Let It Snow!

This will be my last Team Support and Promote weekly post, until New Years weekend. I will continue to share my daily Polyvore treasuries, until Christmas, then they will be every few days. I hope my readers are enjoying them, and getting some great gift ideas. My sales are not super this holiday season, but I have not had the time to promote as much as I would like.

 Be sure and click the highlighted link under each of these images, to visit the Etsy shop, browse and purchase if you like. The theme this week is Let it Snow. It doesn't snow here in Florida, well maybe a flurry or two, but it is nice to have decorations that look like snow.

First from Missy69 is this adorable acrylic canvas Snowman painting,with beautiful roses. 

Next from MsPDesignsUSA is this adorable Christmas pony playing in the snow, it is a quilt block available on PDF.

I have a new member join in this week.  112Miniatures, makes the most adorable doll house accessories, like these snowman cookies.  So cute~

Pumpkins, Pumpkins and more Pumpkins!

As we approach Halloween, it is time to start thinking about Christmas, and other Winter holidays, especially for those who make crafts to sell. So, starting next week I will be featuring Etsy items, from Team Support and Promote, that fit those themes.


This week, I am featuring pumpkins, for obvious reasons. Each item below has a small description, and a highlighted link so you can click through to Etsy if you are interested in more info.

First from Zizzybob, is this adorable vest fabric panel with all kinds of cuteness going on. 

Next from, Shelleyscrochetole is an adorable pumpkin tea towel for the kitchen or bathroom I suppose. 

Last from Missy69, is this lovely acrylic pumpkin painting with Fall flowers.  It is on sale!

Team Colors Navy Blue and Orange Peacock Abstract Zen Doodle Tangle Acrylic Painting

Here is number 3 in my team painted peacocks. If you are a Broncos fan, this is the one for you. There are other teams with these colors as well, I just don't know them by name, but I am sure you do. This is by far my favorite. I made it a little bit fancier than the other two, and I think this is the pattern I will be sticking with. This will be available in my Etsy store, to purchase, on Friday 9/11/15. All of them are currently limited edition, first editions. If they sell out, I can make more, but right now only one for each team will be done. Message me in my Etsy store for custom requests. I offer a layaway service, too.

Making A Painting From A Photograph: Honeymoon Island State Park

On Mother's Day, we visited a new state park, new to us, here in Florida. Honeymoon Island State Park is a beautiful park. I love to take photos, it is just so much fun. Then I like to turn the photos into pieces of art work. I haven't done this with all my photos, but some of my favorites. This is a picture of a sailboat at Honeymoon Island. It is all done in acrylics. It is available to purchase in my Etsy shop. This would be a great Father's Day gift, for any Dad that loves boats, the ocean, or just the lovely blue hues.

Handmade Mother's Day Gift Idea #2 You Can Join Too

This is second post in my handmade Mother's Day gift ideas thread. If you want me to feature a gift idea for Mom, it is easy. First the item has to be handmade. Second leave a comment on this post, with a link to your shop where you sell your items. Third come back Sat to see the post, and share the post on one social network of your choice. Then repeat the process if you want to keep being featured. This blog averages 200 hits per day, so that is pretty good.

 No one chose to join in, so I am featuring one of my paintings that I think any Mom would love. An Orange and Teal butterfly painting, done in acrylics. If your Mom, loves nature or butterflies, this would be the perfect gift. See it in my Etsy store. 

Colonial Log Cabin Painting in the Woods

I think I started this art work three weeks ago. I just have not had time to finish it, until yesterday. The kids and I are working our way through American History, and we are doing some art work to go with it. This is my early Colonial period log cabin, in the woods. My perspective for drawing has improved immensely. My donkey looks dumb, but hey, whatever. This was all hand drawn first, then painted with acrylic paints. Tomorrow, as long as everything goes as planned, we will be doing some Native American themed art. I also completed my third painting in my Home Sweet Home series. I will share that one soon. This painting is available in my Etsy store. 

