Guest Post: Lauren's Sand Pail Tea Lights

These darling candles were extremely easy to make!

From Michael's, I purchased:

• Small, clear paint tins
• Decorative Sand (note: childrens craft sand was less expensive than the equivalent in the home decorating area of the store, and has a slight sparkle, which I thought brings out the iridesence of the shells)
• Tiny sea shells
• Tea lights

I filled the tin just under a third full of sand, place the candle in the tin, and surrounded it with tiny shells.  Very simple, affordable, and adorable!  The only difficulty I have found is that the shells and candles tend to move if you handle them at all.  They must be stored upright, somewhere that they won't be disturbed.  Otherwise, you'll find a sandy mess!

Have fun!! 

Lauren

 "Of Creativity and Art"
http://ofcreativityandart.blogspot.com/

Lauren's Birthday Sail

Lauren asked us if she could invite a few friends sailing for her birthday celebration a couple of years ago.

Here's a few shots of that evening. 

 It was a beautiful day, but absolutely wind-free!! 

 

They still had some wild and crazy fun!!  

Clockwise from Lauren (The Scream :) in red, Emily, Tessa, Taylor, Saori, Meguru, and Christopher.   

Her cake of choice...Hostess Cupcakes.

Look at that smooth-as-glass water in the background.  Not a breeze in sight.

They always find ways to entertain themselves though!!

We sat out in the bay, waiting for the wind to pick up, but it never did.

 

s/v NP

Art: Collage

Collage

by

Lauren

"I tend to exercise my creativity in short, powerful bursts of inspiration.  Creative plyometrics so to say...  One day, my sister comes home from a 'grieving through art' workshop with an amazing collage of magazine images, and I can feel my creative muscle quivering with inspiration, longing for exertion.  This piece is the first of many collages to come, and began with a photograph of our New Perspective, a painted world cut from a calendar, and a piece of art work from a home magazine, all pieced with seaside themed scrapbooking embellishments and ransom note alphabet stickers."

Art: Pointillism

"Starfish"

by

Lauren

Ink on drawing paper

Lauren says:  "My subject for this picture was a pinhole photograph of a beach horizon.  Getting the perspective right was tricky and took many hours of repetitive dotting.  If only you could reach out and feel the texture on this starfish!!"

Art: Painting

"New Perspective"

by

Lauren

Acrylics on canvas

Lauren says:  "My favorite part of this picture was stippling the white parts of the waves to look like sea foam.  I'm glad I haven't sailed in a sea this rough, but it makes for good art.  My next piece will be a series of black dots arranged to look amazingly life-like....A STARFISH!  We'll post it soon."  

Meet the Crew: Deckhand Lauren

Image:  Kyla