creative freedom

I know, i know, i said i was going to update yesterday with pics...i'm sorry! i got a really bad migraine yesterday and i ended up going home sick. i tried to update, but it didnt live up to my standards, my current projects: here they are!

so this is a topiary that i am working on. its made of 400+ prima flowers. its still a work in progress, so bear with me. i didnt get a picture of the pail that it is in, but thats ok, when this is all done i'll be sure to get a full length pic for it. it took a few hours to put all the flowers on, but so worth it, it looks really nice so far. i want to somehow include glitter on it.

this is a christmas tree made out of paper strips. i got the idea from a magazine, and it was pretty easy to make, the only thing is that the straight pins are absolute murder on the thumbs. i still have a bunch of work to do on this one, plus i have two more matching baby trees to make with it. i'm not really happy with it how it is, but in due time it will be perfect!

these are a bunch of flowers i made out of buttons and felt. for the felt, i just die cut them with sizzix dies and stitched on them. then i laced stem wire through each and twisted it to make the stem. very time consuming! i'm still trying to figure out hot i'm going to make them into a bouquet, so i'm on a break from those guys!

this is a pirate purse. the body is from creative imaginations as well as the paper. i used paint around the edges to get a dirty look. i havent decided what else to do to it yet, so this is how it will stay for a bit! i may end up using it just as storage for some of my jewelry. i dont wear anything super fancy, i usually get costume jewelry. any trip i make to tiffany's ends up being a gift for my mom (she's one lucky dog huh?)

this is a 11x14 frame. i got it at walmart for just 5 bucks. i saw an idea online of how to make a halloween version of this, but i wanted to make something i could hang up all year, so i came up with this. its black and white because i'm in the process of redoing my bedroom in a black and white theme. there is a bunch of printed paper cut up in there, but most of it is cardstock. in order to spice up the cardstock squares a bit, i hand made each one to be different. i embossed a few and inked them all, some even have die cuts on them! it was a really fun project and i love how it turned out. i'm thinking of doing something similar for a class this month, what do you think?

ok, i didnt make this, i bought it at pier 1. i looooove that store and i usually find it really expensive, but this trip around, i found lots of awesome stuff! this dress form is made out of wrought iron and stands about 2.5 feet tall. it only cost me $20, and i think that is a deal for something so beautiful and heavy duty! mom thinks i should use it to hang jewelry, but i say why cover up art? hahaha...moving on

this is la piece de resistance! my favorite part about my room. i have it hanging above my desk and never a day goes by without looking at it. its a collection of things that inspire me. some are just people that i know and love. some are my favorite pictures. some are photos that i took. i took a foam core board and covered it in printed paper. then i covered the edges in ribbon to hide the core. i selected my photos carefully and arranged them before i adhered them down. i printed out the title on my computer and voila! i didnt realize it at the time, but after i hung it, i noticed that the subject of each photo is looking at another photo on the board. very harry potter dont you think?

so those are my current projects. i know it seems like i never finish what i start, but sometimes i feel like if i'm too involved in a project, i cant see its proper ending. this way, i keep my inspiration from going stale.

i love to love the finish product. i love looking at the things i make and say "wow, i cannot believe that i made that." it warms my soul to be surrounded by beautiful things like art. i believe that everyone deserves to be surrounded by nice things, and that doesnt mean it has to be bought, sometimes its what you create.

i love you guys!