River Rock Craft.

Happy Friday! This week I've been having some fun working on some crafty items for our little bambina. After Tom and I's "springtime walk" down by the river, I had to go back.. this time with a bucket to collect river rocks to paint!

Here is what I've done:

Tom and I were very picky only to collect rounded semi-flat rocks. This was about an hour of weeding out the good ones.

Thank you Pinterest for the owl inspiration for this lil gal. We found the perfect rock, so she can stand up all on her own!

An ALPHABET for lil ___________ !

It has been super tough for me to hold back on her name lately. We use it all the time at home, but we are still waiting for her to make her debut to announce it.

C is for CLEMSON!!!

Have a happy weekend everyone!

32 wks today!

C.

Location:Crested Butte, United States

Felt and Fabric Flowers

Knowing that I've got a little beanette growing inside of me, I decided it was time to start making her some accessories! Crafting and putting together these little flowers for her was so sweet. I'm looking forward to adding these little joys to her hair, bookbag, my diaper bag, or pinning them to one of her sweet little outfits. Below are the supplies I used, flowers I made and links to the directions, with a few added tips from yours truly. Enjoy!

SUPPLIES:

fabric, felt (i used all of mine), ruler, hot glue

paper and fabric scissors, pen, needle and thread, hot glue gun, directions

FLOWER #1

The first flower I made took the longestttt.

i left the center bare. looking for a nice little jewel to add.

old pins around the house? we did.. tom took his apart so i could sew these onto the felt backing.

Tips:
This flower is labor intensive, due to having to cut out and glue each petal individually. The directions tell you to use a fabric tacky glue, which I had, but it takes sooo much longer to dry. I like using the hot glue gun for its instant stickyness. ALSO - I created and used a stencil to estabilish uniformity with the shape of the petals. You want them all to look the same.

Directions:

http://news.holidash.com/2010/04/23/mothers-day-corsage/

FLOWER #2

Tips:
As you can see the pink flower on the left is slightly different from the two smaller flowers on the right. Both types are straightforward. You can make one of these flowers in 5 minutes!! I must admit these would look a little better with a few leaves tucked behind them. I am lacking a catalog of felt colors at the moment.

Directions:

http://www.infarrantlycreative.net/2011/10/how-to-make-felt-flowers.html

FLOWER #3

Not my favorite. Infact, I didn't even glue it in place. If anyone knows of a good tutuorial for fabric rosette flowers... let me know.

FLOWER #4

These flowers are my FAVORITE! And to boot, they don't take that long... maybe 30 minutes!

Tips:
The directions called for a fabric covered button for the center of the flower. I didn't have the materials for that... so instead I made little versions of Flower #2. I think they turned out cute!! ALSO when you read these directions you will see that the petals are all strung together on a string.. you tie the two ends of the string together to form the circular arrangement of the petals... One thing I did after that part of the directions was to hot glue, with just a dot, the sides of the petals together so they better kept their shape and wern't able to shift around as much.

Directions:

http://creationcorner.blogspot.com/2011/02/pointed-flower-tutorial.html

I can't wait to see _____________ wear these!!

C.

Location:Teocalli Rd,Crested Butte,United States

pretty.fun!

                               {click to enlarge}

happy 2011: be inspired!

Nursery Mural Painting

This whole project started very casually one day at school. Stacy was like, "hey! could you paint a tree in my nursery?" I thought about it for a second, sure, I've never done it before, but I knew I could. We went to etsy for inspiration, and the rest is history. We borrowed an overhead projector from our school, I blew up the picture of the tree that Stacy wanted, put it on an overhead and the work began. After the very first day, which consisted of only taping off the tree, I knew this project was a big one. All in all it took me about six, five hour days to complete it... I think. I really enjoyed the whole process.  With a minor in Art from Western Carolina, I was excited to get back to a hobby of mine that sometimes can get pushed aside with our busy day to day lives. It was a relaxing and enjoyable process that I would love to do again.  What made this whole process even more special is that Stacy and Bryan are waiting on a phone call any day now to hear that their child has been born. They are on a special adoption journey.. and what a luck baby to have the two of them as parents. Seriously, Stacy is going to be the best Momma. The two of us were almost in tears a couple of times, just thinking about it. The smile on her face when we put all the furniture back in the nursery was priceless. Keep up with Stacy's blog to see their adoption journey unfold. And if you want a mural painted somewhere in your house. Let me know!

email me: christina.spatharos@gmail.com

Step, by step, Stacy and Bryan's new nursery!!

Sketchbook Campaign.

