Merry Christmas!

 

Here are just a few quiet moments that happened at my house today.

 

 

 

 

Before all the packages are ripped apart.

 

 

 

 

 

 Michael, Bethany and Talula.

 

 

My kids little elves.

 

 

For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given and the government will be upon his shoulder. And his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.    Isaiah 9:6



Christmas Products and gifts

This past week I have been busy creating a few new products for the gallery that sells my work. I also decided to make some gift tags and magnets for gifts for neighbors and friends. I saw some really great ideas on Pinterest, and decided to give it a try. All of my products were made with polymer clay. I really love the versatility of this medium. It gives you that ceramic look without having to use a kiln.

What homemade goodies do you make for family, friends, or co-workers?

New print

I was looking through some files that I scanned many years ago. I came across this image I created for some note cards. I decided to add some text, then I added some foliage to the image. I painted greenery onto watercolor paper then cut out the leaves with some scissors. I digitally added the two images together to make this a new print. Since both of my parents are from the south they used this loving term to me. I know grandmothers, aunts and uncles loved calling kids this as a sign of endearment.

What expression of love did your family call you?

This print will be available in my shop within the next few days.

Christmas Decorations

 

 

It is so hard to believe that the holiday season is fast approaching. I am always looking for new ideas for decorations for my home, and great gifts for neighbors. 

 

 

 

 

I have been looking on Etsy and Pinterest for ideas. I have been experimenting with some mason jars for decorations for my own kitchen, so I decided to make some for the holidays as a center piece.

 

 

 

Mason jars are all the rage for shabby chic home décor. It is also a great artsy way to store small items but give it that creative flair to a simple jar. 

 

First I cleaned the jars, then wiped them down with rubbing alcohol to remove any grease.

 

2. I used a craft paint and applied it from top to bottom.

 

 

 

 

3. I added a second coat after the first coat dried. Then I let the jar cure for 24 hours. I actually  added a little white to the paint to mute the green, and a little touch of brown.

 

 

 

 

 

Now that they are all dry I got fine sand paper and began running it across the letters and design. This gives the jars a shabby chic or cottage look. I also sand papered the top of the jar where the lid goes.

You can also use an emery board. 

Here is the finished product. As you can see, I scraped off some areas of the paint to give it that aged look. I will probably make these as gifts to my neighbors or teachers. You can add some cookies or other sweet treat to the jars, or add some silk flowers like I did. 

Show time

 

This past weekend I exhibited at the 22nd Annual Dunwoody UMC Holiday Fest. I added some crates to display my clocks this year.

 

I wish now that I had put my table right at the entrance of my booth. I will definitely make sure to correct that at my next show. You live and learn as you do these events.

 

 

 

 

The shoppers were bustling during the morning, but was slowly around lunch time. I was on the second floor,  and there were also other artisans (all our badges listed us as artisans) on the bottom floor. There was another big room downstairs with people selling very nice furniture.

 

This show is a huge event at this church. The proceeds go to pay for building two homes for Habitat for Humanity.

 

 

 

There was also a photo booth for Christmas pictures.

 

 

 

 

There was also an auction room for gift baskets, and each artisan donated a piece of their merchandise for the show.

All throughout the day they had middle school kids who wore elves hats with pointy ears, that came all throughout the day to offer us muffins, orange juice, or water. They also came to pick up any trash we may have had.

My neighbor next to me thought that the crowd was not as big as last year. However, she thought more people were downstairs shopping than upstairs. Her sales were down. I wasn't very happy with my sales either. I still might try it one more year since they treated us so well.

Flip Flop Clock.

My new flip flop clock is now available in my Etsy shop.

Chocolate Birthday Cake with Mayo!

 

 

Just about every Sunday after we attend church my family and I stop by Publix grocery store to pick up a paper and a few other things for lunch. What is such a treat as we pass the deli is there is usually a lady from the Publix Aprons kiosk who is preparing a meal for us to sample. She serves a little sample of a main dish and dessert.

 

The main dish was great and the dessert was chocolate birthday cake. The cake was so moist and yummy! To my surprise when I picked up the recipe, was that the cake had mayonnaise as one of the ingredients. In the south we have a commercial that advertises putting mayo in a cake. I thought how weird is that until I tasted it.

 

 

 

So when I went home I decided to make the cake as our Sunday dessert. My youngest son and I are the only ones who knew what was in the cake.

 

 

 

 

 

I actually cut the recipe in half since it was just for us.

 

 

 

 

 

The cake turned out nice and firm.

 

 

 

 

 

I made my own buttercream icing and added a little cocoa.

 

My daughter does like not mayonnaise was told after she ate her piece that the cake was made with mayo. She went back for a second piece and actually wanted a third. I said that is it for today. Lol!

 

The cake was gone by Tuesday. I kid you not.

 

Here is the recipe. Tell me if you try it.

 

Chocolate Birthday Cake

 

Ingredients Butter (or cooking spray), to coat pan
4 cups cake flour (+ extra to coat pan)
2 cups granulated sugar
1 cup cocoa powder
4 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon kosher salt
2 cups mayonnaise
1 3/4 cups water
3 large eggs (or 3/4 cup egg substitute)
1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Prep

• Preheat oven to 350°F.
• Coat 13- x 9-inch baking pan with butter (or spray), then dust with flour.

Steps

1. Mix flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, and salt. Add mayonnaise, water, eggs, and vanilla just until mixed through.
2. Pour batter into pan; bake 35-40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.
3. Remove cake from oven and let stand 40 minutes to cool. Finish with frosting and serve. (Makes 12 servings.)

