i've now finished 12 christmas canvases ... just in time to give one away tomorrow .... i just have to pick a winner .... have you joined the contest?

i'm really quite pleased with myself ... i have finished 12 christmas canvases and it isn't even december yet ..... this one is my favorite now ......

.... it is my favorite because it has a purple donkey .... is that weird? gray just didn't seem right .... and purple is kind of like gray to me ..... so there ya go ..... a purple donkey .... i only did a donkey cause i accidentally got baby jesus too far over .... and had to fill in the edges to give it a bit better balance ..... so .... a lamb and a donkey did the trick for me ..... so it went from being "off" to be being my favorite ......

and here:

this is a mosaic of all 12 canvases .... 3 centered trees, 4 nativities, and five off center trees ..... and lots of buttons ....

tomorrow night i'll pick a winner at random ....if you didn't join the contest celebrating my 200th post, by all means, scroll down a few and sign up ..... you migh win ......

i don't have all 12 yet ... but here are three to show you.....

.....i've been working on small canvases ..... you do know, don't you, that i ADORE huge canvases ....like three and four feet? and that small is HARD for me ... but gosh, small is much faster, huh? .... i followed my usual process, with layers of papers, glazing and acrylics for the backgrounds .....





anyway .... these are some christmas gifts ...... and MOST importantly, one small canvas is my prize for my 200th blog post giveaway .... the drawing is on wednesday night .... so you still have time to sign up ..... it's a few posts below here ...... more tomorrow, i hope!! fa la la la la !!

two hundred .... hip hooray ......

200!
two hundred!
this, right here, right now, is my 200th blog post ... how can that be? i feel like i'm still new at blogging... apparently i'm not so new anymore .....
my 200th post contest is still running ... til wednesday .... in case anyone who is inclined to join the contest hasn't been keeping up because of the turkey day holiday time ..... so ..... some time on wednesday i'll pick a name .... if you haven't joined, go one post down ...... i'd love for you to join in!!

....how's that for a groovy clock? coolio, huh? i made if for my mom to give to a pal as a christmas gift .... i hope she loves it .... i have three more clocks in my immediate future to make as well ..... using all these buttons, and then some on some christmas crafts, has made me realize i'm becoming button depleted!!! .... i need to make the time to do some ebay button shopping ... but ebay turns into a HUGE time sucker for me .... like, i don't know that i can keep a blog and go to ebay ..... that's how badly ebay sucks me in!!!! but ....i'm also running low on bottle caps and keys ... i guess, now that i have 200 posts, if you don't hear from me for a while, you'll know i'm lost in the game of ebay ..... what? it's not a game? are you sure?






















..... and these are the ornaments that my children and i have been making .... glass balls with acrylic dots and a bit of fiber ...... we are doing white and silver balls .... they are turning out quite well .... we've probably done three dozen or more .... of all sizes .....















... these twelve balls, i did .... to supplement the ones that my kids did .... so there are always a few more to give ..... and that's it ..... was that momentous enough for a two hundredth post? probably not .... but .... so it goes .... just one more day of documenting my artsiness ..... and i didn't even mention that my mom went to my sunday school class this morning and i gave her a journal of her very own .... and she watercolored in it ..... i also didn't mention that my dozen six by six canvases are really starting to come together.... i hope that tomorrow i will be finished with ALL of them .... how's that for accomplished ....
ok ... 200th post over .....
don't forget to read my last post if you haven't signed up for my giveaway yet!!!
tra la la ... have a happy week .....

oh, oh, i got it .... a contest

i've been thinking of passing on doing a 200th post giveaway .... but now that i have an idea, of course i will .....
i saw this quiz and tried it ..... i am christmas .... and then i went back and tweaked my answers and became easter .... and then some more and tried to be all the holidays ....... so .... you do the contest .... and in my comments tell me what you are ..... and if it seems right to you ..... next week sometime i'll pick a name and send out one of my NEW six by six christmas canvasses .... a christmas image that i've glittered and buttoned and beautified .... join in .... celebrate my obsessive compulsive bloggage on my 200th post ....

You Are Christmas

More than most people, you are able to find magic in life's small moments. Traditions mean a lot to you, and you tend to be quite nostalgic. You are a giving, kind person who really understands the true meaning of holidays. You inspire others to be as altruistic and caring as you are. What makes you celebrate: Tradition and a generous spirit At holiday get togethers, you do best as: The storyteller. You like to recount memories with everyone. On a holiday, you're the one most likely to: Give a gift to everyone you know

What Holiday Are You?

i think these little quizzies are funny ..... this one does sound like me to me ..... but who wouldn't like to sound so good and cheerful .... i think i sounded a lot like easter too ... ha ....

happy weekend .... cheers!

18 canvases going on at once ..... can you say multitask?

... these are the six canvases i started on wednesday ..... and thursday, once the food timeline had been established and i didn't have anything to do ..... i stenciled letters onto them ... and then one of them i made into a clock ... my mom is going to give it to a pal for christmas .... and the other five? one will be a clock for drew....and one for julia .... and i have another notion of the clock i'm doing for my third child, sophie .... so that leaves three well developed backgrounds .... to do something with .... not sure if it will be before christmas or after.......

