Funtastic Friday #172 and An Easter Egg Nest and more

Welcome to my favorite day of the week Funtastic Friday . I have some fun things I've been up to that  I think you'll be interested in reading about. The first is my Driftwood Easter Egg Nest . I was inspired by the giant birds of prey nests that we see up in the poles and light posts  down in Florida . 
The other is a mixed media  piece I have been working on since December of last year. I almost threw this GIANT Mixed Media  piece out three times but I persevered. It was a great learning experience and I hope it motivates others to continue on, not give up and take a break from the art when we get frustrated and want to smash it into a thousand pieces( do I need anger management?). 


Oooh and don't forget to check out 

Be sure to add your Springtime blogs.

And now another amazing link of bloggers.

Funtastic Friday 172 Link Party

Welcome to the Funtastic Friday 172 link party! We're always looking for bloggers to join our party hosts. If you're interested, please get in touch with me or one of the other hosts.

Meet the Funtastic Friday 172 Link Party Hosts

We would love for you all to follow us on social media.

Funtastic Friday 172 Link Party

Welcome to the Funtastic Friday 172 link party! We're always looking for bloggers to join our party hosts. If you're interested, please get in touch with me or one of the other hosts.

Meet the Funtastic Friday 172 Link Party Hosts

We would love for you all to follow us on social media.

• Sherry @ Olives & Okra | Twitter | Facebook | Pinterest | Instagram | Google+ | BL | SU |
• Donna @ Two Chicks and A Mom | Twitter | Facebook | Pinterest | Instagram | BL |
• Lacie @ Easy Peasy Pleasy | Twitter | Facebook | Pinterest | Instagram | BL |
• Heidi @ Building Our Hive | Facebook | Pinterest | Instagram |
• Debra @ Life Between the Kitchen and the Coop | Twitter | Facebook | Pinterest | Instagram | Google+ | BL | SU | YouTube |
• Cristy @ Happy Family Blog | Twitter | Facebook | Pinterest | Instagram |
• Michele @ Coastal Bohemian | Facebook | Pinterest | Instagram | Google+ |

MOST VIEWED

Homemade Biscuits Using Only 4 Ingredients @ Easy Peasy Pleasy

HOST FAVORITES

Debra's favorite - Homemade Biscuits Using Only 4 Ingredients @ Easy Peasy Pleasy

Heidi's favorite - DIY Bath Bombs @ Run to Radiance

Michele's favorite - Pastiera Napoletana @ Olives & Okra

Sherry's favorite - Chicken Butt Coasters @ EyeLoveKnots

Lacie's favorite - Easy Bunny Tail Cupcakes @ Happy Family Blog

Donna's favorite - Quilted Spring Pot Holder Set @ i should be mopping the floor

Cristy's favorite - DIY Chalkboard Easter Eggs @ Celebrating Everyday Life

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If you’re a featured blogger, please grab a button to place on your blog (right-click on the image and save the image to your computer): If you’re linking up and joining the party, please grab a button or link back to Olives & Okra or one of the party hosts (right-click on the image and save the image to your computer): We will also share your post on social media if sharing buttons are readily available in your post. Help grow the Funtastic Friday link party. Tweet about the party, please!

[bctt tweet="Add your link! The #FuntasticFriday link party is live!" username="olivesnokra"]

All features are pinned to Olives & Okra’s Funtastic Friday board.

Disclaimer: By submitting a link to this blog hop, you are giving me permission to share and/or feature your blog post and images on social media and on my blog, Olives & Okra. All links shared will either link back to the blog hop (link party) or to your blog.

Funtastic Friday 172 Link Party Rules

1. Post as many links as you like
2. Family friendly posts only
3. Old posts are welcome
4. Comments are greatly appreciated
5. Show fellow bloggers link love

An InLinkz Link-up

Happy Easter friends,



With love and gratitude
Michele
Coastal Bohemian

If you are in Myrtle Beach come on down and visit us at the Coastal Bohemian Studio or check us out on Facebook, Pinterest , Instagram, or  G+ .

Driftwood Easter Egg Nest

I made a driftwood nest for my Easter Eggs, inspired by the birds of prey nests I've been seeing down in the Florida panhandle. These nests are huge and filled with driftwood, exactly what I would use if I was a coastal bird. #Ilovedriftwood

I bought my supplies at the #Dollartree
1 Coconut Plant Liner
1 Bag of Straw 
1 Bag of Spagnum Moss

You'll want to turn the domed portion of the liner inside a bit to create a flat surface for the nest to rest.

