Tiny Leaf

Inspiration... beautiful blue sky and towering trees with tiny leaves. Photo, design, poetry by Julie Wood. Art is from the heart, please do not borrow without consent. Thank you.

Thank you...

A friend of mine... (Steve) gave me a wonderful gift today.... somewhat of a project kinda gift, but a gift none the less. Of course, project gifts are some of my favorites, so I wanted to be sure and send him a big blogger Thank You!! Be checking back here in a few weeks and I'll have the finished "project" ready for show. Thanks so much, not only for the window, but also for all your help today. It's great to live in a small community where everyone is always so ready to lend a helping hand. TTFN

Planting time has arrived...

Well the weather has finally turned our minds to getting our plants and flowers in the ground. So for mother's day I built potting benches for my mother and my mother-in-law, now they can grow some wonderful veggies and beautiful flowers... hopefully enough to share... lol.

Sycamore Retreat

Our backyard getaway

Cedar Swing Projects

the bbq table

fountain to attract the birds

picnic table, hammock and swings and chiminea for those chilly evenings

Well I know I've been slacking on my blog this last month, but with the weather improving and the sun shining, I just can't make myself stay inside. So here's what I've been up to. During the past couple of years, the wild Missouri weather has taken down all of our shade trees in the backyard making it a little uninviting. So this spring I decided to take matters into my own hands and build us a backyard "retreat".  I've been working on it off and on (when the weather allows) for the past 3 weeks, and now I am finally down to landscaping and a few finishing touches. We wanted to build it all from logs, but after some research and looking at what we had to work with, decided it would be next to impossible to get the finished product we wanted, so I have used logs where I could, for the sun shade supports and for some of the decorative elements... sticking to sycamore... because I think they are so beautiful and really like what it's turned into... our own Sycamore Retreat! Can't wait until the flowerbeds are finished and blooming!!! Then it will be time to sit back, relax and enjoy!!!

Winter Blues

Winter Landscape/Shades of Blue was the challenge offered by Created Byhand this week.  So here it is... I've got the winter blues.These are my original photographs and, as you can see, Hazel has made her appearance while singing the blues. Think she's looking forward to some warmer weather, too. 

Door

Here's the Door! for the Take a Word Challenge. Didn't know where I was going with it, just seemed to fall together. Art is funny like that. LOL!  Anyway, it is so true, what is life if you don't open that door and soar... Get out there and fly!

Backgrounds

Friday Foto Collage supplied the lovely floral background for this project. Makes we want to go out and dig in dirt. I altered the background and added some of the flowers from last years garden as well as one of our fountains and a little nursery rhyme to boot. Now I'm ready for spring!!!

The Old Dark House

Wanted to make this into a happy little home, not so dark. Added photos from old family pictures, some landscapes and pets from our yard. Much warmer with Grandma on the porch petting the cat and kids playing in the yard. This is my entry for Collage Obsession. Thanks for such a great old photo to work with.

Faces

Faces... now that's a tricky one. So many faces to choose from, so here's my take on it. Faces of unconditional love... top left to right: Delilah, Scooter, Willow, Bandit and Sunflower. Middle left to right: Daisy, Bluebell Sassafras (she thinks she's the queen) and Bear. Bottom left to right: Robbie Rotten, White Goose, Gypsy, Gray Goose and Brownie.  Like the generic goose names! LOL!!   Faces anyone could love and they'll love you right back!!! :)

This is my entry for Sunday Postcard Art challenge Faces. Hope it brings a smile to yours!

Quilts/Stitching Challenge

Quilts and Stitching are not my "thing" but my mother and grandmother found their artistic talents there. This is a clock I painted for my mother for Christmas 2009 to hang in her sewing room. It is painted on the wooden top of an old cardboard powdered milk container... (I think that's what it was, the cardboard part still serves as a wastebasket in my workshop.) It's about 12 inches across, so it made a nice size clock. This my entry in the Created by Hand challenge. Thanks for looking.

My Valentine

I love old pictures, especially family pictures. This one is from my husband's family. What a great photo!!! This is my entry for 4x4 Friday. Some of the other graphics came from the Graphics Fairy. Another great website with wonderful goodies!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Words

This weeks Theme Thursday challenge was words. These are my words... and my grandma, when she was 19.

Time Traveler ACF 104

This guy looked to me to be very well traveled and punctual!! Hence, Time Traveler. This is my entry for Art Creations Friday.  The images (less of course, Mr. Time) were collected from the site, e-vint. lots of good images there for use.

For the Birds

A little bird told me that Friday Foto challenge was for the birds! So here she is! I used images from Green Paper compass and from All Free Vintage Stuff sheet music. The birds were from some of my files and the poem... well that's an original Jules!!! (that's me) Hope you enjoy it! The little birds will be returning soon!!!

Valentine Surprise

Hi Crazy Amigos, here's my valentine!!! Hope you like it, I'm sure my sissy will love it! LOL! The image is borrowed from Free Image Tuesday, what a great site. Happy Valentine's Day!

Dress Up!!! ACF 103

What do little girls love to do? Play dress up!!! And dress up their paperdolls! She is such a pretty little image, decided she needed to be a princess! This is my entry for Art Creations Friday challenge 103.

