Caring Bloggers Rose Day

hand painted signs
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I was browsing through the many beautiful blogs out there- instead of working like I should be.  I need to get things ready for the art show I am in on Sunday.  Someday, I’ll make time to get ready for it, Yea, right- I seem to be too easily sidetracked lately! Between babysitting for the fairy grandbaby, digging in the garden, browsing blogs, and painting things for the heck of it, instead of for sale, I’ll have an empty booth!

I came across a blog: http://brittarnhildshouseinthewoods.typepad.com/brittarnhilds_house_in_th/

that is asking us to participate in Caring Blogger’s Rose Day on May 10th.  Well, count me in!  What do I like more than roses?  Maybe blogging?Artwork_for_cards_011

Here are some of my roses on a sign I painted and have hanging in my breezeway.

I think that for this challenge, I will post a rose a day till the tenth. I should have enough hand painted ones to share, if not, I’ll get to painting some!

Garage Sailing & Gardening

antiques/junking
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Teapot_006_2 My weekend got off to a good start with some garage sailing on Sat.  This year was different for me, I had to close my showroom due to major road work, and no longer buy in volume to resell old junk I fix up. I was in mourning most of last garage sailing season and hardly went at all.

This year, I am learning to be pickier and buy just a few things for myself or some lightweight items for ebay.  I heaved a few heavy sighs when I had to pass up bargains I normally would have been loading into my van.  But I did enjoy the small purchases I made, and heck, it is stuff I get to keep! Which makes it even better.  Plus, zipping in and out of tight spots in my cute little Scion is a lot easier than driving that big ole cargo van I had.  And my unloading at the end of the day was simpler too!

Here is what I limited myself to:

  • a rosy juice cup- 25 cents
  • berry bowl with roses- 10 cents
  • McCoy aqua flower pot- $4
  • McCoy matte white vase- $8
  • rusty iron gate-$4
  • toys for sugar wings- $25
  • 2 Victorian chairs to fix up for my breakfast nook- $50

In the past, I NEVER would have spent that much on stuff to keep.  I feel like  a princes with all these presents for myself!!Teapot_010_2

Here is where the rusty gate went, it matched one I already had, so I put them at the entry to the flower bed I am building.  Its still in progress, but a lot was done on it Saturday.  All the shrubs and trees are in place.  Just need to spread mulch and add annuals for color.Teapot_017

I also planted a wisteria vine that will hopefully grow up the posts of my vegetable garden entrance.  Every spring I plant something different there, every year they die.  Next year, if this wisteria doesn’t make it, I might as well plant a $20 bill instead. I’m ready to give up!

I’ll post pictures later on when the flowers are all blooming,right now it all looks a bit sad.  The metal rocker is meant to have a bucket of flowers in it, and there is nothing planted in the hanging baskets yet.  I need something there that is drought tolerant, maybe lantana?

Speaking of buckets – don’t forget- every comment enters you in the May Bucket giveaway!

May Day Basket Swap Treats- (didn’t I tell you I was a lucky person, well here is more proof!!)

swaps
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I got my gift today, my beautiful May Basket from Karin at  http://www.creativechaos.typepad.com/.  Oh my, how pretty, how perfect and how thoughtful!  She included little canvases and brushes and so many of my favorite things.Awp_001

I opened it immediately right there in my breezeway, and then saw how cheerily all the colors matched in that room and had to take a picture of it there.  So springy and bright!  Awp_002

Here is a close of of the corsagey top she made for the collaged box it all came in. (I feel like I should pin the bouquet on my jacket and wear it for Mother’s Day to show it off!)

This is my first swap, and I am thrilled.  I wonder, can they possibly all be this good, or was I just really lucky?? 

Thanks to http://www.artsymama.blogspot.com/ for arranging the swap!  And thanks to Karin for the goodie basket. I am going to eat one of the chocolate goodies now for energy and then go and plant some trees.  We’ll see if my luck holds out and I can get some help with planting the trees today, or if I am on my own.

Oh, also wanted to let you know that the Birdie bucket and the Rose bucket are both spoken for, thanks so much for your inquiries.  I still have the May Bucket giveaway bucket, keep entering to win!

After Midnight

jewelry
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Tomorrow I get to babysit all day for Sugar Wings again. So, to make up for lost work time, here I am after midnight, making jewelry.  Well, I guess it already is tomorrow?Charms_005   

I painted a few one inch pictures, cut clear glass to fit them added a copper back and tape, then soldered and added jump rings.Charms_007_3

Here are a few that are finished, cleaned up and beads added.  I used vintage crystals  with genuine pearls. I only got 14 made, but might make more tomorrow while I have the mess spread out.

For now, I am off to bed. Tomorrow, I mean later this morning, I will be chasing after my fairy grand baby and she is a pretty fast little crawler.

