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Wednesday, December 31, 2008

Sit Long- Talk Much - Laugh A Lot

Relaxing over New Years

I will be taking a blog break over New Years and would like to take this opportunity to wish everyone a safe, relaxing and joyous New Year.

Bentley is also taking a break!



Blessings and Happy New Year, Erin

Sunday, December 14, 2008

Gifts from the Garden

A recent trip to my friend Kathy's garden at The Vintage Lady (see previous blog for address )inspired me to put together some last minute gifts from my own garden.

A small flowering plant placed inside a bird cage makes an adorable and simple gift from her garden.



Kathy designs these adorable signs and commissions an artist to paint them.




A little spruce tree tied with a big red bow makes a lovely gift from the garden.

Last Minute Gifts from my garden.

If you are not a gardener, or if your garden is snowed in for the winter, you can still give a last minute garden gift. Beautiful and inexpensive plants can be purchased from your local nursery or grocery store. Pots of ivy or topary, rosemary trees, paper whites , pots of herbs or other green plants make great gifts that will be enjoyed throughout the year.



The addition of a red check bow and little red berries add a festive touch to the ivory topiary.


A little red chair with a tin container for planting makes the perfect container for an ivy topiary decorated with bow and little red bird.



A little rosemary plant trimmed in the shape of a Christmas tree makes a great little gift for a friend who likes to cook.

A little hand painted sign and red berries placed in a pot of ivy dress the pot up for Christmas.



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Bentley waiting to go inside after helping with last minute gifts from our garden.
Thank you to my new blog friends for your comments and words of encouragement to me in starting my blog. Wishing you and your loved ones a wonderful Christmas filled with blessings and may all the joys of Season be yours.

Saturday, December 6, 2008

Looking for Vintage Pink Christmas Inspiration



Vintage Lady

Let's take a little tour of Old Town Tustin looking for pink vintage Christmas inspiration for a pink "Snow lady Greeter" . This will be a special tour for Sandra who is going through the final phase of treatment for breast cancer. Sandra loves pink roses and romantic and shabby chic style. My sister, Leslie, and I met her almost a year ago as a result of a comment she made on a blog , that touched our hearts, about her love for roses and all things beautiful and romantic. I am a seven year breast cancer survivor and we knew that we wanted to get in touch with her by e-mail to be there for her throughout her entire journey. During the past year we have gotten to know and love Sandra as our own sister.



Old Tustin, California is a very charming and historical town located about ten miles from the Southern California coast where I live. One of my favorite vintage shops is located there - The Vintage Lady where one shops in a real home and garden setting in a historical building located in the heart of the town.

Kathy, owner of The Vintage Lady is a talented Gardner and teaches "Make It and Take" it classes in her charming garden located behind her store. Even though her garden is not in full bloom this time of year, there were lots of delightful pink garden inspirations to be found, including some climbing pink roses.




Finding Inspiration





Here . . . . . . . .
There . . . . . .


Everywhere . . . . .




434 El Camino Real, Old Town Tustin, CA
714 731-0422


Kathy's shop is located inside a charming little cottage and is equally as delightful as her garden. We will tour her shop on a later post.




Now let's stop by Debra's Cottage to look for more pink and inspirational snow ladies.


With all of our inspiration it's time to paint a shabby pink snow lady greeter for Sandra and one for you.


The snow lady door greeters are so easy to make and will take you about one hour to complete. I like to use a square canvas - 5X5 is the best size for a door greeter, however, you can use any size you want, and can also make them out of wood. Michael's Craft store is a great place to buy art supplies. They also have wood boards in all sizes.

Pick a color for your background. I paint with acrylic paints as they are non toxic and easy to clean up. I used two coats of Folk Art #438 Ballet Pink. After your canvas is dry, draw a circle for the head and add a top hat - or any kind of hat you want. Then draw a carrot for the nose and a mouth and eyes.








Now you can start painting - you will need several coats for the white snow face and body- note I used a little lavender on the side of the face for some shading since snow is not pure white, however, yours will look just as cute with pure white. Paint the top hat crimson - you can use red for the first coat and then mix in some white for the second coat in order to get a nice pink hat. Paint your scarf any color you like - I think it looks nice to paint the hat and scarf the same color.



Now for the fun part - putting on the finishing touches of your snow lady. Highlight the top of her hat by mixing white with your red or crimson. Paint the two black circles for her eyes (I put eyelashes on my lady) and a dot of white in the center of her eye. Paint a happy mouth and mix a little red and white to paint circles for her cheeks.

