Ashley Hackshaw, Author at Ashley Hackshaw / Lil Blue Boo

Happy My Spirit Animal

January 3, 2017 by Ashley Hackshaw

Happy my spirit animal…she’s my guide to happiness. I love this photo of her sniffing the air. She looks like she is channeling her ancient wolf ancestors.

So fierce.

She’s definitely moved into leader position in our little pack/flock/menagerie. We have to separate Max and Happy at mealtime or she’ll eat her food and then his. Here they are meandering around the yard yesterday, it was such a nice warm day!

She’s settled in so well. She still wakes up really, really early but we are working on that. She’ll use pee pads during the night but she still wants to eat breakfast at 4:30 or 5:00. I think it’s the fault of the rooster that lives at the post office nearby. Every time I wake up to Happy’s whining I can hear the rooster crowing! After she’s fed though I let her out from where she sleeps and she’ll wander back to our bedroom where I have Diesel’s old bed right next to my nightstand and she curls up there until I wake up.

She has a lot more pep in her step these days. I think she’s happy living here.

Look at her cute little shuffle in this video I took the other day…she gets so excited. There is sound so make sure you can hear it:

A video posted by Ashley Hackshaw (@lilblueboo) on Jan 2, 2017 at 7:29am PST

You can read more about Happy here!

Painting on Driftwood – Trout and Fly Fishing Art

January 2, 2017 by Ashley Hackshaw

I’ve been painting on driftwood recently…resulting in some trout and fly fishing art. This fall I moved a little desk into our living room and made a little painting nook for myself:

Since then I’ve gotten a lot more painting done because I can sit down here and there to work on various projects:

I’m not a fish person but I love the colors in the rainbow trout and so that’s been my muse for now:

This one is a pretty large piece:

Another piece with a vintage fishing lure on it:

This piece of driftwood had the ripples of the lake in it already:

I made this piece of wood into a tin full of flies:

I love how it turned out with the variety of colors:

This is a tiny piece of wood I could and I added some flies to it as well:

This piece of driftwood almost had the grain of a feather in it already so that’s what I painted:

Someone asked me if I could include a little note with her piece, with the story of where it came from. I loved that idea so I’ve just been included it with every single piece now:

Most of these have already been sold but I’m constantly adding things to my Etsy shop each day. My New Year’s resolution is to try and paint something every single day, no matter how big or small!

A quick note about driftwood: it takes a while to prepare the driftwood for painting. This is a really quick overview but basically I scrub each piece and then soak it for at least two days in a solution of bleach water to kill any bacteria, fungus or bugs that might be living in the wood. It bobs…so I usually have to use a cinderblock to hold it all under the surface of the water!

After I’m sure all the icky stuff has been removed I drain the wood and set it out to dry, categorized by size. Once it’s kind of dry I set it in our basement with the dehumidifier until all the moisture as been removed.

I usually prepare the surface of the painting with white or gray gesso so that it will keep the paint from separating over time. Driftwood is very porous and the pigment of the paint will separate from it’s binder over a long period of time. I also seal each piece with a polyurethane after it’s finished!

My Big Happy Planner – Getting Organized for 2017

January 2, 2017 by Ashley Hackshaw

I’m kind of embarrassed to admit that I don’t have a calendar. I forget a lot of things unless I’m reminded the day of…but this year I’m getting organized. I decided to get one of the Create 365 planners from Michaels and this is the one I chose:

I’ve already started filling in my January schedule…there isn’t much planned yet but that’s the way I like to keep it:

I love the inspiration quotes for each month.I love the spaces for notes and goals setting….even if there are some very lofty goals (like meal planning?!):

I think if I keep it on my desk and take time to plan out each month I’ll keep to it:

These are my favorite accessories…the skinny washi tape. I use them to block off days for holidays, spring break etc:

They are perfect for blocking off sections:

All the accessories to choose from are so cute…like these little post it notes that come in a tiny matchbook:

The reason I chose this happy planner is because of the expandable, disc-bound planner system. I can easily add or subtract sections and other fillers:

I also love the chunky dividers that help me go back and forth between months:

I’m excited to set some new goals for myself this year!

Whether it’s planning the family schedule, cleaning out your pantry or getting the kiddos ready to head back to school, Michaels has everything you need to help you get organized this year too. Michaels has a huge selection of planners as well as all of the accessories you need to personalize your own.

Looking for more organization inspiration? Make sure you visit Michaels’ blog, The Glue String, to see the rest of the Michaels Makers’ organization project ideas like the ones below!

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