Day 1: 30DOC Theme Toys

I am once again participating in the 30 Days of Creativity Challenge. I pledge that every day, for thirty days in June, I will create something each day. There are themes you can follow, or you can do as you wish. I do try to follow along with the themes. Creative can mean different things to different people. You probably create stuff everyday and don't even realize it. Some things are planned and some are just naturally occurring. Companies pay people big bucks to be creative in advertising. I homeschool my children, and I need to be creative not only in the lessons I give them, but in the way I teach the lessons. One of the things that bugged me most about public school, is that it was so boring in the sense of the way the material was presented. It could be so much more creative. My kids and I, will be sharing varieties of creativeness through, learning, teaching, photography, art, crochet, paint and upcycling. One of our favorite ways to be creative is to find ways to reuse things. I will be sharing all kinds of neat stuff. But, for today, Day One, the theme is Toys. I crocheted this baby infant play mat with an aquatic theme. As you can see it is not quite complete. I ran out of time, lol. This mat will stimulate baby visually and through touch. Each yarn used has a different texture and thickness, as well as color. He or she will be able to feel the types of yarn and touch the fishies, which of course won't have all those strings hanging off them. This will be available in my Etsy store once it is completed. What did you create for day 1? Tomorrow the theme is spiders. Since I work third shift on Saturdays I will get a late start tomorrow and will have to whip up something quick. Even I can't wait to see what I come up with, lol!

Seeing Red and A 4H Scrapbook

The kids and I began a project today, and I finished a project today. Let's start with the misfit deer painting, that I completed. oh I loved this concept of a silhouette in a color other than black. So I made a very red moon, and a yellow deer silhouette. I was so proud of it. That is until my son pointed out to me that deer antlers originate from only two spots on their head. OK so I got lost in the painting and didn't pay attention. He is a misfit deer, with an extremely large head, good thing with antlers all across it, LOL! I will list him for sale because I think he is very original,unique and I love him. I will try this one again, paying better attention to his antlers. DJ is the Historian for his 4H group. That means he is responsible for making the scrapbook for the end of the year. Well the year has ended. Even though this is not due until August, I do not believe in procrastinating. Since I am cheap, yes I said it. I had no intentions of spending a fortune on this scrapbook. Besides, I looked at tons and could not find one scrapbook that encompassed all that we covered. So, I bought card stock that DJ picked, some cute stickers that I will not share yet, and then printed off a very large clover. The kids then traced the clover onto the card stock, and cut them out. I will not share how we will put this together until we get to that step. Next I have to print the pictures, and get the rest of the supplies. This will be adorable, I hope. Oh, by the way I forgot to mention, all this is for day 12 of the 30 Days of Creativity Challenge.

Day 11 of 30 Days of Creativity: In Daddy's Hands Painting

Today is day 11 of the 30 Days of Creativity Challenge, and I decided to paint something in honor of Father's Day. Since I am a huge fan of silhouette paintings I decided to paint a Daddy with his little girl at dusk by the water. He is safely lifting her into the air while standing at the water's edge, on some rocks. You can hear her shreek with delight. I really love this painting. It is truly one of a kind, as I only painted one. This will be available in my Etsy store by tomorrow morning. I can paint more of these if needed. So message me if you are interested in one. One thing I have learned, as I continue to paint, is that you learn as you go. Like I think the water could have been darker to look more like dusk. But, I will remember that for the next time.  Be sure to check out my Etsy store for all my wonderful paintings, jewelry, and cross stitch housewares.

Day 10: Wooden Cuff Bracelet With Peacock Feather

Day 10 of 30 Days of Creativity Challenge, is another wooden cuff. If you have been following along, then you know I made some wooden cuffs with popsicle sticks, and then had to wait for them to dry to decorate them. This one is the small version, and fits me perfectly. This particular one, I made six at a time in the process, was the first one I attempted to bend. It cracked because it had not been in the water long enough. So, this one I will keep. I painted it black, two coats using acrylic paints. After it dried, I made my first attempt at a peacock feather. I love peacock feathers! As you can see it is very hard to get the whole feather onto such a small space. I still think it is unique and pretty, and will wear it. These little cuffs are extremely comfortable to wear. I have one listed in my Etsy store, that was done the other day, with zebra stripes. So be sure to check it if you want it. I still have four more cuffs to decide what to paint on them, and they will come in future challenge days.