The final step is to paint some shabby roses on her hat and scarf. After your paint is dry -add snow flakes. This is the tricky part - thoroughly wet your brush and dip it into your white paint - make sure your brush is really wet with water- then splatter the paint onto your canvas by hitting the handle of the brush (my sister suggested using a tooth brush for this) - this will fling the paint all over the canvas to create the look of snow. CAUTION - this is very messy - I put the painting in the bottom of my kitchen sink to do this -better yet - take it outside. The last step is to add screw eyes on the back of the canvas and tie with a bow.


Finished Snow Lady greeter




Here is another idea for a Snow Lady Greeter wearing a different hat.
If you have any questions about painting your Snow Lady Greeter, please leave me a comment and I will be happy to answer your questions. Have a lovely week

Please keep Sandra in your thoughts and prayers during this joyous holiday season. We are looking forward to Sandra starting her own blog next year.

Sunday, November 30, 2008

It's Beginning to Look Like Christmas

My front door with snowman greeter


It's beginning to look like Christmas around my house. The day after Thanksgiving is one of my favorite days to start decorating for the holidays. This year I painted snowmen greeters to hang on my front door as well as to give to my friends as gifts. These happy snowmen will bring holiday cheer to my front porch and to all who see them.





Take a little break, pour yourself a cup of tea and let's take a little tour of Debra's Cottage for some holiday inspiration for painting a happy little "snowman greeter" for your holiday door. I will give you a quick how to lesson on painting your very own snowman greeter.








Finding Inspiration at Debra's Cottage . . . . .




Here . . . . . . . .

There . . . . . .


Everywhere . . . .


How to paint a snowman door greeter.


The snowmen door greeters are so easy to make and will take you about one hour to complete. I like to use a square canvas - 5 X 5 is the best size for the door greeter. You can also use a 5X5 square of plywood. Michael's Craft store is a great place to buy art supplies. They also have pre cut wood boards in all sizes.

Pick a color to use as your background - I paint with acrylic paints as they are not toxic and water based (means easy to clean up ) and used FolkArt #922 -Bayberry. Draw a circle for the head and add a top hat - or any kind of hat you want on your snowman. Then draw a carrot for the nose and a mouth and eyes.




Now you can start painting - you will need several coats of white for the snow - note that I used some lavender on the sides of the face since snow is not pure white. This will give him a more "painterly" look, however; he will look just as cute with pure white. Paint the top hat black and the scarf any color you want. Paint the area under the scarf white for the body.



Now for the fun part - putting the finishing touches on your snowman. Put a little white with your black to add high lights to the hat. Paint two black circles for the eyes and a happy mouth. Mix a little red and white to make pink and paint the round cheeks to complete the happy look. Paint your scarf any color - I used red and green to match my front door and added a little red ribbon and holly on the hat. The last step is to add the snow flakes. Thoroughly wet your paint brush and dip it into the white paint - make sure your brush has lots of water - then splatter the paint onto your canvas by hitting the handle of your brush - this will fling the paint all over your canvas to create the look of snow. CAUTION - this is very messy - I put the painting in the bottom of my kitchen sink to do this or better yet - take it outside. The last step is to add screw eyes on the back of the canvas and tie with a bow.

This is what the screw eyes on back look like. They are very simple to screw in and then thread your ribbon through and tie a bow.
Completed snowman greeter.


Please feel free to leave me a comment if you have any questions about making your snowman greeter. Next time we will paint a pink "shabby chic" snowlady greeter.

Saturday, November 22, 2008

Happy Thanksgiving




Thanksgiving is almost upon us and I have been busy in my kitchen this weekend baking pumpkin bread and cookies for my family and friends. My kitchen smells yummy and I am reminded of how thankful I am for family traditions and how much I treasure my family and friends.


As I look around my kitchen, sipping a cup of tea while waiting for cookies to bake, I am reminded of how much the simple, every day objects in my life serve as inspirations for my paintings. My kitchen is a happy place ;filled with southern light all throughout the day with blue and white check curtains blowing in the breeze and filled with my treasured collections of roosters.

Finding Inspiration . . . . . . Here . . . . . .




There . . . . . . . .
If you look close, you can see roosters on my chandlier and on plates in the plate rack.

Everywhere . . . . . . .




Bentley, my Studio Assistant, waiting for the cookies to come out of the oven!





With all of the roosters for inspiration, I decided to paint roosters while waiting for the cookies to bake.




I painted two small roosters and added eye hooks so they can be hung with a ribbon on a door nob in my kitchen.


Next I sketched out a "welcome rooster" painting that I will hang outside the French door to my kitchen. I like to sketch with a fabric marker instead of a pencil (pencils tend to smear and I prefer the marker). Next I started filling in the dark feathers on the rooster. I paint the darks first and then paint the lights and finish with highlights.


The cookies are done and I am off to deliver pumpkin bread to friends. I will show you Mr. welcome rooster completed on a later post.


Wishing you and your family blessings during this season of Thanksgiving.