Strut your Stuff #2

This past weekend was a big one in the studio.  I started the first of 3 large commissions.  Very excited to have this challenge in front of me.  

Spirit on the Water, 16" x 40", Mixed Media on Canvas

Named after the Song by Bob Dylan.  If you have not heard this song, I highly recommend it.  Catchy little tune.  

So let's see what you all created this past week.

I'm excited to see!

Star Wars Birthday Party Time

My 6 11/12 year old (his term, not mine) is soon to be 7 in a couple of weeks and now it's 

Mommy Freak Out Time!

 I know I don't have to go all crazy with decorated cakes/ cookies, matching partyware and such.... but really.  That's me.  I like to do it, I just know wish I had done it starting last month like I wanted to.  But with the holidays, you know how it is...it's just gets plain crazy.  

So I have a few ideas

1) First: I traded a custom picture frame 

 for some of The Sweetest Thing's cookies

Not these cookies..I don't have them yet.  They are going to arrive fresh for his birthday.

He decided to go with the Star Wars theme (big surprise, right?)

Some little lightsaber cookies would be very cool.

2.  Yeah, that's all I have so far.  But it is one of my top priorities right now so I'll let you all know how the process is coming along.  

In the meantime, if you are in need of any cookies, you should visit The Sweetest Thing.

And you can see all the fun thing she's working on at her blog.

Maybe something sweet for your Valentine?

Custom Kicks

Thanksgiving is over and it's that time of the year.  
CHRISTMAS GIFTS
So I been busy with getting the kids stuff in order and custom shoes is where its at this year.  I have been painting these kinds of shoes for about 6 months now.  I really enjoy making them.  They are so much fun.

These are the boots I painted for my niece.  So girly, I love it.  

These Lego Star Wars shoes are for Thing #2.  

He's gonna freak!!

I am still working on the Lego Star Wars shoes for Thing #1.  I am so anxious to finish them.  

If you are looking for shoes, adult or kid versions, 

check out my Etsy shop for other examples.

Creative Flair Art's Etsy Shop

iblog Writing Contest

Well, if you are visiting from the iblog writing contest, I have to admit

I totally goofed.  

It's not my fault really.  I slept in until 9:00am! My kids actually were quiet long enough for me to sleep until 9.

OK. I had earplugs in. 

Anyway, sleeping in until 9 really messed me up and I was not thinking correctly when I entered the past post for the contest.

OK. It is my fault.

But, I've had some coffee now and I am posting the past blog right here on this very page.

So nothing wrong can happen.

It is titled, "My Sweet Boy"

My sweet boy had his first day of summer vacation today and spent the day hanging with mom.  Unfortunately, I have the worst headache today from this head cold.  I tried to make the best of it and he was very sweet to understand.

As we ran our errands this morning, and stopping for some of his favorite hot chocolate, I began telling him about when he was younger ( only 4 short years ago) when he would chat away and of all the words he mispronounced through his toddler vocabulary.  We laughed about it and it made me think of all the little things he does now that one day I will look back on and will make me smile.  So I have thought of a quick little list of the five that always make me smile.

1- The way he will all of a sudden start freak dancing (ANYWHERE) and yell out "Break It Down".

2- In all seriousness, refers to his little brother as Little Rat.  I really do think he means it as an affectionate term. He will say, " You want to go play outside, come on you little rat".

3- Every one of the many dimples around his mouth when he really smiles.

4- How he ALWAYS has a song in his head and is forever singing.  We will sing the same song over and over again until someone tells him to stop. Then he'll change all the lyrics by changing the vowels in the words.

5- The fact that at 6 years old, he has slept with a stuffed animal since the time he was a few months old.  I can still see him rubbing the Pooh bear around in circles on his cheek like when he was 9 months old.

Love you little man!

Also, I am one of the sponsors for this month so if you would like to check out my shop, you can click the link below.  Thanks for visiting!

CreativeFlairArt.etsy

Vows, A Commitment

I finished a new art piece.  It was quite the work in progress.  

I started with the idea of using pages from books for the background.  

Words filled with commitment, love, marriage.

Combine it with a symbolic O'Keefe style flower.

And mix it with fabric, paper and paint.  

And there you go.  

Vows.  

New Ideas in the Studio

I have been a busy girl!!

I recently had a MAJOR breakthrough with my artwork.  I have had the pleasure of working with almost every kind of media you can imagine. 

 I've done photography. Spent hours with scrapbooking.  Fiddled with polymer clay.

Made stamped cards and embellished them.  Not to mention the painting and drawing...watercolors, acrylics, oils, gauche, pencils, pastels.

The list goes on and on; and the supplies go on and on.

So, last week we went on a trip to Baja and I went by Borders to pick up a magazine to bring along with me.  I found a copy of Somerset Workshop. Perfect.

