flowers

What a beautiful day here in Lawrence, KS.  I made the most of it by doing some much needed yard work, and then rewarded myself by planting some pansies.  I drove around town to see who had the best bedding plants at the best prices this morning, and I hate to say it, but I bought a few flats at Wal-Mart.  I usually think their flowers are saggy, but they were certainly pretty today.

Here is a photo of the front of my studio with a few pots of violas, pansies, and snapdragons.  I also saw petunias for sale and thought that was odd, didn’t realize they were hardy enough to be out this early. I didn’t risk it, just in case.

One sad thing, while cleaning up the yard, I found a dead bluebird.  Not a bluejay, which are pretty common, but an actual, pretty little bluebird.  Even dead, he was a vibrant beauty.  This might sound gross, (but if you know me you won’t be surprised that I did this) I plucked out his wing and tail feathers and saved them.  The little guy will live on in a future craft project.  Maybe I will make fairy wings for a vintage doll from his feathers.

My junking day find, the old piece of ceiling tin, was calling out to me yesterday.  I covered it with a fresh coat of white, then added a garland of bright pink roses and blue hydrangeas with acryllic craft paint. 

I never get tired of old ceiling tins, I love to paint on them, add mirrors to their center, or just display them as they are.  I have plans to list this one for sale on Ebay sometime in the next couple of weeks.

PAINTING TIP: For building up color and getting depth in an acryllic painting, apply a layer of clear acryllic top coat over your base painting.  let dry thouroughly ( I get impatient and use a blow dryer), add some detail, then clear coat again.  Keep repeating, with layers of acryllic paint and layers of clear coat, ending with a finish layer of the clear coat for protection.