Be Fearless Mixed Media Canvas and Random Life Photos From 2018

Hello and welcome to my blog.

Depending on where you live, there

are beautiful season changes

happening! May has shown up here in the mountains

in a summery mood

wearing her loveliest of greens.

There are little blossoms appearing and

all sorts of pretty things in the yard

today. All very small but 

very welcome and treasured. I

 will have to get out soon 

and take some

photos. 

There's been an assortment of fun projects

to work on in my little gypsy studio. 

Lots of painting and some paper collaging.

 Clay and glitter... buttons and gems.

It's all so magical and the messes on my table

come and go shifting from one pile of 

goodness to the next. 

I'm so happy that I'm finally 

getting the hang of this

new way of downloading my photos!

And I'm so much more consistent.

There seems to always

be something

stewing in my mind. And though

I'm not a fearful person, I am not

very assertive sometimes and have allowed

negative thoughts to stay too long in my

head. I never realized

that I was so negative inwardly.

 Toward myself.

But I am very happy to share that this

is beginning to change. 

Like a butterfly coming out of it's 

cocoon or chrysalis.

And as I promised, here is the finished

project that

was inspired by a tiny butterfly.

Butterflies don't fly around afraid

of what people think or

of what might happen. 

They are happy to flutter about and gather their

food and enjoy sips of water and take refuge when

they see danger.

This is a 9x13 canvas. I used gesso, acrylic paints, stamps, ink, vintage papers

and stencils as well as random things for texturing.

My beautiful, Sonoron shell 

pink guitar that my husband got me last year. 

I love playing it and get comments on it whenever I take 

it to gigs.  It's perfect for this Shabbi Gypsy!

They don't make them anymore.

I'm still playing a lot of music and am working 

on songwriting as well. There is so much to learn

but I think the most important thing is to

put our whole hearts into whatever we do.

Do you agree?

This beautiful leaf was collected two years ago. 

Did you know that you can use 

rubber stamps on leaves?

My lovely geranium from last spring is still with me. 

Last fall, it was nearly

 four feet tall and three feet wide. I had to 

trim her back some so she could fit inside

for the winter.

These two are so much fun. They are full of 

love and SHENANIGANS! 

Just as they should be ;)

Have you had a first time recently?

I boiled stinging nettle this morning and ate it!

It's very good. 

{The western version.} 

A friend brought us some for making tea to

help with allergies. I scooped it out of the container

with my hands 

and my little finger is still stinging. 

haha.

If you look it up, you'll find that it's packed with

nutrients and is a complete protein. 

I found this little lady at Ross and thought 

she was so special,

I just had to bring her home.

Whatever you're doing this week, 

I hope you're finding

peace and rest and beauty in your days.

Four peaks in the Sonoran Desert.

It's music for me tonight and a month

from tomorrow, I leave to

head to Ohio to get my girl!

I hope that you enjoyed your visit.

Thank you for coming.

I hope you feel welcome and leave inspired.

Have a lovely rest of your week

and a Happy May to you.

Tamara 

Xo

Create Your Bliss ~ Life Choices and a Small Mixed Media Project

Hello!

Today was my walk day and the

spring weather has been rainy and cloudy

and breezy. 

I love these days.

Now, I have Primrose in my lap

and Liberty is eating smarties at my feet.

We're all enjoying a crackling fire.

*~*~*~*~*

Life is a wonder to me. 

There are mysteries about why things

happen the way they do. And then there are

the things that we set into motion.

With all it's uncertainties, it's a 

lovely life. There are times though 

that I wish that I had 

been more prepared. I wonder if most of

us feel that way.

Wiser in the knowing of how

decisions would affect 

our future. 

I was very naive.

Today I want to share a

simple project that was inspired 

by these thoughts.

Do you ever keep little scraps

that you might do

something with it?

I used to be obsessive but have

learned to be more selective.

Isn't it fun to think of the possibilities :)

I mixed some paint and texture paste to

spread on this piece of corrugated paper. I fussy cut

a flower left over from a piece of card stock.

That's a scrap of vintage trim under the words

that I stamped. I love using seam binding to add color

and soft texture. Stars are such happy and magical 

things and seemed just right for

the theme. I found them in my jewelry supplies.

 I heard a song that had a line in it 

that said,

 "Are you living the life you chose

or are you living the life that chose you."

In keeping this positive, 

I'm not saying that I have serious regrets.

Of course, there are things I wish 

I had done differently. But this is more

about the things that I didn't do.

So that's how I came up with the:

CREATE YOUR BLISS

theme. 

