2009

Just want to wish everyone a very
Happy New Year!!!

One more under the wire

The last cupcake piece for this year!
Since I want to try bigger pieces using this paper painting process, I figured I'd get myself rolling, now that the holidays are almost over, with a slightly larger 5"x7" piece.
This was a good warm up. I ran into several spots where I had to completely redo what I'd done because it simply didn't look right to my eye.
I'm pretty satisfied with the end result and ready to start the new year with something other than a cupcake.....unless it's the edible kind...lol

HoHoHo

As I take the time to finish up all those little last minute things...some items to wrap.....something to bake....a visit to make.....I just wanted to take a moment to wish everyone a

Very Merry Christmas and a Happy Holiday to all!!!!!

Ice!!!

Last evening ....after a long day of snow, sleet, and rain....temps at freezing.........this is what I found on a bush just outside my door as we were saying good night to frends who had been visiting.
Ice....icicles.....real ones!!!! The Christmas lights on that bush gave these amazing icicles a beautiful glow.
OK....I don't much like this weather....but you've got to find the good parts of it since you can't do much else about it!

A little art time

With all the holiday events and errands and stuff going on it's almost impossible to find a bit of art time. Whew!!! Finally took a few moments.
Not quite sure what took me in the Goth direction...but hey....art is art! It just felt good to do something....anything!!!
It's this time of the year that always has me looking a bit forward to January. It's a slower time and the holidays are over and you spend more quiet time indoors.
I'm looking forward to a big fat overdose of art right about then!!

Lot's of the white stuff!!!

Snow....snow...and more snow!!!

I went outside last night during the storm to take these pics. I had intended to post them right away....but as luck would have it, before I could get the post up online....the power went out. DANG....I hate when that happens. I was afraid to turn the computer on again after that for fear that it would keep going on and off....which the power did! Sooo...I went to bed instead...lol

The pics are even nicer to look at if you click on them to enlarge them. The last pics I'd taken were of my back yard. I took the front this time.

The first one is a shot of my husband after he'd shoveled just enough of the walk to actually get out of the breezeway and into the front.

The next is of the lighted deer out front. He was actually the reason we went out in the first place. The large tree near him had gotten some very heavy branches and were threatening to knock him out.

The next pic is a shot of some of the lights in the front of the house. I love the way the lights shine through the snow.

The next one is of the gazebo further up front in the yard. It looked so beautiful with the lights shining through the huge pine branches.

The last pic is one that I took as I was coming back into the breezeway. I just stopped in my tracks. I think that this is just sooo pretty.

We have a small lighted tree in the breezeway and the glow from the tree onto the panes of glass on the window and door to the back yard looked so lovely with all the snow on them.

I'm thinking that this may be a shot for making my Christmas cards for next year.

Well....I can hear my dear hubby out there with the snowblower right now. Guess I'll go out and help for a while......at least brush off the cars!!

Our Tree

Finally......we've got our tree up and decorated. On Sunday we went out and bought a tree for our house and picked up another for my in-laws. We took their tree to them that afternoon and got it set up in it's stand and the lights on. We then came back home and made sure ours was all set with enough water and such, but were due out to a friends for dinner.

Sooo.....last evening we finally got a chance to decorate it. I will admit to getting just a touch sappy since this is the first year that we've had an empty nest at Christmas.
Our youngest daughter is now in her own place and fully enjoying her first Christmas on her own....but it's going to take a bit of time to get used to.

I guess we all know that this day will come....but there really is no way to really be ready for it.
*heavy sigh* It certainly is tough for parents to grow up! :)

Moo

Well....I've made my first Moo's. Yep...that's what they're called. Tiny cards that measure 1 1/8" x 2 3/4". These are "chunky" moos because they have all manner of chunky bits attached. From dimentional pieces on the cards to eyelets with fibers and charms and stuff dangling at the bottom.
These are for a special chunky moo booklet swap. I do hope the hostess and players enjoy these.
I found a sweet little cow stamp and made some cute little shrink plastic charms from it to dangle as real "moos"!

Peek-a-Boo Kitty

OK....so maybe I'm having tooo much fun with the shrink plastic....but you've got to admit....isn't this cute??
I've been doing one experiment after another and when these two came together, well, it was a purrrrfect match!

