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My Journey As A Creative Designer - Woodworking and Beyond

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7M views 13K replies 477 participants last post by  teaklight12 
#1 ·
Beginning this Blog

I recently was referred to this site by Steve Good, who has a wonderful, comprehensive scroll saw forum and blog page. Although I have been doing woodworking for almost fifteen years, I have finally reached a point in my life where I am able to make it the main focus of my activities. Since my life revolves around my woodworking and business, I believe that this blog will reflect that very clearly, although it will also be somewhat personal. But I think that woodworking is very personal anyway.

It has been a long journey to get to this point. There have been many good times and some not-so-good ones, but I appreciate every single step because I think that if even one thing was different, I would not be where I am today or who I am inside. It isn't only the positive events in our lives that make us what we are. Many times it is the negative things that mold and shape us and teach us to look at things in a certain way. I try to remember that when things are tough and move ahead.

I have learned that there is only one thing we can be certain of in life: change. Whether things are good or bad, we need to hold on and appreciate the moment, as we can be certain that things will be different before long. This helps us to not only appreciate the good days and things we have now, but also hang on when things are not so good, as we know that they will be different soon. I like this philosophy.

I liked reading about the new contest offered by this site in the newsletter. Fluidity. It is a perfect theme for projects because our existence itself is fluid. I am anxious to see what interpretations are going to be, as I am sure everyone else is. It will be an adventure for all of us for sure.

So why am I starting this blog? The other day I received a call from a customer who had a question for me. He kept saying how surprised he was that I answered my own phone. I have worked as a Contributing Editor for Creative Woodworks and Crafts Magazine for the past 13+ years and I guess in the scroll saw community, many people have heard of me. It seemed so odd to me that he would think I would have a secretary or staff. We kind of laughed about it, but it really got me thinking about his interpretation of my life. We all tend to form opinions of others from very limited information. We see the outside of a person as they are presented to us and many times are very quick to categorize that person in our minds. I do it myself.

But in my years of talking with and dealing with many people from many different places, I have come to realize that people are like icebergs. We only see the tip of them and below the surface is a vast, complex side of them that is the basis of their actions and thinking.

Everyone has a story. Everyone has traveled a journey. No two people have traveled identical paths. Thus, we are all unique in our thoughts, actions and creative processes. I enjoy hearing others stories. I think that listening to others and hearing their experiences helps us to understand each other. With that understanding, we learn.

I have used the phrase "Knowledge Is Power" in my signature since I have been on the web. Once someone told me that they thought it was quite arrogant of me to say that. He thought that I was implying that I knew more than anyone else and he found that offensive. I told him he couldn't be more wrong. My interpretation of the phrase is that our QUEST for knowledge EMPOWERS us to make better decisions about things in our lives. We are never finished learning. I learn every single day from my friends, colleagues, fellow woodworkers and students. We never know when we will learn something new. Sometimes you can learn from even a seemingly insignificant event. I feel the key is that we need to be open to learning.

Everyone has a story.

So I will close today with those thoughts. I don't know how often I will post here, but I hope to make it a habit. I don't know if anyone will even read this, but somehow it doesn't matter. Writing is a key in self-awareness. By writing things down we categorize our actions and it helps (me anyway) to keep my life organized. Organization leads to peace as far as I am concerned.

I am quite overwhelmed with the scope of the site here. I am still getting my footings and lurking around. I think for the first several days or maybe even weeks I will be more of a passive observer while I find my comfortable position among the others here. I want to upload the new things I am working on here. Like everyone else, I am anxious to see the response they get. I love seeing others projects and could spend my days just looking.

Although it is quite intimidating, the forum looks like it is full of friendly, knowledgeable and wonderfully creative people.

I think I am going to like it here.
 
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#13,073 ·
Habits

As we begin a new month, I realize how quickly January has slipped by. Time has always seemed so relentless to me, but lately, I find that to be true more than ever.

Many of you have noticed that I haven't been writing as regularly or as often as I used to. After over six years of daily posting, I find that I have, indeed, backed off a bit and have taken a bit of a break from it. It felt odd at first, but soon it became something of a 'habit' to NOT write (funny how that happens!) and I found myself lost in the disarray of the things that life had thrown my way. For someone that likes things neatly in order, that isn't really a good thing, although perhaps it was something that was necessary for me to stop and take a breath and cope.

The landslide began in early December. Losing Pancakes so suddenly shook me to the core. I still don't know why it hit me so hard. After all, I am an adult and lost people and pets before. Perhaps it was that it was so unexpected and I felt that I was blindsided by it. We think that those we love are safe and sound here with us, but we never know what the next day really has in store for us, do we? To say I was "unprepared" was a gross understatement. I suppose when I knew he was going into exploratory surgery, I should have prepared part of my head for the worst. But I chose not to do that. He was still young and at only nine years old the youngest cat I ever lost. Things weren't supposed to happen the way they did.

Then, while I was still reeling from that, my other cat Richard became gravely ill. Since my nerves were already raw, I found myself wondering if this world could be so cruel as to take two of my beloved companions from me one after the other? Surely that wouldn't be the case! But the rest of December was spent nursing him back to health and going through the trauma of bringing him into emergency not once, but twice to save his life. The roller-coaster of emotions those weeks again took their toll on Keith and I both psychologically and physiologically. I think we were both physically and emotionally drained, even though it was supposed to be the "merriest time of the year."

It is no wonder that we have both been fighting colds and flu for the past several weeks. First me, then Keith and now me with another round of things. It has been a long haul and I am not surprised that my body had revolted. Between the stress of everything and the sadness, it is no wonder we are volatile to being sick.

So I spent the first month of the new year 'getting by' and more or less doing what I had to do to push the pile.

Surprisingly, I was able to accomplish some things. I had some new painting designs that were really well-received and Keith also had some new patterns that did well. I was able to fill the many orders for wood pieces that I had in a semi-timely manner. Sometimes things were a little slower, but I am just about caught up now and happy about that. People were so darn nice about it, knowing that I wasn't 100% that it made me just want to do things better. It is funny how positive reinforcement encourages us to want to do better, isn't it? The nicer they were, the quicker I wanted to get things out. We actually wound up with January being one of our best months ever on the site, and I find myself scratching my head this February 1st and wondering how in the heck that could have happened. I suppose throwing myself into my work happened more often than I thought. I truly am grateful to all of you, our customers, for supporting us. It helps to know that you all appreciate what we do here. (Again - the positive reinforcement!)

Today I woke up early again. After two months of sleeping when I can and getting later starts to my day, it actually felt GOOD to get up on the early side of the morning again. My cold isn't gone, but I did notice an 'improvement' today. I am still taking medicine, but I have a feeling it is finally on its way out. Life is getting back to 'normal'. I am healing.

The purpose of this post is both for your benefit as well as for my own. I find that I am a person of "habit" and I want to kick-start myself into getting back in the habit of writing again. I always maintained that my blogging helped me as much as it did others. It seemed that I accomplished more simply by mapping out my plans each morning, no matter how brief or mundane they were. It helped me set my goals for the day, and become accountable to myself. It has really helped me maintain the self-discipline needed to succeed in owning my own business. While I needed a bit of a break during these tumultuous times, I think it is about time that I get back into things. It just feels like the time to do so. Life goes on.

So what is on today's agenda?

I am going to spend the bulk of the day packing up the many orders that I completed cutting out the past several days. Surprisingly, that should take most of the day for me to do. I say "surprisingly" because one wouldn't think I need to tally that part of time that it takes to pack and label boxes, write out customs forms, and process them at the post office. As the business grows, I realize that larger chunks of time need to be dedicated to this part of the day. I need to consider that as part of the 'job' and respect it. Otherwise, I will always be off in my estimations of time that it takes for me to do things. I mention this because I realize that many of you who read also own your own businesses. This part of the day will grow as you become more successful. They can't be ignored.

I then want to start my "Day 11" ornaments from my 12 days project from Lynne Andrews. We still have many people in our Facebook group who need to continue with the project and I want to be there for them not only to help them but to let them know that we all get side tracked and that is OK. I am so close to finishing my six sets and I don't want to fall down at the finish line.

My near-future goals are many. I actually have a new and fun scroll saw project that I have drawn and cut out that is waiting to be completed. All I have to do is assemble it and do the pattern. It is something that I think many will enjoy and use. I was working on it when Pancakes died and it has been hard to go back to it, but I am nearly ready.

For my painting followers, I have many new things on the horizon - both as collaborations with other designers and on my own. I only ask that you come back to read and see what I am up to. I think you will enjoy seeing the many things I have in mind.

And I need to do some things with embroidery, too . . .

As you can see, I am feeling much more positive and moving in a better direction. I know I will get back into the habit of posting daily again. It may just take a little time. For those of you who are new to reading, I hope you learn a lot and enjoy the journey with me. For those of you who have been with me for a while, you know what I am capable of doing. I appreciate your patience with me these past several weeks and promise some fun, new adventures await. I enjoy your thoughts and input and truly treasure the friendships I have made through my posts here.

For now, I will show a couple of designs that you may like to see from our site. With Valentines Day approaching, I chose some pretty heart ornament patterns that we have available. First, there is Keith's Filigree Heart ornament pattern (SLDK205)

Organ Product Human body Textile Red


Then there is my own design of these pretty Damask style heart ornaments (SLD521)

Rectangle Font Art Pattern Jewellery


Both patterns are fun and would make lovely gifts for your sweetheart this Valentine's day.

Thank you again to all my friends and followers. I can't wait to share our new thoughts and ideas with you all.

Have a great Wednesday!
 

Attachments

#13,074 ·
Habits

As we begin a new month, I realize how quickly January has slipped by. Time has always seemed so relentless to me, but lately, I find that to be true more than ever.

Many of you have noticed that I haven't been writing as regularly or as often as I used to. After over six years of daily posting, I find that I have, indeed, backed off a bit and have taken a bit of a break from it. It felt odd at first, but soon it became something of a 'habit' to NOT write (funny how that happens!) and I found myself lost in the disarray of the things that life had thrown my way. For someone that likes things neatly in order, that isn't really a good thing, although perhaps it was something that was necessary for me to stop and take a breath and cope.

The landslide began in early December. Losing Pancakes so suddenly shook me to the core. I still don't know why it hit me so hard. After all, I am an adult and lost people and pets before. Perhaps it was that it was so unexpected and I felt that I was blindsided by it. We think that those we love are safe and sound here with us, but we never know what the next day really has in store for us, do we? To say I was "unprepared" was a gross understatement. I suppose when I knew he was going into exploratory surgery, I should have prepared part of my head for the worst. But I chose not to do that. He was still young and at only nine years old the youngest cat I ever lost. Things weren't supposed to happen the way they did.

Then, while I was still reeling from that, my other cat Richard became gravely ill. Since my nerves were already raw, I found myself wondering if this world could be so cruel as to take two of my beloved companions from me one after the other? Surely that wouldn't be the case! But the rest of December was spent nursing him back to health and going through the trauma of bringing him into emergency not once, but twice to save his life. The roller-coaster of emotions those weeks again took their toll on Keith and I both psychologically and physiologically. I think we were both physically and emotionally drained, even though it was supposed to be the "merriest time of the year."

It is no wonder that we have both been fighting colds and flu for the past several weeks. First me, then Keith and now me with another round of things. It has been a long haul and I am not surprised that my body had revolted. Between the stress of everything and the sadness, it is no wonder we are volatile to being sick.

So I spent the first month of the new year 'getting by' and more or less doing what I had to do to push the pile.

Surprisingly, I was able to accomplish some things. I had some new painting designs that were really well-received and Keith also had some new patterns that did well. I was able to fill the many orders for wood pieces that I had in a semi-timely manner. Sometimes things were a little slower, but I am just about caught up now and happy about that. People were so darn nice about it, knowing that I wasn't 100% that it made me just want to do things better. It is funny how positive reinforcement encourages us to want to do better, isn't it? The nicer they were, the quicker I wanted to get things out. We actually wound up with January being one of our best months ever on the site, and I find myself scratching my head this February 1st and wondering how in the heck that could have happened. I suppose throwing myself into my work happened more often than I thought. I truly am grateful to all of you, our customers, for supporting us. It helps to know that you all appreciate what we do here. (Again - the positive reinforcement!)

Today I woke up early again. After two months of sleeping when I can and getting later starts to my day, it actually felt GOOD to get up on the early side of the morning again. My cold isn't gone, but I did notice an 'improvement' today. I am still taking medicine, but I have a feeling it is finally on its way out. Life is getting back to 'normal'. I am healing.

The purpose of this post is both for your benefit as well as for my own. I find that I am a person of "habit" and I want to kick-start myself into getting back in the habit of writing again. I always maintained that my blogging helped me as much as it did others. It seemed that I accomplished more simply by mapping out my plans each morning, no matter how brief or mundane they were. It helped me set my goals for the day, and become accountable to myself. It has really helped me maintain the self-discipline needed to succeed in owning my own business. While I needed a bit of a break during these tumultuous times, I think it is about time that I get back into things. It just feels like the time to do so. Life goes on.

So what is on today's agenda?

I am going to spend the bulk of the day packing up the many orders that I completed cutting out the past several days. Surprisingly, that should take most of the day for me to do. I say "surprisingly" because one wouldn't think I need to tally that part of time that it takes to pack and label boxes, write out customs forms, and process them at the post office. As the business grows, I realize that larger chunks of time need to be dedicated to this part of the day. I need to consider that as part of the 'job' and respect it. Otherwise, I will always be off in my estimations of time that it takes for me to do things. I mention this because I realize that many of you who read also own your own businesses. This part of the day will grow as you become more successful. They can't be ignored.

I then want to start my "Day 11" ornaments from my 12 days project from Lynne Andrews. We still have many people in our Facebook group who need to continue with the project and I want to be there for them not only to help them but to let them know that we all get side tracked and that is OK. I am so close to finishing my six sets and I don't want to fall down at the finish line.

My near-future goals are many. I actually have a new and fun scroll saw project that I have drawn and cut out that is waiting to be completed. All I have to do is assemble it and do the pattern. It is something that I think many will enjoy and use. I was working on it when Pancakes died and it has been hard to go back to it, but I am nearly ready.

For my painting followers, I have many new things on the horizon - both as collaborations with other designers and on my own. I only ask that you come back to read and see what I am up to. I think you will enjoy seeing the many things I have in mind.

And I need to do some things with embroidery, too . . .

As you can see, I am feeling much more positive and moving in a better direction. I know I will get back into the habit of posting daily again. It may just take a little time. For those of you who are new to reading, I hope you learn a lot and enjoy the journey with me. For those of you who have been with me for a while, you know what I am capable of doing. I appreciate your patience with me these past several weeks and promise some fun, new adventures await. I enjoy your thoughts and input and truly treasure the friendships I have made through my posts here.

For now, I will show a couple of designs that you may like to see from our site. With Valentines Day approaching, I chose some pretty heart ornament patterns that we have available. First, there is Keith's Filigree Heart ornament pattern (SLDK205)

Organ Product Human body Textile Red


Then there is my own design of these pretty Damask style heart ornaments (SLD521)

Rectangle Font Art Pattern Jewellery


Both patterns are fun and would make lovely gifts for your sweetheart this Valentine's day.

Thank you again to all my friends and followers. I can't wait to share our new thoughts and ideas with you all.

Have a great Wednesday!
beautiful designs, you have flying fingers too, my brain and fingers do not work that freely to write and do a fraction of what you do. To blog and share would be a days work. Look forward to your posts, but do what is important in your life and business first to keep on top of things. Don't burn the candle at both ends as they say. health is important too.
Have a great day, looks like a clear cold day here, plan to take time off and go for a walk.
 

Attachments

#13,082 ·
Unfinished Business

I had a pretty productive day yesterday. My goal was to get the 15+ orders that I had cut out all packed and shipped by the pickup time at our local post office and I was able to accomplish that. It may not seem like a lot to some of you, but it takes a great deal of time. Since most of the shipments are international, I have to fill out customs forms for each package and make sure everything is right. I was happy that my partner Keith decided to give a hand. It made a huge difference when two of us were working compared to doing it all on my own. I really appreciated it.

I spent the rest of the day (once again) reorganizing things and catching up on emails and phone calls. This "business side" of the business is something that a lot of people don't see or understand and sometimes it can take much of the day. I only mention it because we normally don't hear about that aspect of the business from other designers. It is that quiet part of the job that mostly goes unnoticed but at times takes a huge bite out of our day.

When I was caught up on that, I had to go to the shop to complete a couple of small orders. There were a few things that came in over the weekend that I hadn't had enough stock to fill and I wanted to get those out as quickly as possible. I will be sending them out today and can officially say that I am "caught up" at this point, with some stock left for many of my items. It was time to take a breath and look at which direction to head.

I had intended on doing some painting in the evening, but by the time I cleaned up and had supper, I was just too tired. Again I want to blame this cold for that. Although I am better, the recovery is still a bit of a process. I opted for the 'early to bed, early to rise' school of thought and shut down for the night.

I am happy that I did because this morning I feel even better than yesterday. I am not the most patient person in the world when it comes to myself. It is odd because I am patient with other things beyond reason. Maybe that is from hanging around cats most of my life. I have no trouble in allowing things the time they need to fully develop and play out as they should. Except when it comes to my own self-imposed standards. I have this little voice in my head telling me that if I don't try my best every single day, I will have no one to blame if I fail except myself. I don't quite know where that voice comes from. Over the years, I have tampered it down quite a bit and have allowed myself some room to be human and to falter from time to time. But it is one of those weird, double-edged blades that pokes at my heart and mind.

There are times when it has actually helped me. The extra push that my sub-conscious thoughts impose on me can be helpful in achieving my goals. But there are also times when those thoughts nag at me to reach some impossible standards that (once again) I set for myself that any mere mortal would fail to achieve. That is when it can be most destructive. The trick is to figure out which is which and act accordingly. Am I setting impossible standards for myself, or am I just setting goals that are attainable and motivating? It is at times difficult to figure.

I think we all go through this cat and mouse game with ourselves. Some of us are more conscious of it than others. I think those of us who are aware of this train of thought are also more aware of it in those around us. We see those struggling as either 'problem solvers' or unsettled, as they switch from one thing to another without really completing anything. I think though that most of us fall somewhere in the middle.

(Wow! What was in my coffee this morning?!?) ;) On to the point of this post . . . Unfinished Business.

While I (like many of you) have some things that I start and don't finish, I have one large project that NEEDS to be done. It is my "12 Days of Christmas Ornament" project that I have been working on for the past year. My goal for the year was simple - One "Day" ornament a month for a year. By December I would have all 12 done and a beautiful keepsake, heirloom quality set. Sounds pretty simple, right?

But that demon inside of me that I spoke of earlier convinced me to make not two or three sets, but SIX. I had five very close family members and friends that would be recipients of this beautiful set and give them the home they deserved. Oh - I could have picked ten people to give them to. Or twenty even. There are so many people in my life that I appreciate, I wouldn't know where to start. But six seemed like a reasonable number and not really too far out of reach for me to do. So six it was.

I went ahead and set up a Facebook group called "12 Days of Christmas by Lynne Andrews - We are Making Them!" and I met many wonderful painters who wanted to join in my adventure. There were others who were making multiple sets and some were making just one, and the painters in the group have been wonderfully supportive. It was one of the best decisions that I have made.

I did well with keeping up month for month, but then something unexpected happened - we moved, and I lost my footing. I fell behind the self-imposed month for month deadline as moving to a new home took up a tremendous amount of time. The home had to come first for a while, then the business and then this project. Life is just like that. Our priorities change day to day and those of us who succeed need to allow for that and be flexible. So I was kind to myself and let myself off the hook. After all - the theme of the page was that we would be there for the duration and there was 'no time frame' that we had to follow. There was no shame in having family or "life" get in the way. We would be there when whenever the members were ready to proceed.

So I swallowed that pill for myself and sometime in November finished up "Day 9". I felt I could possibly squeak by and get them done by Christmas.

And then December hit and all that entailed. And things came to a grinding halt on this project.

So now I need to be my own example and take my own advice. I tell everyone that there is "no shame" in falling behind. I need to believe that for myself. We aren't transporting kidneys here, we are painting. Certainly those worthy of receiving this beautiful set understands the turmoil of the past several weeks and understand the delay. Otherwise, they would not be on the "A-list" to receive these ornaments in the first place.

With that said, I am moving forward. As the 'fearless leader' of the group, I take no shame in my tardiness in completing my six sets. I should only feel shame if I abandon the project altogether and not follow through with what I started. But for me, that isn't an option. So I present to you my "Day 10" ornaments:

Product Font Electric blue Jewellery Badge


Ten Lords-a-Leaping.

Here is the back of the ornament:

Font Creative arts Jewellery Body jewelry Circle


The beautiful Opal Dust by JoSonja gives each piece a magical shine, as do the tiny crystal rhinestones in the crown:

Dishware Badge Finger Serveware Font


And both the front and the back together:

Azure Body jewelry Aqua Font Jewellery


Times six sets . . .

Dishware Textile Tableware Serveware Headgear


And then there were TEN!

Dishware Tableware Serveware Circle Creative arts


Part of the reason that coming back to this project was because I remember what I was doing when each "Day" was painted. In each and every of those instances, my sweet kitty Pancakes was 'involved' in some way. Days 11 and 12 will be 'different' in that he won't be here with me. I know it is a silly thing, but it is things like this that creep into my head sometimes. So getting over this hump and moving on will be yet another step in healing. Little by little. . .

Thank you all for being cheerleaders and indulging me on these. We are still getting new people that want to join our Facebook group, and I will be there for the duration. As will my counterparts Lynne Andrews, Vera Souther and Lynn Barbardora. We will always be there to cheer you all to the finish.

On to Day 11 . . .

Happy Thursday!

(PS - you can get the book to paint these beautiful ornaments on Lynne's website Here: Christmas Blessings We would love to have you paint with us!)
 

Attachments

#13,083 ·
Unfinished Business

I had a pretty productive day yesterday. My goal was to get the 15+ orders that I had cut out all packed and shipped by the pickup time at our local post office and I was able to accomplish that. It may not seem like a lot to some of you, but it takes a great deal of time. Since most of the shipments are international, I have to fill out customs forms for each package and make sure everything is right. I was happy that my partner Keith decided to give a hand. It made a huge difference when two of us were working compared to doing it all on my own. I really appreciated it.

I spent the rest of the day (once again) reorganizing things and catching up on emails and phone calls. This "business side" of the business is something that a lot of people don't see or understand and sometimes it can take much of the day. I only mention it because we normally don't hear about that aspect of the business from other designers. It is that quiet part of the job that mostly goes unnoticed but at times takes a huge bite out of our day.

When I was caught up on that, I had to go to the shop to complete a couple of small orders. There were a few things that came in over the weekend that I hadn't had enough stock to fill and I wanted to get those out as quickly as possible. I will be sending them out today and can officially say that I am "caught up" at this point, with some stock left for many of my items. It was time to take a breath and look at which direction to head.

I had intended on doing some painting in the evening, but by the time I cleaned up and had supper, I was just too tired. Again I want to blame this cold for that. Although I am better, the recovery is still a bit of a process. I opted for the 'early to bed, early to rise' school of thought and shut down for the night.

I am happy that I did because this morning I feel even better than yesterday. I am not the most patient person in the world when it comes to myself. It is odd because I am patient with other things beyond reason. Maybe that is from hanging around cats most of my life. I have no trouble in allowing things the time they need to fully develop and play out as they should. Except when it comes to my own self-imposed standards. I have this little voice in my head telling me that if I don't try my best every single day, I will have no one to blame if I fail except myself. I don't quite know where that voice comes from. Over the years, I have tampered it down quite a bit and have allowed myself some room to be human and to falter from time to time. But it is one of those weird, double-edged blades that pokes at my heart and mind.

There are times when it has actually helped me. The extra push that my sub-conscious thoughts impose on me can be helpful in achieving my goals. But there are also times when those thoughts nag at me to reach some impossible standards that (once again) I set for myself that any mere mortal would fail to achieve. That is when it can be most destructive. The trick is to figure out which is which and act accordingly. Am I setting impossible standards for myself, or am I just setting goals that are attainable and motivating? It is at times difficult to figure.

I think we all go through this cat and mouse game with ourselves. Some of us are more conscious of it than others. I think those of us who are aware of this train of thought are also more aware of it in those around us. We see those struggling as either 'problem solvers' or unsettled, as they switch from one thing to another without really completing anything. I think though that most of us fall somewhere in the middle.

(Wow! What was in my coffee this morning?!?) ;) On to the point of this post . . . Unfinished Business.

While I (like many of you) have some things that I start and don't finish, I have one large project that NEEDS to be done. It is my "12 Days of Christmas Ornament" project that I have been working on for the past year. My goal for the year was simple - One "Day" ornament a month for a year. By December I would have all 12 done and a beautiful keepsake, heirloom quality set. Sounds pretty simple, right?

But that demon inside of me that I spoke of earlier convinced me to make not two or three sets, but SIX. I had five very close family members and friends that would be recipients of this beautiful set and give them the home they deserved. Oh - I could have picked ten people to give them to. Or twenty even. There are so many people in my life that I appreciate, I wouldn't know where to start. But six seemed like a reasonable number and not really too far out of reach for me to do. So six it was.

I went ahead and set up a Facebook group called "12 Days of Christmas by Lynne Andrews - We are Making Them!" and I met many wonderful painters who wanted to join in my adventure. There were others who were making multiple sets and some were making just one, and the painters in the group have been wonderfully supportive. It was one of the best decisions that I have made.

I did well with keeping up month for month, but then something unexpected happened - we moved, and I lost my footing. I fell behind the self-imposed month for month deadline as moving to a new home took up a tremendous amount of time. The home had to come first for a while, then the business and then this project. Life is just like that. Our priorities change day to day and those of us who succeed need to allow for that and be flexible. So I was kind to myself and let myself off the hook. After all - the theme of the page was that we would be there for the duration and there was 'no time frame' that we had to follow. There was no shame in having family or "life" get in the way. We would be there when whenever the members were ready to proceed.

So I swallowed that pill for myself and sometime in November finished up "Day 9". I felt I could possibly squeak by and get them done by Christmas.

And then December hit and all that entailed. And things came to a grinding halt on this project.

So now I need to be my own example and take my own advice. I tell everyone that there is "no shame" in falling behind. I need to believe that for myself. We aren't transporting kidneys here, we are painting. Certainly those worthy of receiving this beautiful set understands the turmoil of the past several weeks and understand the delay. Otherwise, they would not be on the "A-list" to receive these ornaments in the first place.

With that said, I am moving forward. As the 'fearless leader' of the group, I take no shame in my tardiness in completing my six sets. I should only feel shame if I abandon the project altogether and not follow through with what I started. But for me, that isn't an option. So I present to you my "Day 10" ornaments:

Product Font Electric blue Jewellery Badge


Ten Lords-a-Leaping.

Here is the back of the ornament:

Font Creative arts Jewellery Body jewelry Circle


The beautiful Opal Dust by JoSonja gives each piece a magical shine, as do the tiny crystal rhinestones in the crown:

Dishware Badge Finger Serveware Font


And both the front and the back together:

Azure Body jewelry Aqua Font Jewellery


Times six sets . . .

Dishware Textile Tableware Serveware Headgear


And then there were TEN!

Dishware Tableware Serveware Circle Creative arts


Part of the reason that coming back to this project was because I remember what I was doing when each "Day" was painted. In each and every of those instances, my sweet kitty Pancakes was 'involved' in some way. Days 11 and 12 will be 'different' in that he won't be here with me. I know it is a silly thing, but it is things like this that creep into my head sometimes. So getting over this hump and moving on will be yet another step in healing. Little by little. . .

Thank you all for being cheerleaders and indulging me on these. We are still getting new people that want to join our Facebook group, and I will be there for the duration. As will my counterparts Lynne Andrews, Vera Souther and Lynn Barbardora. We will always be there to cheer you all to the finish.

On to Day 11 . . .

Happy Thursday!

(PS - you can get the book to paint these beautiful ornaments on Lynne's website Here: Christmas Blessings We would love to have you paint with us!)
The work of a master, to me adding the printing with character and so uniform in style, would be the greatest challenge, no room for any mistake, us older people our hands are not that steady. To put it in a circle would double the difficulty. I would do it first in case it was not right.
I step aside.
 

Attachments

#13,090 ·
Over the Hump

I think I finally made it to the 'other side.' By that, I mean that I feel as if I finally made it to the 'healthy' side of life. After weeks (and I mean WEEKS) of fighting various symptoms a cold/flu virus, I woke up this morning with the feeling that I am getting better. I still have a few of the symptoms. But I definitely feel that something has changed for the better. There is much less tickling in my throat and little congestion and no more body aches. I am on the mend.

I am not usually one to complain. We all get our bouts of illness from time to time. Usually, I just ride them out without mentioning them. But this one held on for so long that it was hard to ignore it. It really took a lot out of me. While there were only a couple of days that I really felt achy and 'sick' it has been nagging me and sucking the energy right out of me. I am glad it is behind me.

I spent most of the last week or so of my life either sleeping or working. (By "working" I mean cutting wood orders). For some reason, we had a fabulously busy January and started off February busy as well. Lots of orders came in for wood pieces and even though I had a cold, I knew I had to keep the production line moving in order to keep up.

