Mystery Flesh Pit National Park

Oh my goodness!  I just discovered this video.  It's about a real creature that lives in the earth in Texas.  You really won't understand unless you watch the video, but it's real!  I've never heard of this thing before, but I am totally enthralled that there is a huge creature in the ground in Texas!

Please watch the video, but be aware that some of it is pretty gross, so if you get queasy easily, I'd skip it.

Let me know your thoughts on the subject.  :-)

Love and Light, Shan

Qi Gong for Self Healing - 6-Min Self-Healing Energy Healing Practice

I have become very interested in energy work, especially the healing aspect.  This is a very simple way to learn how to use energy and your own hands to heal yourself!

Have you ever done any energy work?  If so, please share your thoughts!

How to Create a Text Mask in PicMonkey

 As you may know, I make and sell printables on Etsy!  And one of my favorite looks is a Text Mask.  That's when you see an image in the letters themselves!  It actually is not as hard as you'd think.  Just follow the steps of this PicMonkey (I highly recommend the Pro plan, but Basic is pretty good, too!) tutorial, and you'll soon have some gorgeous images or quotes of your own!

Step 1:  Pick the image you want to see in your text.  It can be anything you like.  Personally, I prefer bright, colorful graphics!  Just make sure that it is the right size to match your font.  Or pick one that could be stretched or shrunk to the right size.

Step 2:  Login to PicMonkey and click Create New and pick the size you want.  I like to use 8x10 for most of my creations!

Step 3:  Next, add your text.  There are a lot of fonts to choose from on PicMonkey, and you can also use your own!

Step 4:  Click the Layers icon at the bottom of the page, then click Flatten Image in the Layers Palette.

Step 5:  Now click Add Image at the top of the page and find your photo.  It can be something from your computer or one of the stock images PicMonkey provides.  Your text will be hidden from view until the next step.

Step 6:  With your image still hiding the text, change the Blend Mode to Lighten or Add.  Unless you choose to go with a black background and white text, then you'd choose Darken or Add.

Now all that's left is to Download or Share your beautiful image!  If you're creating it to sell on Etsy, you might want to save both a JPG and PDF version, because sometimes customers can print one out easier than the other, so you can include both options in your listing!

I hope you found this tutorial helpful!  Please let me know in the comments, and feel free to share your creations!

Summer flowers

My garden won't win any awards, but I get some good looking plants and flowers!  This year my Mexican Sunflowers are my "prize winners" this year!

They are so tall, but you have to take into account, in the pic with me in it, that I'm only five feet tall!  LOL

The butterflies and hummingbirds, amongst other things, really seem to enjoy it!  🦋

Quarantined - A night out

I never thought I would be able to say I lived during a pandemic, but here we are.  The entire world is scared to get something called the Corona virus.  Many people have died. And it has finally found it's way to my little corner of the world.  (Like WV has corners.  LOL). But West Virginia was the last state to come down with the virus.

It's a terrible, scary thing, but a lot of people get through by trying to stay light-hearted.  So, we make jokes and do what we can to get through the days.  Especially now, when so many people are quarantined. 

Schools are closed, restaurants and bars, as well as many other businesses have closed their doors for the safety of others.  And people are quarantined, as well.  We can only go out to get groceries or other necessities.  

So, that's why I was so excited to go to Walmart this evening.  I actually fixed my hair and put makeup on!  LOL. I have been stuck at home almost the whole month since it got to be a big problem in the US.  Just me and the boys.  

The boys are Zeus and Beau!  Beau is just three months old, and quite the handful.  Just ask Zeus!  LOL

Sooo, I was especially excited to not only go to Walmart, but we also went through a Wendy's drive thru and took our food to the park to eat!  It was pretty quiet there and chilly, but it was so great to be out of the house for a couple hours!

I don't care about being quarantined.  It's not fun.  People are going a little stir crazy.  But I just hope we can get through this pandemic without very many more deaths.  I think people are really pulling together and trying to do the right thing.  So hopefully it will be over by May or June, and this will be a bit of history where the whole world will have learned that we can do anything if we work together! 

