Ok - I waited because I wanted the “next” post to be on the new site.  Not ready yet.  But soon, very soon. And I will definitely post sooner the next time.

So, in few words plus quite a few photos, here’s a mish-mesh of what I’ve been doing the last month or two:

The little birds are going in some “thank you” cards.  They are cut out of randomly painted watercolor paper, and tied with a gold string.  The photo quality is bad, my apologies - and this is why I do not like using the flash.

Two quite small encaustic paintings, 5″x5″. “cosmos” and “Rosy”.  I am playing around with different techniques.  I bought 12 of the 5×5 wood panels, so there will be more coming. Yay!  Viva encaustic!

These sweet nests were for Easter, of course.  I wanted something “chocolate” that my allergy boy could eat.  These were made from non-dairy chocolate chips. You just melt & mix with the chow mein noodles, shape, put in the jellybeans, and then let them cool.  Easy.  Kids love them.

I caught this patch of fog and snapped a quick photo before it went away.  You’re probably tired of the same view of my backyard by now.  But, I like how the fog looks in the photo, nonetheless.

A few other things… a big big “Thank You” to my dear friend Tangie, and to ALL of those who made it possible for me to travel to Salt Lake City to attend the opening of the art show.  It was so very nice to be able to attend in person.  I don’t know if an artist could ask for more than wonderful, supportive friends and family.  Thank you. Everyone.

A design I made from some of Tangie’s digital scrapbooking products (photo by me).  You can get her products here.
{background: “Yippe-ki-yay”, Tangie Baxter & SherrieJD {collab}
Orange paper: “Orchard Lane”, Tangie Baxter
“Wise Guys” (digital stamp), Tangie Baxter
Typefaces: Century Gothic, Century Schoolbook (large “B”)}

Last, but definitely NOT least - I finally finished the website I’ve been working so hard on.  I’m pleased with they way it turned out.  The products are great, and I loved working with another mom.  Check it out!

No creativity question this time - isn’t this post long enough?

Happy creating until next time!

I’m back.  Sorry about the confusion - I think there was a slight mix-up at my hosting provider.

Thank you all for your concern about us during the ice storm - I will post photos soon (as soon as I have a few minutes to figure out how to put together a little slide show or something - if you’re on Facebook, you can see them in my photo album, “Devastatingly Beautiful”).  In the meantime, a recent project.

Knitted newborn hats.  I cheat.  I use the Knifty Knitter loom.  It makes it so easy, I can do one in about 40 minutes or so (depends on how much I’m concentrating) and NO knitting needles.  Every year the ladies from our church put together baby kits for the hospitals - hats, onesies, sleepers, blankets, socks, and sometimes bibs or other items.  It is a service project we all really enjoy. It gives me a “reason” to make the hats (see Creativity Question thoughts below).

These are three of the five I made.  So easy, and so cute and so fun.  You can get different sizes of looms, and you can also make scarves on the looms, which is something I like to give as gifts sometimes.

Someday, I would like to learn to knit “for real”.  But until I have more time to be patient with it (I tried once, and it was somewhat frustrating), the looms work for me.

HEADS UP - I will be moving my blog to a new home sometime soon, but I’ll give plenty of warning.  More details later.

Creativity Question - How often do you tell yourself that “someday” you’ll get to your art/project/creative pursuit?  (I may have asked a similar question before.)

I do this WAY too often - I’m speaking of painting, mostly.. And, part of doing this blog for me, is to motivate myself to actually DO something.  Looking back, I wish I hadn’t said “someday” quite so often.  I can’t ever get that time back.  But, here I am, and I’m now trying.  And, I’m trying to do art/creative things without always having a “reason” other than that I want to and I love to (vs. only for a baby shower, holiday birthday, etc.) Those reasons are great motivators, but I need to move myself beyond creating things only for an occasion or out of necessity.  I’m getting there, I think.

Ok, so maybe “fun” isn’t the word most people would choose… but, for me, it was rather fulfilling in a fun sort of way.  Actually, creative projects are what I deem “fun”.  This is what I did Friday night.

I realize this does resemble my recent encaustic painting a bit,  but, what can I say?  They came from the same person, plus this just fit what I was trying to do.  My recipe:

1 good sized Canvas (18″ x 36″) with small hole - unsuitable for a painting

+

Piles and piles of Martha Stewart Living and Real Simple magazines desperately needing to be thinned

+

1 creative with pack-rat tendencies not wanting to let so many lovely photos go.

Select pages with favorite colors and objects, slice thoroughly.

Add a bottle of brown paint, a dash of decopage, plus some matte acrylic medium to finish it off, and

Shazzam!

Instant wall decor.

A close-up. Ok, so it took a few hours.  And, I started collecting pictures a few months ago - but, it didn’t take as many as I thought it would.  Oops, maybe you can see a spot I missed.

 Creativity Question:  Do you ever feel like your idea fountain is full, or is it more often thirsty?

I am always thirsty, it seems - even when I already have sketch books full of ideas.  It just never seems like enough.  Not to mention, that there are more things I want to learn than I could possibly fit into one lifetime.  That’s just how I am.  Rarely content, I guess.  A gift and also a curse.

Ps - I’m still planning on adding the hooded towel tutorial - when I get to it - heh.