Thursday, April 23, 2015

The Life They Are Living ... Our 30th Anniversary

Being deeply loved by someone 
gives you strength 
while deeply loving someone 
gives you courage. 
Lao Tzu 

30 years of marriage. 

A place of refuge and commitment. 

Where self gets intertwined
and slowly becomes the translucence  
of two moving together,  
 somewhat invisible ...
and then again separately 
while being recognized as individuals.

There's laughter that rings
through every room of the house that
became a home ....
all because of the
Love 
that came to rest and grow there.

First in their hearts....
 and then it filled every space of that 
humble dwelling. 

********
I will be away for a time. 
Jeff and I are going to San Francisco
for a week to celebrate our love
 and this rich and full life 
that we are blessed
 to live!

Have a blessed week, My Friends. 
I will miss you.

Hugs,
Tamara











Thursday, April 16, 2015

Shabby Dressed Papier Mache' Heart Keepsake Box

Hello sweet friends.
It's another day to CeLeBrAtE life's
goodness and beauty. 
It just has to be a choice sometimes.

And, today, I wish for you the strength
to look beyond those bumps in your road
and find the exquisite in the everyday.
*********
In the following photos,
I'd like to share with you a papier mache' 
heartbox that I found at a Goodwill 
several years ago.

As you will see, it's
all dressed up Shabby. 
This is one of my favorite things to do!
Find something with so much
potential and just let my heart and
hands go while trusting the process.

Sometimes it can be a little scarey because
I don't know where I'm going but
that's all part of the journey and learning!
 I always forget my before photos and so I 
cheated and found this one online.

So... TaDa!
This is before her makeover.
I don't have photos of the entire process
because it was very involved.
But I will share the basics and I
would be glad to answer any questions.

The first thing I did was to Gesso 
the box. This covers and 
water-resists the paper 
for painting or glueing, inking, or 
whatever wet medium 
you may want to use.

 I also gessoed some old sheet music.
It gives it a washed sort of look that I love.
There are many places online where you
can learn how and where to use 
this very versatile product. 


I then dry-brush painted the box with 
Vintage White acrylic, craft paint. 
The little texturing that you see here
was done with a gesso 
and Vintage White paint mixture.
Gesso is white and I wanted 
the creamy look and so I
 just mixed some of the paint with it!
Another wonderful thing about gesso (love it)
Is that you can tint it any color you want!

I spread a little on and then I took 
my french script rubber stamp 
and stamped the image on it.
After it dried, I rubbed 
a little Victorian Velvet Distress Ink and
 Frayed Burlap over it
to give it that color.
This tearing back of the paper
was a look that I had seen all around online 
in mixed-media projects and in 
card making. It's very simple.
I just dampened the paper and very carefully
 tore the size opening that I wanted. 
The gesso makes the paper a bit stiff
when the water dries which helps
it to hold it's shape. I then, 
with my finger, just carefully
rubbed some Frayed Burlap 
Distress Ink on it.

I also distressed the edges of the box 
and the sheet music 
 with a mix of dark and pink inks.

I really like to mix 
tattered and grungy with
 sparkle and elegance. To me,
they just seem to compliment 
each other so beautifully.

Do you like the grayish-green leaves?
I wasn't sure at first but the fabric
matched the color hues and so I went
 with it. Do you think it blends well?


 (I am not good at color blending! 
I have learned a lot from
others but I still have to  
ask my family for their input at times :)

To get the the pink splattered look,
I used the Perfect Pearls Forever Violet
spray from Ranger. It can be messy!
I hold my piece over 
my large trash basket and spray carefully. 
It takes some experimenting. 
You can add a little or a lot and 
the shimmer of the pearl 
is very subtle.
The embellishments were 
just what I had on hand.
 Fabric yo-yos...
shabby flowers... rhinestones... tulle...

I just love the mauve flower.
It's made from a thrifted, silk shirt. 
That's where I come by most of my 
fabrics for my crafting.
I wanted the inside to be somewhat finished
so it could be used for special keepsakes
but I really didn't want to line it. And so 
 I decided to paint/gessso it and then I made this
little lacey pillow to lay in the bottom.
It's up-cycled from a thrifted curtain.
The sweet bear came home with me from
a thrifting adventure as well. This post 
wasn't supposed to be about thrifting
but you can sure see how many ways
to save on your crafting supplies!
Well, I hope that you've 
enjoyed the project
and that I've shared some tips 
that have been helpful.

This project was a lot of fun but it
did take a while in the thinking of
the design. I'd love to hear about any projects
that you've been working on. 
Or just say hello!

Have a wonderful day and thank you so
much for stopping by.

Tamara xo

I'm joining the party at
Share Your Cup Thursday!
The Enchanting Rose

(oh my! I just noticed that the corners of some of my pictures are
edited differently. And it would take a lot of effort to fix them all,
including re-doing this entire post!  I'm sorry.. It seems that no matter how I try,
my "fine details" are a bit quirky.. I guess that's partly who I am.
Thanks  for understandin'!)



Tuesday, April 7, 2015

Art Inspiration: My Journey .... Chasing Your Dream to Create Your Future

Hello Dear Friends~

It's been quite a while since I've shared 
anything of my soulful journey of finding my way
 along the winding path of 
this artistic and heart awakening.
*********

It's another day and that's a good thing. 

Everyday is rich with possibilities.

Dreams and hopes fly on the wings of tomorrow ~

Tomorrows always seems so full of promise and 
it can seem easier to dream for tomorrow than
to expect reality today.

And though it's good to have hope for our dreams,

TODAY 

is the time to take steps toward making 

those dreams come true.

And so writes :

Victor Hugo.....
an Ohio sunset during one of my visits to my "other" home :)
isn't it gorgeous?
Are we waiting for something in our hearts to be born?

Maybe the birth has already begun.



 A dream can seem very elusive.

Appearing...fading..again and again..

I used to think of it all in terms of

"the being there."


Do you allow yourself the grace for the process?

 The learning of the skill...or the honing of a talent?

Are you thinking of everything little
seed that you sow to get there as a
 part of the beautiful process?

Is it protected by keeping the long-term hopes
in perspective. Are the tender shoots
allowed to grow in the light without being over-shadowed
by the pressure of expectations and the road ahead?


We stay focused.
Guarding that dream with all
the passion of a mother watching
over her babe as it grows.

We run after it every day,
never letting it out of our sight.
Learning how to nurture it in the every day and
adding to it's growth and strength.

Pushing through the hard things.
Remembering that there will be set backs.
Unexpected hardships and disappointments will come.
These things that seem to resist us will only
make us stronger.

Watching step by step.
 Recognizing the beauty as it unfolds before us. 
As the truth of what's in our hearts
begins to shine through the glory of what He
enables us to create with our hearts and our hands!


Always keeping the faith that we are being 
guided by The One Who
inspires and directs our paths.

If you are on a similar journey,
I would love to hear about your revelations. 
And ways that you have overcome as well as 
the beauty that grows in your heart and life.
I know there are so many different ways of expressing 
the passion and beauty that wants to
 overflow from a life!  

My admiration and respect grows for those
who are able to truly listen and stay true to
their hearts and course!

Wishing you blessings and beauty
for the rest of your week~

And always,
thank you so much for coming by. 
I appreciate your visits and comments so much!


Tamara xo