Mothers Day BURLAP

As you know Mothers day JUST happened. I wanted to make my mommy something that she might actually use and not just clutter up the house... so I went on diaryofacraftaholic.blogspot.com (always has the best ideas) and of course she was having a link party and I went through some of the blogs until i found this awesome place mat idea @ my quarter life crisis blog. ( for more detailed instructions click on her blog)
I used Burlap (chocolate brown)
Paint
Stencils Paisly Fabric

I cut out an image of a bird (free hand) and I printed PHILLIPS CO. out on card stock than using an exact o knife I cut out the letters (very time consuming!)This is when a cricut would've been VERY handy. But hey art was my minor and sure do know my way around an exacto knife. :) Then I had to cut out burlap.. I don't think any of my placements are the exact same size! haha!

I simply took an old placement and used that as my measurements! I then frayed the edges... but burlap like to keep coming unraveled! so i used my brain and put a glob of hot glue on each of the corners on the back to keep my gift from becoming unraveled! GENIUS! I KNOW! :)
This is my bird after I painted her in I went back and added feat and cut a piece of my paisley fabric to giver her a wing and some added dimension. (aint she cute)
This is how my beautiful lettering turned out! The letters were the biggest pain of this whole operation. I had to throw one of these beauties in the garbage cause of the lettering paint issue :(
oh well.. i made 6 of these things in all. :)

L*O*V*E*

This was supposed to be for valentines day but... again i procrastinated too long and so it ended up in my room with apple green hearts instead of red hearts.

I always read on other peoples blogs how they just go into the dollar store and inspiration hits and they buy a couple things and put em together to create way cool, cute cheap stuff. So I thought if they could do... why can't I? hahaha

I got the love letters that were a see through red ugly plastic color that hung together to create a swinging sign of luv. I cut them apart, went to wally world and bought a cheap trashy romance novel and wrapped the letters in the paper from the book. :)

Then i remember reading from a blog long ago about taking cardboard and pealing off a layer of paper to get a fun textured back ground which then I painted with black paint

Than i added some flowers and hearts and BAM!

I got to be CREATIVE and CRAFTY just like everyone else!

(it just only took me like 2 months to put it all together) :)

Chocolate Dentures

My grand father is a dentist and always does our dental work for free... saving me a lot of money! To show my gratitude I found some denture and teeth molds on www.bakeitpretty.com (one of my favorite websites) actually I found everything I used there too! Or you can always go to your craft store.

I made some teeth out of white chocolate and flavored them mint... I than added a metallic shine to them to give em some personality!



For the dentures I used white chocolate for for the teeth then used a red chocolate melts (or you could use white chocolate and add a red oil based dye- never use regular food coloring!) and added apple for flavoring. When using flavoring a small bit goes a looonnnng way! :)

I wrapped all the chocolates individually in saran wrap to avoid the chocolate from getting yucky, put it all in a goodies bag and tied with ribbon! My grandfather loved it! He as requested I make more so he can give em to his dentist buddies! :)

G-mas Sparkly Purple Wreath

My grandma came over for Sunday dinner... so of course I had to make her a wreath and try out my new wreath skills again. Her favorite color is purple and boy does she sure love sparkles!

This is what I came up with... notice a sparkly bug and diamonds?
This one was a lot easier to make than first one cause I actually knew what I was doing! :) I even made my sisters help me out a bit. I sure do love my grandma and hope she enjoys it!

This is what I used:
1 foam wreath with a flat back
1 thing of yarn
1 bird
1 wooden letter
acrylic paint
felt, ribbon, fabric (for flowers)
a variety of beads and stones
glue gun
all of the supplies can be found at any craft store :)

"Ring" in the sisters!

My lil sister came down to visit us from Idaho and my older sister had an AMAZING idea to make rings... So of course we had to go SHOPPING! We went to Micheals, Walmart, and Roberts to pick out our fun rings. Here are just a few of the MANY we made. We might have gotten a little bit out of control with how many rings we made... but it was tons of fun!

SO easy just glue the object to the ring with some super super duty glue, we got ours for a buck at walmart... than let it sit all night... thats it! :)

Some we added a lil extra bling to!
So nice to have our very own custom made jewelry! :) also very cheap to make!

In-between Wreath

I made this wreath for my mom to have has an IN-BETWEEN WREATH to hang up when its not a holiday. I think it turned out great! Can't wait to give it to her!
The wreath itself is super easy to make... just pick out some yarn... start wrapping it around the wreath... this is the boring part, it took me a good 30 min plus! Than after that the fun starts! I made flowers out of felt and variety of fabrics. The more different textures the better! I painted the letter and antiqued a bit to make it look more rustic! I used shells, buttons, rocks, feathers and ribbon (basically anything I could find) to add to the overall effect!
The finished product turned out a lot better than I thought... I really had no idea what I was doing. I saw it on etsy and thought what a great idea! :) So I made my own version! Can't wait to make more!