Waiting For Christmas Painting and Painted Moose Picture Frame

One of these is a gift, but will a made to order item in my Etsy store. The other is a completed project and will be for sale in my Ebay store.

The first item is a hand painted oval pine wood painting titled, Waiting for Santa. This is my first attempt, and am very pleased with it. You have a little boy, and girl, their kitty cat, and teddy bear, sitting by the Christmas tree, and watching the fireplace for Santa. It will be available in my Ebay store tomorrow, 12/1 for purchase. It can be hung on the wall, or put on a shelf or mantel. To find my Ebay store, scroll to the bottom of this blog, and find the widget. 

The second item is a wooden picture frame, painted with moose heads on it. This is a gift for my mother, who loves moose. It will have a special picture in it. This item will be available as a made to order item in my Etsy store.

Pilgrim Boy and Native American Boy Painted Thanksgiving Wood Garden Stepping Stone

This is my latest wooden garden stepping stone. I now have four completed, with two more to go. They are done on wood slices from a tree we had to cut down. This one is for Thanksgiving, featuring a Pilgrim boy and a Native American boy. I have to improve my skin tone coloring, and still eyes and mouths need work. Getting better, but still a lot of work to go. Practice makes perfect, that is what I always say. I am not sure what I want to paint on the last two. Maybe flowers and butterflies. These go in my garden, where I will be making a small water garden come Spring.

Pink, Red and White Painted Poinsettias on Wood Cake Stand

I love painting on wood! This piece is a couple of firsts for me. It is my first time painting on wood in its rough form, and first time painting poinsettia flowers. About a week, or so ago, we had to chop down a dead tree. I mean it was dead. This was not from that tree. We noticed another tree that was obviously diseased, so we opted to take that one down too. I am a bit of a tree geek, so it broke my heart. I had my husband cut two slices, one for me, and one for my son. He will be making a friend of his a birthday gift with his, and mine has been reformed into a rustic cake stand as shown. It is a bit thick, so I really can not sell it. So, it will become part of my Winter table decor. The tree still has large parts sitting in our front yard, waiting to be burned. I have asked my husband to cut me some smaller, and thinner slices, before he burns them all. That way I can create some pieces I can offer for sale. I can buy wood slices, but how nice that it came from my tree. I did not sand this wood, so it was definitely in the rough, lol. I had to apply two layers of the black base paint, then draw on the flowers with a white pencil, then paint three layers of the flowers and outlines. Very time consuming, but I love the results.

Teal and Orange African Butterfly Acrylic Painting

I love butterflies!  I have decided to do a new set of paintings of butterflies.  I also want to do some holiday gift bags, and still drawing with my children.  So, I have a lot of Art in my future.  I am also working on a Tiger stripe blanket.  This is an African butterfly.  It only lives there, and I so wish it would visit my yard.  But, I can still appreciate its beauty in my art work.  The only thing I did not consider is whether Forget me Nots grow in Africa.  It is signed and dated, and available in my Etsy store.  All my paintings are originals and one of a kinds.  If I do decide to paint something twice, it will not be the same as the original. 

Another Solar Garden Upcycled Wine Jar Painted Lotus Flower Ancient Tangles

The August challenge for the Facebook group is up. I decided to do the Lotus flower type plants on a wine jug. My mom gave me about six more of them, and I was so happy. I put a solar light in them, and put them in the garden, and along the fence line. This one I painted orange, two layers, first. Then added the unique flowers, leaves and pot with ancient tangle patterns. This jar took about 3 hours to complete. It is easier to do the tangles with the paint pens, but they don't do good on top of a layer of paint, go figure. So, I used mostly acrylic paints, which takes substantially longer than the pens. I have started my painted gift bags back up, for the upcoming holiday season. Stay tuned for those. Plus, I have had angels on my mind lately. I am not sure why, but I love making them, and snowmen, lol. I was going to order some resin and make a whole bunch of snowmen, but I decided to wait until the end of August when some of this awful heat and humidity will begin to calm down. I have begun drying flowers with a new technique I read about, and I will let you know how that goes. I have so much to share. I better start doing a blog post everyday.

