Owl Love You Forever

Last year I introduced you to the Regal Tweet --well, today I am formally introducing you to their cousins, the Regal Hoots!  I guess these aren't exactly regal since they are not wearing crowns but a crown is just a minor detail when the owls are so stinkin' cute!  

In my previous post I showed you the before and after.  In case you missed that, this is what the owls looked like when I purchased them at Michael's:

But a little patterned paper, glue, bottle caps, clay, and crackle paint truly brought them to life!  I'm not going to go into a step by step details but I will highlight some of the things I did along the way --in no particlar order.  So lets meet Regal Hoot number one...this is Herman!

This bottle vintage bottle cap paper is by Tim Holtz.  I covered both the front and the back with paper and inked the edges with distress ink in Antique Photo.  

I painted the sides with Vintage Photo Distress Crackle.  Please note that I did this step first.

Since I used bottle cap paper, I thought it would fitting to give Herman bottle cap eyes.  :)  About the heart and the beak.  I rolled out orange and red polymer clay and I cut out hearts and different sized beaks.  I baked them in the oven for about 15 minutes and then I gave them a glossy finish with alcohol inks.  Before I glued everything down on the paper, I spread Clear Rock Candy Distress Crackle Paint and let it dry/crackle.

Alright --now it's time to meet "The Baby"...

Isn't he stinkin' adorable????

Look at his hiney!  Tee hee hee hee hee.  This paper is also by Tim Holtz.

I basically repeated the steps from my first owl on this one.  I really do make these little fellas with love.  Every heart and every beak are unique.  So special!

This little guy has been flapping his wings, practicing his flying before he leaves the nest.  I made his wings out of corrugated cardboard --I painted them very randomly with white crackle paint and when it was dry I distressed it with Vintage Photo Distress Ink.  If you would like to give this little guy a home, visit my Etsy listing.  I promise he is even more adorable in person.  You will definitely be seeing more Regal Hoots and Regal Tweets this year!

On a side note, I'm happy to report that Herman has already found a home.  ::smile::

Peace, love, and owl catch you next time!

What a hoot!

BORING...

AWESOME...

I will have all of the details on these FABULOUS owls I worked on over the weekend in a day or two.  Life is a crazy whirlwind right now but I wanted to give you a sneak peek.  Don't forget that you can also follow my work on Pinterest and on Facebook.  Talk real soon!  

Peace, love, and hoots!

Uncaged

My very latest "completed" Design Team Project is a decorated Maya Road linen heart.  We were each asked to embellish the heart with our own "style".  The goal is to describe who we are and what we like to use in our day to day projects.  Of course this was a no-brainer for me.  I used some of my all time favorite products from Maya Road, Tim Holtz, Ranger, and Prima (product list at end of post).  But we'll get into that in just a sec.

So why "Uncaged"?  Well, it's simple.  I have always been a creative person.  I can thank my very talented mother for this.  She can draw.  I cannot.  But I did inherit other artistic traits from her.  Thanks, mamacita!  Back to "uncaged"...well, as most of you know I was in a marriage many years ago that was riddled with domestic abuse.  I was not allowed to create anything, to keep journals, to write poetry...nothing.  This is devastating to someone like me who needs to express herself with words, with art!  I can remember keeping a spiral notebook hidden in the back panel of my nightstand.  On the nights that were the most traumatic, I would pull it out after he was asleep and I would write in it...in the dark.  I couldn't see lines, but so long as I could feel the paper, well, that was enough for me.  That notebook was my only friend for several years.  When I visited the notebook, I was free!  But any other time, I was a prisoner.  ::exhale::  But that is over now!  And guess what?  I can create whatever the heck I want too!  Try and stop me.  I use a lot of birds in my work because I wanted so badly to be like a bird.  I wanted the courage to fly away, to escape, to break the confines of my cage.  Although that time of my life is now over, I still can't fly.  Well, at least not physically.  But every other part of me has the freedom to soar!  

