Artsy Mama's Artful Blogging Party

Hello and Welcome!

I didn't know what I was going to do for a tutorial and then I remembered a previous post I did about my altered puzzle. Sorry if this is a repeat for some of you!

I had to alter a puzzle in some way for a swap on swap bot and I decided I wanted to paint it and put a picture of a frog on there since she liked green and frogs. I had a 24 piece puzzle from the thrift store and I put it together first...






Then I had to paint it, but after it was painted, the picture would be covered and I had to put it back together! So I just separated them a bit and painted. I had some green metallic car paint and I like how it turned out shiny and hard.






I let that dry in the sun and then put the pieces back together.





Then I enlarged the frog to the right size on my scanner and printed it out. I glued it to the puzzle and put the quote " Time's fun when you're having flies" with white marker pen. Now the hard part began! I had to cut around all the pieces so it would go back together. Be careful not to put too much glue because then it will seep down into the cracks and be harder to cut.








After it was cut, I peiced it together to make sure it fit and then I had to take it apart and send it to her. She enjoyed it and liked the frog!






This could be done with any puzzle and you wouldnt have to put a picture on it, you could paint your own or make a design or collage on there. It could be any size but the bigger the challenge. I have seen puzzles as part of a bigger collage too on a canvas or painting. I also did one with a handmade postcard for some mail art. That post is below. The ideas are endless!


I hope you enjoyed your stop here and have a fun day! Thanks Kari for inspiring creativity in us all.

Algonquin Weekend

We got back yesterday afternoon and what a great weekend! The weather was PERFECT - not too hot and muggy but warm and sunny. We drove and hit the yard sales on Sat and then went for a nice dinner and drive Sat night. We went and checked out a resort that is awesome and has 27 holes of golf! Sean was drooling like a little kid. We had gone shopping at some neat stores and galleries in the afternoon and some stuff was so cool! This town is full of inspiration. I was writing ideas left and right. There was also live jazz in the middle of main street with a full horn section. I love live music.

Then Sunday after sleeping in -YAY! we went to Algonquin. We checked in early and they were ready so that was cool. We needed a boat to get across and this was an old cedar canoe with a motor on it and a bunch of seats in it. It was neat!






We were in "Black Spruce" cabin and it was neat cabin with a stone fireplace, couch and chair and then up 6 steps to a loft area for the king size bed and bath. Wood on all the walls and floor. THere was also a screened in porch on the front and our own little rock flower garden.





We went back on the boat and used the included park pass to go to the logging museum and a visitor centre with a display of all the animals in the park and a neat high lookout point.


We came back and sat on the dock for awhile before dinner.



NOW.... Dinner. I had read the sample menus so I had an idea what I was in for and the price for non guests is 54.00 - no liquor - so I figured it would be good. There was to be 5 courses and you had your choice. They gave us a copy of the menu and I am showing it here and I will tell you what we got.






This is the dining room - we had a little place card on our table on a piece of wood and twigs.





The first course is an amuse bouche which is a surprise by the chef - a small thing to start you off. Tonight it was "Bacon and Egg" which was a piece of pork belly and a small quail egg. They were both good.

Next we both got the same - Seared sea scallops, avacado puree, shaved fennel, roasted yellow beet. There were two big scallops on a bed of the fennel and the beet on top with the avacado underneath.

Then I got Lobster tail sous vide, oven-dried tomato, tempura avacado, cucumber salsa and Sean got 12 hour braised bison shortribs, carmalized onions, pommes anna, bison jus. They were both SO GOOD. We shared of course!

My entree was Duck breast seared in French Brandy, roasted red beets, patty-pan squash, fingerling potatoes, peach compote, pistachio dust and Sean had Grilled beef tenderloin, chipotle demi-glaze, summer squash, wild mushrooms, arugala, brown butter mashed potatoes. I didnt know how much I would like the duck but it was amazing - it was cooked med rare which I guess is normal for duck and it was really good. Seans beef was good as well.

So all of our plates were clean! Then the dessert menu and cheescake? Of course thats my pick - Sean got it as well and we brought them back to the room to save for later. I had a bite right away and it was blueberry cheescake wrapped in phyllo pastry and caramel syrup all over and it was warm! OMG so good! I took a picture of Seans before he ate it.







