Around here...

I had the greatest surprise on March 8th!

 My husband said he was going out for groceries and I was in the middle of important stuff(reading blogs)so I opted to stay home.
 Well,Rile wasn't gone a half hour when the winds were whipping so hard,our power went out! No more internet,phone or tv,so I grabbed a book to read and promptly fell asleep on the couch!(good book!LOL)
 I was awoken a couple hours later by the sound of the front door opening and my husband standing there still with the door wide open.
Chum gave a bark,waggled his tail like crazy and in walked my son,Lenny!!
 Lenny and Riley had worked out a secret plan to surprise me~I can tell you,they sure did! After blubbering all overLen,I finally let him into the house!
 We only had a few days as Len was on to Baltimore for work,but I savored every moment with him.
 Len let me dote on him and make his favorite foods as we played his favorite card games over and over(which I am now the reigning winner!) Phase 10 and UNO.

 Thanks for letting me share my happiness with you all!

 Next up is a piece of art I created for our grandson Brady. 
March 11th,Brady was in the play "Annie Jr." as the Dog Catcher!
 I knew right away that I had to make something special for him to remember this time,in case he finds he does not care to return to the stage! (he made a fuss about wearing the makeup) Anyway, I had made Len's favorite cookies,Butterforms,by request and cut some shapes into dog bones for Brady's project.
  

 

 

The circled area"dogs last seen here"is around where they live.

Handsome Star!

 Brady played a servant extra,as well as dog catcher.
I added a bit of video clip,if you have a minute;the show was great and Brady made us laugh so! heehee

 Here is the link to YouTube~I could not get the video uploaded here

 After the play we went back to the kid's house for Brady & Declan's birthday party. They both turned 11 on the 11th!

 Declan is on the left,Brady on the right.

 It was also a super mail week as I received a package from my sis Julie,whom had just returned from a vacation in Hawaii!
 Jules had told me all about these wonderful cookies they had while there and said she brought some home for me

But this is what I found when I opened them!  What a joker!
Really they did eat all but his little tin they brought back for someone else! Oops!
The cookies were delish and,now I know why she couldn't help herself! hahaa

 Julie also bought me this adorable sundress I can't wait to wear! 

Thanks so much my sweet sissy!

I Love you💕

 Sometime around Monday afternoon,March the 13th,the weather changed drastically!
 We had Blizzard 2017,full blown by Tuesday morning and it was crazy! New York state closed down government buildings and the Governor closed the Thruway for travel,visibility was 0!
 Up till then we had no snow to speak of and I was quite happy with that,now it worried me because my dear friend and art sister Sherie,was flying in from Chicago on Thursday!

 

Even Chum was feeling tired of the wind and snow!

 

  There is a deck under there somewhere!! (photo to the right)
 















Happy to say,by Thursday morning the sun was out in full force and melted down the snow and dried the roads clear-nothing short of a small miracle!
 Sherie's flight was on time,and it was a gorgeous sunny day!
more on Sherie's visit,on Monday morning's post!

Now finally,a few of our visiting bird photos and I'll let you go...
  First up is a Red Belly Woodpecker,no idea why they call him that because his head is redder than his belly. He/She is a fat one!

This beauty snacking on the Sumac is a Northern Flicker. I wish I had a better shot of the back of his head,because the red back there is in the shape of a heart-on all of them! So beautiful!

 

 

Thanks so much for hanging in there with me till the end today- hope you have enjoyed a bit of this and that from my neck of the woods!

Sending Love,

Jackie ")

Mid Century Modern Canvas

  A group I belong to on FB, #Relics&Artifacts Tribe offered up a challenge using Sandra Evertson's Relics&Artifacts in the Mid Century Modern design.

  Having been born,somewhere around this time,and just Adoring this style,naturally I jumped right in to this challenge.

 Our home is decorated with art and furniture from this era,so I had lots of inspiration to pull from!

 After deciding which #Relics to use,I figured my favorite Mid Century color palette and roughly sketched my design in my journal

I said it was rough! LOL

 Next,using all DecoArt Media Fluid Acrylics I painted in my spaces.

Then I found the BEST chipboard pieces from GypsySoul Laser Cuts in my stash to use. 

