Harper Valley

Acrylic Water

Have you ever heard of Acrylic Water?  If not..you've probably seen it at the bottom of a vase full of  silk flowers.  I experimented with acrylic water for the first time this weekend.  I know, I know...fake flowers aren't as purty as real ones.  And they don't have the same life/zest/uniqueness as real ones.  But sometimes it's a necessary evil.  We need centerpieces for our eat-in kitchen tables at the office, so I opted for silks because bottom line...we can't afford fresh flowers every week! 

Acrylic Water is also known as Wonder Water, Quick Water, Liquid Floral Foam, etc. You can usually find it where floral arranging supplies are sold.  I'm happy with how they look.  Pretty sassy!  Here's how I did it....

1. Gather your materials:  Glass vase, silk flowers cut to desired length, acrylic water kit, disposable tray and stir stick, stones or marbles, rubber pads for bottom of vase (optional). 

 

2. Add marbles or stones to the vase.  Doing this adds weight to the bottom since the arrangement may be a little top heavy.  Plus, it looks neat!

 

3. Pour the two bottles in your kit into a disposable plastic container.  Begin stirring.  You'll notice that the liquid takes on a pearl-like hue.  This is normal.  Continue stirring for 3-5 minutes, or until the mixture is completely clear.  Be patient! 

 

4. When liquid is clear, pour it into the vase, avoiding the sides.  Arrange your flowers and set the vase aside for 24-48 hours.  Additional patience required!! 

 

Special Note: You may have noticed two boxes of acrylic water in my first photo.  I found the green kit on the shelf at Wal-Mart, but there was only one box.  So I bought a different brand at Jo-Ann since I had three vases and needed more kits.  Well...the kind I bought at Jo-Ann was a disaster.  It's called Quick Water (white box).  It got cloudier and lumpier the more I stirred.  Not good.

So I hunted down a few more of the green boxes at a different Wal-Mart, 10 miles away, which was kind of annoying because that is NOT my favorite place to be.  I'll take Target over Wally World any day.  Ugh..I really dislike that place, but they have come through for me a few times, especially this weekend. 

Anyway, I digress.  If you do make these, I can highly recommend this brand below, sold at Wal-Mart.  The kit came with its own stir stick, and mixing tray complete with pouring spout.  Very convenient.  The other brand came with nothing but a big ole headache!

New Growth

I experienced something very exciting this morning..new growth on my Asian exotic plant!!  It started dying on me last year because I forced it to dwell in an office with no natural light.  But NOW I have lots and lots of windows in my office and my baby is growing!!!!  I never gave up on my little trooper because I knew she could make it through.  And then this morning ...voila!  New leaves.  They're so sweet, tender, and bright compared to the more thick and mature, dark green leaves.  I love my new sprouts.  Welcome to the world!

Stone Shrooms

 

Check out this stone mushroom collection that I scored for $4 at an estate sale.  They're teeny...ranging in size from one to three inches.  I can't figure out what kind of stone they are.  Sedimentary?  Igneous?  Faux?  Whatever they're made of, I'm in love with my new fungi chotchkies.

Fresh Wall DeZigns

 

Aaaaah...I'm back!  Did you think I abandoned my blog?  Kinda feels like it, huh?  My life's been pretty ordinary and downright boring lately, so there's been little about which to write.  Although, there is one cool thing going on ---> I've taken on the mission of decorating our new office space at work, so that's kept me on my toes.  It's been a fun project, and challenging as well.  I'll post some before/after shots in a few weeks when everything is finished. 

For now..check out this wall art above.  It's a vinyl wall decal from Dezign with a Z.  As you know, I'm decorating the office, but only the common areas (kitchen, lobby, halls, etc).  When we're not in the kitchen or lobby or halls, we're working in team offices (2-6 people each), so each team is responsible for decorating their own office...or not.  Anyhoo, we have a huge wall in our team office, so I thought it would be fun to try a wall decal.  Waddayathink?  Pretty fresh! 

If you try these, I strongly encourage you to keep the white paper backing on the decal while you position it on the wall with painter's tape.  The directions say to remove the white paper backing first, and to then position the decal on the wall.  Major problem with this tactic: You're left with a giant sticker that starts sticking to itself and to the wall in all the wrong places.  This happened to me and I had a damn near meltdown.  Heart palpitations and sweat were abundant.  I finally got the stinkin' thing up and it's quite less than perfect.  Tomorrow, I'll perform surgery on my precious wall decal and hope that helps.  You can't see what I'm talking about in the picture, but trust me..it needs an intervention. 

That's all I got for now.  I'm off to have a glass of wine and watch some soul performances on my fave new cable addition, the Gospel Music Channel.  Until next time....  

p.s. If you buy a large wall decal like this, call or write me for coaching.  I can give you several very helpful tips!

