Leap!

Betsy, an amazing friend of mine, has chosen the word "leap" as her "One Little Word" this year. It is just perfect for her and I am so inspired to see her living it every day! She mentioned one evening over dinner that she would like to have something tangible that says "leap" that she can look to as a daily reminder...and my mind just started going crazy with ideas.

Late last year I discovered this fabulous group of publications from Stampington & Co that are dedicated to artists, their work and inspiration and where they create. My favorite one is called "Somerset Workshop" and it actually walks you through, from start to finish, the process of creating some amazing things! I was blown away by an artist named Vanessa Valencia (how cool and artsy is that name??) who makes incredible mixed media canvases, and immediately wanted to try my hand at it. Most of them are dancers that she mod podges to the canvas, and then adds gorgeous skirts using sheet music, vintage book pages, etc. Here's my inspiration (she has an etsy shop at http://www.etsy.com/shop/AFancifulTwist?ref=top_trail):

So, back to Betsy...I decided that I would make a canvas for her to illustrate her word.  It was the most FUN I have had working on a project lately, and when I finished the other night at 11pm, I went to bed just GIDDY. This is certainly not a masterpiece by any stretch, but I had a great time with it and will definitely make more. I used book pages for the background and pages from the phone book for the skirt. I can see one hanging in Kendall's room, perhaps.

Betsy sent me this pic yesterday after being so sweet as to hang this in her office at work!