I love making art. And the best thing for an artist to do, is keep a sketchbook. Though my sketchbook is lacking volume these days, there was a time when I raced to finish one and move on to the next! A sketchbook is limitless and knows no rules. I put everything in it...
magazine clippings, thumbnail sketches, yarn, candy wrappers, tracing paper, carbon paper, etc., etc... If it inspired me, it made it to the sketchbook. Give me a stapler.

{ love your sketchbook }

My sketchbook's main function was a place to plan and organize a project. In high school, I took every art class that was offered... and the nerd that I was, became president of National Art Honors Society. Oh, man. I really didn't do much, it just looked good on paper.. then college came, where the majority of my freshman and sophomore years were spent in the brand new Art building. {hours and hours were spent there}. Art at the college level was amazing. I loved how hardcore it was.. and the nervous/exciting feeling of a critique. I began college as an Art Education major, and though I ended up getting my degree in Elementary Education, I still had enough art credits to snag a minor.

So, here I am today, no projects to plan ~ no deadlines to meet ~ no teacher to impress... and a near empty sketchbook. What is wrong with this picture? A lot. I've always known that I wouldn't be able to shake this art thing that I love so much. I'm pretty sure it's with me till the end. However, I am horrible at picking an avenue to channel my artistic nature. I love it all and I want to do it all... which is near impossible {but i still have my fingers crossed}. So until I figure it out, I'm challenging myself to love my sketchbook a little more. It is my hope to add new inspiration once a week. Heck, I get inspired 20 times a day, so this should be easy.

...and I did say near empty... I have a few doodles in there. One that I'd like to share, as I kick off my sketchbook campaign. It's a work in progress that I started a few months ago. It was
my original idea to turn this old mailbox into a watercolor painting. However, before tackling the painting head on, I figured it best to study up on this rustyold metal treasure. The birth of this drawing emerged.
I hope you like.

{ still have a ways to go }

Create your own beautiful,
Christina

Photo Shoot..

{ amanda, at the end of the shoot }

When my sister, Megan, asked me to take her bridal portraits I was sooo excited! I love taking pictures. Who doesn't? I always find myself framing my surroundings, just so. If I had an invisible cloak ~ I would take pictures all the time. I refrain from doing so, as to not look like a camera crazed weirdo. But, as we got closer to the day of the shoot, I scouted out locations like it was my job. (and it was)... but so much fun. Picture bubbles floated above my head for days.

The day arrived. I was nervous, an unexpected feeling. Amanda, my other sister, and I were riding along in the Jeep when that nervous feeling first occurred to me. We were on our way to 701 Whaley, the venue for Meg's wedding reception, and location of the first half of the shoot. Mom, Meg, Me and Amanda walked in, zipped Meg up in her dress (!!) and it began. I took the first 5 pictures - and that is when I realized - I. am. taking. my. sisters. bridal. portraits. These would be some of the most important pictures of my sister's life. I instantly felt foolish for thinking I was skilled enough to do the job. That fear, became a challenge - and I liked it. The most difficult thing about 701 Whaley was that it was Megan, hardwood floors, big windows and some walls. And everything was near the same color. Light and bright and fresh. Beautiful, but difficult!! I started taking pictures and not even looking at them, just clicking away... by the end of it all I had bruised up knees and a sweaty forehead. It was work, but I knew we had some great ones! For 2 hours I looked through a lens of a camera and saw only Megan. She was beautiful.

The second half of the photo shoot was my favorite. The locations I scouted and the picture bubbles coming to life. We live out on the end of a very long and quite rural road: Amicks Ferry. Though it is long, we love it. One house in particular has always been our favorite. Earlier in the week I went and spoke with the owner about coming to his property and taking pictures. He met me with such enthusiasm and shared some of his stories of growing up as a young boy on the very land we stood on... when the road, wasn't a road at all. When we got there, he had spruced it all up for us. :) Mom, Megan, Amanda and I popped a bottle of champagne, put some cowboy boots on and had a hay of a time moving from spot to spot. I have to say Mom and Amanda made the best photography crew ever. Laying down sheets and getting everything just right. We got some great shots!! But after a poof of pollen dropped right on the front of Meg's dress, I knew my minutes were being counted. The rule for the day: What Megan says, goes. So I got all the shots I could in the time I had. I could've gone on for hours.

The last shots I took that day were at a place that I really wanted to take Megan, but she was done. And that was fair. So, I took Amanda there instead. Since I can't put the pictures up of Megan yet, I thought I'd share these last few frames of the day. Can't wait to share more!!

enjoy!

{ i love this truck. }

{ and a fun prop }

Come back after 06.25.2010.

and I'll share with you, sister Megan.

- Christina