Thank goodness I love what I do.

Even though I slept a bit later than normal, once I got up and moving (and the cold meds began kicking in) I headed to my upstairs shop. I know some of you probably think I was foolish to keep working when I wasn't feeling 100% but I want you all to know that I did respect the signals my body sent me and when I got tired out, I stopped. But I wanted to use those moments when I felt OK to do something productive. Fortunately, I would get some bursts of energy where I could accomplish things. It kept everything moving.

I am going to spend some time again here on my blog singing my praises to having my new Elipse Low Profile Dust mask.

Peripheral Audio equipment Violet Gadget Automotive design


I think it was by far the best investment that I made in myself and my business in years. I seriously don't know how I got along without one for these 20+ years of me doing wood cutting. After having one for the past two weeks, I noticed a huge difference in how I felt when working in the shop.

For those of you who missed that blog post, I am again sharing the links here. I purchased my mask from Lee Valley Tools , but you can also get them at many hardware places such as Home Depot and even Amazon. It is inexpensive, highly effective and very comfortable to wear. While I may look like an alien when up in the shop . . .

Hairstyle Vision care Eyewear Hearing Ear


I truly forget that my equipment is on and I find that I can work for many hours using this mask. I smell absolutely nothing. I used to smell the MDF dust immediately when I cut it. I also had no trouble keeping my lungs clear and gunk-free - even with my cold. I do admit when my nose would run from time to time I would forget that I had the mask on and try to wipe it with a kleenex, but that didn't happen much. If it were troublesome, I then stopped for the day.

I am very happy that I decided to try this mask out for the new year and recommend it to anyone who does woodworking. I got the 'regular' sized mask, but my friend Leldon found he needed the larger one.

It has removable filters that can be replaced and are rated for 60 days of "industrial use".

Shoe Purple Bag Violet Font


For me, that means that each set of filters will last a couple of months. They are well worth the expense. I can't stress enough how important this change is for me. My friend John from the Lumberjocks site shared an article on the toxicity of different wood dust. You can read the article here: (http://lumberjocks.com/Druid/blog/100962) (Again - what took me so long?) So all in all, I had a pretty productive weekend. I am pretty much caught up on orders and will be packing them and shipping them out today and tomorrow. Then on to new things.

Kieth also has been sick, but he has been working on a new design as well. He has a new Bible Verse plaque for the scrollers to cut (SLDK411 Ephesians 2:8)

Wood Font Rectangle Publication Pattern


The pattern is now available on our site.

We also have some nice projects that you may like to cut for Valentine's Day. My SLD334 Sweetheart Candle Tray and Charms always makes a nice gift:

Food Drinkware Cup Dishware Serveware


And Keith's matching SLDK147 Heart Votive & Tealight Holder Tray pattern do as well.

Candle Wax Light Candle holder Lighting


There is still plenty of time to make something nice for your loved ones.

Hopefully, I will soon be putting this sickness behind us. Richard (our cat) is feeling better. So is Keith. I am going to see if I can get by without any cold medicine today which should help my productivity and get me back on track. It seems like for the past few weeks we have had one thing after another. But then, as I read on my social media page, most of you all have had some of this as well. It is just part of life.

I hope to continue to recover from this cold and really get to work on some new and interesting things to blog about to you. I thank my many friends who have sent messages and who have kept me 'company' during these times when I wasn't 100%. I hope to do many inspiring things beginning very soon.

So it is a good way to kick off the new week. I hope you all have a great week ahead of you as well. I see that "pink cloud" not too far away!

Happy Monday to you all!
 

Attachments

#13,091 ·
Over the Hump

I think I finally made it to the 'other side.' By that, I mean that I feel as if I finally made it to the 'healthy' side of life. After weeks (and I mean WEEKS) of fighting various symptoms a cold/flu virus, I woke up this morning with the feeling that I am getting better. I still have a few of the symptoms. But I definitely feel that something has changed for the better. There is much less tickling in my throat and little congestion and no more body aches. I am on the mend.

I am not usually one to complain. We all get our bouts of illness from time to time. Usually, I just ride them out without mentioning them. But this one held on for so long that it was hard to ignore it. It really took a lot out of me. While there were only a couple of days that I really felt achy and 'sick' it has been nagging me and sucking the energy right out of me. I am glad it is behind me.

I spent most of the last week or so of my life either sleeping or working. (By "working" I mean cutting wood orders). For some reason, we had a fabulously busy January and started off February busy as well. Lots of orders came in for wood pieces and even though I had a cold, I knew I had to keep the production line moving in order to keep up.

Thank goodness I love what I do.

Even though I slept a bit later than normal, once I got up and moving (and the cold meds began kicking in) I headed to my upstairs shop. I know some of you probably think I was foolish to keep working when I wasn't feeling 100% but I want you all to know that I did respect the signals my body sent me and when I got tired out, I stopped. But I wanted to use those moments when I felt OK to do something productive. Fortunately, I would get some bursts of energy where I could accomplish things. It kept everything moving.

I am going to spend some time again here on my blog singing my praises to having my new Elipse Low Profile Dust mask.

Peripheral Audio equipment Violet Gadget Automotive design


I think it was by far the best investment that I made in myself and my business in years. I seriously don't know how I got along without one for these 20+ years of me doing wood cutting. After having one for the past two weeks, I noticed a huge difference in how I felt when working in the shop.

For those of you who missed that blog post, I am again sharing the links here. I purchased my mask from Lee Valley Tools , but you can also get them at many hardware places such as Home Depot and even Amazon. It is inexpensive, highly effective and very comfortable to wear. While I may look like an alien when up in the shop . . .

Hairstyle Vision care Eyewear Hearing Ear


I truly forget that my equipment is on and I find that I can work for many hours using this mask. I smell absolutely nothing. I used to smell the MDF dust immediately when I cut it. I also had no trouble keeping my lungs clear and gunk-free - even with my cold. I do admit when my nose would run from time to time I would forget that I had the mask on and try to wipe it with a kleenex, but that didn't happen much. If it were troublesome, I then stopped for the day.

I am very happy that I decided to try this mask out for the new year and recommend it to anyone who does woodworking. I got the 'regular' sized mask, but my friend Leldon found he needed the larger one.

It has removable filters that can be replaced and are rated for 60 days of "industrial use".

Shoe Purple Bag Violet Font


For me, that means that each set of filters will last a couple of months. They are well worth the expense. I can't stress enough how important this change is for me. My friend John from the Lumberjocks site shared an article on the toxicity of different wood dust. You can read the article here: (http://lumberjocks.com/Druid/blog/100962) (Again - what took me so long?) So all in all, I had a pretty productive weekend. I am pretty much caught up on orders and will be packing them and shipping them out today and tomorrow. Then on to new things.

Kieth also has been sick, but he has been working on a new design as well. He has a new Bible Verse plaque for the scrollers to cut (SLDK411 Ephesians 2:8)

Wood Font Rectangle Publication Pattern


The pattern is now available on our site.

We also have some nice projects that you may like to cut for Valentine's Day. My SLD334 Sweetheart Candle Tray and Charms always makes a nice gift:

Food Drinkware Cup Dishware Serveware


And Keith's matching SLDK147 Heart Votive & Tealight Holder Tray pattern do as well.

Candle Wax Light Candle holder Lighting


There is still plenty of time to make something nice for your loved ones.

Hopefully, I will soon be putting this sickness behind us. Richard (our cat) is feeling better. So is Keith. I am going to see if I can get by without any cold medicine today which should help my productivity and get me back on track. It seems like for the past few weeks we have had one thing after another. But then, as I read on my social media page, most of you all have had some of this as well. It is just part of life.

I hope to continue to recover from this cold and really get to work on some new and interesting things to blog about to you. I thank my many friends who have sent messages and who have kept me 'company' during these times when I wasn't 100%. I hope to do many inspiring things beginning very soon.

So it is a good way to kick off the new week. I hope you all have a great week ahead of you as well. I see that "pink cloud" not too far away!

Happy Monday to you all!
You almost got me sold on buying one of those masks, looks like the best one I have seen as being effective over a longer period of time. Actually I just have to use the ones I have more. I have a dust collector as well.
Best remedy for a cold is fresh air and activity. flue can really put one on ones backside though. Enjoying the cold sunny weather here, getting outdoor and hiking. To day will get a fire going in the shop and start a lathe project, you will find it interesting if the vision in my brain can be produced in wood. Now I am not so sure, just looked at the thermometer minus 19. The heart projects pull at my heart strings to do one. fabulous….
 

Attachments

#13,096 ·
Evolving

We all work for certain goals in our lives. Be it personal or professional, there always seems to be something to strive for and give out lives purpose.

I began my own business many, many years ago. I was in my 20's then and looking for a way to earn some extra income for my young family while doing something that I enjoyed. I had always loved 'making things' and thought that would be somewhat of a utopia for me. Justifying doing something that I love and being paid for it as well. It would be the perfect answer.

Things didn't come easy. There were many times that I made decisions that cost more money than I earned. There were no clear-cut rules as to how to succeed. Only trial and error, which sometimes came at a great cost.

But eventually, I began to figure things out. One thing that I feel is the most important is the ability to be flexible. To change as things around us change. They do, you know. Whatever works for us one year or season comes with no set guarantee that it would be successful the next. That is because the world is also changing every single day. If I learned anything, it is that the quicker I allow myself to adapt to these changes, the more successful I will be. It keeps me on my toes and always in search of new ideas and products to offer our customers. It makes what I do exciting and fun and doesn't allow for me to become stagnant. To me, it is part of the joy.

With that said, I noticed that lately, our little business has taken on a somewhat different look. We are still offering scroll sawing and woodworking patterns (as a matter of fact, Keith has recently created some of his best designs to date!) but I have noticed that the painting and wood surface production portion has been taking up more and more of my own time. It seems that my wood surfaces are catching on with decorative painters and I am just thrilled about that. It makes things rather fun.

This doesn't mean that I am not designing anymore. It only means that I am not able to focus solely on designing and need to allow myself time for production work. Since I really enjoy working in my shop, I think that is a good thing. It is nice that others appreciate the time and care I put into cutting the wood pieces I offer and I am happy to be able to do so. I remember back to when I began painting and finding good sources for wood was difficult. That was in part what introduced me to scroll sawing in the first place. So for most of my creative life, woodworking and painting have gone hand in hand. I am glad to see it continuing in that manner.

Not only does it allow me the chance to work directly with customers, but I have been able to get to know some of my favorite designers and meet new and upcoming designers in the craft industry. I like this personal contact with people and to me, it makes the end products so much more meaningful. It is a wonderful way to do business. I have really been enjoying myself lately.

I suppose the downside of that (if any) is that it will limit my own design time. But I think that as I settle into this new role in my company, I will be doing a bit better on that part. I have always been a believer of "quality over quantity" and I would rather put out fewer designs that are of a higher quality than more that are not. I believe that with a little dedication and some good time management, I will be able to make it work. In the meantime, Keith is always coming up with some of the nicest scroll saw designs on the market. I feel so fortunate to have such a talented partner. Without him, I am sure our business wouldn't be in the place it is. I am so grateful.

As always, I have several new ideas in the works. I have ideas in both the painting area and I am working on some new woodworking and scroll saw designs as well. I hope to be able to offer them soon and I will certainly keep blogging here when I have some new things to show you.

I mention this all because the frequency of my blogs may decline a bit while I get things settled into this role. For over six years now I had blogged nearly every day. But lately, I have found that it didn't seem appropriate to do so. If I spend a day working in the shop cutting out pieces, I don't feel that is of much interest to you, my readers. I used to show piles of wood pieces from time to time so you would all see what I was up to, but I feel that lately, one pile looks much like the next as far as blogging is concerned and I once again feel that I want my posts here to be "quality over quantity" and post only when I have something that I feel will truly interest you to talk about. I think you all will agree.

So things may be a bit spotty while I am settling in, but I hope when I do post, you all feel that the posts I offer are helpful and inspiring. I never want that to change.

I spent the last week doing lots in my shop. I had an unusually large amount of wood orders and instead of my usual one to two days per week up there, I spent probably five. The quantity of work that I accomplished was good though and it gave me a good sense of satisfaction. I was even able to get ahead a bit and cut some pieces to have in stock. That is pretty cool.

Keith was busy designing, as usual, and I have a couple of new things that will interest my scrolling readers. First off, he made this new plaque:

Rectangle Wood Font Handwriting Motor vehicle


His SLDK706 Simplify Your Life plaque is a beautiful addition to Keith's word art plaques. I think it will be something that many of you will enjoy, as we all need to take some time to take a breath and enjoy just 'living.'

Keith also created a great new offer for our customers:

Organism Font Art Rectangle Collectable


This SPECIAL OFFER allows our customers to get all 20 of his Self-Framing, Leaf-Bordered wildlife patterns at half price. We hope that those of you who are looking to collect this handsome set of patterns will take advantage of it. It is a great opportunity to have the entire collection.

Today I am going to be writing a newsletter and we will be updating a few things on the site. I am also finishing up my new scroll saw pattern and I need to take the photos and finish writing out the pattern for it. I think it will be something that scrollers of any level can enjoy creating and will have lots of uses.

I appreciate you all who keep following us through our newsletters and my blog here. I realize that I have been spending a bit less time here and on social media than previously. However, as our business demands more of my time, I have had to adjust my schedule and do what is necessary to keep the business healthy and growing. I still enjoy hearing from you and seeing your projects. So many of you who began as customers or readers have become dear and valued friends.

I hope you keep coming back to read as well as commenting and sharing my posts. My goal of sharing creativity has not changed and if anything, has strengthened over these past years. Without you all, I wouldn't be able to achieve it. Thank you so much.

I wish you all a wonderful Monday! Have fun today and do something that makes your heart happy!
 

Attachments

#13,097 ·
Evolving

We all work for certain goals in our lives. Be it personal or professional, there always seems to be something to strive for and give out lives purpose.

I began my own business many, many years ago. I was in my 20's then and looking for a way to earn some extra income for my young family while doing something that I enjoyed. I had always loved 'making things' and thought that would be somewhat of a utopia for me. Justifying doing something that I love and being paid for it as well. It would be the perfect answer.

Things didn't come easy. There were many times that I made decisions that cost more money than I earned. There were no clear-cut rules as to how to succeed. Only trial and error, which sometimes came at a great cost.

But eventually, I began to figure things out. One thing that I feel is the most important is the ability to be flexible. To change as things around us change. They do, you know. Whatever works for us one year or season comes with no set guarantee that it would be successful the next. That is because the world is also changing every single day. If I learned anything, it is that the quicker I allow myself to adapt to these changes, the more successful I will be. It keeps me on my toes and always in search of new ideas and products to offer our customers. It makes what I do exciting and fun and doesn't allow for me to become stagnant. To me, it is part of the joy.

With that said, I noticed that lately, our little business has taken on a somewhat different look. We are still offering scroll sawing and woodworking patterns (as a matter of fact, Keith has recently created some of his best designs to date!) but I have noticed that the painting and wood surface production portion has been taking up more and more of my own time. It seems that my wood surfaces are catching on with decorative painters and I am just thrilled about that. It makes things rather fun.

This doesn't mean that I am not designing anymore. It only means that I am not able to focus solely on designing and need to allow myself time for production work. Since I really enjoy working in my shop, I think that is a good thing. It is nice that others appreciate the time and care I put into cutting the wood pieces I offer and I am happy to be able to do so. I remember back to when I began painting and finding good sources for wood was difficult. That was in part what introduced me to scroll sawing in the first place. So for most of my creative life, woodworking and painting have gone hand in hand. I am glad to see it continuing in that manner.

Not only does it allow me the chance to work directly with customers, but I have been able to get to know some of my favorite designers and meet new and upcoming designers in the craft industry. I like this personal contact with people and to me, it makes the end products so much more meaningful. It is a wonderful way to do business. I have really been enjoying myself lately.

I suppose the downside of that (if any) is that it will limit my own design time. But I think that as I settle into this new role in my company, I will be doing a bit better on that part. I have always been a believer of "quality over quantity" and I would rather put out fewer designs that are of a higher quality than more that are not. I believe that with a little dedication and some good time management, I will be able to make it work. In the meantime, Keith is always coming up with some of the nicest scroll saw designs on the market. I feel so fortunate to have such a talented partner. Without him, I am sure our business wouldn't be in the place it is. I am so grateful.

As always, I have several new ideas in the works. I have ideas in both the painting area and I am working on some new woodworking and scroll saw designs as well. I hope to be able to offer them soon and I will certainly keep blogging here when I have some new things to show you.

I mention this all because the frequency of my blogs may decline a bit while I get things settled into this role. For over six years now I had blogged nearly every day. But lately, I have found that it didn't seem appropriate to do so. If I spend a day working in the shop cutting out pieces, I don't feel that is of much interest to you, my readers. I used to show piles of wood pieces from time to time so you would all see what I was up to, but I feel that lately, one pile looks much like the next as far as blogging is concerned and I once again feel that I want my posts here to be "quality over quantity" and post only when I have something that I feel will truly interest you to talk about. I think you all will agree.

So things may be a bit spotty while I am settling in, but I hope when I do post, you all feel that the posts I offer are helpful and inspiring. I never want that to change.

I spent the last week doing lots in my shop. I had an unusually large amount of wood orders and instead of my usual one to two days per week up there, I spent probably five. The quantity of work that I accomplished was good though and it gave me a good sense of satisfaction. I was even able to get ahead a bit and cut some pieces to have in stock. That is pretty cool.

Keith was busy designing, as usual, and I have a couple of new things that will interest my scrolling readers. First off, he made this new plaque:

Rectangle Wood Font Handwriting Motor vehicle


His SLDK706 Simplify Your Life plaque is a beautiful addition to Keith's word art plaques. I think it will be something that many of you will enjoy, as we all need to take some time to take a breath and enjoy just 'living.'

Keith also created a great new offer for our customers:

Organism Font Art Rectangle Collectable


This SPECIAL OFFER allows our customers to get all 20 of his Self-Framing, Leaf-Bordered wildlife patterns at half price. We hope that those of you who are looking to collect this handsome set of patterns will take advantage of it. It is a great opportunity to have the entire collection.

Today I am going to be writing a newsletter and we will be updating a few things on the site. I am also finishing up my new scroll saw pattern and I need to take the photos and finish writing out the pattern for it. I think it will be something that scrollers of any level can enjoy creating and will have lots of uses.

I appreciate you all who keep following us through our newsletters and my blog here. I realize that I have been spending a bit less time here and on social media than previously. However, as our business demands more of my time, I have had to adjust my schedule and do what is necessary to keep the business healthy and growing. I still enjoy hearing from you and seeing your projects. So many of you who began as customers or readers have become dear and valued friends.

I hope you keep coming back to read as well as commenting and sharing my posts. My goal of sharing creativity has not changed and if anything, has strengthened over these past years. Without you all, I wouldn't be able to achieve it. Thank you so much.

I wish you all a wonderful Monday! Have fun today and do something that makes your heart happy!
Love the animal patterns, I am not a full time scroller or they would be first on my list… I have been using the scroll saw to cut animal puzzles for my grand daughter. You certainly have made great determined choices in your business, one has to do that to make a success. It is not easy in the wood field, in the world wide market,, But there will always be a place for the true craftsman or should I say craftswomen. You fit the bill with your energy and fountain of ideas.
My next project I will post I will work with color, but not in the way you do. there also will be an adventure video. Hope you are not in the dak, see there is a wild storm out your way. Been warm here the last few days and not mucch snow now.
 

Attachments

#13,099 ·
Back in the Swing of Things!

One thing about posting here less often - when I do post there is so much to share with you all! I feel like things are going fast forward again and I am back on the 'creative track' after a bleak two months for me. Those of you who have followed me for a while know that I usually try to look at the good side of even the not-so-good thing that happen. But sometimes, that just doesn't work. Try as I did, I found it hard to feel good about things. It was time for me to step back and allow myself to go through the grieving process and get through my day. It seemed that every day was a challenge. But time does heal or at least soften the pain of loss and little by little I am finding my way back to my happy "Pink Cloud" and my creative place. I can't thank you all enough for your kindness and compassion and understanding. So many of you shared stories of your own losses and your love for your little fur babies. It did help to know that I was not alone. Even though I have never met most of you face to face, I feel a bond with you, not only because of our shared love of our pets but our love of creating. That is the type of people that I want surrounding me. Together we will find joy in this sometimes scary world.

For some reason, though, the dark clouds have lifted and my enthusiasm and joy have slowly returned. While I still have my moments of sadness (I don't think that will ever pass) I have once again been able to look at the good things that I have in my life and set my focus on that. There is much to be grateful for and I truly am fortunate. The love and care from those around me have helped me realize that my glass is indeed half full. My life is good.

So without further rambling, I will get to the good part of my post - the part where I show you what is new. I am happy and excited about these things and can't wait to show them.

I'll start off with a project that I actually began in November. I had the majority of the project drawn out and actually cut, but the pieces were sitting in a box in my workroom waiting to be finished. I finally got the ambition to pull it out and finish it up and I was so happy I did. It came out cuter than I even imagined it. I hope you all agree.

It is a train that carries a nice set of alphabet letters on each car! (SLD535 - Alphabet Train with FULL Alphabet and Numbers)

Automotive tire Toy Motor vehicle Font Lego


I initially had this idea so that people could make it for Christmas, but as time went by, I realized that it would be suitable for any occasion. I purposely painted my own sample very simply, with no shading or fancy paint at all. (Of course, you could add more detailing if you wish!) I was thrilled at the bright, clean look that this has. It really is attractive and appealing!

I have to say a word about the paint I used. It has quickly become one of my all time favorites for this type of project. I highly recommend it to ALL my woodworker friends and followers for any type of project that they want to add color to. The paint is by DecoArt (SURPRISE!) and it is their Multi-Surface Satin line. This paint is remarkable because it has beautiful coverage over many types of porous and non-porous surfaces, What I find most remarkable about this paint is that the finish is built right into it. You don't need any type of sealer over it. I have used "all-in-one" products in the past with less than desirable result. I find that most products that are like this give uneven, streaky finishes and coverage. They tend to be sticky, too and not lay down nicely. But not the Multi-Surface Satin! We used this product two or three years ago when Keith rebuilt his speakers and made a unit for our TV and audio equipment:

Studio monitor Entertainment Public address system Audio equipment Electronic instrument


The pieces are as beautiful as the day we painted them, even after everyday use. We just use a damp cloth to dust them and they look outstanding. I have purchased more of this project for several of the projects that I plan to do in the near future here in our new home. I can't wait to share them with you.

I highly recommend that you give this product a try. You can see the full line of beautiful, bright colors on DecoArt's website HERE and download a complete color chart. They are available at most craft stores or you can order them online at DecoArt's website HERE. I am sure that once you try them, you will agree. They are suitable for OUTDOOR projects, too and like all of DecoArt's products, they have no odor and clean up with soap and water. It is really something that I fall more in love with every time I use it. I think you will, too!

I have one more photo of the train for you to see so you can better see the size:

Tire Automotive tire Black Font Toy block


I think it would be fun to have at a birthday party or even baby shower. One thing that I want to mention is that this train is NOT intended as a toy! It is really something with small pieces (such as the screw eyes that connect the cars) and they can be easily swallowed. It also isn't as sturdy as something that a young child would play with. It is intended as a decoration.

My next new exciting bit of news is that I was invited by Jodi Noordyk to offer the wood pieces for her new, beautiful design called "Gypsy Dreams":

Font Poster Event Advertising Happy


Jodi is new to designing and I have to say, she did a beautiful job not only with this awesome design, but writing the packet, too. You can buy the ornament surface(s) here: SLDPK160 They are sold in sets of three, as it wouldn't have made sense to ship one single piece. I think the shape is something that can lend itself to many other designs as well, and I think that Jodi will be working on more beautiful creations using this shape. You can get the pattern packet at the Decorative Painting Store HERE as an instant download. I hope if you like it, you support Jodi's new designing adventure. I can't wait to see more of her designs!

And finally - I want to make you all aware of a wonderful special that I am running for my painters. For a limited time, I am offering TWO of my painting patterns for the price of one.

Organism Font Adaptation Pattern Terrestrial plant


This product number "Special Offer 2" combines two popular patterns for spring and summer, using two different techniques. The first pattern is an introduction to using Margot Clark's MUD technique. (You can get her MUD at her website HERE) For those who don't know, MUD is a texture paste create by Margot that is fun and easy to use and dries hard as a rock. She has many videos and tutorials for this technique, and my pattern has LOADS of step-by-step photos to make the pretty flowers shown on the bunnies. Trust me - once you try it, you will be HOOKED!

The other pattern uses the same shapes with a totally different process. This pattern uses DecoArt products to create this beautiful and subtle crackled finish. I used the crackle over pretty spring and summer colors and finished each bunny with some simple stroke work and hot-fix rhinestones. The stroke work has a layer of DecoArt Glamour Dust Ultra Fine Glitter Paint over it and a pretty satin bow for a lovely mixture of textures and finishes.

Both of these projects are fun and easy and the little bunnies will look wonderful as plant pokes, magnets, or even done in a beautiful wreath! (I made my mom-in-law a wreath with the bunnies and it is lovely!)

PLUS - I am also offering the bunny surfaces at a discount. For a limited time, you can get this set of 10 bunnies for $1 off. (SLDPK211) Couple this with the pattern and you have a pretty good deal. It is a great way to paint away these winter blues we are having. :)

So as you can see, I am back to being pretty busy again. On top of this, I have been working on some wonderful new things with some of my favorite designers and also for myself. I am back to the place where I can't wait to get up each morning and start my day. It is a good place to be.

I think that is a long enough post for today. Little by little I will be returning to blogging more frequently again. Thanks to all of you who stuck by me through my down time and welcome to all my new followers. Feel free to share and comment on any blogs you wish. I love to hear your feedback.

We had another 'blizzard' pass through yesterday and had no mail service again. I am hope we have some today, as Monday is a holiday. I suppose the only annoyance with winter for me is that I can't get my orders posted as quickly when they post office isn't operating. But everyone is pretty patient and most do understand. It is out of my control.

I wish you all a great Friday and fun weekend! I know I will have lots of fun, too. I can't wait to show you what is in store!

Have a great day! Keep creating!
 

Attachments

#13,100 ·
Back in the Swing of Things!

One thing about posting here less often - when I do post there is so much to share with you all! I feel like things are going fast forward again and I am back on the 'creative track' after a bleak two months for me. Those of you who have followed me for a while know that I usually try to look at the good side of even the not-so-good thing that happen. But sometimes, that just doesn't work. Try as I did, I found it hard to feel good about things. It was time for me to step back and allow myself to go through the grieving process and get through my day. It seemed that every day was a challenge. But time does heal or at least soften the pain of loss and little by little I am finding my way back to my happy "Pink Cloud" and my creative place. I can't thank you all enough for your kindness and compassion and understanding. So many of you shared stories of your own losses and your love for your little fur babies. It did help to know that I was not alone. Even though I have never met most of you face to face, I feel a bond with you, not only because of our shared love of our pets but our love of creating. That is the type of people that I want surrounding me. Together we will find joy in this sometimes scary world.

For some reason, though, the dark clouds have lifted and my enthusiasm and joy have slowly returned. While I still have my moments of sadness (I don't think that will ever pass) I have once again been able to look at the good things that I have in my life and set my focus on that. There is much to be grateful for and I truly am fortunate. The love and care from those around me have helped me realize that my glass is indeed half full. My life is good.

So without further rambling, I will get to the good part of my post - the part where I show you what is new. I am happy and excited about these things and can't wait to show them.

I'll start off with a project that I actually began in November. I had the majority of the project drawn out and actually cut, but the pieces were sitting in a box in my workroom waiting to be finished. I finally got the ambition to pull it out and finish it up and I was so happy I did. It came out cuter than I even imagined it. I hope you all agree.

It is a train that carries a nice set of alphabet letters on each car! (SLD535 - Alphabet Train with FULL Alphabet and Numbers)

Automotive tire Toy Motor vehicle Font Lego


I initially had this idea so that people could make it for Christmas, but as time went by, I realized that it would be suitable for any occasion. I purposely painted my own sample very simply, with no shading or fancy paint at all. (Of course, you could add more detailing if you wish!) I was thrilled at the bright, clean look that this has. It really is attractive and appealing!

I have to say a word about the paint I used. It has quickly become one of my all time favorites for this type of project. I highly recommend it to ALL my woodworker friends and followers for any type of project that they want to add color to. The paint is by DecoArt (SURPRISE!) and it is their Multi-Surface Satin line. This paint is remarkable because it has beautiful coverage over many types of porous and non-porous surfaces, What I find most remarkable about this paint is that the finish is built right into it. You don't need any type of sealer over it. I have used "all-in-one" products in the past with less than desirable result. I find that most products that are like this give uneven, streaky finishes and coverage. They tend to be sticky, too and not lay down nicely. But not the Multi-Surface Satin! We used this product two or three years ago when Keith rebuilt his speakers and made a unit for our TV and audio equipment:

Studio monitor Entertainment Public address system Audio equipment Electronic instrument


The pieces are as beautiful as the day we painted them, even after everyday use. We just use a damp cloth to dust them and they look outstanding. I have purchased more of this project for several of the projects that I plan to do in the near future here in our new home. I can't wait to share them with you.

