Art by Debbie Saenz

Mod Podge Monday: Simple Scrabble Tile Pendants

Here's a simple and fun Mod Podge project anyone can do! And if you haven't tried Dimentional Magic, a Mod Podge formula, you've just gotta...it's like resin, but non-toxic. These were created by a group of 8 year old girls.

I provided the "Craft fun" for a little girl that was in my art classes two summers ago. All she wanted for her party, she told her mom, was, "That lady who taught art classes, can she come and do a craft with me and my friends?" That's just what I did. we had a blast! We painted and embellished little boxes then made these scrabble tile pendants. I gave them several options of stickers, background papers, and words to choose from. They did a fabulous job!

Last year I wrote a tutorial to make these pendants. You can find it here. 

I hope everyone has a safe Halloween!

Blessings xo,

Debbie

New Art Piece for Sarah's Dorm Room - Finished!

I finally finished the special mixed media art piece I was creating for my daughter's dorm room. My original plan was to complete this piece before my thyroid surgery, but never did. But now, I'm pleased to say, Yea! it's complete! I wanted this painting to go over her bed, so I used a rather large canvas, 14" x 28". 

Since Sarah's passion is running, I Incorporated a photograph I took of her when she ran one of her marathon's. You can read more about my daughter here.

I hand wrote lots of Scripture and prayers for the background. My hubby wrote a letter to Sarah and an acronym for her name which I also included.

One of the verses I used is from  Hebrews 12:1-2...

 

Therefore, since we are surrounded

by such a great cloud of witnesses,

let us throw off everything that hinders

and the sin that so easily entangles.

And let us run with perseverance

the race marked out for us,

fixing our eyes on Jesus,

the author and perfecter of our faith.

Hebrews 12:1-2

I love how Webster's defines perseverance,...

"in Calvinistic theology, the doctrine that those who are elected to eternal life, justified, adopted, and sanctified, will never permanently lapse from grace or be finally lost: in full, perseverance of the saints."   AMEN!!

Sarah's personality is of one who perseveres...actually, amazingly so!  My prayer and desire is, in the race of her Christian life, through even the hardest of times, she will fix her eyes on Jesus, everyday, beholding the glory of God.

I pray Sarah will run the ultimate race, the race of her life, not for competition, but with as much commitment, discipline, dedication, great energy, and  excellence as she does in her races, marathons, daily conditioning and training...for the ultimate and glorious crown of joy and triumph!  

Now I want to make one of these for each of my children.

Blessings xo,

Debbie

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I'm linking up with my friend Jennifer at:

 

Mod Podge Monday: Elegant Halloween Lantern

 

If you're looking for a not-so-scary Halloween project, look no further! This Elegant Halloween Lantern would be a lovely addition in any room in your home or even as a centerpiece. 

I'm not so fond of all those scary Halloween decorations out there, so when Plaid asked me to design several Halloween projects using Mod Podge, this is one of the ones I came up with....something, well, a bit more elegant rather than scary. You can find my complete instructions here.

Happy Creating!

Debbie xo

 

Mod Podge Monday: Potion Bottle "BOO!" Blocks

I designed these Potion Bottle "BOO!" Block for the Plaid's Paint Me Plaid Blog. You can find my complete instructions (With pictures too!) here. The really cool thing with this project is you can get really creative. How about using a red design paper and spell "LOVE"; or you could even spell out a name...anything really - just let your creative mind soar!

Have Fun!

Debbie xo

Yea! My Projects displayed in Michaels

It's always exciting to see my work appear on Plaid's website, their packaging labels, catalogs, brochures, on one of their blogs or on displays at Michael's, JoAnn's, or even Walmart!

Recently, I visited my local Michaels store and upon walking down the paint isle, I was pleasantly surprised to see that Plaid had redesigned their in-store displays. It really looks so much nicer! Immediately, I searched for any of my projects.

It seems like after I design a project for Plaid, take it to their headquarters, it's gone for me, I forget about it and move on to my next project. I have agreed not to post anything that I've done for them on my blog or facebook page until it's been published for at least a week. Since it takes several months for that to happen, it seems I rarely bother sharing them with you all here.

I do, however, take pictures of everything I create for Plaid which means my iphoto library is bombarded with pictures of projects I've done for them over the past four years. I have an idea! I thought I would pull them out one by one giving you a little Mod Podge inspiration every Monday. Whatcha think? Instead of letting them sit there (The pics in my iphoto library) and disappear in an abyss of surmounting photos, collecting dust, I'll dust one off each week. No promises, but I'll try. I'm thinking Mod Podge Mondays since many of my projects involve Mod Podge.

Well, back to Michael's paint isle, I discovered a damask trunk I designed for them earlier this summer. 

This is the trunk just before I took it to Plaid's offices. I write step by step instructions for each of my projects (the not so fun part!), which is reviewed by Plaid's editing department.  Each project also gets photographed in their photography department before being published. 

Here's Plaid's new display at Michaels! I don't know if you are aware, but Plaid's new "Martha Stewart Crafts Decorative Paint Program" debuted several weeks ago in Michaels stores in the U.S. and Canada. How exciting!

As a part of Plaid's design team I often get surprises in the mail. Yea! This is what I received recently. I'm so excited to begin using these awesome new products. One of the BEST things about Martha Stewarts paints is that they work for ALL surfaces! Not to mention all the really cool tools! You can find out more about all the wonderful products here.

Here is the picture of the trunk I designed for Plaid. It's displayed along with other projects on a "Project Ideas" panel just above all the paints. Lots of inspiration for shoppers! So fun! 

Upon looking up, I was thrilled to see my projects on the labels of Plaid's new line of Painting Stencils!  Last October I used their new stencils and designed 8 of those projects for this new line. 

This was my favorite as seen on the package label above. Gotta love all that shiny metallic paint and glitter!  

Well, I'm off to my next project...and thinking about which project to share for Mod Podge Monday!

Blessings,

Debbie xo