"Most birds were created to fly.  Being grounded for them is a limitation within their ability to fly, not the other way around.  You were created to be loved.  So for you to live as if you were unloved is a limitation, not the other way around.  Living unloved is like clipping a bird's wings and removing its ability to fly.  A bird is defined not by being grounded but by his ability to fly.  Remember this, humans are defined not by their limitations, but by the intentions I have for them; not by what they seem to be, but by everything it means to be created in my image.  Love is not the limitation; love is the flying.  I am love."  -William P. Young, The Shack

Alright --are you ready to see the entire project?!  Here we goooooooo...

Lets work from the bottom up...this wooden cage is by Maya Road.  I dabbed it with gold adirondack paint by Ranger.  Then I journaled the word "uncaged" on a piece of scrapbook paper and adhered it to the cage.  I decided to add a pink flower to soften the idea.  The wing is also by Maya Road and it is actually acrylic!  I lathered one side of the wing with glossy accents, also by Ranger, and then adhered it directly onto vintage music paper.  Once it was dry I simply tore away the excess paper.  This was easy to do as the paper was very old and brittle.  If you are using newer paper you may need to use scissors.  

I have been playing with polymer clay lately.  I'm new to the clay world but I can only imagine possibilities!  I was looking for a bird mold but didn't have any luck in that department.  But hey, craft people are resourceful so instead I pressed a Maya Road wooden bird into to the clay and used it as a stencil.  I popped him in the oven for 15 minutes --I guess you can say I had a bird in the oven.  ;)  Anyway, once he was cooled off I dabbed him with various alcohol inks.  I don't recall which ones I used, I tried about 4 different shades and finally got this pretty iridescent look.  I definitely used Raisin and Gold but after that I don't recall.  If you decide to use alcohol ink on clay and you don't have an extra piece of clay but don't want to commit to a color --ink the backside of your project for testing purposes.  ;)  My last steps were stamping the word "soar" and outlining my little fella with a black pen.  Oh!  Quick note about the "soar" stamp.  That word, plus the ones I used on the heart are from a new art journaling stamp set by Maya Road.  GET.THESE.STAMPS.  I promise, you will love them and you will use them often.     

Another medium I LOVE to use is cardboard.  And it's free!  In this piece I cut out a heart from corrugated cardboard and then painted here and there with Mahogony Crackle Paint by Ranger.  The keyhole is from the Idea-ology line by Tim Holtz.  I also used alcohol inks on it.  The crown is chipboard by Maya Road, painted with Gold Adirondack Paint by Ranger.

So there you have it!  I hope you enjoyed my project.  I am shipping it off to The Crafty Scrapper today.  I almost can't wait to get it back so that I can hang it in my studio.  In my next blog post owl feature a couple of fellas that are quite the hoot!  You'll have to come back and meet my new friends.  ;)  I will leave you now with the product list for this project.  Peace, love, and taking flight!

Product List (Click image at beginning of post to see large view of most products used):

• Maya Road Linen Heart
• Prima Paper Flowers (the best!!!)
• Maya Road Wooden Bird
• Black Sculpey Polymer Clay
• Maya Road Chipboard Crown
• Maya Road Art Journaling Stamp Set (LOVE!!!!)
• Ranger Distress Crackle Paint
• Maya Road Acrylic Wing
• Maya Road Wooden Birdcage 
• Tim Holtz Idea-ology Keyhole
• Ranger Adirondack Alcohol Inks
• Ranger Adirondack Acrylic Paint Dabber in Gold
• Vintage Piano Music Sheets

Meow!

Have I mentioned how much I love to photograph women?  ::big smile::

Lovely Giveaway!

Remember this project?  Remember my question --how do yo interpret this canvas?  Answer that question and you automatically qualify to win the "Lovely Kit" by Authentique.  Go to The Crafty Scrapper blog and leave your comment.  The drawing is THIS Friday, January 25, 2013!  These are a couple of my favorite comments so far:

Here is a preview of the kit --again, just leave a comment here telling the folks at The Crafty Scrapper how you interpret my canvas and you are entered to win.

