magazine pictures or articles – Page 6

Flocked Finery and hot dogs

Dorkies (Yorkshire Terrriers), fairies, family, magazine pictures or articles, vintage paper/collage art

By Karla Nathan / July 7, 2008

I got some of the best new (old) wallpaper! I had to make something with it right away, so put together this card with one of my painted cupcakes and some other vintagey pretties.

The same flocked paper is used as a background for this tag.

Sissy sent me these ballerinas, and I made one into a fairy to tie to the cover of the photo album I am sending to her.

All three new papers are wonderful, but I haven’t had a chance to use the other two yet.

If I would stop buying wallpaper, I could probably afford the good camera I whine about wanting.

I really like my camera, but I sure do drool over photos taken by Carol and Sara. Both of them use Canon Rebels, and their pictures are always so good. Of course, both of them are great stylists too, that sure helps!

Speaking of Sara, she has added my two latest magazines to the list to the side of my blog.

She is always so fast when I ask for something to be done and I am still thrilled with the blog design she has done for me! I hope to have some extras added some day when I have time. I’d like to have a seperate page with my blog roll and "about". But, I seem to always have other things to do. Someday I will get that blog roll revamped and more blogs added to it.

I am such a blog addict, I read so many more than what I have listed there!!

Sara isn’t the only person I need to thank today. LOOK AT WHAT BETH MADE!!!!!!!!!!

I don’t knit and never will, but I love to look at yarn shops and day dream about the gorgeous colors. I bought a specialty ball of yarn and Beth whipped up this scarf for me out of it.
Its even prettier in person, soft and sweet and lighter than air.

This came in the mail from my friend, Shawn. The first thing I noticed about it, besides how cute it is, of course, is that the name "Nathan" is in the sheet music on Twinkle’s wings!

Shawn is coming to my blogger’s craft day this Thursday. If you are a KC or Topeka area blogger and like to do paper crafts, let me know if you’d like to come too.

Amy is the winner of my June Garage Sailing Giveaway Prize Pack, and since her blog is titled
"Bunny Rose Cottage" I added this cute enameled bunny charm to her gift.

I haven’t decided what my July prize will be yet. But all comments on all posts count for the month, whether the prize has been announced or not.

Looks like July is finally here, it has turned hot! The poor dorkies didn’t even want to work in the garden with me this morning, I came in and they were lounging on the bench in the breezeway out of the sun.

Using what you have

antiques/junking, Dorkies (Yorkshire Terrriers), Etsy Goodies, fairies, give away, magazine pictures or articles, redos

By Karla Nathan / June 20, 2008

ur Those two talented sisses are asking us to show our mantels. Well, that is right up my alley right now, and I am so happy with my bedroom do over that I’d love to show my mantel again.

I usually don’t keep anything on it, just the mirror above it, and sometimes a stack of books or magazines.

I promised to show some other corners of my room, here is the doorway. Well, I guess that is pretty self explanatory, sorry.

See the pretty alarm clock? A gift from Beth, that was so pretty, I just had to paint the room to match. Even though the clock is merely ornamental, isn’t a cute little ornament?

The table it is on is from a whole set I bought an auction, 2 twin beds, dresser, mirror, and two tables. I repainted them all and sold them, but had to keep this one table for myself.

This recliner, which is a concession to my husband, is the inspiration for the bronze/sepia vines on the ceiling. I wanted a soft blue room, but had to tie in this chair that sits smack dab in front of the TV.

In the alcove above it, I have my screen from the Birds and Bonnets Swap. I’ve used little birdies around the room, I thought they went with the garden feel of the space.

Beyond the chair is my sink area. I painted it a slightly darker shade of the same blue, and used a warm carmel-ly brown on the ceili ng.

The carmel brown color matches the Shabby Chic (from Target) shower curtain in the connecting bathroom. I always try to give my rooms a flow from one to another.

By redoing the bedroom, I ended up redoing the rest of the house too! Not repainted, but switched around and knick knacks traded back and forth.