Positivity and Love can do anything!  Stay well, people!

WV Mountaineer Snowman - A Painting

I thought I'd show you a painting I created before Christmas!  I'm not sure how the idea came to me, but I think he turned out pretty cute!  My friend Melody gave me the idea to use the Flying WV as snowflakes.  LOL  He's my whimsical tribute to two WV college teams.  Obviously, WVU's Mountaineers in Morgantown, but also Glenville State's Pioneers.  I grew up in Glenville, you see, and the Pioneers are very similar to the Mountaineers (the people, if not the teams).

I teach paint parties, but this isn't one of my classes.  I would love to make some more and sell them, though!  What do you think of him?  Let me know in the comments below.

Girls Just Want to Have Fun

Last weekend, my sister's church had a fun day that she invited us to.  So, I gathered up my family and my almost 3 year old granddaughter, and made the hour long drive to go spend the afternoon with them!  There were several activities set up for different age ranges, so my granddaughter and her two grandkids would all have something to do.  Her granddaughter is just one day shy of being a month older than mine, so they had a big time playing together!  They hardly ever get to see each other, so it was nice to see them interacting so well!

And, of course, being the wonderful grandma that I am, I had to get a few photos!  ;-)

My grandgirl is in the purple dress.  :-)

Aren't they the adorablist things you've ever seen??!!!!

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Yellow Clouds

I'll never make a professional blogger.  I post way too infrequently.  LOL  Anyhoo, I have some awesome photos I want to share with you!  A couple days ago, I noticed this yellow glow in the house, so I went and looked out my front door.  It was around 7 p.m., and the sun was setting.  I just couldn't believe my eyes!  The photos don't quite do them justice, but there were these huge clouds above my head, and they had this amazing yellow cast to them!  I hope you enjoy them as much as I did!

Cute Hatchlings - Wordless Wednesday

I have been watching these insect eggs for about 4 or 5 days, and today, they hatched!!!  Yeah, I know, I get excited over the weirdest things.  LOL  The eggs started out pure white, then a couple days ago, they got a black speck on them.  Then the next day, they had a brownish cast to them.  And when I went out to check on them today, they were hatching!  They kind of look like lady bugs right now, but they could be some other sort of orangish beetle.  I hope they stick around long enough for me to find out!

Wow! What a Rock!!!

I know what you're thinking... somebody just got a new ring!  WRONG!!!  But my husband did give me a present!  He's always bringing me this kind of present!  It's a rock!
 
A rock.  Literally.

Now don't make that face.  It's ok!  I LOVE rocks!  LOL

Pretty rocks.  Unusual looking rocks.  Rocks with fossils on them.  Yep!  Call me crazy, but I love them!  Now don't get me wrong.  I like rings, too!  But I've only got so many fingers.  LOL

My husband brought this rock home to me. The star formation goes all the way through! (Photo credit: wvclaylady)

This rock is really different!  It has a naturally formed, nearly perfect, star shape going all the way through it!  Isn't that amazing??!!!  I think you could almost say one of a kind!  Priceless even!  He found it in road gravel.  We believe it may be some sort of quartz, but we're not sure if the star is the same material or what.  He's pretty sure it's either river gravel or from a limestone quarry that has been hauled in to do the cover the road to this place he delivers lime to in Langsville, Ohio.  It's hard to tell where the stone was hauled in from.  But it's very cool, huh?  :-)

I think it's a very good reason for me to learn how to wire wrap a pendant!  If anyone has tips on that, I'd love to hear them!

Greg, or Bubba as he's known at work, is outdoors quite a bit for his job, so he's all the time finding rocks to bring home to me!  He's also been known to bring home other things, such as interesting chunks of wood, unusually sized insects, and, once, a baby goose!  LOL  Not to worry, it was left alone in the middle of the road, and he took it back and found the parents to return it to the next day.  :-)

Check out the giant mushroom (or toadstool) he found and brought home!

Giant Mushroom 02-3 (Photo credit: wvclaylady)

But as weird as it may seem, I love getting presents like that!  I really don't have a list of things I want, so little surprises like that are right up my alley!  I guess it's my inner hippie shining through.  LOL

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Captcha Problem Fixed?

