Blooming Business Cards

flowers

B_cards Art shows are coming up and I am thinking about getting ready. My favorite, is Art in the Park in May.  The show has a huge community following, with a history of over 45 years, and a loyal attendance.  Today, I worked on business cards to have on hand for shoppers. I am off to make color copies and then cut them out.  When I get home, I think a touch of glitter would be a good idea. 

Maybe I should be working on inventory for the sale. I do tend to spend a lot of time on non-money making efforts.  I prefer to think of it as "atmosphere".  When people come to see me, I’d like them enjoy the whole package and all the details. 

Another Beautiful Day

flowers

Plantings_easter_031 Today was every bit as beautiful and Springlike as yesterday, so of course, I had to plant more flowers.  And waste not, want not, I couldn’t throw away the flowers that broke off in the flats!  So I gathered up the few little stems and placed them in a vase that that one time was a salt shaker, and added some leaves from my St. Patrick’s Day shamrock for greenery.

Plantings_easter_023 Here is a group of pots I filled and sat by my breezeway door as a welcome to guests.  I like to top off the pots with a handful of moss as a finishing touch. Especially this time of year, when the flowers are tiny and seem a bit lonely in a big pot.  Plantings_easter_034

Earlier this week, I had a good junking day with good friends.  I found this lost little lamb and decided he needed to be a part of my Easter decor.  Plantings_easter_036

When I stopped at the craft store to get the moss for my flower pots, I saw this little chick in the 50% off aisle.  I thought she should come home and be part of my Easter decor too.  Over the years, since my boys have grown and gone, I haven’t set out anything for Easter.  But now that I have a grand baby, I am excited to get back into the habit. 

When my boys were little, I used to paint hollow eggs.  Here is one with a little chick on it. I used to date them on the back, this one says 1989.  Plantings_easter_038

On the junking day, I found a few bunnies too.  Here they are in a glass compote nestled in yellow grass.  The tallest one with the violets on her back is one that I made about 25 years ago and hand painted.

Pots of Pansies

flowers

Spring_flowers_014 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.

Graffitti Roses

paintings

Door_004My good friend, Angie, is going through a rough time and I wanted to do something to cheer her up.  So, I snuck over to her store when it was closed and painted some dark pink roses on her front door.  I almost felt like I was a vandal, but I think she’ll be happy to see them and won’t have me arrested.Door_009

Here is a close up, just a sweetly simple rose on each door panel to brighten up her entrance when she comes in to work tomorrow.  I lightly roughed up the panel with sandpaper, added the roses, then topped them with a water based clear coat.  They were dry and protected, and I was done in under 30 minutes.  Made me think that I should take more time out of my day to do something nice to surprise a friend.  Well, at least I hope she thinks it is a nice surprise and not some sort of graffitti by vandals!   I didn’t sign my name just in case…..

Her store is called "My Father’s Daughter" and is an example of her romantic, wistful style and she has plenty of roses inside to go along with the ones on her door.  Next time you are in Lawrence, Kansas you really should drop in to see what she has.  Plus, you’d enjoy meeting her, she is about the nicest person around.

Two entries for today and something every day this week.  Maybe I should have been working harder on something else and not playing online so much this week?  I have enjoyed writing but can’t promise to post this often every week.  Art shows to get ready for, things to list on Ebay (if I can get over my hatred of packing and shipping), house guests arriving (rooms to redo for guests!!!), gardens to plant.  Hip, hip, horay, it is springtime!!!

Red Geraniums and Yellow Forsythia

paintings

Watering_cans_001Spring’s arrival, with the Kansas wind blowing and a few little blooms starting to peek out of the backyard was a promising start to the season.  Between clicking from blog to blog on the virtual tea party (see 3/21 ‘s post) and meeting lots of new blogger friends online, I spent an hour painting these two watering cans and picked some budding forsythia to place in them.  A client I have done a few painting projects for over the years dropped the cans off and asked me to paint them white with red geraniums and ivy.  Hope she likes them, I liked doing them. Felt like a very springy type job and made me start thinking about my upcoming garden.  I think I’ll buy a few flats of pansises today, that is a flower that is safe to plant this early around here, we could still get a few frosts or freezes yet.

Spring Fling Tea Party

Food and Drink

Teacup_fairy Welcome to the Spring Tea Party!  I think it really will feel like Spring here in KS today, is supposed to be in the 70’s and I am going to cut some forsythia.  Here is a tiny teacup fairy watercolor I have done, doesn’t she look like she is ready to play outside on a nice spring day after her tea party?Kitchen_corner

This photo of the breakfast nook in my kitchen was in Small Room Decorating Magazine, page 26, Nov 2006.  It was taken by Bill Mathews and styled by my friend, Gloria Gale. 

