Christmas at My House

Seriously, what is it going to take to get some attention around here? If anyone just 'happens" to drop in and if you "happen" to know how to get traffic to your blog PLEASE  pass the good news on to me.

I've been posting stuff since the middle of the summer and obviously I am doing something wrong. I would appreciate any advice and thanks in advance for it.


                                  
   Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

 I want to share with those who "happen" to drop in that I have had an awesome Christmas. My son Jody was home with his beautiful wife for an entire week. Now that's something to shout about. Anyhoo, it has been lovely. I'm looking forward to the rest of the week with lots of shopping, eating, sharing and just plain old being Momma!
I hope your Christmas has been blessed.

Don't ya just love these two little show guys? Smiling and waving to our guest.

Candy filled jelly jars glued to some glass candle holders with E6000 glue. Sold like hot cakes! 

 "Winter People" made of paper clay and paper mache'. Setting up getting ready for my yearly Christmas Bazzar. ( or however ya spell it)










Here's a couple of little snap shots of a Florida Christmas living room. Not that All living rooms in Florida look like this cuz they don't but this one belongs to MOI!

 Today I finally completed the task of moving into my space at the local Antique and Art Gallery. I wanted to share with all of you my merchandise. I think it looks cool and inviting. If I choose to name my booth I'm going to call it  COLORBURST! I think that fits don't you?

So now I'm off to gear myself toward Christmas. amazing how time flies. I'll be back in touch soon. Happy crafting arting and wish me luck on my booth. I'm believeing for a great success the coming year. This is a first for me so if anyone reading this post has ever done anything like this before leave me a comment. I need all the tips and treasures I can get and thanks to all.  

HANDMADE M ARKET DAY

                                                            Handmade Market Day


This is my favorite time of year and October is my favorite month.  Here is the Sunshine state we experience some lo temps last week but today it was back in the mid 80's and very sunny. Of course it would be since I don't have a tent and I did an art show . I have more of a tan today than I've had all summer.
It was a good show. Met lots of new contacts, found out about some great venues in the area and actually sold "a" painting. One is better than none. I'm really greatful that I am still encouraged. Sometimes sellin in the handmade market can be quite daunting. Up one day and down the next. My salvation is not over pricing my work just so tht it moves. There are some pieces that I m wiling to haggle with but I always have those that mean as much to me that i don't want to part with. Unless of course the price is speaking my language.
 Here is a photo or two of todays show. I really like my little portable gallery. It's heavy and bulky but when you are close to the beach the wind gets high this bad boy never budged! 

 This was a new experience for our area. It is a prime location but today was the first time it's ever been done. It will be open every month. I think it's every third Saturday and Sunday. I am very thankfull to have this opportunity for here in my town it doesn't happen often. So.....let's take a peak at what's happening inside Studio B.

 This is a happy mess. When I get into painting I sling it, throw it, and when I'm finished I look like I've bathed in it. Yippee!!!











   
To the right is my Halloween wreath I've made from a "pool noodle". You know those things the k ids play with in the pool? The paper mache witch and moon have been hanging around since last year and this is where they've ende up. Cool huh? I think they like it there.


I hope all of you are having a blessed day today and will continue to join me in the Studio as I embark on the nw frontier of Handmade Happiness. See ya soon. Oh yea, leave a comment. It makes my day to know  you've  dropped in. Toodles!

Fall Is In the Air

 

                                 Little Houses


Can you smell it? Can you feel it? I can . Absolutely fall is in the air and I'm thinkin of Christmas, and all the great days that are leading up to it. I can always tell when this season is coming becuse I have a tendency to sleep a little longer in the morning and it's hard to get going. But......when it's s in full swing and those cool crispy days start creeping in I'm  up super early and ready to jump into the day. 

I put my smelly-good out in the studio today. You know, the ones that smell like "fall". Pumpkin, Sugar Cookie etc....then I turned on the greatest Celtic cd that I've ever heard it's called "Sweet Prospect" and put my hands to the grind. Couldn't help myself. I've been seeing these cute little cardboard houses all around and I wanted to try one. It's not what it could be but my next ones will be better. I think I will do them much smaller so I can make a little snow village. Humm.... Sounds great to me! Let's go do it! 

Here 's a photo of the awesome cardboard house I've created. Hope you like it so much you'll want to live in it.  The grass needs cuttin but it's to be expected in Sunny Florida. When it rains ya gotta mow every week. Won't be long though and the grass cutter goes in the barn for the winter.  