.... these are TWELVE canvases ... that's a load ... but they are small.... tiny for me .... six inches square ... i papered them and glazed them with the intention of making them christmas gifts .... like for neighbors or girlfriends or gift exchanges ...i've done a couple and they are cute ... sweet....nice ... but maybe not as special as i want them to be .... so i'm still working them out .... trying to give them that extra zinggggg ..... the problem with that, if they are really groovy, i'll want to keep some .... and then what to do with all the pals that i usually give a small gift too ...... i can't bake them cookies .... since we've already established that i'm not one to relish kitchen chores .....

all the while that i was working on the 18 canvases that i've been doing for the last three days, my mom and my three kids have all been working on art projects too .... mom has done quite a few canvases .... sophie and julia have done canvases .... GREAT sweet christmas pictures that i'm so happy to hang up for the holidays ..... all three kids and mom have worked on some wooden pieces i'd bought....santas and nutcrackers ...... sophie and julia both worked on painting boxes ..... that's a phase we are in .... i guess when i'm out of boxes that artistic phase will end ...... and then also .... we all worked on some christmas ornaments ..... dots and fuzz on glass ball ornaments ..... i'll show pics of those tomorrow ... some should be done and ready to snap .....

.... and this is my andy ..... grand husband and turkey chef .... i am SO lucky .....

i LOVE turkey on friday ..... a nice fat sandwich .... i had one for lunch ... and one for dinner!!! did you eat leftovers today? were they grand? did you art? did you shop? hope you had a happy day .......

thanksgiving day done......

..... with some mental strain, i figured out that a turkey takes 20 minutes per pound and that i was going to have four hours and forty minutes of cooking time ...... but ha, i never touched the turkey except at the grocery store .... and at the dinner table .... my husband ROCKS!!!! ..... and while that turkey was cooking, i had hours in my studio .... all three kids did some painting ... and my mom did lots of her own artsiness..... and i got LOADS of fab art time in .... as well as happy family time .... tra la la .... just what thanksgiving should be, is what my day was .... rrrrrrrp .... 'scuse me ..... too much pumpkin pie!

alas, my camera is on the other side of this room ...and i can't roll my stuffing stuffed self over there to get it ..... so instead .... i'll share with you some interesting sites that are apropos to blessings and gratitude and thankfulness ......

click away .... be happy ....

the thought provoking blog that started my web surfing on thanksgiving night

the salt monument ..... amazing look at the world's population .....

an amazing blog of a sharing artist......

you can go here and be a giver .....

do one nice thing .....

count your blessings!
hope your thanksgiving was joyful, happy and full ......
here's to a lovely tomorrow .....

happy thanksgiving ......

so..... i'm not much of a cook? do ya know that?
and this videio isn't actually of me .... a friend sent it to me ......
but let's pretend it's me ....
it's not too far from my truth!!!

is your turkey thawed for thanksgiving ... i think mine is .... well.... i hope mine is!!!

ahhhhhhh .... i had studio time today ...... i worked on six canvases simultaneously .... it is easier to do a bunch at a time ..... because, once i have out all the papers and get the gluing process going, it is just easier to keep going ..... then, whenever i want to paint, i have the preliminary steps of my backgrounds done ..... make sense?

so, these six canvases are 12 inches square .... my new "clock size" ..... my three kids have asked for clocks for christmas ..... drew specifically said he wanted a red clock and seemed disappointed that none of these were red ..... he knows they are clock size!! ... but, on a blue one, i will put red tight letters .... making it mostly red ..... aha!!! so one of them is his and he just doesn't know it .... tra la la ... i am so sneaky .....


here's today's happiness:


mom and the girls worked on the other side of my studio table while i was working on my collages ..... julia was working on a christmas tree on a canvas board .... she made a great red background ... made a tree out of a coolio groovy paper ... and added buttons for decorations ...... grandma was the hot glue gun supervisor ...... e6000 seems too too too toxic to let my little girls use it ....

.... and here are the six backgrounds i did ... all mosaiced up ...... ready to be the next thing that they are going to be ... three of them will be clocks ...what will the other three be? hmmmmmm

there's a lovely thing about getting a commission for art ... and an even lovelier thing when it is done .....

to take the best picture possible of art, this is what you should do:
-take the picture in indirect sunlight, or on a bright, cloudy day
-use a tripod
-carefully align art and camera so that when the photo is cropped, the corners are true .......

but, that would mean WAITING for the right lighting .....
or worse, NOT taking your pic at night .....