You can see some of my tea cup and sugar bowl collection on the shelf above the table.Kitchen

Gloria and Bill did these photos too, but they have not been published yet. I wrote an article for the pictures, but don’t know which magazine it will be in or when it will show up. Sometimes, the pictures take a couple years or more before they are used!  Which is hard, when I am so excited to see them when they come out!  I check the newsstand at the grocery store every week, even though the editor is very nice and sends me a copy ahead of time.  It is a good feeling to be flipping through pages at the store and be surprised by photos of my home.  Buffet

This is the entry way to the kitchen, basically the main entrance to the home.  I can’t say it is always this welcoming and set for a party, but I love it when it is.  Any excuse for a party is a good reason to get my pretties out of the cabinet and use them. I don’t believe in letting my favorite things sit on the shelves and be left out.

The bright pink rose painting hanging by the door is one of my watercolors.  I faux finished the walls in a wash of 3 toasty colors over ivory to warm up the room.  With all the white furniture, I didn’t want too much color on the walls, but it was too blah when it was a lighter shade of cream.Teacup_chandleier

My son was working for a cabinet shop when we were remodeling and he built all the beautiful cabinets for me.  I added the embellishments, painted them a French vanilla, then glazed over them with a cappuccino color.  Fitting and tasty colors for a kitchen!!

I tied tiny little teapots to my garage sale chandelier after painting it white (I think the last owner was a circus clown, by the color it was when I bought it).  For the spring fling tea party today, I will take down one of my favorite teapots from the top of the cabinets and make Black Current tea.  I am baking brownies too, and adding white chocolate M&Ms to them.  Now, where have the white chocolate ones been all my life??? YUMCake_plate

One last photo from Bill and Gloria’s work at my house before I go check out the virtual tea party.  If you want to go to, the link is:   http://www.artsymama.blogspot.com

This photo is a close up of the cake I had out for the photo shoot.  I don’t bake things that turn out pretty, so I always buy a cake a the grocery and doctor it up.  Then, after the pictures, we sit down together and eat it! 

Wishing you a beautiful first day of Spring, and thanks to Kari at artymama for the idea of the tea party.

Bluebirds, Roses, Tea Parties, and New Blogger Friends!

Weblogs

New_teacup_013 While out poking around today at the Goodwill and Marshalls, I had the virtual tea party hosted by : http://www.artsymama.blogspot.com/ on my mind.  I stumbled across a vintage birdie planter (one of my many collections, softly colored, old, pottery birds) and thought it would be the perfect holder for my stir sticks.  The Goodwill in our town isn’t my favorite.  Funny, how some thrift stores are full of great finds and others just stink.  This one is so-so.  Today it was good, I feel lucky to have found this cute bird!

My sister gave me the pottery vase with the rose on it, I keep ivy in it on my counter top and it reminds me of her every day when I pour my coffee. I like to have all the necessities for a quick cup of coffee at hand, gathered up on an attractive tray.  Feels homey, looks nice and is so convenient.

New_teacup_011 Along the same line, I found this wonderful birdie themed cup at Marshalls. Marshalls, TJMaxx, and Homegoods are sure a wonderland of pretties, aren’t they?  And things I can actually afford and not feel guilty buying.  this cute cup was only $2.99.  Both of my new pretties remind me of my new blogger friend, Becca, at http://bluebirdroses.blogspot.com/  Being new to the blogging world myself, it is exciting to be linked with some really cool sites.  Please look at her dreamily lit pictures, you’ll enjoy it. 

I photographed this cup at an angle that reminds me of one of my other favorite blogs, Pam Garrison. http://pamgarrison.typepad.com/pamgarrison/ She has a way with the camera and has absolutely beautiful things on her blog, you have to see it!!!

Little Sugarwings

fairies

Sugar_wing_pictures_006 More Sugarwings- Little Leandra has such a sweet little fairy face, no wonder I can’t stop making spritely pictures of her.  I am keeping an artist journal/photo album of my fairy grandbaby and today I made these 2 collages of her.

I used a blue paper background with a border of vines cut out of the newspaper this weekend. With colored markers, I tinted the border and then added floral stickers, rhinestones and glitter.

Lee Lee’s cut out photo was tucked into  the edge of the vine border and I added butterfly wings from a vintage booklet that has been a wonderful fairy wing source for me.  The wings got a bit of tinting from the markers I used on the background, then were sparkled up.  I added a few more flowers from a page of vintage die cuts and then drew antennas and added some flower stickers to make a wreath on her head.Sugar_wing_pictures_005  Of course, those flowers got a hint of glitter too.

