Well, the panting didn't become a bag or pillow.

 I ended up cutting out the woman and adhered her to foam, then glued her to the background. 

I used the frame that the canvas was wrapped around and attached yard sticks cut to fit and made a bench from them as well.

I gave her jewelry and some bird friends, oh and a crown of roses.

I made the flaming heat out of a sheet of Shrinky Dink. I cut it out, painted it and shrunk it, placing it on a fork before it cooled off to shape it. The fork was then twisted and shaped for the flames and placed onto a piece of foam painted gold. I wrapped some wire and a key around it just for fun.

Guess what? 

I won the Judges First Place Award AND some one bought her.

I named her Rita.

Now on to the next art project...small art for the OSLP program fundraiser. 

Also a Gypsy picture swap with some friends.

I love to make stuff

Hi! I am back again.

I have joined into an art challenge here that is kind of fun and crazy for me.

I have to take a painting done by someone else and make updated art with it.

from the website:

St. Vincent de Paul, in collaboration with MECCA, offers a unique opportunity to look at salvaged materials in a new way and raise awareness of creative re-use. We’re looking for professional and amateur artists, reuse crafters and youth artists to create art, starting with an existing piece from St. Vincent de Paul’s discard collection.

She's 30"x 18". She will either become a pillow, a shopping bag or a box. 

I've added a necklace and earrings. I might add flowers to her hair.

Anyway, when I finish, I will post more!

Eat!

Opal didn't like leftovers.

When I was young, she would tell us kids to eat all our food or there would be rain the next day and we couldn't go out to play. That reasoning kind of didn't work when in 70's California we were having a drought,

so it changed to

The Chinese believe that leftovers are warmed over death.

Strangely, that one worked...especially when she ordered Chinese food from Ernie's Kitchen.

On a side note, the delivery guy drove a Volkswagon bug when he delivered. I have always loved bugs...maybe that's why.

Happy Valentines Day

Red Tomato

Some tomato art for your crafting from Graphics Fairy  Tomato

Tomatoes, on the farm we had many tomato meals. One of my favorites was a fresh tomato sandwich, straight out of the garden.

Mom would peel the tomato first and if it didn't peel easily, she would drop it in some warm water for a few minutes then peel it.

A slab of tomato and some mayonnaise on a slice of bread with the occasional slice of red onion was delicious.

As an adult I am terribly allergic to tomatoes. I guess I ate too many!

Red

Mom loved red...everything red... 

 Red clothes

 Red roses

Red fruit, tomatoes, you name it, if it were red she liked it.

She believed that if one had an issue such as a blood disorder, they should eat red foods and put red all over the house so it could help build red in your body. She decorated with reds all over her humble abode.

My mom Opal was a talker and she always had words of wisdom. She passed on in 2009 and this blog is my way of remembering what my mom said. 

I can remember her telling me to be me, not who others wanted me to be.

As you can see from the photo above, she never let anyone tell her what to do and she was bright and full of life. Me? I was a tomboy who didn't want to stand out.

Some of what she told me was silly, some crazy and of course there were serious talks. 
I think this will be fun.

Toodles.

Hi! It's M.E. and I'm back.
I tried a few other blogs and I have so many memories here, so I'll hang out for a while.
Our cat Logan is 15 now and is ready to move on. It's heartbreaking. My heart goes out to all who have ever lost a pet.

 I cut my long hair in 2014 and haven't really missed it. For the new year and my since my 50th bday will soon be here, I went with Pink hair...dark pink.

well, I'll go for now. More to come I promise!

Weight and Health

 After finding out I am pre-diabetic, I have changed my eating habits and have been searching for better foods and treats. I am learning so much about starches and sugars and well, what I should and shouldn't eat.  I have cut out all white sugar, white bread, white rice, most all breads and no pasta.
I use Blue Agave Syrup for my sweetener and Greek Yogurt in place of sour cream and the milk for my granola. Kale, spinach, quinoa and cauliflower are my new best friends. Take fish oil everyday, fish oil and vitamin D.
The number one thing I had to cut out was the hardest...Dr Pepper. Every once in a while I have a diet soda, but it's rare. I try to choose cranberry juice with a diet lemon/lime soda when I do. I won't lie...diet Pepsi has made it's way into my belly. Truthfully though...no soda for me.  So that is why I am posting about the apple cinnamon water. I am hoping that I can find something I like that will help me out and this sounds good. I'll let you know what I think next time.

Apple Cinnamon Water  is something I just read about. I guess that both apples and cinnamon boost the metabolism, so drinking it is supposed to be a great way to lose.
This is a link to the website Lose Weight By Eating!
http://tonetiki.com/2012/04/01/apple-cinnamon-day-spa-water-0-calories/

 Recipe
Makes 2 liters, re-fill water 3-4 times before replacing apples and cinnamon.
INGREDIENTS:
1 Apple thinly sliced, I like Fugi but pick your favorite
1 Cinnamon Stick
DIRECTIONS:
Drop apple slices in the bottom of the pitcher (save a few to drop in your glass later) and then the cinnamon stick, cover with ice about 1/2 way through then with water. Place in the fridge for 1 hour before serving.
LASTS FOR 24 HOURS IN THE FRIDGE.
Nutritional Info:
Calories: 0
Fat: 0
Fiber: 0
Protein: 0
Carbs: 0

\All credit for this goes to Audrey Johns and her awesome website.
Oh and so far I've lost twenty pounds. :)
Have a fabulous day!

It's that time again, the time to blog. I spend so darn much time on Facebook that I have forgotten how to actually write a real post.

I get up, get ready for work, go to work and come home. I usually go straight to look at Facebook and then before I know it it's bed time. At least that is how it feels. I do sleep a lot...my doctor has banned me from going to my bed before 9pm, otherwise I sleep all afternoon. She asked me to go get some blood tests to figure out why...three weeks ago. I know, I will, just waiting to pay off the bill for my visit with her! Hahaha, don't you just love it. 

This year I didn't want to do any resolutions that I would just drop after a few weeks, so I am going to give more encouragement and give more to others...random acts of kindness.  I find it isn't that 

hard to do. I bought the person behind me in a drive up a coffee, made art for a friend and gave a lady at Michaels my 40% off coupon.

I have so much on my mind ALL of the time. I just wish the ringing in my ears would quiet down a bit so I can hear what I'm thinking. 

I woke up this morning thinking it was Thursday and that after tomorrow I was gonna get to sleep in and do something fun like paint all day, then around noon, my coworkers told me it was only Wednesday...that is so not Thursday...so, of course I was a bit bummed and all. However, guess what? It's bedtime and tomorrow is Thursday. Yay!

I'll have to take some photos so I can have pics on my posts. When my other computer died, I lost all my pictures...all my collection from the last 8 years. C'est la vie.

See you all again soon.

<3