Using a scissor, snip a spot in the coconut liner and poke the driftwood pieces inside leaving a generous amount hanging on the outside. 

I used various sizes and lengths and just snipped  and poked them in around the liner. For some added support , I glued a few of the longer sticks together as they crossed in the middle of the nest.

I draped some twine around the outside and around the driftwood wanting it to look like a part of the mix of materials a bird may have found and used for their nest.

Take a handful of both the spagnum moss and the straw and hand mix them together and glue them to the outside of the coconut liner filling in all the spots around the driftwood. Take a large handful and place it on top to fill in the nest. Done.

Thanks for stopping by to see my fun an d games.

May your nest be blessed.

Happy Easter to those who celebrate.

With love and gratitude

Michele
Coastal Bohemian
Find my posts at these link parties all week long.If you are in Myrtle Beach come on down and visit us at the Coastal Bohemian Studio or check us out on Facebook, Pinterest , Instagram, or  G+ .

Giant Mixed Media

We have been redoing our condo in Florida on Okaloosa Island for the past few months. 
As an upcycler,  I try to repurpose as much as possible and of course, gift the other stuff to Goodwill.
There was a very big print in a great frame hanging in the condo when we first bought it, but the print was not our style so I decided I could paint right over it and create a mixed media project.

 I have never taken on a mixed media project this large and I will tell you it took a lot for me to come back to it time and time again, until I made it feel cohesive and expressive of what I wanted. 

The size is 43" H x 53" W

This is the only before picture I could find . I know it's blurry but I wanted you to have a small idea of what it was before. In this picture I had already given the frame a coat of white paint.

This is the finished piece.
I started out with a piece of fabric that was printed with maps, a burlap scrap, some paints, the wooden  "fishing" cutout, stencils,vintage sheet music pages and a fish print.
This was a total craft destash. 

This is similar to what the fish print originally looked like, meaning it was black ink printed on brown paper. I mention this because it gave me the most grief and taught me the most about not giving up, walking away and thinking outside of my traditional thoughts. It challenged me to come back with fresh ideas. It was scary and thrilling all at the same time. 

       (Yes, I actually printed the fish and we did eat the fish.) 


Understand there is not much of a plan when doing mixed media. The only plan I had was to showcase my fish print.


I began by rolling on some white paint.
Next, I added some teals and gold acrylic paints using chip brushes. I randomly added sheet music,the map fabric and the burlap scrap with Mod Podge.
On top of all this I  began a series of stenciling abstract images , brush strokes, paint dripping, and speckling  to begin to tone everything down and bring them in to one another.

While I was standing back drying my clean hands and pondering my next move I had a flash of mixed media genius. I twisted my paper towel,(drying my hands), into a hook and added it to the picture with some Mod Podge.

I began to look for items to bring the piece together and decided on some seashells and this little scrap of wood I thought I could make into a sign. In the right corner you can see the "Beach " sign. 

After that , I stenciled "Shelling" and "Okaloosa Island" onto the piece. 

All the while, in the center is this fish print on the brown paper and I can't for the life of me think of how I can work this piece to bring it into the mix.

                               (Not the actual fish print)

I had been playing with clay molds and decided to hot glued some of these around the fish print , hoping to soften the hard edges of the print and then I dry brushed them as well.  I also played with the drizzled hot glue method. See right corner of fish print here.

That's when it got dangerous...I watered down some sand colored paint and washed right over the fish print. Whhhaaaaatttt?????
I love this fish print and I was worried that I would make the ink run and lose the image or who knows what happens now but I know inside me at this point, this moment is important. I needed to be dangerous, wild and harness a little Jackson Pollack madness and maybe make some mistakes. Maybe if I make a mistake I can also learn to work with it....which is what I ALWAYS teach my students down at the  Coastal Bohemian Studio. Picture me with big dramatic arms telling you that aha moment.
I want the students to be fearless or at least notice the fear but to push through it and here I am the Queen of Fear , right now.

Now that I have the washed out image I'm feeling  like I can get somewhere. As you can see above, I just began to highlight some of the print to bring it back a bit.I also added some funky stencil to the fins.

My final block was an open area in the image that seemed to separate the top from the bottom.

Hmmm...I hot glued a clay fish, stenciled Crab Island and 
finally I added lengths of stencil from top to bottom and it began to look like sea kelp to me,so I kept it up. 
Using the same stencil, I added a border around the painting and suddenly, it felt right. I actually love it.