These metal salvage pieces were in 3 different areas, but I really like the affect of having all four of them lined up together.

After an evening of "use what you have decorating", I had given three rooms a new look just by shuffling my junk around. The drawing of the goddess now in the living room, used to be in the bedroom, and it was replaced by a picture that was previously in the dining room.

All the things on top of the entertainment center (except the goddess statue I just repainted a couple of posts back) used to be in the bedroom. Now the little birdies are in their place there.

The large print on the wall in the dining room used to be in the guest room.

So, for simply repainting one room and getting a new (vintage) bedspread, one goddess statue and an alarm clock, I feel like I have a whole new look!

But then today, I went to some garage sales, and look what I found to replace the too small, too old lady looking, too brown little chair that was there before!

A THRONE! A Leopard print covered throne!

In garage sailing dollars it was kind of pricey, but in antiquing money, it was a bargain. I paid $60 for it, and it is solid as a rock, and very old, with brand new fabric.

I do think it could use some paint. Something like the way I painted the banister, but not exactly, I don’t want it too matchy matchy. A little darker and with some glimmer, maybe?

yes, yes, yes, I know it is solid oak and the wood is in perfect condition!

It was a quick garage sailing morning, that one stop used up my cash supplies. I did get a couple of trinkets here and there, and added some treats to the June Garage Sailing Giveaway Prize Pack.

Can you spot the new additions? green lace ribbon, a bag of old buttons, and an old green plastic cup.

I’m going with a green and white theme for garden season, it looks like!

Remember, all comments are entered, every one, every month counts towards my drawings.

As usual, I have run on long enough, (too long, actually) but I wanted to mention that I listed a couple of my fairy dolls on Etsy and also have reduced some prices, so please check out the sales!

I did finish my article for the fall issue of Romantic Country, thank you to those who were asking how I was doing.

Here is the first paragraph if you’d like a sneak peak:

When the air starts to develop a slight nip and rich reds and golds begin to tint the leaves, it is a perfect time to savor the outdoors by dining al fresco. While summer is known for picnics, fall is much more suited to the venue. The heat has eased up, and most of the summertime bugs have flown away. In this Mid-Western town of Kansas City, artist and antique dealer, Carol Spinski took advantage of autumn’s agreeable afternoon weather and created a garden party under the trees to welcome the season.

Elphie

antiques/junking, how to's, magazine pictures or articles, Sugarwings

By Karla Nathan / June 19, 2008

Meet Elphie, who seems to like vintage hats as much as I do. Now I know why I buy so many of these, they make great cat toys!

Little Elphaba (named after the witch from Wicked- she is Kansas kitty, after all!) is only 5 weeks old and is nothing but a teeny little puff of fur.

She hides under furniture in my studio and comes out covered in dust bunnies bigger than she is. She walks across my keyboard and doesn’t have enough weight to push any of the keys.

Elphie was meant to be Sugarwing’s kitty, but I discovered that Sugarwings is not a cat person, at least so far. She has no interest at all in this little cutey. She did tell her some long meandering story that involved lots of mentions of "Yeenkle" (Twinkle), so she might have been telling the new cat that she already had a pet.

Twinkle also doesn’t care much for Elphie. I hope I haven’t done the wrong thing by getting a new pet. Hopefully, they will all come to terms with each other and be friends.

My advance copy of Somerset Life came in the mail and I was sweetly surprised to see my magic wands in the issue, as well as the magnet board that I knew was going to be included. In the back, is a photo I took of some (what else??) millinery flowers.

I had last heard that the wands weren’t chosen to be used, it was nice to see them there.

Also, Dawn let me know that the new romantic Country was out and that my article was right next to one about her lovely pincushion.

Both of our projects have how-to instructions if you are interested in making your own.

I always hear that this magazine can be hard to find. And I had to go to two stores to get a copy yesterday too, so was very glad to see the new subscription cards! I plan on filling one out and getting it into the mail right away.

I’m going for the 8 issues at $29.97, that is a bargain, and I’m all about bargains!

