Cyber Monday!

****SPOOKY TIME JINGLES UPDATE****

Hello Friends!

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving. Ours was nice but a litte crazy too. We, and when I say we, I mostly mean my husband, got more than half of the painting done and we hope to finish up tomorrow. My studio is complete, now I just need to bring all of my furniture and supplies back in. This is sure to take me forever! I promise to post lots of pictures when everything is in order.

Don't forget to stop on over at Spooky Time Jingles tomorrow for our EXTRA special December 2nd. update. As most of you know, the usual update date is the 13th of every month but since everyone is doing their holiday shopping, we decided to add and extra day. Here is what I will be offering...

Tiny Townhouses set #3 $35.00

Plump Angel Ornament $20.00

I also have these that will be a part of my "Red Friday" December 5th Etsy shop update plus some little treasure boxes and a few paintings so don't forget to stop by!

"Angel in White " SOLD, Thanks!

"Tree Angel"

"Ice Skater"

These are all acrylics and paper on wood with a bees wax finish. The first angel has a crackled bees wax finish that I am in love with. They smell so yummy!



The list is growing with participants for Red Friday so email me if you want to be added.

The more the merrier!

Have a great week!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Hello Friends,
I am taking the few minutes I have now to wish you all a very happy holiday. We're only going a few miles to my MIL's but I have pie baking and brussels sprout making to do. So I am planning to eat till I have to open a button or two and then come home and paint, paint, paint. And somewhere in between the painting of walls, I need to squeeze in some painting of another variety!

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Studio Update!

I just wanted to let you all know that Spooky time Jingles will be adding an extra holiday update to December! So on December 1st, I will be adding a few new ornaments to my Christmas page over there. And then on the 13th, I will be adding more. Because of the economy I am going to have all of my ornaments for.....

$20.00 or less with FREE shipping!!!

So be sure to stop by and email me with your requests!

I was also shooting for another shop update on Black Friday but I don't know who I'm kidding. There's no way I can be ready in time so here is what I'm thinking. I would like to do my own Black Friday update on Dec.5th. I'm going to call it RED Friday because I like that color better than black. If any other Etsy sellers would like to join me in updating your shop that day, shoot me an email and I will add you to a list I will put on my blog. If we all post a list on our blogs, we'll get more holiday traffic to our shops! So work your little fingers to the bone like me and we'll have a great old time:)

Have a great holiday!!!

A Weekend Away

Hello Friends,

We spent the weekend in the Pennsylvania mountains visiting my husbands family. Every time we visit, I wish I lived on a farm. NJ is sooooo flat! We have lots of houses and tons of stores. I'm within a 15 minute or less drive from no less than 10 Walmart and me appreciate the wide space in other parts.

We also visited a very old cemetary where my father in-law is burried. It was bitter cold so the boys and I took a stroll around to look for really old headstones. I am always touched by the tiny markers of children.

This one I found really interesting because it looks like part of a tree with a little dog sitting below. He died in 1859 and his marker says " Aged 5 Years & 6 Months." Maybe it's not a tree but I'm almost positive it's a dog.

I spent the trip nerding out about mountains and fields of freshly plowed crops. The kids were probably wishing I would stop saying LOOK! I'm always afraid they won't notice these things so I feel the need to point them out.

Jake is at the age where he refuses to get a haircut. His mother (me) used to have pink in her hair so I try not to stifle his individuality:) My mom warned me this day would come!

Last Wednesday, Alex had his kindergarten Thanksgiving feast. All 40 something kids dress up like pilgrims and indians, made corn muffins, butter and stone soup. It was a great time!

Here he is making his macaroni/fruitloop necklace. The kids all began to eat their necklaces so most ended up with just macaroni.

ART NOTE:

I will be updating my shop this week with a bunch of ornaments and a couple of paintings so keep checking!

Have a nice day:)

Sweet Dreams Grandmom

My maternal grandmother passed away yesterday at the age of 90. She wasn't exactly the traditional warm and fuzzy grandma, but I do have a lot of nice memories. My grandfather (check out those ears, oy!) was from Scotland and when they married, my grandmom was only sixteen. Can you imagine? I'm not sure I even liked boys at sixteen, I think I would rather play soccer and talk on the phone. My grandpop was actually the one I was closest to but he died when I was five. Millie (grandmom) was the type of person who found it easier to show affection to pets than people. She loved her dogs and cats and always had a tank full of fish. Visits were always fun because you never knew what new animal she would have. I also have great memories of the Fourth of July parade. Her house backed to a major road in our town so my family, including lots of cousins, would go to her house and set up beach chairs and blankets along side the road and watch the parade...we always had the best seats!

She was diagnosed with Alzheimer's about five years ago so it's been a rough bunch of years for her. I know that if there is a heaven, there was quite a crowd of critters up there waiting for her along with her two daughters and two husbands.

Sweet Dreams Grandmom...

Thanks, I needed that!

