A Tip and a Project

Well hello everyone.    I sure hope and pray that each and every one of y'all had a very Happy Resurrection Sunday!!!    As I look out this Friday evening, I realize we are in a wet spell.    You know the saying, "April showers bring May flowers"?    Well, since we had flowers as early as February, what will the showers of April bring us in May?    I guess we will just have to wait and see. I noticed yesterday that we still have many of the little wild violets, purple and white, in our back and side yard.    They are so pretty.   I enjoy taking pictures of them sometimes.    I just enjoy looking at the pictures long after the little flowers have done gone.    The last time I went to church with Mom, one of the guys there was talking to Mom and me about "Johnny Jump Up's".     After finding out what they were, I told him our whole side and back yard is covered in them.     He had said that some of his property had a whole bunch growing wild and he just loved them.    Amidst all the little "Johnny Jump Up's" in the side and back yard is also some wild strawberries.    The strawberries get to be about the size of a small marble and red as red can be.    Mom asked me if I had tried to eat one. At the time she asked, I had not.    Later on I did and it's about like trying to chew on a small marble. hahahaha    I am surprised I didn't get sick.     Years ago, I seen something on tv and they were talking about the plant called the "Mother-In-Law's Tongue".     They was talking about how poisonous it was as a house plant for children and pets to be around.    It is VERY toxic.    I was at  Mom's and we was talking about it and I asked if she had ever heard that.    I can't remember if she said yay or nay, but she always had a big healthy pot of that in the house.    She had had it for as long as I could remember and still had it at that time.     I got up and went to it and said how bad can it be?    I leaned over and just barely sank my teeth into the blade at the very tip top, two or three times, and said "nah, it ain't poisonous".    Boy, what did I know?    NOTHING!!!!!     I spent four of the most miserable days of my life, vomiting and diarrhea!!    I thought I was gonna die, and at one point, I didn't even care, because I would have been outta my misery!!!     Later on I heard the same thing about poinsettias.    I know, you are wondering if I tried it, right?     Well, I did NOT, thank you!    I figured God saved me from my own stupidity once, and I was not gonna see if He would save me from my own stupidity again.   Seriously!!!     Oh well, enough of me telling on myself.    It would have been much more fun for me to tell on one of my brothers, but of all the stupid stuff they done, none of them ever done that.    I bet they would try it though, especially if it was turned into a bet.    hahahaha   We'll see.    hahahaha

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Mt tip for this blog post is about eggs.    Hard boiled eggs,as a matter of fact.    I love hard boiled eggs, but I hate to try to peel them once I get them boiled.     The day before Easter, I was in the kitchen and decided to hard boil a few eggs.    I have been sick for a couple of weeks, and still not feeling well, but we just wanted a dressed a egg, so I had to boil them.    I really didn't care much about messing with them, but I did.   I put them in the pan and got the water boiling and boiled them for less than 10 minutes, probably 6 or 7 minutes.    I turned them off and immediately drained the hot water and added ice to the pan, almost filled to the top.    I set the pan aside and forgot about it for about 15 minutes and then poured the ice and water off.   While the eggs was still in the pan, I swirled the eggs around in the pan hard enough to crack the shells real good all over.   I commenced to peeling those eggs and I'm telling ya, those eggs just slid right outta those shells!!!!!     Where have I been all my life not to know that?     I'm probably the last person alive to learn this, but, just in case, I thought I would share it with y'all.    Oh yeah, and one last thing about doing them this way, they are already cold when you get done with them, so you can serve them immediately, because the ice cools them all the way thru.    Yay!!!!    Give it a try sometime, it's a keeper tip for sure!

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I wanted to share another fun project that I recently done.    This was an Altered Letter Swap.     The online group I'm in decided to alter an initial for the person who's name we was assigned.     I kinda knew what I wanted my finished project to look like, but, I had to get my letter first.   hahaha      I have watched so many wonderful artists on some of the google communities I'm in do so many great things, so I decided I would channel some of those fantastic artists and see if I could come up with something half way passable.     I've watched +Heather Kraafter  in the Kraafters Kommunity do so many awesome things and I decided I would try something that she had taught us on some of the KraftItLive programs.    So, I dedicate this Altered Art Letter Swap to her.

