Join the tag challenge!!

if you haven't visited our art forum you must! The challenges...like this tag challenge are sooo fun!!

Have an Upcycled Christmas!!!

99 upcycled recycled altered Chrstmas bottles on the wall, 99 upcycled recycled altered Chrstmas bottles...take one down, pass it around :)

These bottles would be your most brightest cheeriest Christmas decoration...or gift...I promise! Check out my etsy page-Lulah Hildebrandt...also selling more of my tags, Christmas too!


And very iMpORtaNt PS...Please visit my gypsy cottage blog and join me with some altered artsy cottagy funsy upcycled/ recycled Christmas ideas!!!!!

Holiday Cheer

This month's design team challenge for More Paper Than Shoes...soon to be renamed Creative Paper Artist was to design a piece to convey holiday cheer, using our individual favorite materials...my altered bottle is decorated with vintage papers tattered fabric, and beeswax. My first handmade decoration of the holiday season...and on this our first day of snow...and my day off :) What a beautiful cozy day!! Happy Holidays everyone...day one!

Hi friends, I am part of the etsy group Creative Paper Artists...please check out our group page!

What a wonderful Christmas it would be if we each supported each other a little by buying from shop to shop! What a beautiful handmade Christmas it would be as well!

Create One Small Tag for One Great Cause

Do you stamp?? Do you scrap?? Altered art perhaps??

I need your help!!

...Would you please create one tag for a centerpiece I am putting together for the Lewiston Root cellar, an inner city ministry in Lewiston, ME

We are asking 40 artists, art groups, and art classes to each create 1 centerpiece with the theme- Trees, fall, faces of inspiration, and community. I would like my contribution to be a tree similar to this one, but full of tags created by blog and fb art friends. Each centerpiece will be up for bid at our silent auction w/ a starting bid of $50! I have over 100 art blog and fb friends and I have seen much of your work- imagine a tree- or treeS full of tags created by all of us!!

Please consider making one small tag for one great cause. Your tag could reflect one or more elemnts of the theme. For inspiration and more info visit our website Lewiston Root Cellar.


Thank you in advance for anyone and everyone who chooses to help!!!

November Tree

Have you visited the MPTS forum yet! If you are a scrapper, stamper, and/ or altered artist, you need to get in on the fun!! Stop by the MPTS blog to see the design team members takes on this months challenge and THEN do the challenge yourself and post it!!

November's Challenge:

Theme for November "Leafless Trees"
Materials: buttons and felt
Technique: ink blending
"Leafless Trees" November is usually cold and gray...but think of "you are taking a walk early morning and you can hear the wind between the tree branches and feel the cold on your cheeks... you're NOT cold because you are wearing your favorite thick wool cardigan...All of a sudden, the comfort smell of wood burning in chimneys reaches you and you take everything in...All your senses are fully awake...You happily remind yourself how wonderful it is going to be at home sitting by the fireplace with a nice cup of tea, coffee or coco!"
Lovely Idea submitted by Design Team Member, Chantel

Here is my November Challenge Piece. My "November Tree". Up here in Maine, some trees are leafless already! And my family loves taking walks and coming home to cocoa and coffee. My tree actually has a strand of a few leaves still on it. This tree is a tree close to home, Imagine a big brother and his little sister buttoned and bundled up for a walk in the woods, coming home (see their key) to candles their mother has lit and a woodstove. The felt ties on the tags, keys, and candles make me think of warm scarves. I loved making this piece! Thanks for the idea Chantel!

Grape pickin'

Grape picking with my little ones! Their is an old grapevine along our stone wall that has made its way into the trees. These are the sweetest grapes I have ever tasted! Some are rather tricky to get to though ;). Lily and Darby had a blast. So did mom ;).

Please pray

 

Dear Friends, Please pray for my sweet nephew, Peter, he is in the hospital this morning with pneumonia! Pleas pray for the whole precious family!! Peter is the little guy in the stroller. Please pray for healing!!!!

gYpSY cOtTagE

New blog...opening my gYpSy cOtTage doors! My life is characterized by beautiful imperfections, sometimes I don't see my life as beautiful, but God does! gyPsy cOttage will be a blog dedicated to my style of decorating...of art...of daily living... where nothing matches perfectly and is wonderful in spite of it or because of it~a place for random pretty things, poems, artwork, photos, musings~traveling around from here to there, collecting trinkets and treasures. Please come by today for a visit!!

Harvest Queen...and other fine ladies

 

 

 

 

I made the first doll pictured for the MPTS design challenge for October. Theme- Harvest, Materials- glitter, ribbon, handmade flower Method- Embossing. Tricky, because I never embossed anything and had no tools to do so. Solution- used the rounded edge of Gracie's crochet needle, 2 pieces of paper suede (1.99 each at Joann's) and the engraved celtic cross that hangs in my bedroom. Unfortunately, you can't see the embossing detail too well in the pic...but it turned out pretty cool. Her body is a wine bottle, make me think of those homemade dolls over dish detergent bottles back in the 70's. hehe.

I love these challenges for so many reasons. I hadn't made flowers before either. (embossing, flower making...look at me s t r e t c h and GROW!)...My flowers are tattered roses of dark ribbon (that I tattered w/ scissors) and floral tape.