CALORIES (per 1/12 recipe) 570kcal; FAT 32g; CHOL 15mg; SODIUM 780mg; CARB 65g; FIBER 3g; PROTEIN 6g; VIT A 2%; VIT C 0%; CALC 2%; IRON 25%

 

Flip Flops

 

 

I know the first freeze is expected to arrive this weekend, but I have been floating this image in my head about flip flops. Mind you, these sandals have become a year round fashion to wear. I don't know why people want to wear them in the dead of winter.

 

When I was living in Maryland, I was shocked to see a man wearing flip flops in January at my local grocery store. There was snow on the ground and it was freezing. Why do people think they are living in south Florida? I still don't get it.

 

Do you wear flip flops in the winter? Come on fess up.

 

Have a great week!

Outdoor Fall Decorations

 

 

I was so excited to pull out the fall decorations on my porch. So, I began searching on blogs and on Pinterest various ideas I decided to paint my pumpkins to look like candy corns.

 

 

 

 

 

My first attempt was well... a flop when I used spray paint. I decided to instead us a craft paint and applied a couple of coats of each color before I finished my pumpkins.

 

 

 

Earlier today I decided to take my dog on a walk since the weather was perfect, and slightl cool breeze was in the air. I also brought along my camera to take a few shots of my neighbors decorations.

 

 

We have some very talented people who really go way out with the decorations.

 

 

 

 

Some are simple and under stated.

 

 

I must admit I am not into the ghost and ghouls of Halloween, but I wanted to show you the wide range of ideas that I saw around the subdivision.

Norcross Art Fest

This past weekend my family and I attended the Norcross Art Fest. I have exhibited at this show several times before.

Even though I have cut back on some shows, I love attending them and talking to the artists.

 

 

A few weeks ago I had the pleasure to meet Janine Lancour. She is a very talented mixed media artist.

 

 

 

 

 

Just before you reach the festival, we passed by this beautiful sculpture garden.

 

 

 

There were some artist I had seen before and several artist that were new to the show this year. All in all a pretty eclectic mix of great art.

I look forward to next years event!

New painting and the Winner is!

 

Last year we started to redecorate my daughter's room. First we got her a new spread, then a lounge chair, and this year we purchased her a new bed and dresser.

 

 

 

So I have been trying to decide what would be a nice new painting for her room. She wanted an abstract painting and I was leaning more to an organic image. So I decided to combine the two together.

The flower starting to blossom.

 

The background I started with a dark blue and purple. I just felt compelled to paint these rhythmic strokes of paint to add a whimsical feel.

 

 

 

 

Here is the finished piece in her sweet sixteen room.

 

The winner of my Mixed Media painting e-course is Rita Montgomery. Congratulations!

 

Creative Workshops Blog Party and Giveaway

As many of you know I have a couple of online workshops on Creative Workshops. Over the summer the site was in the process of switching over and moved to Typepad. Gail is the owner of this lovely site which has very wonderfully talented teachers who have classes in various mediums. So, to celebrate the big move and new look of the online workshops, most of the teachers are participating in a class giveaway! The giveaway will allow one special winner to win a class. I am offering my Still Life Mixed Media e-course for one special winner.

How does the party work? Anyone who wants a chance to win a free class from my giveaway just post a comment for a chance to win. The giveaway starts September 23 - September 29th.  The winner will be announced September 30th.

Just below is a list of the other teachers who are also offering a class a giveaway. If you don't have a blog just post your email address with your comment.

Sara Naumann

Cat Kerr

Jodi Ohl

Martha Lever

Nancy Lefko

Cathy Bluteau

Mechelle Harrison

Elizabeth Johnson

Liz Miller

Terri Heinz

Kerr Pelto

Lori Vliegen

Diana Frey

Marilyn Harris-Mills

Nellie Wortman

Gaye Medbury

Ann Butler

Dawn Meisch

Gail Schmidt

Sprucing up the walls

 

 

 My youngest son Jordan and oldest son Michael both play baseball in the spring. Michael has a shelf for his trophies, but Jordan did not. I have been trying to figure out what would be the perfect thing to use. I had seen these cute little cube shelves at Target, but I wasn't certain they would all fit.  I finally decided why not give it a try. I love the way it shows off his game balls and trophies.

I'm planning to paint his wall baby blue.

 

I showed you before the mirrors that I painted a little while ago, but I wanted for you to see how they look up on the wall. I got these mirrors from Ikea many years ago.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I am also slowing starting to get my fall decorations out for the season. I pulled out these fall ornaments that I made out of polymer clay. I will be sharing with you what I am going to do outside soon. 

Creative Doodling and Looking Back

 

 

I have been admiring this book for several months now whenever I visit Michael's Arts and Crafts store. The book Creative Doodling and Beyond is filled with inspiring prompts and exercises to get your creative juices flowing.

 

 

 

 

 

So I decided to finally get this book since I always want look at it in the store. I thought it would be a good fun exercise to follow along with.

 

 

 

 

 

A few days ago I was looking through my old sketchbook from college. I attended the Columbus College of Art and Design. I love looking back to see what my work looked like when I was starting just starting out.

 

 

 

 

 

 

In high school I actually was more interested in drawing photo realist art, but when I went to art school, I started to make more cartoon art. We had a some students that would go on to work for places like Hallmark, American Greeting, and a few friends went to work for Dayspring.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Doubting Peter

 

 

When I finished art school, I actually went back to a more realistic subject matter when I exhibited at a lot of festivals and galleries back then. 

 

 

 

 

 

Then eventually after having kids, I went back to a more whimsical style of art. So you can see I have gone all over the place.

 

I'll show you some more of the exercises I am doing in my new book soon.