Foto Friday....Low Cloud..

Whew!  I say that a lot.  But the stress is all finished and taken are of.  My sister LOVED her present.  She cried.  I cried.  I am so very blessed to have her as my sister and have always been proud to have her as my  sister from the first day she was born.  

It doesn't matter how much money you have to spend or to owe.  If you make something for someone that is true to their heart, you will always hit the mark, I promise.

Today's Foto Friday I have for you  is a low cloud between the mountains.  This is what I woke up today.  What a great welcome home present.

Everybody have a great weekend.  Now off to get another cup of coffee....

Finally Done with my Sister's Birthday Present....

Well I am D-O-N-E!!!

I love the artwork on the blogs as you can tell.  That is why I haven't been blogging like I should.

I have put down a blog called tatertotsandjello blog a while ago.  Jen has become my muse.

There are over 125 people that have submitted their subway art on her blog.  Some are just amazing, I couldn't wait to try it!

I did a smaller one for one of my sisters back in September.  Then I came up with the bright idea to do a huge project (uh, 4  feet by two feet) for my little sister that just went to Europe for the first time and celebrated a milestone birthday.

There were so many, many and many more layers to this "little" gift.  I first had to get specific words from her and told her  that was her assignment while she was on vacation.  Not knowing what it is, she probably thinks I am crazy, well, a little more crazy then usual.

I cannot tell you how excited I am to a) to have it done b) to have it turn out EXACTLY how I wanted it to.

Where is the picutre you ask?  Hang on I want to tell you about it before I post it.

I wanted it to look antiqued.  What I was looking for when I was designing this is a story of the two of them in Paris when they came across the painting:

(Here is my story of this painting).

Bill and June were walking into antique shops in the cold, damp, autumn day in Paris.  Not knowing what they are looking for.  What fun it  is to actually hunt for treasure and not knowing what it is, is the best part of antiquing!

They walk into the shop quickly to escape the fine mist of rain falling.  Inside was warm with the smell of coffee just being brewed.  A tiny lady late in her late 70's welcomed them and invited them in and asked if they would like a cup of coffee to warm them up.  Thankfully, they accepted and sat down while quickly looking over the place.

The lady said her name was Rose and this had been her shop over the past 60 years and had been handed down in the family for over 100 years before her.  She said that very rarely does someone come in and not find a "treasure" for themselves.   She then asked what they were looking for and they said in unison "We won't know until we find it".  They chatted about the history of the shop and the surrounding area and it had  been saved from the Germans during World War II.  Rose said "They knew this shop was special".

Then Bill got up and started looking around in the jewelery cases and books on the shelves.  June had finished her coffee and joined in the search.

In the back of the shop had many paintings leaned up against the bookshelves, a little dusty but nothing a good cleaning wouldn't fix.  June started going through them one by one.  Bill had made the remark that the pictures were quite large and getting them home would be a challenge.  She laughed a little almost deciding to stop then when she flipped the next picture, there is was!

"What"? She screamed, "how in the world could this be"!  She yelled for Bill to come over and said to him,  "Look at this,  I, I, I,  can't breath" !  She held on to his arm while she pointed at the picture. 

He studied her for a moment then his eyes went to the picture.  "What the..." he said letting his words trail off.

This painting  was words of  their trip and it was the very words of the events that were memorable to them and even had Gordon Ramsey's restaurant where they had dinner just a couple of nights ago!

Bill went to the shop owner and asked "Where did you get this picture"?  Rose told him very calmly that this picture had been in the shop every since she was a little girl. 

"Why?" She asked.

Rubbing his chin, he tells Rose about the picture and what each word means. 

"Then this is what you are looking for" she smiling slightly.

June then let's out another scream.! Oh my God!,   When she turned the painting over it said "Happy Birthday,  Love Jeanine and Andy.   

Sometimes in life there aren't answers to all questions and somethings just don't need answers.  They are there because they are supposed to be there, just waiting for the moment.

I hope your present is as special to you and it was for me to make it for you.  I love you and always will.




(This is to be read by my sister before she see the gift )


So here is the painting that was done in her honor of her birthday and trip:

Whew!  Who wants a tutorial?  Say it and I will make it so!!!

Artwork Artwork and more Artwork! Updated!!!!

Wow!  Again Wow!  I have said last week that there are some very talented people out there.  The things they can do is jaw dropping.  I ran across a great blog site called The Graphics Fairy and she has a lot of FREE antique artwork that you can download and do just about anything with.

I saw another blog (the internet is a huge web they are right) and saw this artwork that I fell in love with.

The author said she used Gesso.  What is that?  Well, to put it simply it is a gel medium that you transfer your artwork from paper onto a canvas then peel the picture off and there ya go!  So, I just had to do this!  I went to Michaels, remember it takes me a minimum to 2 and a half hours Just to go round trip.  I bought some (there are so many to choose from).  Printed the picture (flipped) on my injet, took it to the printers and copied it on a laser printer.  (Inject ink will run that is why you need to have  laser printer (it costs me 10 cents).  I then went home slathered the Gesso on the front of the picture and then laid it face down on the canvas.  I then took my Popsicle stick and smoothed it out as best and I could.  Then I had to wait and wait. They suggest you leave it overnight and that was not going to happen because I did it at 12PM.  So at 5PM I started to remove the paper.  How did I do that?  I put my forefinger in water and started rubbing the paper, and it started coming off!  Over and over again, I kept rubbing, my finger is now raw but what was underneath the paper is outstanding!

