blocking in colors....

decided to make her a red head...and she'll have green eyes!

Fairy in progress...

This is the latest fairy design that I am working on and decided to do some "in progress" photos.  I started out with the design done completely in pencil, adding all the shading and details.  This took about three hours from start to finish. From there I started blocking in the colors for the leaves.

new fairy piece...

This is one of my latest pieces.  It is painted with acrylics on a decorative book box.  The flower is part of the print on the box and I incorporated my fairies into the image (see the baby inside the flower?)  Deciding rather or not to sell this one.

More Bottles...

Here are two more bottles that I completed today.  One I designed to display hat pins...something people are still collecting.  The other is a vintage image of a mermaid that I fell in love with...thought it belonged on a bottle with shells and pearls.  All of my bottles can be found on my etsy site (http://www.vintagexpressions.etsy.com/)

Button Bottle

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Were they sisters or maybe best friends, one in a hat the other a bow....perhaps with family on a Sunday picnic in the woods....Standing just under 6" this vintage decorated bottle features frosted glass with an antique image of two young girls attached to an antique button paper. There is antique lace around the top of the image and dangling from the chain are antique buttons, antique pearls and vintage jewelry findings.The topper is a stack of vintage buttons attached to an old watch face. The lid is removable.

Just a teaser....

This is a project I'm working on for a very dear friend.  She is an author and will be doing a book signing/show in October and asked me if I could reproduce one of her book covers into a banner for her, this is the cover of one of her more popular books.  It is being done on a banner that will be 25" x 5' to hang on the front of her table.  The remainder of the banner will be painted black with her logo/website to the right of the image.  I still have to add the title of the book and then finish it up.   

Spring has finally Sprung!!!!

All this rain has finally paid off and everything is bursting out in color!!!  Of course we can't mow...waaay tooo much water on the ground...if it was dry enough we could bail the grasses for my horses!  But...we have more rain coming all week!!!!

Rain..Rain...go away....

Here it is almost the end of April and we are still having rain....will be over six inches by Monday and then more rain all week.  Makes it very dreary painting in my studio in the basement because the sump pump is in a room behind my desk and you just hear running water 24/7....sooo soggy sounding!!! 

Just finished a piece that will be in the next issue of SDP's Decorative Painter...sorry no teasers, can't show off the piece...you all will just have to wait.

Will be starting on a new series of fairies...doing the seasons.  Will post as I get them done.  Also have lots of surfaces that are screaming for something to be painted on them...in a fairy kind of mind so that is where the designs will head most likely.

"Ugly Duckling"



This poor guy was rescued from the garbage by my brother-in-law.  His head had been broken off, glued and then duck taped back on and then a square nail had been driven through the top of his head.  the duck tape came off pretty easy, sanded the glue (was probably gorilla glue form the amount of it) off.  His entire body was painted with white enamel paint, along with his eyes. That took alot of elbow grease to get off...but now.... He is a beauty!!!
He was originally a magazine submission but it got nixed as there were concerns of the availability of the surface for the pattern...so he may become a pattern packet instead....





Watercolor Fairies
the first one, or two, are my very first try at watercolor paints, I used gold leaf on his wings (which I don't think is visible in the photo) and instant coffee grounds in the tree to add to the texture (like using salt).  The last one I used irredescent paint on the pearls in her hair and the chambered nautalis behind her head.  I used a heavy layer of salt on the background for the watery effect.

This is a wooden box purse that I made for my mother embellished with buttons, charms, vintage labels and fibers with a photo of her and her sister.   They are very close and I thought this would make a nice keepsake from when they last visited.  The rose I did in a class on oil painting....not my favorite medium to paint in but looks great on the box.  Mom displays it on the shelf in her quilting room.

Here is my latest bottle creation, it will be listed on my etsy site.  This one leans more primitive then the other bottles and I have plans to do several more along this vintage line.  There is an antique family photo taken on the front porch of an old farmhouse, the sides are covered with paper resembling vintage measuring sticks, dangling from the button topper is vintage chains with rusted charms and glass beads.

Here is my newest spring bottle design, complete with all the icons of springtime...birds, snails, eggs and of course bling in the form of a vintage bauble.  This bottle will be featured on my etsy site.  The snail is made from sculpy, painted and then higlighted with glitter and inserted into a real shell then glued into the bottle.

It supposed to be spring  just around the corner, yet we are still having snow, then rain, then snow and rain, then just snow.  Tomorrow it is supposed to be in the 50's again...what a winter!!!  My crocuses and daffodils I think have given up...

Am working on new bottle designs and collaged book boxes...will get them posted as soon as they are completed. 

Still trying to find bargains for vintage jewelry on ebay...no luck so far...it is all going for big bucks and in todays paper I see why...big  jewelry chains are now selling "authentic vintage/victorian jewelry"...and I'm sure they have big buck price tags too after seeing what the broken stuff is going for.  So will have to hit the flea markets when it warms up a bit...and the snows stop.

Also working on a new fairy watercolor...will post some teasers in the next few days...may post this one as a 'works in progress'....
till later...

"Magnifique"  book box.  The box is covered with a vintage themed paper to which I painted the 3-dimensional hydrangea.  The vintage photo is mounted ontop of a piece of scrap quilt from my mothers sewing stash  and I used antique jewelry findings and buttons for a little bit of bling.  The edges of the book are painted with gold leaf.