A Jungle of Flowers

The flowers have been picked up...

Sunflowers...

Calla lily's in the most beautiful fall colors...

Vibrant mums...

Stunning colors...

Ones that look like pincushions...

And some that are "daisy" like...

Yellows...

And whites...

The task ahead of us awaits on the studio counter...

Oasis soaking in the sink...

Getting started...

And finished!

The rainbow of fall colors is amazing...

Sitting pretty in their stands...

Ahh...I can see the wedding colors coming together...

Next up...the decorating of my sister's wedding/reception venue tomorrow! I am getting very sleepy....

Some Art Time

This past week I spent taking some Art and Soul workshops in Portland, Oregon. I met up with my friend from Ontario (I picked her up from the Vancouver airport) and we then drove to Portland. It was a whirlwind week spent shopping some of my favorite places (Ruthie B's in Springfield, Monticello Antiques in Portland, Bridgeport Shopping Centre in Portland, Anthropologie, 23rd Avenue in Portland, Pearl District in Portland - just to name a few). We ate many places too but one of our favorites was P.F. Chang's below...

I signed up for three workshops and thoroughly enjoyed all of them. I came home with 2 finished projects - one still to finish. One of my workshops was the mini copper journal taught by Thomas Ashman. This was an interesting project and I learned a lot of neat things. These next photos are of his work...

Another workshop I was in was the Selective Seeing taught by Stephanie Lee. This was by far my most challenging class and this would be why I didn't bring home a finished project. This will be something I will work on at home and I'm sure it will be just as challenging. We started off with a copy of a black and white photo and painted out what we didn't want in the photo and accentuated what we did. These next few photos were Stephanie's...

This is the one my friend finished...

Another version of it that she made for her parents...

The girl with her arms outstretched in the photo is her...

The last class I took was called Vintage Gentleman taught by Charley and Kerin Gale. I also finished my project in this class. Instead of using a vintage photo of a man I used one of my grandmother. I still have to take some photos of my finished projects so I will post them once I do. Learned a lot in this class too - many techniques that I will put to use in the future.

I think by far the most fun thing was reconnecting with Christina and sharing lots of laughter and stories. We had fun in Italy last summer and again this fall. Check out her website of her store called St. Elmo's Fire in Stittsville, Ontario. She is a fantastic artist and definitely one to watch!

This Ones A Keeper

Since I was making all these other Halloween boxes for everyone else, I thought it was my turn to have one! I spotted a graphic with my favorite color in it...RED...and went to work.

I am just loving the way it turned out!

More red...

Some vintage game cards...

Some old jewels...

A glammed up witch...

And some vintage millinery...

Yep, this one's a keeper! For me that is!

My Sister's Wedding

For my sister's wedding I wanted to make something special for her...a keepsake...a memory of the day. This is what I came up with. This inspiration came from one that Jennifer of Sweet Eye Candy Creations made for a special order. I had lots of fun creating this gem and hope that my sister enjoys it!

This is the front...

The back...

Side...

Other side...

I fell in love with this wedding cake topper when I saw it...

J (for Jenny) and B (for Brandon)...

The getaway car...

The couple even has the right hair color of the to be bride and groom!

A heart for the sweethearts...

The rings...

Love the little rhinestone birdie earring I used here...

I just love the detail of some of the trims...

I tea stained the flowers to make them look vintagey...

See that pearly trim? That was a fantastic find at a great deal at an antique store. I think it was a sweater collar or choker necklace.

Love this trim - and it was from Walmart!

I hope she and Brandon have many years of wedded bliss!