The Hog Haven

Today I'm going to share a sneak

peek of what's kept me so busy

the past week or so. 

Everything from cleaning house, exercising, 

doing laundry, and blogging fell to the wayside

 while I worked on this project. 

It's a house my husband built for

a 300lb baby hog that'll grow to be 600lbs!

I've been painting from sunrise to sunset

for the past 7 plus days in a row. 

It'll soon be headed to a wonderful

Farm Animal Sanctuary near our home. 

One of the greatest things about

this project was recognizing how

many times I thought to myself, 

"This is so much fun!"

That's saying something considering the fact

that I was working in an non air conditioned garage

in Phoenix, in the middle of summer!

The temperature was never less than 100 degrees,

but I was loving every minute. 

It feels good to be done. 

Now it's time to get to my household chores!

Thanks for stopping by.

Terri

Mixed Media Drawing

I have a love hate relationship

with this drawing. 

I'm happy with the face, 

the basic design and the balance

of the drawing as a whole. 

The headdress is so flat

though. It bugs me. 

Even if I tried shading it, it 

wouldn't help. That part of 

the drawing is off. 

I call it Mardi Gras, because that's

what it reminds me of. 

Not that I've ever been, but it's what I'd

imagine seeing someone in a Mardi Gras

parade looking like. 

Well, I guess it's back to the "drawing" table for me.

Have a wonderful day.

Thanks for stopping by. 

Terri

Mixed Media Paper Quilt

I love to quilt and this

time I decided to put an 

artistic spin on it. 

The 12 main squares are

individual magazine collages. 

I took my time to make each

one as if it was it's own little

piece of art. 

Next I created an op art border.

I wanted to surround the colorful

centers with a black and white neutral design.

Small red squares were chosen to accent

the quilt. It's actually red duct tape

covered card stock. 

I used the zig zag setting on my machine

 to stitch it all together. 

It was fun to create and

the possibilities are endless. 

Thanks for visiting!

Happy creating.

Terri

Folk Art Bird House 5

This bird house gave me a little

trouble at first. 

My initial idea for it (which I was

really excited about) bombed when 

I told my husband what I wanted to do. 

He told me how hard he worked

on certain features and I was going to cover

them up with my idea. I could see his point 

(after a long discussion) and I decided 

to move on to a plan B. 

By the way, after this incident, we made

the decision that he'll do his thing when it

comes to building, and I'll do my thing when

it comes to painting. Our team projects have been

harmonious ever since.

Back to plan B. .  . I had to come up with

a new idea, and instead I just sat and sat in

front of this thing, starting at it and 

wondering where to start. 

Ever been there yourself?

After a grueling amount of time passed I 

decided enough was enough. 

I set a timer for 20 minutes and started painting

a base design without thinking about it. 

"Just paint!" I told myself. 

After all was said and done,

I really liked the way it turned out. 

Sorry my pictures aren't the best.

I keep this bird house in my daughters

old room and the lighting isn't the best. 

I think the gist of it comes across though. 

Hope you have a fabulous day!

Happy Creating. 

Terri

Hearts, Flowers, and Cross Shrine

This was such a fun project to make.

Just looking at the picture inspires

me to want to make more of them. 

(In case you missed my other shrine posts

you may see them here and here.)

Everything was handmade from the

paper mache shrine box, to the 2 kinds 

of clay that I used. 

One was cold porcelain clay,

and the other one had a flour and glue base. 

For the candle wicks I

stripped a twist tie of it's paper

and used that to suspend the flames.

The cross, leaves, flowers, and candles

are made from the cold porcelain clay. 

The top center heart was made from the 

flour and glue based clay.

It was a little harder to shape

into specific designs, but it was

good for building up dimension. 

I also used some puff paint to add

some texture. It worked great. I was

a little unsure because I think it's mainly

used for fabrics. 

Now here's a behind the scenes

look at what usually goes

on when I'm trying to take a picture

of my work outside. 

"Maybelline! Move your head!"

She's always at the ready

to lend a helping hand paw. 

She loves being the center

of attention, so I thought

I'd give her that honor today. 

Thanks for stopping by!

Terri