here's what i did .....
spent the morning finishing these commissioned (YIPPEEE) paintings .....
at 11, done with art, flew around my house in a frenzy doing the chores that should have been accomplished in a brisk three hours.... changed the sheets on j's bed which miraculously turned into the guest bed..... picked up things ALL over the house .... why do all these little people have MY messy gene???? ..... laundry, dishes, vacuum, straighten ..... tidy, tidy, tidy.... SHOWER my painty self, walk the dog ..... just in time for my kids to get home a bit before noon... HALF day of school, oh my! ..... out to lunch with a favorite girlfriend and her kids ...... home again, more tidying ..... hurry up and wait for the grandparents to arrive .... and they arrive!! unpack the car visit, make dinner, eat dinner, do dishes, eat cookies, send the children off to bathe and .....ahhhhhh .... sit down to the computer ... and say, oh, i should take pics of my art ..... i COULD have done it 8 hours ago in no time at all on my perfect no direct sunlight front porch ...... but no..... bring the art up to my kitchen ... turn on every single light...... put the camera on museum setting...i.e...no flash ....... no tripod ...wing and a prayer.... take the photos ... adjust them in iphoto (poorly!) ..... and there ya have it ..... these pics aren't very true colored ... but oh well .... sometimes a half way job has to be good enough!!!!

but...through all of that .... i finished these four paintings today ..... i'd been working on them all together tooooo long ..... and i am very happy with how they have turned out ......

one more thing to tick off my list!! rah .......
my parents are here ..... double rah ......
no school tomorrow... triple rah ......
are you having a happy week? hope so!

there are not enough hours in the day to do all the things i want and need to do but if something is going to fall to the wayside i hope it isn't this

my blogging is getting later and later at night .... ouch! what's a girl to do? i certainly don't want to skip a day if i can help it..... i'd worry that my two faithful readers might forget to come back ..... there are only two of you, right? oh...three ... four? what? there are 26 of you? well speak up!



going to pottery today was errand number fifty three thousand, six hundred and twenty two .... or three .... and this platter was ready for me to bring home .... i'm happy with how it turned out .... did you know that pottery is kind of a cross your fingers kind of thing? you do your best and cross your fingers, say a prayer, make a wish .... and hope it comes out of the kiln looking good ... and maybe even like you thought it would look ... this one looks good to me ...no problem spots ... but it did NOT turn out like i thought .... i didn't have the glaze thick enough apparently .... it is not green like i wanted ... so, i glazed another one today .... and used this same glaze THICK THICK THICK... now i run the risk that it'l be goopy and get bubbled or fogged or something wretched .... so ... i like this one because it came out attractive and functional .... will see what happens to the next one .....

my mom and dad are coming tomorrow!! yippee, i am lucky ..... even better than just having them here: my mom is an artist so we'll be playing in my studio ... yippeeeeee....

can you believe i didn't blog yesterday? are you mad at me? i don't know what happened!!

hooray ... my order came in from jerry's artarama .... it actually came in quite a few days ago ... and all these HUGE boxes sat in my front hall for a couple days.... but now they are unboxed and put away (more or less) in my studio ...... ready to be fabulous .... i have about six clocks to make for christmas time ... three orders ... three gifts for my three kids .... if time gets crunchy i'll just give them clocks i already made ... but i hope to make them specifically for each child ...... then the other canvases? who knows what they'll be! i have this idea in my head that i need to do some more heart art before the new year ... in the hopes that it will sell for valentine's ...... i have done lots of heart art and it always sells very well.... here's a link to my flickr set of lots of heart art ....here's my flickr heart art set..... which is your favorite ? let me know and i'll do more in that style!

... these christmas ornaments were a serendipity find .... very inexpensive at a drug store ... they are glass .....over thanksgiving the kids and i (hopefully) will paint and fuzz these up for their teacher gifts ..... most years, there is a collection for teacher gifts .... but i'd rather teach my kids about giving and make something ..... how bout you? do you have teacher gifts to figure out? this is an easy one! ... it could be neighbor gifts or girlfriend gifts too ......

i did have artsiness today .... my class this mornng was good.... in particular i used watercolor crayons ... that are just lovely to play with ...... i also spent a bit of time in my studio ... but not until after dinner .....

between church, sunday school, THANKSGIVING grocery shopping, and a meeting .... my day was FULLLLLLL ....

here's a funny grocery shopping thing .... i spent more today in ONE shopping trip than i have EVER spent on a grocery trip .... so, i came home and had everyone guess how much i had spent .... and andy's guess was 61 cents off .... less than a dollar!!! i was amazed and astonished .... and KNOW he didn't cheat cause the receipt was in my pocket .....
what are you doing for thanksgiving..... have you bought your turkey yet?

gobble gobble ....

there's hardly ever anything bad about a friday .... fridays are such a happy hopeful day of happy anticipation of what the weekend will bring ....

i picked up these two platters today while i was at pottery ..... did you read yesterday's post? yes, i wore all brown .... yes, i had white letter stickers on my shirt that said UPS ..... yes, i was one of MANY dressed as a UPS delivery guy ....and yes, i brought my snack offering in a brown box like a delivery ..... but back to the platters ..... i made these with a roller that i'm sure i mentioned in my blog .... and i glazed them each with green glazes ..... the top one is celadon with transparent green splashes.... the second is transparent green with emu green .... i glazed another, which didn't make it out of the kiln yet ... and i made others that haven't come out yet as bisque to be glazed ...YET .....

and this.... this is an angel ... larger than the angels i've been making ..... i made four of them ..... different heights and fatness and wing positions ..... i think i could just make angels for the rest of forever and be happy ..... but i'll try to stay creative and make other stuff too ... but i really like angels!