I’m sorry to leave you hanging for so long on Part 1 of our last art adventure. A few weeks ago I got completely obsessed with Twitter (see sidebar on right).  It feels like a toy made just for me!  Twitter posts must be 140 characters or less which I find highly fun and challenging.  Reading on Twitter is a fantastic experience with quick and easy access to unlimited info/news via links attached to the tweets.  But, Twitter or not, I have been a terrible blogger.  I am sorry.

Now back to our art adventure . . . You probably figured out my little stunt. The photos from Part 1 are simply weird-angle-close-ups of my very clueless paintings.  I had started with simple acrylic paints and yummy textured paper.

At the hands of someone skilled and talented, this would have made a lovely painting.  I am neither.  But I am resourceful and I love a challenge.  So next step: Colored pencils.

These are watercolor pencils–so much fun!  After drawing, take a wet paint brush over your lines and watch the magic as they turn into gorgeous strokes of smeary color.  First I used a white pencil, then some dark pencils with just a slight wet brush smudging:

The colored pencils gave it a nice depth but still needed something . . . Hmmm.  Time to break out the glitter glue and dimensional paints.  You can’t go wrong with this stuff.  The messier the better.

How’s that for a bit of primitive shabby glam?

I am leaving you with a close-up shot of this painting in its very first stage.  Don’t you love how a magnified perspective turns a yawny visual into something quite fresh and interesting?

If only this approach worked with my face . . .

I’m going to do this post in 2 (maybe more) parts.  Thought I’d start by inspiring you with some shots of a couple of small projects I did the other day.  Can I paint?  I really don’t have a clue how to paint anything.  But wait.  Yes I can!  Why let a few clues stop me?

Please stop in again soon for more about my clueless art.  If you don’t have a clue what I’m talking about, I am in good company.  Let’s have a little fun muddling through.

Paint our woodwork a creamy, dreamy white.  Not all of it, just the nondescript pieces. (My hubby just doesn’t understand.)  I’ll take some of these lovely white book shelves too.

from houzz.com

Take entire family to see Tran-Siberian Orchestra next Christmas.

Write the story of my life in poetic form.  Hmmmm, I better get crackin’ on this.

Start sewing again.

Visit England / Ireland / Scotland.  3 months!  But yikes how to leave my family that long???

from worldatlas.com

Should probably add Win the Lottery (see above).

Scan in all family pictures.  I’ve been working this for years.  Many more to go.

Silver-streaked hair.  See gorgeous example: http://pinterest.com/pin/69031806757990809/  I’m getting there.  One more cut and all color should be just about gone.  It has been a bit scary.  The hardest part was the first few weeks.

Start planting a vegetable garden again.

Tonight:  Cozy up at home for dinner and a movie (chicken breasts, roasted Brussels sprouts and baked potatoes; and movie John Adams).

So, What are you doing New Year’s Eve?

And the rest of you life?

May it be blessed!

 You’ll be astounded at your elf magic!

This recipe makes a nice size pot of soup.  It’s about the quickest meal I’ve every heard of.  It keeps really well in the fridge (great to have for the day after Christmas or New Year’s Day).  You can also adjust the recipe in endless ways.  I often add cooked ground beef, shredded chicken, rice, etc.  Try it!

And maybe treat yourself to a cold Blue Moon beer with sliced lime.  So light and refreshing . . . The perfect way to unwind.

Santa says it’s ok put up your little elf feet for a bit.  He knows you’ve been busy.

Wishing you peace, joy and love!

Well here it is the Christmas season once again and . . . ta da!  My idea makes its debut tonight:  Use your leftover paper to make bows!

Take the wrapping paper in your hand (pattern right side up), then squeeze and wad up in the middle:

Take the ends and fold under (all around, until it has a circular shape), then staple in the middle:

At this point, you have a respectable bow, although your staple will show if you look closely.

But don’t stop there! Make at least one more bow to layer on top. You can layer even more if you’d like. I did cheat a bit on the smaller red bow. Instead of stapling I just taped it in the bottom.