Graduation Money Jar and Zentangled Wine Bottle Solar Garden Light

I am behind on sharing my Zentangle challenge pieces. If you don't know what Zentangle is, it is basically a fancy word for doodling. I joined an Ancient Art Zentangle group on Facebook, and each week a new set of patterns to use are posted and you design your own art piece. The first one is a bear. It is painted on a recycled, now upcycled into a solar garden light. After painting on the design my pieces are sealed twice and set in the sun to seal more. Then I took a solar garden stake, from the Dollar Tree, inserted into the jar, so the solar part is sticking out and then put it in the garden. I now have five solar garden lights completed. I think I have five more wine bottles left. They are all different designs, and you can see them in this blog. I think I am going to list them in my Etsy store as made to order only.

 The second piece, is a recycled, now upcycled glass pickle jar. First I sealed the bare jar. This was an experiment to see if it helps the paint go on smoother with less streaking, and yes it works quite well. I still added three layers of purple paint as the base coats. Then I used an owl stencil, won't do that again, and tangled the owl. At first I was very disappointed, but I outlined the eyes and beak a bit better, and that satisfied me. Then on the other side, I painted the saying You're A Smartie, tangled the words, and class of 2014 at the very bottom. Last but not least, I added some tangled borders on the sides, and top. The lid was painted purple and a smartie candy super glued to it. I filled it with Smartie candies for the party, and she can reuse it for anything she wants. A money jar at her graduation party this weekend, would be awesome I think. Jars can be used to store so many different things. Again, I think I am going to list these as made to order for birthdays, graduations and weddings. I am sure Baby and Wedding showers would be awesome too.

 I am caught up now, on the Zentangle posts. Now to get the rest of them done, lol. I am working on a super cute infant baby boy cocoon, so be sure to watch for that in the near future. I will also be having some new, and unique resin pieces to share.

How To Resin A Painting

So, I was watching some more videos on making resin jewelry, I will probably make ornaments too, and I found this video on applying a thin resin coating to paintings. Why would you do that? To protect the painting, and to help keep it clean. Now, I do apply a finish to my paintings to protect them, but this adds a glossy shine, and I might just try it. It is really cool. Give it a look and see what you think.

Mourning Dove Acrylic Painting

I love Mourning Doves. They have a soft cooing bird talk. They are graceful flyers, and friendly, gentle birds. The kids, and I, each painted a Mourning Dove painting. Shown is mine. It is dated and signed and will be available to purchase in my Etsy store soon.

The Common Grackle Bird Painting

The kids and I were supposed to paint the Common Grackle on Friday, for our Homeschool Art class. Unfortunately it is too hard to fit Art into a class day. So, we will be painting a new bird, each week, on Monday after dinner time. Today, we painted the Common Grackle. The Common Grackle is a type of blackbird with and iridescent and beautiful feather scheme. They have a very distinctive yellow eye. These can be seen in Florida and most of the Southern states. They usually travel in large flocks, and are quite aggressive to other birds. The kids decided to paint their bird on the page I printed out from the Audubon Bird coloring book. I painted mine free hand, and it will be available to purchase in my Etsy store. If you love birds, or know someone who does, this would be a lovely gift idea. Share your thoughts with me.

Finished Fall Motif Painted Door

I finally got to finish the back door of the house. I did this all in acrylics and is completely free hand. Though I have to say there is a lot to be said for lightly penciling in your items. For example, the trees, leaves and bunny, I have done lots of times and am very comfortable with. However, the squirrel and the deer, I have never done and they look slightly awkward. I still love it and am happy to share with all of you. Did you know that Folk Art by definition is art work done by people who have no art training. I guess I qualify as a Folk Artist.

