A Bit of This, A Bit of That.......

I'm not doing a very good job at keeping up with my posts but please forgive me. The weather has been so nice and I've been working in my garden and playing outside with the boys.

Jake had his "Art with a Sprinkle" at school last night. This is the annual art show and after they have ice cream. Here are a few of my favorite things.

I just loved these.....they did their self portraits and traced their hands. Who doesn't love watermelon?

I loved this one! I would love to frame this one and hang it in my family room. You can't tell from the photo but they mixed paint with laundry detergent to give it a gritty texture.

Every year the art teacher, Mrs. Franke has the class do a ceramic project. The third grade class did sunflowers. Jakes is in there somewhere. So by the time both of my kids are finished in this school I will have 8 of these ceramic wall hangings....unless Mrs. Franke retires any time soon.

And here is a picture of my flower garden. It is a large space and I didn't really have a ton of money to spend so I bought everything small. That was three years ago so it's nice to see everything filling out. A poor gardener must have patience:)

This is only my spring/early summer flowers. I have tons of wildflowers that come up mid to late summer. I'll take more pictures then.

And last but not least.....I've started on my Halloween stuff. Here is a peek at my newest doll. Please don't judge her as she's quite nude. Clothing and accessories to come.

Have a great day!

New Work and a New Look!

Well, the shop update is finished! I must say that it feels good to put some new things in my shop. I was so tired of everything in there so I'm sure you all were too. Take a peek! My dear sister Mandy also helped me design my new banner. It was really meant to be for my new Ebay shop (more on that to come) but I couldn't resist using it now. I've been thinking about trying to sell some of my things on Ebay for awhile now. It's kind of scarey for me because with Etsy, I know what I'm getting. If you like it and it's a fair price, you buy it. But on Ebay you never know if you will make a dollar or fifty. Oh well, what have I got to lose right? So my sister has been helping me design my Ebay page and my About Me page. Thanks Mandy! I'll let you all know as soon as I put anything up there. Maybe you'll score a painting for a buck:)

I'm off to bed.............10:00 is usually my reading hour. ZZzzzzzzzzzzz

Oh....here is a photo of my little duck friend. She is such a good mamma, she almost never leaves the nest. I can't wait to see the babies!

Shop Update!

I will be updating my sorry little shop Wednesday night at 10:00 p.m. eastern standard time. There will be a few paintings, a few summer holiday pieces and a bunch of little buggies. See you there!

Bees Wings and Garden Fairies....

I wanted to give a little sneak peek at some of the things I will be putting in the shop next Wednesday.

Here is Little Queen Bee...she finally got her wings. They are from a vintage science book about bees that my sister picked up on our trip. Thanks sis!

Next are two Garden Fairies......they both have fabric mica dusted wings and a bit of vintage text . The first fairy says "Lovely in sunshine and fair in rain." The second says "She makes the garden love her." They both have hooks on their backs for easy hanging. I apologize for the poor photo quality but my battery needs to be charged.

I also wanted to give a quick thanks to my blog friend Lillian and her sweet little girl for the lovely gift I won from her blog. As you can see, the little box is in great company with my doll from Michelle at Gingham World and my Noodle and Lou painting from Jenn. Thanks Lillian!

Well, I'm off to Birthday shop and Birthday cake bake...... Happy Birthday Ellen! (the best Mother in-law)

Have a great weekend!

The Latest....

Hello Friends,
Here are a few of my latest things I've been working on. I'm going to try to do a shop update next Wednesday....trying to give myself enough time to get more finished:) I'll give a little reminder though.
First are my little dancers. I haven't given it a title yet but I just finished it at 8:00 am. I have used lots of text and sheet music so it has tons of texture.

Next are my little winged dolls. Only the only one who has wings so far is "Lady Liberty". Her wings are made from a parchment copy of the Declaration of Independance with a bit of mica for sparkle! Being from just outside Philadelphia the summer always reminds me of red, white and blue and the 4th of July festivities. I still have a few more ideas with flags so more to come...

Here we have a little bee and butterfly. The bee will have wings made from this vintage Bee book and I'm still looking for something special for the butterfly. I hope to have these all completed for the update as well as a few new things!

I know I've been blogging more about my personal life and not too much about my art but hopefully that's starting to change:) It is after all an "Art" blog!!! But don't worry, I will always share bits of me and my family, otherwise I wouldn't be ME!

Have a great day!

A New Mamma in Town.....

Hello Friends,
I hope you all had a wonderful Mother's Day! Mine was probably one of the best so far. As the title states, there's a new mom in town and I was lucky enough to share the special day with her. You see a mamma duck decided to lay 10 or so eggs in my fromt garden, right below my window. She made a cozy little nest in our mulch and covered it with soft down feathers. I have to say that this is some priveledge since I've never even seen a duck in our neighborhood before. I called a nature center because I wanted to make sure the babies would be safe after they are born since we don't live anywhere near water but they informed me that mallard ducks lay eggs up to a half mile from water where the male duck waits for her and his new little brood. Isn't that the sweetest? You can't even count on some humans for that kind of dependability.
I will share pictures of her when I can get a good shot.

