Pumpkins and Psalms

I have been busy in my studio this weekend! 

Saturday I started cleaning up the house. I had the stomach flu this past week and had not accomplished anything! I still didn't feel great but figured since no one was home I could go at my own pace and get a few things accomplished. One of the things I wanted to get done was clean up my studio. It was a MESS! I had been trying to work on a class sample (that flopped) and had also brought some things in from the garage to take care of (and never did). You could barely walk in there! One of the things I wanted to do was take apart my first canvas I ever made.

 Do you remember this one?

I really didn't like it and decided I would salvage some of the embellishments I had put on it. As I started removing my treasures I ripped the actual canvas, which was no big deal. But as I finished my salvage efforts I started just tearing off the canvas and I fell in love with the wooden framework underneath. I decided to save it too and put it in the garage. A few minutes later it was back out of the garage and I was on the phone with Gary. He had to work this Saturday and that was perfect for me.

Me:  "Hey Babe, do you have any scraps of chicken wire on the job site?"

Gary "Sure do how big a piece do you want?"

I was so excited! When he got home that afternoon I was already in full swing on my project! I had this fake pumpkin Mom had bought along with flowers, leaves and burlap ribbon left over from the Girls' pumpkins. Now I had a frame and some chicken wire and I was thrilled! No running to the store, no spending money, just the bliss of creating something! 

This is what I came up with

The fake pumpkin is mounted on a 9x12 canvas board and then tied to the chicken wire. The chicken wire was of course silver and I wanted it to look older and warmer so I grabbed a small paintbrush and painted each wire with a mix of alcohol ink and patina to give it a more rusty look. The wooden frame is painted with several colors and I used my Ivory soap distress technique to make it look like barn wood. And of course the frame was not in perfect condition anyway since it was just the framework for a canvas. I also distressed my fake pumpkin so the whole piece has a very rustic and natural look to it. 

I made it just for something to do and figured it would be a good addition to my Fall decor, but I might keep it hanging in my kitchen all year long - who knows?

When I finished with the pumpkin I cleaned everything up - the studio looked so nice! Then I got to thinking about another project I had started a few weeks ago and never finished. I knew what I wanted but I just was stuck on the finish for the box so I just put it away. Saturday evening I KNEW what I wanted to do and at 10:30 pm I got it all out and went to town. I was having so much fun with it that when I looked at the clock it was 5:00 am!!! I crawled into bed and of course over slept for church. But at noon when I got up I got going on it again.  And I finished it all up Sunday night.  I am so glad I put it away for those few weeks because it turned out better than I originally envisioned. 

So here it is - my Psalms 119:105 assemblage box

This Psalm was one of my very first memory verses when I was a little girl in Sunday school. I used the KJV of the verse since that is how I memorized it all those years ago even though I never read the KJV of the Bible anymore. 

The box is one of those floating shelves. Bryanna gave it to me a while back and I just added a back to it. The inside of the box is lined with actual Bible pages from the Book of Psalms that have been crackled. The outside of the box is very simple. I wanted it plain since there is so much inside the box. One side of the box has 119 painted on for the chapter. The other side has 105 painted on it for the verse. The light bulb is a reproduction of an antique light bulb that was a "gift" from a friend one night while we were out to dinner.  The old pocket Bible I got while we were on vacation this year along with most of the metal pieces. The crosses, the keys and handle all came from my dear friend Deborah. And the cross necklace came from my daughter Bryanna's friend Chris who gave me a bag of old jewelry. The rest of the stuff was just in my stash. I put the actual verse inside a locket and used some JudiKins Fluxe to seal it in there. I bought that fluxe about 2 years ago and have never used it until now. It worked great and I just used a hot plate to heat it up. No fumes or smells or anything  - I would recommend this product. Again - no running to the store or spending money - LOVE THAT!

So that is pretty much what I have been up to - having the flu and creating! Now I have GOT to get my house cleaned up and get my class sample done!

Till we meet again. . . 

God's Not Dead. . .

There is a new movie coming out this Spring that I can't wait to see! 

I added the trailer for you all to watch 

It is about time we have some quality and intelligent faith base films released in the commercial market! I am sure if you are a Christian, at some point you have been put to the test to defend your beliefs and the existence of God. I bet this movie will give us all more evidence to share when we are once again expected to tell why believe that GOD IS NOT DEAD!!!

But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect
1Peter 3:15

Till we meet again

What Does Love Require of ME?

