Tyler's and TOMS Fall 2010 Recap

A huge THANK YOU to everyone who came to Tyler's of Dallas last Saturday!  There was a huge turn out and I was overwhelmed, literally, with how many of you wanted me to paint your shoes! 

When my girls were little I used to love painting their shoes, my favorites looked like watermelons when I was done!  It was fun to paint shoes again and to do it for a wonderful cause.

I was so backed up during the event that I had to take a TON of shoes home to finish.  Here are the pictures (these are only the shoes I painted at home, I painted several others at the event but it was too crazy to take pictures!):

Several of the pairs together

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Did you make it to the end?!  Let me know which pair is your favorite!

TOMS at TYLER'S this SATURDAY!

Don't forget about the TOMS event this Saturday at Tyler's in Dallas!  The time has changed:  come from 11am-3pm to give some style to your soles...and help give shoes to someone who needs them!

Pumpkins For Sale

I made this for a friend a few years ago.  It is acrylic on wood.  I cut out the wood pieces, sanded them, then painted them! 

Red Headed Witch

Whoo!  I am still crafting over at SYTYC!  Thank you for all the votes...I hope to keep crafting to the end!  I haven't been posting much because all of my spare time has been spent working on those crafts and I want you to be surprised when they come out each week...but, I do have a few things stored up to post about in the mean-time!

Here is a Halloween painting I did of a witch.  It is acrylic on canvas.  Enjoy!

SYTYC Week Two!

Thanks for all of your votes last week...I need them again this week!  This competition has been a blast :)

My crafting/art life has been BUSY lately.  Here's what I've been up to:

-Teaching part time with Little Rembrandts
-Teaching part time with G'Nosh
-So You Think You're Crafty
-Projects for clients, as they come up
-Preparing for my first Gallery Opening!

During the month of December, I will be the featured artist at G'Nosh in Richardson!  All month long my G'Nosh paintings will be on display and for sale (Christmas presents!) along with many of my personal works, also for sale!  There will be a gallery opening event early in the month to kick things off.  I'll keep you updated as to when that will be.  So, if you're in the area, please come by in December and take a stroll through my gallery!  I've been painting like a crazy lady to get ready for it!

I also just painted my first pair of TOMS.  Amber, from Idaho, is one my facebook followers and when she saw that I was going to be painting TOMS she wanted in on it!  She couldn't make the trip all the way to Texas so she mailed me her TOMS.  She loves music and wanted her TOMS to reflect that.  Here's how they turned out:

This is while I was putting the large blocks of color in...before the detail work...

These are the finished product!

G'Nosh

I'm lucky enough to do what I love and get paid for it!  I work at an art studio in Richardson, TX, called G'Nosh.  I teach painting classes several nights a week.  People sign up for whichever painting they want, come to the studio, and a few hours later they leave with a finished painting!  This job has been great for several reasons:

-I love to paint.
-I love to get paid to paint!
-I love teaching people and seeing their inner artist come out.
-I get to practice and get better.
-I am learning new techniques and styles with each painting and artist we feature.

Here are three pieces I painted the other night (the violin, trees, and nest)...some of them will be featured in an ad soon.  I'll get you more details when I get them!  I painted each of them from a picture (below each painting) that my boss gave me that night.

I almost forgot, you can purchase the paintings I paint here for $35.  That's a great deal for art for your home!

The Stars At Night...

This is a purse I made for my sister.  It is a wooden cigar box that I painted to celebrate our love of the great state of TEXAS.  I made the red, white, and blue beads for the handle out of polymer clay and pressed little seed beads in to give it a little extra something!

Craft Recipe: Sidewalk Paint

A less-mess approach to painting with children:  Sidewalk Paint.

Kids are messy when they paint but paintings is such a great creative outlet.  Here is the solution:

1/4 cup water
1/4 cup cornstarch
A few drops of food coloring

Mix different colors in the cups of a muffin tin, supply brushes and a bucket of 'eraser' water, and slather on the sunscreen!  Your kids will have fun and your house will stay clean, especially if you hose them off before they come in, or have them run through the sprinklers!

Puzzles

I made this puzzle a year or so ago (you can see the grand kids have loved it well!).  I have several patterns that I've worked up.  They include a Barn (shown below), The Nativity, Noah's Ark, Purse, Pickup Truck, School House, Army, Jungle, Birthday Present and Covered Wagon.  LDS (Mormon) puzzles include Lehi in the Wilderness, The Sword of Laban, Abinadi, The Brother of Jared, and The Tree of Life.

I designed each puzzle and I cut each one out with my scroll saw.  I sand each piece before hand painting them.  They make a great gift!

Contact me if you would like to purchase one ($40).

Magnets

My oldest daughter and grandchildren live in Utah. Right now, I'm posting from her house! I just wanted to post a few pictures of the magnets I made for the kids.  (Click to enlarge)

Dinosaurs for Noa

Close up of one of the dinosaurs

"Paper" Dolls for Isca

Close up of one of the dolls to show the Velcro suit

Close up of one of the laminated outfits

Close up of a dressed doll

Alphabet letters

Close up of some of the letters

The letters stick to the fridge, outside doors, and dishwasher

All of the magnets shown above are hand drawn and painted originals and the rights to them as well as the photos belong to me.