Giveaways you won't want to miss!

These are two exceptional giveaways that you won't want to miss.

Go visit sweet Rainey from Dublin known as Josie Baggley Co and see her  giveaway that ends April 4th... so hurry hurry! You won't be sorry you visited her blog... she's a fun and spirited/talented artist that you will want to continue following.I love it when she calls me 'Petal'. :o)

Secondly ... but certainly not for less... is Jan Thomason's (from Texas) blog,  The Polka Dot Barn. Despite a very heartbreaking and trying time Jan has decided to make the best of it and offer a giveaway.. a very generous one... to make her happy. Dash over quickly as this one ends tomorrow. Take some time to read on past the giveaway as Jan has an incomparable sense of humor that will leave you in tears.

Good luck to everyone... and enjoy these two ladies blogs.



 Best...

Canace

What's Your Number?

For no accountable reason I love the number three. I think most of us have a favorite number and I would hazard a guess that many of us don't know why.

I decided to wander around the studio looking for number 3 or arrangements of three and create a montage with the photographs. Here is the final print.

3... 3... glorious 3!

Have a great weekend!

Best...

Canace

A work in progress... well... done now :o)

As I mentioned in my previous post, my daughter took me to see Alice in Wonderland 3-D and I was inspired to do a painting after seeing all the gnarly/beautiful trees in the movie. So here is a step by step progression of that painting.

First I found a shadowbox frame and layered in a background with vintage encyclopedia pages and covered that with a wash of Nickel Azo Gold and a coat of medium.

 Then I stamped the background randomly with some script and Staz-on ink.

Followed by some stamping with gesso and a roller stamp. No, I'm not all that sloppy.. I have a heavy sheet of glass down so I can smear paints all over it and not worry about the table top. :o)

After another coat of medium I laid in a light wash of Pthalo Blue for the illusion of sky and Jenkins Green for the bottom... then another coat of medium.

In order for me to get the proper balance I like to lightly sketch in my tree with charcoal.

Tah dah! Tree!  And I added a bit more wash around the edges with Burnt Umber and Raw Umber and a coat of medium.

Decisions.. decisions.... what color to paint the frame. I decided on black.

Still struggling with the look of the frame I thought perhaps a light suggestion of gold around the edge might be nice so I rubbed on some antique gold.

Hmmm.... too subtle? Let's just lay on a whole lot of gold leaf and see how that looks.

Arghh.... not liking that at all!
I'll save you all the arduous work of sanding it all off and re-painting the black. After that I painted in the Mad Hatter's hat at the base of the tree and a few mushrooms for color. They were both a bit bright so I covered them with a very light wash of Burnt Umber, more medium...... and here is the final piece:

You can't see it in this picture, but I have painted the sash of his hat across the front edge of the frame, and the hat pins are actual pins with beads on them.

I've called it "Impossible Things" and if you've seen the movie then you understand the meaning.

I hope you have enjoyed following me through the process.


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Canace

Fat Rats

My daughter came for a visit and we have had a great time every minute of her visit. One of the first things we did was to go see Alice in Wonderland 3-D together... or should I say my daughter took me to the movies. I'm so glad she did! My first thought was ... ohhh... what eye candy and inspiration! Second thought... this movie is amazing in all ways! Johnny Depp was the highlight of the movie with all of his subtle quirks... very memorable indeed! I won't go into all the details... I'll just say that this movie was pure magic and if you haven't seen it yet you really should. It inspired a painting for me... will share it soon.

How can you resist this face?  :o)

 On Friday my daughter, Janet and I decided to take a trip up to Red Hook to visit a bead shop and a favorite haunt of ours.... an old barn full of antiques and junk. It was a glorious sunny day and our first taste of spring. It's like someone pushed a button that said "It's Spring now!".

As we approached the storefront for the bead shop we saw a sign that said 'For Rent' and nearly died on the spot thinking that it had closed. Well...... lo' and behold... it was the second to the last day of their closing sale and everything was from 50% to 75% off! OMG... we were so excited! Murphy's Law didn't get us this time! I dropped them off and parked the car .. joined them inside where I could see their eyes bigger than saucers and lots of hyperventilation going on... lol  It really was a beader's paradise... so much inventory.... such beautiful inventory... and oh my the prices! We really did make out like 'Fat Rats' that day! Here is some of our 'haul'.

Higher than kites we left the bead store to have a little picnic and browse the barn for goodies. Unfortunately we didn't do the 'Fat Rat' number there ... it seems their prices have gone sky high and there weren't so many treasures to appeal either. I did however get a little antique doll and some of the old porcelain bird seed feeders.

We spent the remainder of the day full of the bead excitement and laughing until our stomachs hurt so I would have to say it was a perfect day. Oh.. and did I mention the McFlurrys that we treated ourselves to? :oÞ

The rest of the weekend was mostly studio time... me working on my painting and my daughter working diligently on her jewelry pieces.  It's so nice to sit down with your daughter and create together. She's been working on some beautiful new earrings that I think are amazing as well as a new wedding line of necklaces and earrings that sparkle like ice. Her store is Mystikal1981... check it out. :o)

What a great few days with my daughter and best friend.... and it's SPRING!!!

Have a great week...  


Best...

Canace