Boho Tiered Tray Decor

 I love the tiered trays that are everywhere now. It's so much fun to have a small seasonal decoration.  

I do appreciate the current decor trends. Look how adorable this St. Patrick teired tray is that I found on Pinterest. 

My creative endeavors always tend to more boho, repurposed found treasures. Here is the one I decorated. 

Mine is not as colorful but it has treasures that I love! 

A tin that I thrifted a while ago! 

A thrifted white bird and a clearance shamrock from Hobby Lobby. The stem is missing but it hides well!

A thrifted sheep. A handmade spool with old buttons.

A tiny vase that was gifted to me by a friend who traveled to Ireland years ago.

A wool felted gnome that I made.

Handmade paper shamrocks that I made.

A pot of gold. From a shiny ornament that I put in a thrifted tiny silver pot. 

A sign painted by me.

So much fun to put together!  It gives me a new purpose when thrifting and creating. Hope you try one. There are a gazillion examples on Pinterest!

Happy 17th  of March to you!

Birds

 Winter painting. Keep working at it. Waiting for Spring.

Soup

Take the chill off of winter with soup! We are soup lovers. This soup base is also a life saving "zero point" food when following Weight Watchers. Healthy, low in calories and delicious! I start all broth based soup with the following:

5 to 6 cups water

5 to 6 tsp Better than Boullion Base

3 carrots sliced

3 stalks of celery chopped

1 medium to large onion chopped

1 Tbsp minced garlic

2 bay leaves (I break them up and put them in a tea ball so I can find them after cooking)

This base can become many different kinds of soup. The Better Than Boullion comes in several flavors. You can learn about Better Than Boullion here.  For soup I use the chicken or beef flavor. 

I use my crockpot for soup. I can get it started in the morning (I am definitely a morning person) and it makes the house smell wonderful all day! 

For a Southwest Soup

Ingredients 

1-2 lbs of chicken breast cut in bite size pieces

      I prefer breast tenderloin

Prepare broth recipe above using Chicken Boullion 

Add:

Any color pepper chopped 1 inch pieces  1 cup

2 cans petite diced tomatoes

1 can pinto beans drained and rinsed

1 can navy beans drained and rinsed

1 can hot rotel tomatoes 

1.5 to 2 cups frozen corn

1.5 to 2 cups frozen chopped spinach (added at the end to get warm)

The corn and spinach are optional. They add fiber and nutrients. 

1 pkg Taco seasoning mix

2 pkg sayzon goya mix

2 tbsp adobo seasoning with lemon pepper 

2tbsp cumin or more to taste

2 tbsp corriander

Black pepper

I start my crockpot on high for an hour then low for 6 to 8 hours. Or low for 8 to 10 hours. 

Add all ingredients except the spinach, stir well and start the crockpot.  Add the spinach during the last 15 minutes of cooking. 

Enjoy!

Painting Again

 I am thankful to have time to be creative.  I travel from clay to wool to painting and back there again.

This summer has been a visit to my first love. Watercolor  painting.  I found a wonderful artist on YouTube who inspired me to do some mixed media watercolors with doodles and metallic paints. Her name is Ceecee. Her web page is here

It is called Creations Cee Cee.  If you watch her YouTube videos or look at her Instagram account you will see the inspiration pieces I used to do my paintings.

The paintings I have painted are below.  Watercolors with pens and metallics with words and scripture. These are in 8x10 mats. 

This is the first one I did. The cursive handwriting at the bottom was not meant to be ledgible.

I am having fun with the circles. I let the paint mix together on it's own with some salt sprinkles for some texture.  I bought some metallic watercolor paints from Amazon that are quite fun. They don't show well on these photos. Using pens and colored pencils to add details is fun and relaxing.  

Pinterest is my friend of course too. I love the unusual words I can find there. 

The best part is that because of these paintings we have started a neighborhood paint night. It is fun to share and get together.  

A Copy For Me

So many time I create gifts.  I enjoy making them and love that I have made someone smile or enjoy something that I have spent time creating.  A few days ago I decided to create something just for me!

 I have admired Jill Harrison's needle felted creativity for a few years. Her work has a mystic quality to me. She is an amazing artist. You can see her web site and shop here.

One of my favorite fall pictures that she has done is this one that you can find  on her website here.

So I decided to try something similar.  Just for me!

I am pleased with it.  It certainly does not have the ethereal quality that Jill's work has but it evokes a feeling of autumn and cooler weather for me.  This is my favorite season of the year.  I enjoyed school starting as a child and the relief from the hot summer days.  There is also much fun to be had in the coming months!  

Even though I tried to duplicate her picture, it took on a life of it's own.  It is very similar in content but so different in color and feel.  I will enjoy it with my fall decorations!

You really should check out Jill's work on the links above. Her portraits are stunning... all of her work is stunning!

Happy Fall!

Mixed Media

I've been painting with Arteza Real Brush Pens, Inktense pencils, Maimeri watercolors, Schmincke watercolors, gauche and Sharpies. Mixing them up and trying different things.


I want to try minimalist painting but I find I can't stop. I need to be more disciplined and plan ahead. That's hard for me to do with creating anything. I like to follow my muse.

These paintings have a little bit of everything in them.  It actually makes it more interesting to work in different mediums.

 I definitely got carried away with details on this woodpecker.

 This owl has a little looseness going on.

This chickadee is a combination of detail and some less defining brush strokes. 

Practice helps. There are so many variables with water based mediums. 

I need to do more research. You will find me on Pinterest! Talk about being disciplined. I can spend a day there easily!

Great Horned Owl

I was challenged to create a needle felted Great Horned Owl by my nature loving brother.

It took me a few redos but I ended up with this guy.  He seems right at home in that bush.

Making two things the same are always a challenge for me. The eyes and feet were redone a few times.  So much to learn!  Owls are magnificent creatures!