I'm woking on my faces in Studio"B" right now. Gotta get those lips and eyes just right. I'll post some of those when I get much better. Have a great arsty, crafty, do something weekend. 

Busy -Busy -Busy

I've been busy -busy - busy. Just piddlin round in the studio the past few days. Here is the Mermaid I've been promising. I finally got around to posting her. I'm not good with faces so her expresion may be a little evasive but I promise you she is a happy  girl. 

 

 

 

This is a beautiful lamp that was given to use at our church but when we made the transition to a larger fascility the shade busted and fell off. I decided to make the best of it and look what came out. Using things that have been left over for years from my stash I wrapped and glued and wrapped some more and glued some cool little embellishments like old jewelry and fringies. I love it so much I'm on the look-out for more little lamps with sad shades so that I can have more recycled fun.

Then last but not least we have our lovely little brush holder. Another way to use up scraps of yarn and macremae cord. It is a ten ounce green bean can covered with yarn and cord then embellished with stuff. I made about four of these so far and I have them hanging from a shelf in the studio. They hold tools, brushes, rulers, scissors and all kind of things that I can keep at my fingertips. When i made these I completely got lost in the creative process. They are so simple to do they  don't require a lot of "thinking" and I can easily escape to my own little creative world.

 
I hope you have enjoyed these projects and keep stopping in to see what else will be coming to the forefront. too-da-loo

Bird Mural (2011)

It's late tonight and I've just settled in from a busy busy day. I can't say enough about the heat here in Florida, howbeit, Ive lived in this city for 56 years you would think by now I wuld be used to it but....NOT!  
I do have to say however, I painted a mermaid, like I"ve been talking about for so long and tomorrow, just maybe I will bring myself to go into the studio and snap a photo just so you can see it. I love it.

Since I don't have any art to show you tonight I will take a peek in my files and see what I can share with you. Hold on a sec while I look......  OH! There it is.  This is my first "wall" painting. It looked better in person or should I say 'bird". This was a wall that I painted for my "Children's Church". The kids had a ball when they saw it. Oh the stories I could tell as I related them to this gigantic mural. Okay, folksies, I'm going to sign off for now but I promise I will return with more interesting Art-E-Facts later. Toodles.    

HOT HOT HOT!!!

It s so hot here in Sunny Florida and I'm having a wee bit of trouble getting out there in the old Studio and letting my hair hang down. It feels better soaking in the pool. lol

Never fear however, I am working on a canvas as we speak and I've just completed another that I'm pretty proud of. If I can bring myself to it I will post it very very soon so that you can see that even though its summer, art goes on. Have a good day everyone.

June 28th Summer Fun

Rub-A-Dub-Dub I Painted A Tub YAY!

 It's hot in sunny Florida today Temperatures are up in the high 90's. Ugh! Went into Studio "B" to do some artsie stuff around
noon today and at that time it wasn't so bad but around 2:30 things started heating up out there. I have aircondition

What Are You Looking At?

Ooh La La

but the
studio has a tin roof. Good for sleeping in the rain but not so good for hot temps. Anyway, I thought I would check in to see how all of you were doing today. Surely some of you are crafting the heat away.

The Martins

Suburban Succotash

I find that I do most of my art and crafts when the weather is much cooler. However, I did manage to get a painting started. I'll show it to ya'll when it's completed. Check back often cuz I'm always doing something "fun". In the meantime I hope you enjoyed the updates.
   

Waiting on the Muse

I love using colored fonts. They are so pleasant to the eye. That's why high gloss gertrude is called that. She's super colorful inside and out. So is my sweet little weiner dog Sugar-Pie. Ain't she adorable? Luv that southern grammer huh?
I haven't been doing much painting these days. This morning I did begin a background but I'm not sure where it's going. The old creative juices just don't seem to be flowing.

Sometimes when I get this way I will do a blog roll and see what everybody else is up to but what I can gather it seems I'm not the only one searching for inspiration.
The garden is in full swing.Our Roses are beautiful this time of year. I must admit, I 'm not the green thumb around her. Jerry is what some would call "gifted" or possibly he was just born with a green thumb. We've been shelling peas and digging potatos. The squash makes delicious casseroles and man them maters are outstanding.
Maybe that's why the creative part of me seems lacking. I'm just too involved in other things at the moment.  
Studio "A" has been busy. So until the muse beckons I suppose I'll just hang out with Jerry and Sugar-Pie in the pool and plan our Vacation Bible School with the staff at Church In The House .
Ya'll have a great day and I'll be back soon.