Well...GO NOW!  :)

How much do I love thee?

Valentine's Day --overpriced dinners, overpriced chocolates, overpriced flowers, overpriced champagne...what's not to love about it?!  I think the best part of VD is making actual Valentine's Day cards and gifts for friends/loved ones.  As you know by now, I like to explore my emotions and pour them into my work.  So when I received a box of goodies from The Crafty Scrapper for my next Design Team project, I knew exactly what I wanted to convey. 

You see, love is a beautiful and a torturous thing.  It's simple, it's complicated, it's raw, it's tender, it's magical, it stings, it heals and it wounds.  Love is a whole lot of things.  Ultimately, we are all love, aren't we?  But what about the love for another human being?  Does it get anymore scary and complex and exhilarating than that?  Some days you feel like you have conquered and on others you are downright defeated.  I like to linger in between, loving fiercely, never missing an opportunity to tell someone how they impact me whether it's good or bad --although the bad isn't typically well received.  They say that some things are better left unsaid.  I tried that for a while but this girl wears her heart on her sleeve! 

"Shaken by the violence to exist only for you..."  That's my message in my latest Design Team project.  It was inspired by one of my favorite artists but I won't mention who because then you will figure this whole thing out and that's no fun.  It's my belief that there is no one right answer to deciphering art.  It's all perspective.  I want you to see what you want to see, I want your heart to feel what it feels without hesitation.  A lot of times I will just spell things out for people and tell them exactly what I was trying to accomplish in my project while leaving little to virtually no room at all for them to further dissect it.  But here we are "shaken by the violence to exist only for you..."  Could it be that someone is so tortured in loving someone else, that they are kicking and screaming and fighting the good fight to hold on to something unhealthy, something beautiful, something traumatic, yet something that completes them?  Or does it make a statement about loving someone so deeply --"look at me, I would rip my heart out for you and bleed for you and die for you...because I love you THAT much!"  Hmmmm...it is what you want it to be.  What it means to me is a secret.  Shhhhh.  I'll just leave you guessing.  So here is my 6x6 canvas...on display now at The Crafty Scrapper in Waxahachie, Texas!

I wrapped the entire canvas in "Composer" tissue wrap.  I really wish I had grunged it up with distress inks and crackle before piecing it all together, but I didn't think about that till it was all done.  It was just "too white" for my liking. 

About this lovely heart, which I consider to be the focal point of the canvas:  I used a scalloped heart shaped tin by Maya Road and pressed red polymer clay into it.  I then popped it in the oven and baked it for about 15 minutes.  The very first photo at the start of this post illustrates what the tin and the heart looks like just out of the oven.  I then used alcohol ink to give it that deep blood red look.  I think I used the color Raisin which is actually more of a purple tone.  My next step was taking wire that I found in my husband's tool box and I just wrapped it around the heart with no rhyme or reason.  Then I added the wind-up piece which is from the Ideaology line.  I had to rig it a little with a tootpick because the anchor wasn't long enough to fit all the way through the heart.  But I was determined to make it work! 

About the doll:  The doll is by the lovely Lisa Pace.  I just adore her and she is always so encouraging with me.  She made a lot of doll pieces and they are all white.  Again I used alcohol inks...Butterscotch and Gold, primarily.  Then I cut the heart off of a Maya Road pin and glued it to the doll.  Then I let Raisin alcohol ink drip directly over the heart. 

::exhale::  What a powerful piece.  This heart alone is a piece of art.  Just look at all of the symbolism.  Wind me up, imprison me, break my heart, prisoner of your love...so many ways to interpret.  How do you interpret this piece??

The first question out of everyone's mouth was "How did you transfer your photo onto the canvas?"  Well, I didn't.  I printed my photo on a piece of vellum paper.  I then used a thin layer of Diamond Glaze to adhere it right onto the tissue.  I actually mounted the tissue on cardstock AND THEN adhered the vellum to it and then I stuck in the fattest book I could find and maybe I also stood on top of the book.  I wanted the tightest seal possible.  It worked out pretty awesome!

