What Lies Inside You! Mixed Media Art...

I love this quote!  I am discovering my own artist within. The best part of painting is being able to make mistakes work or easily fix them.  I have made so many mistakes that sometimes I just put gesso over the whole canvass and start completely over.  I am finding this to be a very freeing experience.  

My new idea and inspiration is from the book of Psalms.  I found an old book of Psalms at the library for a dollar!  I am going to paint around my favorite verses. Can't wait.

More Quilted Fall Items

I have been working on my goal of 15 items for the craft show.  I am now at 6!  I am working hard to use all my fabric that is in my fall drawer.  

Mixed Media Art

Every night my husband and I paint.  He started the project because he needed something to do that was relaxing and therapy like.  So I joined him.  It has become our favorite time of the day.  I am finding the artist hidden within. :)  Here are a few of my creations.  

This one I used lots of  scrapbooking paper scraps, stencils, gesso, gelatos, and artist pens.  

This is actually my first one painted on a journaling page.  I was trying to figure out how to use all the artist supplies my husband bought.  

This one I painted on a piece of wood I found in our garage.

This was something I had drawn in my journal awhile back.  I drew it again and painted it.  I used acrylic paints, gelatos, gesso, and paper. 

I found this girl in a National Geographic Magazine.  She was looking at a dinosaur in a Natural History Museum.  I loved her shoes and wanted to put her in more creative setting.  I love how this turned out.  I took the words randomly from the article that was written around her picture.  It says, "Floated high up I watched Summer's end. "

I would love for this to be my kitchen window.  

This one represents all the places we lived while in the army and today.
Home is wherever my family is...No matter how many moves we make!

This one I just painted with acrylic paints on gesso.  After splattering paint around I saw this Native American Woman in it.  So I did my best to bring her out.  Then I cut out words from an old book that says, "Beautiful at the beginning of memory."  

Craft Show Here I Come...With Riley Blake

Now that the sewing bug is back I decided to set a goal of making at least 15 items for this years craft show.  The craft show is in November so I think I can get this goal met!  It is still June too! lol  I pulled out a box of fabric and decided to use everything in it that I could and if I couldn't use it all I would throw it away! GASP! I know!  I have a hard time throwing the smallest piece of fabric away!  But I need to because I have way too much fabric and not enough time.  Ok!  Instead of throwing it away, if it is still a usable amount, I will donate it! :)  

So I have made 3 runners for Halloween.  Actually I finished quilting and binding them today too, just need to take pictures.  This is Riley Blake fabric from 2 Halloweens ago, but it is still super cute!  I think they should sell and if not....I will gladly keep them. :)

4th of July Flowers Wall Hanging Quilt

I put this together too!  I feel so happy to be quilting and sewing again.  Homeschooling took more out of me than I could ever had imagined!  It was also more rewarding too.  And that is probably why we have committed to next year too.  I am going to try to make time in the school day, somehow, to sew.  For some reason that is more important to me than finding time for the gym. lol  

Be True to Yourself....Create!

I am sewing again!  I finished up our year homeschooling and found myself looking through old patterns.  I had bought this pattern years and years ago.  I thought this would be a good place to start to get myself back into sewing.  I have always wanted to make this wall hanging and thought now was the time.  The kids were at VBS all morning and I had the house clean and to myself.  I had so much fun digging through my scraps.  This was a fun pattern to follow and I love how it turned out.  

Just starting the project and following the pattern!  

I love my quilt blowing in the wind.  Accidentally blowing the wrong way, but decided that didn't really matter.  These are all scraps my Grandma had given me a few years back mixed with a couple from my stash.  I will always remember how my Grandma taught me to sew and this quilt is a symbol of that for me.

Finished!  Quilted!  Binding done!  Hanging in our school room!  I hope this inspires the kids to always be creative in our homeschool classroom and their life.

Life Changes...

I posted last that I was moving on.  For some reason that was easier said than done for me.  I can't believe my last post was in November!  I can't believe I am still not sewing!!!  Everyone can't believe that actually!  I am going to try to start picking up where I left off and hopefully work up until now.  Then maybe I will have myself back together and I will be sewing again and have it all together again because right now I am hanging together by a thread.

Here is a picture of the kids when we first moved to Arizona!  I think the sun made them grow as much as it made them tan!  

We are truly happy to be home with family again!  What an amazing experience to go to the doctor alone or with the one sick child because you have your mom to watch the other ones.  I have never had this before.  I used to have to juggle all 4 in the tiny doctor office.  It is so much easier to sit in the doctor office with the one sick child!  I am feeling blessed because of just this!

We loved the time we spent living with my parents.  Most days the kids found their way to the pool or spa!  They couldn't get enough of swimming, I, on the other hand, found myself becoming sick of it!  

We spent 4 months living with my parents.  We moved into our new home in October.  I actually can't believe it, but we don't have any pictures of our new house!  I will have to take some soon! I love our new house.  I think we just wanted to get in and unpacked as quick as possible so we could start relaxing and moving on.  We still have boxes and closets that are a mess 4 months later, but we don't feel rushed to finish.  We plan on being here forever and when we move it will be on our terms.  It is such a strange feeling to know that this is our house for as long as WE want to live here!  We are loving this feeling.  

What I am most thankful for is that I feel like I am getting my husband back.  He is home more than ever and he is finally there for us.  We are working through a lot of baggage and junk that the army put on us, but we are getting through it.  I guess we are unpacking mental baggage right now instead of unpacking our household stuff.  With 5 surgeries in a row and loosing many physical abilities he finally admitted to depression.  Some changes are really hard to accept and make.  

So we got a puppy.  I think our other dog is happier because of this little puppy we rescued from the pound and we are happier too.  She makes us smile and is great at cuddling on the couch!

So that is a good catch up and I hope to get a picture on here of our new house and what else we have been up to.  I have been putting all of my creativity, energy, and myself into my kids and homeschooling them.  That will probably be the direction my blog will be going to now.  Life changes...