I'm not sure if little kitty is thinking "snack" or if he's just enjoying watching the birdie.

I decided that this one had to become a new addition in my Etsy shop. Of course I made one for ME too!!
Ahhhh.....what will be next??!!?

Visuals of the season

Well....it certainly is beginning to "look" like the Christmas season.
Yesterday was the day of the Christmas fair sponsored by our local art group and held at their gallery.
MMmmmm, lucky me, I got to work the bake table! Will power....yep, had to have it!! I only had one cookie for the drive home later! Whew!!!

Now, this morning I awoke to a lovely visual. The first snow of the season!

Just a tiny bit....but enough to make everything look just beautiful! This first pic is the view from my bedroom window. It almost looks like a black & white picture, except, if you click on it to enlarge, you can just see a hint of color from a bit of grass showing through on the right and a tiny view way down on the beach level of a hint of the pink and green chairs that are still down there.

The second pic is another view from upstairs from a front facing bedroom. This is what the red maple tree looked like this morning! What a treat this all way.
I don't mind snow in this amount. Just enough to look pretty for a little while but not enough to have to worry about getting around in!

Celestial Treat

Well....while this pic may not look like much to some.....it is actually an amazing sight. I took this on Monday evening Dec. 1st.
What you are looking at is the moon....along with Venus & Jupiter.

This is said to be the best planetary gathering of the year, simply because it involves three of the brightest objects in the sky after the sun. It had been reported about all over the world.

What a beautiful sight. I must have taken a dozen pictures...but it was only this one, my Last one, that caught the moment! Just thought I'd share!

More art

With the holiday weekend and all the shopping and stuff going on right now it's sometimes hard to fit in some art that is just for the fun of it.
Well....finally did one! On one of my sites there was a collage sheet put out for coming up with something for a trade this Friday.
The text I used for this postcard says...."Saying goodbye to the body we knew or growed used to".
I just loved that. I used the eyes I have for my avatar....so now I can really relate to those words!

Shopping and turkey

When you have dinner at your in-laws house and that is where the turkey was cooked....it leaves you with no leftovers for the time honored turkey sandwiches!! Wellll.....we can't have that, now can we!
So, YES, I've bought a turkey and it is in the oven right now. I just have to have my leftovers...lol

While I didn't join the actual madness of the Friday
shopping day, I did go out and poke around a bit.

Didn't go anywhere near the mall. I had certain missions in mind, so went to the little shops that I had something in mind to get. They weren't anywhere near as busy.

As for shopping......I certainly hope to see Etsy get some business! I've been busy making new pieces like these earrings and other items and I know all the other shops have as well. There are also many great sales going on along with Free Shipping deals!

Shopping Etsy in your PJ's with a nice cup of coffee is really the way to go!

Being Thankful

Hope everyone has had a great Thanksgiving Day!!!
While so many problems surround us at this time....it's still time to sit back and look at what we DO have to be thankful for!
I know I have much to give thanks for....a wonderful husband and family, a comfortable warm home, enough food, logs for the fire, a nice cup of tea, a good book......all the simple things. Things that get overlooked everyday!
Stop and take a good look at them today.
All the bigger things will all work themselves out in time.

Well.....off to take care of business now.
Gotta go get my Etsy shop ready for tomorrow's big sales!
Geesh....hard to believe we are now into the big Christmas crunch.
Take care and be careful out there tomorrow. I personally don't intend to get up and join the throngs of 4am shoppers. Yikes. I think I'll sit in my pj's with my coffee and see what sales there are online!

My first step

I took my very first class last night for doing Real Estate sales. Yikes....soooo much to learn. I'm sure (or at least hope) the fun part will start after I get the license.
With the school budget cuts and their thought that there's no need for art (how wrong they are) finding more work as an art teacher doesn't look like it's going to happen.
I've always been interested in real estate....so I decided that it's a good time to go for it.
Taking the classes now while the economy is slow will give me time to become licensed and get my feet wet. I already know of a couple of firms that will take me on...so that's good.
One never knows how long they will have a job available these days. My husband sells yachts...and I have to say, they are not a hot seller these days.
Luckily, everyone at one time or another will need to buy or sell a house....so I'm hopful that this will help keep us afloat if the yachts sink!
Fingers crossed!!

