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.