Oh how the Garden grows

This is how lovely the garden looks right now

Creating Products for my husbands business PNW Bushcraft.

This week my husband and I stopped by the office supply store and we found these round stickers that are a great tan color.  I decided to use them for packaging and for adding stickers to our orders when we ship our products.  I used the logo I created for my husband business and then Avery online to create them with the template they provide.  It was so easy.

I also always include a personal thank you note with every order because we really appreciate our customers and want to make sure they know it.  

Handmade Fairy Doll in the Works.

Mom has been busy this week experimenting with creating her own fairy doll.  

He was made from Sculpy clay, wire, foil, gauze and some batting.  

Brand New Fairy Design

Brand New Fairy Design

Recently I have been working on painting fairies.  I want them to be whimsical, fun and colorful.  I think I nailed it with this design. She is so pretty and colorful and you can just feel the wind blowing against her.

I have made this image available at out Society6 store where you can have it as a print, pillow, tshirt and more.

New Tree Artwork Design on Shirts, Clocks, Totes and More.

We are having lots of fun creating new products at our Society6 store.  

I love how this pillow turned out and this design looks amazing on the totes too.

Love the new all over T-Shirts on Society6.

I am having so much fun creating all over t-shirts designs at Society6.com  The options seem endless and now I can't decide which one to get for myself.   If you would like to check out my shop, here is the link http://society6.com/creativelyhappy 

Bright Colors with Vintage Pop Tshirts

New Children's Book Released When I Grow Up by Heather Saulsbury

I am so excited to announce my new children's book is available online.  I can't believe it has finally happened.  From one cute painting to a finished book.  I love all my Puff Cat characters and I am sure the little ones in your family with love them too. 

You can purchase my book here. 

Or if you are a big Amazon user it is available here   

I also have made these cute cats available at my zazzle store so if you want to have your own Puff Cat shirt you can find them at Zazzle 

Thank you for all the support and joining my on this journey.

Creating Your Own Gnome Door from Found Wood

Cute Cat Ash ~ Purrfessional Lounge Lizard

Super Yummy Gluten-Free Strawberry Rhubarb Crumble made with Honey and Fresh Rhubarb from the Garden

Our huge rhubarb plant

The yummy ingredients

Fresh from the oven

I found this recipe at Mybakingaddiction.com and added honey and almond flour in exchange for their recipe. It was easy to put together and it was gone before I could ask if anyone liked it. I have made it three times this week. Our rhubarb is growing great and strawberries are on sale everywhere so ingredients were available for a quick fix dessert.

Ingredient:

2 cups rhubarb cut into 3/4" pieces
2 cups strawberries, hulled and cut into 3/4" pieces
1/4 cup honey
3/4 tsp. almond extract
1/tsp. vanilla extract
1 tablespoon cornstarch
pinch of salt

For the topping:

3/4 +1 tablespoon almond flour
1 1/4 cups quick gluten free oats
2/3 cup honey
2/3 cup coconut oil melted and let to cool a few minutes
1/4 tsp. salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease a 8" by 8" size baking dish

In a large mixing bowl stir together honey,almond and vanilla extract cornstarch and salt. Stir together then add the fruit and let it sit while you prepare the topping.

In another bowl mix almond flour,oats,honey and melted coconut oil and salt stir until well blended.

Put the fruit in greased baking dish and spoon the mixture over the top.

Put into oven and bake for 25 minutes, Take it out and let it sit for another 30 minutes.
It will thicken up after it has sat awhile. Serve with ice cream, yogurt, or whip cream or just enjoy it as is.

Puff Cat Characters for our new Children's Book

We have been busy in the studio working on getting all of our Puff Cat illustrations done for our new book.  Here is a sample of some of the characters.

Please feel free to let me know what you think.  I would appreciate the input.

Friday Night Nacho Bake

This Friday Night Nacho Bake turned out so great and it was even good the next day heated up.  We added a little lettuce and sour cream and had for lunch. It was pretty quick to make also. Our family really enjoyed it. I found it on the www.bettycrocker.com site.

1 lb. ground beef sirloin
1 package (8 oz) refrigerated prechopped onions
1 jar (8 oz) refrigerated tricolor bell pepper mix
1 jar ( 16 oz) Old El Paso Thick'nChunkly mild salsa
1 can (2 1/4oz) sliced olives, drained
3 cups shredded pepper jack cheese (12 oz)
1 bag (11 oz) tortilla chips
1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted, cooled a little
2 cups shredded iceburg lettuce
1 cup diced tomatoes
1/4 cup sliced green onions  (4 medium)
sour cream if desired

Heat oven to 375 degrees, cook beef over medium heat for 5-7 minutes until thoroughly cooked. Add onion and peppers and cook about another 5 minutes stirring occasionally.