I hope you enjoyed this piece --I have already started working on the next one in my head!  Eeeeeeek!  So much fun. 

Peace, love, and art for the heart!

    

::repeat::

This song played in a loop --over and over again in my studio today. 
 

It kills me not to know this but I've all but just forgotten
What the color of her eyes were and her scars or how she got them
As the telling signs of age rain down a single tear is dropping
Through the valleys of an aging face that this world has forgotten
There is no reconciliation that will put me in my place
And there is no time like the present to drink these draining seconds
But seldom do these words ring true when I'm constantly failing you
Like walls that we just can't break through until we disappear

So tell me now
If this ain't love then how do we get out?
Because I don't know
That's when she said I don't hate you boy
I just want to save you while there's still something left to save
That's when I told her I love you girl
But I'm not the answer for the questions that you still have
But the day pressed on like crushing weights
For no man does it ever wait
Like memories of dying days
That deafen us like hurricanes
Bathed in flames we held the brand
Uncurled the fingers in your hand
Pressed into the flesh like sand
Now do you understand?

So tell me now
If this ain't love then how do we get out?
Because I don't know
That's when she said I don't hate you boy
I just want to save you while there's still something left to save
That's when I told her I love you girl
But I'm not the answer for the questions that you still have

1000 miles away
There's nothing left to say
But so much left that I don't know
We never had a choice
This world is too much noise
It takes me under
It takes me under once again
I don't hate you
I don't hate you, no

So tell me now
If this ain't love then how do we get out?
Because I don't know
That's when she said I don't hate you boy
I just want to save you while there's still something left to save
That's when I told her I love you girl
But I'm not the answer for the questions that you still have

I don't hate you
I don't hate you, no

Happy New Year!

It's been another wonderful year at Ms. Ruin's Playthings!  Unfortunately, I don't have any fun or awesome projects to show but I do want to take a moment to reflect on a few things about 2012.  I promise to keep it short!

"A girl knows her limits but a wise girl knows she has none." -Marilyn Monroe
Except maybe for scrapbooking.  I have said it over and over and over again...I am not a good scrapbooker.  I am standing my ground on this one.  Please don't ever make me scrapbook again.  Well, okay, that's a little drastic.  I MIGHT put together another scrapbook page or two in my lifetime but I don't plan on doing it anytime soon.  I think I need to stick to mini books and mixed media.  Let's all quit beating around the bush and be brutally honest, I suck at scrapbooking.

“Sometimes you wake up. Sometimes the fall kills you. And sometimes, when you fall, you fly.”  -Neil Gaiman
That which doesn't kill me continues to make me even stronger.  Seriously, I think I'm the strongest person alive at this point.  ;)  Kidding, kidding!  But it does amaze me how the human spirit still thrives in the face of adversity, in the face of defeat, in the face of criticism, in the face of rejection, etc.  I can't say that I've been eye to eye with all of those this year, but I've had some pretty significant feats that I managed to break through in 2012.  Surprisingly enough, they were mostly personal feats.  Things that I had to let go and get over and move on from.  We all have those...personal struggles if you will.  I tend to reach plateaus where I think I know myself and what I'm about and what will break me, what will make me content, what will propel me.  And then something happens --sometimes major, sometimes minor, but I learn more about myself.  I had a couple of those moments this year and one of them was allowing myself to show my vulnerabilities through my art work.  I sometimes have to ask myself, "Am I honest in my work?"  Yes.  I may not spell out every tear I cry (whether sorrowful or joyous) with the alphabet, but it doesn't mean that I didn't pour genuine emotion into my work.  Some will be able to decipher and read what I'm about without words, some will not.  And that's okay too.  I strive to tell my story --the good, the bad, and the not so pretty, without fear that I'm not going to fit in or live up to anyone's expectations.  Honestly, I don't give a crap about being proper and making it on design teams.  I will not fake it to make it.  I am thankful for the small design team I am on, because they know what I'm about and they embrace it.  I.will.not.fear.myself.  As I said earlier in the year, "Fear is not a crutch. Fear is menacing. It eats your insides and poisons the vessel that drives courage."  I don't think anyone was listening when I said that, but I did indeed say it on November 6, 2012.     

