Having Faith and believing in Oneself  is my biggest challenge of late...not from a tragic standpoint mind you,but from a New Journey that I have embarked on.......weight loss.....yikes,..that was quite scary to or print 'outloud'.......but for so long now and not realizing it,how I feel about myself on the outside has affected whats on the inside.

 I will try to appreciate all the attributes I have on the outside as I'm as well as staying positive and looking in......

 I will accept the challenge,and learn(hopefully) from the Journey,and remind myself to capture the details of each experience.....

 I will try not to be afraid of what is behind ANY door...

For I maybe pleasantly surprised what I find there!!

  wishing you all pleasent surprises behind your doors,
                                                       virginia:)

Feeling Hauntingly Witchy

I have been feeling in the mood for Ghost stories,some Witch spells, and the magic of Wizards...I was lucky enough to have bestowed upon me some Matt board pieces in many different colors,and while going through my new stash I came across this Grayish Lavender color,which inspired me right away(as if the Grey Lady whispered into my ear),..to create a Board book keeping with this color theme and using some of my favorite techniques,vintage trims,and unique images....

this is the cover,which i did some fun stamping,added an image from an antique book I own,added a little gold embossing,a few words from an old dictionary,then decided I needed a Haunting,Ghostly image...to be framed,but wanted a look that was textured,old,grungy,and 'Damaged' from age,use,fire or weather...I LuV doing transfers,but being inspiration hit me at Night,not having the "proper" materials for an image transfer,and then the image itself being an ink jet image,I was a little limited...But I played with around and "accidentally" got lucky with the look I was trying to achieve(mind you,trying for 'Damaged' is more difficult than it seems)...

Here what I used...clear packing tape,

ink jet image of wedding couple,

a paint brush wet with water,

and a butter knife...

I added image to tape,ran wet paint brush over back of image,then scraped "Gently" with butter knife to remove paper in parts(careful not to wet the ink),then took my inked up dauber and ran it over some of the "empty spots" of image.

I used a Spray Adhesive to attach transfer to some handmade,distressed paper.

I have to admit,I have not tried this same process again,but I will tonight!

Here is the back of my Board book with a "Contact Paper" transfer that I learned from a very Cool "ATC Tutorial" by Lesley Venable,over at the Art of Altering,(Please see the badge at left)...

this is a Great Group and I'm a BiG Fan of Lesley's.

Hope to See you there!

Thanks for stopping by..:)~~virginia

Look at All the Pretties I Found on Etsy Today...

Fall is on its way.....although with parts of the States it seems so far away.....But just Dreaming and Thinking
                  of these cool,rich FaLL Colors,
                         Soon to be  here....
                                EnJoY!

Where Has Time Gone?....

Hello to my Friends in Blogland...How I have missed ALL of you! I'm doing fine,just been very busy with life(like all of you)...I had surgery in June, so I'm in my 3rd week of recovery...and quite frankly...Really,Really BORED...but lucky for me I have a Very Loving Family to entertain me(very much needed).....meet Fancy& Jamar....

As you can see,they are resting too!.....They are sweet and so so lovable...Also to help beet my boredom blues,a little creation for my Daughter....using only what we had on hand(nice way to say totally broke),we made a much needed Drawing Notebook....

An Artist Flip book.....and completely in her colors,

NO BROWN,or Tea,Coffee,Vintage stained...

 We Did pretty good.....

She was Happy,therefore I was happy, and resisted the temptation to give a little "Aged " appearance....

but that's the fun of being 13...

COLOR

                                   And Lots of IT!!!
Thank you for visiting me,and I hope to get to visit all my Fav blogs
soon,hopefully very soon!.....Have a Great week,and wishes to you having a Wonderful Summer!~~~~~virginia

It's Just Another Monday.....but with Goodies!

ok...I Totally Forgot that its Market Monday

Market Monday

But better Late than Never....so please checkout these Wonderful artisans ...great place for that last minute shopping!....and if you get a chance,I found a couple more really Great Giveaways going on....
  the first over at Tarnished and Tattered for a Beautiful Nature Giveaway.....and the other Wonderful Giveaway,is over at Kathy Maximo Designs for another Gorgeous Journal giveaway....please visit these talented artist soon to get in on the action!.....here is to wishing you ALL a Fantastic Week!
 ~~~~~~~~~~~..:)virginia~~~~~~~~~~~~

A Kitchen Mishap and A Wonderful Spring Giveaway!

Yes,I know,I have been away a little longer than I wanted to,but....well,as we all know"Life Happens".....in my last post I mentioned how I was inspred by the Sea,and how it calls to me....
   Well....I truly have been inspired,and one of my Fav things to do is play with my paints,inks,Glitter(can"t forgt the glitz),and totally transform paper....I don't have to plan,I can just do and be Free!.....well maybe I kinda should plan,at least when it comes to using certain'products'....I'll explain(sorry)...
there are times when I just have more time in the evenings,and the certain 'product' I use is,....table salt....I like the technique when mixed with watercolors,...it gives the feel of little bubbles,or effervescent......Now more explaining(really sorry),awhile back ,while food shopping,we had purchased what is called"crazy salt"...it has some herbs added to flavor the salt(you can see whats happenin).....well,Eves. might not be a good idea to try to 'create'....
  yep,you guessed it,the regular salt for "technique" was left behind(not on purpose).....I used this crazy salt,complete with herbs,in my watercolor technique.......ooopppss!

These are the second time around...the herbs just didn't do it for me!.......

Now that I have tortured you long enough,here is some Cool info on a Wonderful Spring Giveaway...

Hop on over to

Tattered Treasures

for the most Beautiful Tags Giveaway!

Nancy is giving away 5 sets of her gorgeous tags,

YOU get to choose!

BUT be quick,

you must visit her BEFORE

April 10th,for drawing!

check out her blog for more details....its worth it!

they are that pretty!

Thanks for Stoppin' by.....til next time,

Have a great week......:)virginia~~~~

The Sea Is Calling To Me

Oh,the Deep Blue Sea....there are just some days you want to get away...I had a Week of those days....It all started with a little car trouble,then it turned into money trouble......sigh....

But have no fear!...we are happy as can be with a semi-new vehicle which will hopefully bring us to many trips to the Beautiful Sea.....
I have been inspired,and started playing with my paints and papers....please visit me next week to see what I created

Does the Sea call to you?...
I hope you feel inspired....til Next time,Enjoy!~~~virginia...:)