I highly recommend that you give this product a try. You can see the full line of beautiful, bright colors on DecoArt's website HERE and download a complete color chart. They are available at most craft stores or you can order them online at DecoArt's website HERE. I am sure that once you try them, you will agree. They are suitable for OUTDOOR projects, too and like all of DecoArt's products, they have no odor and clean up with soap and water. It is really something that I fall more in love with every time I use it. I think you will, too!

I have one more photo of the train for you to see so you can better see the size:

Tire Automotive tire Black Font Toy block


I think it would be fun to have at a birthday party or even baby shower. One thing that I want to mention is that this train is NOT intended as a toy! It is really something with small pieces (such as the screw eyes that connect the cars) and they can be easily swallowed. It also isn't as sturdy as something that a young child would play with. It is intended as a decoration.

My next new exciting bit of news is that I was invited by Jodi Noordyk to offer the wood pieces for her new, beautiful design called "Gypsy Dreams":

Font Poster Event Advertising Happy


Jodi is new to designing and I have to say, she did a beautiful job not only with this awesome design, but writing the packet, too. You can buy the ornament surface(s) here: SLDPK160 They are sold in sets of three, as it wouldn't have made sense to ship one single piece. I think the shape is something that can lend itself to many other designs as well, and I think that Jodi will be working on more beautiful creations using this shape. You can get the pattern packet at the Decorative Painting Store HERE as an instant download. I hope if you like it, you support Jodi's new designing adventure. I can't wait to see more of her designs!

And finally - I want to make you all aware of a wonderful special that I am running for my painters. For a limited time, I am offering TWO of my painting patterns for the price of one.

Organism Font Adaptation Pattern Terrestrial plant


This product number "Special Offer 2" combines two popular patterns for spring and summer, using two different techniques. The first pattern is an introduction to using Margot Clark's MUD technique. (You can get her MUD at her website HERE) For those who don't know, MUD is a texture paste create by Margot that is fun and easy to use and dries hard as a rock. She has many videos and tutorials for this technique, and my pattern has LOADS of step-by-step photos to make the pretty flowers shown on the bunnies. Trust me - once you try it, you will be HOOKED!

The other pattern uses the same shapes with a totally different process. This pattern uses DecoArt products to create this beautiful and subtle crackled finish. I used the crackle over pretty spring and summer colors and finished each bunny with some simple stroke work and hot-fix rhinestones. The stroke work has a layer of DecoArt Glamour Dust Ultra Fine Glitter Paint over it and a pretty satin bow for a lovely mixture of textures and finishes.

Both of these projects are fun and easy and the little bunnies will look wonderful as plant pokes, magnets, or even done in a beautiful wreath! (I made my mom-in-law a wreath with the bunnies and it is lovely!)

PLUS - I am also offering the bunny surfaces at a discount. For a limited time, you can get this set of 10 bunnies for $1 off. (SLDPK211) Couple this with the pattern and you have a pretty good deal. It is a great way to paint away these winter blues we are having. :)

So as you can see, I am back to being pretty busy again. On top of this, I have been working on some wonderful new things with some of my favorite designers and also for myself. I am back to the place where I can't wait to get up each morning and start my day. It is a good place to be.

I think that is a long enough post for today. Little by little I will be returning to blogging more frequently again. Thanks to all of you who stuck by me through my down time and welcome to all my new followers. Feel free to share and comment on any blogs you wish. I love to hear your feedback.

We had another 'blizzard' pass through yesterday and had no mail service again. I am hope we have some today, as Monday is a holiday. I suppose the only annoyance with winter for me is that I can't get my orders posted as quickly when they post office isn't operating. But everyone is pretty patient and most do understand. It is out of my control.

I wish you all a great Friday and fun weekend! I know I will have lots of fun, too. I can't wait to show you what is in store!

Have a great day! Keep creating!
Love the train! I'll be looking forward to cutting it out :)
Take it easy in your blizzards!
 

Attachments

#13,106 ·
My Shop (A Tour!)

I had a crazy/busy weekend (again!) I had hoped to have some time to paint, but it just wasn't in the cards for me yet. That doesn't mean that I didn't have a productive couple of days. It was quite the opposite.

Many of you who have followed me regularly here on the blog may have noticed that I am not posting as much. It isn't because I am not working as much or doing as much creating, but it is more because the 'production' side of my business has really grown. After working from my kitchen in my small, 1-bedroom apartment for seven years, having a full room as a shop has really allowed me to expand that part of the business and work much more comfortably than before. While we were able to make due with things before, and actually keep everything neat and tidy, the growing number of orders from my dear painters really was a huge factor in us finding a larger place. The home we are in now is much more suited to our home business and not only are we much more comfortable here, but also more efficient. The key to making the most of my day is "organization". It makes it possible to produce a large quantity of work quickly and efficiently, and most importantly - safely.

I never bought into that phrase that I often hear among the woodworks: "A clean shop is not productive." While I realize that many people have no choice but to be in a small, cramped space that is shared with others, I also know from my own experience that no matter how small a work area is, there is no reason it can't be kept organized and clean. After all - I did work in my kitchen. That room opened up into my living room and that was pretty much our living space. Even though we scroll sawed there at least one or two days per week, it was never filled with dust or dirty. The key was to clean up not only after we were finished, but periodically throughout the time we were working. It kept the dust at bay and made things much easier when we were done and often tired. Not to mention we knew that everything was in its place so no time was no time wasted hunting for things. This principle was something that became a habit for me and I feel it is a good one to share.

You know that feeling you have when just finishing setting up a work area? I get that feeling every time I enter my shop. No matter how busy I am, I always try to put everything back into its place and I never walk out of my shop without doing a good cleaning. Becuase I keep this up throughout my work sessions, it is not something that takes much time and is really very easy. Once I got into this habit, I don't think I would ever want to have it any other way.

Here is a photo of the cutting I did on Saturday and Sunday:

Table Wood Hardwood Desk Paper


Not only did these pieces have to be cut. but many of them routed as well and all of them are sanded smooth and ready to paint. The only things that were able to be stack-cut were the bunnies and the one ornament near the back. All the others are 1/4" MDF which had to be cut in a single layer, then a second cut needed to be made on a bevel. The large clocks required two bevel cuts each. The bevel cuts were then routed and everything sanded. You would think my shop would be a dirty mess by the time I was finished, wouldn't you?

But here is a picture of how it looked when I was done:

Property Cabinetry Computer desk Kitchen Home appliance


I promise you that this is not out of the ordinary. This is how it always looks in between sessions. Everything has its place and everything is put back there. The white cabinet on the left holds my blades and small things like scissors and pencils in the top drawer, and then some postal supplies (bubble wrap) in the cabinet underneath. The large table holds our two saws and the drill press. Under the table are some large boxes for templates for my larger items like my carousel and my large clocks. I also store some extra pieces in there and there is the shop vac. I keep the top box empty and put it on the floor as I cut to toss in the waste pieces. when the box is full, I have a large trash bag on the other side of the closet to put the wood in so Keith can burn it in the stove in the basement. The cabinets on the right that the ornaments sit on are filled with sandpaper, my glue gun, glue and my sprays for finishing. I also keep some of my DecoArt paint in the (the larger jars) and a box of good quality paper towels.

Property Cabinetry Window Table Computer desk


This next picture is a wider shot. You cen see the plastic boxes on the left. They hold 'extra' pieces that I sell. When I cut, I try to add in a few extras of each thing. That way I don't have to cut each time there is an order. I don't keep a lot of stock, but having some is good. Lately, It seems that I empty those boxes out pretty quickly!

Next to that is my tool box. It is also very neat and organized. It holds all my screw drivers, router bits, Forstner and drill bits, hand drills and there is a drawer for pattern templates. I also keep the patterns that I am using in the little shelf stack on the far right of the picture. I file these back when I am done with each session. You can see with little clutter, it is very easy to run the vacuum and clean everything after each session of work. The padded floor keeps the floor neat, and also is very easy to vacuum. It also helps reduce the noise in the room. I have vinyl shades that also vacuum nicely and no curtains or pictures to gather dust.

Window Building Wood Fixture Flooring


This is the opposite side of the room. The wood on the left is my Baltic birch plywood, and some additional MDF. I just purchased a load of MDF and went through a pile of this size in about a month. There is a small closet that has no door, and I use that to store the hardwood and the cut plywood for easy scrolling. I usually cut the plywood into 10" x 10" pieces. I have a load arriving this week, and am almost out. I save the larger sheets for backing on larger pieces, but don't use that as often so pre-cutting the sheets into 10Ă—10 pieces saves time. Then I can just glue the corners of the squares with a glue gun and I am ready for stack cutting ornaments. Fast and easy! :) The door is to a small washroom and the cabinet on the right is filled with my painting books.

Wood Flooring Floor Hardwood Wood stain


This is about 40 sheet of MDF that I just got. There were 10 more on the left pile, and when I run out of this, I know it is time to get more so I don't run out completely.

Packing materials Shipping box Wood Package delivery Hardwood


The closet holds boxes of "organized" hardwood and my plywood. I also keep a couple of empty boxes there - mostly for holding scraps or shipping odd size items. I buy my boxes from Uline typically, but there are times when I need an odd size that I don't stock. You can see that everything we have is accessible and we are able to see what we need at a glance.

Wood Window Flooring Floor Rectangle


Here is the smaller stack on the left of the closet. I keep various sizes of MDF and plywood that I don't use as often there, as well as the overflow of 1/4" MDF. Those are my dowels in the corner. The two mats I actually use for sanding on. I like to sit on the floor when I use my 1/3 sheet Makita sander. I really am most comfortable doing that. The sander is hooked up to the 6.5 hp Rigid shop vac so there is really NO dust at all. I actually sand when I am done cleaning the shop. Then I just do one more quick vac before I close the door. I use the small waste basket for my paper waste. I use sticker sheets a lot to apply patterns and keep that under my feet as I saw to peel off the stickers. That keeps the waste separate and it is easy to manage.

Furniture Cabinetry Computer desk Table Building


Richard (my kitty) sits on the towel next to my Excalibur saw on the left. I don't let him stay long though if I am cutting MDF, as he doesn't wear a dust mask. I have been faithfully wearing the dust mask that I showed a couple of weeks ago and I feel much better because of it. I also have a small router table that is on the floor under the first window on the right. I will show that next time. I like to sit on the floor and route as well, as I am comfortable there and I feel the dust stays localized more being low and it is easier to clean up after. I sit in front of where the vacuum is in this picture and pull the vacuum out, so most of the mess goes into the back corner there under the table. It takes 2 minutes to clean when I am done. I just do a quick swipe with the vacuum and vacuum the table and I am done.

I hope these photos inspire you to keep your own shops nice. On both Saturday and Sunday, I didn't get up there until about noon. I was done by 6 on Saturday and about 8pm on Sunday, and I feel I accomplished a huge amount of work. So I don't really buy into the "A clean shop is not a working shop" theory. I love my shop and it is a JOY to open the door and go in there to work.

I also want to mention that I also wear glasses when I work as well as sound canceling headphones. The headphones are wireless and I listen to music from my computer as well as YouTube playlists. It makes time up there pleasant and fun. If you want me to review the headphones I have, I will be happy to do that. Just ask in the comments. It really makes a nice difference when spending lots of time working.

So you see, I am not slacking when I am not writing. I suppose that to most of you, one pile of cut ornaments and wood looks much like the other. While I show things occasionally, if every time I cut a batch I blogged about it, you would all be quickly bored with my posts. I usually spent about 1-2 days a week cutting, and I try to get most of the orders done at once so I have time to do other things like paint, draw, and create.

I also wanted to mention that Keith has a new pattern up on the site.

Font Publication Rectangle Electric blue Signage


This SLDK707 Police plaque pattern set was done as a custom order for someone. He thought that everyone would enjoy it so he made it available as a pattern. I believe he is thinking of doing one for firefighters, too. We hope you like it. You can follow the link to purchase it on the site.

For today, I plan on packing and shipping all of these ornaments and wood pieces to my customers. That will take several hours to do. I then hope to get going on some new designs and hopefully painting. I haven't done that in a couple of weeks and I really need to implement some of the many ideas I have.

I hope you enjoyed this insight into my woodworking world. I really and truly love my place here and I think I have the best job in the world. Thank you to all my customers for allowing me to do what I love!

Happy Tuesday to you all!
 

Attachments

#13,107 ·
My Shop (A Tour!)

I had a crazy/busy weekend (again!) I had hoped to have some time to paint, but it just wasn't in the cards for me yet. That doesn't mean that I didn't have a productive couple of days. It was quite the opposite.

Many of you who have followed me regularly here on the blog may have noticed that I am not posting as much. It isn't because I am not working as much or doing as much creating, but it is more because the 'production' side of my business has really grown. After working from my kitchen in my small, 1-bedroom apartment for seven years, having a full room as a shop has really allowed me to expand that part of the business and work much more comfortably than before. While we were able to make due with things before, and actually keep everything neat and tidy, the growing number of orders from my dear painters really was a huge factor in us finding a larger place. The home we are in now is much more suited to our home business and not only are we much more comfortable here, but also more efficient. The key to making the most of my day is "organization". It makes it possible to produce a large quantity of work quickly and efficiently, and most importantly - safely.

I never bought into that phrase that I often hear among the woodworks: "A clean shop is not productive." While I realize that many people have no choice but to be in a small, cramped space that is shared with others, I also know from my own experience that no matter how small a work area is, there is no reason it can't be kept organized and clean. After all - I did work in my kitchen. That room opened up into my living room and that was pretty much our living space. Even though we scroll sawed there at least one or two days per week, it was never filled with dust or dirty. The key was to clean up not only after we were finished, but periodically throughout the time we were working. It kept the dust at bay and made things much easier when we were done and often tired. Not to mention we knew that everything was in its place so no time was no time wasted hunting for things. This principle was something that became a habit for me and I feel it is a good one to share.

You know that feeling you have when just finishing setting up a work area? I get that feeling every time I enter my shop. No matter how busy I am, I always try to put everything back into its place and I never walk out of my shop without doing a good cleaning. Becuase I keep this up throughout my work sessions, it is not something that takes much time and is really very easy. Once I got into this habit, I don't think I would ever want to have it any other way.

Here is a photo of the cutting I did on Saturday and Sunday:

Table Wood Hardwood Desk Paper


Not only did these pieces have to be cut. but many of them routed as well and all of them are sanded smooth and ready to paint. The only things that were able to be stack-cut were the bunnies and the one ornament near the back. All the others are 1/4" MDF which had to be cut in a single layer, then a second cut needed to be made on a bevel. The large clocks required two bevel cuts each. The bevel cuts were then routed and everything sanded. You would think my shop would be a dirty mess by the time I was finished, wouldn't you?

But here is a picture of how it looked when I was done:

Property Cabinetry Computer desk Kitchen Home appliance


I promise you that this is not out of the ordinary. This is how it always looks in between sessions. Everything has its place and everything is put back there. The white cabinet on the left holds my blades and small things like scissors and pencils in the top drawer, and then some postal supplies (bubble wrap) in the cabinet underneath. The large table holds our two saws and the drill press. Under the table are some large boxes for templates for my larger items like my carousel and my large clocks. I also store some extra pieces in there and there is the shop vac. I keep the top box empty and put it on the floor as I cut to toss in the waste pieces. when the box is full, I have a large trash bag on the other side of the closet to put the wood in so Keith can burn it in the stove in the basement. The cabinets on the right that the ornaments sit on are filled with sandpaper, my glue gun, glue and my sprays for finishing. I also keep some of my DecoArt paint in the (the larger jars) and a box of good quality paper towels.

Property Cabinetry Window Table Computer desk


This next picture is a wider shot. You cen see the plastic boxes on the left. They hold 'extra' pieces that I sell. When I cut, I try to add in a few extras of each thing. That way I don't have to cut each time there is an order. I don't keep a lot of stock, but having some is good. Lately, It seems that I empty those boxes out pretty quickly!

Next to that is my tool box. It is also very neat and organized. It holds all my screw drivers, router bits, Forstner and drill bits, hand drills and there is a drawer for pattern templates. I also keep the patterns that I am using in the little shelf stack on the far right of the picture. I file these back when I am done with each session. You can see with little clutter, it is very easy to run the vacuum and clean everything after each session of work. The padded floor keeps the floor neat, and also is very easy to vacuum. It also helps reduce the noise in the room. I have vinyl shades that also vacuum nicely and no curtains or pictures to gather dust.

Window Building Wood Fixture Flooring


This is the opposite side of the room. The wood on the left is my Baltic birch plywood, and some additional MDF. I just purchased a load of MDF and went through a pile of this size in about a month. There is a small closet that has no door, and I use that to store the hardwood and the cut plywood for easy scrolling. I usually cut the plywood into 10" x 10" pieces. I have a load arriving this week, and am almost out. I save the larger sheets for backing on larger pieces, but don't use that as often so pre-cutting the sheets into 10Ă—10 pieces saves time. Then I can just glue the corners of the squares with a glue gun and I am ready for stack cutting ornaments. Fast and easy! :) The door is to a small washroom and the cabinet on the right is filled with my painting books.

Wood Flooring Floor Hardwood Wood stain


This is about 40 sheet of MDF that I just got. There were 10 more on the left pile, and when I run out of this, I know it is time to get more so I don't run out completely.

Packing materials Shipping box Wood Package delivery Hardwood


The closet holds boxes of "organized" hardwood and my plywood. I also keep a couple of empty boxes there - mostly for holding scraps or shipping odd size items. I buy my boxes from Uline typically, but there are times when I need an odd size that I don't stock. You can see that everything we have is accessible and we are able to see what we need at a glance.

Wood Window Flooring Floor Rectangle


Here is the smaller stack on the left of the closet. I keep various sizes of MDF and plywood that I don't use as often there, as well as the overflow of 1/4" MDF. Those are my dowels in the corner. The two mats I actually use for sanding on. I like to sit on the floor when I use my 1/3 sheet Makita sander. I really am most comfortable doing that. The sander is hooked up to the 6.5 hp Rigid shop vac so there is really NO dust at all. I actually sand when I am done cleaning the shop. Then I just do one more quick vac before I close the door. I use the small waste basket for my paper waste. I use sticker sheets a lot to apply patterns and keep that under my feet as I saw to peel off the stickers. That keeps the waste separate and it is easy to manage.

Furniture Cabinetry Computer desk Table Building


Richard (my kitty) sits on the towel next to my Excalibur saw on the left. I don't let him stay long though if I am cutting MDF, as he doesn't wear a dust mask. I have been faithfully wearing the dust mask that I showed a couple of weeks ago and I feel much better because of it. I also have a small router table that is on the floor under the first window on the right. I will show that next time. I like to sit on the floor and route as well, as I am comfortable there and I feel the dust stays localized more being low and it is easier to clean up after. I sit in front of where the vacuum is in this picture and pull the vacuum out, so most of the mess goes into the back corner there under the table. It takes 2 minutes to clean when I am done. I just do a quick swipe with the vacuum and vacuum the table and I am done.

I hope these photos inspire you to keep your own shops nice. On both Saturday and Sunday, I didn't get up there until about noon. I was done by 6 on Saturday and about 8pm on Sunday, and I feel I accomplished a huge amount of work. So I don't really buy into the "A clean shop is not a working shop" theory. I love my shop and it is a JOY to open the door and go in there to work.

I also want to mention that I also wear glasses when I work as well as sound canceling headphones. The headphones are wireless and I listen to music from my computer as well as YouTube playlists. It makes time up there pleasant and fun. If you want me to review the headphones I have, I will be happy to do that. Just ask in the comments. It really makes a nice difference when spending lots of time working.

So you see, I am not slacking when I am not writing. I suppose that to most of you, one pile of cut ornaments and wood looks much like the other. While I show things occasionally, if every time I cut a batch I blogged about it, you would all be quickly bored with my posts. I usually spent about 1-2 days a week cutting, and I try to get most of the orders done at once so I have time to do other things like paint, draw, and create.

I also wanted to mention that Keith has a new pattern up on the site.

Font Publication Rectangle Electric blue Signage


This SLDK707 Police plaque pattern set was done as a custom order for someone. He thought that everyone would enjoy it so he made it available as a pattern. I believe he is thinking of doing one for firefighters, too. We hope you like it. You can follow the link to purchase it on the site.

For today, I plan on packing and shipping all of these ornaments and wood pieces to my customers. That will take several hours to do. I then hope to get going on some new designs and hopefully painting. I haven't done that in a couple of weeks and I really need to implement some of the many ideas I have.

I hope you enjoyed this insight into my woodworking world. I really and truly love my place here and I think I have the best job in the world. Thank you to all my customers for allowing me to do what I love!

Happy Tuesday to you all!
Sheila

I am so happy you have a new place to work and like me keep it clean and organized. I have always love to follow you and your work.
 

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#13,118 ·
Hello, Painting My Old Friend

One would think that with me having a full-time business as a designer, that the majority of my day would be painting, drawing, and cutting new designs on the scroll saw, wouldn't they? But lately, it seems that the 'business' aspects of our business fill much of the day, and sometimes there is little time left to do the creative things, let alone create for my own pleasure.

I am not complaining, mind you. I am thrilled that things are moving in a good direction. I truly enjoy doing things like cutting orders and helping customers. I just need to find a way to better balance things out so that I also have time to have some fun working on projects created by other designers that I admire. After all - that is how I started creating in the first place.

In my mind, I frequently designate a certain time of day as 'quitting time'. That is the time that I choose to stop working on "work" and allowing myself a few hours in the day to let go and do whatever I please. This was a time when I used to paint for myself (which is things for family and friends that I don't intend to make into patterns to sell) or work on patterns from other designers or even embroider. But lately, I have been so busy that I sometimes can't bring myself to stop - even if it means that I work after dinner until I go to bed.

While it is good to be conscientious about the business, I do find that not having any 'off time' can sometimes really make me feel anxious and tired. I need to allow myself time off in order to have a good and healthy attitude and feel as if I am in a good place emotionally. That is so important for me as a designer. So I have taken steps to (try to) stick to a cut-off time and put my 'work' to bed at a decent hour. Otherwise, I will get frustrated, tired and burn out.

I have been mentioning that I want to continue painting on my "12 Days" ornament project for some time now. I can't believe that we are already at the end of the month of February and I am not done yet. I think it is high time I finish things up and move on to other projects. The list of things I want to make (for myself) is long and if I don't take a hard stand and get these finished, I can't in good conscious move on to new projects. I have my dear friend Vera cheering me on, as well as the people in our Facebook group. I need my cheerleaders more than ever now to get me over the finish line. I can see it ahead.

Last night, at about 5 pm I finally got to sit down and paint. I had begun my Day 11 ornaments several weeks ago, and the outer frames are all done except for the printing on them. It was time to get to the design part and begin working on that. It felt wonderful to actually paint again!

Computer keyboard Food Recipe Ingredient Plant


I put on Netflix and watched the end to a series that I was watching and then tuned into Lisa Clough's live lesson on YouTube (Lachri fine art) and enjoyed my evening a great deal. By the end of the evening, my little pipers were well on their way to being done:

Food Green Cake decorating supply Recipe Ingredient


I am really pleased with them and think they will be awesome!

Since I am all 'caught up' with things, I think I will devote the entire day today to them. After all - I am making up for much lost time. I think I earned a little time to do what I love, don't I? After the "Day 11's" are done, I will go back to putting some of my ideas on paper and creating some new patterns. It will feel wonderful to get these done. I will certainly post pictures.

I also wanted to show you all the new design that Keith has up on our site. After showing the "Thin Blue Line" plaque dedicated to policemen, (SLDK707), he had many requests to create one for firemen. He did and here is the result:

Rectangle Wood Font Metal Signage


This is his SLDK708 plaque for the firemen. We hope everyone likes it.

I suppose the point of my blog today is to remind you all to take time to do things completely for yourself. It is fine and good to be dedicated to your job, but if you don't take time to feed your soul with the things you enjoy, it will affect your overall attitude and maybe even your performance. While this is hard to do when you are self-employed, sometimes I think it is even more important than if you worked for someone else. In that case, you do get to 'punch out' and leave the job behind for a while every day. We need to do that for ourselves, too. I think it will make things better overall. I know it really helps me have a better attitude.

I wish you all a wonderful day! Happy Thursday to you all!
 

Attachments

#13,119 ·
Hello, Painting My Old Friend

One would think that with me having a full-time business as a designer, that the majority of my day would be painting, drawing, and cutting new designs on the scroll saw, wouldn't they? But lately, it seems that the 'business' aspects of our business fill much of the day, and sometimes there is little time left to do the creative things, let alone create for my own pleasure.

I am not complaining, mind you. I am thrilled that things are moving in a good direction. I truly enjoy doing things like cutting orders and helping customers. I just need to find a way to better balance things out so that I also have time to have some fun working on projects created by other designers that I admire. After all - that is how I started creating in the first place.

In my mind, I frequently designate a certain time of day as 'quitting time'. That is the time that I choose to stop working on "work" and allowing myself a few hours in the day to let go and do whatever I please. This was a time when I used to paint for myself (which is things for family and friends that I don't intend to make into patterns to sell) or work on patterns from other designers or even embroider. But lately, I have been so busy that I sometimes can't bring myself to stop - even if it means that I work after dinner until I go to bed.

While it is good to be conscientious about the business, I do find that not having any 'off time' can sometimes really make me feel anxious and tired. I need to allow myself time off in order to have a good and healthy attitude and feel as if I am in a good place emotionally. That is so important for me as a designer. So I have taken steps to (try to) stick to a cut-off time and put my 'work' to bed at a decent hour. Otherwise, I will get frustrated, tired and burn out.

I have been mentioning that I want to continue painting on my "12 Days" ornament project for some time now. I can't believe that we are already at the end of the month of February and I am not done yet. I think it is high time I finish things up and move on to other projects. The list of things I want to make (for myself) is long and if I don't take a hard stand and get these finished, I can't in good conscious move on to new projects. I have my dear friend Vera cheering me on, as well as the people in our Facebook group. I need my cheerleaders more than ever now to get me over the finish line. I can see it ahead.

Last night, at about 5 pm I finally got to sit down and paint. I had begun my Day 11 ornaments several weeks ago, and the outer frames are all done except for the printing on them. It was time to get to the design part and begin working on that. It felt wonderful to actually paint again!

Computer keyboard Food Recipe Ingredient Plant


I put on Netflix and watched the end to a series that I was watching and then tuned into Lisa Clough's live lesson on YouTube (Lachri fine art) and enjoyed my evening a great deal. By the end of the evening, my little pipers were well on their way to being done:

Food Green Cake decorating supply Recipe Ingredient


I am really pleased with them and think they will be awesome!

Since I am all 'caught up' with things, I think I will devote the entire day today to them. After all - I am making up for much lost time. I think I earned a little time to do what I love, don't I? After the "Day 11's" are done, I will go back to putting some of my ideas on paper and creating some new patterns. It will feel wonderful to get these done. I will certainly post pictures.

I also wanted to show you all the new design that Keith has up on our site. After showing the "Thin Blue Line" plaque dedicated to policemen, (SLDK707), he had many requests to create one for firemen. He did and here is the result:

Rectangle Wood Font Metal Signage


This is his SLDK708 plaque for the firemen. We hope everyone likes it.

I suppose the point of my blog today is to remind you all to take time to do things completely for yourself. It is fine and good to be dedicated to your job, but if you don't take time to feed your soul with the things you enjoy, it will affect your overall attitude and maybe even your performance. While this is hard to do when you are self-employed, sometimes I think it is even more important than if you worked for someone else. In that case, you do get to 'punch out' and leave the job behind for a while every day. We need to do that for ourselves, too. I think it will make things better overall. I know it really helps me have a better attitude.

I wish you all a wonderful day! Happy Thursday to you all!
Luv the firefighter sign. Always eye candy on your pages
 

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#13,123 ·
More Great Adventures

As usual, it has been a wild and crazy week. Monday was spent finishing up sending out orders and (what else?) organizing some more! I suppose when I get on a roll, I really get into it. My office, as well as my shop, is so fine tuned right now it is amazing. I only have one more section to do that houses my needlework and embroidery supplies and I am totally good to go! That section isn't too bad, though, and I think that will need to wait for another time. I have so much to do to move forward! I have so many exciting things that are coming up soon and I can't wait to share them with you!

I will begin by talking about a project that I am doing with Amy Joanne Mogish. (You can visit her website and see her wonderful work and read her blog at https://classicamyjoanne.com/) Amy and I have worked together on some other things where she provided beautiful designs and I cut her wood pieces for her. She is a very talented artist and has her own unique style that I absolutely love. When she asked me if I would like to work on another project with her, I was on board in a millisecond! I couldn't wait to hear what she had in mind.

The project is what Amy calls her "Classic Halloween Ornie Club".

Plant Branch Art Font Twig


How it works is that the members will be sent four mailings, to be sent out in June, July, August and September. Each mailing will consist of three patterns and three two-piece bevel-ornaments to paint. The members will also receive instructions to create the flag banner and ornament tree as well as a 20% coupon from Amy for a one time purchase of patterns, surfaces and books and other 'treats' as well. I am also offering a 20% off one-time use coupon for members only. You can read more about the club on Amy's blog here: https://classicamyjoanne.com/2017/02/27/classic-halloween-ornie-club/#more-6265

The 12 ornaments are absolutely adorable!