A special thanks to Flora at Bone Head Studio for giving me "The Marie-Antoinette A Real Person, A Real Award. " If you have never seen Flora's work, you have to check it out. She makes the most amazing sculptures and dolls. Truly awesome! She is a fellow Spooky Time Jingles artist so you can visit her stuff there as well.

Here are the Rules for the Award:

1. Please put the logo on your blog
2. Place a link to the person from whom you received the award
3. Nominate at least 7 or more blogs
4. Put the links of those blogs on your blog
5. Leave a message on their blogs to tell them

So here are my picks...

1. My Sister Mandy at Mandyb bags
2. Mystele at LittleGlimpses
3. Lulu at My Pink Turtle
4. Michelle at Gingham World

5. Courtney at Finding Home

6. Heather at Audrey Eclectic

7. Erica at Blu Jay Studio

I know it's very time consuming to do these tags so pleeeeease don't feel like you have to pass it on. I just wanted you to know that I appreciate you and your lovely blogs!!!

On the studio front, the costruction of the room is finished. Now I just need to paint. This weekend is a wash because we're going away but my darling, dear, adorable, kind for giving me the dining room for my studio, husband (I know you are secretly reading this!) promised me we would do some major painting Thanksgiving weekend. Lucky for me my Mother in-law does the Thanksgiving dinner at her house so we have no worries.

I have a few more bees wax ornaments finished. I just love the smell of bees wax!! I'll let you know soon where they can be had!

Here's a peek!

This one actually isn't an ornament but a painting/collage on wood.

Sleepy Angel

Little Skater

Spooky Time Jingles is going to do an EXTRA holiday update on December 1st so get out those credit cards!!!! Great stuff for gift giving. Think handmade this year. A small handmade gift is much, much more meaningful than a big mass produced something. At least to me it is:)

Ta ta!

Little Christmas Goodies!

Hello Friends,

I hope you are all enjoying the holiday music! If not, feel free to click the button:)

Here is a sneak peek of my new bees wax ornies and a little papier mache box I finished today.

I will be updating my Etsy shop as soon as I have more so I will let you all know. Also, I hope to do another give away soon so stop back!

I was going to take a picture of my kitchen table where I have been working but I'm too ashamed. I was tempted to ask the family to eat in the family room but I figured that might start something I don't care to continue. So I cleared a small space for each person with loads of art supplies all around. A girls gotta work, right? I wonder what memories my kids are going to have of their mom. Alex asked me the other day why I'm always making stuff. I couldn't come up with anything better than, "I dunno, I like to make stuff." I hope they remember me as artsy and not a nut!

Me and my pet monkey on our summer vacation.

Have a great weekend!

Not Much to Say

Do you ever feel like you are so so busy but when you go to describe what you have been doing, it really doesn't sound like much? All I can say is that construction is still ongoing but ever so slowly. Lots of sitting home and waiting and then more and more waiting. All of the things I need to get to, like painting my studio, all depends on a few other things being finished which just happen to be the last things that are going to be done. Such is life:)

I do have a few little things available over at Spooky Time Jingles, one set is in the photo above. I know money is tight these days so with that in mind, I tried to do some smaller things to keep the prices low, so check them out! I also have a few commissioned pieces in the works. Here is my latest family portrait.

These lovely gals are expecting their first child shortly so their family wanted to give them something that would show that they support their choices. It's a shame that everyone doesn't get that kind of love!

Our local radio station is already playing non-stop Christmas music so Alex and I have been chillin to holiday tunes in the car. I like to get a full two months of Christmas, how about you?

Have a great day!

I'm Still Alive!

Hello Friends,
Yes, I am alive and well if you were wondering! Construction is slow going since we keep on adding things for the remodel. It started out with a few walls and french doors to new floors throughout the house and a few other things, which puts my studio being completed till the very end. Sigh....


Sooooo, this is how I have been working. It's CRAZY! We have all the contents of three rooms all shoved into our family room, which incidentally is the main living space for us. Needless to say, the boys have been having a ball climbing all over the jumbled up furniture and making all kinds of forts.


My nice new floor being installed. In all of the homes I've ever lived in, I've never had wood floors. I'm thrilled to death!


I have been able to get some things accomplished...this morning I sewed and painted this little doll. I love the fabric that I "borrowed" from my sister's stash yesterday! Right now I am in the middle of some cute little house ornies for Spooky Time Jingles on the 13th.

She's patiently awaiting a pom pom for her hat...

Ornies for STJ...

Dreamer ....

President Obama! YaY!!!!
Did you vote? What an amazing time to be alive. I can't tell you how many people I've heard say that they never thought this would happen in their lifetime. I'm so proud that my kids get to see at a young age, that anything can happen in America if you work hard enough. I think the USA has been looking pretty sorry of late to the rest of the world so hopefully this reminds people what a great country this really is!

Ok, I'm off to my studio/kitchen to finish some things up!

Have a great day!!!