In today's post I want to share some stuff with you - stuff that has nothing to do with art, although it's message will most likely end up on a canvas or in a journal at some point. This "stuff" really touched me where I live and has made me question How I live. I hope you will stick around and read this and that it will make you also think a little bit. If not, trust me we will return to our regular format full of art and pictures soon and I hope you will come back.

A couple of months ago I started watching Andy Stanley on Sunday mornings while I got ready for church. Andy is the son of Charles Stanley, a preacher I remembered from when I was young. I had no idea that the elder Stanley had a son, let alone that he was a preacher like his father. I have grown quite fond of his teachings and find them so applicable to everyday life. He has an easy going, somewhat humorous, yet intelligent delivery. Andy typically teaches in series, building each week on the theme from the week before. About 2 weeks ago I missed a message but I found that you can watch his series online on his website. I was thrilled to be able to catch up. Then I started to poke around his website and found that he has a whole bunch of his messages available to watch and learn from.

I started watching an 8 part message that was simply called "Christian" with the subtitle "It's not what you think". I was surprised at one of his first statements about being a Christian, it was both controversial and true. Here is what he said "Christians are judgmental, homophobic, moralists that think they are the only ones going to heaven and secretly relish the fact that that everyone else is going to hell.' WOW!!!! that is a tough statement to swallow as a Christian. But then, after I caught my breath, I realized that is how lots of us Christians are viewed (and sadly how some act). In fact I personally have been called "ignorant, uneducated and weak" because of my faith and I have lost friends because of my relationship with God.

So, how do we change this perception? How do we as Christians clean up our reputation of being judgmental, ignorant and weak? We do it with LOVE! Jesus Christ Himself told us this in John 13:34-35 “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are My disciples, if you love one another.” 

This begs another question - What Does Love Require of ME?
1. Don't do anything that will hurt you - Why? Because when you hurt yourself you hurt your Father in heaven who loves you!
2. Don't do anything that will hurt someone else - Why? Because when you hurt others you hurt your Father in heaven who loves everyone as much as He loves you!
3. Don't be mastered by anything - Why? Because when you are mastered by something it keeps you from loving someone!
In short, it is way more important that people see how we Behave (do what Jesus did) than to hear what we Believe!

So why am I telling you all of this? I guess mostly because it has changed the way I view my role as a "Christian". My job is not to make you Believe like I do - my job is to Love you like HE does! So to all of my non-Christian friends, I apologize if I share more of my beliefs and less of my love with you. And to my Christian friends I beg you to think, as I have about what people believe we as Christians are. Let's change our reputation!

till we meet again. . . 

Still Doodle'in. . .

Is that even a word??????

Anyhoo - hubby is off fishing this weekend and I am just starting to move again so I have been a lazy bum. Just been laying around watching movies and doodling. 

I added the B&W ones to the "My Doodles" tab if you want to download them to color. 

Have a colorful weekend

till we meet again. . . 

It's FALL Ya'll

Well it is a week later than I planned but I finally got my Fall decorations out. Fall is my most favorite season of them all. I just adore all of the rich colors of the season and the refreshing weather after such an intensely HOT summer season. I could actually live in a home that was decorated for Fall all year long!

I certainly don't "over-do" the Fall decorations and they are all Fall - no Halloween decorations, but I sure do love them. I just figured I'd give you a peek at what is looks like around here now.

 This is when you first walk in the door. The containers are there on the pony wall all year long, they just get filled up at this time of year. It's hard to see them, but I have my china pumpkins out on the dining room table and the big cornucopia and other nick nacks in the pass-through. 

 This is between the dining room and the living room. I usually put my scarecrow by the window at the front door, but this year I decided this little nook between the piano and the china cabinets would be the perfect place for a little Fall vignette. The pumpkins are all fake and purchased last year after the holidays for 80% off! The rake head is old an rusty - a gift from my Doodle when we bought our first house 26 years ago! I just popped a little sunflower on it today and added some burlap ribbon. 

 These two pumpkins were made for my girls to hang on their front doors this year. The top one is Bryanna's - she likes the more "whimsy" colors, and the bottom one is for Lizzy who likes a more warm and primitive feel. I think it is funny that my Bug calls their pumpkin the LaLa Loopsey pumpkin. Once she said it I realized she was absolutely right - it does look like a  LaLa Loopsey pumpkin!

Lizzy's pumpkin has been hanging in my living room by the piano waiting for her to pick it up. When my Mom came home today and saw I had decorated she said "you can't give Liz her pumpkin now - it looks perfect there". So I guess I will be cutting up another pumpkin tomorrow so that we will have one too. 