While I am reading about all these wonderful artists ( Vanessa Valencia and Pam Carriker) I start thinking, I want to mix up media like this!  I want to mix up EVERYTHING I have been working with over the last 20 years and PUT IT ALL TOGETHER.  

So I sit on the beach and start sketching the ideas that start coming into head and since we returned; well let's just say I haven't slept much.  But I have some photos to share with you.

The set is called Relaxation.  It has words throughout talking about relaxing the mind, soaking your feet, aromatherapy.  The originals are a set of 5 canvases (below) but I use the above three for the prints and postcards.  

These are on the wall in my guest bedroom because that is exactly what I want them to do when they come and visit: RELAX.

So after making these I was feeling pretty fired up and right now I'm working on a larger piece.

This piece is called Vows. Further details about this piece coming soon.

So, of course, let me know what you think and if you want to check out these wonderful artists' sites,

 here you go.

These artists were a great source of inspiration for my decision to take my art to the next level.

Thank you.

Vanessa Valencia

Pam Carriker

New Website for My Art

I would like to extend a personal invitation to all of my lovely followers to take a first glimpse of my new website.  It is still in the works but I like it so far.  Let me know what you think.  Any ideas or suggestions are always appreciated.

Now on to creating!

Wordless Wednesday -Wildflowers

Imaginative Landscapes

Yes, that is what they are.  Imaginative Landscapes.  In art terms, I call them Expressionistic landscapes.  

Well if you want to get into the nitty gritty, imaginative is more of a "Surreal" term but there is nothing surreal about my paintings.  They are only imaginative because I know what these landscapes look like in real life but I am imagining at the moment.  Depending on my memory, if you will.

But, I digress.

These are some of the "Expressionistic Landscapes" I worked on this weekend.

The giclee prints are now for sale in my Etsy store

Desert Sunset

  

Red Rock

Desert Storm

I Don't Need No Stinkin' Certificate

I had plans.  Actually I have had many plans.  I have a Bachelor's Degree in Fine Art (Painting) and one of those plans was to get my teacher's credential and teach, preferably art.  I was about a semester away when my boyfriend and I decided to get married. We hit a hiring freeze for teachers in our area. He has a really good job.  I know I wanted to stay home with the kids so...I never finished.

Fast forward 8 years later and 10 years of teaching art experience.  I have recently been asked to be the Art Masterpiece coordinator for my son's elementary school.  It is the first year for the program and it has been a lot of work.  In case you don't know, Art Masterpiece is a program that uses parent volunteers to teach curriculum themed art projects.  It truly is a great program and I am excited for it to begin.  And since it is the first year and we don't have that many volunteers, it looks like I will be teaching about every other week!  Wow.

I think I may ask for an honorary certificate.

Returning to the Art Scene

Well, I have to tell ya, I need to be creating art.  Like, all the time.  I took the summer off because we were moving to a new house and summer is busy with the boys home all the time.  But fall is on it's way (it just barely dropped below 100 the other day), and that means I can go back to creating things again.

So, this week I am updating my Etsy site and slowly filling it with art prints.  At least for now.  With this economy, original stuff is sitting around but prints are still affordable. Thank goodness!  Here are a few of the goodies I have on there so far.

 

  I think one of these would look great in your house, don't you?

Check out my Etsy site at www.creativeflairart.etsy.com

 

Nalgene Up-do *UPDATED*

Yes, I did.  i up-did my Nalgene bottle.  Summertime means my bottle goes into overtime and I see it 

ALL DAY LONG.

This is my bottle before. I tried to rip the bumper sticker off but that's as good as it got.

What you need:

water bottle

mod podge (I used gloss)

your favorite paper

cutting tool

paintbrush

Measure out the height and length of the paper

Paint the Mod Podge on the bottle.  I painted on a section, stuck on the paper, glued, stuck, glued, stuck.  You get the point.

Make sure you pull tight as you go to avoid air bubbles.

Put a final coat of Mod Podge on to seal it.

And there you go, my beautiful new water bottle. 

I tried this with my son's Camelbak water bottle and the bottle started falling off from water condensation.  Not sure if it was due to the bottle or the fact that I was anxious and used a semi cool water bottle.

Let me know how yours turns out.

Double Olives

You may have seen this title before.  It was a Wordless Wednesday photo that I took of my husband's martini glass, frosted with olives.   Right before he poured the martini.  Remember, because you read all my posts, RIGHT?

Here it is, just in case you missed it.

Well, it got me all excited again, so I thought I would paint it.  I had a lot of fun doing it and added glass gel beads to illuminate the glass.  Also I added a touch of iridescent green to the olives.  Pretty cool in the right light, and not to over whelming.  

I really like it.  I am going to put it in an art show I have coming up this Wedensday.

What do you think?

 

Wordless Wednesday- Check Out Those Guns