A Jewel Tone Foiled Bottle How To

Hello, welcome to INSPIRE.

Today I wanted to share the link 

to the ScraPerfect blog, where today

you will find my latest project using

the innovative ScraPerfect products.

A beautiful jewel toned bottle.

For full details on how I made this bottle, visit the ScraPerfect blog at:

https://scraperfect.blogspot.com

For ScraPerfect products, 

visit the ScraPerfect store at:

http://scraperfect.com

Thanks for stopping by today!

May you find yourself inspired to create!

Happy Crafting!

How To Make A Shabby Chic Fancy Floral Bird

Hello & welcome to 

INSPIRE!

I feel as though I have found 

a long lost friend.

I have finally completed 

the journey from the flu, 

to near wellness, and 

back to my crafting space.

And I am thrilled!

Today I completed a two day project,

a Shabby Chic inspired bird,

made with air dry clay.

For the "form", I used

a blown lightbulb & leftover wooden knob

 from a past project.

I wrapped several layers of tissue paper around them both, and bound with masking tape.

I then followed a 1 to 1 ratio of

 gel medium to water, and strips of craft paper card stock to make a solid mache' form in which to add the clay to.

The clay I absolutely love to use is Das Air Dry Modeling Clay. It is light weight, and so easy to use and form. And can be found at your local Hobby Lobby & Michaels.

Basically I created a med thick clay "skin" and applied it to the bird form. I use damp hands to smooth and manipulate the clay to cover the form completely and then I let it dry to a slightly dampened state.

Using the same technique, I formed and shaped the wings, eye sockets, tail & beak and while slightly wet, applied and formed them into the body.

I wanted to give the bird a slightly carved looked, so I made striations with a ceramic tool over the wings.

Once the clay had dried, I used a dry paint technique, using a mousy grey acrylic paint first, then white washing it with a water downed white acrylic paint.

When the paint had thoroughly dried, I used a dry

scouring sponge to lightly sand over the entire surface of the bird, to remove any rough spot of clay, and lend to a distressed look.

To accent the bird, I used floral embellishments of daisies & leaf petals, painted with mild paint, alternating a pattern in applying them, and I used heavy duty epoxy glue to attach them.

To completely finish the bird, I used a thin coat of 

Tattered Angels Glimmer Glam in Clear, which just gives a hint of glimmer with it's slightly glossy finish.

You can find Glimmer Glam & the entire Tattered Angels line of products at Canvas Corp Brands online shop, along with other great CCB products like 

7Gypsies, Ken Oliver, Aga Baraniak & more.

https://shop.canvascorpbrands.com

Thanks so much for visiting today. I hope you enjoyed this project, and feel inspired to create one for yourself.

Until next time.........Crafty Blessings!

A Lovely Bohemian Inspired Canvas With Beautiful Dew Drops

Hello there, welcome to Inspire.

I wanted to share with you 

a link to my latest DT project

for The Robin's Nest,

using their exclusive 

Dew Drops.

For full details, following the following link

to the Chattering Robin's blog.

https://chatteringrobins.blogspot.com

For the Dew Drops used in this project

 & so much more

visit The Robin's Nest online store at:

http://shop.robinsnest-scrap.net

Thanks for stopping by!

Live A Life Inspired: What I Have Discovered About Me

Hello there!

Welcome to INSPIRE.

What a rocky start to 2018.

So much illness running rampant,

and running through our entire family,

including our house.

Truly leaving me feeling un-inspired,

and living on the couch for 3 or so weeks.

With the exception of some minor sinus issues,

I am starting to feel so much better

and ready to create again.

Which brings me to todays project,

and the inspiration behind it.

One of my beautiful nieces.

This loving precious creature,

drifted into our lives at

a most difficult time in my own.

Having just gone through

a radical hysterectomy, without

the possibility of ever having children

my life felt dark, and hopeless.

Just 3 days after surgery, she was born.

While recovering at home, my brother & his wife

made our home the first stop upon bringing this beautiful baby home.

And the first time I held her,

and she looked up at me, looking into her

eyes I knew my life was going to be fine,

all because this precious miracle.

Twelve years later, she has grown

into such a loving, kind & joyful young lady,

in spite of a difficult upbringing (or lack there of).

Ever still being a miracle in my life.

So this canvas, is inspired by her, and her 2 "besties", one of them also being another niece of mine.

These beautiful girls find joy & fun in all they do  and are so inspiring to so many.

I created this project using a 9x12 canvas, layered lightly with clear gesso as the base. I used a variety of gelato's, texture paste, stencils and artist pens to create the background & illustrations of the figures for this canvas.

I also used Canvas Corp Brands Tattered Angels Simply Jane Baseboard in Ivory, to create a splatter effect over the canvas.

You can purchase this and many other FABULOUS Tattered Angels products through the following link.

https://shop.canvascorpbrands.com/pages/tattered-angels

Thank you for stopping by,

I hope this project leaves you 

feeling inspired today!

Please visit again soon!

Until next time

Creative Wishes To You!

Can We Get A New Year Do-Over?

Hello there!

Welcome to INSPIRE.

It has been a few weeks since my last crafty post,

but it is so hard to create when you

get walloped with the stomach flu AND Influenza A,

back to back.

And with an already compromised immune

system from chronic illness.....

was a bumpy couple of weeks to say the least.

