10 Things...

About My Mom...as written by Jakob Kelly:

1. She is a very good cook.
2. She spends lots of time with me.
3. She loves dogs.
4. She is a good writer.
5. She loves to cooke.
6. She is a good artist and loves art.
7. She loves to learn.
8. She listens to me.
9. She wants to make me happy.
10. She wears glasses for reading.

I wanted to share one of my favorite valentines cards with you. My 10 year old son wrote these in school inside of a big heart; he gave them to me for Valentines day...kind of reminded me of the "25 random things about me" that is circulating on FB...only sooo much better! Number 10 cracks me up....how random?! How delightful. I cherish the honesty, innocence and naivety kids' possess...makes me wish that as they (we) age, those qualities wouldn't get lost. Sometimes they do not.

In love with...

Gimp...how do i love thee, let me count the ways....you bring my pictures to life. you are fun. time flies when i am with you....my boyfriend recently downloaded gimp 2.6 and from the moment i opened this application on my desktop it was love at first click. Seriously. An evening hardly goes by that i don't open it up and fool around with it a bit (warning-can be rather addicting). If you have never used it, you should give it a try, plus it is free! Just google gimp 2.6....And you can do sooo many cool things with your pictures...my favorites are the soft glow filter and the fuzzy border...take a look at some of my gimp handy work!

Better Late Than Never....

I know, i know...it's been way too long and you're feeling neglected...i'm feeling guilty (bite lip...sigh)....but it is a new year and we're only 27 days into the new year, soooo like my momma always said...better late than never Maria. Sooo, i write my first of many blog posts for 2009! 2009 is a year of changes big and small for me....the year i follow my heart, trust my instincts...begin anew. With the new year comes a good dusting off of my hopes, dreams and ideas that have been sitting around way too long hiding behind other things and quietly collecting dust bunnies. There is a saying I love and it goes something like this...
"It is never too late to be who you might have been." ~ George Eliot

The Days are Getting Cooler...

Love this cooler weather....wish it could stay like this all year round...slight chill in the air but not too cold. I made this little art canvas last winter and thought I'd get it out...."one winter day".....i used some torn bits of paper and some text from a vintage book. Once i glued all my pieces in place and my collage was complete, I added a thin layer of white paint for a wintry look...then i added a strip of ribbon to the top and a fancy, sparkly button from my jar. Lastly I aged the edges with a little black paint and added some homemade glass glitter....Christmas balls work great! So here it is, my "one winter day" on this cool autumn day. Enjoy!

Sweet, sweet music

My son Jakob came home from school a few weeks ago sooo excited...he wanted to join the school band, an opportunity available to fourth graders and older...."Ok" I said....."What instrument do you want to play?" A fairly innocent question, i thought.....His answer: the trombone. "OH, the trombone...ok. Are you sure?" His reply: Yup! with much excitement! Well, that night was a Friday night and we couldn't leave the house until the band teacher called, which she did a few hours later...and long story short, my little man is now playing (learning to) a big instrument...he's supposed to practice three times a week, 10 minute intervals.....So, as I write this post, i am serenaded by the loud.....hmmmm....how can i describe them???.....the loud....."sounds" of the trombone....I am proud to have a budding musician around the house....I'm sure i will get used to, i mean....I surely love that sweet, sweet sound.

Boo-tiful October...

Ahhh...the crisp October air...loooove it! Inspired by one of my favorite times of the year and one of my favorite holidays...I made this little Halloween Princess by recycling the packaging from some sugar cubes...yup, plain ol' sugar cubes....could use any type of box with a window on the lid or you could even cut out a window yourself! I gave her a pointy Halloween hat with a star on top and some funky black fur on the bottom. The pumpkin moon is a bottle cap that i filled with a little drawing of a jack o'lantern....think she is boo-tiful if i do say so myself...hope she inspires you to cast a few spells of your own!

Call me THE GODMOTHER...

Yes, I am the proud godmomma of little baby Asa Matteo...or as my Italian cousin calls me "grandma"....I keep telling him there's a BIG difference between GRANDmother and GODmother, but he doesn't seem to get it....i'll blame that one on the language barrier...but back to my bragging about little baby Ace....isn't he just adorable....just love the wee ones....that new baby smell, the little coos and ahhhs, the tiny fingers and toes, long eyelashes, unconditional love...AND i can give him back to his proud papa and mama...my cousin and wife...at the end of the day. Congrats to Diego and Katie and the birth and christening of their beautiful bundle of joy.