WOW. NOw that I've bored you to tears.... lol! Really neat and I love variety so it was perfect for me. Not to mention breakfast! It was included as well and there were fresh muffins, croissants, danish, fruit plate, cheese plate, cereal and yoghurt and then you got your choice of hot dish! Sean got eggs benedict - really good and I got french toast with hot fruit compote made of fresh blueberries and raspberries. I was also torn about the apple and brie omelet- but didnt know if I would like apples and eggs together?


And since we didnt see any moose -;( I've lived up here for years and still havent seen one - I got this postcard of some in the park.




And a pic from the museum




I collect moose things and I still havent seen one! Bummer -I will need to go up in the spring because that is the prime time for them to come out of the bush because of the black flies. I'd be getting away from them too!

Next springs road trip!We are lucky that we are so close - just over an hour to a park that is thousands of acres. Lots of hiking trails and lakes to canoe.

It's cool too that on our way back we thought of the THOUSANDS of people that were returning to the big city - either Toronto or Ottawa after this long weekend(7000 people got stopped outside of TO and half of them were charged with speeding!) and we were taking the back way home - no traffic and coming home to a place that is less populated than the resort we stayed at!

Always nice to go away and yet nice to be home.

This is a shot out my back window. Nice weather and to keep on all weekend! And a long weekend up here so as to the last post - Sean and I are gonna take off tomorrow! We are gonna go west and go to a neat town about 3 hours away. It's big cottage country with neat stores and lots of lakes. We were lucky to get a room! There were tons that were booked.

And on Sunday we are gonna come back across Algonquin Park. It is a huge provincial park- thousands of acres and its been a long time since I've been up there. We are staying at a resort right in the park on sunday and you have to take a boat to get there. That sounds neat... and little cottages with king size beds and screened in porches on the water and dinner and breakfast is included up in the dining room.

Can't wait! Summer road trip - bringing the tunes and snacks and probably stopping at every yard sale along the way! There should be a lot cause of a long weekend.

I'll take lots of pics and see ya Tuesday!

August!

Now it's August! It doesnt seem to be going too fast for me - just right. Which is nice. We have had so much rain in July it didnt seem like summer at all. This week tho is supposed to be sunny all week and hot! NIce.

At my famous library, I requested some books and they have come in! I am so excited - this way I can check them out and not pay for them if I don't think they are worth it.

This one was good. THe french general by Kaari Meng. She has a retail store in California and sells online. This book was filled with great photos and some good ideas for decorating and crafts.








A nice way to spend an hour or so out on my hammock on Sunday. It was wonderful! No bugs now and a breeze blowing. I got some other books done too and what a treat! It's hard not to do that every day... but then nothing would get done!

I'm hankerin ( is that a word?!) for a road trip! It's sunny and its a long weekend up here this weekend and I just want to tour! I 'm gonna look into that today - I'll keep you posted!

Mail Art!!

This is my mail art for the next swap on swap bot. I needed to do 10 and I finished today! I could have just done 10 envelopes all the same and been done, but I wanted to make it a bit more personal for the people who receive them. I took these pictures before I put any addresses on to protect them.



This is a recycled postcard and this girl likes postal stuff and vintage writing. This is going to California.



This is a recycled postcard and she likes vintage patterns. This is going to Sweden.




Another recycled postcard and she likes quilting and maps and traveling, so I combined them. This is going to CA too.






She likes vintage advertising and cats so I made an envelope out of a vintage ad! Her address is going from his mouth. It is going to Isreal.







This girl loves paisley so I made an envelope out of paisley paper and added some paper and fabric to it. This is going to Colorado.




This guy loves space and scifi and weird things so I redid an invitation and put some scifi and spacey things on it. This is going to B.C. I put his address on the white part.




This girl likes animals so I did a puzzle and glued it and them attached it to a board to make a handmade postcard. This is going to Maryland.




This is another handmade postcard I painted and then put on a turtle picture which I outlined in gold. She loves turtles! It is going to Illinois.





This handmade envelope was made with rose paper. She loves pink and green and shabby chic and this is going to Australia.





This handmade envelope is made with awesome paper. She loves design and neat stationary and this is going to Seattle.


I hope you enjoyed my parade of mail art!

I had fun making them and it makes it neat to personalize it a bit. What makes it exciting too, is that I am going to get 10 back! From all over the world and I have no idea where.

How cool is that?

New Finds

Sorry its been a few days... We went to the lake on Monday and it was great! Super weather and lunch on the pontoon boat putting around the lake. Then Sarah got to go tubing which she loves. Nice day.