Automotive tire Light Tire Dishware Hubcap


I will be painting them as well! Each one is done on a chalky base but embellished with beautiful ground glass glitter!

Black Textile Sleeve Bag Grey


The painting is not difficult and at a level that even a beginner will have wonderful results! I am going to be painting a set myself and I will certainly share my progress with you all! I have some ideas about some things that I will be sharing, too, so hopefully, you will learn some new techniques that you will be able to apply to your other creative endeavors.

Sign ups have started for the club already so that I am able to provide her with the wood pieces in a timely manner. She already has lots of members, and I expect the club will be wildly popular. I don't believe there is a time limit to sign up, but by letting us know early, we can better prepare for getting you your patterns and ornaments with the first mailing. I hope you go check it out. :) Register by sending your email address for paypal invoice and mailing address for shipment to classicamyjoanne@gmail.com before May 1st.

I was going to tell you of some other adventures that I am working on, but I think I will save that for another day. I have a full day of cutting orders again and want to head up to the shop as soon as I can. Hopefully, I will post more often and keep my posts shorter so you can read them quickly.

I absolutely LOVE working with other designers on these projects. While I have MANY new ideas of my own, I love the thrill of working with some of the ladies that I have admired and respected. I think it is a win/win/win for ALL of us - designers and those who create our projects. It is both fun and exciting and helps us all expand our thinking and skills! The old saying "two heads are better than one" really does apply here. I hope you all agree.

I wish you all a lovely day today! I hope you enjoy your day and do something that makes your heart sing! Happy Thursday to you all!
 

Attachments

#13,124 ·
More Great Adventures

As usual, it has been a wild and crazy week. Monday was spent finishing up sending out orders and (what else?) organizing some more! I suppose when I get on a roll, I really get into it. My office, as well as my shop, is so fine tuned right now it is amazing. I only have one more section to do that houses my needlework and embroidery supplies and I am totally good to go! That section isn't too bad, though, and I think that will need to wait for another time. I have so much to do to move forward! I have so many exciting things that are coming up soon and I can't wait to share them with you!

I will begin by talking about a project that I am doing with Amy Joanne Mogish. (You can visit her website and see her wonderful work and read her blog at https://classicamyjoanne.com/) Amy and I have worked together on some other things where she provided beautiful designs and I cut her wood pieces for her. She is a very talented artist and has her own unique style that I absolutely love. When she asked me if I would like to work on another project with her, I was on board in a millisecond! I couldn't wait to hear what she had in mind.

The project is what Amy calls her "Classic Halloween Ornie Club".

Plant Branch Art Font Twig


How it works is that the members will be sent four mailings, to be sent out in June, July, August and September. Each mailing will consist of three patterns and three two-piece bevel-ornaments to paint. The members will also receive instructions to create the flag banner and ornament tree as well as a 20% coupon from Amy for a one time purchase of patterns, surfaces and books and other 'treats' as well. I am also offering a 20% off one-time use coupon for members only. You can read more about the club on Amy's blog here: https://classicamyjoanne.com/2017/02/27/classic-halloween-ornie-club/#more-6265

The 12 ornaments are absolutely adorable!

Automotive tire Light Tire Dishware Hubcap


I will be painting them as well! Each one is done on a chalky base but embellished with beautiful ground glass glitter!

Black Textile Sleeve Bag Grey


The painting is not difficult and at a level that even a beginner will have wonderful results! I am going to be painting a set myself and I will certainly share my progress with you all! I have some ideas about some things that I will be sharing, too, so hopefully, you will learn some new techniques that you will be able to apply to your other creative endeavors.

Sign ups have started for the club already so that I am able to provide her with the wood pieces in a timely manner. She already has lots of members, and I expect the club will be wildly popular. I don't believe there is a time limit to sign up, but by letting us know early, we can better prepare for getting you your patterns and ornaments with the first mailing. I hope you go check it out. :) Register by sending your email address for paypal invoice and mailing address for shipment to classicamyjoanne@gmail.com before May 1st.

I was going to tell you of some other adventures that I am working on, but I think I will save that for another day. I have a full day of cutting orders again and want to head up to the shop as soon as I can. Hopefully, I will post more often and keep my posts shorter so you can read them quickly.

I absolutely LOVE working with other designers on these projects. While I have MANY new ideas of my own, I love the thrill of working with some of the ladies that I have admired and respected. I think it is a win/win/win for ALL of us - designers and those who create our projects. It is both fun and exciting and helps us all expand our thinking and skills! The old saying "two heads are better than one" really does apply here. I hope you all agree.

I wish you all a lovely day today! I hope you enjoy your day and do something that makes your heart sing! Happy Thursday to you all!
Very nice and interesting, Now that I have a device that brings me great high speed internet to my home out in the country, I can feel more free to check out your blogs and other things, hopefully have time for yours. I love art work as I have two sisters that are artists. I tend to concentrate on creative wood work. Wish I had more time and energy.
I am able to upload my own video's now. Paid 10$ a gigabyte with my cell phone, now I can get 250 for 75$. What a difference, I can go bonkers now. I signed up for the 60$ plan so I don't go completely nuts. I am still OK now as I only got it yesterday. Available for all rural Canada, through Telus, subsidised by the government. Hahoo…
 

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#13,127 ·
Just "Wow"!

I am very pleased with the way things are going these days. It seems that many of the things that I have been planning over the past several months are all coming into reality, and so far the result has been more than I could have ever asked for.

I love working with other designers. (Are you seeing a theme here?) Having a "partner in crime" that you admire and trust really does make a difference. Not only are you motivated to do your absolute best, but you also learn a great deal from a fellow artist. This knowledge and experience is something that is difficult to measure.

Yesterday, I spoke of my project that I have been working on with Amy Mogish of Classic Amy Joanne. While the launching of that project is still several weeks away, the response was really great and I am sure that it will be a smashing hit! I can't wait to paint the ornaments myself. It will be fun and I will also learn from Amy's techniques, which are new to me.

The other 'big project' that I have been working on is with one of my favorite designers ever - Lynne Andrews. Many of you who read know that Lynne is the wonderful designer who created the "12 Days" series that I am working on. (I am on Day 11 - times SIX sets! Almost done!) Last year I began a Facebook Support Group Page and we had, and are still having, a wonderful time painting, learning and making lasting friendships. I think that by the looks of it, this group will be doing the same. It promises to be a wonderful and fun creative experience for all - whether you are painting the project or not.

While I was busy getting surfaces ready and designing the dowel tree that will be used to display and present the ornaments, Lynne was busy painting and writing instructions. Both of us are like two peas in a pod. We are both happiest when we have lots of creative things going on at once. To say that we are in that situation now is an understatement.

Last evening, Lynne called and said she 'finished' with the ornaments. She sent me a picture of the full set with the larger plaque. This was the first time I saw everything together, too. While I knew without seeing anything that they would be good, I was still floored when I saw them. They were better than I could have ever imagined!

Here is a photo of the finished group:

Yellow Font Art Crest Symbol


They are pretty darn cool! Lynne thought it would be a good time to 'reveal' the set on our group page - Inspirational Ark Series by Lynne Andrews and on our other Facebook painting pages. The response was amazing! It seems that others are just as excited as we are with this wonderful project! Our group membership skyrocketed and everyone can't wait to begin.

If you want to join our group, you can click on the link to the page. We have this group as "closed" to keep out spammers, so we have to approve your membership. You don't have to be painting the pieces to join and it costs nothing. We are happy to have anyone there who wants to even just watch and encourage the members.

Lynne will be posting some great, short videos which will show techniques. We all will be there to share tips and answer questions and it is modeled after a face-to-face painting groups. The sole purpose of the group is to share creativity and joy. If it is anything like our "12 Days" group, it will be a wonderful success. I see that many of the same members joined so I expect only good things. :)

Lynne will be selling the patterns for the series on her website at http://www.lynneandrews.com. She is getting them posted there this weekend.

I am selling the Ark ornament and plaque pieces on my own site on the "Surfaces" page: http://www.sheilalandrydesigns.com/painting-surfaces . I have lots of orders already and I will be doing my best to get them out as quickly as possible. I tried to have a stockpile of some extras, but they went out the door immediately. It is a good problem to have, though, and I am sure everyone understands if there is a slight delay in getting their orders.

I really hope you all decide to join us.

We are also doing a site update tomorrow. For those of you who are interested in our scrolling patterns, Keith's wonderful offer on this Self-Framing Leaf Bordered set will expire tonight. I want to be sure you know so if you are considering it, now is the time to move.

Organism Font Art Rectangle Collectable


It is a great deal and the plaques are just beautiful! Every one of them is filled with detail!

So that is it for today. I have to get to my cutting and work. You can look for an update tomorrow as we are sending out a newsletter.

Thank you all so much for your support of our little business. All I can say is just "Wow!"

I wish you all a wonderful day and a beautiful weekend. Happy Friday to you all!
 

Attachments

#13,128 ·
Just "Wow"!

I am very pleased with the way things are going these days. It seems that many of the things that I have been planning over the past several months are all coming into reality, and so far the result has been more than I could have ever asked for.

I love working with other designers. (Are you seeing a theme here?) Having a "partner in crime" that you admire and trust really does make a difference. Not only are you motivated to do your absolute best, but you also learn a great deal from a fellow artist. This knowledge and experience is something that is difficult to measure.

Yesterday, I spoke of my project that I have been working on with Amy Mogish of Classic Amy Joanne. While the launching of that project is still several weeks away, the response was really great and I am sure that it will be a smashing hit! I can't wait to paint the ornaments myself. It will be fun and I will also learn from Amy's techniques, which are new to me.

The other 'big project' that I have been working on is with one of my favorite designers ever - Lynne Andrews. Many of you who read know that Lynne is the wonderful designer who created the "12 Days" series that I am working on. (I am on Day 11 - times SIX sets! Almost done!) Last year I began a Facebook Support Group Page and we had, and are still having, a wonderful time painting, learning and making lasting friendships. I think that by the looks of it, this group will be doing the same. It promises to be a wonderful and fun creative experience for all - whether you are painting the project or not.

While I was busy getting surfaces ready and designing the dowel tree that will be used to display and present the ornaments, Lynne was busy painting and writing instructions. Both of us are like two peas in a pod. We are both happiest when we have lots of creative things going on at once. To say that we are in that situation now is an understatement.

Last evening, Lynne called and said she 'finished' with the ornaments. She sent me a picture of the full set with the larger plaque. This was the first time I saw everything together, too. While I knew without seeing anything that they would be good, I was still floored when I saw them. They were better than I could have ever imagined!

Here is a photo of the finished group:

Yellow Font Art Crest Symbol


They are pretty darn cool! Lynne thought it would be a good time to 'reveal' the set on our group page - Inspirational Ark Series by Lynne Andrews and on our other Facebook painting pages. The response was amazing! It seems that others are just as excited as we are with this wonderful project! Our group membership skyrocketed and everyone can't wait to begin.

If you want to join our group, you can click on the link to the page. We have this group as "closed" to keep out spammers, so we have to approve your membership. You don't have to be painting the pieces to join and it costs nothing. We are happy to have anyone there who wants to even just watch and encourage the members.

Lynne will be posting some great, short videos which will show techniques. We all will be there to share tips and answer questions and it is modeled after a face-to-face painting groups. The sole purpose of the group is to share creativity and joy. If it is anything like our "12 Days" group, it will be a wonderful success. I see that many of the same members joined so I expect only good things. :)

Lynne will be selling the patterns for the series on her website at http://www.lynneandrews.com. She is getting them posted there this weekend.

I am selling the Ark ornament and plaque pieces on my own site on the "Surfaces" page: http://www.sheilalandrydesigns.com/painting-surfaces . I have lots of orders already and I will be doing my best to get them out as quickly as possible. I tried to have a stockpile of some extras, but they went out the door immediately. It is a good problem to have, though, and I am sure everyone understands if there is a slight delay in getting their orders.

I really hope you all decide to join us.

We are also doing a site update tomorrow. For those of you who are interested in our scrolling patterns, Keith's wonderful offer on this Self-Framing Leaf Bordered set will expire tonight. I want to be sure you know so if you are considering it, now is the time to move.

Organism Font Art Rectangle Collectable


It is a great deal and the plaques are just beautiful! Every one of them is filled with detail!

So that is it for today. I have to get to my cutting and work. You can look for an update tomorrow as we are sending out a newsletter.

Thank you all so much for your support of our little business. All I can say is just "Wow!"

I wish you all a wonderful day and a beautiful weekend. Happy Friday to you all!
If I could get into this, the Noahs Ark group would be the one.. So many people do not believe in Noah and the world wide flood, despite the evidence, no matter where you go
 

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#13,134 ·
The Business of Running a Business

I think that most who hear that I design for my living and have my own business have visions of me spending my days in the dreamy wonderland of creating. . . lolling away the hours overlooking the rolling meadow or gazing out to the ocean, drawing or painting my heart out to the sound of the lapping water on the beach. It is truly a wonderful thought, isn't it?

While I have been able to experience days such as I described, they are few and far in between. As our little business grows, the daily part of running it seems to take up more and more time and less time is left to be creative.

I am not complaining about this at all. I am thrilled and amazed at the directions we are heading. I truly enjoy every part of the business and as I often say, switching from wearing one hat to another keeps me excited and 'hungry' for the next new project. There is not really time to get stale and burned out. There is always something wonderful ahead.

The unfortunate thing that I find about cutting lots and lots of wood pieces is that it doesn't really make exciting blog material. Here is a photo of two days' work:

Table Wood Dishware Hardwood Serveware


It doesn't really thrill most of you, does it? LOL!

But it DOES thrill those who ordered from me, as they are looking at their 'future heirlooms' as I call them and dreaming of how they will look finished. (I must admit, I do that, too! That is one of the best part of 'knowing' your customers. You get to imagine the wonderful places that these pieces will travel and the amazing transformation they will take with the touch of the magic brush!)

OK. I am a little romantic about it. But it really is true. Being both a woodworker AND a painter helps me understand things a little better. Things like the importance of accurate cutting and the thrill of taking a piece out of the box and NOT having to touch it with a sander. These are the things that painters look for when buying surfaces. This quality, I feel, will be my 'edge'. The positive reinforcement that I receive from my customers only makes me want to strive to do even better. It really makes a difference.

After cutting on Friday and Saturday, I then needed to pack this first batch of many that will be heading out the door. Fortunately, Keith's mom came over and helped me pack up the shipment. It truly takes most of a day to get to this point:

Rectangle Wood Material property Publication Composite material


If things keep on going in this direction, I may have to hire her permanently. We had a dinner of "Subway" to thank her for helping (which wasn't our usual meal when mom is over). But Keith said, "even slave labor has to eat", so I sent in the kitties to offer up some extra cuddles to show our gratitude. They seemed to do the job. ;)

The week for me will be a cycle of cut and pack. This pile was about a quarter of what was ordered over the weekend, so I have a lot on my plate and you may not hear from me too much. But have no fear, I will be busy dreaming of the beach and the rolling waves and of all my new projects that I will be drawing and cutting and painting while I am doing these orders. By the time I finish, I will be anxious to start to see them come to life. Hopefully, there will be a burst of projects then. I can't wait to show you all what I am thinking of!

On a final note today, I wanted to show you Keith's new design:

Plant Triangle Tree Wood Font


His SLDK710 Filigree Standing Tree pattern is already a big hit. We did an update to our site on Saturday and we were happy at how many loved this pattern. I am sure that Keith will be working on similar patterns that will enhance your holiday decorating. They should be awesome.

That is all for today. I have to get to my shop and get busy. To all those who ordered - thank you so much. You all make my life fun and exciting and I enjoy working for you so, so much.

Have a wonderful Monday!
 

Attachments

#13,135 ·
The Business of Running a Business

I think that most who hear that I design for my living and have my own business have visions of me spending my days in the dreamy wonderland of creating. . . lolling away the hours overlooking the rolling meadow or gazing out to the ocean, drawing or painting my heart out to the sound of the lapping water on the beach. It is truly a wonderful thought, isn't it?

While I have been able to experience days such as I described, they are few and far in between. As our little business grows, the daily part of running it seems to take up more and more time and less time is left to be creative.

I am not complaining about this at all. I am thrilled and amazed at the directions we are heading. I truly enjoy every part of the business and as I often say, switching from wearing one hat to another keeps me excited and 'hungry' for the next new project. There is not really time to get stale and burned out. There is always something wonderful ahead.

The unfortunate thing that I find about cutting lots and lots of wood pieces is that it doesn't really make exciting blog material. Here is a photo of two days' work:

Table Wood Dishware Hardwood Serveware


It doesn't really thrill most of you, does it? LOL!

But it DOES thrill those who ordered from me, as they are looking at their 'future heirlooms' as I call them and dreaming of how they will look finished. (I must admit, I do that, too! That is one of the best part of 'knowing' your customers. You get to imagine the wonderful places that these pieces will travel and the amazing transformation they will take with the touch of the magic brush!)

OK. I am a little romantic about it. But it really is true. Being both a woodworker AND a painter helps me understand things a little better. Things like the importance of accurate cutting and the thrill of taking a piece out of the box and NOT having to touch it with a sander. These are the things that painters look for when buying surfaces. This quality, I feel, will be my 'edge'. The positive reinforcement that I receive from my customers only makes me want to strive to do even better. It really makes a difference.

After cutting on Friday and Saturday, I then needed to pack this first batch of many that will be heading out the door. Fortunately, Keith's mom came over and helped me pack up the shipment. It truly takes most of a day to get to this point:

Rectangle Wood Material property Publication Composite material


If things keep on going in this direction, I may have to hire her permanently. We had a dinner of "Subway" to thank her for helping (which wasn't our usual meal when mom is over). But Keith said, "even slave labor has to eat", so I sent in the kitties to offer up some extra cuddles to show our gratitude. They seemed to do the job. ;)

The week for me will be a cycle of cut and pack. This pile was about a quarter of what was ordered over the weekend, so I have a lot on my plate and you may not hear from me too much. But have no fear, I will be busy dreaming of the beach and the rolling waves and of all my new projects that I will be drawing and cutting and painting while I am doing these orders. By the time I finish, I will be anxious to start to see them come to life. Hopefully, there will be a burst of projects then. I can't wait to show you all what I am thinking of!

On a final note today, I wanted to show you Keith's new design:

Plant Triangle Tree Wood Font


His SLDK710 Filigree Standing Tree pattern is already a big hit. We did an update to our site on Saturday and we were happy at how many loved this pattern. I am sure that Keith will be working on similar patterns that will enhance your holiday decorating. They should be awesome.

That is all for today. I have to get to my shop and get busy. To all those who ordered - thank you so much. You all make my life fun and exciting and I enjoy working for you so, so much.

Have a wonderful Monday!
I am always amazed at your schedule and always thought you had your nose to the grindstone and not in la la land. beware a business is suppose to grow, you know what that means, if you are going to keep up you will have to work an extra shift. No sleep, no watching the wave come in, just waves of exhaustion. Your in a real fix.
 

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#13,138 ·
All That Glitters

It has been a wild and incredibly busy week. I have spent most of my days up in my shop, working on cutting my wood orders. It is difficult to call it 'work' because I do enjoy doing what I do so much. With the release of Lynne Andrew's Noah's Ark series last week, there has been a huge rush to purchase the wood pieces from me. Along with this have been our regular orders and all the other business tasks. I never in my wildest dreams could have imagined being in such a wonderful and productive place for our business. I am so grateful.

In order to keep my sanity and not get burned out in the process, I have been adhering to a strict limit of my time in the shop. I have been closing things up at 6 pm (or thereabouts) and I have allowed myself the evenings to be 'free' to do as I please. After all - I get up pretty early and start answering emails and doing paperwork early - not to mention this blog - and I am smart enough to realize that if I spend every waking hour pushing myself hard, it won't be long before I either get sick or tired of doing it. I have to have some down time, too. I have made this apparent to those who see me online and I have sent messages to my customers who ordered that I am doing my best and it may take a little longer than the usual 1-2 days for me to ship things out. Everyone so far has been wonderfully understanding and hasn't had a problem with it. Sometimes just hearing the words (or reading them) from people makes all the difference in the world. Instead of feeling tense and pressure about the influx of orders, I feel happy and thrilled. That is how it should be.

With that said, after a day in the shop yesterday, I spent my evening 'playing'. When Keith went to the "postie" (my word for mail) I had received one of my shipments that I ordered of alcohol ink. I was beyond excited! Last week I was looking for some German Glass Glitter in black for some new Halloween designs and to use when I paint the designs from Amy Mogish's upcoming Halloween Ornament Club. (You can read about that HERE. It is going to be AMAZING!)

I have done several projects now with Amy, providing the wood pieces for her adorable painting projects, and it has been a lovely relationship. For Christmas this past season, she sent me this beautiful "Glitter House" (which is much like the German "Putz Glitter Houses". Google them if you want to know more!)

House Triangle Rectangle Art Toy


When I saw the house, I knew that it would fit just beautifully with my skating pond scene that I have set up on my sideboard for the winter:

Christmas decoration Christmas ornament Event Ornament Font


What I noticed most about this charming piece was the incredible shine of the glitter that Amy used:

Orange Triangle Ingredient Cuisine Red


The sparkle was amazing and it was not like anything I have ever seen. (And you know how I love sparkle!)

I asked Amy and she said that it was German Glass Glitter. She said it came in colors and she used black for her Halloween ornaments for the upcoming club. I knew I had to have some.

I began my search online and found that it was very expensive. A small package (about a tablespoon) ranged in price from about $6 US to about $15. And that was prior to shipping to Canada! I am not a cheap person, but I know I would be using LOTS of this for subsequent projects so I kept up the search. (Yes - that is what I do in my time off!)

Amy had told me that she used FloraCraft Diamond Dust for the clear on my house and I also looked for that. I found a sizable jar (14 oz) on Amazon.ca for about $16 CDN with free shipping. (It is also on Amazon.com for those in the States)

Liquid Fluid Paint Cream Cosmetics


I received it very quickly and it is truly beautiful. It is fine shards of glass. "Flakes", if you will.

Fluid Liquid Paint Lid Drinkware


The shine is awesome! I was thrilled with it, but me being me, I wanted it in COLORS. So I kept searching. . .

In my internet travels, I came across a photo of someone using Alcohol Ink to 'dye' the glass glitter. I researched further and found a video of her doing just that. I had questions about it, though, as the video was very brief. So I looked up Alcohol Ink and came across the Pinata brand by Jacquard.

Liquid Bottle Fluid Cosmetics Bottle cap


They had a nice sampler "Exciter Pack" on Amazon.ca and I jumped in and bought it. I am still waiting for it now, but after I ordered, I remembered that Dharma Trading out of California carries Jacquard products and I checked to see. They do carry the FULL LINE of "Pinata" inks! and the Exciter Pack that I bought the day before was about half the cost of what I paid! (Live and learn!) But I decided to order up on the colors that were not included in the "Exciter Pack" and they arrived yesterday. (I am still waiting for the Black, but it should be here any day!)

They had a light orange color that they called "Tangerine" and I tried that first. I put some of the glass flakes in a glass bowl. (NOTE: This is GLASS - It is NOT for using with kids and you need to be very careful with it. It is for decorations that are to be respected and not "played with" or handled, as the glass can 'bite' you if you get it on your hands. Do not use near kids or pets and keep it tucked away. Use COMMON SENSE!)

I added a couple of drops of the Tangerine ink and stirred it around with a fork. At first, it stuck to the drops, but the fork broke the pieces apart and distributed the color evenly after a couple of minutes. On the video, the girl used a ziploc bag, but I felt the static in the bag would make the glass stick and hard to get out. I like the bowl better. I liked the white bowl, too because I could really see the color and also when I cleaned I was sure that none was left in it.

Ingredient Fluid Liquid Chemical compound Drink


The result was stunning!

Food Ingredient Amber Cuisine Tableware


I made some in Chili Pepper red next with the same beautiful result.

Drinkware Food Liquid Tableware Ingredient


Finally, I tried the Metallic Silver to see if the metallic would dull the glass.

Food Liquid Ingredient Recipe Cuisine


I am thrilled to say it looked like Mercury Glass almost, similar to a mirror. This will be a wonderful addition to my creative arsenal!

The shine is simply amazing:

Seasoning Ingredient Spice Cuisine Spice mix


I wish that the pictures did it justice. I can't wait to try them on real projects!

I posted this on a painting page and there were several questions from the girls. I am going to do further testing to see how this works in practical application. It was late when I finished up and I promised a post about the process this morning. Amy says she uses clear-drying white craft glue to adhere her glass to her houses and ornaments. I will try that with a couple of common brands. I also suggest that the glitter is applied OVER varnish and that you do NOT varnish over it. I never varnish over my glitter, anyway. I would think it would dull the beautiful shine that sets the glass glitter apart from the plastic stuff.

I am also going to see how it works with different bases, although I think that dried acrylic sealer wouldn't pose any type of issues at all. The Alcohol ink does reconstitute using alcohol. So that will be avoided in order to avoid running. Again - common sense prevails.

Any tests that you all have tried is also welcome. I promise to explore this subject further. But for now, I am THRILLED that I have found a very economical solution to colored glass glitter! I think it has lots of promise.

That is all for today. I am going to be packing up orders all day and called in the reserves (Keith's mom!) to help me.

I hope you all have a wonderful day and a great weekend. Enjoy it to the fullest and have lots of fun! :)

Happy Friday to you all!
 

Attachments

#13,139 ·
All That Glitters

It has been a wild and incredibly busy week. I have spent most of my days up in my shop, working on cutting my wood orders. It is difficult to call it 'work' because I do enjoy doing what I do so much. With the release of Lynne Andrew's Noah's Ark series last week, there has been a huge rush to purchase the wood pieces from me. Along with this have been our regular orders and all the other business tasks. I never in my wildest dreams could have imagined being in such a wonderful and productive place for our business. I am so grateful.

In order to keep my sanity and not get burned out in the process, I have been adhering to a strict limit of my time in the shop. I have been closing things up at 6 pm (or thereabouts) and I have allowed myself the evenings to be 'free' to do as I please. After all - I get up pretty early and start answering emails and doing paperwork early - not to mention this blog - and I am smart enough to realize that if I spend every waking hour pushing myself hard, it won't be long before I either get sick or tired of doing it. I have to have some down time, too. I have made this apparent to those who see me online and I have sent messages to my customers who ordered that I am doing my best and it may take a little longer than the usual 1-2 days for me to ship things out. Everyone so far has been wonderfully understanding and hasn't had a problem with it. Sometimes just hearing the words (or reading them) from people makes all the difference in the world. Instead of feeling tense and pressure about the influx of orders, I feel happy and thrilled. That is how it should be.

With that said, after a day in the shop yesterday, I spent my evening 'playing'. When Keith went to the "postie" (my word for mail) I had received one of my shipments that I ordered of alcohol ink. I was beyond excited! Last week I was looking for some German Glass Glitter in black for some new Halloween designs and to use when I paint the designs from Amy Mogish's upcoming Halloween Ornament Club. (You can read about that HERE. It is going to be AMAZING!)

I have done several projects now with Amy, providing the wood pieces for her adorable painting projects, and it has been a lovely relationship. For Christmas this past season, she sent me this beautiful "Glitter House" (which is much like the German "Putz Glitter Houses". Google them if you want to know more!)

House Triangle Rectangle Art Toy


When I saw the house, I knew that it would fit just beautifully with my skating pond scene that I have set up on my sideboard for the winter:

Christmas decoration Christmas ornament Event Ornament Font


What I noticed most about this charming piece was the incredible shine of the glitter that Amy used:

Orange Triangle Ingredient Cuisine Red


The sparkle was amazing and it was not like anything I have ever seen. (And you know how I love sparkle!)

I asked Amy and she said that it was German Glass Glitter. She said it came in colors and she used black for her Halloween ornaments for the upcoming club. I knew I had to have some.

I began my search online and found that it was very expensive. A small package (about a tablespoon) ranged in price from about $6 US to about $15. And that was prior to shipping to Canada! I am not a cheap person, but I know I would be using LOTS of this for subsequent projects so I kept up the search. (Yes - that is what I do in my time off!)

Amy had told me that she used FloraCraft Diamond Dust for the clear on my house and I also looked for that. I found a sizable jar (14 oz) on Amazon.ca for about $16 CDN with free shipping. (It is also on Amazon.com for those in the States)

Liquid Fluid Paint Cream Cosmetics


I received it very quickly and it is truly beautiful. It is fine shards of glass. "Flakes", if you will.

Fluid Liquid Paint Lid Drinkware


The shine is awesome! I was thrilled with it, but me being me, I wanted it in COLORS. So I kept searching. . .

In my internet travels, I came across a photo of someone using Alcohol Ink to 'dye' the glass glitter. I researched further and found a video of her doing just that. I had questions about it, though, as the video was very brief. So I looked up Alcohol Ink and came across the Pinata brand by Jacquard.

