Valentine Day Craft Ideas

Valentines Day Craft ideas by Howdini.com's Bruce Littlefield. This video shows some wonderful, unique ways to show someone you care. It's always better to make a gift to give your Valentine,then buying one. It shows you put some effort and thought into it and women really appreciate this, guys!

Go to the dollar store and buy some items such as feathers, markers, glue, foam board, canvas,ribbons, tissue box. He even uses a seashell to use as an "envelope" to put a love note in.

I think using photos from special times or trips works well also. Photos an be made into a framed collage and shellacked.

How to Create Contemporary Art with Breasts

I wrote a simple article about how to paint with body parts, such as breasts , after reading about artists using their tongue, buttocks, genitals, breasts, and teeth. 

Di Peel is an Australian artist who uses her ample assets to create wonderful abstract, contemporary works .

Here is an example of one of her works.

There are other artists such as Di , featured in  articles from 

Inventors Spot and Crooked Brains. 

Thinking outside the box or norm, is appealing to most artists. 

It can be boring to use the same equipment each time to create a painting.

If your brushes are old and you are tired of washing them out,

Why not do what kindergartners do?

Use your hands, or their body parts,  to create.

Maybe we need to act like kids again to re energize our creative juices.

Trick the Eye Painting

Trompe-l'œil, which can also be spelled without the hyphen in English as trompe l'oeil,^[1] (French for 'trick the eye', pronounced [tʁɔ̃p lœj]) is an art technique involving extremely realistic imagery in order to create the optical illusion that the depicted objects appear in three dimensions, instead of actually being a two-dimensional painting.(Wikipedia)

The technique for tricking the eye into seeing what is not there is quite a feat. Dating back to the early Roman and Greeks, the murals were painted to provide more than there was.  It provided a depth and perspective to a small drab room. Painting a window, an archway or door, when one wasn't there was a source of pride for the homeowner. Modern day trompe l'oeil artists or faux artists, can do much of the same things and add a contemporary flare.The photo to the right, is an example of art work from Martin Alan Hirsch.

I first learned of this five years ago and planned to take a class, but I didn't have a week to spare.

There are schools in Louisville, Kentucky,  such as Martin Alan Hirsch's  Faux Finish School  or Ronald Layman's The Faux School  in Maryland and Florida, or The Faux Filled Dreams in Missouri.

Not all faux paintings are murals. Artists can paint more practical projects on cabinets as well. Make projects for all budgets.

Watch this video to see a lesson.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZXv5uzPl4tY

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New Photography Blog and Shop

I have decided to concentrate more on my photography and opened another new etsy shop

labeled Stacie Lee Photography.etsy.com

Today was spent enlarging, and copyrighting photos to be listed ; and will be listing more this weekend.

I have always liked shooting friends and animals but in the last five years, nature and decayed buildings  have become my passion.

Whenever I travel down a back road and see a wild turkey, or old decayed barn and even babbling brook (corny), I just  have to stop and shoot it!

So my new blog will be StacieLeePhotography.blogspot.com

I will still try to post here but will be working on my photos more so I'm fulfilling one resolution a little early this year.

Key to Christmas Tree Decorating

I found another good use to unwanted and discarded objects.

Recycling and going "green' are popular ideas now so I like the idea of using recycled materials for another use.

Old or skeleton keys are wonderful Christmas tree ornaments. Just think about it!   Sand off the rust, polish it up,   tie a pretty ribbon to it  and hang it from the tree.

One could embellish it by spray painting it a different color or gluing glitter and hanging crystals with it.

The point is,  be imaginative and recycle.

The kids can get into this.   Get them off the couch and away from the computer with a project that will have their creative juices flowing.

If you don't want to get dirty then support an artisan and buy some here.