These bows might be perfect for you if:

• You love the less-than-perfect, homey, vintage look.
• You don’t want to spend one cent on bows.
• You are creative but not crafty.  You are maybe a little clutzy.

You could even wad up the kids and let them make all the bows for you.  They love elf work!

So wad do you think?

My newest fascination:  Pinterest, the most amazing, satisfying and useful tool I’ve seen since Facebook.  It is basically a site where you share visual bookmarks of everything you love–a giant wish book you can organize to your heart’s delight by pinning onto ”boards”.

But more.  You instantly connect with kindred spirits and discover new people, places, information/ideas you might not otherwise ever notice.  Sure you love your Facebook friends, but that doesn’t mean you want to be constantly inundated with their top 25 favorite sites of the day.  Pinterest is pure sharing and discovery, without strings attached.

But even more.  All of this instant connecting creates a very raw and powerful tool for marketing, communications and the human experience.

http://techcrunch.com/2011/11/06/rise-pinterest-shift-search-discovery/

Why do Facebook and Pinterest thrive?  Because people need to give of themselves.  This is especially evident at Christmas time.  We wipe ourselves out looking for perfect gifts, but really it is so easy.  It’s that little part of yourself you need (and can afford) to share.  My grandmother liked to give Avon and socks.  I like to give books.  My daughter likes to give experience (tickets to a play, movie, etc.).  As a receiver of gifts, we should be especially thankful for those truly given in the spirit of sharing one’s self.  I have a bittersweet story on how I learned this.  My birthday is in early January, a notoriously sucky time for everybody.  One year when I was a young adult, my mother gave me a nice calendar for Christmas (one of her favorite items to give).  A week later, for my birthday, she gave me exactly the same thing.  I was so hurt, but I never said anything.  When she died a couple of years later I realized she wasn’t doing so well when she gave it to me.  But it wasn’t until a few years ago that I finally got the real lesson.  She really, really wanted me to have that dang calendar!  It wasn’t about what I wanted but what she needed to give me.  If I had saved her gift I’d have it hanging where I could literally see her love for me every day.

Oh yes I’m still on the subject of Pinterest . . . It is a powerful way to simply share ourselves . . .

Don’t ask what the world needs.  Ask what makes you come alive and go do it.  Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.  — Howard Thurman (1900-1981), American theologian, clergyman & activist

To get started, you must sign up using your Facebook or Twitter account.  (I realize this is a turn-off for some people.)  Then you simply start pinning away everything you love or just catches your eye.  You can pin directly from your own Internet adventures, from your own files, or re-pin what others have pinned.  Plus, you can easily follow other pinners which is a great way to expand your discoveries.

At this time I don’t believe there is a way to keep your pins private.  Too bad because it would make a useful shopping/planning tool; however, a really fun way to use Pinterest is to make “gift boards” for others.  It’s purely a game, just like when I was a girl sharing the Sears catalog with my big sister.  We’d each pick a side and then we “got” everything on our sides–unless trade agreements were made of course.  On Pinterest, I gave a dreamy swimming pool to my entire family, a number of cute kitties to my daughter, and some very nostalgic memories to my sisters.  Pure fun in the name of love.

Sure, my hubby thinks I’m just playing pretend for 3 hours, but really I am organizing, planning, dreaming and connecting in a way that is quickly reshaping our world.  For example, in a matter of seconds, I discovered and pinned:

A beautiful picture of Saint Cecilia, my grandmother’s namesake.

This amazing creature.  I call him Little Angel.

All the uses for WD-40–I still have the email-that’s-been-around-the-earth-a-trillion-times, but so much more handy to have a quick pin.

Some lushy vintage curtains . . . thinking of painting my bedroom a soft silver . . .

Oops I forgot to mention one thing.  You can even create a Things Not to Do! board:

In the waves of social media, Pinterest is a whopper.  Ride it!