Environmental Fair...

I am super excited about taking part in this event. It will be the first time in five years that I sell my items somewhere other than the Internet.

Much of the art I create is eco friendly. My drawings are usually completed on some type of recycled material, whether it is an old book page, a paper bag, or scraps of paper. I buy most of my materials for my collages at flea markets, the Salvation Army, Goodwill, or by begging family for things they are throwing or giving away. Everything from the canvases I paint on to the thread I use, to the materials I usually pack my sold pieces in are recycled. I have also decided when I order my new cards, envelopes, and card stock that they will be all made out of recycled materials. I love trees and if while creating my art I can save a few that would be amazing!

I have a lot of pieces I still want to create for the show including some jewelry featuring prints of my art, painting a few larger pieces including a vintage phone stand and headboard, some fall paintings, recycled paper ornaments and gift tags. I really need to get my butt in gear.

I hope everyone a safe and green Wednesday.

Rooster Loves Chicken Banner ...

Here are a few pictures of my newest art banner.

New Finds...

Yesterday was a beautiful day at the flea market. The sun was shining, there was a comfortable breeze, and there were so many wonderful vintage things to look at.




I think these beautiful old hangers will be perfect to display Christmas ornaments or gift tags on at art shows.

For awhile I have been wanting to create some jewelry featuring prints of my art. I want to use vintage beads to create the necklaces. I found some pretty vintage necklaces at the flea market yesterday.

If you look at my art you probably know I love birds especially owls. Yesterday I found some adorable owl pieces.

This beautiful cast iron owl was only a $1.00.

These fun owls are a little warn and have been glued more than once but I think they are too cute. They were also only $1.00!

This unique owl vase was also a $1.00!

I saw this and pictured a colorful owl painted on it. I think it will make a wonderful canvas for my art.

If you are looking for more unique and fun vintage stop over and visit Coloradolady for Vintage Thingie Thursday.

Out in the Woods …

This past weekend we packed up the kids and dog for a fun trip into the woods of northern Pennsylvania. My husband has recently become a member of his 92 year old grandfathers hunting club. Michael is not a hunter and he really does not enjoying being outdoors, but it was very special and important to his grandfather that he become a member. He has been up a couple of times with his grandfather and father for work weekends and “hunting” outings. Because he is a member he owns part of the hunting cabin and can go up and use it whenever it is free.

I knew sort of what I was getting into because I had heard stories about the cabin. We arrived in the dark so my first impression was the smell and a mounted ram and deer head in the living room, not the best first impression ever. I kept thinking keep an open mind. When we woke up and I looked outside my first impression quickly disappeared and was replaced with how beautiful everything was. The scenery was breathtaking. Everything smelled so clean and it was so quiet and peaceful. As for the cabin it has running water, electricity, and air conditioners in the sleeping quarters, after driving around and seeing how some people rough it in the woods this place is like the Hilton.

The weekend was full of hiking, fishing, and exploring. It really is a beautiful place. We hunted for toads and crayfish in the stream. Saw a bear, a couple of tiny snakes, and a few beautiful hawks. Everywhere you looked there was something amazing to see. Michael has discovered he loves to fish and finds it very relaxing. He caught a couple of rainbow trout and a brown trout. Yours truly also caught a beautiful rainbow trout, I wanted to throw it back but Michael wouldn’t let me. I can’t kill bugs let alone a fish, I felt so guilty.

I would love to go back in October and experience it all over again when the leaves are bursting with color.

What a find …

A couple of months ago I was contacted through Etsy by a women to see if I would be interested in taking part in an environmental fair in September. I have not participated in any type of art or craft fair in over five years. I have wanted to do a show but because of my little angels I have not had the time to get enough inventory together to do anything but Etsy.
My plan after Abigail starts kindergarten next year is to throw myself into my art full time. And along with building my online presence and placing art in local galleries I want to travel the east coast and do a couple of art fairs. I would love to travel to New England or down south to sell my art. Since beginning to sell my art online I have sold more items to people who live below the Mason-Dixon Line than anywhere else. Maybe somewhere very deep, deep inside me I have a little southern bell. If I told my husband that he would just laugh at me.