CAPTCHA Insanity (Photo credit: JillWillRun)

 I understand that some of you may have had trouble leaving comments due to a problem with the Captcha.  I have tried to fix the problem in the only way I know how, by not using it.  LOL  So, if any of you would like to try again, I would appreciate it!  If you still have trouble, you can contact me at unusualarts at the GEE male.  Know what I mean??  *wink wink*  :-)

BTW, it's gonna drive me crazy if you think I'm illiterate.  I did THAT on purpose.  LOL

Little Things Mean a Lot

I don't lead an exciting life.  I don't work outside the home, so my days are filled with the mundane most of the time.  Cooking, cleaning, and taking care of my little family.  I have a husband, and three daughters, but two of them have left the nest, so I have my (almost) 16 year old, a german shepherd, a cranky kitty, and every afternoon, my little neighbor girl, after school.  I do artsy stuff sometimes, and that is fun, but most of my time is just regular old day to day living.  And that's just fine by me!

I find happiness in little things like the first ripening strawberry!  (And, when editing my photos on my laptop, spotting the tiny baby slug behind the berry!  I know, they are a pest, but how can you not go "Awwww" when you see a baby ANYTHING???  LOL)

Or, the fact, that my little 4x4 foot raised strawberry garden is just filled to the brim with baby berries!!!  And, hopefully soon, a bajillion baby praying mantis' that will hatch from the TWO egg sacks that are hidden amongst them!  (Again, I'm a sucker for babies!  LOL)

I love seeing the sunlight shine through the damp, morning leaves.  Seeing this early in the morning just made my whole day brighter!

Now, I don't only find happiness in tiny creatures.  Take Zeus, for instance.  He's huge, but he's still MY baby!  He's almost two years old!  How could you look at that face and not smile?  It can't be done!  I've tried.  I can't scold him for some bit of naughtiness, because I can't hold my "grumpy face".   ;-)

This german shepherd puppy (yeah, he's technically a puppy!) gives me smiles all day long!  Like when I see him just STOP, and take that classic shepherd pose!  Isn't that a beautiful thing to behold?

And sometimes, he is just plain SILLY!  Like here.  Lately, he has taken to chasing his tail.  A LOT!  Sometimes, I  have to stop him, because he's thumping and bumping so much I just can't take the racket anymore.  But.... I gotta laugh every time I see it!  You usually picture smaller dogs, or puppies doing this, not a 90 lb behemoth!!!  It's adorable, I tell ya!

So, as you can see, I lead a simple life.  But I am constantly finding things to smile about!  And that seems pretty darn important to me.  Now, how about you?  What little things make you smile throughout your day?
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Wordless Wednesday on Thursday May 15 2014

I'm a day late and a dollar short, but here is today's Wordless Wednesday (on Thursday) photo!

 

This is a rock my hubby brought home to me a few days ago!  Isn't nature amazing?  :-)

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Making Jar Pincushions

I recently went to a quilting group with my sister in Calhoun county.   It's mostly made up of cousins of ours.  It was a fun day!   And since I don't know how to quilt,  they are going to help me learn!   So, because I'm just awesome that way (LOL), I decided to make them all a little gift!   But what can you make for a bunch of quilting ladies who probably have everything they need?

Brand new pincushion jars!!!

 

Aren't they beautiful?  I hope they like them!  I'm going to give them to them at the meeting next month, so don't tell anyone!  I want it to be a surprise!  ;-)

They were super easy to make!  Just cut out your material about twice as big as your lid, put a handful of stuffing in it to form a pocket.  Put that through the underside of the ring, then put your lid on, with the edges of the material sticking out the sides.  Then hot glue the edges to the underside of the lid.  Cut out some felt and glue it over all the messy edges, and put them on your jars!  Simple!

There's just one problem.  Deciding which one to keep for myself!  LOL

Then, to decide what kind of quilt pattern I want to try for my first quilting experience!  But that's a post for another day!  ;-)  I'd love to hear any ideas, or tips from your early days of quilting!

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