Liquid Bottle Fluid Cosmetics Bottle cap


They had a nice sampler "Exciter Pack" on Amazon.ca and I jumped in and bought it. I am still waiting for it now, but after I ordered, I remembered that Dharma Trading out of California carries Jacquard products and I checked to see. They do carry the FULL LINE of "Pinata" inks! and the Exciter Pack that I bought the day before was about half the cost of what I paid! (Live and learn!) But I decided to order up on the colors that were not included in the "Exciter Pack" and they arrived yesterday. (I am still waiting for the Black, but it should be here any day!)

They had a light orange color that they called "Tangerine" and I tried that first. I put some of the glass flakes in a glass bowl. (NOTE: This is GLASS - It is NOT for using with kids and you need to be very careful with it. It is for decorations that are to be respected and not "played with" or handled, as the glass can 'bite' you if you get it on your hands. Do not use near kids or pets and keep it tucked away. Use COMMON SENSE!)

I added a couple of drops of the Tangerine ink and stirred it around with a fork. At first, it stuck to the drops, but the fork broke the pieces apart and distributed the color evenly after a couple of minutes. On the video, the girl used a ziploc bag, but I felt the static in the bag would make the glass stick and hard to get out. I like the bowl better. I liked the white bowl, too because I could really see the color and also when I cleaned I was sure that none was left in it.

Ingredient Fluid Liquid Chemical compound Drink


The result was stunning!

Food Ingredient Amber Cuisine Tableware


I made some in Chili Pepper red next with the same beautiful result.

Drinkware Food Liquid Tableware Ingredient


Finally, I tried the Metallic Silver to see if the metallic would dull the glass.

Food Liquid Ingredient Recipe Cuisine


I am thrilled to say it looked like Mercury Glass almost, similar to a mirror. This will be a wonderful addition to my creative arsenal!

The shine is simply amazing:

Seasoning Ingredient Spice Cuisine Spice mix


I wish that the pictures did it justice. I can't wait to try them on real projects!

I posted this on a painting page and there were several questions from the girls. I am going to do further testing to see how this works in practical application. It was late when I finished up and I promised a post about the process this morning. Amy says she uses clear-drying white craft glue to adhere her glass to her houses and ornaments. I will try that with a couple of common brands. I also suggest that the glitter is applied OVER varnish and that you do NOT varnish over it. I never varnish over my glitter, anyway. I would think it would dull the beautiful shine that sets the glass glitter apart from the plastic stuff.

I am also going to see how it works with different bases, although I think that dried acrylic sealer wouldn't pose any type of issues at all. The Alcohol ink does reconstitute using alcohol. So that will be avoided in order to avoid running. Again - common sense prevails.

Any tests that you all have tried is also welcome. I promise to explore this subject further. But for now, I am THRILLED that I have found a very economical solution to colored glass glitter! I think it has lots of promise.

That is all for today. I am going to be packing up orders all day and called in the reserves (Keith's mom!) to help me.

I hope you all have a wonderful day and a great weekend. Enjoy it to the fullest and have lots of fun! :)

Happy Friday to you all!
very beautiful! I'll send this post of yours to one of my friends from paper writing service. I believe she'll enjoy reading it as she is also into handmade things. By the way, she's a really good writer.
 

Attachments

#13,143 ·
I'm Still Here!

It seems like it has been forever since I posted a blog. As a person who posted a new blog nearly every day for over five years, it seems that I have been quite lax lately in keeping up. I apologize about that.

It isn't that I am not busy. Quite the opposite is true. It seems that the floodgates have been opened and all of a sudden things are really kind of wild. That in itself is wonderful, but it is also kind of scary. While I am thrilled and excited about this recent 'growth spurt' of my business, I still need to keep things under control. Otherwise, everything that I worked so hard to achieve will be lost. It can be a slippery slope.

The recent unveiling of Lynne Andrews' Inspirational Ark series has been an amazing success. As soon as patterns were available, both Lynne and I had tons of orders for surfaces. Even though I had pre-orders available and a small stock of pieces ready, they were quickly purchased and for the past three weeks or so I have been living in a cycle of cutting for two days and packaging and shipping for one. (Repeat, repeat, repeat!) There has been little time to do much else and even though I have been good about sticking to my "6 pm deadline" for closing up my shop, most nights I come down from there so tired that I have little energy to do much else - let alone have the energy to be creative.

But I am beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Things are leveling off and I am getting caught up. People have been wonderful as well as understanding in that they realize that I am only one person. I haven't had one bad experience with my customers at all. I am very grateful.

But even though I am busier than ever, what I am doing doesn't really make good blog material. I am sure you will all get tired quickly of seeing pile after pile of cut wood pieces and boxes. They all look the same after a bit and really there is little creative about it. So I opted to take the time off from posting here until I have something interesting to show you all. (And trust me - there will be some fun and (hopefully) wonderful things in the future! I am certainly not done creating yet! I believe the best is yet to come. This is the 'calm before the storm' if you will!)

So thank you all for sticking with me. I think there is much fun to be had in the near future. I am truly excited at the direction of my business as well as my work with other artists. It is going to be quite a fun time!

As I have been cutting wood pieces, Keith has been busy designing. We are planning a site update for later on today so those of you who subscribe to our Mailing List should receive your newsletter later on today or tonight. For those of you who don't, I want to show you some of the new designs that Keith has created in the past couple of weeks.

His word-in-word style still seems to be popular with our customers. For the upcoming Easter holiday, he created this beautiful "Happy Easter & Bunnies Word Art" plaque. (SLDK711)

Rectangle Purple Handwriting Wood Font


It is classic "Keith" style with the addition of some cute little bunny silhouettes. I really like it.

Also for Easter, Keith created a beautiful set of Floral Filigree Bunny Ornaments. (SLDK712)

Vertebrate Product Organ Azure Textile


The beautiful and delicate ornaments can not only be done as free-standing but also placed in some cute, egg-shaped frames:

Dishware Tableware Serveware Font Souvenir


I love the pretty, bright backgrounds on them and I think it really makes them look lovely.

Keith was also thinking ahead to Mother's Day and created a nice plaque that would be appropriate for that occasion. (SLDK713 - Moms Like You)

Brown Rectangle Cloud Wood Pink


The above plaque also comes in a "Mums Like You" version with the pattern.

He then created this SLDK714 - "No Buddy Like a Brother" plaque pattern for those of you who have a close relationship with your brothers.

Plant Rectangle Wood Font Tints and shades


And finally for Keith, he created the pattern for this sectional Bible Passage (SLDK412 - John 6:35 Sectional Bible Passage Plaque)

Wood Font Art Rectangle Alcoholic beverage


It is a beautiful addition to his sectional Bible passage patterns, I think.

We also decided to have a sale of all of our available pattern sets. We are offering 15% off the SET PRICES, which are an amazing value! This will only be for a limited time, so if you are thinking of getting some of our pattern sets, now would be the time to do so.

And finally, I changed the FREE painting pattern that I am offering. I decided to offer my SLDP252 Mermaid Tears Potion Bottle pattern for free.

Sleeve Font Illustration Handwriting Fictional character


I loved creating this pattern and there are lots and lots of step-by-step photos to follow. It is a "typical" SLD painting pattern in that even newer painters are able to follow along and be successful with it. I hope you enjoy it.

Well - that will about bring you up to speed. A couple more sessions of cutting and I should be back on top of things. Then I can get back to creating new and fun things for you all to make and have more to share with you. I appreciate all the wonderful support and encouragement from you all - my friends and customers - and want you to know how appreciative I am.

As the saying goes - "I'll be back!"

Have a great day and a wonderful Wednesday!
 

Attachments

#13,144 ·
I'm Still Here!

It seems like it has been forever since I posted a blog. As a person who posted a new blog nearly every day for over five years, it seems that I have been quite lax lately in keeping up. I apologize about that.

It isn't that I am not busy. Quite the opposite is true. It seems that the floodgates have been opened and all of a sudden things are really kind of wild. That in itself is wonderful, but it is also kind of scary. While I am thrilled and excited about this recent 'growth spurt' of my business, I still need to keep things under control. Otherwise, everything that I worked so hard to achieve will be lost. It can be a slippery slope.

The recent unveiling of Lynne Andrews' Inspirational Ark series has been an amazing success. As soon as patterns were available, both Lynne and I had tons of orders for surfaces. Even though I had pre-orders available and a small stock of pieces ready, they were quickly purchased and for the past three weeks or so I have been living in a cycle of cutting for two days and packaging and shipping for one. (Repeat, repeat, repeat!) There has been little time to do much else and even though I have been good about sticking to my "6 pm deadline" for closing up my shop, most nights I come down from there so tired that I have little energy to do much else - let alone have the energy to be creative.

But I am beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Things are leveling off and I am getting caught up. People have been wonderful as well as understanding in that they realize that I am only one person. I haven't had one bad experience with my customers at all. I am very grateful.

But even though I am busier than ever, what I am doing doesn't really make good blog material. I am sure you will all get tired quickly of seeing pile after pile of cut wood pieces and boxes. They all look the same after a bit and really there is little creative about it. So I opted to take the time off from posting here until I have something interesting to show you all. (And trust me - there will be some fun and (hopefully) wonderful things in the future! I am certainly not done creating yet! I believe the best is yet to come. This is the 'calm before the storm' if you will!)

So thank you all for sticking with me. I think there is much fun to be had in the near future. I am truly excited at the direction of my business as well as my work with other artists. It is going to be quite a fun time!

As I have been cutting wood pieces, Keith has been busy designing. We are planning a site update for later on today so those of you who subscribe to our Mailing List should receive your newsletter later on today or tonight. For those of you who don't, I want to show you some of the new designs that Keith has created in the past couple of weeks.

His word-in-word style still seems to be popular with our customers. For the upcoming Easter holiday, he created this beautiful "Happy Easter & Bunnies Word Art" plaque. (SLDK711)

Rectangle Purple Handwriting Wood Font


It is classic "Keith" style with the addition of some cute little bunny silhouettes. I really like it.

Also for Easter, Keith created a beautiful set of Floral Filigree Bunny Ornaments. (SLDK712)

Vertebrate Product Organ Azure Textile


The beautiful and delicate ornaments can not only be done as free-standing but also placed in some cute, egg-shaped frames:

Dishware Tableware Serveware Font Souvenir


I love the pretty, bright backgrounds on them and I think it really makes them look lovely.

Keith was also thinking ahead to Mother's Day and created a nice plaque that would be appropriate for that occasion. (SLDK713 - Moms Like You)

Brown Rectangle Cloud Wood Pink


The above plaque also comes in a "Mums Like You" version with the pattern.

He then created this SLDK714 - "No Buddy Like a Brother" plaque pattern for those of you who have a close relationship with your brothers.

Plant Rectangle Wood Font Tints and shades


And finally for Keith, he created the pattern for this sectional Bible Passage (SLDK412 - John 6:35 Sectional Bible Passage Plaque)

Wood Font Art Rectangle Alcoholic beverage


It is a beautiful addition to his sectional Bible passage patterns, I think.

We also decided to have a sale of all of our available pattern sets. We are offering 15% off the SET PRICES, which are an amazing value! This will only be for a limited time, so if you are thinking of getting some of our pattern sets, now would be the time to do so.

And finally, I changed the FREE painting pattern that I am offering. I decided to offer my SLDP252 Mermaid Tears Potion Bottle pattern for free.

Sleeve Font Illustration Handwriting Fictional character


I loved creating this pattern and there are lots and lots of step-by-step photos to follow. It is a "typical" SLD painting pattern in that even newer painters are able to follow along and be successful with it. I hope you enjoy it.

Well - that will about bring you up to speed. A couple more sessions of cutting and I should be back on top of things. Then I can get back to creating new and fun things for you all to make and have more to share with you. I appreciate all the wonderful support and encouragement from you all - my friends and customers - and want you to know how appreciative I am.

As the saying goes - "I'll be back!"

Have a great day and a wonderful Wednesday!
Yes, knew you had been busy as I have been looking for your blog the last few days. In the morning I get up, sit in my massage chair while the the fireplace stove is warming the room and check lumberjocks etc. have time to read your blog at this time.
This morning I spent the first hour reading a book that I just couldn't put down, so late getting started, daylight out now and no fire in the shop. patterns are very nice, I like the one that Jesus is the Bread of Life. Did you see the posting I did on the Northern Lights. Now that spring is coming will have less time for creative projects. Have a nice day and hope you do have more time to smell the roses. I am looking forward to the daffodils.
 

Attachments

#13,149 ·
Changes

It seems so long since I have posted, that I almost forgot how to do it. (Not really - but you get the point!)

The past month or month and a half have really been quite a change for both myself and my business. It is a good thing, but something that takes a bit of time to adjust to, and I find that I am finally feeling that I a getting 'caught up' and doing that. It has been a busy and crazy time for me, though.

Things really started to get busy when Lynne Andrews launched her "Inspirational Ark" series.

Yellow Art Font Crest Symbol


I have been working with Lynne on this project for a little while now. Lynne is the fabulous designer and is offering the painting patterns for this series on her website (lynneandrews.com) and I am providing the wood pieces for the series on my own site (http://www.sheilalandrydesigns.com/painting-surfaces). The response has been incredible. I had fallen into a routine of two days of cutting and one day to box up and ship the orders for the past several weeks. Thank goodness Keith's mom came to help me package and fill out forms for the orders. I couldn't have kept up without her!

Consequently, there has not been a lot of interesting things to blog about. You would have seen a series of photos like this:

Wood Natural material Cuisine Hardwood Dishware


. . . and this:

Wood Shelving Rectangle Flooring Wood stain


over and over again. To me, that isn't really 'blog-worthy'.

But I am happy to say that I am "kind of" caught up with things. I still have orders, but it is at a more 'regular' pace and much more manageable. One thing that I pretty much stuck to was to have a designated quitting time each night. Otherwise, I would have certainly became ill or gotten 'burned out' from the constant flow of work. I knew if I didn't protect myself, it wouldn't be a great thing.

Like many things, with a little adjustment, things are manageable. I am happy to say that we had our best month to date on our site and we are very happy that things are going so well. It just takes some time to get used to new routines.

I think I am getting back on track, though. I can't believe that we are already into the fourth month of the year already. Everything has been a blur. . .

But all is well and I should hopefully have lots of 'blog-worthy' things to write about in the near future. I am currently working on several projects and events with other designers, as well as working on some of my own designs. Every one of them is really cool (I think!) and I can't wait to share everything with you all to keep you busy and creative. It is just a matter of time.

Keith has been busy as well creating some new scroll saw patterns for our woodworking followers. He has three new patterns as follows . . .

Wood Font Rectangle Pattern Poster


SLDK458 - 2nd Amendment Sectional Plaque,

Font Rectangle Art Tints and shades Cloud


SLDK715 - Love one Another (John 13:34) plaque,

Brown Rectangle Wood Font Wall


and SLDK716 - You Can & You Will plaque pattern.

There is certainly something on our site for just about any taste and preference. :)

As for my 'down time', I am busy finishing up my "12 Days" ornaments sets by Lynne Andrews. I finished up the Day 11 ornaments last night and only have one more day to do! (YAY!)

Dishware Food Cake decorating supply Pattern Sweetness


I can see the finish line in site! :D

I will take better pictures of them for a future blog. I will also try to post a little more than I have been. It is funny how quickly you can get out of some habits. After so many years of blogging daily, it seems very odd not to do so. But the time needed to be spent filling orders for the time being. Hopefully, I will get back to it more often. I miss hearing from you all.

Add to that, the past couple of days have been spent trying to get my Facebook notices to work. On Thursday, Facebook decided it wasn't going to send me email notices on anything anymore. I spent the last several days trying everything to get it to work, but it is something that is apparently on their coding that got goofed up. I may never get notices again.

This is a problem for me because it really cuts off my communication with my colleagues and friends there. I can't answer questions or follow threads easily. I have over 1700 friends in my art world and business and it is nearly impossible for me to go through everything and search every day. I am very frustrated to say the least, but after wasting several days reinstalling, clearing cache and trying numerous things on my computer, I still am not notified. I have to call it quits for the time being and just try to catch up when I can. I can't afford to spend any more time searching for answers that aren't there. I mention this so if you need me, please email me directly. I will be happy to help or answer. I just hope that people don't think I am being rude. You can always comment here on the blog and I will be able to respond to you here. I would like you all to do that, as I miss talking to many of you.

With that said, it is time for me to get to work. I have cutting to do today in my shop and then design work to do. It will be a good day.

I wish you all a wonderful day ahead. Happy Wednesday to you all!
 

Attachments

#13,150 ·
Changes

It seems so long since I have posted, that I almost forgot how to do it. (Not really - but you get the point!)

The past month or month and a half have really been quite a change for both myself and my business. It is a good thing, but something that takes a bit of time to adjust to, and I find that I am finally feeling that I a getting 'caught up' and doing that. It has been a busy and crazy time for me, though.

Things really started to get busy when Lynne Andrews launched her "Inspirational Ark" series.

Yellow Art Font Crest Symbol


I have been working with Lynne on this project for a little while now. Lynne is the fabulous designer and is offering the painting patterns for this series on her website (lynneandrews.com) and I am providing the wood pieces for the series on my own site (http://www.sheilalandrydesigns.com/painting-surfaces). The response has been incredible. I had fallen into a routine of two days of cutting and one day to box up and ship the orders for the past several weeks. Thank goodness Keith's mom came to help me package and fill out forms for the orders. I couldn't have kept up without her!

Consequently, there has not been a lot of interesting things to blog about. You would have seen a series of photos like this:

Wood Natural material Cuisine Hardwood Dishware


. . . and this:

Wood Shelving Rectangle Flooring Wood stain


over and over again. To me, that isn't really 'blog-worthy'.

But I am happy to say that I am "kind of" caught up with things. I still have orders, but it is at a more 'regular' pace and much more manageable. One thing that I pretty much stuck to was to have a designated quitting time each night. Otherwise, I would have certainly became ill or gotten 'burned out' from the constant flow of work. I knew if I didn't protect myself, it wouldn't be a great thing.

Like many things, with a little adjustment, things are manageable. I am happy to say that we had our best month to date on our site and we are very happy that things are going so well. It just takes some time to get used to new routines.

I think I am getting back on track, though. I can't believe that we are already into the fourth month of the year already. Everything has been a blur. . .

But all is well and I should hopefully have lots of 'blog-worthy' things to write about in the near future. I am currently working on several projects and events with other designers, as well as working on some of my own designs. Every one of them is really cool (I think!) and I can't wait to share everything with you all to keep you busy and creative. It is just a matter of time.

Keith has been busy as well creating some new scroll saw patterns for our woodworking followers. He has three new patterns as follows . . .

Wood Font Rectangle Pattern Poster


SLDK458 - 2nd Amendment Sectional Plaque,

Font Rectangle Art Tints and shades Cloud


SLDK715 - Love one Another (John 13:34) plaque,

Brown Rectangle Wood Font Wall


and SLDK716 - You Can & You Will plaque pattern.

There is certainly something on our site for just about any taste and preference. :)

As for my 'down time', I am busy finishing up my "12 Days" ornaments sets by Lynne Andrews. I finished up the Day 11 ornaments last night and only have one more day to do! (YAY!)

Dishware Food Cake decorating supply Pattern Sweetness


I can see the finish line in site! :D

I will take better pictures of them for a future blog. I will also try to post a little more than I have been. It is funny how quickly you can get out of some habits. After so many years of blogging daily, it seems very odd not to do so. But the time needed to be spent filling orders for the time being. Hopefully, I will get back to it more often. I miss hearing from you all.

Add to that, the past couple of days have been spent trying to get my Facebook notices to work. On Thursday, Facebook decided it wasn't going to send me email notices on anything anymore. I spent the last several days trying everything to get it to work, but it is something that is apparently on their coding that got goofed up. I may never get notices again.

This is a problem for me because it really cuts off my communication with my colleagues and friends there. I can't answer questions or follow threads easily. I have over 1700 friends in my art world and business and it is nearly impossible for me to go through everything and search every day. I am very frustrated to say the least, but after wasting several days reinstalling, clearing cache and trying numerous things on my computer, I still am not notified. I have to call it quits for the time being and just try to catch up when I can. I can't afford to spend any more time searching for answers that aren't there. I mention this so if you need me, please email me directly. I will be happy to help or answer. I just hope that people don't think I am being rude. You can always comment here on the blog and I will be able to respond to you here. I would like you all to do that, as I miss talking to many of you.

With that said, it is time for me to get to work. I have cutting to do today in my shop and then design work to do. It will be a good day.

I wish you all a wonderful day ahead. Happy Wednesday to you all!
Congrats Sheila. You are like a machine. Keep on, keepin on.
 

Attachments

#13,155 ·
Brushing up on Organization

Those of you who know me realize that I am an 'Organizational Junkie'.

Yes - I am actually very proud of that fact. I grew up with very limited means and I was taught to respect and take care of the things we have. Throwing them here and there only causes them to get lost or damaged. Besides - how can we be efficient if we have to stop and look for stuff while we are in the midst of creating? Maybe others can work that way, but I sure can't.

Last year when we moved into our new place here, I was fortunate enough to gain a real studio in which to do my work. It is located in a corner room and has windows on two walls, making it bright and cheerful. In addition to all the natural light, I decided to add a white rug and all white furniture as a base for it. This way I have a 'blank canvas' with which to decorate and it lends to the openness and cheerfulness of the room.

My artist friends thought I was CRAZY! (So did many of my other friends) But I have had white rugs and light furniture before in my past lives and never had a problem keeping them clean. It only takes a certain amount of care and upkeep to keep it looking nice.

Now we are about nine months later, and I am proud to say that everything looks as nice as it did when it was brand new. Perhaps even better as I add some things to the room here and there. I have a wonderful workplace that is clean, neat, functional and inviting in which I spend my days. I am really happy.

One of the keys to keeping it nice is to keep up with the organization aspect of the room. I still have a little 'fine tuning' to do as far as my needlework and embroidery supplies go, but for the most part, I keep things in order. This doesn't happen automatically, though. It takes a couple of minutes after each session to put things back where they belong so that the next time I need them, I am able to find them quickly and not interrupt my workflow. It is a basic behavior that I am happy to say is a 'habit' with me and it makes my life much easier and more productive as well. When people ask how I accomplish so much in a day, I know that this is a large part of the reason. A little time spent each day to take care of our very beautiful and expensive supplies really pays off in the end. I can't have it under way.

So recently, I have been searching for some new sources of brushes to recommend to my customers and readers. I used to use the Lowe-Cornell 7000 series of brushes, which was a higher end of brush from them. But in recent years, the company has changed hands numerous times and they have not only become more expensive, but harder for me to get, too. My favorite was a 20/0 liner that I have had for over 10 years and still use. It seems that they just don't make them the same anymore.

I also had a stash of 'teaching brushes' that I would bring when I taught. Since that hasn't been for a while, I felt it was time to sort through the piles of brushes I have and put the ones that I use most for my own painting. Last night I posted pictures of my progress and I had a lot of interest from my painting groups and some of my other followers as well. I thought that putting everything into one comprehensive post would be a nice idea for those who want to reference it. So here it is. :)

I use the upper part of my large cabinet to store my brushes, current paint project supplies, and several types of my colored pencils. I had my cabinets custom made so they are very deep since I had the room.



The trick is not to put stuff in front that blocks the stuff behind it if you can help it. The area in front is kind of a 'temporary holding area' where I can quickly tuck my paint and current project away when I am done for the evening. You will see that in later photos.

I began by laying most of my 'current brushes' over the middle of the floor:



This was the only way that I could actually sort them into groups. I grouped them (for the most part) by brand and type. I then decided which ones I really use all the time and which I do not and only use for teaching or backups. Once that part was done, I was well on my way to getting things in a good place. The rest was easy.

I began by using two of my decorative boxes for storing the brushes that I don't use frequently.



The box on the left holds my large Home Decor Brushes. Most are Americana Decor from DecoArt. I LOVE them. I was given some Blue Ice to try and I haven't done that yet. I heard good about them and they seem nice, so I will let you know.

The box on the right holds my 'extras' that I used for teaching or had from way back when. Many are Loew-Cornell, which I LOVED. But the company has changed hands many times and I don't know if they will have a good future. Others are several brands that I tried and didn't make the cut for one reason or another. Some lost their shape. Others fell apart, others just performed poorly. I am a very light painter and take good care of my brushes. There is no reason that they shouldn't hold up well. I hate to even give many of these away because they are . . . well . . . CRAP

I then filled a brush holder with many of my most commonly used brushes. These are mostly filled with my old Lowe-Cornell favorites and the many beautiful DecoArt Traditions brushes that I use. If you want a good brush, you can get the DA Traditions through Art Apprentice Online http://store.artapprenticeonline.com/all-brushes/. They occasionally do put them on sale for 30% off and I buy them then. I do like them a lot. They are excellent quality.



The left side of my cabinet is filled with my different types of pastel pencils, Derwent pencils of various types, and watercolor paints. On top of that, I keep my wet palettes and water basin. In front are 'treats' that I send out with my orders and right now there is a wood order there, too. Everything is easy to get to.



On the middle and right side, there are my two drawers for storing my brushes (they were pulled out in the first picture) and on top of it is a box that will hold my 'current project paints, pattern and surfaces' if they fit. That way I can tuck them away quickly. On the far right in back are the two boxes and the brush holder that I showed you all, which stack up neatly and are easily accessible, as you see. In front of it is a brush bucket to hold the larger brushes that I don't want to squish in the drawers. You will see them in a minute.



Now we will show all the drawers. We will start at the bottom and work our way up. I put the lesser used brushes in the bottom and the more frequently used ones in the top. That way if some small things are on the shelf, I don't have to move them every time I go into the drawers. (By the way - the drawers are available from Mary Kingslan Gibilisco here: https://www.kingslan.com/proddetail.php?prod=brushboxbrushkit

I am numbering from the bottom up. Drawer #1 -

First - my favorite stencil brushes - Laurie Speltz makes the best (I think it is creativecoach.com) I love her stenciling brushes!

Next - Styluses - (can we ever have too many??? ) I use mine for other things and sometimes bend them.

Next - Heather Reddick sable brushes for her beautiful stroke work. There are some mini sable mops there, too.

Finally - some palette knives, a small utility knife, and a drafting pencil.



Drawer #2

First compartment - EMPTY (Room for MORE! :D )

Second are some new Royal ZEN brushes. They are really reasonable and so far I like them. Mary Kingslan Gibilisco sells them and you can get them around Charlotte Fletcher - you may like these. I do because they are similar to the Lowe-Cornell 7000 series anglers in feel. If they last - GREAT!

Next - My Kolinsky Sable brushes. Mostly from Yarka. High quality and a bit costly. The darker one is from the DA Traditions line sold by Art Apprentice Online.

Finally - Royal Sabletek from Mary Kingslan Gibilisco. These are really nice (the ones I tried) but I still need to try more of them. You can see they aren't used yet. They feel like really nice quality.



Drawer #3

Mary Kingslan Gibilisco mops. High quality and they don't shed.

Then the DecoArt Traditions Flats. BEAUTIFUL brushes.

Next the DecoArt Traditions rakes and domes. These are I think my favorite domes ever. Very nice for dry brushing. They are firm but have a beautifully soft and rounded head. Not as stiff as the LC deerfoot brushes. I love them!

Finally - the DecoArt Traditions Angular Shaders. These are nice, but they are a bit "fuller" than I like for my smaller stuff. I like using the chisel edge of the angular shader for lining and fur and stuff like that. These are a little full for that. But for bigger stuff, they are nice and they do hold their shape well. I use mine a lot.



Drawer #4 - This drawer is all Mary Kingslan Gibilisco's

First the flats. They are beautiful and have a somewhat shorter bristle. This is because she works a lot with the Genesis paint which is much thicker than the DA Americana Acrylic. They work really well with the thicker paint and have beautiful control.

Next are the angular brushes and more, smaller flats. Same here.

Then the filberts. Really nice quality handles and they keep their shape well.

Finally, the liners and spotters. Again - all beautiful brushes. I really like this line and use it often.



Drawer #5 - This is my 'workhorse' drawer. I actually got most of these brushes really CHEAP from Ebay. I haven't tried many of them yet, but I did for the painting I did last week and they did an amazing job for the price.

The first section is the liners. I think they cost about $6 for ALL of them!

The second section is the flats. I like that they have longer bristles so you can load it up fuller for basing without getting the paint int the ferrule. I will have to see if they hold their shape well.

The third is a set of angular brushes. These came long handled and I cut them down on my saw. I like shorter handles. They are a 'thin' angular brush without lots of hairs, so working on the chisel edge is good with these. They were cheap, cheap, cheap though. I don't know how they will hold up.

The last section is four of my Lowe-Cornell 20/0 liners. I love these for lettering and I am afraid they will go the way of the dinosaur with the company changing hands again. I had one of these for over 10 years! It was my favorite for teeny, tiny details. The other brush is a Royal Mini-Majestic Monogram brush. I like it, but I forgot where I got it. It is short though so it isn't as good for lettering. I need one to hold more paint.



Drawer #6

First section - these are the brushes that Lynne Andrews uses. You can get them from her site at www.lynneandrews.com. I am painting her Ark series and wanted to actually follow her technique and directions. I will let you know on them.