So back to the environmental fair, I have decided that it would be a great show to get my feet wet. It is only four hours, 12 to 4 which are great hours, the set up time is not at 6 in the morning which is a plus, it is Free, and it seems like a great event to go out and share my art. Since I have decided to definitely do the fair I have been racking my brain to come up with a fabulous but easy, unique but easy, eye catching but easy way to display my art and be able to set it up by myself.

I came up with the idea to display my cards and some of my paintings in vintage suitcases. My thought was I could safely transport the art in the suitcases and then when I got to the show I could pop them open and quickly arrange the cards in a nice display. I had found some vibrant and funky suitcases on Etsy and the prices were reasonable but when you factored in the shipping they were a little to steep. On Monday the kids and I had a bunch of running to do so I decided to stop at Goodwill and the Salvation Army to see if they had any vintage suitcases. The first stop was Goodwill that is where I found the cute green suitcase with the pretty green ribbon inside. It was marked $3.99, I thought that was a great price. The suitcase is a fabulous green; it is very clean and pretty on the inside. Next was the Salvation Army. The first suitcase I found was another green one. It was in great shape and it was only $2.99. Then I spotted this huge white suitcase on the top rack. I thought it would be perfect to hang banners in or display paintings. I stood on my tip toes and pulled it down, it was really heavy. When I opened it I had a big surprise, stuffed in the big suitcase was two smaller ones. A little blue one and one of the fabulous flowered ones I had been searching for. None of the suitcases were marked with a price. When I went to check out the store manager gave me all three for $6.99, I was so excited what a find. The flowered suitcase is a little weathered but it is perfect for a display piece at a show. So for $13.97 I found five fabulous suitcases to be part of my show display.

Along with the suitcases I have also found some great pieces to use in my display including, a beautiful old table, sides from a baby crib, old fence, ironing boards, and an old dresser that I am going to paint a flamingo pink! I have a month to get some amazing pieces completed and I am excited about the ideas I have. If all goes well I am hoping to do a couple of small shows before the holidays.

Oh, before I go I also wanted to show another fun find. I purchased these pretty pictures at Goodwill for only .97 cents.

Also I am joining Colorado Lady for Vintage Thingie Thursday. There are always some wonderful vintage finds over on her site and today a recipe for Pink Cake! http://coloradolady.blogspot.com/
Have a great week!

A Barn Owl, a Pumpkin, and a Blue Crescent Moon ...

Here is my latest Halloween Card. The original art was created on a vintage book page. I first stained the paper with watered down orange acrylic paint. Once it was dry I drew the fun Halloween scene with colored pencil, pastel, and ink.

Rainbow Rooster in Florescent Pink Vintage Frame ...

Cheery, colorful, bright, vibrant, and glittery are a few adjectives Noah came up with to describe my latest creation. My newest piece of art is made up of recycled and vintage materials. The frame and sequences I purchased at a flea market, one of the books I used was purchased at the Salvation Army, the other was a book our local library was giving away, and the thread was part of a purchase from a vintage shop on Etsy.

Before I started creating the art piece I dyed some of the book pages. I mixed a little acrylic paint with water and hung the wet sheets from the laundry line to dry. After the pages were dry I sewed together the light teal sky and drew the fabulous flowers with a black marker.

The cheery rooster was created with vintage book pages, recycled card stock, pastels, colored pencil, and pen.

All the different parts of the collage have been sewed with vintage thread and glittery sequence.

The pretty vintage frame was originally painted gold. I repainted with a fun florescent pink.



I love creating collages, there are so many possibilities.




Here are the beautiful flowers and colors that inspired this rainbow colored piece of art.

Sunflowers ...

Zinnias and Black Eyed Suzannes ...

Coneflowers ...

Morning Glories ...

Impatiens ...

and Cosmos ...