Look!

How did it get from this:

To that:

It would be great to see the different colors that come out of each person that does this.  I had seen one that it was black and white with a little yellow on the sides.

But I have to tell you, this surprised the heck out of me!  What a great present.

If you look closely, it says balsamic vinegar, but it looks like it is perfume, ewe!

I am going to do another one today, but am worried that I am going to rub off my fingerprints.


This was so simple to do and so much fun!

TUTORIAL:

Ok, it is done!!!  To tell you the truth, when I am doing a project I normally take a lot of pictures, so if I need to go back and review the project, I have pictures.

However, on this project, I didn't take any pictures.   I didn't know in the beginning how it was going to turn out so I didn't bother.  Note to self:  Don't do that again.  

Life happens and as I had said in another post, my husband had surgery, so just the simple act of posting this became impossible until now, he is sleeping and I can get this done.....

Ok the first part:

You will need to get a canvas board.  I got from the art shop (any one, I know Michales have this too)  Is a regular canvas board that is flat.  If you want you can use one that is raised with the board around the back, however, you will need to have something put inside of it to give it strength when you are putting the picture down and making sure the picture adheres to the canvas.  i.e. maybe a book in the back.  

I got this board for $1.00 and it is 8x10.

I then made sure that the picture was able to be level so when I put the picture on the canvas  it is not crooked.  My first one was and you can't pick it up and move it around when it is wet because the color will start to come off immediately.  Live and learn.  So, I measured it again and again.  You really have one shot at this so measure it really good, unless you want the picture to be a little crooked.  Note:  Even though I though I was doing everything perfectly, the picture is not even, but I will be the only person that will know that, well now, you do too.

The gesso is called Golden and when I got to Micheals and found this aisle, I had no idea that there were so many types of gel mediums!  So I went middle of the road with this.

I bought a couple of large sticks to apply the gel, which I patted myself on the back because it was a great idea.  They were only 5 cents each!  Yea baby and I only had to use one.

I took the stick and scooped up the gel then started to apply the gel to the picture.  This one I applied a pretty thick layer.  I started to do it in one direction, then realized that it didn't matter in which direction you applied it, just make sure you apply it to the whole picture.  Put down a newspaper so when it goes off the side, you will have something down.  I didn't do that the first time and it was a yucky mess.  

Like I said on the above paragraph, I put down a thick layer.  I wouldn't do that.  It made the paper really heavy and when I did the next step it tore part of it because it was so wet.

Once the paper is covered in the gesso, pick it up and put it face down on the canvas.  Try to put it down correctly the first time as I said before, if you move it around it will smear some of the color.  

Then take the stick and start smoothing out the paper and help it ahear to the canvas, (this is where I tore the paper) if it does tear , no big deal, just flatten it out and smooth it out, it will not show up as a tear and will

give it some depth.s

On some of the other posts I have read, people say wait overnight before you start removing the paper, but I usually do it in the morning and we really have low humidity here (that does help with the drying process).  I wait about 3 hours.

You can see that it is already turning color.  I have realized that when you print something black and white, it is not just done with black, it is printed with all the colors, especially if it is printed with a laser printer.  I don't know if you can see, but within 5 minutes you could see red showing up on the paper.  Pretty cool.

See the tear on the top above my fingers?  I even took my fingers and kept smoothing the paper so it had great coverage.

This what it looks like after about 15 minutes...Now the hard part...WAIT!!!

Ok here we are it is 1:30 and I am ready.  Take a little cup with water:

Then you will dip your finger in it and spread some over the picture:

 Start rubbing.  But wait, like I said in the earlier post, if you start rubbing with your fingers we will rub your fingerprints away.  It really hurts after a while!  I came up with a great idea, I went into the kitchen and grabbed a cotton towel.  Not a plush one, but one I could dip in the water and start rubbing and it worked.  You will see the rolls of the paper and it gets a little messy.  As I write this, I am still finding little paper rolls in front of me, on the floor, in my chair, etc...

I then used my fingers just to make sure that all the paper was removed again, by rubbing and rubbing.  

I wiped off the picture with the rag just to get the rubbies off and then took some sand paper and very quickly rubbed the sides so the residue o the sheet would come off (I thought of that all by myself!) and it works!

Finished!!!!  

Here is the results of this one: 

Now I had to darken the picture up a bit so it wouldn't look so faded on my blog.  

This is such a nice project to do, I put the other one in a black frame and will be giving these as gifts.  

The price to make this is so cheap!  

The canvas board $1.00

Lazar copy .10 cents

But the Golden Gesso gel was around $15.00.  But you don't use that much and I would guesstamate that you would get a least 10 of these 8x10 pictures.  Which would bring the cost to $1.50 per picture.  

