August's theme!

Ready for a challenge?

Think of all the sweet fairy tales we read as children....
and think of how many have been turned into movies....
and think of how many had singing FROGS in them! Or frogs that were princes/princesses! (if you were me you'd also think of the campy flick FROGS!)

Hmmmm.....getting the idea?

YEP!

August's ornament theme: a frog, a frog prince, a frog princess, a dancing frog.
August's activity: rent the flick or read the book...
August's challenge: REALLY? Isn't this ornie CHALLENGE enough?

NO?

Okay then, create a toad adobe somewhere in your yard/garden or on your patio.
Pick someplace that will attract flying creepies that toads and frogs want to munch on. Add a flipped over broken pot for shelter and a bit of water and you are done! Leaky faucets are very popular with toads and frogs.

"Up high the flies are playing
and frolicking and swaying.
The frog thinks, DANCE...
I know you'll end up here below!"
- Wilhem Busch

Mermaid Awesomeness!

Yesterday was my lucky day, I received a box of mermaid awesomness from Kerry! I was positively giddy as I unwrapped all of the goodies Kerry sent! So now to share, here are some of the goodies Kerry sent.


Just look at this amazing mermaid pincushion. I have long admired Kerry's pincushion creations. I'm so excited to have this beauty! I think this is the beginning of my new pincushion collection!


Kerry also sent this beautiful mermaid ornament, 3 spools of ribbon, a beautiful seahorse pendant and some of her homemade raspberry jam. The jam is delicious! I enjoyed it on my toast this morning.


She also included goodies for my daughter. My daughter was so happy to be included and loved the owl pencil set, fun eraser set, a mermaid that grows in water, plastic shells, mermaid glass charms and this adorable owl/ladybug apron, bag and toy pattern Kerry sent.

Kerry, you really spoiled us! Thank you so much for this amazing box of mermaid goodies. We loved everything! This was an awesome package! Thank you!!!

my water sprite

I knocked out the dotee doll challenge the other day and wanted to make a water sprite for my regular ornament.
I used this photo as loose inspiration for the fins. My fins weren't as airy since I was using foil. At one point, I had them curled but decided I liked them better wavy instead.



and here she is on my YOE tree....


I took this photo at night....she stands out from the tree better than this.

ok, dotee mermaid painting and flower fairies!

First of all, the best...I got my package from Sherry full of fairy things....I love her creations so much. She is so humble about the things she makes too...I would be showing them off all over the place if they were mine!

I have a feeling she knew that I would go crazy over these paper dresses on a clothes line! They are hanging in my dining room. Even though it is a mess I couldn't wait to hang them up.











She sent me two tiny little altered matchboxes, a crocheted book mark, a flower fairy ornament and also some cupcake sprinkles

which I adore....











She even sent me "You are a star" magnet....very sweet I think.

Here are two of the little ornaments hanging on my tree...












Thank you so much Sherry! You are such a good friend and I can tell you really thought of me and tailored it to my "likes"!

Last of all my dotee mermaid painting....I saw this style of painting on Etsy....I just took bits and pieces and made it mine...I REALLY enjoyed painting this one...Whimsy and color is kind of my thing anyway...I don't care if it is good or bad cause I really like it....












Happy swimming, and watch out for octopii that masquerade as hats...(that was my original idea.).....

mermaid paintings...

I havent been able to sew much lately. Everything feels too scattered and I spend all my time searching for things....I have had a lot of anxiety so I started playing with a piece of printer paper...(really) and some cheap little kids paints in the little containers....It turned into a mermaid painting....













At first she looked like a transvestite with a big square, jutting chin and I kept wanting to paint an adams apple on her neck but I refrained and redid the chin....You can still see the hint of a drag queen, but I am fine with it....I was so relaxed and really enjoyed the whole process..The next night I used heavy watercolor paper and I got some good acrylic paints and I painted another one...























These might turn into some kind of mermaid cards or something, but maybe not....maybe I will paint a mermaid dotee doll just for you Val.......

Finally Some Mermaid Creativity

I've been very excited about this month's mermaid theme but haven't been very productive in terms of creating mermaids. We have a new puppy who has been taking up a lot of our waking hours so I've been slow to create. I have my mermaid ornament done but haven't created anything else. Last night I decided to try my hand at making my mermaid dotee. I have this great sparkly fabric that looks like scales that I psyched to use. I made a mermaid costume for my daughter using this fabric 4 or 5 years ago and didn't remember struggling to sew with it. I almost called it quits last night and considered scrapping the whole idea when my machine tried to eat the fabric because it was so lightweight. I persevered and figured out how to add some weight to the fabric. This was at midnight and I still wasn't happy with the my dotee's skin and almost threw her out, but I broke out my paints and started painting skin and hair instead. I finally dragged myself up stairs to at 1:30 am feeling better about my dotee. When puppy woke me up at 6:30 this morning I was tired but finished my mermaid. This wasn't my original vision for my dotee but I'm happy with her. Now that I'm feeling a little better in the mermaid creativity department it's time to finish up my mermaid package for Kerry.

Bird's Nest Clay Pot Ornaments

Hi everyone! Due to a neck injury back in January I haven't been doing much blogging or crafting but I have been visiting alot of blogs and surfing the web. I came across a fun project that reminded of Val and the YOE swap group. I emailed Val and she suggested I put it up on this blog. Duh! Now why didn't I think of that? LOL

I don't know if any of you have seen Favecrafts but they are a wonderful site full of all kinds of free projects.  In their Christmas section they had these cute clay pot ornaments.

These birds are cute but you could also put other things in the pot. I think a cute little hedgehog would be adorable.

 I like this one with the glitter around the rim too. This one would be nice with a little baby to mark the birth of a new little one or a small couple to celebrate a wedding or one of those mini graduation caps. Then you could write the date and occasion on the bottom of the clay pot.