My prize package

arrived today!! This was the package of goodies I'd won for my Halloween postcard design at MailArtWorld. Since the prizes were coming all the way from Australia, I knew they would take quite a while, so I wasn't worried and knew they'd show up at some point.

Well....today was my surprise. It was just like a bit of an early Christmas. There in my mailbox was a package. At first I wondered if it was merely a package from some of my early online Christmas shopping...but upon pulling it out....WOW...it was for ME!

How wonderful. The goodies were even gift wrapped!

There were two brown kraft books for altering, two watercolor blank postcards, a white pen, a "mail art" stamp, and YES....24 Twinkling H2O's!!!

Just look at those yummy colors! Love the shimmer of these little beauties. I had invested in just a couple of basic colors at one time to give them a try....so what a delight it was to receive these!!!

Thank you MailArtWorld....and to all the members who voted for my card! With sooo many fine artists at the site, I'm especially honored to have won.

Paths

It was such a beautiful fall day recently that my husband and I decided to go off and walk the paths around our pond.
In all the time we've been here I'd actually never gone off and done the whole thing.
The area all around the pond, actually a series of 5 ponds, is all conservation land.
The paths turned out to be really beautiful and well taken care of. In this first pic you just about see the water to the left.

The next shot shows the view of my house from the best visual spot. Mine is the one right in the middle. From this distance you can't see very much at all. Can't even make out the dock.
Guess there is no need to worry about privacy from the trail walkers!

I do have a pretty good zoom on my camera, so

here is a bit of a closer view. Still can't make

out very much.

It was a lovely walk and great to see all the nature back there and how well taken care of it is.

When we got back home it was time to rake the leaves in our own yard then stoke the fireplace!

Off season finds

I just love finding things that are "after the holiday" clearence sales. I was recently at a craft shop and found their clearence on all the Halloween items that were left over. After hunting through everything, I found these wooden "haunted tree" decorations. The only thing I really saw that was "haunted" was that they had a face.

Well....that was easily taken care of!!!
I purchased two of these....at 75% off....which brought them down to $1 each.

I took them home and first painted white over the faces.
I then painted the whole tree with a lovely shade of green.
Well..........look what a nice "earring display" they turned into. I've put a bunch of the leaf earrings that I've been making for my Etsy shop on the trees....and they look sweet.

I'm going to use one of them as a display for the earrings at my sister-in-laws wellness center.

Gotta love those off season finds!!

Cuppa Joe

Here is my first attempt at trying something other than a cupcake. I still didn't want to get very complicated since I've still got a loooong way to go in learning to do this process effectively.
I'm beginning to feel as if I'm headed in the right direction and I like where it's going.
Trust me...it's anything but easy. Most of the way through this one I saw an area that I just couldn't live with....the colors/patterns were all wrong. A big part of it could luckily sill be pulled off....the rest, simply covered over.
Still pretty "hit & miss"...but fun nevertheless.

More torn paper

Yes....I did another torn paper painting. As always, when I find something new that is fun to do I can't seem to stop...lol
I know I'll be making quite a few more of these. Although this one is another cupcake, I think I'll try my hand next time on something new.
This one is another 4x6" size.
If nothing else...it's giving me a new use for all those papers that I've yet to throw away!!!

An experiment

Having recently been quite inspired by the torn paper paintings of artist Elizabeth St. Hilaire Nelson, I decided to give it a try.
Wow....is it ever harder than you might think. While I did completely enjoy the process and the mess making, I certainly have a great respect for the beautiful work she does and how effortless she makes it look.
I know I've got a long way to go, but I do intend to do some more of these and hopefully get a LOT better at it...lol
Just thought I'd share this one and show that even artists that are confident in the medium they normally use can produce less than wonderful work when trying something new. But that's the fun of it!
Get out of you comfort zone and give something new a try!

And the winner is......

Yay!! The Halloween postcard that I had in an earlier post just won the contest at MailArtWorld. It was a close race....soooo many wonderful creations were made for the contest. I was proud to be among all that wonderful creativity!!
Hats off to everyone!!!

Sitting on the edge

of my seat. Waiting for all the election results to come in!!!
SUCH a big day! Nope...I won't tell you how I voted....but I will say "we do need change!!!!!!!!!"

