Do What You Can: Original Collage

Do What You Can With What You Have Where You Are

 

 Love the boots...

Love the off-the-shoulder 80's inspired top...

 

 

Love the sassy short shag with sparkly barrette.

 

Available on Etsy 

Two New "Fan Favorite" Prints in my Shop

 

Available on Etsy

The title was meant to be tongue in cheek. I don't have fans, I have friends and for those who aren't friends yet, readers. But these two Modern Girls are the ones I get requests for all the time... like weekly... sometimes daily.

So I decided to offer them as embellished prints. What that means is I have mounted the prints on MDF, edged them in black paint (this is all normal so far) and  for "She Knew She Could Conquer the World" added jewels and liquid pearls.

Available on Etsy

 

This is a great opportunity to get a larger print (they are approximately 12x12) at an affordable price. Originals that size start at $125.

P.S. Did you see my new header? 

What do you think? 

Dia de los Muertos Catrina Collage

Anyone who has been reading this blog for any amount of time knows two things about me.

1. I love Dia de los Muertos, Day of the Dead, and I find Catrinas so beautiful

2. I get really bored doing things the same way more than a few times.

So what I needed to do was make a collage that was really different (in this case, she's sitting on an over-sized chair) and I wanted to include my passion for Day of the Dead imagery.

 

What do you think?

Different good? Too weird?

My favorite parts are her collar bones (first time and I love them!), her necklace and the fact that she isn't a waif. This girl is stacked! *grin*

 

It's making me pretty happy. I'm really enjoying branching out and the challenge of trying to make new, more difficult poses. I tell you, any collage artists out there - go buy yourself a bridal magazine. They're AMAZING inspiration.

I'll be adding this to my Etsy shop. It'll be $50 and you can contact me directly if you'd like to purchase it before it's listed.

P.S. Did you see the texture! Love it!

Trip to the ER and a New Collage

Yesterday was a bit of a long day.

I think my heart was trying out for Dancing with the Stars:

first the tango, *stop*, then the Paso Doble, *stop*... wait for the judges... waltz!

It was pretty darn scary. Paddles were mentioned. Double-scary. 

I was totally like, " ixnay on the addles-pay!"

Anyhow, things calmed and nothing life-threatening occurred and now I'm waling around with a 24 hour EKG to keep an eye on my ticker.

Looks like a white cami from a distance.

Not so much up close. I see all the special heart guys on Monday and we'll figure it out. 

What a day.

But then the mail came and look at the pretty I got. It was like getting a hug from my Mom-in-law on a day I really, really needed it. Thanks, Mom!

But enough about me, here's some pics of a collage I made:

It has lots of gorgeous texture:

Available on Etsy

New Originals and Prints: Shop Update

I have some new originals in my Etsy shop:

Be Better Than Yesterday

Stylish Motivational Collage

And new prints, mounted on MDF and edged with black paint, $18.00 each:

Art Prints

I'll be introducing each of the new pieces on my blog in the days ahead.

You Are Only Confined By the Walls You Build Yourself

You are only confined by the walls you build yourself.

What a powerful statement. Lately I've been thinking a lot about what I'm able to do and what I can not and then I've been asking,

 what walls am I building around myself? 

Turns out there is a lot more that I can do then I think I can if I don't let fear or ego hold me back. 

I love the interplay between the purple, the flowers and the spray paint here. Had to share a close up.

This is my first Modern Girl who's wearing pants. I wanted to make someone that really represented how real women look on a normal average day. For me, that would be jeans, a cute t-shirt and haphazard hair. 

I hope you enjoyed the little chances I took with her. It was fun making something quite different from the others.

Available on Etsy

Think Happy. Be Happy. Collage

Think Happy. Be Happy.

This vivacious modern girl is as at home under a tree in a busy city park as she is picking apples in an organic orchard. 

Don't you just love her boots?

I modelled her after my friend, Rachael. It's so much fun for me to make these with someone specific in mind.

I did a big shop update this morning so if you want a sneak peek of what's coming up on the blog you can CLICK HERE

What's Up With Me :-)

Hey everyone,

Are you getting tired of seeing collages? I've been worrying about that and thought I'd just ask. Right now, I've been making a ton-o collages so that's been the bulk of my posts. But if you're bored, please speak up. I have thick skin :-) Okay, I don't, really. But I can handle it :-)

The last six weeks have been so busy and crazy! Wow! So I thought I'd give you all a highlight reel.

There was a forest fire! It was close enough that this is the view from my front door. Scary! The authorities had us pack but not evacuate. Fortunately no homes burned and all was well in the end.

My oldest turned 16!

I had my make-up done at MAC and tried false eyelashes for the first time. Haven't since, they are dirty looking things... any tips on cleaning them. Every time I pick them up I think, well there's an eye infection waiting to happen!

I also met an artist whose work I fell madly in love with and bought the piece that spoke to my heart:

And I've had three different big bad health things happen. *grumble* So I've taken my health in my own hands - temporarily until surgeons can Mr Fix-it the rest. A big part of that is no sugar. 

*GASP*

Which is why you've seen a lot less baking on this blog.

But I do have a backlog of cake posts needing to be written up so there still will be cake. I just feel weird sharing sugar-rich recipes when I'm convinced it's just not good for people. 

In the battle of ethics vs yummy-tummy which will win?

said in my best ready to rumble announcers voice

But, if you're jonesing for some dessert awesomeness from Casa Maki, my youngest son, Brayden, has started a blog that mostly features Mug Cakes. Mix in a mug. Cook in the mic. Easy, done. Portion-controlled. I approve.

Boy Who Cooks

And, as I'm sure you've noticed, I started an Etsy shop and it's been constantly sold out. Nearly every piece has sold in under two hours and I've been waking up most days to custom orders. It's been a wild, invigorating, unexpected, WONDERFUL experience and I want to thank all of you who have been a part of it.