Steampunk Postcard

This is my first attempt at Steampunk.  The challenge was issued by Sunday Postcard Art. Click on this link and look at all the awesome entries submitted for this postcard challenge. Wow!! Lots of talented artists out there.


I used some more of my found goodies for this one. Had an old pocket watch 'frame', my husband's grandfathers playing cards, and the old chain from a lamp. Always fun to use old goodies in new projects. Thanks for looking.

A little bit of spring

Spring is on it's way, I know it's hard to believe when all you see is SNOW, SNOW, SNOW. So here's a project I did last spring, hope it brings a smile to your face and puts a 'spring' in your step!

I found this old window screen and painted it, added an old pair of shutters and built a flower box out of old barn wood. I placed it on the side of our shed to give it some personality and charm! The geraniums looked pretty all summer long! The quote at the top says, "Joy is not in things, it is in us." I believe that is from Richard Wagner. And how true that is.. happiness comes from within!!!

Love Tree

What a GREAT theme. I LOVE trees! This is a pressed leaf that I've had in a book for many years. I gently cut the heart design and placed a decorative leaf scrap beneath. The LOVE is cut from a willow outside my workshop. Couldn't get the 'O' to stay bent the way I wanted so sliced a sliver off the end of a branch.... very natural!

This challenge was presented by 4x4 Fridays, here's the link check it out and get ready to participate!

I Have A Dream

Dreams can slip right through our fingers if we don't grab them and hold on tight. So...
Look to the sky full of DREAMS, hope and love. Life is for fulfilling your DREAMS. Don't let them float away!
Above is my entry for the I have a Dream challenge from the Created By Hand Challenge.

Circus Challenge

Here we are under the Big Top!!! Sometimes life is a Circus and makes us kinda Nuts!!! This is my entry for the Crazy Amigo circus challenge.

Air

Wrote this one last week, had to go back through all my photos to find just the perfect one. I think these go together pretty well. Thanks for looking... remember to BREATHE!

AIR...
Stop and breathe, not just a breath
     but let the air consume
Make a place for air inside
    allow your life to bloom

Peace, you know, comes from within
    and without air peace can't grow
So breathe a deep consuming breath
    then slowly let it go

When days are spinning round and round
    and life is running wild
Breathe the breath of life again
    and make your time worthwhile

photo/poetry by Julie Wood

Home Sweet Home...

Postcards are awesome fun! This is my submission for Sunday Postcard Art. What a blast, I have been holding on to this photo and trying to decided how to use it for quite awhile. This was it! I will reprint the wording of the poem below, just in case it's too small to read on the card. Thanks for looking :)


Home Sweet Home

many days have dawned right here
some of hope, and some of cheer
a beauty she was, in her day
alive with sounds of children's  play

those days have passed many years ago
where they've gone, she'll never know
the wind now whistles through the walls
crying her lonesome, lonesome calls

families who once grew inside
have watched her grace slowly slide
once she held them safe and warm
protected them from unknown harm

a home is more than wood and stone
but happy times of days long gone
a place where you can feel at home
and let your mind and memories roam

Photo/Poetry by Julie Wood

Are We There Yet?

My entry for Make a moo or two. Boy, this was harder than I thought. Working on something soooo small, was quite different. I enjoyed the challenge and look forward to the next one!

Treasured Moments

This is a black and white I had of my Great Grandparents, still holding hands under the rose arbor. It's my entry for Friday Foto collage.  Also my first time participating in your contest.

Run 4 the Roses

Here's my tag for Crazy Amigos Challenge.  Used canceled postage stamp, rose clip art and an old decorative leaf for a little color. What fun!

How TIME Flies...

Here's another art challenge creation. This one is from the website Art Creations Friday. The challenge was to use their clipart ... the lady and the background [which I've placed in the lower left hand corner]... and make something. So here it is!  Again using leftovers and found objects. Scrap metal for tag, old watch face for butterfly body, scraps of this and that. Oh, how time flies, when your having fun!!!

Morning Drive...

Gray sky blankets quiet earth
    as sunshine seeks to find
An opening through misty clouds
    a place for sun to shine.

It peeks through billows thick and full
    burning fast right through
The power of the firey sun
    the clouds, they have no clue.

Hanging tough and holding firm
    their strength is soon to fade
As sun pushes on with might
    to brighten up this day.

Rays of light soon show right past
    the misty clouds have lost.
On tug-of-war of nature’s sky
    can be placed no cost.

    Julie Wood


Took this photo yesterday morning and it inspired me to write this poem. Hope you like it. :)

Muddy Mondays...

'TREY'sure Box

Adventure...

This is my first attempt at a Mixed Media Monday challenge. I saw this challenge as an inspiration and went for it. I typically work with projects on a much larger scale, but had quite a bit of fun working on these smalls.
All my items were … found or leftovers … which makes this even more special, by using all those little tidbits I’d been saving for something.

Top: I had an old tin with a clear top that I’d been saving for years and a favorite picture of my son… years ago… with misc clippings and stamps. If you can read the little poem, it fits him to a “T”.

Bottom: Items include scrap mat board, scrap-booking ‘scraps’, magazine clippings, and old key … got to use my metal stamps too  and just misc stuff. Great Afternoon Fun!!!

Looking forward to the next challenge.