Abundance

***Found this on Pecannoot's blog.  Loved it!! 

Easter Choir - Did it Afraid!

I did it!  I auditioned for the Easter choir at church.  OK, so there was no audition.  But...I didn't know that until I arrived.  For several weeks, I've been mentally torturing preparing myself for this night.  This Easter Idol-esque night.  This nerve-wracking, anxiety-ridden night.  My thoughts have been consumed with flashes of me tripping on stage, my voice sounding like poo, people heckling me and throwing tomatoes.  Alright, I knew there wouldn't be tomatoes, but I was still scerred.  But I just knew in my heart that I was supposed to do this, despite the fear and doubt.  I knew that I was supposed to do it ---> afraid.

After a few minutes into the "audition," our leader said that we only have to sway and smile to get in.  Whew!  Big sigh of relief.  Hooray!  No tomatoes or humiliation.  That's it!  After that, it was lots of singing, harmonizing, and some good ole fashioned gettin' down.  It was a piece o' cake!  And it was FUN.

Can you imagine if I would have chickened out?  I would have missed out on an amazing experience.  On my way to the rehearsal tonight, I kept saying..ok God..I know I'm supposed to do this, so you've gotta help me out here.  And He sure did.  No audition.  I'm so glad I did it afraid!

Here's what we're singing:

"Glorious" by Martha Munizzi

 

"We Have Overcome" by Isreal & New Breed

 

"Mighty to Save" by Hillsong

 

"Overcome" by Desperation Band

Something Old. Something New.

 

I spent the weekend turning something old into something new.  Well, new to me anyway.  A few weeks ago, I moved into a new office at work and quickly discovered that I needed a bookshelf or a console table...stat.  I searched around town, but just couldn't seem to find the right thing that wasn't in the $200 range.  So I hit up one of my fave used furniture stores -- City Bargains.  With a little TLC, I turned my $35 purchase into a custom piece that will match my office decor perfectly!  Check it out...

BEFORE:

 

AFTER:

 

After I sanded and re-painted the bookshelf, I added panels to the back (it was backless before).  I had some scrap silver fabric without a home, so I attached the fabric to illustration board using spray adhesive.  Then I attached the panels to the back of the shelf with upholstery nails.  I also added a silver stencil design on each side.  My office is a Classic Hollywood theme, so this will fit in just fab!

March CED Challenge: Dreams #1

March's Creative Every Day theme is DREAMS. I created this visualization board several years ago.  It's full of my dreams for the future.  Do you have one too?  If not...try creating one for yourself.  All it takes is a flat surface and some magazine clippings.  

A few words from Leah on the Dream theme... 

"How can you use this theme in your creations? Well, you could use the previous themes to help you brainstorm by getting playful and writing all the ways you could interpret the theme. Or perhaps you will dream something up?

If you need some suggestions, I will be posting about the theme throughout the month. Here are a few ideas to get you started. You could:

• Keep a dream journal
• Use your dreams (or nightmares) as the basis for art
• Read about artists who used dreams as a source of inspiration
• Explore your dreams for the future in a dream board
• Practice Dreaming Big
• Turn your dreams into poems
• Play with visualizations to spark your creativity

How to use the themes:

If you're feeling creatively stuck or blocked at any point during the month, use the theme as a source of inspiration to get you moving. 

Using the theme is entirely optional for CED participants. Use it if it inspires you, ignore it if it doesn't. I'll be sharing posts throughout the month around the theme (among other things) to get you thinking about how to incorporate it into your life. I'd love to hear how you use the theme in your creative world.

Feel free to focus on the theme in your creative activities for the entire month or as much as you'd like.

And have fun with it!"

I dream a lot. I do more painting when I'm not painting. It's in the subconscious. -Andrew Wyeth

Self-Portrait Party

     

A few weeks ago, I hung out with my art posse for a Self-Portrait Party.  We spent the afternoon creating self-portraits of ourselves.  Here's mine above.  Last Summer, I made some colored papers using this shaving cream background technique.  I loved how they looked, but couldn't quite figure out what to do with the swirly buggers.  So I broke them out of the archives, tore them into pieces, and used them on my self-portrait.  I created four small mosaic canvases to be displayed together as one larger piece.  Waddayathink?

After a day of creation, we enjoyed a delicious dinner cooked by Chefs Debbie & Brian...our gracious hosts.  The hit of our dinner was ----> homemade ketchup.  Whoa.  I can never squirt Heinz on my burger again after eating that savory concoction.  It was just fabulous!  Then we wrapped up the evening with Becky's homemade butter creme cake, moist and light..topped with fresh strawberries.  The day was refreshing and full of laughs, just what the doctor ordered. 

Our finished products...

 

The buttercremalicious cake...

 

The whole gang.  Clockwise, from left: Becky, Brian, Debbie, Me, Lori.  And Denise is behind the camera!