When life gives you bananas....

Make Banana Caramel Cupcakes....mmmmmmm....these turned out sooo yummy....used a sour cream cake recipe and added some allspice and a mashed banana to the recipe. Then, when the little cakes were done and cooled, i cut them in have and spread a layer of caramel ice cream topping and some banana slices...for the icing i whipped some fresh cream with a few spoons of the caramel added....mmmmmmmmm....then i shaved some dark chocolate on top....diet? What diet? These were sooo delish and pretty....had to share!

Wine-Oh!....

The place you have left forever is always there for you to see whenever you shut your eyes. ~ Ian Mydral

My inspiration for this funky little piece of collage art was a wine label...it was just too bea-U-tiful to throw away, so i painstakingly removed the label and decided to create a little bit of art around it...the quote fit so well with the label since the lovely lady had her eyes shut.

I added a funky hat cut from a vintage handwritten envelope and stapled a piece of ribbon to the top....I also added some painted blue circles and some hand-stamped images. Makes you wonder what she is thinking.... dreaming of? who?....hmmmmmmmmm....

Surprise!

Yes, this weekend was full of surprises! My best girlfriends surprised me with a 36th birthday par-tay at a little French place in the city....a little place that served only crepes.....yummmmmmmmmy. Friends and family truly touched my heart this weekend and I feel so special and soooo blessed to be surrounded by such wonderful people...so thanks to all my girlfriends, my sister and my momma for makin my special day extra-special...did I mention I've NEVER had a surprise party....I'm still tickled pink...say hello to my little birthday angel....party girl, whatever you want to call her....isn't she cute!

Back in the Saddle...Again

Ever heard of the 3 wells?...My son Jake asked me this today, so I took the bait...."3 wells?"...

Well, well, well....

I thought that a befitting start to this post, since it has been soooo long since i last wrote...and sooo much in my life has changed...fortunately my love for art and creating art has remained constant.....So, to celebrate my return to blogging, I am going to share a picture of an art card I created, I call it "determination"...used a line from a vintage book that really struck me:

So, this has been like-well, like flying in a dream, without any bumps to wake me up.

I added some crystals to her crown and wings (of course)...a beaded fringe hangs from the bottom. I'm hoping the road ahead will be "bump" free...and this little card is my reminder to keep flying and remain determined, my dreams for the future will come true.

100 Lashes with a Wet Noodle....

That's what i get for not keeping up with my blog...but i do have a good excuse....my computer died a few weeks ago and I lost most of my documents and photos....sniffle, sniffle. On the bright side, i have a new laptop and I'm back in the saddle....sooo, i just wanted to check in and wish everyone a happy Spring....it's finally arrived! Along with spring, came the arrival of a family of 4 little baby birdies....Robin Red Breasts to be exact. It started with a small nest inside the wreath on my front door...then 4 little blue eggs magically appeared. Those little eggs turned into 4 little ugly (sorry) bird creatures, i mean babies...then they got some hair and grew bigger. Now they barely fit into the nest. It has been such a joy to watch them.....It's almost like I'm the momma bird and I've watched them develop and grow....soon they'll be leaving the nest...sniffle, sniffle again.....kidding. I took some pictures to capture each stage of this little adventure....as soon as i can get them on my new machine, i will post them.

Unfold Your Wings....

Well, i went from birds to wings...yes, I'm on a wings kick and using angels, fairies and butterflies...pretty much anything with wings tickles my fancy.....and if it doesn't have wings, it will when I'm done with it...lol! Anyhoo, back to my wings "kick" as I like to call it....I made these funky little pieces of collage art with a really cool rubber stamp and lots of collaged bits of paper and ink. Unfold your wings and Courage....both inspirational.....guess part of my fascination with wings is being able to fly....but I guess we can all "fly" in our own way...hope these inspire you to do a little flying of your own.

Aahhhhhhhhhhh Spring....

It is finally starting to feel like Spring...ahhhhhhh...all the trees are blooming, the smell of honeysuckle in the air and I've seen quite a few butterflies fluttering around.....

this is my favorite time of year....Speaking of butterflies and beautiful spring days....they were the inspiration for this little Artist Trading Card....The queen's hair is a beautiful collage of glittery butterflies.....hope your day is dandy too!