Speaking of bargains, don’t forget about my June Garage Sale Goodies Giveaway!

Every comment is entered and I am adding more prizes after going garage sailing this weekend. And who knows, you might open your prize box and have a kitten pop out if I can’t teach her not to walk across my keyboard while I am trying to write an article.

the not so romantic side of a Romantic Country Autumn Garden Party IN JUNE

flowers, give away, magazine pictures or articles

By Karla Nathan / June 1, 2008

Today is Present Day! I get to announce the winners of not one but TWO May giveaways!

Jenny

and

Dede

Remember, I ALWAYS have a giveaway going somewhere, some how. All comments are entered into the monthly drawing and the prize is always something different. A new one starts now for June.

What should I have for June’s giveaway? Last month was popular, maybe I’ll do another prize pack.

I know!! It can be a June Garage Sailing Extravaganza Pack! I’ll scour garage sales and find some good presents for you.

Carol and I set up our fall photo shoot for Romantic Country for Fifi, and Sugarwings dropped by to help a bit.

I see a future photo stylist in the makings there!

And you know, we could use all the help we could get. Its not simple to turn a neglected corner of a farm field into a romantic picnic!

Luckily we had a beautiful, perfect day, sunny and no wind. Shooting outdoors is never easy. Diane Guthrie (our photographer) had to run an extension cord across the field so we could set up some lights for a shadowy corner.

The other day in our "dry run" to set up and see what needed to be tweaked, we came up with lots of changes.

One being the planks on the ground under the table legs, so that when we loaded the table, it didn’t slowly sink into the mud and tilt sideways so that things fall off and break (yep, that happened in the dry run).

To create an outdoor room for our Autumn picnic, we hung some curtains from the trees. Vintage French lace curtains from Carol’s stash!

But, halfway through the shoot, they were just not looking right to me on the screen. Great in person, very romantic. But haunted and ghostly in the film, so we had to take some down.

We had hung this Gothic arch window of Carol’s (she has great stuff, check out her website) with more French lace behind it, and that was plenty for atmosphere. Sometimes just a touch of something is all you need. (can you believe that I said that, Miss Gaudy actually said that a touch is enough???)

Oh but, don’t worry, there was some gaudiness! But tastefully done, not over the top like I tend to do, because Carol is magnificent and this article is featuring her creations and ideas.

See the purple brain in the urn? Hmmm, it looks better from the front angle instead of this one. It is a red cabbage is embellished with ribbons and rhinestones and I just thought it was the cutest topiary ever.

I can show you some snippets, but not all of the set up, it will have to be a surprise when the fall issue of Romantic Country comes out.

Carol made these mini crowns from gutter screening, and we set votive cups inside to hold the water and flowers.

Our colors were rich purples, plums, and cream, with contrasting greens.

Neither of us are purple people, but everything looked so pretty together, we might have converted ourselves.

The table was set with such an inviting style, we were tempted to pull up a chair and start the party. But instead we sat on the bumper of the SUV parked in the grass to eat our sandwhiches. After all that work, we couldn’t risk messing the disply up!

The field felt like it was miles from the house ( I guess I was feeling my age today, plus it was so humid that Carol’s glasses steamed up). So, I got out the John Deere and made my hauls back and forth with props the lazy way!

Speaking of lazy, that last load of stuff is still in the wagon, I’d better go get it put away, then treat myself to a relaxing evening with nothing else to do but finish a good book I am near the end of. Maybe in the jacuzzi. With lots of Calgon. And a glass of wine.

Yep, perfect ending to a fun, but tiring day.

Faking Fall

magazine pictures or articles, swaps

By Karla Nathan / May 30, 2008

Carol is on her way here from the other side of Kansas City to get set up for a preview of our "Welcome Autumn" story for Romantic Country magazine.

Today we are setting up the table and seeing what needs to be tweaked before our photographer comes in a couple days.

So, yesterday, I spray painted (with florist spray) my trees to make the area look more fallish.