The next three sections belong to Peggy Harris. I just got these brushes last week and I think they will be my NEW favorites. Peggy works with Silver brush directly and created some of these amazing brushes. The green handled ones are the Ruby series, which is stiffer so it doesn't hold a lot of paint, but is great for precision work. They almost feel like fabric brushes. I absolutely fell in love with them.

The next section (white handles) are the Silver Ultra Minis. I used some of these for the fine details on a painting last week and LOVE them! They will probably replace my Lowe-Cornell 20/0 liner in the previous drawer because the liner holds a bit more paint and has a bit more control. I look forward to working more with these!

The last section are miscellaneous brushes from Peggy's site (https://peggyharris.com/harris-brushes/) With Peggy being a lifetime artist, she really knows her stuff and I trust her products. I am going to be looking into more brushes from Silver that she told me would be suitable for my preference for painting. I am excited because so far, these are really wonderful. It would be nice to be able to not have to keep hunting for my 'perfect' line of brushes. In the long run, it will save me from buying every brush that I think with be "it".



And finally - My brush bucket:



On the left pile, there are my larger Mary Kingslan Gibilisco brushes. Anglers and flats mostly. In the middle are some dynasty angles and domes. They are nice, but the anglers are thick for my every day painting. But they can be used for blending my colored pencil drawings with the odorless mineral spirits.

On the right, the Dynasty Faux Squirrel brushes. These are nice and hold lots, so they will be good for my watercolors. These were my favorite of the Dynasty brushes. I had trouble with the Black/Gold that everyone raves about. I march to a different drummer, I suppose.

Sitting on the top of the bucket is Peggy Harris' beautiful Ultimate Varnish brush. I had to indulge in this brush! It is truly top of the line. Behind that are some large blenders from the Traditions line and some mops.

As you see, everything fits nice and neat and is easily accessible:



I hope you liked this 'tour' of my brushes. You can get Peggy Harris' brushes on her website here: https://peggyharris.com/harris-brushes/

Mary Kingslan Gibilisco sells both brushes and the boxes here: https://www.kingslan.com/

And finally, the DecoArt Americana Traditions brushes are sold at Art Apprentice Online here: http://store.artapprenticeonline.com/all-brushes/

Art Apprentice Online often puts them on sale for 30 percent off. :)

In other news, we are updating the site today and sending out a newsletter. Keith has a new basket available (SLDK717) and we have some new sales.



I hope you stop by. Look for your newsletter to arrive later on today.

I hope you enjoyed seeing my brush organization. I think it is really helpful to keep things in order and I hope it gives you some ideas about some of the brushes you would like to try.

Have a great Tuesday! :)
 

Attachments

#13,156 ·
Brushing up on Organization

Those of you who know me realize that I am an 'Organizational Junkie'.

Yes - I am actually very proud of that fact. I grew up with very limited means and I was taught to respect and take care of the things we have. Throwing them here and there only causes them to get lost or damaged. Besides - how can we be efficient if we have to stop and look for stuff while we are in the midst of creating? Maybe others can work that way, but I sure can't.

Last year when we moved into our new place here, I was fortunate enough to gain a real studio in which to do my work. It is located in a corner room and has windows on two walls, making it bright and cheerful. In addition to all the natural light, I decided to add a white rug and all white furniture as a base for it. This way I have a 'blank canvas' with which to decorate and it lends to the openness and cheerfulness of the room.

My artist friends thought I was CRAZY! (So did many of my other friends) But I have had white rugs and light furniture before in my past lives and never had a problem keeping them clean. It only takes a certain amount of care and upkeep to keep it looking nice.

Now we are about nine months later, and I am proud to say that everything looks as nice as it did when it was brand new. Perhaps even better as I add some things to the room here and there. I have a wonderful workplace that is clean, neat, functional and inviting in which I spend my days. I am really happy.

One of the keys to keeping it nice is to keep up with the organization aspect of the room. I still have a little 'fine tuning' to do as far as my needlework and embroidery supplies go, but for the most part, I keep things in order. This doesn't happen automatically, though. It takes a couple of minutes after each session to put things back where they belong so that the next time I need them, I am able to find them quickly and not interrupt my workflow. It is a basic behavior that I am happy to say is a 'habit' with me and it makes my life much easier and more productive as well. When people ask how I accomplish so much in a day, I know that this is a large part of the reason. A little time spent each day to take care of our very beautiful and expensive supplies really pays off in the end. I can't have it under way.

So recently, I have been searching for some new sources of brushes to recommend to my customers and readers. I used to use the Lowe-Cornell 7000 series of brushes, which was a higher end of brush from them. But in recent years, the company has changed hands numerous times and they have not only become more expensive, but harder for me to get, too. My favorite was a 20/0 liner that I have had for over 10 years and still use. It seems that they just don't make them the same anymore.

I also had a stash of 'teaching brushes' that I would bring when I taught. Since that hasn't been for a while, I felt it was time to sort through the piles of brushes I have and put the ones that I use most for my own painting. Last night I posted pictures of my progress and I had a lot of interest from my painting groups and some of my other followers as well. I thought that putting everything into one comprehensive post would be a nice idea for those who want to reference it. So here it is. :)

I use the upper part of my large cabinet to store my brushes, current paint project supplies, and several types of my colored pencils. I had my cabinets custom made so they are very deep since I had the room.

Wood Handle Cabinetry Flooring Wood stain


The trick is not to put stuff in front that blocks the stuff behind it if you can help it. The area in front is kind of a 'temporary holding area' where I can quickly tuck my paint and current project away when I am done for the evening. You will see that in later photos.

I began by laying most of my 'current brushes' over the middle of the floor:

Writing implement Office supplies Font Art Eyelash


This was the only way that I could actually sort them into groups. I grouped them (for the most part) by brand and type. I then decided which ones I really use all the time and which I do not and only use for teaching or backups. Once that part was done, I was well on my way to getting things in a good place. The rest was easy.

I began by using two of my decorative boxes for storing the brushes that I don't use frequently.

Product Writing implement Office supplies Pen Stationery


The box on the left holds my large Home Decor Brushes. Most are Americana Decor from DecoArt. I LOVE them. I was given some Blue Ice to try and I haven't done that yet. I heard good about them and they seem nice, so I will let you know.

The box on the right holds my 'extras' that I used for teaching or had from way back when. Many are Loew-Cornell, which I LOVED. But the company has changed hands many times and I don't know if they will have a good future. Others are several brands that I tried and didn't make the cut for one reason or another. Some lost their shape. Others fell apart, others just performed poorly. I am a very light painter and take good care of my brushes. There is no reason that they shouldn't hold up well. I hate to even give many of these away because they are . . . well . . . CRAP

I then filled a brush holder with many of my most commonly used brushes. These are mostly filled with my old Lowe-Cornell favorites and the many beautiful DecoArt Traditions brushes that I use. If you want a good brush, you can get the DA Traditions through Art Apprentice Online http://store.artapprenticeonline.com/all-brushes/. They occasionally do put them on sale for 30% off and I buy them then. I do like them a lot. They are excellent quality.

Eye Product Office supplies Cosmetics Wood


The left side of my cabinet is filled with my different types of pastel pencils, Derwent pencils of various types, and watercolor paints. On top of that, I keep my wet palettes and water basin. In front are 'treats' that I send out with my orders and right now there is a wood order there, too. Everything is easy to get to.

Product Shelving Rectangle Wood Publication


On the middle and right side, there are my two drawers for storing my brushes (they were pulled out in the first picture) and on top of it is a box that will hold my 'current project paints, pattern and surfaces' if they fit. That way I can tuck them away quickly. On the far right in back are the two boxes and the brush holder that I showed you all, which stack up neatly and are easily accessible, as you see. In front of it is a brush bucket to hold the larger brushes that I don't want to squish in the drawers. You will see them in a minute.

Brown Font Shelving Wood Hardwood


Now we will show all the drawers. We will start at the bottom and work our way up. I put the lesser used brushes in the bottom and the more frequently used ones in the top. That way if some small things are on the shelf, I don't have to move them every time I go into the drawers. (By the way - the drawers are available from Mary Kingslan Gibilisco here: https://www.kingslan.com/proddetail.php?prod=brushboxbrushkit

I am numbering from the bottom up. Drawer #1 -

First - my favorite stencil brushes - Laurie Speltz makes the best (I think it is creativecoach.com) I love her stenciling brushes!

Next - Styluses - (can we ever have too many??? ) I use mine for other things and sometimes bend them.

Next - Heather Reddick sable brushes for her beautiful stroke work. There are some mini sable mops there, too.

Finally - some palette knives, a small utility knife, and a drafting pencil.

Wood Office supplies Paint Font Art


Drawer #2

First compartment - EMPTY (Room for MORE! :D )

Second are some new Royal ZEN brushes. They are really reasonable and so far I like them. Mary Kingslan Gibilisco sells them and you can get them around Charlotte Fletcher - you may like these. I do because they are similar to the Lowe-Cornell 7000 series anglers in feel. If they last - GREAT!

Next - My Kolinsky Sable brushes. Mostly from Yarka. High quality and a bit costly. The darker one is from the DA Traditions line sold by Art Apprentice Online.

Finally - Royal Sabletek from Mary Kingslan Gibilisco. These are really nice (the ones I tried) but I still need to try more of them. You can see they aren't used yet. They feel like really nice quality.

Wood Gas Font Metal Publication


Drawer #3

Mary Kingslan Gibilisco mops. High quality and they don't shed.

Then the DecoArt Traditions Flats. BEAUTIFUL brushes.

Next the DecoArt Traditions rakes and domes. These are I think my favorite domes ever. Very nice for dry brushing. They are firm but have a beautifully soft and rounded head. Not as stiff as the LC deerfoot brushes. I love them!

Finally - the DecoArt Traditions Angular Shaders. These are nice, but they are a bit "fuller" than I like for my smaller stuff. I like using the chisel edge of the angular shader for lining and fur and stuff like that. These are a little full for that. But for bigger stuff, they are nice and they do hold their shape well. I use mine a lot.

Wood Font Optical fiber Gas Office supplies


Drawer #4 - This drawer is all Mary Kingslan Gibilisco's

First the flats. They are beautiful and have a somewhat shorter bristle. This is because she works a lot with the Genesis paint which is much thicker than the DA Americana Acrylic. They work really well with the thicker paint and have beautiful control.

Next are the angular brushes and more, smaller flats. Same here.

Then the filberts. Really nice quality handles and they keep their shape well.

Finally, the liners and spotters. Again - all beautiful brushes. I really like this line and use it often.

Wood Optical fiber Font Machine Collection


Drawer #5 - This is my 'workhorse' drawer. I actually got most of these brushes really CHEAP from Ebay. I haven't tried many of them yet, but I did for the painting I did last week and they did an amazing job for the price.

The first section is the liners. I think they cost about $6 for ALL of them!

The second section is the flats. I like that they have longer bristles so you can load it up fuller for basing without getting the paint int the ferrule. I will have to see if they hold their shape well.

The third is a set of angular brushes. These came long handled and I cut them down on my saw. I like shorter handles. They are a 'thin' angular brush without lots of hairs, so working on the chisel edge is good with these. They were cheap, cheap, cheap though. I don't know how they will hold up.

The last section is four of my Lowe-Cornell 20/0 liners. I love these for lettering and I am afraid they will go the way of the dinosaur with the company changing hands again. I had one of these for over 10 years! It was my favorite for teeny, tiny details. The other brush is a Royal Mini-Majestic Monogram brush. I like it, but I forgot where I got it. It is short though so it isn't as good for lettering. I need one to hold more paint.

Writing implement Shelving Wood Paint Stationery


Drawer #6

First section - these are the brushes that Lynne Andrews uses. You can get them from her site at www.lynneandrews.com. I am painting her Ark series and wanted to actually follow her technique and directions. I will let you know on them.

The next three sections belong to Peggy Harris. I just got these brushes last week and I think they will be my NEW favorites. Peggy works with Silver brush directly and created some of these amazing brushes. The green handled ones are the Ruby series, which is stiffer so it doesn't hold a lot of paint, but is great for precision work. They almost feel like fabric brushes. I absolutely fell in love with them.

The next section (white handles) are the Silver Ultra Minis. I used some of these for the fine details on a painting last week and LOVE them! They will probably replace my Lowe-Cornell 20/0 liner in the previous drawer because the liner holds a bit more paint and has a bit more control. I look forward to working more with these!

The last section are miscellaneous brushes from Peggy's site (https://peggyharris.com/harris-brushes/) With Peggy being a lifetime artist, she really knows her stuff and I trust her products. I am going to be looking into more brushes from Silver that she told me would be suitable for my preference for painting. I am excited because so far, these are really wonderful. It would be nice to be able to not have to keep hunting for my 'perfect' line of brushes. In the long run, it will save me from buying every brush that I think with be "it".

Product Brush Office supplies Cosmetics Drinkware


And finally - My brush bucket:

Brush Office supplies Writing implement Eyelash Cosmetics


On the left pile, there are my larger Mary Kingslan Gibilisco brushes. Anglers and flats mostly. In the middle are some dynasty angles and domes. They are nice, but the anglers are thick for my every day painting. But they can be used for blending my colored pencil drawings with the odorless mineral spirits.

On the right, the Dynasty Faux Squirrel brushes. These are nice and hold lots, so they will be good for my watercolors. These were my favorite of the Dynasty brushes. I had trouble with the Black/Gold that everyone raves about. I march to a different drummer, I suppose.

Sitting on the top of the bucket is Peggy Harris' beautiful Ultimate Varnish brush. I had to indulge in this brush! It is truly top of the line. Behind that are some large blenders from the Traditions line and some mops.

As you see, everything fits nice and neat and is easily accessible:

Cabinetry Shelf Kitchen Shelving Wood


I hope you liked this 'tour' of my brushes. You can get Peggy Harris' brushes on her website here: https://peggyharris.com/harris-brushes/

Mary Kingslan Gibilisco sells both brushes and the boxes here: https://www.kingslan.com/

And finally, the DecoArt Americana Traditions brushes are sold at Art Apprentice Online here: http://store.artapprenticeonline.com/all-brushes/

Art Apprentice Online often puts them on sale for 30 percent off. :)

In other news, we are updating the site today and sending out a newsletter. Keith has a new basket available (SLDK717) and we have some new sales.

Furniture Wood Rectangle Wood stain Table


I hope you stop by. Look for your newsletter to arrive later on today.

I hope you enjoyed seeing my brush organization. I think it is really helpful to keep things in order and I hope it gives you some ideas about some of the brushes you would like to try.

Have a great Tuesday! :)
The coding got goofed up on some of this. You can read the blog at my site if you wish without issues. :)

http://www.sheilalandrydesigns.com/blog/post/3868506
 

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#13,165 ·
The Process

It's funny how we fall into and out of habits. There are times when this happens with little effort or thought, and other times (usually when trying to develop positive habits) that it seems like a chore to follow through with things each day. There are also times in our lives when things change unexpectedly and along with it, our routines. I suppose that is part of living.

For the past several months, it seems that every time I post here I am apologizing for not posting as often as I used to. For many years (and 1800 posts) I began nearly every day with writing a blog post. There seemed to be so much that I wanted to share with you all. Not only about creativity, but about life in general. I think that in doing so, I was finding my own way through this world and writing about not only my creative experiences, but the puzzle pieces of my life falling together was something that I found to be very beneficial. Not only did it ground my own thoughts and life, but it helped with my business as well. It was all good.

I like to be optimistic and look on the bright side of things. I feel that the focus we set our sights on truly helps us in achieving our goals. Waking up with a positive outlook helped me in a very positive way through my life and even when things were not great, having a positive attitude kept me in a good place. The good feelings usually won over the bad ones and life was good. It was a formula that worked for me for a long, long time.

But when I lost my little kitty Pancakes last December, things somehow changed. I know that some of you will say that he was "only a cat" and that it shouldn't affect me as much as it did, but if I learned anything this winter it is that we don't always have control over how we react to things. Emotions are not always controllable. At times, we are at their mercy.

I found that no words that I could write would make me feel better. There was nothing that I could say that would alleviate the pain. After over four months since he died, I am only just now feeling as if I am beginning to cope with things. The pain is still there, but it is at a more manageable level. Since Pancakes was by my side nearly every day, all day, I am finally beginning to cope with doing things (just about everything) without him here. While Richard has picked up some of the slack and is himself recovering from nearly dying in December, he is still not Pancakes. There was only one Pancakes and he will always remain in my heart and my life.

Fortunately, this year has been our busiest to date. Even though I haven't been designing much, the building blocks that I have been putting in place over the past years and months have (fortunately) began to come to fruition. That is the good part of things being a 'process.' Nothing happens quickly. Things need to develop and gel at their own speed. This is the part where patience is the most important. I realize that sometimes people who have their own businesses are desperate for quick results - either for economic reasons or other emotional reasons. But this isn't usually the case and I believe that it may be the reason why so many businesses fail. The key ingredient is 'patience' and for whatever the reason, it is not added into the equation when someone starts out on their own. However, without it, chances for success are very slim.

As I get older, I realize the importance of patience more and more in many aspects of life. It seems that the eagerness of my youth has played itself out, and has been replaced with a calmness that has allowed me to step back and let life play itself out as it should be. I find myself not pushing so hard for things that I want to achieve. Perhaps I am just getting better at reading the signs that are laid at my feet. Is this what "maturity" is? Is it learning that being in tune with the world around you is the best way to head? That allowing your life to follow the path that feels the most natural is perhaps the best direction? Lately, that is how I have been seeing things.

As you can see, I have spent much time these past months just thinking. I am fortunate that I have had a ton of 'busy work' to keep me moving and working, without really having to be too creative. There is a lot to be said for production work. It allows us to engage another part of our beings into doing something positive while our heads and thoughts are able to rest and sort through things in our lives. At least that is how I feel that this time has affected me. At the end of these work days, my body has ached but there had been large piles of wood pieces that I had cut and I felt accomplished. It has been a good shift for me at a time when I needed to be busy without thinking too much. A time that I needed to sort my thoughts and heal. A time for emotional rest.

I am so grateful to you all for sticking with me.

I know things are getting better because I am beginning to feel my creativity returning. Not only do I have some ideas, but I have lots of ideas that are just screaming to be implemented. I think there must be a little space in my mind that has stored them through these past months and kept them safe until I was ready for them. Little by little I have felt the desire to create returning to me and this past week or so I have started to draw and paint my own designs again. It actually feels pretty good. Although I kept busy cutting wood and painting things created by others, there is something that is very satisfactory in creating something from my own thoughts. By allowing this part of myself to rest while I was healing and coping with the changes in my life, I think that it did me much good. I have felt more 'normal' lately and as if I am getting back on track. I still respect that it is a process, but at least I feel as if I am heading in the right direction. I am very grateful and excited for the first time in a while. Things will be OK.

With all that said, I will get to showing you my new designs . . .

I am jumping ahead a couple of seasons to Halloween. I had so many cute ideas in my head last year and I didn't get the opportunity to implement them, that I thought it would be a good place to start so I would feel a bit ahead of things. I think I enjoy working half a year or so ahead. Perhaps it is because I had done that when I designed for the magazines for over 20 years. It is familiar to me and comfortable.

My first pattern of this year I am calling "Owl at the Moon". It will include three owls dressed as different characters or costumes. I will have more than three owls in this series and will have several packets with this theme, but these are the first two of the group, as I need to begin somewhere.

This is "The Count":

Feather Bird Headgear Beak Comb


They will be ornaments and can be used on a Halloween tree, wreath or other types of decoration. I am still figuring out the best way to market them so that they can be utilized to the fullest. My usual problem of "lots of versions" is rearing its ugly head and I am trying not to make things too complicated. I will probably offer three or four sizes of the pattern in the packet(s) so that people can use them how they wish. But this piece is just a prototype and is about 5" tall, allowing the amount of detail that I wanted to have in it. I suppose by the time I finish the first three, I will decide what is best. I also appreciate suggestions from you all as to how you would use them. If all else fails, I am happy to cut custom pieces for those who want them a certain size and thickness. So many options . . .

The next piece is one I call "Broom Hilda":

Bird Azure Toy Creative arts Dinosaur


I love her brilliant colors! I didn't photograph her in my light box yet, as I will do that when I have the first set of three completed. But this photo shows the pretty turquoise and black/gray mix nicely and she looks just fabulous in person. I am happy with her.

I will be creating the third piece today. My cutting is pretty much caught up and I want to take a day just to paint. I haven't done that in quite a while.

Thank you to all of you who have been so encouraging and patient with me over these past few months. Whether you are new to reading my blog or someone who has followed me for years, I want you to know you are appreciated. I hope to come back here to post more often and present both painting and woodworking projects to inspire you all. I don't want to give any set timeframe, as I am not sure of the frequency that I will be here. I would rather wait until I feel that I have something inspiring for you all instead of just coming here to ramble on. Although, I love to hear from you as well.

We are heading into another weekend here and this morning felt more like spring than yesterday. Yesterday I awoke to about four inches of snow. While it isn't really that unusual to have snow here in April, after the previous weeks of warmer weather, it was a little bit of a surprise. By the time Keith and I went for our walk in the afternoon, it was mostly gone though. Maybe it was one of the last hurrahs of winter and Mother Nature was just playing a trick on us. One would hope so, anyway.

I hope you all have a great weekend. I know I have some fun and creative things planned and I hope to focus on getting my next little owl painted. It will be a good one, I am sure.

Head Bird Neck Organism Feather


Happy Friday to you all!
 

Attachments

#13,166 ·
The Process

It's funny how we fall into and out of habits. There are times when this happens with little effort or thought, and other times (usually when trying to develop positive habits) that it seems like a chore to follow through with things each day. There are also times in our lives when things change unexpectedly and along with it, our routines. I suppose that is part of living.

For the past several months, it seems that every time I post here I am apologizing for not posting as often as I used to. For many years (and 1800 posts) I began nearly every day with writing a blog post. There seemed to be so much that I wanted to share with you all. Not only about creativity, but about life in general. I think that in doing so, I was finding my own way through this world and writing about not only my creative experiences, but the puzzle pieces of my life falling together was something that I found to be very beneficial. Not only did it ground my own thoughts and life, but it helped with my business as well. It was all good.

I like to be optimistic and look on the bright side of things. I feel that the focus we set our sights on truly helps us in achieving our goals. Waking up with a positive outlook helped me in a very positive way through my life and even when things were not great, having a positive attitude kept me in a good place. The good feelings usually won over the bad ones and life was good. It was a formula that worked for me for a long, long time.

But when I lost my little kitty Pancakes last December, things somehow changed. I know that some of you will say that he was "only a cat" and that it shouldn't affect me as much as it did, but if I learned anything this winter it is that we don't always have control over how we react to things. Emotions are not always controllable. At times, we are at their mercy.

I found that no words that I could write would make me feel better. There was nothing that I could say that would alleviate the pain. After over four months since he died, I am only just now feeling as if I am beginning to cope with things. The pain is still there, but it is at a more manageable level. Since Pancakes was by my side nearly every day, all day, I am finally beginning to cope with doing things (just about everything) without him here. While Richard has picked up some of the slack and is himself recovering from nearly dying in December, he is still not Pancakes. There was only one Pancakes and he will always remain in my heart and my life.

Fortunately, this year has been our busiest to date. Even though I haven't been designing much, the building blocks that I have been putting in place over the past years and months have (fortunately) began to come to fruition. That is the good part of things being a 'process.' Nothing happens quickly. Things need to develop and gel at their own speed. This is the part where patience is the most important. I realize that sometimes people who have their own businesses are desperate for quick results - either for economic reasons or other emotional reasons. But this isn't usually the case and I believe that it may be the reason why so many businesses fail. The key ingredient is 'patience' and for whatever the reason, it is not added into the equation when someone starts out on their own. However, without it, chances for success are very slim.

As I get older, I realize the importance of patience more and more in many aspects of life. It seems that the eagerness of my youth has played itself out, and has been replaced with a calmness that has allowed me to step back and let life play itself out as it should be. I find myself not pushing so hard for things that I want to achieve. Perhaps I am just getting better at reading the signs that are laid at my feet. Is this what "maturity" is? Is it learning that being in tune with the world around you is the best way to head? That allowing your life to follow the path that feels the most natural is perhaps the best direction? Lately, that is how I have been seeing things.

As you can see, I have spent much time these past months just thinking. I am fortunate that I have had a ton of 'busy work' to keep me moving and working, without really having to be too creative. There is a lot to be said for production work. It allows us to engage another part of our beings into doing something positive while our heads and thoughts are able to rest and sort through things in our lives. At least that is how I feel that this time has affected me. At the end of these work days, my body has ached but there had been large piles of wood pieces that I had cut and I felt accomplished. It has been a good shift for me at a time when I needed to be busy without thinking too much. A time that I needed to sort my thoughts and heal. A time for emotional rest.

I am so grateful to you all for sticking with me.

I know things are getting better because I am beginning to feel my creativity returning. Not only do I have some ideas, but I have lots of ideas that are just screaming to be implemented. I think there must be a little space in my mind that has stored them through these past months and kept them safe until I was ready for them. Little by little I have felt the desire to create returning to me and this past week or so I have started to draw and paint my own designs again. It actually feels pretty good. Although I kept busy cutting wood and painting things created by others, there is something that is very satisfactory in creating something from my own thoughts. By allowing this part of myself to rest while I was healing and coping with the changes in my life, I think that it did me much good. I have felt more 'normal' lately and as if I am getting back on track. I still respect that it is a process, but at least I feel as if I am heading in the right direction. I am very grateful and excited for the first time in a while. Things will be OK.

With all that said, I will get to showing you my new designs . . .

I am jumping ahead a couple of seasons to Halloween. I had so many cute ideas in my head last year and I didn't get the opportunity to implement them, that I thought it would be a good place to start so I would feel a bit ahead of things. I think I enjoy working half a year or so ahead. Perhaps it is because I had done that when I designed for the magazines for over 20 years. It is familiar to me and comfortable.

My first pattern of this year I am calling "Owl at the Moon". It will include three owls dressed as different characters or costumes. I will have more than three owls in this series and will have several packets with this theme, but these are the first two of the group, as I need to begin somewhere.

This is "The Count":

Feather Bird Headgear Beak Comb


They will be ornaments and can be used on a Halloween tree, wreath or other types of decoration. I am still figuring out the best way to market them so that they can be utilized to the fullest. My usual problem of "lots of versions" is rearing its ugly head and I am trying not to make things too complicated. I will probably offer three or four sizes of the pattern in the packet(s) so that people can use them how they wish. But this piece is just a prototype and is about 5" tall, allowing the amount of detail that I wanted to have in it. I suppose by the time I finish the first three, I will decide what is best. I also appreciate suggestions from you all as to how you would use them. If all else fails, I am happy to cut custom pieces for those who want them a certain size and thickness. So many options . . .

The next piece is one I call "Broom Hilda":

Bird Azure Toy Creative arts Dinosaur


I love her brilliant colors! I didn't photograph her in my light box yet, as I will do that when I have the first set of three completed. But this photo shows the pretty turquoise and black/gray mix nicely and she looks just fabulous in person. I am happy with her.

I will be creating the third piece today. My cutting is pretty much caught up and I want to take a day just to paint. I haven't done that in quite a while.

Thank you to all of you who have been so encouraging and patient with me over these past few months. Whether you are new to reading my blog or someone who has followed me for years, I want you to know you are appreciated. I hope to come back here to post more often and present both painting and woodworking projects to inspire you all. I don't want to give any set timeframe, as I am not sure of the frequency that I will be here. I would rather wait until I feel that I have something inspiring for you all instead of just coming here to ramble on. Although, I love to hear from you as well.

We are heading into another weekend here and this morning felt more like spring than yesterday. Yesterday I awoke to about four inches of snow. While it isn't really that unusual to have snow here in April, after the previous weeks of warmer weather, it was a little bit of a surprise. By the time Keith and I went for our walk in the afternoon, it was mostly gone though. Maybe it was one of the last hurrahs of winter and Mother Nature was just playing a trick on us. One would hope so, anyway.

I hope you all have a great weekend. I know I have some fun and creative things planned and I hope to focus on getting my next little owl painted. It will be a good one, I am sure.

Head Bird Neck Organism Feather


Happy Friday to you all!
This morning I woke up at 5, not unusual, laid there for a half hour in contemplating the day, then stoked the fire, filled my liter cup with hot lemon water, settled back in my massage chair with the laptop, and checked lumberjocks. That is how I start most days. First thing I noticed was a blog from you, its been a good morning, just settle back and read your post. So many interesting thoughts from the other side of our country.
In the winter my wild cat is always there waiting when I go out to the shop to play, last few days has not been there as usual, and then didn't even show for a day and a half, I was disappointed and worried for his safety. Then there he was looking into the house, relief. I always give him his food and when he come I get to pet him. When he comes it hold my hand down and he is so use to it he hold his head at an an angle to lean into my hand. Feeding tome is the only time I can pet him, actually I think it is a female, maybe that is why my other cat hates her so much. Two females in the house don't always get along so well. First wif second wife. Any way I have an idea how you feel losing your precious pancake.
Enjoyed your creative figurines, you are so talented in creating and painting, they just seem to pop out of the computer screen. I like the idea of the owl, I don't appreciate the idea of witches etc. The dark side.
Your work reminds me of my sister. she is into dragons, got involved in that somehow and has done a series of different dragons and how they relate to life, I am not into that. Anyway you can check her out, known as the dragon lady. http://www.trishamclean.com/
On my side of the country, been a cool spring, doing all the spring things on my acreage, restoring an old tractor so not to much time in the shop, I want to do another norther lights project with a scene, when cutting the firewood there was a nice clear block, have it lathed out and been microwaving it as it was green green.
Last evening gave my fractal burning unit a go, had been watching Youtube video's and gleaned some things that where helpful. Had a smoking good time. Got some super creative burns, will use one for the box top for my grand daughter, she is graduating form grad 8, also grand son from grade 12, we will be going to Oshawa in june for the event.
Oh my where has the time gone, the sun is coming up and the clouds are alight with glory, I had better get busy, didn't mean to use up all the comment space and your time. Thanks for posting this morning.
 

