Time to breathe!!

Yes....seems the month of Dec flew by with all it's busyness and holiday festivities!!
With Christmas behind us...by one day now....it's becoming time to breathe a bit. That is....after all the clean up is done...lol
I find myself up to my ears right now in cleaning up the wrapping closet. It's amazing how much paper & ribbon sprawl can happen!! I think I finally have it all "under wraps"...lol
I would love to have a good part of the clean up around here done by New Years!

I'm actually looking forward to some quiet time after the 1st of the year when I can sit back and plan.

I'd like to make plans for what will happen with my Torn Paper Paintings in the coming year....what I'll create & how differently I might promote it as well as what changes may come. Looking forward to big things.

I also want to plan for the rest of the backyard renovations such as the next step....the new deck as well as all the new plantings/gardening that will need to be done to enhance the new look.

Mark & I have also been talking about what we might like to do for a special treat for ourselves for both of us turning 60 this coming year!! We've been talking about planning another grand trip....maybe Greece or Ireland/Scotland.....or.....who knows. Fun to think about & plan.

Yes...2015 will be a banner year....I'm sure of it!!!
Sooo....until then.....I'm going to step back, breathe, and start planning!!!
Have a terrific New Year!!

The local art show

The local art show raffle wall was sooooo full this year that it took two photos to show all the donated paintings. These are all 5x7 paintings donated by all the members of the art group. We've been doing this for a number of years now and it has been one of the biggest fund raisers at the summer show.
The idea is that you buy your raffle tickets and drop one into the bag under the painting that you'd love to win. On the last day of the show, there is a random drawing done for each one.
I think most of the area has caught on that this is an awesome way to maybe win an original painting for very little money while supporting the local art group!!
Well....I did my first round of gallery sitting Tuesday and I'm off to go sit a few hours today!

A peacock ATC

for a summer PAT (pick a theme) on the Illustrated Artcards site.

I really wish that all the shine and glitter of this one would show up better in the scan...but it really looks great in person. I did all the stylized feathers in pen & ink. Then, for the body, I used beautiful glitter gel pens. They blend so well and really have a nice shimmer that doesn't show all that much in the pic. I then used a variety of gold leaf for the circle in the center as well as the areas outside of the feathers.

I'm pretty pleased with the whole thing overall. It actually looks quite lovely in person!