Canvas Decoupage

Here's a project I have been wanting to make for a while.  I love my acrylic paints and this is a fun project that will allow you to use those fun acrylic paints.

Here's what you'll need:

decorative party napkins (tip: find them on clearance), small canvas, gift wrap tissue paper

Scissors, rubber or acrylic stamp, dye based ink, sponge, permanent marker, Mod Podge

 A variety of acrylic paint, I like using the Americana brand because the colors are brighter.  Use colors that go well with the colors on your napkin

  A picture....don't use an original, make a copy because you'll be cutting it and painting it.  This is me when I was eight years old, somewhere in Mexico visiting with my favorite aunt, Esther.  Sorry, my uncle accidentally, I'm sure, cut her head off .

Don't you love the old concrete steps? I think their awesome in my picture.

 Stamp your design on the tissue paper but make sure you have a permanent dye based ink so it won't smear

Peel the napkin taking away the layers and leaving only the decorative layers.  They normally only have one extra layer.

Cover the canvas with a think coat of Mod Podge, go to next step without letting the glue dry

Carefully place the decorative napkin on to the glued canvas

Cut off the extra napkin all around your canvas

I wrote "Diva" with a permanent marker inside the stamped image.  Place your sentiment or stamp design on to the napkin carefully with Mod Podge.  Don't worry if your stamped image is not cut exactly to the line, the tissue will actually disapear.

Next, cut our your picture and use Mod Podge (only on the back) to glue it to the napkin.  Take your acrylic paint and brushes and be creative with your picture

Here's what I did with mine, I gave myself a pink dress

And here's how it looks displayed in my dining room, very pretty.

Linky Party

The Clown

Today I was inspired by my blog friend Jeannette at Counting Our Blessings and her beautiful poetry. She posted a poem she wrote when she was in high school that meant a lot to her back then.

I wanted to share a poem with you that I wrote back in Middle School, when I was thirteen years old.  It's very short in words but very deep in meaning for me.

The Clown

I put on the make up to look kind of funny but it’s only my eyes who betray me.

I make people laugh, I do it for money, at times I wish they could see inside me.

If I was of glass they wouldn’t laugh because believe me, inside, there’s nothing funny.

People would cry and that would be bad because I wouldn’t get any money.

They pay to be happy at least for a while since happiness can’t last a lifetime.

If I take this make up off, they won’t recognize me, of course you may already know it.

I’m only a clown when I have the make up on but when I don’t, the clown in me? I’ll never show it.

This was how I felt at thirteen but today would be a whole 'nother poem, it would be a happy clown......it's funny that I chose a clown since I don't like clowns......at all! they creep me out.   My parents took me to a circus when I was nine and, for what ever reason, I decided back then that I didn't like clowns or the circus! go figure.  I don't really have an explanation, I just don't!

Hmmm, I wonder what my psychologist friends would say about all this?

Linking to:

http://heartsmakefamilies.com/

Organza Wreath

Would you like to receive a special gift in the mail from me?

read on and find out how.

UPDATE:  WINNERS FOR THIS CHALLENGE HAVE ALREADY BEEN SELECTED

After scoring on April Cornell's beautiful table napkins from Bill at Affordable Accoutrements, I was in a giving mood so I hopped on over to Lisa's Easy Frugal Living blog for a little "Pay It Forward". This is how I get to gift something to you, I'll explain further down in my post.



For today's post, I'm showing my Pink welcome wreath

Here's what you need: Organza (my piece was three feet by six feet), scissors, hot glue gun, strips of decorative paper (I used an old book), pins, printable transparancy.

You can purchase a styrofoam circle at dollar tree store or at Michael's. Cut strips of decorative paper, enough to cover the whole circle. Use your glue gun to glue the paper onto the foam.

Once you wrap the styrofoam, it will look like this

Next, cut a strip of organza, about 5 inches wide and 6 feet long, don't worry if your organza is not 6 feet long, any length will do. My organza had three different shades of pink, very pretty.

Accordion fold the organza about 5 inches in width

Now, sew all around the organza, it's okay if the organza does not stay in a square shape, as long as you sew a square that is four inch by four inch, you'll be fine. This step is done to keep the organza together so it's easier to cut circles out of.

Next, cut a circle shape, about 3 inch in diameter, inside the sewn square, like this

You will cut through all layers and end up with all these circles. The circles do not have to be perfect, just so they resemble circles will be just fine.

Repeat the process once more until you have about 25-30 circles.

Take each circle and fold in half

Then fold in half again

now pin it to the styrofoam

make two layers, one facing up and the other facing down, you can use all same colored pins or the silver ones if you'd like. I used multi-colored pins on mine

Once they are all in place, it will look like this

I made a bow with the rest of the organza and a long strip to hang it with. I then glued a welcome transparancy sign in a cute curly pink font and, wah-lah! the final product!

I love the way it turned out. It's so economical too because it's the same styrofoam I used for my Valentine's day and my St. Patrick's day wreaths.

Now........that special gift for you, please read on

UPDATE: WINNERS FOR THIS CHALLENGE HAVE ALREADY BEEN SELECTED
PLEASE STAY TUNED, MORE CHALLENGES TO COME.

**************

The Pay It Forward challenge was first introduced by my blog friend, Lisa at Easy Frugal Living . It was on her friend's post, Rhonda, where I was selected to participate, Woo Hoo! Rhonda is going to send me a hand made gift she makes herself....I cannot wait!!!