Here's what is fascinating about creating mixed media for me, there was no real plan and yet it completely tells a story about our condo. The story I see is ...
 Artsy, Beach Bungalow Style Okaloosa Island Condo, where Coastal Bohemians walk outside to fish on the white sandy beaches, along the blue green waters of the Florida Panhandle. There's shelling and it's close to Crab Island.

How did that happen from a craft destash?

 Here's a link to our Okaloosa Condo . We are waiting to get some professional pics but you'll see it's a #CoastalBohemian paradise.


Thanks for coming along on my artful inner journey. 

Don't be afraid to get out your art journal and go on a journey. Who knows where it will take you?


With love and gratitude
Michele
Coastal Bohemian

Here's a link to where I party all week.
If you are in Myrtle Beach come on down and visit us at the Coastal Bohemian Studio or check us out on Facebook, Pinterest , Instagram, or  G+ .

Funtastic Friday #171 and Nautical Spring Wreath

Funtastic Friday 171 Link Party

Welcome to the Funtastic Friday 171 Link Party. 
Really feeling the Springtime with all the crafts, recipes and more at the links below. Make sure to stop by and see all that Spring has inspired with these bloggers.
And make sure to check out my Nautical Spring Wreath here

Please join us from now until April 19 for a Welcome Spring Link Party. We’re celebrating warmer weather and blooming flowers with a group of our blogging friends. Enter your best Spring creations, ideas, and inspirations for a chance to be featured on April 23!

Interested in joining us as a party host? Our guidelines are simple. If you're interested, get in touch with me or one of the other hosts. We'd love to have you!Meet the Funtastic Friday 171 Link Party Hosts

We would love for you all to follow us on social media.

• Sherry @ Olives & Okra | Twitter | Facebook | Pinterest | Instagram | Google+ | BL | SU |
• Donna @ Two Chicks and A Mom | Twitter | Facebook | Pinterest | Instagram | BL |
• Lacie @ Easy Peasy Pleasy | Twitter | Facebook | Pinterest | Instagram | BL |
• Heidi @ Building Our Hive | Facebook | Pinterest | Instagram |
• Debra @ Life Between the Kitchen and the Coop | Twitter | Facebook | Pinterest | Instagram | Google+ | BL | SU | YouTube |
• Cristy @ Happy Family Blog | Twitter | Facebook | Pinterest | Instagram |
• Michele @ Coastal Bohemian | Facebook | Pinterest | Instagram | Google+ |

 

Most Viewed Parsley Parmesan Pasta @ Brooklyn Farm Girl[/caption]

HOST FAVORITES

Sherry's favorite - How to paint Buffalo Check Plain - Pastel Colors on Mason Jars @ Fresh Vintage by Lisa Michele's favorite - DIY Book Page Bunny Bunting @ Busy Being Jennifer

Donna's favorite - Bunny Tails Easter Cookies @ Somewhat Simple


Debra's favorite - Lemon Pound Cake Muffins @ Simply Stacie Heidi's favorite - Non-Sandwich Lunch Box Ideas @ Life, Love and Thyme[/caption]   [caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="740"] Lacie's favorite - Lemon Butter Chicken @ Recipes Worth Repeating

]

If you’re a featured blogger, please grab a button to place on your blog (right-click on the image and save the image to your computer):
 
If you’re linking up and joining the party, please grab a button or link back to Olives & Okra or one of the party hosts (right-click on the image and save the image to your computer):  
  We will also share your post on social media if sharing buttons are readily available in your post. Help grow the Funtastic Friday link party. Tweet about the party, please!

[bctt tweet="Add your link! The #FuntasticFriday link party is live!" username="olivesnokra"]

All features are pinned to Olives & Okra’s Funtastic Friday board.
Disclaimer: By submitting a link to this blog hop, you are giving me permission to share and/or feature your blog post and images on social media and on my blog, Olives & Okra. All links shared will either link back to the blog hop (link party) or to your blog.

Funtastic Friday 171 Link Party Rules

1. Post as many links as you like
2. Family friendly posts only
3. Old posts are welcome
4. Comments are greatly appreciated
5. Show fellow bloggers link love

An InLinkz Link-up

  With love and gratitude
Michele
Coastal Bohemian
Find me partying here all week. If you are in Myrtle Beach come on down and visit us at the Coastal Bohemian Studio or check us out on Facebook, Pinterest , Instagram, or  G+ .