Add salsa, olives and 1 1/2 cup of the cheese to beef mixture; and stir gently to combine. Spoon into ungreased 13x9-inch glass baking dish.

Crush tortillas in the bag until very small pieces and add melted butter and shake up till well blended. Then sprinkle over meat mixture. Top with remaining cheese.

Bake uncovered 25 to 30 minutes or until thoroughly heated. Let it stand 5 minutes. Top with lettuce, tomatoes and green onions. Serve with sour cream.

Creatively Happy Studios Presents Fairy Furniture Builder

Original Resin Art Pieces by artist Heather Saulsbury

It has been fabulous creating with resin.  I am so happy with all the amazing layers and depth I can get in each piece.

How we learned to start a fire without a Match

We spent a wonderful afternoon learning how to start a fire without matches.

Yup we are now that cool.  We learned 5 different ways to do it using birch bark, ferrocerium rod, char cloth, flint, striker, and char cloth.  

Here is a picture of the dried birch bark, fat wood, my knife and the ferrocerium rod.

The fat wood scrapings catching on fire.

The jute twin catching on fire.

Great Rice Krispie Bars No Baking

I made these for our group this weekend and they went over  very well. They are fast and easy to make. I doubled the recipe and put them in a 9x12 pan. They are a little hard to cut but worth the extra muscle.

Rice Krispie Bar

6 oz. butterscotch chips
6 oz. chocolate chips
4 cups rice krispies
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup sugar
2 tablespoons butter

Melt butterscotch chips over low heat, stir in peanut butter and stir till melted then add rice krispies.
Press half of the mixture into a buttered 8" pan and chill.
Stir over hot water chocolate chips, add sugar, add butter, and 1 Tablespoon water until chips melt. Spread chocolate over rice krispies in pan and add the rest of the rice krispies on the top of the chocolate.
Store in the refrigerator.

Creatively Happy Studios Presents.. Fairy Houses and Furniture

Keepin It Real Friday...Studio Tour after Resin Art Creations.

Here is a tour of the studio in action.  I have been recently working with resin and our space has gotten a little crazy so please enjoy the walk thru.

Have fun being creative.

I am having so much fun working with a Resin Finish on my Artwork

The other day I was in the hardware store ( its one of my favorites) and we were walking by the paint section and I saw the resin finish box.  I had worked with resin a few years ago but it didn't go as well as I wanted and I didn't really have a place to let the resin sit and set then.
But now I have my own studio (so lucky) and I haven't been working on some new pieces that I thought would look great with a resin finish.  I remember loving how much it made the colors pop.  So I grabbed the small box because its $28 dollars and when I am playing around I hate to spend a lot of money.  The little box lasted through 3 paintings and today I needed more so I took the plunge and grabbed the gallon size box.  It runs $70 but I think it will be worth it.  I have a ton of new ideas for and can't wait to get started.
Oh, I forgot.  The other reason the two part resin used to drive me crazy is that it has to set overnight.  I am not such a patient person when it comes to my artwork but I have matured (a little bit) and now have decided its worth the wait.  I just wait to play around until its almost quitting time and then I apply the finish and quit for the night.

Keepin It Real Friday... How I really look in the Studio

The look on my face when unexpected visitors show up to the studio

I love to look nice, have my hair look great, my nails done and my shoes actually going with my outfit.  Does this happen often?
Nope, not really.  Maybe once every 6 months I look this put together.  But mostly in my everyday life I feel like I have the fashion sense of a 5 year old.
Wear what is comfortable....Check
Wear what I like...................Check
Does it matter if it matches?....NO!
Can I get it dirty?.....................YES!

This is the inspiration for my getting dressed everyday to go to the studio.  I have my designated clothes that I can get dirty, get paint on, decorate with glitter and maybe add a layer of semi gloss too.

Straight out of the dryer.  Yup they are clean.

And then they can move right on to working in the yard, taking care of the animals and doing construction around the property.

And when you stain a shirt in my house it goes from the wear out of the house to wear around the property and in the studio.  I figure the stain is just the beginning of a new life for that t-shirt.  After I have worn it to shreds it then moves onto the rag pile.  Clothes live a long and happy life in my world.

And lets talk about shoes.  I love my mucks. They come off quick and easy, they are up for the challenge of a muddy yard or chicken coop and they come in fun fashion colors.