I might have to get another can, I will see how this works out for the set up, it might be enough, to make the area look like it is early fall when the leaves start to change and the air has a slight chill at night.

Beth and I made up all of the swap screens from the piles of panels spread across my studio. And they were such fun. I loved the assembly part and kept saying each one was my favorite as I matched up the panels.

We also drew a name for the scarf winner, it goes to Rhonda

(ps- I am doing some hand dying this weekend and will plan on posting how to’s on using fiber reactive dyes if you are interested)

We randomly chose panels to add tags to as prizes too.

I wish I could have made one for each and every swapper, I appreciate all they have done to make this a successful and pretty swapping experience!

I think we ended up giving out 27 tags along with the scarf, a purse from myself and one from Beth, and 6 gift certificates from Vintage Workshop, as well as each person getting a free download from V.Workshop too, along with the downloads of images for the swap itself.

Thanks again, everyone for all you did!

After Beth and I finished assembling panels and packing boxes and bags up, and I got my trees spray painted, I "made" this bird bath.

All I did was use Liquid Nails to glue a wash bowl to a pedestal that had lost its top years ago. We’ll see how it holds up over the summer, and if the birdies like it.

It doesn’t look at all like Autumn around here, Spring is bursting out all over.

Wish me luck with Carol today, faking a fall picnic!

And please, check out my previous posts for details on the two giveaways I have going on right now.

Not just one Winner, but TWO Winners for March

Etsy Goodies, fairies, give away, Hand Painted Furniture, hand painted signs, magazine pictures or articles, vintage paper/collage art

By Karla Nathan / April 2, 2008

As I selected a name for my monthly giveaway, I was pleased to see that the winner was

BOBBIE VALENTINE

With that last name, I just had to pick out something special to send to her, and thought she might like this heart shaped locket with a hand painted rose.

Well, I should know what she’ll like, Bobbie is my sister!

So, then, I decided that maybe that wasn’t fair, and I pulled another name to send this hand painted sign to.

Michelle

If you want to win a prize from me, all you have to do is leave a comment, any comment, any post, any time during the month and it is entered into my monthly giveaway.

Remember my dilemma about the cabinet with the black trim? I just had to paint the trim white. I loved the black, but it took away from the calm, serene look I was going for in my studio redo. With so many supplies and so much going on, I wanted the background to be more subtle and that black stood out too much.

I also simply couldn’t leave this cabinet alone. When I got the new, and much more formal table, this cottagey corner cabinet just looked too country.

If you remember from this post, I had already repainted the cabinet a warmer white, added a piece of trim to the top, rearranged the shelves, and then covered the bead board interior with vintage wallpaper,.

That didn’t quite do it. It needed more. So, I added these round embellishments to the center of each window panel and rose embellishments to 4 outside corners.

Then I brushed on and wiped off a pale tan glaze. I’m much happier! for now……..

While looking at the photos of the new cabinet, I got to thinking about some past redos of that room.

These red floral curtains and black accents were an attempt to try something really different for me. I didn’t like it for long. But the curtains were clearance fabric, that I didn’t even sew, just cut to fit and clipped up on the curtain rods, and the black chairs just needed a lighter coat of paint, to change the whole look.

So, it became this, with some vintage blue toile curtains, and still a few touches of black. (There are more dark items not pictured, on the other side of the room, that makes it work)

Then, when Twinkle refused to be housebroken, I threw out the rug. And lightened up the room for Christmas.

Oh, did I mention this was all in little more than one year?

Before that, it looked like this. (this photo is by Bill Mathews, styled by Gloria Gale and was featured in Paint magazine).

I’m not quite finished with my current look. I might just have to paint the natural wood table top… And if that dog is EVER house broken, I’ll get a rug.

I do enjoy my redos. The one from the studio this week has been a deep cleaning and major redo, I delved into cabinets, drawers, boxes of junk and resorted it all.

I came across a lot of supplies that I figured I wasn’t going to get around to using and have listed some collage kits on Etsy for $12 each. Some have already sold, but I am making up more to list if you are interested in one.

