A Night Walk

It is such a cool summer night that I thought I would take a walk around my yard and take in the cool, fresh air.  Here is what I saw....

 

 

Signs of Spring

While it's still dreary in Ohio, my flower gardens are starting to sprout signs of spring.  I can't wait to get out in my gardens and pull weeds, plant my pots and freshen up the yard.  The grass is slowly getting greener and the temperatures are warming.  Working in my gardens is a form of meditation for me. 

Here's some of the signs of spring that I found in my yard.

This is a sedum that my family calls "Live Forever"

This will be my beautiful purple iris flowers that I got from the yard of my Great Aunt Mildred

These day lilies will be a deep burgundy

My purple dragons keep spreading along my sidewalk

 

I will post more pictures once the flowers are blooming.  Happy Spring!!

 

Stencil Crazy Painting

I love my Happy Room and I love my Tranquil Happiness blog.  I decided I wanted to paint a canvas for my Happy Room and use the initials of my blog.  This was so much fun to just freely lay down a stencil and paint randomly.  Check out how it progressed...

It started with a blank canvas, prepped with Gesso

Do you like how I use an old tobacco and pipe holder/humidor for my water and brush holder?

 

I used acrylic paint with a few stencils each day, then let dry

 

Here is the finished painting.  The T and H not only represent my blog name, but are also my initials.

 

Here is a display of the finished picture along with the stencils.

Did I mention all the stencils are Tim Holtz?  I love his line of products!

 

 

It was one of those let-your-mind-run-free kind of paintings...no rhyme or reason...just fun and cheery colors.  

 

Next, I'm going to try the same technique on an unfinished wood box and use all browns & earth tones to create a distressed look.  I'll let you know how it turns out. 

 

Until next time, do something crafty and get in your happy place.....

 

 

The Happy Room



I have always called my studio, The Happy Room.  You are not allowed in there unless you are HAPPY.  This is where I do all my arts & crafts and when I'm in there, I'm HAPPY. 

I'm always attracted to trees, barns, doors, windows and houses.  When driving, I will stop and take a picture of a tree that has a lot of character in its extended arms, old barns and houses, etc... 

I see a lot of artists online that will cover and/or paint blocks of various shapes and sizes of wood.  I had a few pieces of shelving that gave me the idea to cut them into house shapes.  (honestly, my husband cut them for me)  Here's what I started with:

Next, I painted the edges of the blocks with brown paint and let it dry.  I didn't start out with a plan other than wanting to cover them with Tim Holtz printed paper and spell something on them.  I had seven and was trying to think of 7 letter words ...BELIEVE....IMAGINE....VINTAGE...ANTIQUE...
Then it struck me, I was putting them in THE HAPPY ROOM and it fit perfect, as long I put THE and ROOM on their own block.  I was elated with this idea! 

Next, I got out my Tim Holtz Idea-ology paper stash, Idea-ology tickets and tags, along with my treasure chest of Tim Holtz embellishments.  My little chest of treasures was so much fun to play with! 

I traced the houses onto the paper, cut them out and used Distress Ink to ink the edges.  I just love the inked edge look.  I used my Cricut machine to cut out the letters and I inked the edges of them, as well.  Next, I played for quite some time with the treasure chest of embellishments, tickets and tags.  Once I had everything just right, I started mod-podging everything to the wood houses.  I started with the paper house, added the letters, then added the tickets, tags and embellishments.  For the metal items, I used Ranger Inkssentials Glossy Accents to secure them. 

I am quite pleased with the way they turned out.  I truly love them and they make me HAPPY!

 

 



Here are the close-up pictures to see the details of the blocks:

The sticker under the spoon says "Pharmacist" so I thought of the spoon for taking medicine

 

 

Along the left of the H are metal bottle caps and I punched out the bottle cap paper for the center

 

 

Of course tickets adhered with a metal clip was appropriate for the ticket paper

 

 

Wings and a compass for the travel paper

 

 

Time for Bingo!

 

Key and gears for the license plate paper.  I love old keys!

 

 

A strip of cloth tape measure for this block is oh so cool!

 

I have more wood;  wonder what I will think of next?!



Tim Holtz Tags of 2014

Tim Holtz (my most favorite creative artist in the world) is offering a contest each month to create his Tag of 2014.  Tim's work is most noted for his art of 'distress'.  I have heard him called the King of Distress.  He has distress inks, paint, stains, and more....  With my love of vintage, you know why his style makes him my favorite creative artist! 

