Birds Galore

In September and October, I'll be teaching 3 sculpting classes using paperclay at Scrapbooks Etc. in Mesa, AZ. Because of those exciting events, I've been fiddling around with paperclay projects this past week and loving every minute.

One of my classes is a little teaser so I'll only have 15 minutes to complete the entire project and I have to prepare for 50 students. A daunting task when one is working with clay that needs at least an hour to dry. So I've been experimenting with simple projects that I can prep beforehand without too much hassle. I figure that the students will only have enough time to paint, distress and glitter. (If that!) My first project, Little Dancing Red Bird is a prototype.

I like Red Bird, but I don't love him. He needed a few tweaks here and there to become the project that I envisioned. Plus, making 50 of him with those sculpted wings would make me absolutely crazy. Too much prep!

And so, Blue Bird was born. In my opinion, he is a masterpiece of cuteness and simplicity in preparation.

I adore him. From his cute fluffy wings to his big beak. Who wouldn't want this guy perched in their house?

He is a little bigger than the one that my students will be painting, but the overall shape will be the same.

The kids all love him too. However, there remains a very hot debate over googly eyes versus black eyes. The children prefer the googles (of Red Bird). I'm leaning toward the black eyes (of Blue Bird). I seriously need your opinion, though. Google eyes or black eyes? What do you prefer?

Farewell Blog Hop

Welcome to my blog! What a feast for the eyes this My Little Shoebox Blog Hop has been! The design team is so talented. It has been an honor to be included among them this past year.

Even though I've thoroughly enjoyed my time working with My Little Shoebox, I decided not to renew my contract for another year. I would like to focus more on teaching, publishing and expanding my artistic repertoire. As you can imagine, each of these things requires an abundance of time and energy. I'm excited for all the opportunities that are waiting for me to seize!

I'd like to bid a fond farewell to a wonderful company with a few of my favorite projects. Love you MLS!

Without further ado...

(Cape Cod Moments appeared recently in Somerset Memories.)

Whew, you made it to the end of my photos! Congrats!

Now, if you'd like to be entered into my own personal giveaway, please leave a comment with your favorite color of MLS Sprinkle Glaze Alphas. I will randomly choose a winner on Monday and will do my bestest to send you your favorite color. Good luck!

Now on to the GRAND PRIZE! It is only a blog away! Hop on over to Pattie Beltran's blog.

We Must Carry it With Us

This is the season for major change. Graduation, moving, vacations. Many people are embarking on new adventures. My children are all moving from one grade to another and one of them is starting kindergarten in the fall. All of this has prompted me to reflect on a project that I created a few months ago, but didn't have a chance to share yet.

I've entitled this piece: We Must Carry it With Us or We Find it Not.

The background boards are Cosmo Cricket lacing cards that I purchased ages ago. The girls' dresses are My Mind's Eye, 7 Gypsies and an unknown pink flower paper. I drew each of the girls to resemble one of my daughters (and myself) and each one is complete with symbols that reflect on their personalities.

Sweet Lyssie...

Sweet Zozo...

Sweet Dani...

And of course, myself...

I made this piece in response to a concern that I have as my daughters grow and develop and take a bigger place in society. Because we live in a world that rages war on women's bodies, one of my main concerns for them is that they develop a healthy body image. I want my daughters to rise above society's conception of beauty and know that they are beautiful beings no matter what. I made this piece as a means of teaching that lesson to them, as well as a visual reminder to myself. (I have and continue to struggle with positive body image.) 

The quote that is weaved throughout is a powerful one from Ralph Waldo Emerson.

Though we travel the world over to find the beautiful, we must carry it with us, or we find it not.

As you and your loved ones embark on new adventures, I hope that you too carry the beautiful with you. In your heart.

Happy Mother's Day

I'd like to wish every woman a very Happy Mother's Day!

Whether or not you have children of your own, you are still a great source of strength and knowledge to the children surrounding you. So in honor of women everywhere. Happy Day!

I'd love to give each of you a garden of flowers, but you'll just have to settle on a virtual one today.

