CHANGES ARE A COMIN'!

I am going to be changing a couple things on my blog in the near future. Nothing huge. I am happy with my blog over all. And lets be real, my blog changing skills are limited. The changes will mostly be the way I post. Some days I want to post ten times while other times I dont post for weeks. I thought that categorizing my posts would help. For example I would have a post strictly about a work in progress (WIP) or a post solely about a favorite or new art supply or the occasional post about a show or sale. This will make quick posts easy and multiple posts less overwhelming and jumbled. It will also help me (and others that dare) search for certain things among previous posts. So, if you could care less about anything other than where a show will be at, you wont have to sift through all my babble! Like this paragraph! Anyway, in the next day or so that will take place.

Now I cant bore you with a paragraph like that last one without leaving you with some cuteness:
My Mom gave me this sweet little felted bird for Christmas. She picked it up on our little trip to Middlebury this past October at a store called Sweet Cecily which is jam packed with adorable gifts and utilitarian goodies. If you need a special birthday gift or if you want to find a gift for everyone on your holiday shopping list, I suggest checking them out. Or hell, even if you just want something unique and adorable for yourself! The picture does not do the bird justice so trust me when I say it is cute as all hell! Thanks Mom!

Where did Friday and Saturday go?!

Laundry is spinning around in my washer and my dishes are getting a nice hot steamy bath so Im grabbing a minute to type up this post. Later I hope to put on the painting clothes and relax but for now I am cleaning up after a hellish week at work and trying to prepare for another hellish work week ahead. Im sure you know about THOSE weeks. But on to the fun things....

Look what arrived on my doorstep one very snowy evening:
I had been waiting for this package from Paypaya for a couple weeks. My friend Georgia gifted me the most amazing Sabrina Ward Harrison art journal from Paypaya for Christmas. I had wanted one of those journals for almost a year but it didnt give detail on the type of paper and I just couldnt bring myself to indulge in one for myself. Georgia and I both love Sabrina's books and she ordered one up for me. Not only was the cover gorgeous but the paper is crazy thick and the journal is super thick but opens nicely. I knew right away that I would stress about using that gorgeous journal unless I got another one. I know, it is a sickness but at least I know myself. Confident that I love them, I dared to order one and I lucked out with free shipping! Ofcourse even the label is beautiful but then I opened the hefty box to see this:I am a sucker for gorgeous packaging! My picture taking skills do not do the tissue or glossy label justice. I strongly suggest hopping over to Papaya right now and ordering yourself up some of these:

Stunning artwork in beautiful art journal form. I will warn you that regular shipping seems very very slow (even if you pay for it) from here but it is very much worth the wait.

I found some chipboard ornaments while holiday shopping. I did not get a chance to tackle them until after the holiday season but who says they have to be 'holiday' ornaments? I made them winter themed instead. One is going to my mother or she will kill me but the other is up for sale. I am only posting it here on my blog and maybe facebook. Otherwise this little guy gets put away until late in the art show season next year!

I did not think to take a picture sooner but above you see they are about 2/3 of the way done. Smaller work can be very time consuming but lately the small projects have been the easiest to varnish and complete due to the Vermont weather. What do you other Vermont artists do in the cold snowy months when it is time to varnish a piece?

The final stage before varnishing:

A close up after two coats of varnish:

And on the other side you have YellowDog's cousin BrownDog!

I did a ton of cleaning in my small upstairs studio. I am not done but life is so much easier with space to move around and clean work surfaces to work on. So I am flying back and forth between my computer and my painting table lately and it disturbs my studio helped immensely. She would prefer I stay in one spot and in arms length of her. Below you will see the look I am getting a lot lately. Notice she has her own basket. She loves boxes and baskets so by designating this basket as hers (and filling it with her favorite crinkly paper), I keep her out of projects in progress with wet paint and glue. For the most part anyway!

Stay warm!

Oi! So much to catch up on!

So much is going on and so much is coming up. How about a quick catch up before I start in on the upcoming news? I may not have kept up with my blogging but I did take lots of pictures!

My last show/sale of 2010 was the Home Fur the Holidays event at Play Dog Play in December. It was an amazing show for me. I lowered prices on a large number of items and gave lots of surprise bargains to shoppers and it lead to lots of my pieces finding new homes, shoppers getting affordable gifts and the HSCC getting three times the donation from my table compared to last year! It was win-win-win!! I feel so much better about my donation this year. Check out some of the items below. Most were completed just in time for the show.

This is my first YellowDog bank. I was so exctied when I saw this blank wood banks. Surprisingly it took me forever to decide what to actually paint on them. This is the only bank I completed! I did way too much thinking and way too little painting. But I love how it came out. This Citron Green by FolkArt takes four coats to look good but then it looks soooo good. There is a BrownDog with bone on the other side of the bank. Book ends coming soon!

My new favorites! These little 5" x 7" pieces are so much fun to make and I just love the look of them. So simple but the colors are great and the new version of YellowDog has such a sweet little face. Two have found new homes and one is on its way to a new home. I have already started some new ones. I might even keep one myself. A first for me!

Here is a shot of some of my brand new holiday/winter cards. These were fun to make and keep an eye out for some new Valentine's Day cards. They are recycled kraft stock with ink, graphite and oil pencil.

Meet Lous! Isnt he adorable. He had surgery not long before this photo and you cant even tell. Look at that face! He (and his wonderful owners Kim and Chad!) came all the way from NY to visit. I looked forward to their visit for a couple weeks!

The show at PDP was wonderful but tiring. Very very tiring. I treated myself to a red velvet cupcake from Nibble or Nosh. I waited all day to eat that cupcake.

Ok, enough for tonight but I have more pics and news to share so til' tomorrow....

nighty night!