Come Along Home

Look at me!  I maintained my focus long enough to make four pieces of 

art that all go together.

Sure, they're all pretty small...but still.

I just listed them (separately) over in my shop.

Sorry, but this one already sold. 

It was fun working with so much color.

I'm also working on a much larger custom piece.

I'll be showing some pictures of it soon. 

In the mean time, here's the rest of these:

"HOME"

"THE JOURNEY HOME"

"A HAPPY TREE"

Also thought I'd share some more photos of our porch progress.

We now have columns, railings, and the beginnings of some steps!

I really hope that we will be able to paint the house before it gets cold.

I'm not sure that even a good power washin' is going to get rid of that "ghost column"!

Okay.  More soon. Bye.

Made

I made this yesterday.

But, more importantly, the porch guys made these!

They came back and installed the third one today, but they are already gone for

the day due to rain.:(

More on Monday!

The Key to Happiness

That's the name of the painting.  

Not sure that I really know "the key", but I do have a pretty good list at this point in my life

 of things that make me happy.

One of them is certainly that little white dog.  Making her painting debut!

Really her brown spot is on the other side.  Artistic license.

This one isn't quite done. I still have to paint the sides.  

I almost painted over the whole thing, but once I changed the girl's dress (and gave her a neck)

I decided she was presentable.  And I REALLY did not want to paint over that puppy.

And here's something else that I'm happy about this week.

We are finally getting a new porch!

If you recall we had just got the permit to start rebuilding it when

Mike lost his job.  That was back in June 2009.

At this point the supports holding up the roof have weathered to a nice patina.

But it won't be long before they are gone for good.

Here is the progress so far:

Day ONe: Old porch removed

As you can see, the next thing we are going to have to do is paint the house.

Can't have the porch all new and shiny and the house all dirty and dingy. :(

Day Two:  New floorboards

Sounds like Day Three is starting out there right now.  I can't wait to see

what the accomplish today.

 I'll keep you posted.

Updated at 11:30ish am

Sides are painted.

And she's living in my shop.

Ahhh, the things you will see at the Butterfly Ball

"The Belle of the Butterfly Ball by DudaDAze"

I dream of a grand hall with a sparkly chandelier

Hanging Garden Chandelier by tiquelight

Precious floral china upon which

Salisbury Bone China by maggiemaevintage

cupcakes will be served.

Edible Butterflies by CakesbyChristi

Music will play

1920 Redheaded French Flapper matted Sheet Music by SusabellaBrownstein

Fancy drinks will be served

Goblet Set by JosephineMarchons

And the smell of expensive perfume will fill the air.

Vintage French Perfume Bottle and  Atomizer by vintageperfume

The girls will be wearing the most beautiful dresses

Vintage Cocktail dress by SpoonbreadVintEdge

Vintage white dress with pink trim from muffyscloset

And everywhere you look

BUTTERFLIES

Stunning Butterfly Hair comb by sofisticata

Autumn Butterfly Mask by artisanmaskers

Autumn Monarch Tiara by mairzydozy

What a grand time we'll have at the Butterfly BAll

Madame De Pompadour French Art Print by CafeBaudelaire

a bit tattered...

...but still quite lovely.

I was just playing around, but I think I may add it to my shop.

Speaking of tattered/distressed, I painted my dining room table.  Again.

I really love the color.  And good thing because although we asked for a quart the sales girl 

 mixed up a gallon

We chose not to say anything.  No need to ruin a nice young girl's day. :)

Anywho.  It looked like this for awhile.

But it was a bit too bright for my liking.

Just a light wash of brown and it's just right. 

Now.  What to do with 3/4 of a gallon that's left???

9/11/11

I'm proud to be an American.

Opening Night

TOOT TOOT

The sound you hear is me...

...tooting my own horn.

Sorry, but I am thrilled to have my Take My Hand, Little Monkey print

featured on the pages of Pregnancy and Newborn Magazine's Fall 2011 Buyer's Guide

I was contacted a few months ago about sending them prints but
didn't find out until yesterday that I'd actually been included.
Can't wait to hold a hard copy!

And as a bonus, I woke up today to find that "Being Ourselves"
was featured on Cuteable today.

The original is still in my shop.
Here they are hanging out with George and J.P. DuVall on
my dining room mantle.

and closer.

This background was so easy.  I see more like it in my future. :)

Okay, all done.

See ya soon!

A funny thing happened...

...while I was trying to come up with a background

color for my new frog painting.

I sat down and painted a whole 'nother completely

different painting. :)

"Being Ourselves"

It will be in my shop in the blink of an eye.

(or a wiggle of the nose if you prefer)

I'm back to add this to Illustration Friday for this week's prompt:

Boundaries

The look so much alike you can barely tell where one witch ends and the other begins. :)

It's the 7th day of September

I've been doing a lot of sketching.
Witches,

Frogs,

Witches holding frogs.

You get the idea.  Hopefully today is the day I get some of these transferred to canvas.

We had ourselves a very good, very full holiday weekend.

South Park Ribfest on Saturday with family

 and Flyght.

It was ridiculously hot and humid.

Unfortunately, this will go down in history as Flyght's last show.

After the show they decided to go their separate ways.

It's very sad, but I guess we all saw it coming.

Hopefully they will all end up just where they are supposed to be. :)

Sunday was spent in the company of lots 'o Duda's.

Reunion day started out sunny, though thankfully nowhere near as hot as Saturday.

Fewer people than usual, but still a good showing.

The Rex Duda bunch (sporting gray t-shirts...mostly) claimed their usual

spot under the trees. They provided good cover when the rain started.

For those of us who chose not to participate in this activity, that is:

Leave it to Mike to always come prepared...this time with a GIANT piece of plastic

that he's been saving for the last 6 years... for just such an occasion.

I missed getting a group shot photo, but here is Mike's Dad, Uncle Pete, and Aunt Donna.

(Powitanie means Welcome in Polish.  We looked it up.) 

Then on Monday I turned forty-freakin'-seven. Gah!

I didn't break the camera out that day.

I do wish I would have taken a picture of Mike grillin' in the rain.

Everyone gathered at my mom's for lots of food and indoor fun including a "How I Met Your Mother" marathon, and several rounds of Telestrations.

So that was our weekend.

Hope you had as much fun as I did. 

Back to work!