Altered watercolor picture! Before and after

This is a before and after presentation of a black and white picture(beautiful) that I have transformed with watercolors. I think it is lovely, don't pay attention to the rough cut frame, only to give it dimension. Hope you like it. I printed it on cardstock and covered it with golden heavy gel medium and dried, before I started the process.With and without a frame. The top one(before and after) has 2 coats of heavy gel running one way then the other, looks like canvas and feels like it too.

New Background technique!!

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New background technique that I learned on Creative textures. The piece is for PID button challenge. This was a fun background. I made and 8 x 10 and cut it in fourths. Hope you like it. Button , Button piece from same background. Also a baby shoe from Daisy for a swap. Cute as a button!!

New Project ! Great Day!! House box!!

Started a new project yesterday, patio door curtains and throw pillows made from a 9 x 12 canvas dropcloth. I also have enough to make a smock for myself to wear in my studio to protect my clothes. I got the idea for the curtains from "The Feathered Nest" and have written her to thank her for this great idea. I have finished the curtains and the pillows but have not hung the curtains yet, Soon as I hang them I will take a picture. The dropcloth contained 12 yards of fabric and after washing in a cup of fabric softener added to the load, and dried ,it is soft and beautiful , looks a lot like linen. And has an unusual drape and came out with very few wrinkles. I tore all the edges and am going to leave them except for the hem for the rod pocket. I sewed that on the machine. What a great project to get my family room ready for spring.
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here is the picture of the artist's smock I made of that same fabric. Just slip it on over your clothes. Tell me if you like it. The curtains are not quite ready for picture taking.
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Red and blue challenge for PID yahoo group. 5x7.
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House Box with PID images. added awnings and flowers .

Nature tag tutorial!

Save the layaway tags to your files -that is going to be your tag. Distress both sides with coffee or dip brush in water and tap on distressed ink to get the desired effect. cut a square 1 1/2 by 1 1/2 with scallop scissors, another suitable color 2 x 1 1/2, another 1 inch with scallops. distress, stamp with words or nature stamp like a bird, etc. Make a small manila tag and stamp and put rope hanger on it and the large tag. Draw or copy a branch on to the tag. Assemble, leaving an opening to put in your tag. Add a feather to the 1 inch square. Put a nature type picture on the other side and coat all with half and half elmers glue and water. Allow to dry and store in a container of cinnamon sticks or just a little cinnamon in a airtight conatiner for a few days.
Hope you like it and can utilize the tag for other projects.

Little treasures tutorial!!

Had some fun and made some rag balls. So sweet in their little vintage box. One with a plate , one without. Hope you like 'em. 3 inch Styrofoam balls, insert wire loop with glue, wrap with chosen fabric strips. mix elmer's and water half and half ,coat ball with mixture allow to dry, making tag while you are waiting. distress and stamp tag. Took about an hour to do 4. Try it , they are sweet.

Summer memories!!

Take this journey with me ,as we explore the annals of childhood memories and memories that are yours because of a child. Add your remembrances to the comment section or send me an e-mail and I will incorporate your treasured memories in this post with first names only. bloubird@yahoo.com So here are a few of mine:
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I went to Lake Delevan in Wi with my family, The beach was full of people and I had never been to a beach before, it was so beautiful and water so warm, we stayed until the sun was going down , glowing on the warm lake waters. Almost everyone was gone but us. I see that as clearly today as I saw it so many years ago.
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My Mom brought out a blanket on the cool grass in the shade of a large tree. She brought fabric pieces , needle and thread and some patterns she had made for me. I was making clothes for my 7 inch doll. Nothing like Barbie, but so special to me. Not only sewing the pieces but the time spent with my Mom is unforgettable.
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In the summer when my children were growing, from the middle of May to the middle of Aug. we went to the beach every sunshiny day.In the beginning it was Iron works park, we would get in my sister in laws car and pile all the kids in and off we would go with our peanut butter sandwiches and air mattresses so we could float on the warm water of the Rock River. Those beautiful summer days. Later on it was a small beach called Lion's Beach in WI. The brilliant sunshine on the water, the children playing and laughing. I still see my sons' shining black hair in the water as I watched him playing. Here we are again "Watch Me" "Watch Me" Those days , those lazy days of lying on the beach with my friends and family are like yesterday to me. The sweetness of summer shall always linger.
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Share with me!
..........Dawn writes:I remember camping holidays as a child. There were 6 in our family so this was the holiday we could afford. We used to pack up our transit van with tents and all necesaries and of we went - I saw so much of Germany this way (my dad was stationed there). We all had our jobs to do and could erect a tent, have the air beds pumped, the gas cooker and everything else set up in no time...
My children have had their summers in Spain where we have a villa, I think they will have happy memories xx
Thanks for sharing your memories x
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Linda writes:

I remember going camping in the Witicha Mountains when I was a kid
we would meet up with my grand parents and aunts and uncles and cousins and stay for a week...we would swim in the lake there and the camp fires at night were so awesome...Thanks for reminding me of this great childhood memory.

New Work!! 2 different groups

The 2 sided "Spring" piece is for my Vintage Bliss group and the music piece is for PID yahoo group. Hope you like them. distressed, torn paper, and layered effect.Glossy accents to embellish some elements of the pieces. the two side piece is a background of paper napkins.
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The little girl's poem is:
Today is the day when the bold kites fly,
When cumulus clouds roar across the sky.
When robins return, when children cheer.
When light rain beckons spring to appear.
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The lady in the frame:
And I, what fountain of fire am I among
This leaping combustion of spring?
My spirit is tossed
About like a shadow buffeted in the throng
Of flames, a shadow that's gone astray
and is lost. D.H. Lawrence
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The Music piece:
My idea is that there is music in the air,
music all around us:
the world is full of it.
and you simply take as much as you require.
Edward Elgar
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A shoe that I received from Linda Arrow, beautiful!! The other shoe is mine with a box to match for a swap.

February thaw!!!

Yesterday here in Wisconsin the temperatures reached an all time high of 58 degrees. The February Thaw! Did I see a robin?? Did I see buds on the winter branches? Did I feel a breeze that felt like spring? Were the skies brilliant blue and the sun so bright it hurt your eyes? Did I look at the flower bed and see shoots pushing their way up? Did you see what I saw? Hope springs eternal.
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The February sunshine steeps
your boughs
And tints the buds
And swells the leaves within.
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William C. Bryant

Happy Valentine's Day!!!

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How Do I Love Thee? Let me count the ways.
I love thee to the depth and breadth and height
My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight
For the ends of Being an ideal Grace.
I love thee to the level of everyday's
Most quiet need, by sun and candlelight.
I love thee freely, as men strive for Right;
I love thee purely, as they turn from Praise.

I love thee with the passion put to use
In my old griefs, and with my childhood's faith.
I love thee with a love I seemed to lose
With my lost saints,--I love thee with the Breath,
Smiles, tears, of all my life!
Elizabeth Barret Browning
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Happy Valentine's Day!!!

"birds of a feather"

MY little bird assemblage piece. Hope you like it. It is about 9 inches tall and 6 inches wide. Called " Birds of a Feather"

"birds of a feather"

The most astounding little video if you love books like I do.

This Is Where We Live from 4th Estate on Vimeo.
Fourth estate-on Vimeo