The first pair of mucks I owned were a lovely green but at the time both my kids had the same size feet as me and more often then not I would have to track them down and demand them back.  So the second pair I bought I got so the boys would definitely not want to "borrow" them.  Now they are both 3 sizes bigger then me so I don't have to worry.

Oh and the wonders of make-up.  Now I am very proud of my new grey hairs (yup I believe having teenagers has caused them to show up) and the hard earned laugh lines on my face.  But I enjoy looking a bit better when I go out in public.  A little eye shadow, some liner and some mascara does wonders for me.  And my bathroom mirror is magical. I swear it makes me look like I'm 25 again.

But time in the studio, time is precious so when I am there it is all natural me.

After 1 cup of coffee

Thank you for taking a peek into our world and I hope you are enjoying the "Keepin it Real Friday" posts.  I like sharing and I love hearing from others.  Have a great day and be CREATIVE!

Keepin' it Real Friday.... When the picture is so bad its GOOD

The weather is starting to get nice around here so I thought it would be a good idea to get some of our pets pictures outside.  They pretty much come to say Hi! as soon as you start walking around

Well our big old lab is a sweetie and he was trying to talk the kitten into playing.  He was rolling around and wiggle all over and the kitten was just watching.

So i was snapping away hoping to get a great picture.  Instead I got this

I laughed so hard that I just had to make a joke of it.  It is such an awful picture of him but

it is so funny with the kitten just looking over him.  He looks terrified. The kitten 

didn't actually get him but it sure looks like he did.

The fun of shooting your own animal.  I love my life.  

  

Had fun in the studio today... Baby Tie + Kitten = Cuteness

I love a great bargain and the other day I was at a local thrift store and they had these adorable little ties.  I picked one up for an upcoming photo session with a little guy.  I was thinking baby in a diaper with a tie would be adorable.  So then I thought kitten in a tie would be cute too.

So I talked our kitten Buddy into joining me in the studio.  He is such a good sport about hanging out and he didn't even mind the tie.  I think he even might have liked it until he tripped over it, but then he rolled and just started playing with it.

We Created a "How To" video.

Today was a busy day.  We decided to finally try and make our how to video so people know how to use the digital download cards they purchase.

I spent a lot of time trying to do a screen capture and I thought it went well but after all the rendering and editing the quality is not so great.  So I will try again with some other software.  

So we will call this video Version 1

The Creation of Something Adorable.... Puff Cats

Do you ever have those days where you just aren't feeling up to snuff.  You caught a bug but it didn't wipe you out, just made you feel a little shitty.  Well that was me last week.  I didn't feel awful enough to stay in bed but not motivated enough to go to the studio.
So after nursing a cup of pine needle tea and honey and watching a movie I decided I had to be productive so I pulled out my travel art kit and spread my supplies out on the dining room table.

Well, that is where the magic began.  Who says you can't be productive when you don't feel well.  I started painting cats because my "Big Lou" had come in for a visit and insisted he had to sit next to me.  The first attempt at a cat wasn't pretty.  It was okay but not the cute, fun, happy look I was looking for.  So I tried again and came up with this.

This cute color of fur and his ball of yarn  I thought he was adorable so I put him out for the world to see (which means I shared on Instagram) and he was a big hit. I was so excited about my positive response that I came up with another idea.

Well, when the ideas start rolling it is hard to stop.  So I spent the next few days painting cats.  I am having so much fun and I even turned them into a digital card product for our Etsy shop.  

My mom and son helped me name them "Puff Cats" and now my son suggest I put them on products.  We shall see what I come up with.

Keeping It Real Friday

Even though Heather was sick she still couldn't just lay down and do nothing. After resting a few hours she felt like she had to get up and do something so she spread out on the dining room table and began to paint. Her pictures turned out great and she posted them on Instagram.

Thinning out our forest and stripping our Logs to Create something New

The log before I strip it.

I just can't believe this is January and it is 58 degrees out and the sun is shining. When it is like this I just have to get out into it. I love the sun. I by no means am a sun worshiper but in the winter I savor every moment of it. I asked my son-in-law to cut some trees down for me and he said no problem just show me which ones you want.

Off we went into our lower forty to get some trees. I wanted to do some stripping for our pergola on the hill. The logs are alder and about 5-6 inches around. The fatter they are the easier it is. I love the way the logs look when they are stripped and I find it very relaxing to do it. Some times I listen to a podcast or sometimes I just listen to the birds while I am working. There were no birds today, they must know it is not yet time to be out.

The logs after stripping and the bark on the ground is great mulch.

We built a round house out of stripped logs like this. The frame is like this and then the sides are burlap and canvas. We are going to do split logs around the bottom this summer. I think we are going to split our own. This really fascinates me and can't wait to do it. Sometimes I just think I was meant to be a pioneer. I love the outdoors.