Valentine Candy Heart Wreath

YAY! all finished! I sprayed it with a clear coat of Satin Spray paint. Let dry. Than gave it to my mommy for V-day! She LOVED it! :) MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!

Look I am almost done! :) I could not find the conversational hearts at WalMart.. I had to go to Target to buy em. It took me about 2 bags and 3 nights to do the whole wreath.
I think I burnt everyone of my fingers with the glue gun.. that just shows you how coordinated I am :)
So I decided to give the CANDY HEART wreath a try. After seeing many others accomplish the same feat I thought how hard could it be.... all I can say is NEVER AGAIN. :)

V-day Heart Wreath

I really wanted to make a V-day wreath this year.. after looking at many blogs and searching the internet... I came up with this! So easy, went to Micheal's (luv this place) were I bought the wreath looking thing and than added the SpArklLiNg heart and little pink ribbon and VIOLA! My own special wreath... ps I luv fishing line to hang things and tie things.. so easy plus nobody notices it! :)

Valentine Mail

I have a little 4 yr old niece, Alyvia. Who luvs CANDY. I wanted to make the month of Valentines special for her with out giving her more cavities. One lady wrote on her blog (www.feelslikehomeblog.com) how she made a mailbox for her little girl and every day until valentines day would put a cute valentine note in the mailbox. SO off I went to Micheal's where they had a bunch of foam mail boxes and little foam stickers. This is what me ang megs came up with.. gotta luv PINK and GLITTER!
Every morning me or megs hide the MAILBOX with a V-Day note telling little liv how much we appreciate her,etc. Its like hiding the ELF, CHRISTOPHER POPKINS, for Christmas only V-DAY STYLE! Liv loves it and sometimes she even leaves her own "luv" notes for us to receive. :)

Cupid PooP!

This is my finished product. I printed the saying on white card stock. Used Valentine inspired cellophane, with pink, red, and white M&Ms as my "cupid poop." To finish it all off I tied a white ribbon around it. Can't wait to give em all to my friends! :)

I found this cute Valentine Idea at www.hotlittlenana.blogspot.com. So easy. Just go to her blog. Click on the picture. Print. & Cut. :) Plus she has a lot of other fun Valentine ideas. For the Cupid Poop you can use any valentine candy.

Dirt Bikin

Caleb is soo lucky to have such amazing sisters! Every morning we would eat an awesome breakfast at our hotel... and of course Caleb would have to put up with his super fab sisters teasing! :)
We found this rocking chair traveling down to Mesquite in the snow. So of course we had to all jump on it and take a picture. FYI we almost all fell off of into the snow when it started to rock back & forth!
Me and my sistas with our toys. Later that day I learned how to ride my older sistas bike, the KTM, aka KATY. I might need to steal away Katy for the sis though. Learning to ride Katy was AWESOME!
Our dad was wonderful and took us all to see "La Reve" at the Wynn in Las Vegas. One of the best water shows I have ever seen! LUV IT! ps 2 hrs before the show we were covered in mud.. don't we clean up nice! :)
This is what my family LOVES to do... RIDE DIRT BIKES! It is soo much fun. But since I am a beginner I had to the ride 400 thingy four wheeler. I got to learn how to clutch, brake, shift, all with out stalling the four wheeler.... It must of been luv at first sight cause me and my 400 had no problems! :)

Our Journey

I made this for my sister, Megan. Its a video detailing our journey with my niece, alyvia and her recovery from a brain tumor on her brain stem. She was only 3 at the time.

Mountain Rockie Stars

I designed and a poster for Mountain Rockie Stars, they offer dance classes for all ages in the Rexburg, Id area. I had alot of fun with this one trying out different fonts, making words out of glitter, but in the end I decided simple was better. This is the end result.. not too shabby! :)

E-Bee

For my final Sr project we had to come up with a new advertising campaign for Burt's Bees. We decided to create an E-Bee website (imitates webkins). I had the fun job in designing a website where children can learn about bees, but the website also links into Burt's Bees main home page as well. This is the website I came up with. Don't the Bees look soo cute! I bet you want an E-Bee now too!

Deck Armor

I am currently creating a website for NewLook Deck Armor. The website is about a deck stain that we call Deck Armor. Comes in 7 different color choices. I want to be able to have people order the product directly through the site... So many things to to add. This is the website in its starter stage. You can find it under www.woodstain.weebly.com... OH and if anybody is looking to make there own website go to www.weebly.com. They will help you create your own website for free! Its Great!

