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!