One of the wonderful things 

about life is that every day is a 

chance to make a change

or start something new. 

It's an open door to any place and we can

take the first step toward

something that we've always wanted to do.

My daughter

and I have talked about

her decisions and what she wants.

It's one of the reasons that she's coming home.

She is smart about making her choices to create the life that she wants to live.

These can be financial or relational

or even career related. When I was growing up,

we were taught to make a lot of important

decisions based on finances.

It didn't matter what your gifts or talents

were and what dreams you had or what 

you enjoyed doing.

If I could go back, 

I would study music and art.

That makes a lot of sense since my father was

from a poor family.  Having our families

live through the great depression was a huge influence as well, I'm sure.

It wasn't their fault. 

It's what they knew.

Here's the beginnings of a project 

that I just finished

and will be a post coming soon.

It's funny how I gravitate toward

certain colors for a period of time.

I understand that financial considerations are important

but so is listening to your heart. 

People following their dreams...

  Making decisions that move them toward

creating the circumstances that support

those dreams.

I understand more now 

how to choose carefully

the path that will lead me to my destiny.

Considering commitments, of any kind,

very carefully.

Sometimes, there are circumstances

that we can't control. 

During these times,

we know we can trust God and

the process. Remembering that we

will find nuggets of truth and joy

along the way.

I believe that it's never too late.

And I am so thankful everyday

that God has given me the opportunity

now to pursue my 

passions in a different way. 

I study books and work at these

loves of mine. I peruse the internet

and learn so much.

It's an invaluable resource.

And I'm so thankful for people who 

are willing to share their knowledge and gifts

to teach others.

I have told God that if He will

give me the time, I will work hard and

use it. I will give Him the credit because

He helps me every day.

I am amazed sometimes at what I

can accomplish!

Along with the magic and fun, 

we know that it takes a lot of devotion and

hard work.

What are your dreams and goals?

I'd love to hear about how you work

at fulfilling them.

I wish you courage and

and undying hope 

to accomplish what's in your heart.

You can Create Your Bliss~ 

I hope you have a lovely weekend and a 

blessed Easter. 

Thank you for coming by. 

Tamara XX

A Mixed Media, Thank You Card For Spring ~

I hope you are having a good week so far.

I am resting a lot this week after

really over doing it last week.

Sometimes life is like is that

but then we can pull back

and enjoy some quiet

and work on what is in our hearts to do.

I did enjoy a little 

clean up time in the

gypsy camp this morning.

I made a fire and made some toasted bread

 with cream cheese and cranberries. It

felt wonderful to be out!

I wanted to share this thank you

card that I made for my daughter.

She is so thoughtful!

I used some lace, old wallpaper

and layered several types of 

papers. I found these flowers

at our local drug store and loved the

crimson color and they came with

some wire fronds as well.

I used a bit of embroidery floss for the bow.

Last fall, I found a DARLING, child's

antique, sewing box and it was full of

so much colorful floss. 

I now have plenty to use

in my projects.

Making cards for people is one of my favorite things to do. It's so relaxing and

I love expressing greetings with

a hand made card.

Wishing you a lovely rest of your week

and thank you for coming by~

Blessings,

Tamara

Sharing today at:

Simply Neutrals

Come and see all of the lovely

creations and talent!

Hello Spring! You are Magical~

Hello.

I hope this finds you all well.

What a glorious time it is with

the weather changing

and all sorts of hope that seems

to accompany the arrival of budding trees and

baby animals and birds galore.

Springtime is the land awakening.

The March winds are the morning yawns.

Lewis Grizzard

The world just has a freshness about it and

 there seems to be a purity and innocence about the world and so a white rose.

She is gorgeous and somewhat regal in her

appearance.

Flowers bloom and sprigs

of all sorts of green come shooting up through

the cold soil to be touched

by the warmth of the sun. 

Came the spring with all it's splendor... 

all it's birds and all it's blossoms. 

All its flowers and leaves and grasses.  

William Wadsworth Longfellow      

Spring is a magical time but it 

comes late to the mountains

and so I have been gathering 

my own bouquets

of pinks and yellows to 

welcome this lovely season of new life.

How do you welcome spring? 

 I have some thoughts of some little vignettes.

Thoughts of faeries, little birds, nests and lovely

green mosses and paper flowers.

I'm slowly working but

life is bustling with all sorts of good things. 

It's all a lot of fun but hard work, too!

I'm reading the book BIG MAGIC

by Elizabeth Gilbert and it's so inspiring

and encouraging. I always thought it was 

about how to be creative but

it's really about how to manage

your creativity. It has been so helpful!

