Laugh, Create, Smile

I think those words are perfect words to base your retirement on.  I love to create and now I have time to create - my job will no longer suck the creativity out of my soul.  I can get up every morning and if there is nothing on my calendar for the day, I can create anything I wish to.  This makes me smile and sometimes I even start laughing.  It is a laugh of joy because now my time is my own.

I am on the Design Team for Canvas Corps and they asked up to create a 4 x 4 canvas that somewhat describes us.  Here are the things from the canvas that represent me.

• The words are a favorite of mine now, especially the CREATE.  
• I love flowers.  I love to play in my flower beds.  Before I had paper therapy I had dirt therapy.  Now I have several drawers full of flowers for card making and I also love to make my own flowers.  (The orange flowers on the canvas were made from burlap from Canvas Corp.)
• I love bright colors.  Teal/aqua is a favorite.  I love pink (there is both a light pink and bright pink on this canvas).  Pink is also my Mom's favorite color so I always think of her when I create with pink.  Orange has also become a favorite.  At one time in my life, I thought orange only belonged to fall and Halloween but I had a student worker whose favorite color was orange so she opened my eyes to how versatile the color orange is.
• Do you see the fabric on my canvas?  My first love was fabric and sewing.  Although paper has become my favorite things to craft with, you will often see fabric showing up in my designs.  
• There is a twine bow in the flowers.  I know if you asked many of my card making friends, they would mention all the bows I make.  

I am having so much fun creating for Canvas Corp.  I love the versatility of their three lines:  Canvas Corp, Tattered Angels and 7Gypsies.  

I hope you enjoy this glimpse inside of my creative soul.

Here are some close ups of different parts of the canvas.

Here is a close up of two flowers that I made.  The orange flower is made from burlap which was painted orange.  If you have trouble with your burlap fraying, paint it with gel medium and it will not fray.  The aqua flower is strands of threads pulled from canvas fabric.  It is colored, wet with gel medium and wound into a coil.

The sentiment was stamped with black Versafine Ink and clear embossed.  It was fussy cut and was pop dotted on the front of the canvas.

Here you can see the different flowers and also the colored twine bow tucked among the flowers.

Thanks for letting me share a part of me.  Have a very wonderful day.