My Scrap Bin and a Board....

turned in to this:
A 6 foot long ABC picture.

I can't even figure out how to photograph the whole thing!

It's longer than my work table in the studio!

I've been seeing all the cute ABC signs and walls on Pinterest and I love anything with the ABC's, typography, fonts, etc. I didn't have any reason to make one until.... I decided to make one to donate to a Silent Auction at Georgia Preschool Association's Training Event  this weekend at the Cobb Galleria! Yeah - an excuse to go for it.
( wow - time to clean in the studio! and yes - phone still smashed.
 It's upgrade month! I just need to make time to go!!!)

I figured out that if I wanted the squares to be about 3 inches, which is about as small as I felt I could go and it could still be big enough to do letters and images and not be too small to see, that I would need a board 6 feet long.
That's 24 squares 3 inches wide which works by combining XYZ.

Seemed reasonable and didn't even seem that crazy until I got the whole thing done
and it is one big ABC board!!!

Of course, the "O" is an owl!!

 
So, here are my ABC's

 

 

 

 

 

.... won't you say them, please, with me?

 And hopefully it goes home with someone (who likes loooonnnnng art)
and is a good fundraiser for GPA!!!

I kind of want to make another one. True story.

Update : it sold and is going home with a very happy school director!!

Linking Up:

Lotsa dots....

I was asked to make a BIG painting for our Confirmation Retreat. So I went BIG!
I bought a large piece of luan paneling, primed it and went crazy with the spouncer.
Since I am in a gray phase and have cans of gray paint underfoot from the  bathroom paint job I decided to go tone on tone with it.

 

 

A squiggly white border that will be black and white in the end.
 

Laying out the images and text...

Micah 6:8 was the verse for the 24 hour retreat.

It's getting colorful and more pattern going on....

I love it when you start pulling the painters tape off the stripes.... so fun...

And GLITTER!!!!!

And here is a terrible, blurry iphone picture of it in place at the retreat. In the art area because all 90 plus of the attendees made their own Micah 6:8 canvas! With their own handprints and footprints. They loved it ( except for the one preteen boy who told me "That's not happening" when I told him he was supposed to paint his foot and print on a canvas!) Getting messy was a nice break from all the study and made us giggle.

 

Some of us were ticklish so we really giggled!!

Some of us got help painting our feet and some of us figured out how to do it ourselves!!

 

But all of them turned out great and they loved taking home a finished painting at the end of the retreat.
One girl told us that her feet were still a little bit blue ( after 2 showers)  on Sunday morning at Sunday School :)

Life Is Like ...

... a pinball machine!
I know I'm supposed to say " a box of chocolates"
since it is Valentine's Day ( Happy Valentine's Day, BTW)

 But I'm all over the place so pinball machine is more on target.

I said in an earlier post that I had forgotten to take any more pictures of this sign I did take a few more after all. But still a fail because none of the finished product with its beaded wire hanger and ribbons galore. Oh well. It has already gone to cheer up a little friend who had surgery yesterday. We met at Starbucks on Saturday to "catch up." Since when do 10 year olds instigate Starbucks dates??

Anyway, I substituted a glittery heart for the "O" :)

I used a mix of pink and red glitter. It's awesome.

I'm working on a big painting right now. Kitchen table big. Lots of dots. Lots.

I showed you the other day how Chloe helps me blog. Well, Biscuit is the art dog.

Wherever I am painting his furry self is right there!
Still dealing with the cone! He destroyed the $40.00 cone so he is in the plastic kind now.
A big dog in a cone is a dangerous thing. He bumps in to everything and has tried to chew it off ... hence the bulldog clips on it.

... and pinging right along like a pinball... this wall mounted light was ostracized from College Girl's room when we purged and painted stripes. It was laying in the guest bedroom waiting for a new home or a trip to the attic or something... the shade was disgusting so I tossed it and then today cleaning up the guest bedroom I had a thought....

It would work great to replace a tall table lamp that was on my work table in the studio with the wall lamp! So I hung it right next to the wonderful chippy shelf, that we rescued a zillion years ago from a demo on a construction site, which holds my ribbon tubs.