I also stumbled across these buckets that I had tucked away and never done anything with. So, I foofed them up with some vintage goods and old wallpapers.

A redo can be a creative stimulus, coming across things I’d forgotten about, looking at a room and its function in a new way, re-purposing items, and getting rid of stuff that I knew I wasn’t going to make use of.

And along with my New Years resolution to not hoard my good stuff, I pulled out my extremely favorite, expensive, beautiful, wonderful, most perfect wallpaper and cut out a piece to decorate this bucket with. Look at the 1930s fairy on this, isn’t she something?

Well, back to work, this wallpaper doesn’t glue itself to the junk I have lying around!

Over the top? Why of course!

fairies, family, how to's, magazine pictures or articles, paintings

By Karla Nathan / March 26, 2008

So many people were asking me about the mural I did on my baby B-I-L, Randy’s, floor, that I thought I would post more photos.

Here are a couple of snaps of it that I have in my scrap book.

This little fishy is drawn in the scrapbook too. He is a reminder of the one painted by the threshold in Randy’s craft room, kind of like a Walmart greeter, for everyone who comes in. We named him "Wallerford" after the Walmart greeter and the beautiful crystal Waterford glasses we were sipping our champagne from while we painted. Randy does know how to treat his guests right!

Here is Wallerford in person. Please ignore the twig laying on him, and by the way, it is a good idea to sweep the floor before photographing it, if you don’t want sticks in the picture.

Last year, I did a how-to on painting a concrete floor. If you’d like to read it, you can find it here.

Randy’s craft room was painted in stages. One night, years ago, we started painting family and friends on his wall as fairies.

It became a tradition, every time I’d go to Jacksonville to visit him that we would listen to show tunes (we both love Phantom of the Opera, Wicked, and Dreamgirls), drink champagne, and add more paintings to the room.

Now, two walls are a fairy forest, this is what the rest of the room looks like, a garden wall and sky.

Little whimsical details are everywhere. Like this frog chatting with a dragonfly while holding a champagne glass.

And one trip to visit was spent making the ceiling a sky.

After that, he HAD to pull up the carpet and turn the floor into a pond. What kind of magical, fairyland garden is carpeted??

Now, every inch of that room is all muralled up. I still add characters when I go now, there will always be room for a flying puppy, or Randy’s best friend as an elf somewhere in the gardens.

While I had my photo album out to get these pictures of Randy’s craft room, I came across these pics of "Jayhawks on Parade" and with the Kansas Jayhawks doing well in March madness, I thought I’d show you some of the work I did on the giant Jayhawk sculptures that were on display in Lawrence, KS a couple years ago.

This peacock represented team pride and was commissioned by the Art Center. It is painted in iridescent colors and features stained glass mosaic.

The "Marvelous Mosaic Floral Fantasy Joyous Jewelhawk" is the gaudiest thing ever! And you know I love gaudy.

Hand painted flowers, mosaics, beads, old jewelry, and more- this creature is one blinged up baby.

Over the top? Well, yep, just the way I like things.

Speaking of Blinged up, tomorrow (Thursday March 27) is our Bling your birdhouse day.

Hope to see you there!

Remember, I will be giving away one gaudy home for birds to someone who leaves a comment on the party post.

Oh, and GO Jayhawks!!

Somerset Life is chocked full of bloggers!

Etsy Goodies, magazine pictures or articles, paintings, Sugarwings

By Karla Nathan / March 24, 2008

I received my advanced copy of Somerset Life and it is delicious! The best Easter treat that I got this weekend!

I was so happy to see so many of my favorite bloggers featured in it and can’t wait to fill up the tub with bubbles and take a nice long soak to read this cover to cover.

My collaged business card was used in one shot, and I was surprised and happy to see that! My collage kits (inspired by my Sissy) are on pages 52-54

And my framed vintage doll dress is on 126.

But my favorite thing about the whole magazine (of course, I haven’t read it all yet, mostly I have just looked through it), is the article by Jenny Holiday. What she has to say about blogging expresses my feelings so exactly, that I could just hug her.

