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How to Make the Perfect DIY Artificial Succulent Arrangement

February 1, 2017 by Ashley Hackshaw

For this month’s Michael’s Makers project I made this DIY Artificial Succulent Arrangement…the perfect little garden that my brown thumb can’t Michaels has over 1,800 blooms & greenery in their new Flower Market, including trendy succulents and real-touch flowers.

Here’s what I started with, all the supplies from the Flower Market, a long wood planter centerpiece, floral foam, faux succulents plants and small river rock:

First I cut the styrofoam into two pieces that fit all the way across the wood bowl:

First, I started placing the larger succulents, simply sticking them down into the foam:

Second, I cut apart all the smaller bunches of succulent varieties:

These I began placing around the larger plants:

More varieties:

These flat mats of succulent plants are great to cut apart too. A dab of hot glue will keep the smaller pieces in place on the foam.

I kept adding single succulent pieces around my larger ones like so:

My goal was to make them very compact and with lots of texture and color variation:

My finished arrangement:

I love how real it looks:

These succulents won’t require any attention:

Looking for more inspiration? Make sure you visit Michaels’ blog, The Glue String, to see the rest of the Michaels Makers’ spring floral project ideas and see the links below: [Read more…]

Painting a Day – Week 3 – Animal Paintings

January 27, 2017 by Ashley Hackshaw

Here are all the paintings I completed in for my daily painting for my third week:

I picked an animal theme for most of the week starting with this portrait of our yorkie Max:

Then I painted my friend’s cat Furgus. Furgus passed away a few weeks ago at the age of sixteen and I wanted to paint a memorial for my sweet friends Sarah and Matt:

Mid week I had to take my car to Asheville for an oil change. I took my paints with me and painted a turkey I found in the pages of a Field and Stream magazine:

Then I painted this cute little piggy:

Tiny feather paintings:

A seagull:

And a teeny tiny hedgehog:

These paintings have already sold on Etsy but you can see when I post them real time on my Instagram account here. You can view all my daily paintings here. Thanks for checking them out!

Also here is the progress on my daily button/embroidery stitch:

The Metal Detectorist

January 26, 2017 by Ashley Hackshaw

Did I tell you that I got a new metal detector for Christmas? Whenever Brett asks me what I want for a gift I’m usually at a loss for words because I don’t really ever want or need anything. Of course books and art supplies are always welcome gifts but usually I am already in great supply of those two. I told him two things: a pig and a metal detector. We really don’t have a place to keep a pig at the moment (maybe one day?). All my treks on the dry lake bed and on the banks of the river made me start thinking about a metal detector…how fun it would be to have one.

Opening Christmas presents I was sure that I wasn’t getting anything…I mean a good metal detector costs about $150 or more and Brett and I both are pretty thrifty. Just as a joke every tiny gift I opened I would shake before hand and say, “I bet this is my metal detector!” I opened one gift and it was a pig! A stuffed pig. Brett kept saying he was sorry he didn’t get me anything except a stuffed pig. And then we were done. Later in the day my brother came over and handed me a large box. And guess what it was….

Turns out Brett had conspired to get the metal detector sent to my brother’s house so it would be a complete surprise. It worked because I was totally surprised!

On Christmas day my sister and I dug up her backyard looking for things. When we finally got a loud beep my brother dug down into the earth and pulled out something metal. You would have thought we’d discovered a lost galleon of treasure at our reaction. It turned out to be the end of an old hose…but we still considered it treasure because we’d found it under the earth!

I’ve only used the metal detector once since then…it turns out I’m only a fair weather metal detectorist. It’s been so cold and rainy that I haven’t had a chance to really get out there and use it. But the day that I did use it I found a few things.

Here’s what I’ve found so far:

Nothing of material value but I think it’s all awesome. I’ll just keep saving it all and maybe I can make something interesting out it one day. I always joke to my friends that one day I’m going to open up a small oddity museum for all of my random found objects. I might just do that one day.

These are things that I found on the lake bed just walking around…so imagine what might lie under the surface:

I keep all the cool glass finds separate:

This was another found object collage from the end of 2016:

The “Jesus Loves U” pin was clipped to my handbag one day when I wasn’t looking. I don’t know if that’s creepy or neat. The little doll face was given to me by someone else who found it. Still technically found. I love the randomness of it all.

So one day maybe I’ll be a little eccentric old lady piddling around her cases of eccentric oddities. So, would any of you ever come visit my oddity museum?