Mixing Up the Mixed Bag Even More!

It's a really good thing that I settled on the name Bev Ann's Mixed Bag!  Because here I go again, changing directions.  I just simply love to do too many different things!  I guess if I would do them all on one piece of art at a time, I could call it mixed media and be done, but I'm way too scattered for that. Ha Ha  That would be much more simple, but not me!

So this month I will be saying good by to Stampin' Up! as a demonstrator.  I should have made this decision a long time ago, but just couldn't let go.  When I lived in town I had such a great group of ladies in a stamping club.  It was a blessing and I sold enough to make it all worthwhile, at least it paid for most of my stuff!  I was never a super seller demo like some of the women I follow, but it was fun.

Now I live out in the country too far from my ladies and so it's just me.  I have too many other interests now to spend my money just on stamps and paper, so the end comes on the 30th!  I have begun selling retried stamp sets on ETSY, with great success, so I'm also paring down the stamping stuff.  After all, there's only so much room and I need to add my new tools!

For as long as I can remember I wanted to cut out wooden decorative yard pieces.  I got the chance to do a few last December, when I made the awards for the winners of our neighborhood lighting and decorating contest.  I made a tree and a Christmas light bulb. I really want to do farm animals - sheep, cows etc. to scatter around my back yard, but before I get to that here come some Halloween decorations!

 A week or so ago I saw a cute witch shoe wreath and some witches legs in a pot  on Pinterest and decided to try and make some.  My amazing husband took me to get the plywood and I drew some patterns and I started to cut them out when he said, "Do you want to go in town and get a jigsaw that sits on a table so you can feed the wood and not be balancing it and holding a saw in your hand?"

 I said, "Yes".  So we closed up the garage, jumped into the truck and headed the 25 miles into Lowes!  We got a scroll saw and got home, only to realize that I really needed that jig saw.  So we jumped back into the truck and he took me back and got me the other saw too!  I told you I had an amazing husband!!!!!!  He added in a palm sander and a few other little treats and we headed home to set up my work area in "man land".  Guess it's "couple land" now, but I'm not saying that to him!  Just thankful for the space and to be working with him so close by.

Sunday after church I began to cut and before I knew it I had three sets of legs and three shoes all cut out!  And my arm didn't feel like it was going to fall off from holding that vibrating hand saw.  The funny part was I used all three of my saws on the legs!  It's not a very good picture of the shoe, but I'll have more pix next time.

So for now I close! I've got painting to do and I want to have these ready in time for Halloween.  I've got other projects going right now too and I'll be showing some of them soon.  As I said at the beginning, I chose the perfect name for my blog!  I know some of you follow me just because of Stampin' Up! and I will be sorry to lose you, in fact, I hope I don't.  I hope you will enjoy my new adventures and look forward to the surprises over the next months!  In fact, this isn't my only new equipment, I got a Silhouette Studio a few weeks ago too, so new projects are everywhere!  Wow, I sure wish I had 36 hour days! Bet you do too!

See you soon!

Watercolor Flowers and Lavender Scented Paper

Good Morning!  I love Fridays - I thought I might need to take my car in for service today, but no appointment available until Monday morning, so I get to play! I want to share some of my newest cards and or card fronts. I used to stamp all of my cards and I still do occasionally, but mostly I now draw and watercolor them.

 I've recently become the worst card sender ever and I really must change back to the sender extraordinaire. With this in mind I've begun to watercolor some card fronts so I will have them ready to go when Facebook or my calendar suddenly remind me of a birthday!  For those of you who didn't get a card recently, I'm sorry!  Hopefully, next year you'll be at the top of my list!

Just this week I've completed several and mailed them and I'm going to share them today before I go up and start to play. 

The one on the right is my go to hibiscus.  I've painted a lot of other flowers, but always seem to go back to my comfort zone!  I did two different ones this week and forgot to take a picture of one so only the recipient gets to see it.  I'm really good about snapping pix, but occasionally one gets away from me.  That's ok - after all, I'm painting to share, not to keep.  And that's the problem with my stamped cards.  I have boxes of cards I stamped and never sent.  I must do something with them, any ideas?

This card on the left I made for a new friend in Minnesota.  I met Sue online in one of my stamping groups.  She was looking for a stamp set and I happened to have it and now it's hers.  I included this card in her package along with a couple of my bookmarks.

I have been explaining to her that my direction in cards has changed and that's why I'm selling so many of my stamp sets, so thought I should give her a real example.





And this leads to my last two pictures.  The one on the left is the front made out of my own freshly made paper and die cut with the Top Note die from Stampin' Up! using the Sizzix BigShot.  The picture on the right includes still another handmade paper.  The lavender colored paper backing the picture actually includes lavender buds in it and has such a nice scent.  Sure wish you could scratch and sniff! This card is for a very special cousin who shares my love for creating.  I started my paper making while she was visiting and we talked about making paper with lavender buds, so only right that she should receive the first card using this paper.  I was really pleased with how easy it was to use this paper for drawing.  It's a different texture from my usual watercolor paper, but worked like a dream and making lavender scented paper is so easy!  I hope she enjoys the fruit of my labor.

Those of you who know me personally, know I could sit here and talk for ever, but that doesn't get pictures on paper, so I'm closing and heading up to my studio, pulling out some paint and paper.

Oh, by the way, I've changed my Etsy shop name to BevAnn's Mixed Bag - the link is www.etsy.com/shop/bevannsmixedbag.  I did this for consistency, now my blog, my FB Page, my physical shop in Katy and now my Etsy shop all have the same name! Right now the Etsy shop is mostly stamp sets, but keep it on your list and check back often as I add more vintage items and some of my art cards, bookmarks and maybe even a foot or two!

Now, I'm really gone - later,