Dances with Birds and other Chic Filet's

I've been soo... busy today running errands and taking care of business that I need a coffee break. So while I sip take a peek at the latest Rembrants in Studio B. Enjoy.

                                                                Dances With Birds

LIZ

Ragu, Prego, and the Cat Next Door



Fish Face



Dolly's Bunny   

A Crooked Vase

 WASN'T THAT INTERESTING? KEEP CHECKING IN CUZ THERE'S MORE TO COME!      
                                          YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

JOYFUL EXPRESSIONS

HEy! Hey! Hey!

 I bet all of ya'll thought I wasn't coming back! Well, shame on ya! I haven't been posting cuz I haven't had nuttin to say. But today it's different. I've been sooo busy at church and getting our Mother' s Day shin-dig together and wow it was awesome. Those kids can really shake a leg. They did the most beautiful dance to the music of Jesus , You're The Center Of My Joy. Great job Lorraine for coaching them. 

Another thing I've been doing is painting this giant dolly and she is so huge I didn't have room to put anything else on the canvas so I've decided to start practicing 'sketching' and learning some prospective, and placement. Here is a photo of the art class I attend each week.                                
                                                 JOYFUL EXPRESSIONS
                                                    Director :Jackie Free

EVERYONE HAS SOMETHING TO EXPRESS. FROM THE OLDEST TO THE YOUNGEST  OUR TIME TOGETHER IS AN EXPERIENCE THAT WILL CAUSE THE OLDER ONES TO RELAX AND PULL ASIDE FROM THE HUSTLE AND BUSTLE OF THEY'RE BUSY LIVES, WHILE THE YOUNGSTERS  LEARN AN ART THAT JUST MIGHT TURN INTO A LIFE LONG PASSION. HOW WONDERFUL IT IS POURING INTO A HEART -  OPEN TO INVESTIGATE. 

My mother tried for years to get me to learn to paint but I wasn't interested but I've finally come around to her way of thiking and now all I want to do is paint paint paint. I've been taking her class since June of 2011 and I can look back on where I started and I can see such a difference. I wish all of you could come and join in the fun. If your local just hook up with us and see what  you can produce. You'll be amazed.

BY THE WAY.....THE DIRECTOR OF JOYFUL EXPRESSIONS..... IS MY MOTHER! 

"THE DOOR TO MY HEART"

WELL, EVERYONE, I HOPE YOU HAVE AN AWESOME EVENING. I PROMISE I WILL BE BACK WITH MORE PHOTOS OF WHAT'S HAPPENING IN STUDIO B. TAKE CARE AND HAPPY ARTSING TO YA! OOPS! SUGAR PIE WANTS TO SAY HI!

SUGAR PIE

Art-Full Days

Today has been "excellent"! I've been painting since 9:00 a.m. and it's 4:30 p.m. Not often do I have the opportunity to hang out in  Studio -B without stopping to do errands or something else. Do you remember the Mermaid I was telling you about? Well she sort of 'bit the dust'. Since we've discussed her existence I've had to do away with her. For some reason she just wouldn't cooperate.
When this happens I paint houses. That's right when all else fails paint a house. I'll post a photo soon.

Oh Yea! I also went to the gym. First time in many years. It made me feel good to see that I could still walk the treadmill and ride the bike. I'm going again tomorrow. Can't believe I enjoyed it so much. Now if only I could get my eating habits to come into agreement with my exercise.


I don't want to leave all of you without a photo of the happenings but here's one of some necklace hangers I made for the craft show in March. Hopefully they will show up good on this post. Have a good evening and I'll see you again soon.

This Friday we are having a kick off campaign to build our women's ministries. Our goal is to reach 50 ladies before December. Keep us in your prayers as we step into this venture. I'm excited to see how many we reach for the month of April  If you are in the area come on out and join us.

 I'll be ministering on "Maturing in Christ". I've titled my sermon..... Babes In Joyland.. .... I like that. See ya! 

Frilly Fish

Hell-o Everybody, hope your day has been good. I did a few heads this morning which always leaves me feeling G_R_E_A_T! I love my clients, they are so much fun. Then I took some photos to show ya'll today in my blog post. Let's start with those Frilly Little Fish I've been promising. See, I'm good to my word. The lighting is not really good but I'm working on that too. 

Below is Studio "A" I know it looks messy but that is A.O.K. Messy from my standpoint means $$$$$$$$.

Same  goes for Studio 'B". Just look at that mess on that table Don't you just love it? That's also my next project I want to complete. My goal is to have a cool, artsie,tropical bathroom. This little mermaid is sort of going down hill fast. I worked on her this afternoon and she began to look like an Indian Chief with a skirt on. (hehehehe) No, seriously she did. I gessoed her face out and I'm going to start all over. I've got have a "Happy Mermaid" .Must have "Happy"!  