Today, I am completely on the mend

I am happy to report. 

And in the process of getting back to creating, 

finding my inner peacefulness again.

Current canvas project underway, using newer mediums (to me) and handful of 

Faber Castell Gelato's & Artist Pitt Brush Pens, which I had found in the clearance section on my last trip to Hobby Lobby.

I LOVE THESE!!!!

The canvas is inspired by one of my nieces, and her 2 besties (one which is my niece on hubbies side) LOVE both of these girls!

Check back soon for the finished piece.

Hope you find yourself inspired today.

Until next time.......Happy Crafting Wishes!

Creating Pizzazz For A Picture Frame How To

Hello there!

Welcome to INSPIRE.

Today I am up over on 

The Chattering Robin's blog,

sharing my latest project

using exclusive products from

The Robin's Nest.

For this project I took an aged, 

drab mini photo frame,

and turned it into

a FABULOUS frame

with pizazz, using

a variety of TRN Dew Drops.

Follow the link below

for full details and links.

Thanks for stopping by!

Until next time......Happy Crafting!

http://chatteringrobins.blogspot.com

A Beautiful Dew Drop Project How To

Hello there. 

Welcome to INSPIRE.

It seems as though a great majority 

of the US is dealing with

some kind of winter blast.

Ours here, has been sub-zero temps,

for 13 days in a row now.

And that has me longing for spring.

Today I am up on

Chattering Robin's blog

sharing a tutorial on how

I created a beautiful

pendant using a variety of Dew Drops

from The Robin's Nest.

So, hop on over following

the link below pic,

and be inspired for spring to!

http://chatteringrobins.blogspot.com/2018/01/dreaming-of-springan-embellished.html

For Dew Drops & other exclusive products

follow this link.

http://shop.robinsnest-scrap.net

Thanks for stopping by!

Until next time...

Happy Crafting!

The Unexpected Challenges Of Living With Chronic Illness

Hello there,

welcome to INSPIRE.

Today my post is

inspiring (hopefully) to anyone

living with any form of chronic illness,

and the challenges that ensue.

To begin, I want

to share a brief glimpse, of where

this battle began in my life.

In February of 1997,

my husband & I were celebrating

our second year of marriage.

The truth is, I hadn't been feeling very

well, in the weeks leading up to this

momentous time, and had

scheduled an appointment

with a doctor, which just

happend to be the morning 

after our anniversary outing.

We had dinner with my sister in-law, and her husband.

And we then went to catch the theater

re-release of The Empire Strikes Back.

Being kids in the early 80's, this 

was really kind of exciting to get 
to see it again on the big screen.

My body however, didn't feel the same.

I kept passing out, and we had to make

an early exit from the movie.

My brother in-law made the

suggestion of taking me to the

nearest Urgent Care, so that is what we did.

Upon arriving, they handed me a cup for a urine specimen, and then sent Del & I

into an exam room. A brief

few moments later, the doctor came in and these

were his words:

"You have a dead woman on your hands.

EVERYTHING we should find in urine, is absent. All that is there is SUGAR".

He then stated he had called the local hospital, and the ER was on stand by, awaiting my arrival.

What a dark day that 

anniversary celebration 

had become.

Diagnosis? Type 1 Diabetes,

Adult Onset.

Meaning?

 Type 1 Diabetes is an autoimmune condition. It's caused by the body attacking its own pancreas with antibodies. In people with Type 1 Diabetes, the damaged pancreas doesn't make insulin.

So, for the last 20 years, my life

has been encompassed by insulin injections, insulin pump, and more recently back

to injections again.

All trial & error.

Twelve days ago I made

a HUGE error in my insulin dose.

I over estimated my carb intake, and took

way to much insulin.

An hour or so after dinner,

I had encountered a very

serious blood sugar low.

As I watch each glucose reading

fall first into the 60's, then the 50's, until

the critical 30's, I knew I was in
big trouble.

Insulin overdose.

I hadn't had this happen
in 20 years of dealing
with Type 1 Diabetes.

This error, was a life threatening
error, and one I am going to try my level best
to never, EVER do again.

So for the last couple of weeks
I have essentially been in a recovery mode.
Once again trying to find
a healthy balance between
my food intake & insulin doses.

Feeling much stronger day by day.

The struggle is real.
And being responsible for miscalculations
is not a mistake I plan to do again.

Thanks so much for stopping by.

Many blessings to you

& yours this Holiday Season!

Merry Christmas!

What A Mess: From Complete Chaos To Organized Clutter

Hello there!

Welcome to INSPIRE.

Today's post, begins with a question.

Have you ever stepped into your 

(messy) creative space to create

and realized what complete 

chaos & disarray your space is?

This can totally hinder 
the creative energy.

And that is exactly what happened to me.
My creative energy totally deadlocked,
because of the mess.

 As you will see in the evidence of
a mess, in these first photo's.

So right in the middle of Christmas crafting,

I decide to clean and reorganize my space.

TWO DAYS!

It has taken me.....
to create a more organized mess,
instead chaos.

Needless to say, I have vowed 

never to leave it like I found it,

ever again. (Rrright)😉

I have to say, the two days spent, was

well worth it.

Definitely a better creative energy.

And I can not wait 

to get busy messing....eh hem, creating again!

Thanks so much for stopping by.

Until next time.....Happy Crafting!