There is also a GREAT article by my pal "The" Heather (a joke she and I have, I always add "the" to her name), Heather Bullard. (page 18-21).

And a photo from my pal, Natasha is on page 132.

And who doesn’t love to read anything that Sandra writes? She is on 76, and 96-97. There are TONS of our favorite bloggers and artists in this issue, it’s a good one!

Heather is in multiple magazines out right now and so is Sandra. My BBF, Beth, had this to say "I think its so interesting that blogs are really the trend setters and the magazines are reporting on it." and I believe that she has something there. Aren’t blogs fascinating? No wonder you see so much of what is going on in the blog world and in blogger’s home printed into magazines any more. We are now getting double the pleasure, getting to read the blogs on a regular basis with in depth stories and then see the featured articles in magazines that we can tear out and save (You all have those files don’t you? The torn out pictures of what you’ll do someday? Don’t we all???)

I worked on a proposed article and a second secret project today with my photographer/artist friend, Diane Guthrie.

No details yet, on the project we shot today, I’ll let you know when I know! Here is some of the ideas involved, I am taking some of my artwork and using glazes and crackle finishes on copies of it.

I am going to be in a local art show this spring, here in Lawrence and hope to get a few of these made up to sell. That hydrangea is one of my favorite paintings that I have ever done.

And since I painted this one in my mom’s hospital room as I was keeping her company in her last few weeks, I can’t sell it. But, I have found a way to make attractive copies and sell those.

I hope to list some in my Etsy shop soon too, but the days seem to be getting away from me, and I just can’t quite keep up with everything I want to get done.

And why can’t I keep up with my work anymore? Well, look at this sweet little face and see why I get so distracted! When she tilts her chin up and looks at me that way, there is no way on Earth I can go to my studio and work, I have to scoop her up in my arms and go play a game or sing a song. Work will always be waiting for me later…..

Which reminds me, I am still working on birdhouses for the big, blingy, birdhouse bash on Thursday. Hope to see you there!

You are welcome to add the birdhouse button to your blog if you’d like. If you don’t have a blog, please post pics to Flickr. (An account is free and VERY easy to set up)

Buttons, Baubles, Bottles, & Bears, plus a sick Baby

antiques/junking, Etsy Goodies, magazine pictures or articles, Sugarwings, vintage paper/collage art

By Karla Nathan / February 19, 2008

As much fun as I had out east, it is so good to be back home. But look at this, I came home to a sick baby! She really, really, wants to try to play, but simply isn’t up to it, she is droopy and worn out.

Even with a new hat for dress up and a new doll that was waiting in a package on the porch from Fluffy Flowers, Little Sugarwings just can’t manage to muster up the energy to play. We’ve been cuddled up watching Care Bear videos and now she is napping.

I had even more packages waiting for me when I got back from my trip.

Somerset was done photographing these vintage wallpaper folders filled with ephemera. So, now I have them photographed and ready to list on Ebay. These 3 will be in the next issue of Somerset Life.

This roll of wallpaper was waiting for me too. I had a bit of an Ebay frenzy while on vacation. I didn’t have any work to do, so am afraid that I got a bit carried away with the bidding. I guess I will be expecting a porch full of packages any day now.

This isn’t my favorite pattern, but it really will make a nice background for many projects. It would be hideous on someone’s wall though.

The hats are some from my shopping day in Lucketts, VA. (previous post) I am not a huge yellow fan, but I bought these for the flowers, and most of those are white. Plus, $3.50 each??? What a deal!

For a while, I have been collecting old fabrics to make spring time slipcovers for my couch. I got two more in the mail (Ebay again), the last two on the right. I plan on dipping all of the materials into a tea dye to coordinate them more.

They should be gorgeous with my French book decoupaged wall behind them after they are on my sofa.

I will use an actual fiber dye in a tea stain color, so they will be washable and color safe. The only trouble is, that I will have to face the sewing machine again. Oh no!

