IF - Packed

This is Dorothy. Her bags are packed and she's ready to follow the yellow brick road to the big city.

This is my entry for Illustration Friday for this week. The theme is PACKED.

Newest Name Sign

Just finished this one for a brand new baby girl at church. Personalized Hand Painted Name Signs are available in for order in my ETSY shop.

Lookie What I Got!

This gorgeous pendant is from BeadyEyeLass. Isn't it beautiful? I can't wait to wear it to show off my Buckeye pride!

The bracelet below is also from BeadyEyeLass. This is a picture of my daughter wearing it. She loves it so much she wears it to bed and I had to take a picture of it on her in bed. So cute.

When I saw this witch in Carolyn Gallo's ETSY shop, I knew I had to have her. I can't wait to hang her in my living room for Halloween and then have her in my studio year round. She arrived yesterday and she makes me smile every time I look at her!

Inspire Me Thursday - Storyteller

This is Sadie. There is a story behind the bird on her head and if you ask her, she'll tell you. This is my entry for Inspire Me Thursday this week. The theme this week is storyteller.

IF - Clique

Portrait of a Cat Smiling, 8.5" x 6.5" x 1" (available on e-bay now) *SOLD*

The theme for Illustration Friday this week is clique. Is there a bigger, more worldwide clique than cat lovers? Seriously?

It's Nibblefest Time Again!

This is my entry for the Nibblefest Art Contest for September. The theme this month is "Smiling Black Cats". This guy mustered up a bit of a smile for his portrait. This painting combines paper, wood, wire and a frame all in one crazy cat portrait.

Portrait of a Cat Smiling, 8.5" x 6.5" x 1" available on e-bay now.

*SOLD*

October Tree - Now on E-bay

I am thinking of doing one of these every month. So this one is "October Tree". Fun Halloween colors just in time for October. This tree is available on e-bay now!

*SOLD*

New Name Sign Option in My ETSY Shop

Just finished this order for my mom aka Proud Grandma. She wanted all the grandkids' names on the wall of her nursery.

Here are the girls

Here are the (highly outnumbered) boys

And here are some of them mixed up a bit. I connected them with eye screws and S hooks (ewww, that sounds dirty) :) so they can be mixed around.

Connected Grandchild or Family Name Signs are now available in my ETSY shop.

IF - Island

This is my entry for Illustration Friday this week.

The theme this week is ISLAND. This is Shawn and he is a rock, he is an island.

Shawn, 24" x 8", acrylic on canvas (SOLD)

Would You Like Some Hat With Your Poof?

My newest knitting project

And being worn by the recipient--my darling niece

I am hoping to have these hats available in my ETSY shop soon. I'll keep you posted.

Newest Name Sign

Yet another order for this fun color scheme. This one went in the mail today. As always, name signs are available in my ETSY shop.

Inspire Me Thursday - Yellow

This is my entry for Inspire Me Thursday this week. The theme this week is YELLOW. This little yellow lamb is so sweet and is available on ETSY now! :)

**SOLD**

I've Updated my ETSY Shop Again

More Halloween stuff. It's all in my ETSY shop now.

Large Harvest Boo Blocks--each block is 5" x 5.5" x 1.5"

Large Funky Boo Blocks (5" x 5.5" x 1.5" each block) *SOLD*

Small harvest Halloween blocks (update: two smaller blocks have SOLD, middle one is still available).

Small Monster Mash Halloween Blocks

6" x 4" Trick or Treat sign with a funky handle and ribbon, ric rac and tulle accents

IF - Clutter

Take a Look Around, 24" x 18", Acrylics and Mixed Media on canvas (available)

This is my entry for Illustration Friday this week. The theme is clutter. Did you know a clutter in mathematics is a kind of collection of sets? (as per Wikepedia) Neither did I. So here is my collection of sets or clutter of dots.

Inspire Me Thursday - Notebooks

The challenge for Inspire Me Thursday for this week is to "alter or embellish a notebook, use a sheet of notebook paper in a collage, create a still life drawing of a stack of notebooks, or whatever you may be inspired to create."

Every year for Christmas I print out pages to help me stay organized. I usually just print them on boring old white copy paper and then toss them after Christmas. I've had this planner in my mind for quite some time and this week's challenge inspired me to do it now!

I used a 10" x 7.5" composition book (I LOVE those! Perfect size, cute, cheap. What more could you need?)

I embellished the cover with paper, brads and some delicious ribbon (a soft chartreuse on one side, soft gold on the other). The date tabs are made with 3/4" circle labels.

I use this page to write down crafts I want to make for friends and crafts I want to make with the kids. We always make graham cracker gingerbread houses and at least one kind of snowman. We've done sock snowmen, puff ball snowmen, craft stick snowmen...you get the idea.

Here I'll make a list of all the treats we want to make--old stand-bys (Cornflake Holly cookies are a must every year!) and new one to try.

Now these page (there are 4 total for each year) are why I made the planner in September. I try to make MOST of the gifts I give. (I did make the handmade pledge, you know!) And most people live far away so I do have to ship. So I start planning well before the weather turns (relatively--I do live in the desert) cold. (Do I use parenthesis too much???) :)

Here's where I write down ideas for next year (you'd never guess that from the title, right?) or projects, crafts or treats we didn't get to this year.

We do a fondue party every year. And there are always a host of other events to keep track of.

This is the back cover. It may be a little too plain. I may add something to it later although I'm sort of in love with the green paper and may just leave it clean and simple. Still not sure.

Anyway, that's it--The Christmas Planner!!

Remember This?

I was working on this one a few months ago. I liked it, but didn't love it yet. I set it aside and sort of forgot about it until yesterday. I pulled it back out and finished it up. I added some gold paint to the darkest dots, some brown tones to the edges and some colored pencil accents to all the dots.

All in all, I'm quite happy with it. Okay, I LOVE it! :) I'm really excited with the way it turned out. I think the colors are yummy and it has a fun, bouncy feel to it.

Karen Mowrey suggested the title "Take a Look Around" and I feel like it fits. So I'm going with that.

So here it is--

Take a Look Around, 2008, 24" x 18", acrylics and mixed media on canvas (available on ETSY)

Two New Name Signs

This Teacher Name Sign was done to match school colors. I like the tiny polka dots combined with the larger ones. I'm going to experiment more with that on a large order I have right now (8 name signs for a proud grandma).

And sometimes when I do a sign I fall in love with the color scheme and want to re-paint my daughter's room to match. That was definitely the case here. How fun is light orange and tan together? I LOVE it. This name sign was ordered a baby coming in November.

All teacher and child name signs are available to order from my ETSY shop.