Altered Paintbrush

This morning while driving with Nate in his truck I spotted this paintbrush sitting in the console between us. It was still wrapped pretty in its paper and waiting for Nate to use it to paint another shadow box however....my mind started thinking it could be pretty as an altered piece. Thus....I hurried up and snuck it in the pocket of my jacket before Nate would notice and I carried on as if I had not just committed a crime. I did eventually tell him that I stole something from his truck. I didn't tell him what I had stolen though. Needless to say when he did see the project his first comment was, "I needed that!". Well Nate, Obviously I did too! Its a paint brush. Get over it. :)
So...
I gesso'ed the paintbrush handle and painted it bright yellow. I applied a layer of crackle and then instead of putting another color on top I just used brown ink to get into all the cracks and crevices. I painted the metal strip with green paint and made some pink flowers to add here and there. I painted a canvas butterfly and stamped some script on him. I added lots of bling and a cute little sentiment that says "make your own path". A few Liquid Pearls finished off this silly project of the day.

The flowers were all cut from a sheet of double sided paper and scrunched up or distressed with a gem added to the middle.

Its always nice to do something you wouldn't normally do and break free from the comfort zone!

Art comes in many many forms...

Art comes in many forms and it does not always have to be created on a piece of paper. Below are just a few samples of things that make you take a step back and realize that you or somebody just like you created that. Whether you consider it art or not...it was made using our hands as the tools and it is something to be proud of!

doodling art

the art of scrapbooking

The art of flower arranging

The art of Stained Glass

The art of creating a snowman (simple but still an art in my eyes)

Moi...the hired help for the day of building lobster traps

A few of the creations 

Last but not least...the art of making a lobster trap. Totally not the kind of item you would consider art right?
However, when I watch (and occasionally help...photo to prove it) my husband create these traps from scratch and I see how 'picky' he is about what pieces of wood go where, and how deep the nail is hit and how tight the netting is I realize that he is also an artist in his own way. He has taken a long lost art and has kept it alive. Each trap being a challenge to be better than the last one.

Long live the many forms of art and the people who create it.

Happy craftin'!

Mixed Media Canvas

8 1/2'' x 11'' canvas

6" x 6" canvas

I am really into this Mixed Media Canvas Art lately. I love having 'no rules' to play by and use my fingers as my paint brushes. Paints, mediums, sprays, masks, stamps and markers all lay in a 2 foot space in front of me despite the 5' x 3' table I am working on!
For these particular canvases I had been wanting to do something special with the flowers I had made in a class at Shabby Shutters with Michelle. Someday she will get her own blog up and you can start to see all the beautiful creations she makes...but for now, I'll sneak some of her flowers in my art!
For both canvases I started by Gesso'ing my canvas and going crazy with tans and pink paints. Tissue papers and stamped words are scattered through out the canvases in no particular order. Sew Stampers are PERFECT to use on this type of art! Left over rub-ons, stickers are also perfect as well as scrap paper! A Sharpie marker fills in some doodles and a word or two. The vases were cut from scrap paper and glued on and then inked and doodled upon! Alcohol Inks, Stickles, Perfect Pearls sometimes make an appearance and Glossy Accents...always lots of Glossy Accents!
The star of the show though.....my flowers!!! Thanks Michelley!
Don't you think they fit perfectly into my vase?  ;)

Have a happy craftin' day!

Another Scrapbook Page!

A few weeks ago Sherry, Michelle and I went to "Crop & Create Moncton" where we got to scrapbook all weekend and take some classes. There were also a couple of challenges that we could enter to win some yummy prizes. Below is one of the scrapbook pages that I created for one of my challenges.

There is a lot of hidden journaling on this page as well as some tidbids of information scattered through out the page itself. I added a little pink tee-shirt that says "Top of the Crop"...I've had it for years but just never knew where to use it and thought this was the perfect spot! It has a little wire hanger on it and it looks like it is hanging from the string of pink twine going across the page.
The "ME" is grunge board that is inked. On the "M" I cut out a little section to create a spot to let the little birdy sit. The stitching all around is completely done by markers. I don't have the patience to actually sew on a page!
Oh and the B-E-A-U-T-I-F-U-L patterned paper is from Bo-Bunny at Shabby Shutters! Go get yourself some today! The whole line of paper is gorgeous!
...Happy Crafting!