(re)Purposeful: Sparrow Painting

Now that I am in my new digs, the familiar left behind, it's time to decorate MY way... put my own special brand of "Amy Attitude" all over these carpenter-grade, cream-colored walls!

I am not much of a painter, besides the occasional furniture re-do, but I had this vision of sparrows on a branch in my head and I wanted to see if I could make it happen. After digging through the jungle of boxes in my garage, I found an old ugly canvas of beige vases on a beige table in a beige room....beige, beige, beige, BLAH! The size was perfect for  behind my bed so I thought: Why not paint over it? Anything would be a major improvement!

So I spray-primed the entire surface of the canvas and let it dry overnight. The next morning I dug out some black semi-gloss interior paint and covered the beige twice for good measure. Already a HUGE improvement! :o) I still had a little cream semi-gloss interior paint left from a coffee table project so I used that to paint a giant branch across the expanse... I had to go over it a few times but I like how it left brush marks, almost like bark on a tree!

So I've already admitted to my lack of painting skills... I wanted to sparrows to be colorful and precise. I know better of myself than to think I'd be happy with what I would do with a brush. I drew sparrow silhouettes in different poses and cut them out, now I had templates. After tracing them onto beautiful scrap book paper, I cut them out, then made wings and beaks in complimentary colors of paper. I used Mod-Podge to fix them to the canvas and to apply the wings and beaks as well. It works best and you get less bubbles, if you first glue down the bird, wait, then apply a top coat of Mod-Podge, wait, then put the wings and beak on. I covered the birds with a few coats of the miracle Mod-Podge to make sure they were on good and tight, then the whole canvas got two coats.

I LOVE how it came out and I had ALL the supplies on hand! It cost me nothing to make and my new room has some much needed, sparkle!

"His eye is on the Sparrow...."

Surviving a "Life Stroke" and living to blog about it...

So I have fallen off the face of the Earth for awhile again... I'm choosing to call it recovery. This past year has been a series of life-changing... or more aptly called: "life-taking" events, that have blindsided me much like a serious stroke that you never see coming until you suddenly can't move the left side of your body.
The first was divorcing the man I have been married to for 11 years, closely followed by my 19yr old brother's heart attack and the news he needed a 2nd heart transplant. Soon after that it was apparent I would be losing my house and my status as "Stay-at-home-domestic-goddess-and-CEO" which was a title I absolutely loved. I restarted my buried Massage Therapy business, short-saled my house, found a beautiful/affordable town home and moved my brood.
How did I survive? Honestly I have no idea... I chose to believe that G-d in all his infinite wisdom decided that I needed to grow. So many little blessings keep landing in my lap and I know He is responsible for the gifts. My perspective is that now I have a set of life skills so strong I could literally survive the apocalypse and actually thrive afterwards!
So I am settled and itching to get back to the more creative side of my life now that surviving is turning back into living.... It's the journey right?