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#13,170 ·
Progress Report

I am trying to keep my promise to myself to get back to posting when I have made progress on some of my projects. With that said, I had a pretty productive weekend and wanted to share some of what I did with you all.

I spent most of Saturday working up in my shop. I had some orders to go out, and I have a large project that I am working on with another artist that I want to stay on top of and chip away at gradually. That way, by working it in with my other work, I hardly notice the time spent doing things and also can keep up while accomplishing my own work. This way of multi-tasking is really key to my succeeding in getting everything accomplished that I want to accomplish. Besides - switching gears keeps me fresh and excited about things. As each new project emerges, I love the excitement of seeing it progress.

On Saturday evening, I finished painting my third and final owl for my set of three owl designs. This one I call "Booboo".



He was a challenge, to say the least, but I do like how he came out.

Now that the three main figures were done, I thought it would be fun to put them in a setting. This way they could be painted either on my own surfaces or on anything that my customers wished. I like offering the versatility of my patterns and designs. I hope it inspires people to use them in several different ways.

I choose my SLDPK141 - Round Pumpkin Bevel Cut Ornaments. I thought they would be perfect for what I had in mind.

First I created some cool backgrounds:



Next, I blocked in the figures of my three owls. This will give you a little idea of how they will look when finished.



Oddly enough, this took quite a while to get to this point.

I began painting the Broom Hilda owl first. This time I was taking step-by-step photos as I did each layer, so I could use them when creating the pattern packet. When I design, the first time around mostly consists of "trial and error" and it is rare that I can just paint something once and have it make sense for a pattern. I typically paint the designs a second or even third time in order to document the steps and put them into an order that will make sense to my customers. It is a bit of a process.

By the end of the evening last night here is where I wound up:



So far, pretty good.

I am going to continue to work on these for the next day or so and the pattern will be available as soon as they are done. :)

Keith has also been busy creating some new designs. He has a new Biblical plaque. (SLDK710 - Let it shine - Matthew 5:14-16)



He also has a beautiful new Eagle desk clock. (SLDK718)



Finally, Keith created a pattern set that includes three plaque designs (SLDK720 - Professional Grandparents)



We hope you all enjoy the new designs.

Today will be crazy/busy for me. I have to do my mail, take a jaunt to Yarmouth for some medicine for my kitty Richard (who is doing better, but on maintenance medicine) and then get back to my painting and creating my patterns. So many have shown interest in the new designs and I want to get the patterns and wood pieces done as soon as possible. It is never too early to work ahead for the seasons I am finding.

It is a beautiful day today. The temperature is warm and it is sunny and calm. A wonderful way to begin the week. I hope you all have a wonderful week as well and thank you all for your comments and encouragement on my new designs. I really do appreciate it.

Happy Monday to you all!
 
#13,175 ·
Some Big Changes

As our small business gets larger and becomes more diverse, we are continually making changes - small and large - to accommodate expansion and keep everything running as smoothly as possible. This is one of those things that often goes by unnoticed by our customers but takes a great deal of time to accomplish. If we didn't do it, however, things would appear sloppy and awkward and it would be terribly difficult to find the things we have to offer. Our website would be a mess.

I give a great deal of credit to my partner Keith. While my head races in twenty-three directions of things to design, he is the true organizing force behind Sheila Landry Designs and struggles to present our ideas in a logical and organized fashion. His attention to detail and "consistency" is something that I have never encountered previously. He truly is the reason that everything on our site looks so nice and is presented so beautifully. While our website is built on a template that can sometimes be rather restricting, Keith has the knowledge and expertise to override many of the restrictions that come with that and make our site and your experience here easy and pleasant. I am very grateful to him.

I constantly drive him crazy with ideas that I come up with. It is seldom that I create a design without wanting to offer several variations to my customers. This is due to my contact with so many people, I realize that everyone is different and may have different uses for the designs that I create. I like to offer options so that people can apply my work to whatever they were thinking. I believe that diversity in a design adds to its value. I know Keith agrees, but sometimes it is hard to present the many variations without confusing people. It is definitely a skill that is learned over time and I believe that Keith has it down to a science.

Several years ago, I purchased the domain name of "www.tolepaintingdesigns.com". Back when I got it, I was just beginning to re-enter the decorative painting world as a designer. I thought that it would be a good thing to have if I were to change or expand my venue from scroll saw and woodworking designs to decorative painting designs. For the past several years, as my presence in the painting world has grown, Keith and I have considered splitting up our website and having two sites - one for woodworking and one for decorative painting. This way when one came to our site, they would immediately be in a comfortable place and it would (in theory) be simpler for everyone. But two sites means double the work and expense in many ways. Things like the blog here would need to be copied to both and it would be hard to pick and choose on many issues which side of the equation to keep a certain topic or item. Many things overlap still and we all know that just because we are a woodworker or a painter, doesn't mean that is the only scope of creativity that we enjoy. I think there are many advantages to having things in one place, and so does Keith. so for now, we are keeping it to one site, but we did a bit of work (mostly on Keith's part) that more clearly defines each aspect of our business - the woodworking and the painting sides - and hopefully made things a bit clearer to you - our visitors and customers. We hope you agree that these changes make things better, easier and clearer to you all.

For those of you who are our woodworking customers, things will stay pretty much the same. If you go to www.sheilalandrydesigns.com, you will land on the woodworking home page and see all of our latest designs displayed. On the left sidebar, all of the scroll saw categories are listed. There are also categories like Pattern Specials, Free Patterns & Resources, this Blog, and so forth at the top of the page. That has remained the same.

It is our painting followers that will see the biggest change.

If you use the URL of www.tolepaintingdesigns.com, you will arrive directly on the Painting Patterns Home page. (You can also get to this page by the large button at the top of the main Scroll Saw Patterns Home page.) Once you are on the Painting Home page (or any of the Painting sub-pages) the sidebar changes to the painting categories such as Painting Patterns, Painting Surfaces, Embellishments, etc.

The Patterns page is quite straightforward and self-explanatory. The Painting Surfaces page is completely re-vamped. The first section is completely dedicated to surfaces that I have created and offer for other artists, and then under that, there is a section for "General Purpose Wood Kits". These are surfaces designed by myself that can not only be used with many of my patterns but are also waiting for you to apply your own creative flair to them to use them for anything your heart desires.

The Painting Patterns page has probably gone under the most drastic change. Now, by clicking on each specific pattern, you are not only brought to the pattern description, but there is a table under the main pattern product that shows the available surfaces, Combos, and Super-Combos available that go with that pattern. This, we feel, will make it incredibly easy for you all to get everything you need for creating your project.

Some may want only the pattern, and that is great. Others want the wood, charms and other pieces available and no longer will have to go hunt for them on our site. Others may be looking only for a surface from a particular designer. With the new layout, we think this will make things much easier and clearer for everyone. (Thank you, Keith!)

We hope you give us feedback as to our new layout and let us know what you think. We are quite excited about it.

We are sending a newsletter out later today letting our regular customers know of these changes. If you haven't done so already, I invite you to sign up for our Mailing List to receive our newsletter. It is sent out about twice a month - give or take - and showcases our new patterns, new sales, and updates we are offering. We even offer special discount codes from time to time for our subscribers only. We never share your information or spam you. It is a good way to keep up with our new patterns and designs.

Now for my new designs . . .

Today I am finishing up my patterns for my three new owl series that I call "Owl at the Moon". I spent the past several days re-painting these designs so I can take step-by-step photos for the patterns. Each pattern packet will have over 30 step-by-step photos and the owls will come in three sizes - Ornaments, stand-ups, and an extra small size which will fit in my SLDP141 Round Pumpkin Bevel-Cut Ornament surfaces. I also am including background instructions so that the little owls can be painted on any surface you choose. (See where the "variation" issue comes in! ;) )

The three owls that I have are SLDP257 - Broom Hilda:



SLDP258 - "Booboo" Owl:



And SLDP259 "The Count":



I am finishing up writing the patterns today and they should ship out or email out on Wednesday. But all the wood and kits are up on the site and ready to order.

As I mentioned, there is a newsletter that is going out today as well. Keith has his three new patterns:

SLDK718 - Eagle Desk Clock



SLDK719 - Let it Shine (Matthew 5:14-16) plaque:



And his SLDK720 Professional Grandparents plaque pattern set:



I think they all will make lovely projects.

Thanks for putting up with such a long blog. I was going to write earlier this week, but many times while Keith was changing things and moving things around, we didn't want to publish our site because things weren't done. We finally went "live" yesterday and we hope that you find these changes helpful and make things nice and easy for you. Your feedback is always appreciated.

I will be writing for most of the day. Then I will be moving on to new things in the next day or so. I hope to blog more frequently as I have many projects that I want to share with you all.

Until then - Happy Tuesday to you all!
 
#13,183 ·
Lots of Fun and New Projects!

I am finding that the greater amount of time between blogs is directly related to the amount of information that I want to share with you all. But that would follow common sense, wouldn't it?

It seems that it is harder for me than I originally thought to get back in the habit of posting each morning or nearly every morning. I just can't get back in the rhythm of things. But I am doing my best, and that is what I can offer.

As usual, things have been moving fast and furious around here for me. I can't believe we are into May already, and the days are warming nicely and things are really starting to fill in and green up. Unfortunately, the dreaded black flies are also back. I am highly allergic to their bites and they love to attack me as soon as I poke my nose out the door. I am trying some new things though this year and I hope to overcome them as much as possible. After spending the winter inside, I need to be able to get some fresh air and get out for a bit each day. I will report on that later on, though.

Much of my time has been spent working up in my beautiful shop and cutting orders for my painting followers. I can't tell you all how much I enjoy working up there in a space that is dedicated just for my woodworking. We are approaching a year since we moved here (the end of June will be our 'official' anniversary) and there isn't a day that passes that I am not grateful for such a lovely place to live and work. I feel it makes all the difference in the world.

It is odd how things work out, though. While I am doing more woodworking than ever, it may appear to my woodworking followers that I may have given up on it. I have actually had very little time to do much else. Settling the business into the new direction has taken much of my energy, and I haven't found much extra time to paint, embroider, or even design much. With five months into the new year, I can count on one hand the number of new designs that I created. I know though that this is a temporary thing, as it was the incredible popularity of the Lynne Andrews Ark Project (www.lynneandrews.com) that has kept me so busy. Both Lynne and I are so, so grateful that the project has been so well-received. Its' success has been far better than our wildest dreams! (Thank you, everyone!)

I am also working on several other projects - both with other artists and on my own - that will come to light a bit better in the near future. As always, slow and steady will win the race. I am a firm believer in planting seeds that may take many months, or even years, to come to fruition. I attribute this approach and patience to the amount of success I am having. It is better to take the time to build a strong and steady foundation than to fly by the seat of our pants and hope something comes to be. I think that what I have been doing will have lasting effects on the business.

I was fortunate enough to have Woodcraft (the long-standing woodworking store) invite me to participate in a series of articles they were doing called "Moms in Woodworking". It was created for the Mother's Day weekend and my segment came out yesterday. You can read it here: Woodcraft Article

It was nice to be recognized in this way and I think they did a nice job on the article. It feels good to be recognized in a positive way like this by my peers. I am very grateful.

After cutting literally thousands of Ark pieces for the Lynne Andrews Ark project, I was finally able to take some time off last Sunday and begin painting my own Arks. I hadn't really taken a "day" off in over five months. I think it is time to step back once a week or so and give myself some non-working creative time. I just need it. Here is the result of my efforts:

Art Fawn Rectangle Font Creative arts


This is the large Ark and is called the "Maiden Voyage". There are 13 small Ark ornaments in the series and one large plaque. This is the plaque that will start us up. I love the details in the little animals!

Vertebrate Dishware Art Fawn Creative arts


I am trying to pick at it in the evenings after my 'regular work' is done. It actually goes by quickly, even for a slow painter like myself. You can join our Facebook group and see everyone else's progress if you like. it is called Inspirational Ark Series by Lynne Andrews and you don't have to paint to come by and observe. We love cheerleaders as well as other painters. I hope to see some of you there.

The next 'series' that I am working on is with another amazing artist named Amy Mogish. Amy approached me last year to do a Halloween Club, and I jumped right in.

Guitar accessory Font Gas Calabaza Art


The club will consist of four mailings which contain three ornaments and painting instructions in each for a total of 12 ornaments. The first mailing is going out June 1st and subsequent ones will be July, August, and September. That way everyone will be finished just in time for Halloween. You can see how it works, all the additional perks, and join at Amy's website: Classic Amy Joanne (www.classicamyjoanne.com). There are lots of fun perks to joining, and the projects are fun, easy, and beautiful!

I also wanted to remind you all of my own special offer on my little owls.

Font Art Fictional character Electric blue Collectable


So far they have been very popular and I will be adding more owls soon. The patterns are all-inclusive and have over 45 photos in each so that even a beginner can follow along and paint the cute pieces. I hope you give them a try.

And this weekend, I am working on another project. It is going to be fun and cute and a little bit spooky! (Yes - I am working on Halloween!)

Product Font Wood Material property Art


It is never too early to have some scary fun, right?

I also have to catch you up on Keith's new designs. He has been busy as well. Over the past week or so he created two new design pattern sets for health care professionals.

First, he created a project for Paramedics:

Rectangle Wood Font Signage Metal


His SLDK721 - Paramedic - The Thin White Line contains the instructions for the two versions shown above.

He also created a plaque set for nurses:

Publication Rectangle Font Wood Metal


His SLDK722 Nurses - The Heart of Healthcare also has both of the plaque patterns shown above.

I think they are all great for gift giving and acknowledging those vital caregivers.

Finally, Keith has a new sectional Bible passage:

Font Art Poster Publication Wood


His SLDK413 - Isaiah 40:31 Sectional Bible Passage pattern is a nice addition to his other large sectional plaques. We hope you like it.

So you see, we have both been quite busy. Once again, I promise to try to write more often. That way I can do shorter blogs. I have lots of fun new projects in mind and so does Keith. We hope to keep you all busy and entertained on many levels.

It is a beautiful and sunny day here in Nova Scotia. I hope you all have a wonderful and happy weekend.

Happy Saturday to you all!
 

Attachments

#13,184 ·
Lots of Fun and New Projects!

I am finding that the greater amount of time between blogs is directly related to the amount of information that I want to share with you all. But that would follow common sense, wouldn't it?

It seems that it is harder for me than I originally thought to get back in the habit of posting each morning or nearly every morning. I just can't get back in the rhythm of things. But I am doing my best, and that is what I can offer.

As usual, things have been moving fast and furious around here for me. I can't believe we are into May already, and the days are warming nicely and things are really starting to fill in and green up. Unfortunately, the dreaded black flies are also back. I am highly allergic to their bites and they love to attack me as soon as I poke my nose out the door. I am trying some new things though this year and I hope to overcome them as much as possible. After spending the winter inside, I need to be able to get some fresh air and get out for a bit each day. I will report on that later on, though.

Much of my time has been spent working up in my beautiful shop and cutting orders for my painting followers. I can't tell you all how much I enjoy working up there in a space that is dedicated just for my woodworking. We are approaching a year since we moved here (the end of June will be our 'official' anniversary) and there isn't a day that passes that I am not grateful for such a lovely place to live and work. I feel it makes all the difference in the world.

It is odd how things work out, though. While I am doing more woodworking than ever, it may appear to my woodworking followers that I may have given up on it. I have actually had very little time to do much else. Settling the business into the new direction has taken much of my energy, and I haven't found much extra time to paint, embroider, or even design much. With five months into the new year, I can count on one hand the number of new designs that I created. I know though that this is a temporary thing, as it was the incredible popularity of the Lynne Andrews Ark Project (www.lynneandrews.com) that has kept me so busy. Both Lynne and I are so, so grateful that the project has been so well-received. Its' success has been far better than our wildest dreams! (Thank you, everyone!)

I am also working on several other projects - both with other artists and on my own - that will come to light a bit better in the near future. As always, slow and steady will win the race. I am a firm believer in planting seeds that may take many months, or even years, to come to fruition. I attribute this approach and patience to the amount of success I am having. It is better to take the time to build a strong and steady foundation than to fly by the seat of our pants and hope something comes to be. I think that what I have been doing will have lasting effects on the business.

I was fortunate enough to have Woodcraft (the long-standing woodworking store) invite me to participate in a series of articles they were doing called "Moms in Woodworking". It was created for the Mother's Day weekend and my segment came out yesterday. You can read it here: Woodcraft Article

It was nice to be recognized in this way and I think they did a nice job on the article. It feels good to be recognized in a positive way like this by my peers. I am very grateful.

After cutting literally thousands of Ark pieces for the Lynne Andrews Ark project, I was finally able to take some time off last Sunday and begin painting my own Arks. I hadn't really taken a "day" off in over five months. I think it is time to step back once a week or so and give myself some non-working creative time. I just need it. Here is the result of my efforts:

Art Fawn Rectangle Font Creative arts


This is the large Ark and is called the "Maiden Voyage". There are 13 small Ark ornaments in the series and one large plaque. This is the plaque that will start us up. I love the details in the little animals!

Vertebrate Dishware Art Fawn Creative arts


I am trying to pick at it in the evenings after my 'regular work' is done. It actually goes by quickly, even for a slow painter like myself. You can join our Facebook group and see everyone else's progress if you like. it is called Inspirational Ark Series by Lynne Andrews and you don't have to paint to come by and observe. We love cheerleaders as well as other painters. I hope to see some of you there.

The next 'series' that I am working on is with another amazing artist named Amy Mogish. Amy approached me last year to do a Halloween Club, and I jumped right in.

Guitar accessory Font Gas Calabaza Art


The club will consist of four mailings which contain three ornaments and painting instructions in each for a total of 12 ornaments. The first mailing is going out June 1st and subsequent ones will be July, August, and September. That way everyone will be finished just in time for Halloween. You can see how it works, all the additional perks, and join at Amy's website: Classic Amy Joanne (www.classicamyjoanne.com). There are lots of fun perks to joining, and the projects are fun, easy, and beautiful!

I also wanted to remind you all of my own special offer on my little owls.

Font Art Fictional character Electric blue Collectable


So far they have been very popular and I will be adding more owls soon. The patterns are all-inclusive and have over 45 photos in each so that even a beginner can follow along and paint the cute pieces. I hope you give them a try.

And this weekend, I am working on another project. It is going to be fun and cute and a little bit spooky! (Yes - I am working on Halloween!)

Product Font Wood Material property Art


It is never too early to have some scary fun, right?

I also have to catch you up on Keith's new designs. He has been busy as well. Over the past week or so he created two new design pattern sets for health care professionals.

First, he created a project for Paramedics:

Rectangle Wood Font Signage Metal


His SLDK721 - Paramedic - The Thin White Line contains the instructions for the two versions shown above.

He also created a plaque set for nurses:

Publication Rectangle Font Wood Metal


His SLDK722 Nurses - The Heart of Healthcare also has both of the plaque patterns shown above.

I think they are all great for gift giving and acknowledging those vital caregivers.

Finally, Keith has a new sectional Bible passage:

Font Art Poster Publication Wood


His SLDK413 - Isaiah 40:31 Sectional Bible Passage pattern is a nice addition to his other large sectional plaques. We hope you like it.

So you see, we have both been quite busy. Once again, I promise to try to write more often. That way I can do shorter blogs. I have lots of fun new projects in mind and so does Keith. We hope to keep you all busy and entertained on many levels.

It is a beautiful and sunny day here in Nova Scotia. I hope you all have a wonderful and happy weekend.

Happy Saturday to you all!
Glad to see how much you are enjoying your creative business. Have a great day.
 

Attachments

#13,189 ·
Finding a Balance

It seems like just about every morning I intend on writing a blog, and then I get distracted. By the time things settle down, it is usually too late to write a post. I suppose it is just part of the business growing, and that is a good thing. I do, however, miss talking with you all and sharing what I am creating with you. I feel odd only posting when we have an update and we have new patterns. It makes me feel like I am only here part-time and I miss out on visiting with you all. I hope to be a little more consistent about posting.

There is so much going on lately though that it is hard to keep up. As we are approaching a year here in our new place (can you believe that?) it is finally beginning to feel more comfortable and productive. While there is still much that I want to do around here to customize things to our needs, at this point things are in a good place and I find that I am more productive than ever. It is truly a joy having a place for everything. I love both my shop set up as well as my 'office'. This past week, I fine tuned some of my cabinets in both places and while there is still (a little) room left for more supplies, my environment is incredibly efficient and a pure joy to work in. I couldn't ask for more.

But now that things have settled into a new plateau, I am beginning to get the urge to finish up the secondary projects that will truly make these spaces my own. These are fun, do-it-yourself projects that I believe most people will enjoy seeing. I am going to be trying some new products and I will give my honest thoughts on how they work. I hope you do stick with me until I get back into my rhythm of writing. I hope it will be fun and inspiring to you all to do some things yourself. :)

With that said, I will show you all what I have been up to in the past week or so. Besides cutting and shipping orders, I have been doing some more designing. After spending so many months doing production type work, there is a big backlog of designs that I want to create, as you can imagine.

First off, I finished up making a cute alphabet project that I am calling "Monster Mash" (SLDP260).

Green Font Baked goods Toy Ingredient


I had first intended on only doing the letters that spelled out the title, but after showing them in progress on my painting groups, many requested the full alphabet, so that is what I did.

To paint them, I mainly used DecoArt's Americana Acrylics, topped with DecoArt's Glamour Dust Ultra Fine Glitter Paint. By painting them on black and using high-contrasting colors, they came out beautifully vibrant. I just love them!

Head Dress Toy Felidae Finger


Then, to step it up a notch, to finish them off, I used their new product line of Extreme Sheen Metallic Paints:

Brown Liquid Eye Purple Bottle


These are absolutely the best metallic paint I have used. The regular metallic paints by DecoArt are nice and pretty, but these seem to be much more pigmented and have so much more shine and coverage. They look almost like foil when you apply them! I used the Extreme Sheen paints for the spots, lips, and nails of the little monsters and they really made the project look wonderful!



Vertebrate Organism Mammal Font Games


I am offering both the pattern (you can click the photo above) and the pre-cut wood pieces (<a href="http://www.sheilalandrydesigns.com/product/SLDPK260">SLDPK160
) for the entire alphabet. Each letter is available individually so that you can spell any name or words you wish. It is a fun and easy project that is great for all levels of painters.

It feels really great to get back to painting and creating. It seems that I have spent most of the year setting things up or doing production type work. While I never mind that, I still like to keep going with some of my own new ideas and make some new things. I suppose the key is to find a good balance.

I promise to try to come and write more regularly. I much prefer shorter posts more often than writing long books to catch up every few weeks. I just have to get back into the habit of doing so.

I hope you have a good weekend. It is somewhat rainy here today, but it is supposed to be bright and sunny by tomorrow. Enjoy your day today.

Thank you for stopping by and happy Saturday!
 

Attachments

#13,190 ·
Finding a Balance

It seems like just about every morning I intend on writing a blog, and then I get distracted. By the time things settle down, it is usually too late to write a post. I suppose it is just part of the business growing, and that is a good thing. I do, however, miss talking with you all and sharing what I am creating with you. I feel odd only posting when we have an update and we have new patterns. It makes me feel like I am only here part-time and I miss out on visiting with you all. I hope to be a little more consistent about posting.

There is so much going on lately though that it is hard to keep up. As we are approaching a year here in our new place (can you believe that?) it is finally beginning to feel more comfortable and productive. While there is still much that I want to do around here to customize things to our needs, at this point things are in a good place and I find that I am more productive than ever. It is truly a joy having a place for everything. I love both my shop set up as well as my 'office'. This past week, I fine tuned some of my cabinets in both places and while there is still (a little) room left for more supplies, my environment is incredibly efficient and a pure joy to work in. I couldn't ask for more.

But now that things have settled into a new plateau, I am beginning to get the urge to finish up the secondary projects that will truly make these spaces my own. These are fun, do-it-yourself projects that I believe most people will enjoy seeing. I am going to be trying some new products and I will give my honest thoughts on how they work. I hope you do stick with me until I get back into my rhythm of writing. I hope it will be fun and inspiring to you all to do some things yourself. :)

With that said, I will show you all what I have been up to in the past week or so. Besides cutting and shipping orders, I have been doing some more designing. After spending so many months doing production type work, there is a big backlog of designs that I want to create, as you can imagine.

First off, I finished up making a cute alphabet project that I am calling "Monster Mash" (SLDP260).

Green Font Baked goods Toy Ingredient


I had first intended on only doing the letters that spelled out the title, but after showing them in progress on my painting groups, many requested the full alphabet, so that is what I did.

To paint them, I mainly used DecoArt's Americana Acrylics, topped with DecoArt's Glamour Dust Ultra Fine Glitter Paint. By painting them on black and using high-contrasting colors, they came out beautifully vibrant. I just love them!

Head Dress Toy Felidae Finger


Then, to step it up a notch, to finish them off, I used their new product line of Extreme Sheen Metallic Paints:

Brown Liquid Eye Purple Bottle


These are absolutely the best metallic paint I have used. The regular metallic paints by DecoArt are nice and pretty, but these seem to be much more pigmented and have so much more shine and coverage. They look almost like foil when you apply them! I used the Extreme Sheen paints for the spots, lips, and nails of the little monsters and they really made the project look wonderful!



Vertebrate Organism Mammal Font Games


I am offering both the pattern (you can click the photo above) and the pre-cut wood pieces (<a href="http://www.sheilalandrydesigns.com/product/SLDPK260">SLDPK160
) for the entire alphabet. Each letter is available individually so that you can spell any name or words you wish. It is a fun and easy project that is great for all levels of painters.

It feels really great to get back to painting and creating. It seems that I have spent most of the year setting things up or doing production type work. While I never mind that, I still like to keep going with some of my own new ideas and make some new things. I suppose the key is to find a good balance.

I promise to try to come and write more regularly. I much prefer shorter posts more often than writing long books to catch up every few weeks. I just have to get back into the habit of doing so.

I hope you have a good weekend. It is somewhat rainy here today, but it is supposed to be bright and sunny by tomorrow. Enjoy your day today.

Thank you for stopping by and happy Saturday!
Your Monster Mash made me smile. They are so cute, happy and bright! They really pop out.
Have a great weekend. A warm and sunny one here.
 

Attachments

#13,193 ·
Growth Spurts

Little by little, I am trying to get back into the habit of posting here on a regular basis. I find that I have been missing talking to many of you and when I don't post for days or weeks at a time, the task seems daunting because there is so much information that I want to share. I am sure no one wants to read a book here on a blog post.

Life has been so busy since moving and there are times when I felt that things were getting a bit out of control. As a small business owner that depends on my business for my main source of income, this can appear to be a good thing, but these 'growth spurts' can really rattle you if you aren't ready for them. It is something that is best if it happens slowly. I know that many of my followers who are in business hope that things explode and that you are instantly successful, but I can tell you all from experience that slow and steady is really a better way to grow. It is the best way to keep up your high level of service and adjust as things change.

That being said, there is nothing wrong with having some growth spurts now and then. Without them, things cannot be successful and certainly, things would become stagnant. I suppose the trick is to keep a reign on them and allow yourself some time to rebound after such a time and collect your thoughts and perhaps re-think your strategy. I think the bottom line is that if you aren't flexible with your business, you will have the most trouble succeeding.

The first several months of this year have been incredibly busy for me. As most of you know, my business took on a new direction. Not only has it turned from designing to providing wood for my painting customers, but it also has opened up some new opportunities for me in designing painting patterns as well as the scroll saw and woodworking patterns. I like this change and it allows me both time in the shop and also time to paint. As always - my biggest complaint is that there aren't enough hours in the day. But I am working on making it work, and I finally feel that I have a handle on things once again.

One thing that I have recently come to see is that I need at least one day a week that I will consider as "off". To the untrained eye, it may seem that I am 'working' and doing pretty much the same that I do every other day, as I have been spending these days painting, cutting some pieces and drawing. But the difference is that I allow myself to not have to do anything in particular, and the projects that I work on are usually something for my own personal satisfaction. Sometimes that mindset can make all the difference in the world.