30 Days of Creativity: Day 6 Painting on Glass, Santa, Cows and Bracelets part 2

Today, we all painted something for day 6 of 30 Days of Creativity. You can see the other images on my homeschool blog, as it was painting class today for school. Looking at the images below, I finished the cow painting, and they are the most adorable cows I have ever seen. It is not perfectly how I pictured it, but my first attempt so I will not complain. I can see me painting a ton more of these adorable cows. Then for class I painted on a large glass vase, Santa climbing out of a chimney, with the Man in the Moon watching. This was also my first attempt at Santa. Caitlin did wolves on her vase, with a lot of snow. Lots of snow! She seems to really like wolves. DJ and my mom painted as well, but theirs will be on the other blog, since they are not participating in the challenge. Last are the wooden bracelets I started yesterday. This morning they were dry, so I sealed them, and then put them back in the jar until they dried. Then I added a base coat of paint on all sides. 2 black, 2 white, and 2 brown. If you need a smaller size, for a smaller wrist, then the mason jars are perfect the smaller ones. For the larger cuff I used glass coffee mugs. Tomorrow, or one day in the future I will paint something on them. I am thinking one will be a graduation theme, and one definitely a zebra print theme. The others I have not decided yet. What did you create today?

30 Days of Creativity: Day 5 Painted Clouds on a Shirt

Man we had a plethora of creativity today, but only one thing got completed on this day 5 of, 30 Days of Creativity. Some of my projects I have planned, have to be completed in parts, because of paint drying or other reasons. So, I am going to explain what each picture is. The top two pictures, and the last picture, are mine and my daughters, day 5 creations. We homeschool, and we have been taking painting classes every two weeks for almost a year now. Two weeks ago, I painted the front of the shirt. You can't see it all, because I only showed the sun and clouds, but there are flowers and my initials painted on the pocket. I like simply and pretty, not loud and busy, so when it was suggested to me to bring the clouds over the shoulder to the back, I wasn't real sure I wanted to. But they look very soft and lovely, and I am very pleased with the results. I can't wait to wear it. Of course now I have to let it dry another week or two, then heat set it, before I can wear it. Caitlin loves bugs. Today while we finished up our Entomology book for 4H, she found a cricket, she already has several large grasshoppers, and put it in this jar. Then this evening she painted various pictures of her cricket on her jar. The cricket is sitting, then jumping, then landing, lol! She was very proud of her work. I think I paint animals and landscapes, much better than individual flowers or fruit. I started this adorable cow painting this evening as well. It is obviously not finished yet, and I need to try to spruce the grapes up. For one thing they are too large. Then I painted some puzzle pieces with several layers of different colors. I will then paint various things on them, on another day, and then hopefully make them into a pendant, or a bracelet would be adorable. Last I have been wanting to make my own cuff bracelets. I tried one technique that was OK, but it was kind of harsh and not soft like I like when finished. Then I found a tutorial for using popsicle sticks to make cuff bracelets. Again we homeschool, so we actually have a ton of these from a previous project. The first step is to place them in water, and simmer them for an hour. Actually I found it took closer to 90 minutes to achieve the desired flexibility. I will share the rest of the steps when they are completed. I will then paint on them as well. I am hoping these will be a hot, and popular item to sell. They will have to pass my quality standards first, before I would even attempt to sell them. Wow! We got a lot done today, and that doesn't include all our school stuff, lol! Time for bed!

Day 4 of 30 Days of Creativity: Fun on the Farm

Today for day 4 of my 30 Days of Creativity challenge, I decided to use my camera. We went to a friend's small farm, and I got some cute pictures with the kids and some of the critters that live there. If you look closely at the cactus flower, you will see a bee burrowing in to get all that nectar. My son took several images as well, which will be shared on my homeschool blog. Lots of beautiful fresh air today, and I am tired. Can't wait for day 5. I think I will be painting.

30 Days of Creativity Day 2 Tractor Tire Flowerbed

Today is day two of the 30 Day Creativity Challenge. As you can see the red tire now has dirt and flowers in it. This was our day two activity. We also painted the mailbox and pole, that the red tire is around, white and blue. On another day we will paint stars and strips on the blue mailbox, for our US flag. It won't be day three though. Not sure yet what will be for day 3. Here in FL, unless you really like to sweat to death and over heat, all outside work is done in the morning, like before noon. Tomorrow we have church, so there will be no outside work before noon. Don't worry though, I have tons of projects lined up that have nothing to do with being outdoors. That is the other thing about FL weather, you have to plan activities with the anticipation that it could rain at anytime. You don't want your paint to wash off before it dries. What did you create today? Please share.