Here's where you come in, don't you love it when you receive a thoughtful gift from a friend in the mail??? specially when it's a hand made gift made specially for you?? well, now you have an opportunity to receive a gift from me!!! with all the kindness and thoughtfulness attached to it.



Here's how it works: The first three people that would like to join the Pay It Forward Challenge, leave a comment on this post, specifying you would like to participate in the Pay It Forward Challenge, will receive a home made gift from me in the mail!!! HELLO!!! You will receive a handmade item from myself within three months, completely free of charge to you. I can promise that I will make something very special for you so that you will be pleasantly surprised when it arrives in the mail.



The Catch......sorry, there is a catch, BUT A NICE ONE. You have to Pay it Forward and commit to doing the same thing. Place a Pay It Forward post on your Blog, Facebook account, etc. Send something handmade to three people within three months, you can wait until you receive my gift, there's no hurry. The items should be handmade by you. It can be anything; an embelished scrapbook page ready for pictures, a set of greeting cards, an artist's trading card...etc...Wouldn't it be nice to make someone's day? So who's in on spreading a little Pay It Forward, Handmade Style? leave me a comment that you would like to participate, I will select the first three, it's that simple.

I appreciate and look forward to your comments. You can still leave a comment, even if you don't want to participate in the Pay It Forward Challenge.

Laura at Along for the ride, is having a $40 gift certificate giveaway, make sure you link up with her before the 27th for a chance to win:

For today's Pink Saturday Challenge, I'd like to introduce a wonderful Pink lady, and now my blog friend, Patricia from Concerning Marie. She is a multi talented artist who's subject of choice is Marie Antoinette and life in that era. If you need inspiration, head on over to her blog, there's plenty to see that will inspire you in what ever you are working on. You will find poetry, quotations, paper crafts, altered books, mixed media art and so much more, head on over and say hello.

Please visit my Linky Parties above and don't forget to go and check out all the goodies April Cornell has, trust me, you're going to be glad you found her site. Specially with Mother's day coming up.

Pink Martini

It's Friday Night and definitely Pink Martini time for me.....another crazy week. Although, I did get some exciting news this morning, I won a beautiful set of napkins!!! I'm so excited, can't wait to buy the table cloth that goes with them, I'll have to post about it then.



Back to the martini, I'm not a big drinker (other than wine at dinner) but today, a martini would be nice to  wrap up a stressful week.  If you need a pink martini too, here's how to make it: In a shaker with ice cubes 1 1/4 oz vodka 1/4 oz lime juice 1/4 oz triple sec 1/4 oz cranberry juice splash of grapefruit juice.  Shake well, pour and enjoy.















I love roses

When I had my first child, ten years ago, my husband's grandmother, "Abue" (Gramma) was holding my baby in her arms and she said to me, "Maria, you need more flowers in your garden". I knew what she was talking about.... more babies. She passed away after my second (and last) child was born, seven years ago. When ever I see the flowers in my garden, I think of her. We don't truly know how much we are going to miss someone until they are gone. And when they are gone, all we have left, are the memories they left behind.

These flowers are from my garden, it's hard to imagine that I would be responsible for these beautiful roses but, actually, I should give all due credit to my neighbor, David. He's a 70 year old man who takes really good care of them while my husband and I work. It's so nice to have kind neighbors that look out for you. I pay it forward too, when ever there's a big game on TV; baseball (Dodgers) or basketball (Lakers), I bake small cakes or cookies and bring them over to my four neighbors around me. They love it!





I think that if our neighbors were to describe us as a family, they'd probably say something like........the Villanueva's? Maria and Oscar? oh yeah, they are very friendly, they have a horrible singing voice but they're friendly, just don't let them take out their karaoke machine because then you'll be in for something you didn't sign up for. Other than that, they're pretty friendly. Maria? oh yeah, everyone here knows she collects Michael's coupons, so we all bring them to her before they expire. She talks to her birds like they were babies. Oscar? yeah, he has a very loud voice. We all know when it's 6 o'clock in the morning. We don't need alarm clocks around here because Oscar sure wakes up the neighborhood..........



No, seriously, when we moved from our previous house, one of the neighbors said, with disappointment, "you can't move, who's going to wake us up now?". My husband can be loud, sometimes I have to remind him how loud he is when we're in the car and the windows are rolled up. I once made him ask the doctor to examine his hearing, turns out he has excellent hearing!

When we're out shopping, people around us will stop talking with their companion, they literally stay quiet to hear our conversation. Not that we have anything interesting to say but I think they figure, since he has such a loud voice, surely he must be talking about something interesting. This works really well when we have to return something at the store, all he has to say is something like "I'm here to return this", that's it! no explanation, no questions asked. If I try to return something......let's just say, I dread returning stuff, specially when I don't have a receipt.



Now about my bird, wouldn't you also baby talk to your bird if he was this cute? his name is Connor (he is a sun conure) and he loves hanging from his cage like a monkey. He gets very upset if I forget to place clean water in his cage on Saturday mornings for his bath.

I'm linking up to Pink Saturday hosted by my blog friend, Beverly at How Sweet The Sound. Go check out her post and other Pink Saturday Posts, you'll sure be delighted.



Also, check out another Pink Saturday member, my blog friend, mes ami, Frenchy at Le Chateau Des Fleurs you're gonna love her blog.