A Fascinator...made quick and easy.

     I don't wear hats. Some people look marvelous in them...but not me. My mom, my sister and I have discovered we can't wear hats because we have small heads. Who knew...but it's true, hats just don't fit.

     A couple of years ago I was at a craft show and saw a booth of amazing little hats. They were small, fit on the head with a headband and chock full of the most outrageous and gorgeous “stuff” I had ever seen on a hat. Recently my mom asked me if I had a hat she could borrow for a program she was attending the next day at her local Women's Club. “Nope, mom I don't wear hats, but I will be right over to make you a Fascinator.” I had learned this term when I approached the hat lady at the craft booth. These marvelous little pieces of art “for the head” are called Fascinators.

                                                              Completed Fascinator

     Don't you just love YouTube?, I quickly did a search for “how to make a fascinator” then ran out to my studio to gather up some things I could glue to a headband, stopped at Michaels for a few flower picks and some tulle and hit the road to mom's.

                                          Felt cut in circle, applied around rim with hot glue.

     I don't generally care a lot for using hot glue but this was an emergency...so I hot glued all the items to the headband. I am sure the hat lady in the craft show nicely sewed her items on and carefully constructed them, but for a quick headpiece you just can't beat hot glue.

                              Felt covered lid, additional circle cut from felt to cover completely.

Basics of it are ….take a headband, any headband..hot glue ribbon around it. I used a lid from a margarine tub for a round base (got this idea from YouTube), which I covered with felt and then glued all these fun items to. It is basically just gluing a bunch of stuff to the base and then gluing the base to the headband. Check out YouTube for additional ideas.

                                                              Mom and Fascinator. 

     Mom called me after her meeting, everyone loved it! Yay!!..thank goodness, wasn't sure if mom was really into this “fascinator hat” as much as she pretended !  This is fun.... try it for the holidays. Think about it ….you could glue anything to it, my next one may be a little miniature mixed media art piece.

Inktense Pencils Rock!!

Okay...it's been a year since I posted  anything on my blog.  Guess it is about time I  get back in the swing of things.  There are many fabulous artists and crafters sharing online.  I have learned so much from them.  Almost any technique or product you can think of now has a  YouTube video or a blog with related instructions.  I love this!! So I decided it was time to share more of mine.

This year has been a busy one for me, I was really excited when I was asked last year to write a book about Bottle Art, it was published June of 2010 by Design Originals.  I have been saving old bottles (mostly wine bottles) and jars for years.  The wine bottles line my flower beds and become bottle trees.  They also make some great assemblage art, glasses and jewelry...just use the small broken pieces.  In my studio very little goes to waste. Some of my best times creating art comes when I have to brainstorm new ways to use recycled materials.

                                                       I love to draw eyes in my creatures.

Recently I have been doing a lot of journaling, it has now become one of my favorite art forms.  Each page can be devoted to a new technique, thought or theme and it gives me the chance to try out my many art supplies. Are you anything like me?  Gotta use those coupons from the craft store so you end up with art stuff you simply forget about.  Or worse...don't even know what the heck it is.

I have heard several artists rave about the Inktense pencils from Derwent...so with one of my coupons I purchased a set.  I had assumed they were like most watercolor pencils but kept hearing how intense the colors were.  They are aptly named,  the Inktense pencils are so...so wonderful.  I have used them in a lot of my art now and journal pages...these are perfect for mixed media artists.  They can be added to your other art work, small touches with them can make a big difference.

 

My favorite way to use them right now is simply to draw with a Sakura Micron pen on an old book page and color it in with my Inktense pencils.  I normally gesso everything before working on it but this is an experiment in minimal materials...usually done at night before bed.  Just me, the book, the markers and Inktense pencils.  I also use the refillable water color brushes, the H2O watercolor brush that comes in a little plastic tube with a brush on the end. Heaven...love the color in my creatures...I plan to fill the whole book with these fun and colorful drawings. 

The Light from my Window

  At just the right time of the morning there is a beautiful shadow cast on my bedroom window.  A  Virginia Creeper  grows every summer all over the house.  It grows so quickly that the shadows it cast on the window seem to change almost daily.

      I finally woke from sleep at an optimum time this morning and captured a good shot of the sun and shadow.  Awesome, I need to make a stencil from this pattern.

Lady bugs!!!

I just had to share this. My granddaughter found this in the garden the other day. She doesn't have to have glasses on to spy little tiny things in the garden. I do. So, when she showed me this it took me a minute to figure it out. How long will it take you to figure it out??


Anyway, I have lots of lady bugs in my garden ...and more on the way!!!

One-eyed root!!

I can't help it, I pick up pieces of old wood. I have stacks of old wood bits. The other day I was raking leaves and digging in the garden and this little beauty popped out. It had such a wonderful shape to it I decided to paint it. Of course it had to be bright colors, like a Mexican folk art piece.

Dirt Dobbers

I recently posted this fabulous find of a nest on my Rowdy Grandma blog, I have not yet created anything with it.

Pipe organ mud dauber wasp nest....these were huge!!

I was reminded of a project I did a couple of years ago for Lisa at Ten Two Studios. This was a project whose theme was gardens.

There are tons of dirt dobbers at my house, they nest absolutely everywhere!!! Some of them are so cool....and they build their little dirt nests in the most bizarre places.

These little guys built a nest in my husband's golf bag!!....boy was he tee'd off.

Being the keeper that I am, (some would say pack rat), I have saved some of these little beauties....so my garden art is a board book with treasured little dirt dobbers nests in them.

Lump- in- neck gourd

Okay ..again with the gourds...cause it's gourd planting time here in Texas. I have a book about gourds and it is amazing how many there are. I did not grow this particular gourd....I bought a bunch of these at my local garden center a couple of years ago. They were about to throw them out...my god!!!...I got tons of them for $5.00. I love it when I find a bargain! So I looked it up in the gourd book and it's a lump-in-neck gourd, not to be confused with the Indonesian bottle gourd......huh??

Day of the Dead gourd

First thing I will be doing is building a trellis. Gourd vines grow so incredibly fast....I mean it boggles my mind!!....and they climb everywhere..so this year I will give them plenty of space....they need to be off the ground.....while gourds are light when dry they can be quite heavy on the vine and have ended up on the ground before I knew it, and there ain't nothin' pretty about a smushed gourd!!