Come to the Edge....Collage

It is amazing what you can do with some bits and pieces of paper, a rubber stamp and some ink.. take this little number, for instance - it started with this little bit of inspiration: "Come to the edge, life said. We are afraid. Come to the edge, life said. They came. Life pushed them....AND they flew." I just LOVE that...so I got funky with it and wrote it on a piece of purple paper and then layered it on top a torn bit of paper...and then atop a page from a vintage book that I collaged and added some sparkle.....I decided to put it in a shadow box, because i added a small compass at the bottom (hard to see in the picture)....on the sides i added some decorative cloud paper to give it an ethereal feel......I like the way it turned out....reminds me to take more chances.

Fairy Tails....

This regal little pooch is the lovable Max, aka. Boofy Boofay, Pooh Bear and Poochis as Jake likes to call him. He was perched on my ottoman the other day and the setting sun was casting just the right glow in the window, so I ran for my camera and snapped a few.....it was like Maxie was a old pro at a modeling gig....giving me just the right facial expression...either that or he was just too pooped out to move...lol! Anyhoo, he looks like a regal prince from a storybook fairytale, so I just had to share.....I leave you with a favorite quote (about fairytales, of course):

Sometimes, right in the middle of an ordinary life, love gives you a fairytale.

Fool Me Once....

Ahhhhh....April Fools Day has come and almost gone.....the one day of the year when everyone turns into a prankster....although many tried, I can smugly say that I was not fooled once, well...at least not yet...lol! But Jake sure was and it was a doozy....as I was brushing my teeth this morning, the phone rang and Jake unassumingly answered with a "Hi Dad." That was followed by an excited "We are?!!!!" and then a "Guess What Mom." I rinsed and took the bait. "School's closed today!!!!" Hmmmm....that's strange....so why is school closed I asked this happy little face beaming at me....."Power outage." Now this is just cruel (none-the-less funny, but def cruel)....Jake then put our phone on speaker and told his dad to share the good news..."Tell Mom why school's closed." And just as I raised and eyebrow and opening my mouth....I heard those two little words...."APRIL FOOLS!" Yes, Jake had been fooled and we both got a chuckle out of it....poor little thing....to get sooo excited and then have it all come crashing down so quickly. But, it was all in good fun. Happy April Fools Day to you!

Variety is the Spice of Life....

Variety is life's spice and speaking of spices...I was playing around with this old salt shaker and the next thing I knew, well....it turned into a charming little angel.....complete with glass wings, a rusty wire halo and a belly full of sparkles. I took an old metal bottle cap and found a sweet face for the inside. I sealed it and added some brick brack (that's what i have always called it, I'm sure there's a more technical name ~ like trim or something simple like that)...the cap stays atop the salt shaker lid with a small round magnet. I filled the inside of the shaker with some chunky white glitter, a vintage key and the word "giggles" printed on some vellum paper. Yes, i was in a silly mood....how could you tell. The glass wings came from my uncle who used to do stained glass and i attached them with the same rusty wire i used for her halo.....She sits in my art room window and when the sun catches her, the glitter just sparkles.

Just wanted to share some of my whimsy with you....you may never look at a salt shaker the same way again....so go ahead and spice it up, or in this case, shake it up.

Easter greetings...and loot...

Wow, Easter came and went...rather quickly...hope you had a wonderful holiday. Jake made out with buckets and baskets of Easter loot...from the bunny man and family, of course....how much chocolate can one boy eat, i ask?! Dyeing and picking eggs has become a tradition that Jake adores...he couldn't wait to take his dozen and a half of colorful eggs to my parents to pick with Uncle Tony, who in years past has passed off a marble egg, ceramic egg and most recently a giant dinosaur egg...go figure...each Easter we look forward to what the "fake" egg will be this year....fun times...My favorite part of the holiday was enjoying the company of family, wine and good food....my mom makes three staples each Easter: Ravioli, Baked Ham and Asparagus Fritters.....yummmy......well, even though Easter has come and gone...the chocolate and the memories will last forever...lol!

Bird king....atc

More bird love coming your way...I used another blue bird from my decorative paper and turned him into a charming little ATC (Artist Trading Card)....actually i turned him into the bird king by stamping a crown above his head...i cut an old ticket into a wing and attached it with a grommet....along with some text from an old book... little glitter and voila...another charming little piece of bird art....tweet, tweet.