Note to self. Roll ribbon. Soon.
... and I tossed the shade and I want to hang it now. I made the lamp shade on the other table lamp from a small fair trade  basket woven from recycled plastic bags. I wanted an unique shade that didn't block light so I turned it upside down and put a crystal clear bulb in the lamp. I love it and it has little specks of every color in it. Matches my Sharpies on the shelf behind it.
 

I might need to talk to someone about the Sharpie obsession. Really.

I love it and I wanted something unique acroos the room on the new wall lamp and I wanted to do it now. So I looked around and this wire mesh hanging veggie basket thing was in plain sight.
Waiting to be a lampshade.

I took pliers and pulled the 3 baskets and chains apart and grabbed the middle one.

I painted the brass wire lamp shade part white with spray paint.

I let it dry. Almost.
 

And then I put it all together. I love it. The feel of a shade but nothing to block the light.

It's funky. Free. And it's all finished in 5 minutes! 

 

I think I need a clear bulb here too but I still love it.

I Forgot all About...

... these pictures on my phone.
These go waaaaay back. I donated a "Ladies Art Night Out" at the Silent Auction at church last Spring. We finally got a date to mesh with everyone's crazy schedules and had a fun night last October. The winner set up tables in her kitchen/dining room and we got busy crafting, eating and laughing. It was a ton of fun.

 

 

We had mothers and daughters (College Girl was in town and came along), someone dealing with a serious health issue and a variety of other things going on in people's lives, and while the projects turned out great, the whole night ended up being therapeutic :)
We laughed so much. All night long!


 These are a few shots of a Make and Take Workshop I did for a back-to-school teacher's training  waaaay back in August that ended up more like a teacher's retreat.  The school director wanted the staff to be motivated and inspired at the day long workshop so I created  centers to go with the themes/units and books I was teaching on.
 Teachers have different learning styles too!

There were about 100 teachers in the workshop and we had a blast. If you do it you will remember it - my mantra, anyway. So we made "stuff "with all kinds of "stuff." and talked about teaching creatively with unexpected supplies and activities. Trying to get out of any teaching "ruts" we  sometimes have.
 

 

 

We went crazy with every day and free items and created support materials for a great year in the classroom. We were gluing, and laughing and taking pictures and they had Chic-Fil-A tea for me :)  They remembered from my last workshop, so it was a good day for all!

Feelin' the Love

Last Spring I had a long "blog silence" and indicated that I had been working on something that I couldn't talk about at the time.
No secrets that involved national security but I was designing the crafts for this VBS :)
The other day they sent me "the book" (it's really a booklet but, still) all finished and glossy color cover and so exciting!
I love VBS and it is an exciting part of my job. I made a job change in November but I still get to be hands-on with VBS. So it's a win!



I have also been painting some "heart art" but I can already confess to blogger fail. I forgot to take a picture of the finished projects :( 
Glitter was involved!
 

 

 They were a lot like these, which I have done a lot of variations on through the years. This time the 'O' was a glitter heart (so cute - wish I had taken a picture!!!). Here are some other projects, and decorations if you are still getting it together for Valentine's Day!
There is still time left to get crafty and feel the love!

Too Ombre or Not to Ombre??

That is the question.
I just don't know.
Also if you text people asking them for help with your ombre dilemma it autocorrects to "hombre."
So do I "hombre" or not?



So here is the dresser in the awkward "do I move forward stage or do I stop and go with the main color" and move on since no one else really seems to find this ombre dilemma as riveting as I do.
I think I have to see it "ombred" to know. New word.
Speaking of new words - I am hooked on this this blog
and  have been reading so much about her life in France that I looked at a car ad today and saw "LE GROOM" instead of legroom. In my defense it was in all caps!
I gotta get out of those paint fumes!

Is this what progress looks like? Yikes.
And there's that poor plant again. Last night I shoved it in the shower.

 

And the fabric I found at HobLob to recover a lampshade.It's the perfect gray.
 Used my coupon app :) 
 It was less than $3.00
 Sweet!