Here is the sample tag of the month:

Here is my version using his products that I have on hand:

Bird Seed Wreath

We must remember our fine feathered friends in the winter because with the snow and cold frozen ground, it is much harder for them to find food.  This bird seed wreath is made in a bundt or angel food cake pan.  I doubled the recipe below in order to fill the pan to the top. 

 

 

 



1 pkg Knox Plain Gelatin (the small box has 4 pkgs., but only use 1)

1/2 Cup Warm Water

3 Tablespoon Light Corn Syrup

3/4 Cup Flour

4 Cup Bird Seed

Spray oil or butter

Bundt Pan

 

Dissolve the gelatin in the warm water.  Set aside

Mix the corn syrup and flour

Combine the gelatin and flour mixtures

Mix in the bird seed (it becomes sticky)

Spray the bundt pan with the oil spray and pack the bird seed mix in the pan.  Let set for 48 hours.

 

 

 

It is recommended to use a wide ribbon or piece of cloth to hang through the center of the wreath, as a rope has been known to cut through the wreath. 

 

In my picture, you will see that I made a wire tray.  I cut a 13" x 13" piece of wire.  I Snipped the corners on opposite ends so I could bend each side up about 2".  I used a thin wire all around the wreath to secure it to the wire tray.  I think this is best because as the birds eat the wreath, it is eventually going to be eaten through.  This will help secure it in place, plus gives the birds a place to stand while eating. 

 

 

 

 

I hope you enjoy this project.  It is also kid friendly, unless you have grand kids like mine.  When I told them we were going to do this project and they could take the wreath home to feed their birds, they told me, "We don't have birds at our house.  We have cats and the cats eat the birds."  LOL

 

Credit for this idea is given to Flea Marketing Gardening's Facebook page. 

Antique Store Treasures

I went to an antique store and found a few treasures.  Nothing major on this visit, but since I like owls, I fell in love with this owl plaque.  I walked past him saying, "Where would I hang him?  He doesn't match anything."  I walked away but soon found myself admiring him again.  Since I didn't forget about him, that told me that he was meant for me to buy him, so I did.  I'm happy with my purchase and will hang him in my studio.  Anything matches in there! 

Along with my owl friend, I bought 3 little ink blocks.  I'm not sure why, but I'm drawn to these every time I see them.  Sometimes it's a challenge to tell what they are, but these are a hair brush, a bed and an iron.  I will be on the hunt for a printer tray in my future travels. 

Greek Flat Bread

Tonight's dinner was quick, easy and delicious!  I wasn't super hungry and my daughter and husband had leftovers.  (I do not like many leftovers)  I decided a flat bread sounded tasty since I didn't want anything too heavy. You will need:

1 Pillsbury Thin Crust Refrigerated Pizza Dough
1 Pkg of Heavenly Dips Greek Isle Olive Oil Dip (see more info below about Heavenly Dips)
1 T. Hot Water
1 C Pure Olive Oil (not EVOO)
1 Can of Petite Diced Tomatoes (14.5 oz)
4 oz. Crumbled Feta Cheese
Fresh Basil (optional)

Preheat oven 400 degrees

Do step one of the Heavenly Dips Greek Isle Olive Oil, which is mix the dip mix with 1 tablespoon of hot water.  Set aside.

Unroll the pizza dough onto a rectangle stone and pre-bake for 5 minutes. 

While that is pre-baking, add the Olive Oil to the dip mix and stir.  Brush this over the pre-baked dough.  Top with tomatoes and bake 10 - 12 more minutes, until golden brown.

Remove from oven and top with Feta Cheese.  Sprinkle with basil, if you are a basil fanatic like me!  The basil is totally not necessary with all the awesome flavors from the olive oil dip.  Cut into squares and enjoy!!

Now a little shout out to my cousin's dip business called Heavenly Dips.  Visit them on the web at www.heavenlydips.com.  Not only do they have AMAZING oil dips, but their vegetable and dessert dips are to die for!  They ship quick so get your order placed so you can enjoy this yummy flat bread, too!!  Cheers!

My View....in Winter

My View around my yard today....in Winter

Flowering Crabapple Tree....in Winter

Sunflowers....in Winter

My Chair Garden....in Winter

Our View....in Winter

Taken February 5, 2014

My First Post

This is my new BlogSpot for posting the things that make me happy.  I enjoy spending time being creative and letting my mind relax.  Whether it's painting, knitting, scrapbooking, gardening or putting together a puzzle, I love my quiet time.  Tranquility makes me happy...hence the name of my site Tranquil Happiness.