One of the points she makes is that 

she measures her success by how

devoted she is to her craft.

I love that. 

I'll be sharing some of my projects

soon. I've been having so much fun making things and painting.

I watered everything today. My perennials are coming along.

 It will be some time before I get to having

flowers. Even later

this year because.....

My girl is coming home!

She's moving back from Ohio and

I couldn't be any happier.

So I will drive out in June

and her dad will fly out

and help us pack the van and we will 

travel back together. 

We are ALL overthemoon excited :)

So, besides maintenance, my gardening

will have to wait to mid July this year.

But it's ok. 

My herbs will be thriving in the next 

month and I love them.

As I said, 

spring comes late to the mountains.

I hope that you don't 

mind if I share a snow picture.

I know some of you have had enough.

But I do love the mountain wildlife that come

to visit. They are about 10 feet from

 the back door. And as you can see,

they aren't afraid. 

I didn't even realize that 

I had gotten the one 

in the distance until later.

Some of you have met Sunny. 

He's a bearded dragon and the sweetest thing.

This is pretty much proof. 

These are two of my OK grandkids 

and Sunny now lives with them. 

And as you can see, 

they adore him!

He is so gentle and calm. 

I miss him but my son told me that he can

come and visit Grandma's house 

sometimes and we can share ;)

I have moved many of my things

and I'm still in the process of gathering 

and organizing. 

Sometimes it's fun and inspiring

just to do something different. 

With spring and life changes, I'm finding

that the neat little boxes that

 I've held my thoughts in for so long

are growing and changing. 

It's scary and exciting and liberating all at the

same time.

Do you ever feel like that?

Are there things changing in your life?

Are you working on projects?

Here's one of mine. 

In my new living space,

I wanted something to hang 

some jackets and scarves on.

I've been trying to add some color and chose

this red. I am so indecisive about colors so

I have LOTS of Home Depot samples.

They work great for small projects tho

and are inexpensive!

This is somewhat of a random post.

I really just wanted to come and say hello

and...

Happy Spring! 

Here's a funny spring quote that I found.

Finally my winter fat is gone. Now I have spring rolls ;)

Thank you so much for coming by.

 Have a blessed day! X

Tamara

Shabby and Vintage Valentine Tags (It's Still February! ;)

Hello and here I am posting 

for the second time in a week! 

I hope this is the start of a new trend...

I always want to but life seems to take over.

Specifically, practicing and learning

 new songs and techniques

on the mandolin and guitar. Family keeps me

very occupied as well. 

But they are loves and I wouldn't

want that any other way.

This post is especially for my sweet friend,

Karen, from Roosterhead Designs. 

She wanted to see close up shots of my

valentines that I made.

She is such a dear and makes beautiful

cards and creations!

I'm thinking that I shouldn't have 

edited these so much and they would have

shown up better. 

Lesson for the future ;)

I hope you don't mind another 

valentine post but I

guess it is still

 the month of love~

Every year we try to have a Valentine

meal with the kids and grandkids that live nearby.

We make valentines and give little gifts

or treats to each other.

It's such a fun time. 

This year my daughter had a

pink pancake breakfast. The pancakes were

so fluffy and delicious.

Grandma and Grandpa brought the fruit, 

sprinkles and 

whipped cream to go on top!

There were plates PILED with crispy,

crunchy bacon. 

Six pounds I believe!

A dozen bacon lovers around the table.

I have so much fun with the details 

when I sit to make projects. 

For these, I sifted through 

my ephemera and did 

my best to co-ordinate it 

with the gender, interests and ages 

of each one. I love finding things

 in thrift stores to use. 

The vintage looking valentines 

are actually stickers that I found 

at a thrift store many years ago.

I have a large paper doily collection

and old tickets that I have saved form different

raffles and events. Some of the pieces

are cut from old playing cards.

I did some fussy cutting.

 (I always thought that this term was so cute.)

There's a lot of layering and angling to get

the look that I wanted. 

I used some glitter, 

old buttons and one of my 

favorite things to buy on Etsy....

crinkled seam binding.

I put these all together

 on small shipping

tags that I purchased and 

larger tags that I made.

There are so many more projects in the making. Painting ... collaging and 

lots of thank you notes to 

make to send out for birthday gifts.

Thank you for coming by. 

I hope your week is going wonderfully and if you're wishing for spring,

hold on! It will soon be here.

Don't forget to pop in and say hi to Karen.

The love and details that she puts into her 

creations is beautiful and inspiring.

Blessings and joy to you.

Tamara XO