Here are the two pretty birdies in trophies that Robin gave to Beth and I. My dilemma, was which birdie could I chose?? They are both so cute.

I went with the one with the pink roses. I simply am a sucker for any rosey buds!

Here are a few of the bottles I filled my suitcase with. There are more still unwrapped. I plan on filling them with vintage buttons, making labels from old wallpaper and ephemera, then tying up the necks with soft ribbon and a charm.

This little fawn was a dollar at Lucketts. How could I let her stay there? I knew she’d be happier at my house with some old millinery flowers as a welcoming lei around her neck.

I always decorate with china figurines of deer for Christmas, but I think she will be quite nice at Easter too. If you think about it, the fawns are born this time of year, not in December!

These buttons were $1 a bag in Leesburg. The simple mother of pearl ones are teeny, meant for doll clothes or baby clothes, I think. These won’t be going into my button jars to sell, I’ll save these to make paper doll dresses.

And look a the tiny white butterflies!! Oh, the things that I can do with those! I can’t wait to start.

But for now, I hear the baby monitor calling out for Grandmama. My poor little sick girl is up from her short nap (3rd one of the day) She is going to need some snuggling.

The Art of Rejection and Sugarwings thinks that nothing is more fun than a wrestling rat

Etsy Goodies, magazine pictures or articles, Sugarwings, vintage paper/collage art

By Karla Nathan / February 8, 2008

Ever have something for sale that you know that you just love and wonder why no one seems to be interested in it? I had this hand made folder, made with some pretty wallpaper and hand painted roses for sale, and the listing just expired.

So, I took a look at the photos, and decided it was not well represented. A little dark, not clear enough, bad background, and the ephemera it was packed with looked messy.

These are the re-do photos.

I rearranged the ephemera to a prettier order, added a vintage brooch to the tulle bow, and lowered the price. Now, if it sells, how will I ever know which trick was effective? well, you just don’t anyway. You do what you can to make your pictures and your prices as attractive as you can and then you cross your fingers! You just hope someone likes what you put out there.

And as an artist, you have to learn to have a thick skin about rejection.

I’ve been the juror at enough art and craft shows, screening the people who apply to sell their work, to know that "no" doesn’t mean "yuck". It means, "not right for this right now."

I’ve turned away really good art, that wasn’t right for an art festival. Or I have been working at a gallery, hanging a show and just have to leave out a piece that was nice but that wasn’t fitting in.

I guess what I am trying to say to other artists out there, is don’t be discouraged. Keep trying, keep making the things you love and keep looking for your audience.

Rejection is never easy, but after so many years in the business, it honestly doesn’t bother me the way it did when I was younger. I’ve learned that if a piece doesn’t fit in one place, usually it will fit into another.

Or if it doesn’t sale, the right buyer still hasn’t seen it.

Or maybe I didn’t display or photograph it as well as I should, or had the price correct, or have it for sale in the right venue.

Or maybe the piece needs a bit of tweaking and a slight redo.

Other times, I just need to admit that maybe the piece wasn’t as good as it could be, and it just wasn’t going to sell anyway. That’s the hardest one to learn.

So, I redid and relisted the folder on Etsy. And my magic wands that Somerset is sending back I will list also. Somerset Life is using some of my folders in the next issue. Also, a framed baby doll dress is still there with them, and I think that they will be using this memo board.

I made the memo board from old ceiling tin cut to fit this frame. The magnets are buttons, jewelry and millinery flowers.

I’ll let you know if they plan on using it for the July issue. As an artist, sometimes you can feel like you hear "no" more than any other word!

As a grandma, you hear it a lot too. Sugarwings is in a "NO" mood today and yelled it at everyone and everything.

So what do you do with a contrary baby who is tired of being cooped up inside on a cold, wintry Midwestern day?

You go to the pet store!

Chinchillas and canaries at Pet Smart are as exciting to a one year old as a trip to the zoo would be to an older kid. It got all of us out of the house and smiling.

ps- the wallpaper folder is sold and is on it’s way to Jeanne!