Look,they fit perfectly!

 So very MOD!

The eye pieces and face were were painted in both Chalky and Multi Surface Satin finishes for contrast and adhered with DecouPage

 So that's my canvas and I am totally digging it! I do believe this is my grooviest piece I have made- So FAB!

Thanks so much for your visit!

As always,your comments and visits,make me smile and my heart happy!

Stay Hip and Be Cool!

Jackie") 

Products used:
11x7 canvas panel

DecoArt Paints&Mediums~
Media White Gesso
Decou-Page
Media Fluid Acrylics~ Cobalt Teal Hue,Raw Sienna,Vermillion,GreenGold,Transparent YellowIronOxide
Americana Decor Chalky Finish~ Delicate,Lace
Americana MultiSurface Satin~BlackTie
DecoArt Traditions Acrylic~Raw Sienna

#Relics&Artifacts~Eyes & Face

Mod Chipboard~GypsySoul Laser Cuts 

Stabilio Pencil 

Beautiful Springtime

 Springtime can not get here soon enough so I thought i would make a bit of my own!

There ended up so many layers on this piece,that I will try my best to remember the steps for you!

 I only wish my camera had captured the colors better~as the pinks are more Coral and the background is more of a meld of soft greens and teals.

 Guess,you will have to use your imagination here!

The first thing was to gesso front and back of my substrate. When dry I coated with Timeless chalky finish.

While my board was drying,I stamped out my images to use;some on card stock and others on Mulberry paper.

Some of the flowers as well as the dragonflies were painted in with a light wash of matching ink..

My lovely Lynne Perrella lady was stamped on the Mulberry paper and embossed with Wow! clear ep and heat set. Then I embossed lightly around the edges of the paper with VanillaWhite allowing a few specks to fall on the image.

Up next, the background~

 Layers of clear matte medium, DecoArt Weathered Wood Crackle,and Lindy's Starburst Sprays,and repeat the layers,at least 3 times, with some heat gun action in between, allowing the mediums to bubble up and cool down for texture.

My beautiful stamped flowers are from a set of stamps I won from Artistic Stamper- Love these so much! They are so full of Spring goodness!!

After my soft greens and teals were in place I added more embossing powders to the edges of the board as well as onto the side scrolls.

Next tiny Prills were added,both to the bottom also a few here and there around the sides and top, using Finnabair's gloss gel to hold them in place.

 Time for pinks to frame up the teals. These sprays were poured onto the table and applied with a floppy paintbrush around the edges focusing on drippage from the top and covering the Prills on the bottom.

After that it was time to place my stamp images. I layered the flowers for extra depth then  glued down the dragonflies as well.

The "Beautiful" label came at the end along with two fancy cut Butterflies to complete my Springtime Plaque. 

 

Hoping my piece inspired a bit of Springtime for you!!

 I can almost smell the flowers and feel the sun on my face already!

Namaste'

Jackie ")

Products used:

FranticStamper~Lynne Perrella Stamp 021 

Artistic Stamper~Botanical 1 A5

Dragonfly Stamp~Crafty Individuals

Lindy'sStampGang~ 

WildHoneysuckleCoral,DropDeadGorgeousGreen,SassySapphire Starburst Sprays

Desert Moon Turquoise~Embossing Powder

Shabby Turbine Teal Magical

Stampendous~Frantage Aged Ivory Embossing Enamel  

WOW!~Clear Gloss Regular Embossing Powder,Vanilla White 

Prills~Fuzzy Navel

DecoArt Weathered Wood Crackle Medium

DecoArt Chalky Finish~Timeless

Ranger Archival Ink~Rose Madder,Pink Peony

Finnabair's 3DGloss Gel 

Liquitex Matte Medium 

Beautiful chipboard~Gypsy Laser Cuts

Substrate/canvas~Wendy Vecchi Art Parts

 I would like to enter the following challenges with this piece
More Than words Challenge Beautiful & Butterfly 
with this challenge board being my inspiration

Craft Stamper Magazine~Take It Make It Challenge: March ~Anything Goes

WOW Embossing~ Spring

Artistic Stamper~Springtime

Mixed Media World~Anything Goes

 Lindy's StampGang~ Color Challenge