And when is one of anything enough?  A photo of her in a more mellow mood got a pastel rose background, wings cut out of handmade paper and thoroughly glittered.  A store bought sticker border was enhanced with more and more glitter, then a swag of pink netting across the top and a sequin row across the bottom.  Her shining crown is cut out of the sticker paper I used for the border, then treated to gold, glitter, sequins, and rhinestones.  "Sugar Wings" (her nickname) is written in gold paint pen and outlined in black sharpie. 

Both of these pages in my album are a mix of vintage, sparkles, and hobby store bits and pieces.  As nice as it would be to make everything from pure vintage goods, there is so much great stuff out there and available to use, I just have to indulge and fill my cart when Michaels or Hobby Lobby has 1/2 price scrap booking sales!

Sugar_wing_pictures_002 In a completely different vein, here is what I did yesterday.  My sister-in-law invited me over to her home to play decorator.  She had repainted her living room/dining room and had every knick knack and picture piled up in the middle of the room. Our game for the afternoon was to rearrange them all and come up with fun ideas for display.  Here is one, it is an old, glassless, window frame.  We hung it behind the sofa, tacked up a doily in it,  and hung two prints she had found on clearance for $2 each. 

Teaparty Time!

paintings

I just saw a darling tea party invitation at http://artsymama.blogspot.com/, what a grand idea!  Any of you who would like to participate, check it out.  I will be having a tea party myself, if you’d like to join me.Artwork_samples_036   I do love teapots, and even though I have edited my collection in the last few years, I have plenty to chose from and use for the day.

Here is one of my teapot watercolors in a vintage frame.  I don’t know why I don’t do more watercolors, I love to paint. The days just get away from me.  I do have 3 upcoming orders for pet portraits in the next few months.  I think I’ll gear up by painting my Yorkie, Sparkle. (or Dorkie, as we call them)

Details on my party later.  Join me (here in Kansas!) or online along with all of artsymama’s guests. 

Buttons, Bows, Baubles, and Best Friends

fairies

Lee_lee_in_the_swing_mar_07_025 My friend, Beth, and I had a fun day on Thursday cutting and gluing at her house. I made use of some of the vintage prints that I had photocopied last week, ones that I had mentioned in an earlier post, "Fairy Wings and Happy Things."

"Rose" started with a floral stamp on card stock, aged with distressing inks in green and brown.  Next, I glued down a tiny copy of the rose watercolor I found at an antique store in Wichita. Over that, is an even tinier color copy of a pink rose post card.

I drew scrolly designs with a gold paint pen and outlined some in black, glued down a pretty pink ribbon and then scavenged through Beth’s cache of buttons for the perfect embellishment.  To top it all off, I used a diamond glaze to cover the little pink rose post card and make it look like it is under glass.  I had never used the glaze before.  That is what makes playing with papers so much fun at a friend’s house.  You get to experiment with their store of goodies and try things you might not have at home.  But i will be getting some glaze!  I loved the results.  The word, rose, is written on a bit of vintage wallpaper and added to the ribbon.Lee_lee_in_the_swing_mar_07_018

I also used a spot of the diamond glaze on the charm attached to the soap bottle’s neck.  The label on the bottle is a copy of the Victorian children print that I added wings to.Lee_lee_in_the_swing_mar_07_022

For my other bathroom, I used a small decanter from Tuesday Morning on sale for $2.99, as a mouthwash bottle after doctoring it up with  a label made of vintage papers hand tinted with colored markers and tied up with a bow of bronze ribbon.  I thought the roses on the paper I chose were a good match to the hand painted ones on the mirror of my vanity.Lee_lee_in_the_swing_mar_07_032 The small trophies are something I picked up at a flea mkt in Ottawa, KS and decided would be a useful collection to hold make up brushes and bathroom whatnots.  I don’t think I have ever earned a trophy in my life, but using these gives me the illusion that I am a winner!

"Had they believed" is another ATC using the same floral stamp as the background of "Rose" then a copy of one of the pictures I hand tinted and added wings to.  Beth also had some bronze colored stamp pads that I used along with the green and brown distressed ink for the background.  Another thing I need to buy, loved the bronze ink!  And of course, I had to delve into her button stash to find another pretty flower shaped one for this card and for the last one: "I will take pleasure."Lee_lee_in_the_swing_mar_07_033

Once again, I used the nice floral background stamp, but this time, colored it with bright markers in red, orange, and yellow, adding some of those colors to her basket of flowers too.  A little doodle around the edge of the picture in gold and silver, a title glued on, and she was done. 

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