I used gel medium and applied a couple layers of crumpled tissue paper.   Trying to let it dry in between layers.    Obviously it's not a quick project.

I worked on it in a cookie sheet from the Dollar Tree.   Any new project starts and ends in that cookie sheet, if it's small enough to fit in it.     I put an ink pen in the pic to show size of the "g".    I think it was 8" tall.   It came from Wal Mart.    This was the first coat of tissue paper.

This was the second thin coat of tissue paper and after that I dried, I put on a coat of white gesso and let that dry for another day or two.

Next, I put on a couple coats of acrylic paint.     I done a project a couple of years ago where I painted the insides of 5 bottles that I had gotten at the Dollar Tree.    In order for the jars to dry, I had to drain the excess paint from the insides.     I had a plastic jar that was perfect to drain the paint in.    There was purple, copper, sky blue, silver, and gold.    The color on the project is the combination of all those colors.     I really love it.    It has become my go to color for a lot of my projects.    So, I put a couple of layers of paint on and let it dry again for another day or so.

 

While the paint was still wet I sprinkled on some different colors of fine glitter and then some larger pieces of glitter.     I was really thrilled with the texture I got on this.    This was still in the planning stages, and if you look real closely you can see two or three tiny little acrylic bows.     They didn't stay on there long, because I didn't like it and I can change my mind if I want too.    hahaha

So, I dug around in my tiny quilled flowers and greenery  and found the pieces I wanted to put on this project and commenced to gluing them on.    I have used quite a few of them lately and will have to cut and make some more really soon.    I brushed on some bead gel in a couple of places and then I got out my shell chips that I got from MiriamJoy.com and I put several of them down in clusters and also put some in  and around the flowers.

After everything dried, again, like I said, not a fast project.  hehehe     I used my studio g glitter glue and brushed it all over the flowers, giving them some sparkle and it also adds a stiffness to them that I like.  

This is a close up of some the shell chips.   I used tan, turquoise and a blue/black color.   I just love the shell chips.   And have found out recently that I can also add color to them with some of my Inka Gold Metallic Rubs.   Yay!!!

This is a close up of some of the flowers.   The largest ones about the size of nickles and the smallest ones being about the size of kitchen match heads.

This is before I got the studio g glitter glue brushed on.

This is the finished product.

Flowers after the glitter glue.

 More flower closeups.   I really love the flowers.

Another shot of the flowers.   I know, probably too many.     But I like the looks of them and I hope you do too.  

The finished G drying and cureing for the last time before sending it on to it's new home.   After I got everything done and the way I wanted it to look, I went over the front of it one more time with the Wet and Wild Clear Shine nail polish from the Dollar Tree.    I buy 2 or 3 bottles at a time.   It really gives a very nice finish to the end project.     I really loved doing this project so much!!!!      I have another really neat project to share with y'all real soon, so be on the look out.   You heard it here first! hahahaha

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If you ever wonder how much Jesus loves you, remember Resurrection Sunday!!!!    Go to the Gospels in the front of the New Testament and read about His love for us.    I am so thankful for what Christ done for me on the Cross, and I pray that your are too!    Just know that He is gonna return some day soon and claim His own.    Most of y'all, my readers, I will probably never get to meet you in person, but I am happy to know that I will get to see you when we get Home, if your name is in the Lambs Book of Life and I pray that all your names are there!!!

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Well, I guess that just about wraps up another blog post for the time being.     I hope you seen something today that inspired you to tap into your creativity.     I learn so much from others and I enjoy passing on a little of what I have learned.    Every one of us has some kind of creative gifts and they should be celebrated.    So, start believing you can and you will.    It's fun and cheaper than therapy!!!   hahaha    Well, it is!    hahaha     Sometimes it's just a matter of finding what really makes you happy.    I hope as the sun sets where ever y'all today, that you can say you have had a blessed day and was happy to be a part of God's glorious creation.    I pray for a peaceful evening and a refreshing night of rest and that tomorrow will be even more blessed and wonderful than today was.   God loves y'all and so do I!    hugs and love, Patty