about any surface. After the rigid wrapped pumpkin dries hard you can add a nose and cheeks with Creative Paperclay.

We took a break to have chocolate mousse........with chocolate sticks.

I took a break to try to create a mummy costume........not really, just kidding!So here is Angus sitting on a wonderful stack of black and orange books with a cute tag and ribbon that Tracey made for me. I think he likes it perched up on that pile of books.

Look at Tracey's pumpkinman.....he's actually a white pumpkin/gourdman. She has a such a creative mind! We're laughing because my husband took the picture and said, "ok, smile you little freaks"! Well, we had a great time and we're already planning on making more and having a giveaway....maybe even as soon as next Saturday so stay tuned!

Mail Art?

2010-09-06T16:13:00.008-04:00

Do you know about "Mail Art"? Mail art is art which uses the postal system as a medium. The term mail art can refer to an individual message, the medium through which it is sent, or an artistic genre. It's also known as postal art or as Correspondence/Mail Art.

I'm in a Halloween Envelope mail art swap and this is the front of my "Junkyard Pumpkins" envelope. This past week I've seen a lot of roadside stands with pumpkins for sale so I was inspired by the orange spheres of Halloween joy! The person's address goes onto the face of the middle pumpkin and my return address in the corner in the little pumpkin. I bet the mail carrier gets a kick out of the envelope!

Hope you all had a great Labor Day weekend. It's time to say "Bye summer, I'll see you next year"!

Colorful Shoes?

2010-08-26T18:14:00.004-04:00

I have been in love with shoes since I was a teenager. I like unique, colorful shoes. I ran across these Alegria shoes. To say that I love these shoes is an understatement! They are the most comfortable shoes I've ever owned. The bottom sole is thick and the inside is like walking on a memory foam mattress! (No I don't work for Alegria shoes!) I'm saving for a leopard print pair next.

Now these babies are really one of a kind b/c they were painted by me! I'm channeling my inner Elvis when I wear them. I started with a cheap pair of brown oxfords from WalMart....I got them for $5. I painted them with Lumier paints and sprayed them with 5 coats of mat clear coat. I think they'll look awesome with black jeans.

The other day Gary and I were out "ridge-running" when we happened upon a road by this name.......

I'm not so sure I'd like to live on a road called "Hellskitchen".....maybe if you were Chef Ramsey it might be cool.

So we are coming to the end of my favorite August fruit.....peaches! I like the Red Haven the best. These peaches are grilled and topped with a ricotta mixture (recipe below). They are so yummy, all warm and slightly soft with the sweet cinnamon ricotta. Actually it's kind of like eating a peach canolli.

Split the peaches in half, take out the stone. Lay on a hot grill, cut side down and grill for 4 minutes then flip them over and grill for 4 minutes on the other side.

Ricotta Filling:

Wisk together 1/2 cup of skim ricotta, 1 Tbs of sugar and 2 Tbs. of French Vanilla coffee creamer

Take peaches off the grill, fill with ricotta mixture and sprinkle with cinnamon.

Wouldn't it be lovely to........

2010-08-14T15:55:00.003-04:00

With August almost half over I get a little sad to see summer go, and I start to daydream......

Wouldn't it be lovely to grow beautiful annuals all year around like these? Wouldn't it be lovely to to not have to go to work and play fetch with your one blue-eyed dog all afternoon long?

Wouldn't it be lovely if perennials really were perennials and stayed in fresh vibrant bloom all year around?

Wouldn't it be lovely to sit outside in 82 degree weather every night and watch the sun set?

Wouldn't it be lovely to have a job taking pictures of sunsets......all around the world?

Well, I was just dreaming.....but really wouldn't it all just be lovely?

Trying Something New.....

2010-08-09T20:28:00.003-04:00

So my friend Tracey gave me a few lessons about digital collage with Photoshop and I think she's created a monster! I'm totally obessed! I made this one today. I call it "Where To Next?" I'm not sure how it turned out as compared to other digital artist's creations but I'm learning!

I'm really more of a traditional collage artist as I like cutting and pasting but I think I'm becoming a "hybrid" collage artist using the Photoshop to get things the right size and color then printing them and cutting them out to layer in the traditional way with good old gel medium!

The elements I used for this collage are from Deviant Scrap and are from the Steam Punk pack.