Day 7 Water Challenge Red Butterfly Over Rippled Water Painting

Once a month my mom comes to paint with us. She is the one that got me painting to begin with. Yesterday, I did a Monarch butterfly on a purple flower over water. Today I did a beautiful red butterfly over rippled water. This is my first attempt at circular ripples in water. The butterfly just lightly lands on the water, causing soft ripples in the water. I am so loving the butterflies, that I am going to incorporate three of my favorites in future paintings, water, butterflies and flowers. Can't wait. I have 23 more days in my 30 day water challenge. That is a lot of painting. I did not get to finish my glass jar from yesterday, or start any new ones. Maybe tomorrow, especially if it keeps raining here. Our butterfly feeders, that we have put around the garden, have attracted some butterflies and moths that we don't normally see. We even had a blue butterfly last week, and some sort of a red butterfly or moth. We have three Milkweed plants, also, and got two caterpillars off of them so far. They are getting real big and hopefully we will get to see them make a chrysalis. Caitlin painted the rest of her butterfly stepping stone, then drew a baby lion and a lovely fish. DJ drew a sword from his Skyrim game. I tried to get him to design his own, but he is not ready for that yet. However, Caitlin and my Mom both designed their own girly swords, as they called them.

Day 25 Island Paradise and Water Horse #30DOC

I did not plan on painting today, for my creativity Day 25. But, Caitlin really wanted to paint her white horse running on the beach. So, we painted. You see Caitlin's horse below and my Island Paradise out in the middle of the ocean somewhere. My dolphin needs some work, looks more like a shark of some sort, lol. And, I wish I had not put the sun in, but I did add some white clouds at the very top so I liked it a bit better. I really like how this one came out. Caitlin and I are considering doing a painting challenge in July. Most challenges are at least 30 days in length, but because I work weekends ours would be 23 days in length. I also need to get the kids Homeschool portfolios done. That is creative all in itself, lol. Oh, I also continue to work little by little on the new baby blanket. What did you create today?

Day 7 Theme: Laughter #30DOC

The theme for today, for 30 Days of Creativity Challenge, is laughter. Now at first I didn't think I was going to come up with anything for this theme. I thought of doing a photo collage of all my kid's funny faces, and that would have worked well too. But then I decided to do this painting, titled Laughter. Can't you hear them giggling and laughing? I actually chose to do this painting for a couple of different reasons, other than the theme of laughter. We just had Tropical Storm Andrea roar past us. I am always amazed at the people who feel a need to be in the angry waters of the Gulf of Mexico during such events. They put themselves in harm ways, some their kids, and the people who then have to rescue them. There are riptide warnings for a reason. This dad wanted to see the angry waters, it is rather fascinating, but he waited until the storm had passed and the sun was coming back out. Trust me the waters are still angry even after the storm passes. My other reason for doing this one, is it is Father's Day next week. And what is more beautiful than a mother sharing time with her kids? A dad spending time with his kids, and having fun. I really enjoy silhouettes, both painting and looking at them. This painting, along with many others I haven't even shared yet, will all be available in my Etsy store. I will get this one up in time for Father's Day. I might even have a frame for this one already. Tomorrow and Sunday's themes are clutter and robots. I do not have anything for clutter, but I might have something in mind for robots. I will share something else tomorrow, that is creative.

Day 6 Theme Sticks #30DOC

This is not what I planned to to do today. I planned to go to the Gulf of Mexico and hunt for seashells with our Earth Kids group. But, Tropical Storm Andrea didn't want me to do that. So, about six months ago my husband saw on Facebook, a Family Tree painted onto someone's wall. He asked me, can you do that? I said, right now? LOL, no. So, I told him when the kids were done with school I would try. Since I couldn't go to the Gulf, and the theme for today was sticks, I decided to do it today. Now I didn't have to add leaves, it was quite lovely without them, but the leaves add color and pop and I like that. Also, my tree is done all in black. Not many black trees, but I love the silhouette look and since my wall has a hint of pink to the color of it, I really like it. I am very pleased with the results, but of course it isn't done. I will probably reoutline the tree, just because I like to do that to make it look nicer. Then I have to find tons of picture frames, small ones, and get pictures of everyone in our family. The big pictures were just hung back where they were before I painted the tree. The top one is crooked but I am short and even on a chair could barely reach to put the nail up there. I will have my hubby fix that.