100th post...lots of new work

Scott and London and Sugar bunny and Douglas all chillin - they are the best!

Yes, I finally made it to my 100th post, slowly but surely. I thought for this post I would put up a few new pieces I have completed. I have always seemed to work in spurts and the past few days have been very productive (...now if some of it would just sell- LOL). I have as of right now 372 items in my shop. Now many of those are prints of sold originals or favorite images. Acutally, probably a little more then half of the items in my shop are prints of my originals...but still...super full shop!

I just finished this one above and named it "A Thousand Kisses" it is fabric on wood and really is so vibrant in person. I must admit, I think it is a new favorite. I have really had the best time building up my stash of green fabrics. It gives me great pleasure to pair up various greens and somehow having them work well together. I will never stop making these fabric pieces and that makes me Happy!

Below is a little piece called "Tall Grass" and it is fabric on wood. We have been living in our house here in Lancaster for 3 years now and have yet to have more then a few small strips of grass. We have so many trees that they have created quite the natural space and with Scott always working and me always running around with London it just seems to stay more natural then anything. Someday we will get our grassy yard back but it could be some time and I just will continue to make grass pieces until then. My dream grass is the kind that is soft and you can roll around in it. In the winter it turns brown but always comes back green in the spring. Not sure what it is called.

More Kitchen pieces! I seem to sell my breakfast pieces pretty well and had sold out of almost all the originals so I decided to stock the shelves again.
Here is another "Kiss my Grits-Blue" I added the blue twist and rearranged things a bit from the first 2 grits pieces I made.

"Tea" original fabric on wood

"Waffles" (with blueberries) - finally I got around to making some waffles, thought it was only fitting since I have made a few pancakes already.

Finally sometimes I just want to draw on the wood. This particular piece had such nice wood grains coming through I just could not cover them up with fabric.
"The Mountains were Calling" colored pencil on wood

Hope everyone's summer is going well. I will be headed to the mountains in a few weekends and can't wait to get a little bit of that cool, crisp air!

Portrait Sketching

Did a quick little sketch of London the other day. I seriously sat down for about 7 minutes and sketched quickly but some of the detail was lost when scanned in b/c I used light pencil. I used to take a sketch book with me everywhere and draw strangers, friends or honestly anyone who would sit still long enough. Thinking I need to get that skill back as it has been a while and I miss it. Sometime it is like switching gears to go from fabric on wood to painting to portrait drawing to digitally coloring thing (which I am not very good at).
This is the first of many..I hope. :)

And about my poor digital coloring skills and lack of photoshop knowledge...anyone have any Wacom Tablet suggestions. I have been eying them on ebay lately and really think I just want to get a small one to begin (unless I can get a good deal on a medium one). The mouse just isn't cutting it. I have so many drawing that I want to turn digital but with my sketchy style of drawing there always seem to be white spots where there are not suppose to be. I am open to any suggestions and hope I can get one soon so I can begin playing around. Also, I want to start creating patterns and things so that I can have some fabrics made on www.spoonflower.com
If you have not checked out spoonflower yet...it is the coolest little place and I can not wait to order some fabrics. I do not think that I will sell any...just use them in my own fabric on wood work - al least that is the plan for now.

I have a new friend...featuring Zeustones

How sweet and detailed and incredible are all these? I have made a new etsy friend who lives far far away in what sounds like an enchanting, magical place just north of the Aegean Sea.
Her name is Fusun and she is so talented and lovely that I wanted to bring her work to anyone who has not had the pleasure of seeing it yet. Her shop name is Zeustones on etsy.

Here is how she makes her work....

"I use more than one type of paint in almost all of them ; acrylic, sketch marker, porcelaine paint, archival ink, crayon, permanent marker, x-ray marker, coffee, berry juices etc. I seal them with the appropriate warnish or system. They will stay as they are for many years without fading as I use the best quality of materails. But they may not be suitable to leave under sun or washed with strong detergants, as natural materials tend to fade."

WOW!

Hopefully someday I will commission her to make a set of knobs for me. I can imagine them on a dresser or my kitchen cabinets.

If you want to be swept away stop by Fusun's brilliant shop. You can find this little stone HERE and peek around to find the others..each one is a treasury for sure.

Summer...

"Family, Love" Here is a custom 16" x 20" fabric on wood piece I just finished. It was ordered by the bride who is getting married this month and will be surprising her family. I hope it goes over well and it feels good to know that somehow I was part of her special day. She will be getting married in the Adirondacks, which just sounds amazing and having a lake with a dock in the piece was very important to her. I had to rework things a few times but in the end I think it turned out quite nice! I really love custom orders and fulfilling someone else's vision.

So I have been eyeing this Owlie Owl toddler sized backpack for a while now. I just ordered it so it has not arrived yet but I can only imagine it is going to be perfect for London this fall as he will be going back to the same preschool 2 mornings a week. You can find one for your child here in bratsacksbaby's shop. She makes her things from salvaged and recycled fabrics...which means they are truely all one of a kind and eco-friendly! I think this is the coolest thing and if you look at her sales and feedback you will see she has many many happy customers!

Since Summer is here London and I have been going to the pool almost everyday. As soon as I chase him down with the sunblock...he starts saying "Gutter Gutter Gutter" b/c he is just fascinated with them for some reason. It has been hot and sticky out and the mesquetios eat the heck out of us when we play in the yard, so the pool has been a lifesaver!

Here is London in his sunglasses which we have yet to take with us to the pool. He likes to wear them in the house and flip the lights on and off.

(yep armed with an aquadoodle pen- hee hee)

Stay cool and have fun!!!

Simple little Treasure

So last week I was the lucky winner of an awesome and generous giveaway on Zuda Gay's Blog . I was the first to comment and I guess that #1 was the super lucky #!
The above picture is me wearing my new piece that she basically custom made for me. It came yesterday and wow what a little treasure it is. I have always adored Zuda's work but in person I can't even begin to explain how lovely and unique her work is. I will be adorning myself with this necklace probably at ever occasion I can think of as I am sure it will be quite the topic of conversation.
Now below are a few other pieces in her shop now...but if you see one you like you best get it quick b/c they go fast...and how could they not!

This one is just breath taking! I love the soft aqua blue green and can just imagine this would be stunning in the summer.
You can find this one here it is called

Softly in Green Flower Focal

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I love all her red and maroon ones too. Here is another to drool over! It is in Zuda's shop here and is called
It's Red Dalia Focal Flower

And of course here is another beauty...here and it is called Striking
FLower Focal Bead

One more pic of me with my new necklace on....thank you again Zuda, you are a real sweetheart! Please stop by her shop if you get a chance...it will be worth your time!

ZudaGay's Shop