happiness house

this week i worked on a project for an online class that i took from claudine hellmuth called "home is where the art is"

this project includes 12 different mixed media techniques using her sticky back canvas and other products in her studio line.  but the nice part is that if you don't have a certain product, she provides another option...and i always love to know i have options!  as most of you know, working with paint and other paint-type materials is not exactly in my comfort zone, but claudine's fresh style and easy instructions made this a project that even i could do!

one of the nicest things about this project is that it was so easy to make it "my own".  i decided that i would use our new house as the focal point (our move-in date is two weeks from today...yippeee!).  while i still used some of claudine's images, i changed a few to reflect our new house.  for example, the house image is a rendering of our new house, the text block is an excerpt of our house contract, there's a butterfly outline to represent transformation, the number "179" is our house number, and of course, i had to sneak in a heart-in-hand image!

thanks, claudine...this was a really fun project and i learned a lot!  you can read more about this online class here!  

click on images for larger view

lots of fudge without the pudge

i've decided that if i'm going to eat chocolate, i may as well try to do it in a "healthy" way. so, i mainly eat chocolate of the dark variety (bring on the antioxidants!) and i try not to eat it in a processed sort of way. but, every once in a while i get a yearning for a good brownie. so how does one eat a brownie in a "healthy" sort of way? i came upon this mix in the grocery store, and to be honest, i didn't get my hopes up too high because it was all the way down on the bottom shelf...meaning that it was only about six inches above the floor. maybe it was the words "no pudge" that grabbed my attention, or maybe it was just my eagerness to figure out a way to still eat brownies and gain "no pudge"...i'm not sure. but, when i saw that it's fat free and you add yogurt to the mix, i immediately bought into the "healthy" aspect of it and put it in my cart.

and here's the best part....just so i won't eat the entire pan, there's a single serving recipe on the side of the box!  take two tablespoons of mix, add one tablespoon of vanilla fat free yogurt, stir, and microwave for one minute....hello deliciousness!!  the kitchen smells like chocolatey ooey-gooeyness, it satisfies my afternoon craving, and i've convinced myself that i'm healthier for eating it!  and just to carry the "healthiness" one step further i buy the raspberry flavor...got to get in my fruit for the day....

a little love

just sending a little love your way today...and wishing i could somehow express to you how much i appreciate your visits to my blog, your encouragement, your wonderful comments, and your all-around sweetness!  you are all THE BEST...group hug!!!

remembering

remembering all of the courageous men and women who have given their lives for our freedom...and keeping them in our hearts.  

happy memorial day!

grow strong

i took a little time to play in my journal today.  these leaves were created by carving a simple leaf shape, and then carving a separate vein stamp to layer on top of the leaf image.  watercolor pencil was used to finish the tree limb...and my monoline letters are somewhat bumpy on this textured cold press paper.  but, that's the beauty of art...thankfully, it doesn't have to be perfect!