In honor of my 2nd blog, RAK!

In honor of my 2nd blog, "Art and Life of Michelle Cummings"
I'm giving away this craft kit. Also included, but not shown is a gently used clear letter stamps, some glitter, and lots of fibers/ribbons and embellishments. You can be sure I'll stuff the shipping box full! I'll pick a winner this Friday, so make sure I can reach you. By e-mail or non-private blog. To increase your chances of winning, hop on over to my 2nd blog and add your self as a follower. Those now following and those that add them selves before Friday will have a extra chance to win.
Thanks for stopping by!

By the way...I'm (recently) very excited!!! Go HERE to see why!

Honorable Mention

Is what I received at this years County Fair for "Blast Off"
I'm happy with how it turned out since I had to put it in a frame for their wall!

I'm sure the reason why this one did not place was because I did not add a title or journal card.
I just did not know what to "add", with out ruining the lay out! I'll add something later when the fair is over . I used Prima flowers and rhinestones. I hand stitched around the photo and added two dimensional wings. For the prima flowers I added stickles for a little glitz.

I think it's the most beautiful Lay out I've done in a while.
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For my "Vintage Inspired Chunky Charm Bracelet"....It took me two day to make it. I collected the beads from my personal stash and antique flea markets. I was duplicating a vintage bracelet that my Great-Great Grandmother made.

I macrame braided the base of the chunky charm bracelet with gold elastic elastic cord.

I then randomly sewed with extra elastic cord these charms I so carefully made.

The lot mainly consisted of vintage jewelry that I took apart, cleaned then mixed and matched to make the charms.

Here is the original which was the source of my inspiration.

I was sure that judges would be impressed with the craftsman ship and uniqueness of my bracelet. I guess not. The positive part about this that I've created something that I'm proud of and look forward to making more to add to my shop!
The 1st place winner of this category made something that I was both surprised and happy to see...a wire wrapped/ beaded Tiara! Now that I know Tiara's are part of the jewelry category, I plan on making some for next years fair!

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We met up with some friends at the fair last night. We ate, walked around, watched the kids ride rides and left tired. I'll take photo's next week when I go with just Dyllan. We want to see the animals, shows and ride on some rides together. What a fun day that will be!

Big Trees and Angels

Last month we went away for a week up north and one of the places we always visit is Big Tree's State Park!
They have some of the tallest trees around and it's so beautiful and quiet.
(((Please "click" on ANY photo for a close-up!)))





~ In this next shot, I was surprised to see that I captured what appears to be an Angel.

2 seconds later...nothing.

But then on the next frame, I get this...and it appears that Dyllan is watching it. (I was not aware of any of this till I saw the images on the computer later)

After taking a few shots of Dyllan, I snapped off a few more at the trees roots as I was "drawn" to their beauty...

It seems, whatever I captured started to dissipate upwards till it was gone.
What a visual treat!

Here we are enjoying our picnic lunch with a few friends....

Brian caught a shot of me sitting on a unique bench, viewing the worlds tallest tree.
then I got a quick shot of Brian and Dyllan inside a olden days drive through tree.





This little guy scared the willies out of Dyllan when he went to throw away some trash.

Hope you enjoyed the photo's!

***~Please come and visit my 2nd blog..., Art and Life by Michelle Cummings
I posted about 4th of July on that one!

Radishes

I've recently acquired a new art piece to add to my growing collection of favorite inspirationsal artist's!
This one is a oil painting of radishes by Jolie Guillebeau!
It reminds me of the vegetable garden we had when I was younger, growing up in Borrego Springs, CA.

She even included a personal note with one of her cards!

In her shop, you can find beautiful jewelry on miniature watercolors of her oil paintings....

And then the originals.

~This shape ball brings back so many happy memories....
Please take the time to stop by her shop for a trip down memory lane.

Cup Cake ATC's

I recently participated in a cup cake ATC swap! Here are the goodies I received...mine is the middle top row in the first photo.





If you'd like to see more ATC's I've done...please go here.