The other two ladies are the other two dolls I have made from my stock of doll heads (yard sale a couple years back- 50 cents each!)

The second doll, Wisdom, was inspired by the boook of Proverbs. Now I picture my Lady Wisdom everytime I read Proverbs..."Wisdom crieth out, she uttereth her voice in the street..." The base is what looks to me like a miniature tomatoe cage...I have tried to find more of these, but haven't been able to. Anybody know what it is...or where I can get more...please let me know!

The third doll, my first, is my sweet little gypsy cottage doll. I think she's a little gypsy cottage grandma...welcoming the grandchildren in to bake gypsy cottage pies. Her skirt is actually a paper dress from mosshillstudios Her body is a canning jar. My own sweet grandma canned...and made pies w/ us grandkids....this doll sits by my art table on the porch, and whispers to me sweet memories of my grandma and my childhood.

baCk tO sChooL

Had fun creating this little journal...sometimes it is so fun to create as if you are still a little kid. I mean c'mon...who doesn't still love the smell of a fresh new box of crayolas!! Crayons, pipe cleaners,construction paper, paste (not just for eating anymore), um anyways...wouldn't it be great to create a whole series of altered art pieces using material/ mediums we used in kindergarten?! Hmmm.....didn't I just throw away that empty toilet paper roll...be right back. ;)

montage, collage, hodgpodge...a few pics of a few things this morning

Welcome fall
Good morning sunrise
my gypsy Gracie
good morning art...

A Mighty Fortress is Our God

Happy 40th Birthday to my Dear Husband. This piece is my artistic interpretation of his favorite hymn A Mighty Fortress is Our God by Martin Luther. I created an assemblage of treasured found objects from my porch, beautiful discarded hymn and book covers, and my favorite photo of my husband. Kev and I love the words of this hymn, words of God's strength and protection and Christ's victory for eternity.

This is also the first large assemblage piece I have done, and I must do more! I am contemplating other beautiful hymns that would lend themselves to my assemblage art.

I and my Bucket

I scanned one of my favorite things- a beautiful Victorian Book cover for this piece. I was aMazED at how the printed image turned out as beautiful as the original! I heart my scanner!!

If I lived in the 1800's this would be my scrapbook layout ;)!!

I found the precious little photos at a antique shop just out of Topsham ME. They originals are sooo light you can barely see the little girl. Enhanced them using picasa. Wow!! I heart my picasa!

A few weeks ago at a yard sale, came across an antique album w/ these beautiful, vintage blue, worn pages/ frame mats. Got the album for a song and a dance...ok those of you who know me know I CAN"T dance...so just a song!!

This project was done for the MPTS design challenge Try the September challenge on MPTS and see what you can come up with!

If you like the pics I used...I have digital copies for sale in my etsy store, Lulah Hildebrandt...for a song and a dance...please stop by! More beautiful vintage images to come!

If you are not a member of MPTS forum yet...check it out! The best scrap book/ altered art forum I have come across...and they just keep on improving it and making it even better. And the talent is amazing. My favorite part is the challenges!

more of my hymnal...close ups

(double click on each pic for a closer look!!)

hymnal

I gave my altered art team the challenge of creating a piece of altered art that best introduced them to the rest of the group, and the rest of the MPTS forum.

This hymnal is the project I created to introduce myself, "describing" a few aspects of my personality...

I love "altered hymns"...old hymns set to new music. The words of some old hymns cause one to stop and think...the depth and theology in such a time as this...read through some old hymns once!!some fave phrases...

Jesus lover of my soul, let me to the bosom fly!
I need thee every hour in joy and pain
Years I spent in vanity and pride, caring not my Lord was crucified!
Joy that seekest me in pain
You overwhelm my days with good!
Your wondrous love will never let me go

I love God, and am his daughter, under his cross, under his wings...For all of my faults... ALL of them, I am forgiven and I am loved and am saved for eternity! Today I will screw up, and seem to forget this awesome truth...at least a thousand times. And in His mercy he will forgive me and in His grace he will keep me.

Like my hymnal, I am not perfect... pretty frayed and tattered actually, but very colorful, unique, and interesting ;)

The bright colors and dark colors in my art- life is light, bright, and beautiful at times, and other times serious, somber, and seemingly sucky...but still let's face it, the truth is life IN CHRIST is beautiful! Illness, car repair, a messy house, bills beyond measure ...these will ALL pass...my soul rests in CHRIST FOR ETERNITY! Truthfully and basically- I will die someday, and none of this crap matters, I am his for eternity, saved from an eternity I don't even want to think about. I am loved by GOD forever!

Some colors match, some don't...kind of following my gypsy cottage art/ decorating style and my life...nothing matches perfectly, and I don't care...I did it that way on purpose...sort of! If you visit my house you'll see I gave up the quest for perfection a while ago! After all, the best part of home, is well...just being home! I have some time off to think about this, and I am loving it! I heart my imperfect home...and my imperfect family!!!

Well, that pretty much sums it up I guess...me in a hymnal.......

Done!! Finally!! August Color Challenge...alternative title- Glorified Chicken Wire Assemblage

My humble art, on my humble art porch... my inspiration MPTS august color challenge. Had a little too much fun with this one!