I love you all.

xoxo
Bethany

Artistic Chore Chart

As a member of the Artistic Mother group, I made this simple chore chart for the sweeties as my interpretation of part of week one's assignment.

I waste so much time telling each lovely forgetful child to do the same things. (I'm positive I'm the only the mother with this problem...giggle) Now, I can just ask them if they've completed their chores. This will probably save me at least 15 minutes each day. Enough time to work on a project, right?

All the papers are from the new My Little Shoebox lines. Aren't they the cutest things ever? Those birds make my heart sing! And that car? Oh, that I could be so hip!

Can I just tell you how much I love making backgrounds? This one was made with a combination of Shimmerz Vibez, paints and oil pastels. I love how it turned out.

Have a great day!

xoxo
Bethany

Heart Sessions with Rebecca Sower

Rebecca Sower is hosting heart sessions on her blog. In order to participate, you need to post a handcrafted heart along with lovely words. I love this idea and immediately wanted to participate. Imagine hundreds of blogs all linked up with hearts. Isn't it wonderful?

Here are a some heart projects that I've completed over the past few months. I hadn't realized how much I use hearts in my work until now! It's funny how you don't even know your own work until you see it as a body.

Directions to make this piece can be found at The Next Step.

 

Directions to make this piece can be found at The Next Step.

 

Directions for this layout can be found here.

 

These tags are part of my Home album.

You can read more about this layout here.

 

To close, I'd like to leave you with a few quotes that I find inspirational. I hope you do too.

To love someone is to see a miracle invisible to others. 

(Francois Mauriac)

Be strong, go with your heart, and believe in miracles because anything...anything can happen. 

(Marlo Javidando)

Have a wonderful day!

xoxo

Bethany

My Bookstore

As you may have noticed, I've been working hard on my blog. Trying to make it more a reflection of me. I'm currently reading Blogging for Bliss by Tara Frey for inspiration and I'm quite dizzy with new ideas. One new thing that has my feet all dance-y is my very own bookstore! See it there on the right? It is just below my new Search This Blog feature. I know! How exciting! I simply adore books and now I can share them in a nice organized way. I hope that you enjoy this feature as much as I do!

Right now, I've got three categories up: Arts and Crafts which contains my favorite craft technique and inspiration books, Fiction for the Family which contains my favorite stories that are safe and fun to read aloud to the family (meaning there is nothing that would cause you to get all red-faced and stutter-y or that would cause violent nightmares in the very young) and Great Fiction which contains all my favorite mom books (these would be considered boring to my children, but they still won't have you all red-faced and nightmarish) Of course, my bookstore isn't all inclusive and I'll be updating it frequently so be sure to check back every so often.

 

Also, if you have any wonderful books that you think belong, please let me know. Keep in mind that I'm a very sensitive girl. I watched the pilot episode of Lost this weekend and was so afraid that I unthinkingly brought my hands up to my face to shield my eyes, smashing my glasses into my nose and giving me a cut on my noggin. Certain people call me intense, but I prefer to call myself wonderfully imaginative. Needless to say, we will not be putting the next disk of Lost on our Netflix's cue. (giggle...) So, if you have a book that is violent or causes blushing, please keep it on your own shelf because it will put me in a dither. (giggle...) Oh, and I'm not a big romance fan. They make me giggle uncontrollably and therefore do not help me relax after a long day of childcare.

Now, onto my unfinished piece from my Petit Dolls class taught by Suzi Blu. I highly highly suggest this class. I'm learning so much that I can't even believe it.

Can I just tell you that I simply adore her nose? I think that it might just be the best nose in all the world. Isn't it lovely? Let's just admire her nose for a few minutes...

She still needs a lot of work, but that's the whole point of works-in-progress. They are a bit like the ugly duckling that just needs a bit of time. I'll be sure to post her again when I've finished. I've never posted a WIP before because...well...usually they are so awkward, but I figure I'm among friends. And friends can handle awkwardness without too much embarrassment. Right?