Lessons for my son journal

For the past four years I have been on a journey. A journey that started because I was not happy. I really thought that my happiness was attainable based on outside factors. When I made some serious decisions years ago, I thought things would be miraculously all better. When they weren't and I was still unhappy I knew something had to change. I was 36 years old when I decided to take my life off of autopilot. To take control of my life and to change it. It has been difficult and it has been a tough journey but I keep on trucking. I keep on learning. I keep on challenging myself.

I do not want my son - who is 7.5 years old to be 36 when he realizes that he is needing to look within to be happy.  I have been working hard to teach this little guy everything that I have learned and continue to learn. So I thought I would put all of it in a book for him. I am really hoping that this will be something that he can read and re-read when he is older and have a reminder of all the little lessons I have taught him.

This is the first page. Just a little art for me to kick off this book. I am hoping to do some art journalling in it and lots of writing for him. So please keep checking back for the lessons. 

Have a great night!

DIY Thrifted Wall Art

It's no secret that I love pinterest! It's like going to the candy store for a thrifty-do-it-yourself-addicted-to-pretty-things girls like me. One day a few weeks back I pinned this beautiful piece.

And then a few days later I got notification that my sister-in-law pinned it. So I knew I had to make her one. I went digging in my garage in my over abundant stash of picture frames that I have picked up at yard sales or thrift stores over the past few years and found the perfect one. Now it was a frame that had this dog poster in it with glasses on it. The poster was mounted on cardboard and I am sure some 13 year old loved it at one point of this frame's life. I knew exactly what I wanted to do with it.

I took the print out, primed it with some regular latex primer then I used some texture paste to give it a nice texture. The flat painted cardboard didn't cut it. I then took some white and off-white craft paint and randomly covered the whole thing. I was able to transfer the quote with regular transfer paper. I was planning on distressing the lettering but it took off the texture paste so I had to kill that idea. I do like the crispness of it. So happy I mixed in some off-white though.

For the frame I mixed up some milk paint and put a thicker layer over the beige burlap strip on the frame and then the rest of the frame just got a white washed layer which was later sanded down. I love how it totally changed the look of the frame.

Hope you like it! Have a great night!!

Trust your Heart

One lesson I have learned since I have taken my life off of autopilot and decided to take control of my own happiness is this: trust your heart. When you trust your heart, and I mean really trust it, then you will learn how to fly.

This piece was originally purchased at my local Thrift Warehouse in Haliburton, Ontario for $0.50. I used gesso to cover up the original artwork and then with some paint and collage I created this. I love how it turned out.

and some close ups:

Thanks for stopping by :)

Coats

Hello Everyone! Sorry for such the long delay in posts! Life has been amazing and I have been taking the time to enjoy it. I have been able to create again! Yay!! Feels so good to get ink on my hands!

I am a visual girl - as you can see. Many of my life lessons have come to me through art and analogies. One of them are my 'coats'. We all have them. We all wear different ones. We think they protect us. They are comfortable. But are they useful? I always imagine wearing a parka in the summer. That parka had it use in the winter when it was cold but wearing it when it no longer serves you is kinda ridiculous but until you get tired of wearing it and carrying around it's very hard to let go of. Like many, I have a whole closet of coats. And some I am still wearing. But fear and doubt - they are no longer required! Happy Family Day (Canada)!

New altered yard sale finds!

I am putting a table at a local yard sale this weekend and thought it would be fun to alter some pieces and try to sell them. All the pieces came from either a yard sale or from my local thrift store.

Love using acrylics, water colours, stamps and my new gelatos.

Thanks for stopping by!

Soar Teacher's Gifts

I was trying to figure out what to give to my son's teacher and EA's. Because of his diabetes he has to have EA's help him test himself and bolus for his meals. We have had three amazing EA's this year and we are so grateful for the wonderful support team that Parker had this year!

A month of so ago, Parker and I decided to play with some watercolours. He made three of the four backgrounds and I made one of them. They were sitting on my desk waiting to be altered or used in a project. Voila! Teacher's gifts! I bought these cute little frames (5x7) for $3.99 each. I had the soar stamp and just embossed it with black embossing powder. I just purchased an embossing pen and that is what I used for the frame around the stamp and again, used my black embossing powder. Added some gold spray paint splatters and put them in the frame. Easy peasy! I think it took me 20 minutes to make them and I love them! I hope they love them too!

 

Have a great day!

One Little Word - mixed media canvases

I have been busy getting ink on my hands and I love it!!!!!

I wanted to make some canvases for my booth and wanted to make a series. I love words. They are so
powerful to me and have been instrumental on my journey.

I started with some 4x6 canvases then added some 6x9 and some 8x10s. Lots of bright colours, some new mediums (gelatos) and my go to mediums (paint, paper, ink, spray paint, rub-ons, texture paint, embossing powders, ribbon and spray inks).

What is your One Little Word? Mine changes everyday.

Have a fantastic day!