Bucket Binge

paintings
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So, what if I didn’t get anything done for the art show today? I had fun being inspired by the great prize package of goodies I won from Vickie http://vickichrisman.blogspot.com/ and made this bucket with it.  I seem to be on a bucket binge.Bird_bucket_010

I found the coolest buckets with a space to weave ribbon through.  So I used one of the ribbons from Vickie’s packet.Bird_bucket_009

I lined the bucket with paper she gave and topped it with lace from her also.Bird_bucket_004

Vickie had a cute little tag stamped with birds, I used that idea to paint some little birds on the tag I tied to the bucket and painted some birdies on the branches I painted on the bucket itself. Then, glued on  the mini scrabble letters that spell out "spring."Bird_bucket_013

While I was in the bucket business, I painted this one too. 

Here is the front.Bird_bucket_015

And there are mini roses on the back, with a sheer gold ribbon tied up on it. 

I also listed some signs on Ebay, including "Simplify" which I showed earlier today.  Hey, maybe I’d get more done if I wasn’t on the computer so much. Two postings in one day??  I should go finish my portraits I need to work on.

Or paint more buckets? I have two more to do, and they are fun.  Hey, if you’d like one, they are $10 for the painted rose one and $12 for the embellished birdie bucket plus $4.05 postage each. I paint fast and can keep my prices down.

You can still enter the MAY BUCKET drawing- just comment on any post, and I’ll enter you.

Simplify

hand painted signs
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I got a present!! Vickie at http://vickichrisman.blogspot.com/ sent me this Spring mix as a prize in her drawing.  Lucky, lucky me!  Now, I really just want to sit down and glue stuff.  But-  I have an art show to get ready for and need to finish some portraits.  Gift_003_2                            

I spent so much time on the banner yesterday, before being bailed out by Beth, who zipped in and got it fixed, that I got nothing else done. Plus, my husband (who I really do love and I really do miss when he is out of town) came back a day early from his business trip!  I just don’t get accomplished what I need to when he is home. But, I am glad he is back and I know how lucky I am to have a handsome husband who wants to hang out with me.  So, I won’t complain, I know I am lucky. Heck, I have a prize from Vickie to prove it, too!!

Gift_008 Here is a sign I painted on a piece of old wood from a drawer.  I think it is a worthwhile message. I do tend to make things complicated.  I never think that  a little bit is enough, I go all out with everything  I do.  Having SugarWings, my fairy grand baby, in my life has helped with that.  Sometimes, all you need to do is simply "be".  Just relax and enjoy the minute. Watching her grow is my favorite pastime now.  when she is here, I don’t feel the need to constantly be working and pretty-fy-ing junk.

Heck, I have a TON of inventory I can take to the art show next week.I shouldn’t let myself get worked up about getting more work done. I’m going to go and glue something pretty with the Spring gift pack from Vickie.  Thanks, again, Vickie!

I have a Banner!!

how-to projects
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Thanks, thanks, thanks to Beth http://bethleintz.typepad.com/ for putting up my banner (and for giving me the typepad upgrade as a birthday gift). And thanks to all the nice blogger friends who gave me advice and offers of help.  Also, enough people emailed me to say that, yes, a lesson would be nice, so here are the steps I went through to create the banner.  Just not the technical installation steps, you don’t want to hear about the hours of trouble I had with that.  I think that the computer gremlins are after me.

How this banner was created:

1-Cottage on Arches cold press water color, I drew a scalloped oval shape by tracing a pretty plate. I then drew the words where I wanted them and the little cottage to the side. 

2- The center of the scalloped area was washed with water, carefully avoiding the cottage.  While wet, I dropped in watercolor paints for the soft faded background. 

3-When dry, I painted the cottage with watercolors too, keeping the color light.

4-the lettering was done in dark gold paint, highlighted with a shiny gold and shadowed with sepia, all acrylic craft paint, with liner brushes.Banner_003

5- birds, nest, fairies, etc. also done with an acrylic craft paint on a 1/2 inch flat brush, details with a liner brush.Banner_005

6- this painted scalloped piece was cut out and glued onto a letter sized sheet of card stock that I had collaged sheet music to.  By the way, the music is "Moonlight and Roses"

Banner_007 7- after gluing down the scalloped piece, I painted the scallops with the 2 colors of gold and outlined it in sepiaBanner_010

8- Rose shaped blobs in dark red are laid out on winding vines in dark green, dark brown, and the leaves are painted a base color of dark greenBanner_011

9- highlights of lighter greens are used on the leaves and an azalea colored pink is swirled over the red blob rosesBanner_012 with a 1/2 inch flat brush

10- I added a pale pink, and bright yellow to my brush and swirled them on over the dark red and bright pink to finish the roses.