   

“What you do makes a difference, and you have to decide what kind of difference you want to make.”  -Jane Goodall 
To my readers:  Thank you.  You have embraced every side of me, not just the pretty sides.  Some of you truly get me and some of you still don't know what to make of me but you still support me by coming back here and reading.  I love having a network of creative folks and I love browsing other blogs and finding little treasures.  I have made some amazing connections and friendships with other artists this year.  Thank you for allowing me to inspire and for inspiring me in return.  Some people have chosen not to be a part of my journey, their loss.  For those of you that choose to be a part of "this", I thank you deeply for believing in the things that I do. 

“Do one thing every day that scares you.”  -Eleanor Roosevelt 
So what's next for Ms. Ruin and Ms. Ruin's Playthings?  Well, I'm still running Artsy Fartsy so the monthly swaps will continue starting in early January.  I hope to also expand my etsy shop by offering some original and not so original pieces of jewelry.  My photography is a whole other monster...I will delve into that at a later time.  As far as my mixed media, I want to be even more fearless than ever before!  I believe it to be possible.  I will leave you with this song by Kelly Clarkson.  It is currently my anthem...love me, every side of me, including my dark side or get the heck out of the way!  You are standing in the way of someone who can appreciate this.  Here's to 2013 and all of blog entries that are yet to be written!  Happy New Year!   

  

“Like a diamond from black dust, it’s hard to know what can become if you give up.”

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!

We had a White Christmas!  What a beautiful, beautiful day filled with friendship, good food, and snow!  This is my very first year spending Christmas in Dallas --I typically travel to South Texas and spend it with my family.  I was a little bummed about it, naturally, but this day still turned out to be awesome sauce.

 

I slept in --had not done that in a very long time.  I hopped out of bed at 10am and wrapped a few gifts, made another frame in my craft room (I still have to post those) then I got ready for marathon cooking.  I know, I know what you're thinking..."you...cook?"  Yeah, me cook!  I was so very sick over Thanksgiving and didn't get to enjoy a turkey dinner so that's what we had for Christmas.  We smoked a turkey and I fixed all of the traditional sides and tried to keep it as healthy as possible.  Tried.  Of course my girlfriend showed up with a bundt cake and I maybe had two pieces of that.  Maybe. 

 

We then decided that we needed to fit some physical activity into our day so we went out and played in the snow!  It was so much fun except that my socks kept sliding off my heels and I spent half the time pulling them up or kicking my leg up in the air so that my girlfriend could fix my sock.  HAHAHA.  Sorry, I just seriously laughed outloud while recalling how silly we looked.

 

Anyway --I'm pretty tired.  Think I'll crawl into bed and play Sugar Crush.  It's a game I'm addicted too.  Oh yes!  I will leave you with a few photos of my furkid playing in the snow. 

 

 

 

Peace, love, and flowers in Winter!

Gender Reveal

IT'S A GIRL! 

 

 

We are ecstatic at the arrival of my friend's very first grandchild and it's a girl!  Ohhh, the things we will buy and make and the ways we will spoil her!  I don't know if I'll ever know the joy of motherhood and that makes me beyond sad.  But I'm also blessed to have people in my life that will let me share in the joy of raising a child...and then I can gladly hand the child back to them when they start whining and kicking.  Ugh.  Don't get me started on that one.  Anyway, for now --we celebrate! 

 

 

I just love, love, love, love, LOVE that wooden bunny by Maya Road.  :D  The flowers are really beautiful and nice to the touch.  Those are by The Paper Studio.

 

Thanks for looking!

 

Peace, love, and baby girls.

 

 

 

Merry Christmas!