So, for $2.60 you get a one of a kind picture.  Perfect for a girlfriend's gift.  PS.  They have $1.00 black frames at the dollar store too!  For a grand total of $3.60!!!  Can't get that in your local store!

I would love to see some of your artwork using the gel medium.  This stuff is incredible!

Let me know how you did!!  Good luck and have fun!

Artwork...How cool and inspiring!

I have the sweetest girlfriends on this earth.  The one I am talking about today is Stacy.  She is just a breath of fresh air, you know when you walk outside in the morning after a night of rain? 

She follows my blog and I think she actually enjoys it, too funny.  Anyway, I posted a picture for the heck of it a couple of weeks ago and told my bloggers this would be a great picture to download for the fall season.  SHE DID!  Not only did she download it, she sent it to Staples.com had it blown up, trimmed and laminated!  What a cleaver girl!!!!

What do you think of Ms. Stacys art work?

Sorry about the blurry pic I am trying to get it big enough for you to see.  Anyway, she then got a hook from the Oak Glen Apple Orchards gift shop (that place is soo much fun in the fall).  Then put it in her front yard.

What a great and CHEAP decoration!  Way to go girl, it looks stunning!  Thanks for sharing!  The fun just keeps going.  Now to work on my board and to start my pillows before Halloween get here!

I love this. Witch with Crow...

You know, people are so creative.  I have one of my fellow bloggers who did two pillows and I fell in love with her work.

She told everyone she bought this Silhouette (not the machine, this time) from an Etsy Shop.

It is called 1963 Vintage Lane and Jackie is a sweetheart!    Now a lot of people don't know what an Etsy Shop is.  It is a shop that people sell their homemade items and let me tell you, PEOPLE ARE SO CREATIVE.....

I bought the Witch with the crow and it was only $3.75!    Great thing about this is you can use it over and over again for YEARS!  From the blog site of RESTLESSRISA I am going to copy her pillows.  I will post them when I am done.  But take a look at her site and tell me what you think!  I love the turkey, I want to put them on tea towels and give them to my family as a Thanksgiving gift.  OK HELP...WHERE DO I GET TEA TOWELS.  Help me people!

Here is the witch and bat:

How cute would this be to print it out and frame it!

Now all I have to do is get the nerve to do my pillow project.......Any info on the tea towels yet?

I am mixing things up, but not on purpose...I couldn't wait until Foto Friday..

This is what I woke up to this morning!  Our first snow!  Two really good things about the first snow...

1) It is just an incredible picture no price tag required.  Thank you God.
2) It is far away enough that it didn't hit our house.  Thank you God.

With all things of beauty, it has now melted but the picture remains....

Have a great day!  (SHHHH....I am so busy doing my project that I am not stopping to blog.  But I can't wait to show you when I am finished. IF I ever finish).  Wanna come over and help?  I have some coffee going....

Foto Friday....Double Rainbow

I received a text this morning,(thanks Kim) and when I pulled up the picture, there was a BEAUTIFUL double rainbow!

I have never seen something like this...only in Big Bear!

I forwarded this to my family and friends.  Here are a couple of responses:

May God double your blessings today (One Brother In Law)

Where is the double pot of gold? (Another Brother In Law)  My response was "In Big Bear, of course!

Keep your eyes open, you never know what beauty you will see when you start watching.

Have a great weekend!

New Silhouette Project

I saw this sign done by a fellow blogger on the internet and fell in LOVE with this.  So, I thought, why not?  Oh my! It was a lot of work!!!  I learned a lot of what NOT to do.  First, I needed to make my art so much bigger!  That would have save me time and energy. 

It took me days upon days and the reason is because:

Find the Board, (I had one in my outside office)  It is Four Feet by Two Feet (question to self, "Why did you pick a sign this big?" I don't have an answer but I know not to do that size again, well, for now.
Spray the Board with Primer (thank GOD for the adapter handle for the spray paint, Do not EVER use a spray paint without it, trust me on this people!)

Spray the Board with the Orange (Five Coats)

 Being a smart girl, I knew I had to spray the board outside even when it was a little windy, I look good in a shade of orange. 

Something caught my eye when I had stood back to look at the board.  Right in front of me and the sign slithered a snake! 

 I have a remember that I am in the mountains and this is supposed to be a normal occurrence.   Thank goodness that it was a Gardner snake and not a rattlesnake! (Rattlers are the only snake I have ever seen here, so I actually was excited to see this guy).

On to my project:

Find the artwork
Play with the placement
Cut it and then place the piece

Spray with Mod Podge Sealer (which turned out to be a disaster, it turned up a lot of the artwork, again, had NO idea!) YUK, so I went over it again with the white mod podge and a sponge to try to get some of the artwork to lay flat, not going so well. Live and learn...

Well it is now finished  and ready to go outside for the world to see.

What do you think?!

Gardening

This Monday will be the last meeting for "A Garden Club" in Big Bear.  I am sad because I just joined this group a couple of months ago.  However, I have met the BEST people and have instantly made "best friends" with a bunch of women and men...

So I will came up with the perfect way to say sleep tight my dirt garden and I will tackle you next year. 

This was done with Picasa and Picnik!  Incredible I tell you!

Have a great weekend!