11- the vines were finished by using a small liner brush and lighter greens, taupe and white over the dark green vines I put down as a base.  Lots of curliques and squiggles give them a flow.

ooops

hand painted signs
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Well, it is a start. I tried to load my new banner and all I have is a corner of it!  I also changed some colors and fonts and will try those out and see if I like them.  Might be a bit before I can get the banner repaired and made to fit, this will require HELP!!!

So, in the mean time, all you get is a peak at the new look!

Beginings of a Banner

paintings
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Banner_001 My banner is beginning- here are some of the first brush strokes.  Yes, I know I have an art show May 6th that I am not ready for yet. Yes, I know I have my husband’s boss coming for dinner and a big birthday bash planned that week and should at least try to kill some of the larger dust bunnies in the house.  And yes, I know that I have nothing listed on Ebay.

BUT BETH GAVE ME A BANNER AND I WANT TO PLAY WITH MY NEW TOY!!

I was wondering if anyone wanted step by step instructions on how I am doing the painting?  I have been asked lately to do some, maybe this would be a good place to start?  I’ve done "how to" articles for magazines and enjoy it.   Not because I just like telling people what to do, either.  I’d rather think of it as sharing.

May_bucket_012

Hey, there is something new in the May Bucket!

And it is not too late to enter, keep commenting, at the bottom of any of these posts and you will be entered. As many times as you would like to enter. 

I’ve looked around and have ideas for a 2nd prize too, since soooo many inquired about the May Bucket.  Maybe a 3rd prize will have to be found too.

I have had some emails not go through when I have tried to answer some of the comments or personal emails I have been getting. Sorry. I do answer each one, but I have had about a dozen come back this week for some reason. 

Dorkies in the Sky, and Great Friends to Count on

Dorkies (Yorkshire Terrriers)
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My great friend, Beth http://bethleintz.typepad.com/ did the nicest thing for me.  (Or maybe she did it for herself so she wouldn’t have to listen to me whine about not having a banner over and over??)  She is buying me a banner for my blog for my birthday!  I should have just gone ahead and done it myself, after drooling over all the great ones I see out there, but I was being cheap.  Like I tend to be. 

  • I dig junk out of dumpsters or pick up trash along the road to fix up.
  • I make old things work instead of buying new.
  • I cut my dog’s hair myself instead of taking them to a groomer, even though people make fun of the way the dogs look when I am done.
  • I buy clothes at Goodwill or garage sales, when I can, clearance at TJMAxx when Goodwill doesn’t have any I need.
  • I drink store brand cola
  • I horde my best paper collage supplies because I don’t want to waste them (what good are they in a drawer?)
  • I pick up rocks along the side of the road to use in my landscaping
  • I buy my paint when it goes on sale half price at the surplus store, then make do with what colors they have
  • I willingly go only to restaurants I have a coupon for, I go under protest without one
  • I am CHEAP. I try to pretend that I am thrifty- but I know the truth- I AM CHEAP.
  • Did I mention that my husband has a great job, and I do pretty good too? I’ve had mural jobs that pay over $1,500 a day. Well, not everyday, that is for sure, but hey, I am employable. I am not poor, I am cheap, there is a big diff. I’ve been poor before, so I know. Hey, maybe that is why I am so cheap now?  You can take the girl out of the trailer, but you can’t take the trailer out of the girl.

But, I have a generous friend, and she has given me a very nice gift that I was too cheap to give myself.  I’m busily sketching away to make the banner just exactly what I have been day dreaming about.  Thanks, Beth!

Yorkie_sky Another thoughtful friend, Jen, Storm_damage_family_reunion_sandys_ (what would we have if we didn’t have friends?) took this photo for me on the day that my fairy grandbaby, Sugar Wings, was born. She photographed the sunset over my house that day, and what do you think was there??? My dog, Sparkle!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Look at this cloud- it is a leaping Dorkie!

Here is a picture of Sparkle for you to compare.  Imagine her without the frou frou stuff, and leaping away, like she’d really rather be doing instead of being dressed up like an idiot, I mean, like a princess.

Rose

One more thing, thanks to all the inquiries about the blue bucket, it is going to Mrs. Staggs, http://ahappymiscellany.typepad.com/ how kind of her to ask to buy it.  I might try to paint a few more, they are fun to do. 

I finished this painting today, wanted to use soft, dreamy colors and keep it simple. It is a mix of watercolor and acrylic paint on watercolor paper. 

Hey, one thing I am not cheap about is gifts.  I love to give presents.  So don’t forget about the May Bucket Giveaway, it is not too late to enter- and I have more to add to it!  Also, looks like we will have a 2nd place prize –to be announced.

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