Tiny Fairy Waterfalls of Seashells, Wood and Hot Glue

My mom loves Pinterest.  She has some amazing boards and she is constantly adding new things.  Well one day last week we were looking for inspiration and we started going through her board of fairy furniture and we came across this really cool tiny fountain.  We started to wonder how they did the water and I said 

"Do you think its hot glue?"

Mom said "Maybe"

then I said.  "Should we go try it?"

And off to the studio we scampered. 

Here is the results of our experiment.  After many layers of glue and some blue paint we now have some tiny fountains.  I love how they turned out.  

Keepin It Real... How the Studio Really looks during a Photo Session.

I love taking pictures.  It makes me so happy and this week I got to capture this sweet little girls 1 year old photos on her 1st birthday.  Mom and Grandma brought her out to our place with lots of outfits and accessories.  We had the studio all cleaned up and set up for her pictures.  That lasted about 10 minutes before we had stuff all over.  Quick costume changes, diaper changes, mom changes, add in a kitten and a cupcake and you get quite the experience.  We looked like a tornado had blasted through spreading pink, yellow and sparkly things everywhere.

I had the corner set up with backdrops and lights and as long as we kept throwing in new things to play with she was happy.

 Time for a little break so she makes a run for it.

Being 1 and on the move lets you give the photographer all kinds of new angles.

Thankfully she loved the doll crib we had reinforced last week.  She really loved sitting in it with all the balloons and it was way easier to keep her in the same spot.

Kitten and Cupcake are so much more fun when you are out of the spotlight.

This is the other side of the studio and you can see all the clothes, car seat, chairs and stuffed animals spread out.

Lexie was so much fun to have in the studio and we got some amazing photos and she really stayed in a great mood the whole time.

I hope you enjoy the "behind the scenes" look at how it really looks in our studio during a session.  Thank you to my Mom for having the second camera and capturing all our fun.

  Feel free to like, share and comment.

The Best Apple Pie Ever and the Easiest

My son in law says this is the best pie recipe I have and I keep making it because it is easy and it always turns out. What could be better, even the grand-kids like it, especially with ice cream.

I use a ready maid pie crust because it is quicker and I am not very patient with pie crusts but feel free to make your own if you want. I have found the IGA pie crust to be the best but Pillsbury works well also.





7 cups of sliced apple (about 5 medium apples)
2 tablespoons lemon juice, fresh or bottled
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
2 tablespoons butter

In a bowl toss the apples with the lemon juice and in another bowl add the flour, sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Stir  this mixture then add to apples and stir all together.
You should have one pie crust in your pie pan ready to load. You should have taken your pie crust out of the refrigerator and let it sit about 30 minutes before you try and unwrap it. This works better for me.  I spray my pie plate with pam before I put the pie crust in and this seems to help take out the slices better. I also use a deep dish pie pan because it always spills out of the short pie pans.
Put your apple mixture into the pie and dot with the butter in little chunks. Then put the other pie crust on and pinch the edges. Slice holes into top and spread 1 egg yolk mixed with 1 tablespoon water over the top with pastry brush. It will look like to much but it really comes out looking great. Put it on a cookie sheet and put it in the oven at 425 degrees for 15 minutes. Then turn the oven down to 350 for another 40 -45 minutes. Let the pie cool before cutting.
Enjoy with whip cream or ice cream.

And Behind Door No.1 is.... Keepin it Real Friday the Paint, Glue, Sparkle and Tie Cupboard

Behind these doors is some more of our organized chaos.  I am not sure how all of these items came to be in one cupboard but I know they are there and I know where to look when I need my packaging tape or my spray on glitter.  Here is another glimpse into our creative world.  

I decided to share a few more pictures so you can really see what is going on.

So when you open these doors you get the combo of glues, stencils, string, paint, more glues, blank pads of paper and the overly stuffed "sticker book"

 Here is the packaging, sparkle, glue and accessory shelves

This is the glue, more glue stuff, airbrush supplies and exacto knife kit.

This is the giant book of stickers.  I took a really wide 3 ring binder and filled it with clear sleeves and then stuffed them with stickers in categories like holiday, flowers and valentines, etc. 

This is my rack inside my cupboard.  It holds all my acrylic paints, more gluing materials and stencils.  After looking at these pictures I realize we have a lot of stuff that makes things stick to other stuff....hmmmm

Thanks for taking a look into my "Keepin It Real Friday" post of our studio.

Happy Crafting and May Everything You Make Turn Out Like the Picture in Your Mind