White Cat

This is one of my favorite drawings I have done yet. I took the picture of my little bro, Logan, trying to capture one of our kittens outside. I loved the picture so much that I decided to draw it my art class in high school.... this drawing is about 6 yrs old. It was done in colored pencil ( luv colored pencils). If I could do it over again I wouldn't have drawn his one finger sticking out on the left hand side. Also I learned how hard it is to draw hands... Logan is around 14 at the time... but his hands look like he is 40 plus yrs old... oh the joys of art! :)

Daddy in Advertising

I currently work for a company called NewLook International. They manufacturer concrete stains. I had to create an ad to go in a magazine that would be handed out during a big concrete convention called WOC (world of concrete). My dad got lucky and I used his head shot in this ad (love photoshop). This is one of my favorite ad pieces I have done for NewLook. :)

Self Portrait

For my photography 101 class - which was the one of the coolest classes I have taken up at college- I got to learn how to develop photographs, use a dark room, learn all about shutter speed, light, etc. :) Any ways for our last assignment we had to do a self portrait of ourselves. The picture had to describe us and we had to be in the picture. This photo is what I came up with - spur of the moment- literally the morning before it was due- at the photo lab all night type quick. :) - Its basically a picture of me being a girl- make up and all.

SUB ZERO - reptile art

THE FINISHED PRODUCT!

Envelope, Stationary, and Business Card. Made the envelope out of vellum to give it more of an "icey" feel. I also decided the business card needed an "icey" cover as well. Added a blue gradient to the business card and the back of the stationary. If people only knew the printing process behind this... every printer prints differently! Than you have to cut it out with an exacto knife! One mistake, rip, tear, or misguided glue job and you have to start all over! Than you have to face the weather and pray it doesn't rain! Ahh... so nice to not be a nervous wreck for a change!

Creating a logo is very hard to do. For this assignment we had to create a logo using a reptile. I choose to create a logo for a museum that showcased ice sculptures of reptiles as art... but yet at the same time gave important facts and info about reptiles, while raising money to help save the endangered ones.

This is the result of that thought process. SUB ZERO Reptile Art. My goal was to create a reptile in an ice cube. In the end I thought it looked more like the gateway computer box logo... but I tried. This is the finished product after many many many hours of creating, tossing and creating.

EL LISSITZKY

El Lissitzky, one of the best artists who helped shaped our future in design.
For my graphic design class I had to design a poster for El Lissitzky. I had to research his previous designs and use them in this layout. This was the result. I had a lot of fun creating this... probably one of the most fun assignments our teacher gave us! :)

A BALL... A JUG

ah... RENDERING... who doesn't love to sit for hours upon hours drawing ity bity circles that slowly get lighter and darker to create various shapes. I seriously thought I might become a hunch back! - This piece was done for one of my art classes- The goal was to create a pleasing layout to the eye while only using simple shapes. The catch, no lines :( absolutely none! oh and we had to use graphite- graphite smears everywhere...I think I spent more time trying to get my whites white with an eraser than actually rendering! oh the joys of graphite! Overall I think it turned out well.

PEEPING TOM

I finished this over 6 yrs ago in high school. It is a picture of my friend, Thomas Harper. We were in art class and for the last 30 min our teacher let us out early to take our "own" photographs. I snapped this pic at the very last minute. I entitled it "peeping Tom." It was done with colored pencil. - I LUV the smell of colored pencils- weird i know. :)

This picture is a bit abstract and not yet complete - i need to finish the girls hair.
My old roomie, Brittney, wanted me to do a drawing of her and her future-now hubby. On the left side is Brittney and on the right side is Joel. Their lips are touching in the middle (kissing). Let me know if you can see it!
I might also see if I can turn it into a vinyl decal and adhere it to a tile... oh the possibilities!
Let me know what you think!

Crazy Eyes

These are my "crazy eyes," Same technique. This picture depicts how I feel after breathing in sharpie fumes for over 5 hrs... haha a bit weird and light headed. -This was another class assignment. I actually re-used a drawing I had done from my AP Art Class in high school. You will most likely be seeing a different form of this picture popping up in future posts. :)

Black and White

This is another one of my attempts to do the whole "black and white thing" by only drawing the shadows. I actually turned this one in for a grade for my graphic design class... got an A and it only took me about 5 hrs! YAY! (-ps for those who don't know art... 5 hrs is a very short amount of time!)

This is the finished image... I now am able to finally take breath of fresh air... and relax.
I didn't totally ruin it! YAY! I might even have had a little bit of fun creating it :)!
Now that I look at the finished portrait of Noel, I have decided to go back in and darken the gap between her lips. hmm any suggestions?

Noel

My old roommate Noel, decided I should draw a pretty picture of her. We went through her pictures (she had alot). I decided to use an image with lots of contrast already in it. Brought the photo into photo shop (luv photoshop) to bring out the shadows and highlights even more. Printed it. I had the very exciting job of "blowing" up the pic. while keeping all the proportions the same.
This is the sketch in pencil. I always find it so daunting to make the first mark with permanent marker... I am always afraid with one wrong flick of the wrist I will ruin the whole "picture." ahhh!