This is the living room - not much in here 'cept a couple little rag scarecrows and some of my pumpkins I made last year. I will be adding my candy corn banner to this wall but I need to go pick it up from the store first. 

So, tell me, what do you do for decorations around your house this time of year????

Till we meet again. . . 

Well friends, it is officially Fall around here, and it is the beginning of my favorite time of the year - the Holidays! The next couple of months will be festive and busy at our house. There are of course the Holidays that everyone celebrates, but in our house we add several birthdays and anniversaries along the way. 

One of the best parts about this time of year is all of the decorating, creating and gift giving. I did some creating this week that I thought you might enjoy for your holiday decorating and gift giving.

I am sharing with you my Fall pretties that I call "Pumpkins and Polka Dots". But stay tuned I will be posting a "Snow Place Like Home" collection soon for your winter & Christmas decorating. 

Below you can see individual photos and a description of each of the items in the collection.

 The "Autumn Canvas Swing" is one of my favorites! 

It is a 12x12 Canvas board hand painted with a trio of pumpkins that hangs from this fun wooden swing frame I made. The colors are warm and fun - just like Fall, or what I imagine Fall to be (I live in AZ you know and get no Fall). The framework is painted with all of the same colors that are in the canvas and is adorned with the same polka dots and checked pattern. The leaves are made from mulberry paper and are also hand painted. There are faux typewriter keys inset in little rusty gears to spell out Autumn and there are also numbers set on each pumpkin to remind us to count our blessings at this time of year. And did you see the little rusty wire tendrils coming out from the stems? The hanging rod in the frame is capped off with two little distressed and cracked porcelain knobs. 

You can see some of the details and the dimensions in the photo below. 

 "Autumn Canvas Swing" $75 + shipping - SOLD

 "Pumpkin Patch Canvas & Easel" is another favorite - okay - they're ALL my favorites!

This is an 8x10 canvas board that has again been hand painted with a happy pair of pumpkins. These pumpkins, like the ones above have the hand painted mulberry leaves, type keys and rusty wire tendrils. The canvas rests on a distressed wooden easel with some of my favorite oversized "rusty gold" bolts used to hold the canvas in place. The bolts are easily removed so that it can be packed and stored easily. 

You can see some of the details and the dimensions in the photo below.

 "Pumpkin Patch Canvas & Easel"  $55 + shipping 

 "Pumpkin Trio Message Holder"  - do you need a place to leave notes and messages to your family? Or a place to put all of those to-do lists you have going? Or maybe you want a place to put the holiday meal menu? Either way this is perfect! And the cute whimsical design would be perfect in the kitchen all year long. This is made out of handpainted pine and has a pretty antique bronze clip at the top. The sides are painted black with yellow polka dots and the back is all crimson red with black polka dots, just like the front. 

You can see some of the details and the dimensions in the photo below.

  "Pumpkin Trio Message Holder" $45 + shipping - SOLD

"Medium Pumpkin Blocks"

 These are all handpainted pine blocks that measure 5.25"x6" and are 1 3/8" thick. You can see the fronts and back views in the photo above. Each block is painted black on the top, bottom & sides. Below you can see bigger images of each pumpkin block and ordering information.

 "Pumpkin Pair" Block $22+ shipping

(this block has crimson polka dots on the sides and top)

  "Red Polka Dot Pumpkin"  Block $22+ shipping

  "Squaty Pumpkin" Block $22+ shipping

(this block is 6"x5.25")

  These are smaller versions of my handpainted pine blocks above. You can see the front and back views in the photo below as well as their dimensions (these are also 1 3/8" thick).

 Each block is painted black on the top, bottom & sides. 

"Little Red Polka Dot Pumpkin" Block $16+ shipping - SOLD

"Tiny Green Polka Dot Pumpkin" Block $12+ shipping - SOLD

If you are interested in purchasing any of these sweet little Pumpkins, just send me an email at Garbonzobeenz1@aol.com and let me know which one(s) you want (please use the names given on the photo to avoid confusion) as well as your shipping address and I will send you a paypal invoice. Your item will be carefully packed and mailed out to you within 3 working days. If you are local and just want to meet up with me we can easily make those arrangements as well, just let me know that in your email. 

Happy Fall ya'll!

Thanks for taking a peek and be on the look out for my 

"Snow Place Like Home" collection

till we meet again. . .