Frame

I am posting these four Frame videos so a
friend can have easy access for viewing them!

They are videos from
last year that hold so much truth and no
matter where you stand in your life, I feel
there's something in them for everyone. Even
for me there was something in each one of them,
points of views that even 10 years ago I didn't look at!
Boy see, there is an advantage, beauty to getting older.

We just have to continue to seek and leave room to grow...

Everyone view 'em if you like even leave me a comment,
click on the like-inspiring button,
or you can email me!
I would love to hear from you.

Have an awesome weekend...


Framing Your Marriage (Part 1) from Pinelake Church on Vimeo.


Framing Your Marriage (Part 2) from Pinelake Church on Vimeo.


Framing Your Family from Pinelake Church on Vimeo.


Framing Your Work from Pinelake Church on Vimeo.

Camera Creation

Getting ready for a Halloween party in the Fall of 2011, I needed a camera for my costume.

The hubby wanted to go as a hunter. So I went as a wildlife photographer-his photographer, pretty sassy, right!? Being a wildlife photographer for real is something I would really love to do, but hey just alittle dress up will do for now!

I started with a wine box and a book from Hobby Lobby, painting them black.

As you can see, I had a picture printed and one of my lens out for alittle inspiration to pull this one off.

I also put the red rubber ban around the end of the lens.

Gluing the book and the wine container together,  I began to add other bells and whistles.

The neck strap is an old belt the hubby had in a bag for goodwill.

Being dressed as the hunter and wildlife photographer we were sure paid off in the warmth department. It was an outside event.

And it was COLD!!!

People kept mistaking it for a real camera all night! I didn't want to be caught

actually using one of my cameras due to the weight of them. That would not have been fun.

As you can see, I had to come up with a way to attach the belt to the camera base.

I needed to do this and it be really secure. I didn't want it around my neck pulling and tugging ripping the whole thing apart. So, I made like a braid type weave out of twine. This part inserted in the camera was secured with some really cool glue found in the craft department of Hobby Lobby and Walmart. It comes in a yellow tube. Actually in a post to come in a few days, I have a picture of it! I'll point it out to you then.

 I continued by adding the different bells and whistle by the different object that I had on hand that could pass for what I was trying to pull off. One being the circular dial, I used a waterbottle cap.

To bad we rushed out at the last minute and I didn't capture us dressed, yikes!

Let me know what you think!

I just finished

Unfurling by Misty Mawn

Unfurling is a workshop in book form, offering a unique mix of inspiration and technique exercises. 

The book begins with art exercises in drawing and painting that include portraiture, contour drawing, backgrounds, layering, and working with still life, followed by collage and image transfer techniques.
The second section offers exercises and projects in stamp carving, paper pottery, sculpture, origami, paper doll making, and surface design. These tactile explorations offer an enjoyment of the process as well as wonderful handmade projects. The last section shares a variety of approaches to visual journaling. There are instructions for binding your own journal, prompts and ideas for working on your pages, and a variety of exercises using photography and poetry as ways to inspire and inform your journal keeping.

Misty Mawn is a mixed-media artist, a vocational photographer, international workshop instructor, and passionate mother. When she is not busy singing out loud in her studio, she is most likely found amusing her two children, inventing in the kitchen, or looking for treasures. She has been published in a variety of magazines and books, and she writes the popular blog mistymawn.typepad.com.

Sneak Peek

Into my art studio, what's in the making....

Since my diving-in post back in August 2011,
I've been somewhat busy at work!
Well, with what LITTLE time my schedule
has allowed me! I was so hoping to do more
in my art studio than I have. But because my first
and foremost job is being a full time
wife and mom, I do my best to fill
those shoes first!

Family is everything to me...
I have a good sense of when I need to put
the paint brush, camera, writing tools down.

A lot of my time in the studio was not
just about creating but learning myself,
growing, learning new things,
being inspired, trying to really
find myself as a true artist. That when others
walk in the room they can see a piece of my
work from across the room and say that's
Ashley Murphy's.

And this is what I said to myself during
the beginning of this process,
"I might not always know where I am going,
but I find myself when I get there..."

Abstract has always been a favorite
of mine but I don't want to limit myself. I like messy.
I am learning messy can be beyond just
abstract! It has been so much fun! A great time
for learning while growing. I learned years ago
along my photography journey there is always
something new to learn. Kinda like life, I am
a woman who loves to learn new things in all
areas of my life. Because I know I am allowing myself
to grow! And when I grow, I am more of
that shinning light for others....

I am dedicating my art time to creating pieces
that resemble, "who I am, where I've been and
where I am going!"

As I continue to build my collection,
please pray with me that I will
find great sales outlet!
I am looking at Etsy, local shops, my blog, etc.
As I have said before yall, "my readers make me
who I am!" Thank you

I like a clean fresh start !!!

This Art Journal page is titled Good Mail Day

It was inspired by the Good Mail Day book I found

at Michael's craft. I was drawn to it merely because my love

of stamps and mail since childhood. My dad and I had a stamp collection

and I had several pen pals as a child!

Looking for a "clean fresh start" here

at the new year, I am posting my last two

art journal pages as well! I hope you enjoy...

The above page is titled Tags, inspired by my tag collection.

As far back as a child, I can remember liking cool looking tags.

As an adult, I have held onto several of them, making a collection.

I copied these on my copier/printer. I didn't want to use

the originals. I printed, cut and pasted! Using two paint colors, fresh foliage green

and Indian turquoise, I smeared along the white spaces that appeared

between the pasted tags. I then outline some areas with a dark brown marker

and hand wrote the word "Tags" with the same brown marker.

The above art journal page is titled Button's,

even though I left the s off the big pink word

Button!

I

Like

Button's

Something else I have liked since childhood!

On the right side of the page I wrote what buttons

mean to me:

buttons remind me of my grandmother

I collect buttons

my childhood dogs name was buttons.

I spent alot of time in the material store with my grandmother

growing up. Due to her being handicap, smocks were really easy

for her to wear on a day to day basis. A friend of hers

would make them for her once she purchased the material

 and buttons.

I made copies of several of my buttons from my

own personal collection to use on this art journal page.

Here is a look back at each page from my art journal

from start to finish. I still have lots of empty pages left,

but when the time arises I will fill them with lots

of good created ideas, engery...

Thank you for following me on this journey.

If anything, I have gain a good sense of who I am as an

artist and where my little creative learning mind is going.