I started to feel yukky on Tues and its getting worse so this will be short. I hate summer colds!

I want to show some finds I got. I love stickers! And there are so many neat ones now being 3D and so detailed. Here is a pic.




Then I have always liked the thick letter diecuts but the price of them was crazy. I found these 2 sets at the dollar store!



Then at the thrift store in a bag of stuff was these rolls of different colored wire. Score! I had just finished reading metal workshop and I want to try some and then these wires just appear!



I'm off to try and stay cool - its hot here today! and to try and feel better. Talk soon!

Speaking of Karma....

And goodness in the world! I love that almost every day I get packages from around the world. Someone has taken the time to put something together that I might like and package it so nicely. There is no need to do all this "extra" stuff because the only requirement on swap bot is to follow the directions and that's it. I see SO many people taking the time to send a note and add all these little things that they think I might like and package it up so pretty. It blows me away.

I like this too, cause I also enjoy sending the little extras and hearing back from the people that they enjoyed my package.

Here are some pics from recent swaps. This was for images and words I like and I love woodsy images so its good Elizabeth was from Alaska!



The next package was for 4 pieces of ribbon. That's it. Look at this package! She included a HANDMADE felted heart pin and look at the presentation on the ribbons? I love it!



The next is from Missy " Blissful Mama" We have so much in common so I was lucky to have her in this swap. I had to send her a package of ephemera and she had to use the papers to make me a collage. I said ONE. Well she sent me 4!!!







And then she apologized for being a little late - WHAT?!!

These are fabulous and it is so neat to see my favourite papers and images be put together by someone else and be so spot on.

Todays Friday so no more mail for 2 days :( lol! But I get to see Sarah and that makes up for it!! I am getting her Sat and then we are off to go shopping Sun and to see Harry Potter. It's a tradition now, since we have seen all of them so far. Then back here and to go to the lake on Monday to see friends. Hope its nice!!

Have a good weekend everybody and spread the good Karma!

Willies Ways

Yes, Willie. As in the one and only Willie Nelson.

He's got a new book out and I picked it up at the library cause I liked the title - The Tao of Willie - A guide to the Happiness in your Heart.

I always want more happiness, so that intrigued me.



It was very cool! Many things of his past and what he has learnt, full of funny jokes and great thought provoking things.

Some of Willie's Ways....


- The main thing is to follow the Golden Rule - Do unto others. If you follow this rule, I think life is so much nicer and that what you put into life comes back to you 10 fold - including the bad. If you project and think bad - that's what you will receive. It's so simple really.

This also follows the rule of KARMA - What goes around comes around.

-Drink lots of water - the earth is 75% water and so is your body - we need to replenish that.

-A quote " Life is not about how fast you run or how high you climb, but how well you bounce"

- To always live in the moment and in a place called NOW.

"The easiest mistake on Earth is to forget to appreciate what you have right now"

Lots of other neat things too. It's always nice to read something and have it resonate with you and make you realize to take notice.

I'll leave you with this Cherokee story from the book....


The Cherokee believed that within each person was a battle between two wolves.

Sitting with his grandson, a grandfather explained that one of the wolves was evil and was driven by anger, envy, regret, ego and the worship of war.

The other wolf was good, and was driven by love, hope, compassion, and the promise of peace.

Thinking about the wolves already growing within him, the boy asked, "Grandfather, which wolf wins?"

And the old man replied," The one you feed."




Which wolf do you feed?

Altered Composition Book

This swap was to alter a composition book and send it to your partner. Mine really loves the Beatles - so I did a music one with some photos of the Beatles!


This was the book before...



and after I put some vintage sheet music on it. Sorry for the fuzzy pics - bad lighting! It's not your eyes.



Then this is after I finished it.



It was neat as I was doing it that I saw some of the lyrics on the sheet music and underlined them. Boys of England.



And Telling the story. Neat how things work out eh?

Butterflies and Bookmarks

I just spent the last couple days at my friends cottage. Always nice. We went for lunch on the pontoon boat and just hanging.

They had 2 monarch hatch while I was there and I got some neat pics before we let them go.








Back today to doing some swaps! These are a couple of bookmarks I made to send out for a handmade bookmark swap. The one girl likes green and quilting and the other likes the ocean and beach. I stitched on the green one with gold thread. The first time I have stitched paper and I can tell it won't be my last.










This weekend we are off to Seans family cottage for the night and good times!!

Have a good weekend.