Now I know ya'll really aren't interested in all this gook but FIY this is what I use to make merry little Mermaids, and Frillly Fish. This is enough paint that is sufficient for the day there-of. Sounds like scripture doesn't it?  If you notice I use a lot of the 'Basic acrylic paints and small craft paints. That's because I love to use a lot of paint and I just can't bring myself to pay the higher prices. Maybe one day I'll break down and trust me when I do YOU WILL  BE THE FIRST TO KNOW!

Jerry is waiting out in the living room for me. We are going out to dinner tonight with friends. I know parting is such sweet sorrow but I'm having so much fun sharing my stuff with all of you that I can't wait to blog again. I'll be back as soon as I finish that Merry little Mermaid. Toodle-loo!

More Of My Stuff

  STUDIO A & B
Thise are the beautiful flowers Jerry planted for me last year. They were so beautiful. I guess we'll go today and get some more. The winter was rough on them Can't wait. Little Orange Marygolds are my favorite with some pretty Impatience running along the driveway. Last year Jerry planted Ocra and man did they every grow. We're still eating Pea's and Fried Okra. You guessed it, that's  Good Sothern Cookin!   

Studio A & B from the drive way entrance
Just wanted to share with you a few of my favaorite things. Actually thre is not enough room for ALL of them but for starters here they are. To begin with, the yellow building is where I do my creating. It is so peaceful out there. It is, however, in the south forty of our back yard and when I go there it's like leaving home. Sometimes I stay there for hours and hours, then other times, it can get sort of lonely. Either way, I just keep on keeping on. 

Birds -n- Butterflies
This is one of my first paintings. I've only been at this painting thing for about a year. My mother is my director and she is awesome. She teaches a class every Wednesday morning over at Church In The House. The church my husband Jerry and I Pastor. Yep, that's right, when I said we were DIY'ers I really meant it. We do it all. So, anyway, the paint class is just right for ignihting my creative juices andgetting them to flow freely. I LEARN how to do it right then I come back to the studio and BAM! I've done it all wrong. Well, not always , I just EXPRESS! Amen?   

TOO MANY HATS-ONLY ONE HEAD
Let me introduce you to this fabulous quilt wall hanging. I wasn't supposed to get this big but somehow it did and can fit a twinsize bed. I have it hanging in my living room. It is a story quilt that exemplifys who I am. Always busy, teaching, preaching, crafting, artsing, running, doing doing doing doing............ and on and on and on! I have so many hats, but there is just one head to put them on.. I must say at this time however, I praise God for blessing me with an abundance of talent and abilities. I receive His promise that I will never be in want for He has provided me the means to have. Hallelujah!

Okay, enough preaching for the moment. Eventually we'll get to know each other better but I believe you are beginning to see what your in for. FUN<<<<<<FUN>>>>>>FUN>>>>FUN>>>>>>FUN>>>>FUN!!!!!!!!!!    

Wa-La

 My goodness I'm not having a very good day with this blog stuff. I guess you could say I am having Blog issues. Alright! Enough of my blah blah! Here are a few of the spring items I've made. In February and March I was able to take them to a couple of shows and sold most of them. Now they are in someone Else's hands that are enjoying their sweetness. The Tin Can Flowers (above) are soo... easy. Just get a good friend to save all of her 10 gallon cans then take a pair of good tin snips with some heavy duty gloves and snip snip snip! Wa-La, Garden Glory! I made twenty-One of these beauties and they were the first things to sell from my booth. Everyone wanted a flower for their Florida yard. Soon as it gets hot they will be glad they have them. The heat won't kill'em.
     

Now to my left again is the actual booth photo. Pretty cool huh? I thought so. Such an interesting set-up.

The photo beneath is what Mystele from Little Glimpses Studio teaches. It's called Gut Art. Haven't done many of these but what I have completed, well what can I say, they sell very fast. YAY! Should do more. Roll on over to her website and check it out. It's an awesome way to paint expressively. Big and loose, or small and tight whatever suits your fancy.

                                                      

My heart at the moment wants to get into Studio B and go to town on a canvas but my flesh just wants to hang out by the computer. Maybe tomorrow.Well I told you I would get you a photo of hose Fat Frilly Fish and I promise I am going to do that. Just as soon as this old flesh gets up and snaps the picture. You will love them too. Happy Evening to all of you. Until when, debbie