Happy Holidays!  It's really starting to feel a lot like Christmas, isn't it?  This year I decided to scale back my gift giving.  I typically go all out but I'm going to be frank, I was kind of being a Scrooge the first few weeks of December.  Could it be that we have had unseasonably warm temperatures and I have to work every day but Christmas which means I'm not going home to see my folks?  I'm sure all of those had something to do with my mood.  But you know what --the day is approaching and I can either be sad or I can enjoy it with close friends here in Dallas, exchange a few gifts, and reflect on the birth of our Savior.  I go with the latter. 

 

Confession.

 

I spoiled myself a little this Christmas and bought myself a Christmas/Early Birthday present. So what did I buy?????

 

 

A Nikon J1 in REDDDDD!  How sexy is she?  This baby is not a point and shoot but it's also not a DSLR.  It's somewhere in between and actually functions as a mirrorless camera.  I'm still learning how to operate it.  Heck, I'm still learning how to use my D90!  I'm not as technical as I'd like to be and my fellow photographers pick on me about this but I just let my heart guide me in the photographic process.   

 

Here are a few shots of a very dapper gentleman.  Isn't he cute?  What can I say, I think beards are sexy.

 

I finally found someone to sit in my little big chair!

I had to help him...he was stuck after putting just one leg up on the chair.  Mmmm hmmmm, I think someone needs a few sessions my trainer!

Awwwwe --too cute!  Don't worry, Santa...sometimes I sit in chairs and my feet don't touch the ground either.  :(

Ho, ho, ho!  Merry Christmas!

 

Peace, love, and vintage bearded men.

 

Merciful

The Fountain of Mercy Ministries has chosen one of my prints to help raise funds during their annual Divine Mercy Conference.  I am so excited to be a part of their conference as I believe firmly in the work that they do help the community through faith and spiritual guidance.  This print in particular is very touching to so many.  Let me tell you the story behind these pudgy feet.   

 

 

“Merciful” by Sonia Hernandez Doneghue

This fine art print features a portion of a large monument that illustrates Jesus Christ with a group of small children. I was compelled to capture the feet of a kneeling child who looked up at his Savior with such love –a gracious gaze and admiration for Our Lord, one which comes without question. There is something very special about the way a child depicts Jesus Christ. As adults, we tend to think we know more than children, however we should pause, reflect, and relearn to love and trust in the Lord the way a merciful child does it so purely.

I'm on fire!

 -Lake Michigan via Chicago, Illinois

 

THIS is what I love to photograph.  THIS is what I'm good at. I very rarely advertise family portraits because although I don't mind taking photos for people when they seek me out, I want to be remembered for my visual art. Does that make sense?  THIS is what fuels me.  THIS is who I am.  THIS is Ms. Ruin. ::leaves heart on the floor:: ♥

 

::cough::  Now that I've got that out of my system.  Here are some other photographic highlights from my trip to The Windy City in October.  I still have a bunch more to sort through plus some really cool pics of a fantastic lighthouse in Kenosha, Wisconsin on the banks of Lake Michigan.  Talk about brrrrrrrr!  For now, enjoy these...

 

The world famous Chicago Theater

 

 

 

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Ferris Wheel at Navy Pier --yes, I did ride!

 

Lighthouse at Navy Pier on the banks of both the Chicago River and Lake Michigan

 

 

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Hillside, Illinois --the final resting place of Al Capone.

 

Lots of old and beautiful monuments in this gorgeous cemetery.

 

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Does this one really need a caption?  Okay, fine.  This is Cloud Gate at Millenium Park.  Affectionately known as The Bean.  "Sonia, you gotta go see the bean!!"

 

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I love this one.  Believe it or not, it's probably a favorite.  I'm strange that way.

 

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Currently the tallest building in the world --Willis Tower.  Formerly knows as The Sears Tower.  Yes, went up to the very top of this one too.  Want to see those pics?  Stay tuned!

 

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If you enjoyed these photos, don't forget that you can repin all of my work to your boards on Pinterest!  Happy Pinning.  :)