Big eyed pumpkin

Like all the images I've been painting...my pumpkin this year has the "one big eye" look! I did the drawing for the face and my husband did the carving....much safer that way...lol
The picture shows what it looks like sitting in the breezeway with the candle lit! Of course you can see the window grid in front...but you get the idea!
Happy Halloween.

A new gal

to add to my paintings on book pages. This is another 4x6" done in acrylic and ink. I think this one came out looking a bit fairy-like with her wings and all her butterfly friends.
I may be having too much fun doing these, but while it is fun, I've got too many of them in my head now and guess I'll have to paint them till they're all out...lol

Yellow this time!

Well...this time I tried the shrink plastic with a photo of a yellow leaf that I'd gotten from a tree beside the pond. I LOVE the way that the yellow turned out. The transparency of this one is even nicer and I found just the right beads to add to it to bring out the colors!
It's official....I'm hooked on this stuff.

She looks like

autumn itself to me! I just love the way the colors worked out....and that little leaf on her head...perfect!
Book pages seem to add so much to these little folk. This one is a bit bigger that I've been doing. She's 51/2" x 81/2". Enjoyed working on the slightly larger size and was surprised at how much time this one took. Almost had forgotten the time involved since I'd been doing so much tiny art.
I'm hopeful that I'll work these up into an even bigger size pretty soon!
For now, I'll work on this size a while. Just added her to my Etsy shop!

More Chartreuse

Yep....told you I love this color!!!

Just had to make another "beaded bead" using these colors. I think they are just sooo yummy!
Soo, at this point I've got enough different items in my Etsy shop to create a set of chartreuse!

I think I need to make a set for ME now!!

The colors

of fall makes me run out of the house with my camera often. This evening was just lovely as the light hit all those trees. I couldn't help but notice a big shadow cast from the trees on my side of the pond creating almost a big gliding bird image.

Seems I wasn't the only one who couldn't help but take pictures today. My neighbor was out on her kayak with her large camera taking advantage of the light and colors as well.

While standing on the dock I turned around and realized that there was a lovely bit of color behind me facing the house. The reds

are just sooo beautiful.

After taking all these lovely views, I of course took a number of single leaf shots to use to make more autumn leaf earrings!

Halloween postcard

Well....I finally finished creating my entry for the Halloween postcard contest at MailArtWorld.
I can't believe how many hours I spent on this one, between the doodling around for ideas and then finally putting the image together.
It's mainly done in colored pencil. I inked the outlines of the image and did ink for the text that I put on colored vellum, but all the coloring was done with layers upon layers of colored pencil.
I must say that I'm quite happy with the way this one turned out. I may even need to hold onto it for awhile!!

Faux Glass

is what these new earrings look like in the light.

I have been playing with shrink plastic and have had such fun. Using crystal clear plastic I free formed the shapes and gave them a pale pink and green color. When the plastic was still really hot I impressed a rubber stamp into it. They came out looking like antique pressed glass shards. Adding glass beads and wires they make a great pair of earrings. I've just added these to my Etsy shop and will be making more!



The pair of leaf earrings are done using the same plastic. These however are done using a photo taken of actual leaves from a red maple tree in my front yard! The process is quite different and a bit more involved, but I just love the end result!
I haven't added any of these to the shop yet, but plan to!

Feels like Spring

around here with all the amazing flowers. My sweet daughter had flowers delivered to us for our anniversary! She's always been such a thoughtful girl. We are such lucky parents!!
Sooo....I'm surrounded by flowers and such good feelings. SWAK :)

26 Years

In just under a half hour, on Oct. 9th it will be our 26th anniversary! My how time flies!! My honey brought these lovely flowers home to me this evening...a day early...just because he had it on his mind all day. What a cutie he is. And what a lovely bunch of autumn flowers they are! Almost looks like a painting. I may need to actually do just that, and paint them myself. I'm a lucky lady and married to my soul mate. Love him dearly!

More little Jiggys

Found myself surrounded by Jiggys once again. Every now and again I get inspired to make another batch of these little guys. They are such fun to work on and you can see their little personalites forming as they come into being. This little batch will be put into my Etsy shop.

These are the style of pin I donated for the Art for Autism fundraiser which should be started now. Check the link on this blog.