My gifts from my family were the best. Jake made me the cutest bookmarks at school and Alex made me a flower magnet with his picture in the middle. From my husband and the boys I got these flowers.....

A gardening journal that I can't wait to use because as my garden grows, it will be nice to have something to put my notes and sketches in. What works, what needs to be moved next spring, etc... They also gave me a gardeners almanac with facts and funny little sayings that I love and a year of Marth Stewart Living.

They also continue to support my addiction to Burts Bee's Lip Balm...sadly this is probably a one month supply:) I absolutely love the minty tingle it gives.......very addicting, just ask my sister:)


And lastly they bought me a new red Phillies t-shirt and pajamma bottoms. It was really a Mothers Day/Birthday combo since my husband was away during my Birthday last month.

So, I'm off to make my rounds and see how you all made out on your special day!

A Few Little Etsy Treasures.....

Look at this charming little sculpture! I'm so, so in love with this tiny little piece of art!!! It is needle felted by Red Flannel Elephant so please check out the shop for more lovely things:)

And next is this adorable, but very brave I'm sure, little "Luke Skywalker" mouse. This is a big hit with my Star Wars lovin boys. He is made by The House Of Mouse and I must add that there is also a "Yoda Mouse" for good measure!

And speaking of measuring....look at these sweet little tape measures made by PatchworkPottery. You pull the little button and out comes the tape. What a great idea! These were all on reserve but I couldn't resist sharing them with you all.

Well I hope you all have a wonderful Mothers Day weekend! I'm not sure what the family has in store for me on Sunday but I recall hearing "Get a load of mulch delivered" so it's anyone's guess:)

New Work...New Ideas

Hello Friends,
Things have been a bit somber and a bit overwhelming the past few weeks with the death of my father in-law a few weeks ago and the death of my uncle yesterday. It also seems like my kids schools got together and decided to lump all trips, projects and parties all into the month of May. AHHHHHHHHHH!
BUT! I'n the spirit of moving on I have been trying my best to get into my "Art Room" as my kids call it, and get some work done and new ideas going.
Yesterday was spent at Jake's school for International Day where all of the kids researched and made big displays depicting their heritage. This project included making a dish that best represents the country they chose so it was so much fun to walk around and sample the foods. I ate many, many pieces of German Chocolate Cake as well as pasta salad:) Russia, Ireland, France, Poland, Japan, India, Africa, Pakistan and China were also represented so it was a good time. Then at night we had the school skating party which didn't end until 8:30 so it was straight home , showers and bed. The kids, and their mom were exhausted! But the good news is I spent the evening with my sketchbook coming up with new ideas for paintings and I found a sweet little something at the craft store that I think will be my next little project. Sneak peek to come......
Here are the newest pieces I've been working on. I will be posting them in my Etsy shop soon. I'll let you know.
Thanks for all of the great book recommendations! I have my list ready and will be making a trip to Borders soon.
Have a great day!

Sisters Getaway

So here are a few photos of our little getaway. We stayed at a B&B called Living Spring Farm in Adamstown Pa. where there are about a million antique and junk shops and outdoor flea markets. It was pure heaven! The home we stayed in was a 200+ year old farmhouse with a barn and two horses. One was a miniature pony named Sammy. We had similar haircuts so I thought we were friends until he head butted me out of the way during a photo-op. Apparently Sammy is a little catty.

Ok, There was also Doc, a quarter horse who scared the crap out of me because he kept trying to smell me and lick me with that huge head of his. You don't realize how big horses are until your up close and personal.

Deb, the owner of the B&B was so nice and she made us two incredible breakfasts and told us the best places to go.
Here is a picture of the room we had.

Deb also filled the rooms with tons of decorating magazines so in our down time we sipped tea and hot cocoa and browsed the stash. Mandy and I agreed this trip would have been a complete nightmare if we had our husbands with us instead of each other.
My big purchase was a bird house made from recycled wood and other items.
I also scored a book in German that had several four leaf clovers pressed inside so I just had to buy it. And guess what? When I came home I discovered that while I was away, someone had purchased one of my largest paintings and requested a companion piece!!! Yay!
Here is a quick photo of my garden in progress.
I have been working on this garden for about 8 years now....with a brief interruption 3 years ago when we had an addition built to the back of the house and I pretty much had to start over. It's a small yard but oddly enough, it's what I always wanted. My dream was always to have a little house with a little garden. My husband is in charge of the grass so I have to give him the credit:)
I have been working on a few new paintings along with some commissioned pieces. I have also completed a few new little dolls...a butterfly, a bee and a Lady Liberty. I will let you all know when I will do a shop update.
Have a great evening!

Woo Hoo!

Hello Friends,
Please forgive me but my poor, poor old computer bit the dust. So here I sit at my brand spanking new "Puter" in all of her big monitor glory! I didn't realize what a small screen I had but oh my, bigger is better! I've only just begun to get to know my new little friend so this post will be short but I just wanted to let you know that my "Sisters Weekend" was a huge hit. You can read a bit about it here on my sisters blog. I will do my own post too but I need to upload all of my pictures so who knows how long that will take me:)
So have a good weekend and I'll try to make my rounds tomorrow. I miss you all!