FUN on a Friday Afternoon ~ Making a Hat on National Hat Day!

Happy Friday Everyone!

Inspiration is spontaneous FUN!

Let's make a hat on National Hat Day!

Life is full of surprises!

I just bought a new skein of my favorite yarn without even knowing what today was! :)

Universal Yarn - Classic Shades - #743 Oasis

My parakeet Jimmie was all too happy to help me!

I used my favorite Fun & Easy Hat Pattern that you can try too!

Ta Da!

I just love how it turned out!

What a FUN way to end the day and start the weekend!

Have a super weekend everyone!

xoxoxo

Melissa, Archie & Jimmie

Introducing ~ "The Bear Bummlies" ~ A NEW Line of Toys for all of your 2 and 4 Footed Kiddos!

Guess what I got for Valentine's Day?

My mom just made me her brand Newest FUN creation!

Introducing her new line of  Lovable stuffies...

"The Bear Bummlies"!

Each one is handmade with LOVE!

Each Bear Bummlie says I LOVE YOU from both the front and the back!

Each one is lovingly handmade by me with the help of my skilled assistant... R-Chee!

Bear Bummlies make the perfect buddy for any of your 2 or 4 footed kids!

Each one is special and one of a kind just like your little ones!

Say I LOVE YOU today with a Bear Bummlie!

Now available in my Etsy Shop!

Come and see each one!

They cannot wait to meet you!

xoxoxo

Melissa and R-Chee

The 1st 3 Mother Bears of 2014 ~ The Retro Teddy Trio!

Happy Monday Everyone!

R-Chee & I had the most wonderful weekend crocheting and sewing dolls!

Today we will show you the 3 new ones we just crocheted for The Mother Bear Project that sends bears from all over the world to children in Africa.

Each one is made from the wonderful MBP knit or crochet patterns by loving hands the children to love!

Meet the Retro Bear Trio!

R-Chee helped me with every stitch and is very proud of them all!

They are on their way to Africa to make children feel happy & loved!

Here he is telling them to have a safe journey and to hug all of the children for him too!

They said they would and that they would tell him all about their adventures from Africa!

They also told him that the Teddy Bear Badges on their chests that we made will send him messages from them in Africa after they arrive at their new homes!

How FUN to imagine that!

R-Chee is so excited!

Safe journeys little bears!

We cannot wait for your stories when you arrive!

R-Chee & I LOVE making bears for The Mother Bear Project!

Sometimes we even are lucky enough to receive photos all the way from Africa showing them in their new homes with their new families!

Please come back on Wednesday when we show you the second project we made together!

What FUN things did you do this weekend?

Please leave us a note and let us know!

We cannot wait to hear all about it!

xoxoxo

Melissa & R-Chee

Monday Memories ~ A Rainbow of Warm & Wooly Houses

 

Happy Monday everyone!

Now that we are home from our road trip into the mountains, I thought it would be FUN to make some Wool Houses to add to the village Melanie and I are making! :)

I got the idea to make these from a memory I have of the rows and rows of beautiful houses my twin sister, Melanie, and I saw when we were in Norway in the early 90's together.

We took a 2 month backpacking trip overseas right when we graduated from college.

It was a magical experience and Mel and I still often talk about all the things we saw in every city we visited.

We stayed in youth hostels and lived out of our packs.  

It was an amazing adventure that we took and now share wonderful memories of together.

I really do find that everything we do, create and share is art from our hearts that we share with each other like warm hugs everyday.

Life is Art... Art is Life!

What FUN things did you do & see today?

Please leave us a note and let us know.

We cannot wait to hear all about them!

xoxoxo

Melissa & R-Chee

Create a Collage with Catalogs ~ Blue & Green Parakeets

Happy Wednesday everyone!

Oh my gosh!  

This collaged art project was so much FUN & Easy to do that I had to show you as soon as I finished!

Can you believe this neat parakeet collage was done in a few hours from start to finish with a quick sketch, some glue & little torn scraps from a CB2 catalog? :)

The first thing I did was to grab a pen and sketch these two parakeets on two separate 5 x 7 pieces of paper.

The size of your drawing is not important, but I wanted to make the point here that you do not have to create an overwhelmingly detailed drawing or large image to fill in with the colored paper if you do not want to. :)

If you do not like to draw, you could trace an image or photograph or even glue right ontop of the printed image.

This is your project and you can do whatever you want! :)

I chose to scan my drawings to preserve the originals and to create a blank copy of sorts that I could print in any size and anytime I wanted to make another one!

I printed my drawings on a card stock weight paper so that it would not curl too much from the moisture of the paste.

The next thing I did was open my colorful catalog that I just got in the mail. :)

You can use any catalog or magazine that you like!

I made a point to shop for color, textures and elements on the page when choosing which ones to tear out.

I also limited myself to 3 pages for each bird so that I would not get overwhelmed. :)

Remember though... this is just what I did.

Everyone is different!

Please tear out as many as you would like!

Then all I did was tear some scraps of colors, grab my paste and little paint brush and started gluing the torn pieces onto my printed drawing, layering at random as I went.  

I like the look of the soft torn edges so I made an effort to not leave any hard edges on my scraps.

It was so FUN and relaxing to do!

I did not think about placing them in any which way.

I just layered the colors and textures I liked into the spaces.

To create the final image, I scanned my 2 parakeet collages and created the effect of them sitting together by using Photoshop Elements to place them over a background of leaves that I created from passing some filters and changing the opacity levels of a photo of one my plastic place mats that I have on my kitchen table. :)

Ta Da!

That was soooo FUN that I cannot wait to make another one!

I think I will tear up pages from my IKEA catalog next! :)

I love this collage so much that I have made it available as a set of 10 note cards for you to enjoy too in my Etsy Shop.

Have a super day everyone!

xoxoxo

Melissa