The Giving Tree

Hello and welcome, so happy you dropped by! I have another mixed media piece for you today and this one is close to my heart. I was visiting my friend's blog, You Made Me Ink, the other day and she made four cards that tugged at my heart strings. The images are from Nicecrane Designs and I immediately fell in love with them. The owner, Ignacio, offered me a free image and I happily obliged. Thank you so much Ignacio for your generosity!!! I chose this little boy because he reminded me of a very special boy, my boy. He's grown now and in the Army but he'll always be my little boy. I have precious memories of us reading his favorite book,  The Giving Tree, by Shel Silverstein. When he was 5 we bought him the book and I ran across it recently while cleaning. It stirred something in me and when I saw this image I knew what I wanted to do. I wanted to create something to capture that moment in time. This is how I did it...

The tree in the book was an apple tree so my tree is as well. I used a kaleidoscope circle stencil to create my sun with texture magic and rub ons, stamps, acrylic paint, & Faber Castell markers were used to create my background. I colored this sweet image with Copic markers and fussy cut it out. The tree was made from a Studio Calico paper pad I received in a kit from Scarlet Lime. Christy Tomlinson is the artist/owner and she does a video featuring the new kit every month. She made a tree but nothing stirred me so I put it up thinking what am I going to do with this. It's funny how things will come back to you in an instant because when I saw this image from Nicecrane I remembered the video and the book. So here it is and I plan to hang it where I can see it and remember.

If you haven't delved into the world of mixed media I encourage you to. You can create so much with so little, you do not have to buy a lot of expensive products to create with. Acrylic paints are inexpensive and can be found (in U. S.) at every Wal-Mart and most are under a dollar for a 2 oz. bottle. No fancy brushes are needed & Plaid's Mod Podge is probably the most expensive thing you need to buy. Hope you'll give it a try sometime. I created a wall hanging a few posts ago and did a tutorial. You can see my step-by-step process there (click on Tutorials tab) and I'll be creating more soon. Any questions just email and I'll be happy to share what I've learned. Good luck and happy crafting!

I'm linking this up at the Old Back Porch & Make It Monday #98 challenge where anything goes. I'm in a hurry to get out the door so if I find more challenges to enter I'll link up later in the day.
Edit: I'm back and I'm also going to play along with the Stampin' Royalty #133 Anything Goes, Divas by Design Challenge #44-Anything Goes, and The Paper Shelter Challenge #73-Anything Goes, Crazy Amigo Challenge-Free Theme. So happy to find some new and exciting challenges!  

Thanks again to Ignacio at Nicecrane Designs for the free image, the inspiration I always receive from Lisa M. and to all of you for your support and encouragement. I do hope you'll click on the Nicecrane Designs link to view all of Ignacio's wonderful images and collage sheets. You will not be disappointed, promise. Also, pay Lisa M. a visit and leave her a sweet comment, she loves for folks to visit. As for me, your comments always brighten my day!!!
Hugs,
Lisa