I have been working with the very talented Lynne Andrews since last year to create a wonderful series of patterns and surfaces and a group on Facebook so we can all create them together. Since I live in a remote, quiet area, there are few painters near me and as I mentioned above, it was time to grow and change with the times. Facebook has offered the opportunity for people from all over the world with similar interests to come together to create. Just by chance, I set up a page last year to paint the "12 Days of Christmas" ornaments, designed by Lynne. (12 Days of Christmas Ornaments by Lynne Andrews - We are making them!) I took on the task of creating six sets of these fabulous ornaments and I knew I wanted the companionship and friendships of others to encourage me through the process. It was extremely successful and while I still have half of that last day to finish, I think it has been a wonderful success.

So this year, we decided to create a group to paint some Noah's Ark ornaments. We call this page the Inspirational Ark Series and while it was a bit slow in getting started, it is definitely on the right track and moving right along. Here is a photo fo the finished series:

Wood Clock Font Display case Shelf


nne created a bottom wave 'fence' and topper to complete the theme. You can get all the patterns on her website at www.lynneandrews.com.

I am selling all the patterns and surfaces on my website Painting Wood Kits and Surfaces page.

The tree was a challenge for me, for as you see it above, it was wide and I felt it wasn't quite as stable as I would like. I needed to limit the size of the center pole so that I could efficiently ship it to those who ordered. Unfortunately, shipping the tree is not cheap. So I took my time and thought about it quite a bit in between cutting other things. Finally, last week I tried a new approach and came up with this:

Wood Art Font Plant Event


elt a bit more stable. But I wanted to go a step further.

I wanted those who purchased the tree to be able to use it for other things. I felt that this would add to the value of their investment and make it something that could work for several projects or seasons. So I decided to offer just the tree on its own, and make the fence and topper pieces available separately. For Lynne's design, it would be waves and the rainbow/sun/cloud piece for the top:

Paint Jaw Gesture Art Wood


I already am working with Amy Mogish on a Halloween Club and she is designing another add-on pack for the tree for a Halloween theme. Just wait until you see what she has in mind!

So, for now, you can get just the tree here: SLDPK159A Dowel Tree without Accessories.

And you can get the Lynne Andrews Ark Series Accessory Pack here: SLDPK159B. This way, too, if you have your own tree, you can easily adapt the fence and topper to fit. It solves the problem of having to buy one expensive tree after another.

As for my own progress on my Ark, the group began with the Maiden Voyage large plaque, which accompanies the set. While it isn't on the tree, it can be placed on an easel or hung on a wall near where the tree is displayed, or even used by itself for those who don't want to venture into the entire project. (You can get the wood piece here - SLDP158.)

I spent some time yesterday working on my piece. I had most of the animals done and only needed to finish the lion and lamb from the inner piece:

Vertebrate Wood Art Font Rectangle


I finished up my Lion:

Dishware Tableware Serveware Fawn Art


s://storage.googleapis.com/aws-s3-lumberjocks-com/oqpu232.jpg!

Since I am not doing six sets of these, I feel like I am on the right track. I will be creating the single, smaller Arks at a rate of approximately one per month, with doing the tree pieces in-between. It will be fun and relaxing and something that I will enjoy. I hope you come and join our Facebook group to come and see the progress of everyone. Some people are done with them all already! Others are like me and just getting their Arks "launched". Some are there just to cheer us on. We need cheerleaders and appreciate all the encouragement they bring. It is a great place to meet people with creative interests.

I will keep up with the progress on my project in the future. I have a room filled with wood pieces that I have to finish cutting and sanding today and we are planning to update our site tomorrow. We will have some new specials and surprises, so I hope you come back to see tomorrow. You can join our Mailing List here and receive our bi-monthly newsletter. In it, we give special coupon codes and let you know about our new products and sales.

Keith has a new design that he posted last night that already has been quite popular:

Brown Cross Font Religious item Wood


or Our Sins</a> cross pattern really came out nice. :) He is working on another pattern today and hopefully, it will be ready by tomorrow.

I want to thank you all again for sticking with us through these changes. Both Keith and I are happy to see our company evolving into what it has become. We appreciate every single one of you who has supported us throughout the years and we hope to be here for a long time to come.

Happy Monday to you all. (And Happy Memorial Day to my USA friends and family!)

I hope you all have a fun and creative day!
 

Attachments

#13,194 ·
Growth Spurts

Little by little, I am trying to get back into the habit of posting here on a regular basis. I find that I have been missing talking to many of you and when I don't post for days or weeks at a time, the task seems daunting because there is so much information that I want to share. I am sure no one wants to read a book here on a blog post.

Life has been so busy since moving and there are times when I felt that things were getting a bit out of control. As a small business owner that depends on my business for my main source of income, this can appear to be a good thing, but these 'growth spurts' can really rattle you if you aren't ready for them. It is something that is best if it happens slowly. I know that many of my followers who are in business hope that things explode and that you are instantly successful, but I can tell you all from experience that slow and steady is really a better way to grow. It is the best way to keep up your high level of service and adjust as things change.

That being said, there is nothing wrong with having some growth spurts now and then. Without them, things cannot be successful and certainly, things would become stagnant. I suppose the trick is to keep a reign on them and allow yourself some time to rebound after such a time and collect your thoughts and perhaps re-think your strategy. I think the bottom line is that if you aren't flexible with your business, you will have the most trouble succeeding.

The first several months of this year have been incredibly busy for me. As most of you know, my business took on a new direction. Not only has it turned from designing to providing wood for my painting customers, but it also has opened up some new opportunities for me in designing painting patterns as well as the scroll saw and woodworking patterns. I like this change and it allows me both time in the shop and also time to paint. As always - my biggest complaint is that there aren't enough hours in the day. But I am working on making it work, and I finally feel that I have a handle on things once again.

One thing that I have recently come to see is that I need at least one day a week that I will consider as "off". To the untrained eye, it may seem that I am 'working' and doing pretty much the same that I do every other day, as I have been spending these days painting, cutting some pieces and drawing. But the difference is that I allow myself to not have to do anything in particular, and the projects that I work on are usually something for my own personal satisfaction. Sometimes that mindset can make all the difference in the world.

I have been working with the very talented Lynne Andrews since last year to create a wonderful series of patterns and surfaces and a group on Facebook so we can all create them together. Since I live in a remote, quiet area, there are few painters near me and as I mentioned above, it was time to grow and change with the times. Facebook has offered the opportunity for people from all over the world with similar interests to come together to create. Just by chance, I set up a page last year to paint the "12 Days of Christmas" ornaments, designed by Lynne. (12 Days of Christmas Ornaments by Lynne Andrews - We are making them!) I took on the task of creating six sets of these fabulous ornaments and I knew I wanted the companionship and friendships of others to encourage me through the process. It was extremely successful and while I still have half of that last day to finish, I think it has been a wonderful success.

So this year, we decided to create a group to paint some Noah's Ark ornaments. We call this page the Inspirational Ark Series and while it was a bit slow in getting started, it is definitely on the right track and moving right along. Here is a photo fo the finished series:

Wood Clock Font Display case Shelf


nne created a bottom wave 'fence' and topper to complete the theme. You can get all the patterns on her website at www.lynneandrews.com.

I am selling all the patterns and surfaces on my website Painting Wood Kits and Surfaces page.

The tree was a challenge for me, for as you see it above, it was wide and I felt it wasn't quite as stable as I would like. I needed to limit the size of the center pole so that I could efficiently ship it to those who ordered. Unfortunately, shipping the tree is not cheap. So I took my time and thought about it quite a bit in between cutting other things. Finally, last week I tried a new approach and came up with this:

Wood Art Font Plant Event


elt a bit more stable. But I wanted to go a step further.

I wanted those who purchased the tree to be able to use it for other things. I felt that this would add to the value of their investment and make it something that could work for several projects or seasons. So I decided to offer just the tree on its own, and make the fence and topper pieces available separately. For Lynne's design, it would be waves and the rainbow/sun/cloud piece for the top:

Paint Jaw Gesture Art Wood


I already am working with Amy Mogish on a Halloween Club and she is designing another add-on pack for the tree for a Halloween theme. Just wait until you see what she has in mind!

So, for now, you can get just the tree here: SLDPK159A Dowel Tree without Accessories.

And you can get the Lynne Andrews Ark Series Accessory Pack here: SLDPK159B. This way, too, if you have your own tree, you can easily adapt the fence and topper to fit. It solves the problem of having to buy one expensive tree after another.

As for my own progress on my Ark, the group began with the Maiden Voyage large plaque, which accompanies the set. While it isn't on the tree, it can be placed on an easel or hung on a wall near where the tree is displayed, or even used by itself for those who don't want to venture into the entire project. (You can get the wood piece here - SLDP158.)

I spent some time yesterday working on my piece. I had most of the animals done and only needed to finish the lion and lamb from the inner piece:

Vertebrate Wood Art Font Rectangle


I finished up my Lion:

Dishware Tableware Serveware Fawn Art


s://storage.googleapis.com/aws-s3-lumberjocks-com/oqpu232.jpg!

Since I am not doing six sets of these, I feel like I am on the right track. I will be creating the single, smaller Arks at a rate of approximately one per month, with doing the tree pieces in-between. It will be fun and relaxing and something that I will enjoy. I hope you come and join our Facebook group to come and see the progress of everyone. Some people are done with them all already! Others are like me and just getting their Arks "launched". Some are there just to cheer us on. We need cheerleaders and appreciate all the encouragement they bring. It is a great place to meet people with creative interests.

I will keep up with the progress on my project in the future. I have a room filled with wood pieces that I have to finish cutting and sanding today and we are planning to update our site tomorrow. We will have some new specials and surprises, so I hope you come back to see tomorrow. You can join our Mailing List here and receive our bi-monthly newsletter. In it, we give special coupon codes and let you know about our new products and sales.

Keith has a new design that he posted last night that already has been quite popular:

Brown Cross Font Religious item Wood


or Our Sins</a> cross pattern really came out nice. :) He is working on another pattern today and hopefully, it will be ready by tomorrow.

I want to thank you all again for sticking with us through these changes. Both Keith and I are happy to see our company evolving into what it has become. We appreciate every single one of you who has supported us throughout the years and we hope to be here for a long time to come.

Happy Monday to you all. (And Happy Memorial Day to my USA friends and family!)

I hope you all have a fun and creative day!
This is a little too regular, haven't got done digesting your last post, It was fantastic and this one is even more so. The projects are beyond cute. You are more than talented. Love the ark animals.
 

Attachments

#13,196 ·
Fun With New Projects

As I try to achieve my goal of getting back to blogging more often, I wonder if showing you all the piles of wood that I cut interests you all. I wonder if they all begin to look the same to you or if it is really something that you enjoy seeing. Since much of my time these days has been spent on production work and filling orders for decorative painters, I find that if I don't show the piles, I sometimes don't have a great deal new to say here. However, I know that many of my followers are woodworkers and aspire to do some type of production work, so I thought that from time to time you don't mind seeing what fills my days lately.

I spent pretty much of the last week in the shop and cutting. The first large batch of things that I did over the previous weekend took most of Monday and Tuesday to complete cutting and organize, pack and ship out. On Wednesday I needed to really get organized as far as building my Prim Dowel Trees (SLDPK159a), as I had several ordered. I also needed to get a couple of samples to Amy Mogish so that she could do her magic with them for her wonderful Halloween Ornament Club. I am thrilled she wanted to use the tree to display her ornaments. By changing the fence and the topper, the tree could be adapted to many different themes or seasons, which makes it more economical for our customers and just an all around better product. I will certainly be showing you more in the future.

After spending Wednesday building the special jigs I needed to make everything consistent and safe to drill and cut, here was the result of my efforts:



Not only do I feel good about the trees, I should be able to reproduce them rather quickly now. Taking the extra time to really think them through was smart, as I didn't feel fully comfortable with the first version of the tree that I made. I think that is a good lesson for people who are designing or have their own business. If you are unsure about something - wait and let the idea 'hatch' a bit. It is amazing how adding a little time to a project can make a huge difference. I find the most mistakes are made when rushing into something. While I 'liked' the general idea of the first tree, there was something that prevented me from 'loving' it and really feeling good about it. I am very happy I waited until I really figured everything out and now when I send them to my customers, I can really feel like they are getting something that I am proud of making. That is so important, I feel.

On Saturday, I worked hard to fill the orders that came in later in the week. My goal was (and will continue to be) to take Sundays to do "whatever". But that meant that I would really need to work hard the other days to reward myself with that luxury. I feel that I need it though and without allowing some time to myself, I could get tired and even burned out and possibly even resentful about my work. I don't want that to happen.

Here is a picture of what I accomplished on Saturday:



I think it is a good day's work. :) Besides cutting these pieces, I cleaned and reorganized much of my shop. It is once again beautifully neat and I know where everything is. In the future, I would love to give a video tour of how I have things set up for you all to see. I am very happy there and proud of it.

With that under my belt, I had Sunday pretty much to do what I want. I do admit, that I spent about an hour up in the shop. (Maybe an hour and a half!) But it started for selfish reasons. . .

A couple of weeks ago, I saw a Jamie Mills Price pattern that I was dying to paint. It is a layered lighthouse plaque and it is just lovely. I have the perfect spot in my entryway for it to go, and she even has a summer version and a winter version of the same scene, so I could swap it out for the seasons. I went up to the shop yesterday and cut the plaque pieces, and while I was up there, I decided to sand the box of goodies shown above so they will be all ready to send out today. I am glad I did, as I felt that I could really relax the rest of the day.

I went with Keith for a long hike along the rocky shoreline. We probably hiked a couple of kilometers. It was warm and sunny and beautiful and I love to be near the ocean. What a great way to spend the afternoon! On the way home, we picked up some ribs and made a lovely dinner on the grill - ribs, grilled potato and onion and grilled mixed veggies. MMMm! Just what we needed after the long hike!

After dinner, I got to painting on my lighthouse. I didn't know how far I would get, but I wanted to spend the evening painting this fun and no-pressure project. It is called "Harbor Lights" and the pattern or E-Pattern can be purchased at Jamie's website (www.betweenthevines.com)

I got the frame and the background painted first:

Tower Rectangle Water Lighthouse Wood


I love that Jamie has lots of step-by-step photos:

Rectangle Wood Art World Font


The lighthouse is painted using all DecoArt products (which I love) and the lighthouse itself had a beautiful crackle finish to it. Jamie recommended DecoArt One Step Crackle:

Liquid Plant Fluid Paint Tints and shades


Unlike DecoArt's Weathered Wood, which is applied between paint layers, the One Step Crackle is applied over the base layer. After letting it dry (I used a hair dryer to make the process faster) it gives you a beautiful, crackled, clear layer:

Wood Finger Rectangle Material property Red


I put it on REALLY THICK to achieve this lovely finish - nearly 1/8" thick gel! But look at the amazing result! :D

Water Wood Tower Tree Font


The next step was to use a soft cloth and 'rub' on the browns and tints and rub them off while they were wet. This allowed the darker paint to enhance the cracks and makes the piece look AMAZING!

Wood Rectangle Brick Tints and shades Font


I have always been 'timid' with this product in the past. I am typically a light painter and don't use much product. But I found that to make this product works as it should, I really needed to have a heavy hand.

So far, so good:

Paint Art Tower Painting Rectangle


l the details and certainly update you all on my progress. My goal is to be able to work for a full day and then take the evenings to paint for myself. I also made some progress on my large Ark piece that I will show you later in the week. I am nearly done with that.

I hope you enjoy seeing these projects. I certainly enjoy creating them. I love showing how fun and versatile that painting can be. I have many great products by DecoArt that I am dying to try on painting and home improvement projects and I want to share them with you all as well. This past year DecoArt came out with several new lines of home-dec paint for different uses and they are really high quality and promise to be fun to use as well.

Rectangle Tints and shades Paint Gadget Linens


I wish you all a wonderfully creative week. Happy Monday to you all!
 

Attachments

#13,197 ·
Fun With New Projects

As I try to achieve my goal of getting back to blogging more often, I wonder if showing you all the piles of wood that I cut interests you all. I wonder if they all begin to look the same to you or if it is really something that you enjoy seeing. Since much of my time these days has been spent on production work and filling orders for decorative painters, I find that if I don't show the piles, I sometimes don't have a great deal new to say here. However, I know that many of my followers are woodworkers and aspire to do some type of production work, so I thought that from time to time you don't mind seeing what fills my days lately.

I spent pretty much of the last week in the shop and cutting. The first large batch of things that I did over the previous weekend took most of Monday and Tuesday to complete cutting and organize, pack and ship out. On Wednesday I needed to really get organized as far as building my Prim Dowel Trees (SLDPK159a), as I had several ordered. I also needed to get a couple of samples to Amy Mogish so that she could do her magic with them for her wonderful Halloween Ornament Club. I am thrilled she wanted to use the tree to display her ornaments. By changing the fence and the topper, the tree could be adapted to many different themes or seasons, which makes it more economical for our customers and just an all around better product. I will certainly be showing you more in the future.

After spending Wednesday building the special jigs I needed to make everything consistent and safe to drill and cut, here was the result of my efforts:



Not only do I feel good about the trees, I should be able to reproduce them rather quickly now. Taking the extra time to really think them through was smart, as I didn't feel fully comfortable with the first version of the tree that I made. I think that is a good lesson for people who are designing or have their own business. If you are unsure about something - wait and let the idea 'hatch' a bit. It is amazing how adding a little time to a project can make a huge difference. I find the most mistakes are made when rushing into something. While I 'liked' the general idea of the first tree, there was something that prevented me from 'loving' it and really feeling good about it. I am very happy I waited until I really figured everything out and now when I send them to my customers, I can really feel like they are getting something that I am proud of making. That is so important, I feel.

On Saturday, I worked hard to fill the orders that came in later in the week. My goal was (and will continue to be) to take Sundays to do "whatever". But that meant that I would really need to work hard the other days to reward myself with that luxury. I feel that I need it though and without allowing some time to myself, I could get tired and even burned out and possibly even resentful about my work. I don't want that to happen.

Here is a picture of what I accomplished on Saturday:



I think it is a good day's work. :) Besides cutting these pieces, I cleaned and reorganized much of my shop. It is once again beautifully neat and I know where everything is. In the future, I would love to give a video tour of how I have things set up for you all to see. I am very happy there and proud of it.

With that under my belt, I had Sunday pretty much to do what I want. I do admit, that I spent about an hour up in the shop. (Maybe an hour and a half!) But it started for selfish reasons. . .

A couple of weeks ago, I saw a Jamie Mills Price pattern that I was dying to paint. It is a layered lighthouse plaque and it is just lovely. I have the perfect spot in my entryway for it to go, and she even has a summer version and a winter version of the same scene, so I could swap it out for the seasons. I went up to the shop yesterday and cut the plaque pieces, and while I was up there, I decided to sand the box of goodies shown above so they will be all ready to send out today. I am glad I did, as I felt that I could really relax the rest of the day.

I went with Keith for a long hike along the rocky shoreline. We probably hiked a couple of kilometers. It was warm and sunny and beautiful and I love to be near the ocean. What a great way to spend the afternoon! On the way home, we picked up some ribs and made a lovely dinner on the grill - ribs, grilled potato and onion and grilled mixed veggies. MMMm! Just what we needed after the long hike!

After dinner, I got to painting on my lighthouse. I didn't know how far I would get, but I wanted to spend the evening painting this fun and no-pressure project. It is called "Harbor Lights" and the pattern or E-Pattern can be purchased at Jamie's website (www.betweenthevines.com)

I got the frame and the background painted first:

Tower Rectangle Water Lighthouse Wood


I love that Jamie has lots of step-by-step photos:

Rectangle Wood Art World Font


The lighthouse is painted using all DecoArt products (which I love) and the lighthouse itself had a beautiful crackle finish to it. Jamie recommended DecoArt One Step Crackle:

Liquid Plant Fluid Paint Tints and shades


Unlike DecoArt's Weathered Wood, which is applied between paint layers, the One Step Crackle is applied over the base layer. After letting it dry (I used a hair dryer to make the process faster) it gives you a beautiful, crackled, clear layer:

Wood Finger Rectangle Material property Red


I put it on REALLY THICK to achieve this lovely finish - nearly 1/8" thick gel! But look at the amazing result! :D

Water Wood Tower Tree Font


The next step was to use a soft cloth and 'rub' on the browns and tints and rub them off while they were wet. This allowed the darker paint to enhance the cracks and makes the piece look AMAZING!

Wood Rectangle Brick Tints and shades Font


I have always been 'timid' with this product in the past. I am typically a light painter and don't use much product. But I found that to make this product works as it should, I really needed to have a heavy hand.

So far, so good:

Paint Art Tower Painting Rectangle


l the details and certainly update you all on my progress. My goal is to be able to work for a full day and then take the evenings to paint for myself. I also made some progress on my large Ark piece that I will show you later in the week. I am nearly done with that.

I hope you enjoy seeing these projects. I certainly enjoy creating them. I love showing how fun and versatile that painting can be. I have many great products by DecoArt that I am dying to try on painting and home improvement projects and I want to share them with you all as well. This past year DecoArt came out with several new lines of home-dec paint for different uses and they are really high quality and promise to be fun to use as well.

Rectangle Tints and shades Paint Gadget Linens


I wish you all a wonderfully creative week. Happy Monday to you all!
Wow, now thats a weeks work, and an extra day wedged in there to do the blog. I appreciate all the time you put into these posts with pictures. Enjoy seeing your work, glad you took the time to go for a walk. We caan get so busy that we don't have time to enjoy God's creation and to regenerate our spirits. I know |I am too busy most of the time and don't take time to enjoy the things around me. Living in the North there is so much to enjoy. When for a hike last week end, all the leaves and plants where in there prime and flowers popping out. right now I am on my way to Ontario for grandson's graduation, Stopping for awhile at son's place in Edmonton. Visiting friends along the way.
That crackle finish is nifty nifty.. Have you checked out the work that Joanne Sauvageau has been posting using art supplies. I am taking her a bunch of wood and will have the privilege to meet her tomorrow.
I love exploring around the ocean shores, have hiked the west coast trail, but love the mountains too, view of the Hazelton area from walk last week.
Sky Mountain Cloud Plant Natural landscape
 

Attachments

#13,204 ·
Happy Mail and New Projects!

I'll begin today's post with some news that I just found out. My photos source for all my blog posts (Image Box) just informed me when I signed in that it is "closing" as of June 30th. Even though I haven't been blogging much lately, I used to do so just about every day, so you can imagine the number of photos that I have stored there. What it will mean to you, my readers is that when you go to my older blogs, the images that use that address (all except Lumberjocks.com) will not have any photos. Needless to say, I am not really happy about it.

But it is what it is and I suppose that I have to move forward and adapt. From today's post on, I will be using my Google account to host the photos shown here, so hopefully, Google will have some longevity and not go anywhere soon. One never knows what the day will bring.

On a positive note, I had a wonderfully productive day yesterday. I got my mail sent out, put together some new patio furniture that arrived on Monday, cut my orders out that are shipping today, and I spent some time in the yard doing some much-needed work in our yard. Since we were in 'moving mode' last year at this time, I really didn't have time to do much on the outside of our home for the summer. I had wanted to do some basic landscaping that wouldn't require much maintenance, as my time is always so pressed. So I chose some 'lazy plants' as I call them to fill the outside area and add some color and cheer to our home.

I was fortunate to see on Facebook that a neighbor was giving away some pretty variegated hosta plants and I picked up 10 of them a couple of weeks ago. I thought they would fill the front of the house in nicely and I knew they required little to keep them full and growing. I had the 10 buckets sitting in the front of the house for the past couple of weeks and I was waiting for a lull in my schedule to make time to plant them into the ground. Yesterday seemed the perfect day, as I had just finished assembling the furniture for outside and finished up all of my orders. It was still early in the afternoon and the sun was shining and bright. Since we had a rainy week last week, the ground was nice and soft and things went quickly. I also ran to the nearby garden center to get some Impatients. These are some of my favorite flowers and I know they will fill in the small flower bed as time goes on. I had enough left not only to fill the flower bed and make a couple of additional planters but also to put some in between the hostas in front. Later on, it will add a nice splash of color. So here is the result of my efforts:

Plant Building Tree Porch Wood


I also got a few hanging planters of flowers. I just couldn't resist these beautiful yellow begonias:

Flower Plant Flowerpot Petal Yellow


. . . or these exotic Impatients:

Flower Plant Petal Terrestrial plant Purple


Amy had sent me a BEAUTIFUL winter glitter house (That is real glass glitter on it! You should see it sparkle!) this past winter as a Christmas gift. The house fits perfectly with my little skating pond scene and I loved adding it to the vignette. I had asked Amy if she would make me one in Turquoise, as it is one of my favorite colors, and she graciously did so. She even put a little kitty on the back, inside wall of it! :)

Organism Font Tints and shades Liquid Electric blue


As you can see, she sent me a couple of 'blank' houses to play with on my own. I want to do a Halloween one and I couldn't find them here. Finally, she sent me a pattern of the beautiful chalkboard robin plant poke that I admired. She is so fun and talented, and I love all of her stuff. Amy and I are working on her Halloween Club that is kicking off now. The designs are completely hers and I am cutting the wood pieces for the members. It has been widely successful and we are both thrilled with the outcome. You can get more information on the club at her website here: https://classicamyjoanne.com/classic-halloween-ornie-painting-club/ It is never too late to join!

As for my other work, I am just about finished up with my "Maiden Voyage" Ark from the Lynne Andrews Inspirational Ark Series.

Clock Art Wood Font Symbol


All I need to do is to finish the details on the little birds and add the hay under the front animals. Then I can move on the 'month-by-month' pieces. You can find the patterns for the Ark pieces at Lynne's site: www.lynneandrews.com and the wood pieces (including the display tree) on my own site Painting Surfaces page. I am pleased that Amy is also designing a fence and topper for the tree so those who are in both clubs can use the same display tree and only need to switch the fence and topper. I haven't seen what Amy has come up with, but I am sure it will be fabulous!

You can join our Facebook pages for both of these projects and paint along with us or just watch and cheer us on. The Classic Halloween Ornament Club page is here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/HalloweenClub2017/ and the Inspirational Ark page is here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/lynnesark/

Both groups are fun, helpful and inspiring!

Finally, I wanted to show you all a couple of new project designs from Keith. He created this Psalm 56:4 plaque that says "Choose Faith Over Fear" (SLDK726)

Brown Rectangle Font Wood Tints and shades


He also created a plaque to honor dispatchers (SLDK727 - Dispatch/Dispatcher - The Thin Gold Line) which include four versions of the plaque.

Rectangle Font Signage Handwriting Electric blue


Either plaque would not only make a great Father's Day gift but a nice project for any time of the year.

So that is about it for today. I have several directions to head. My biggest problem is deciding what to do first. :) (That is a good problem to have!)

Happy Thursday to you all! The weekend in just around the corner!
 

Attachments

#13,205 ·
Happy Mail and New Projects!

I'll begin today's post with some news that I just found out. My photos source for all my blog posts (Image Box) just informed me when I signed in that it is "closing" as of June 30th. Even though I haven't been blogging much lately, I used to do so just about every day, so you can imagine the number of photos that I have stored there. What it will mean to you, my readers is that when you go to my older blogs, the images that use that address (all except Lumberjocks.com) will not have any photos. Needless to say, I am not really happy about it.

But it is what it is and I suppose that I have to move forward and adapt. From today's post on, I will be using my Google account to host the photos shown here, so hopefully, Google will have some longevity and not go anywhere soon. One never knows what the day will bring.

On a positive note, I had a wonderfully productive day yesterday. I got my mail sent out, put together some new patio furniture that arrived on Monday, cut my orders out that are shipping today, and I spent some time in the yard doing some much-needed work in our yard. Since we were in 'moving mode' last year at this time, I really didn't have time to do much on the outside of our home for the summer. I had wanted to do some basic landscaping that wouldn't require much maintenance, as my time is always so pressed. So I chose some 'lazy plants' as I call them to fill the outside area and add some color and cheer to our home.

I was fortunate to see on Facebook that a neighbor was giving away some pretty variegated hosta plants and I picked up 10 of them a couple of weeks ago. I thought they would fill the front of the house in nicely and I knew they required little to keep them full and growing. I had the 10 buckets sitting in the front of the house for the past couple of weeks and I was waiting for a lull in my schedule to make time to plant them into the ground. Yesterday seemed the perfect day, as I had just finished assembling the furniture for outside and finished up all of my orders. It was still early in the afternoon and the sun was shining and bright. Since we had a rainy week last week, the ground was nice and soft and things went quickly. I also ran to the nearby garden center to get some Impatients. These are some of my favorite flowers and I know they will fill in the small flower bed as time goes on. I had enough left not only to fill the flower bed and make a couple of additional planters but also to put some in between the hostas in front. Later on, it will add a nice splash of color. So here is the result of my efforts:

Plant Building Tree Porch Wood


I also got a few hanging planters of flowers. I just couldn't resist these beautiful yellow begonias:

Flower Plant Flowerpot Petal Yellow


. . . or these exotic Impatients:

Flower Plant Petal Terrestrial plant Purple


Amy had sent me a BEAUTIFUL winter glitter house (That is real glass glitter on it! You should see it sparkle!) this past winter as a Christmas gift. The house fits perfectly with my little skating pond scene and I loved adding it to the vignette. I had asked Amy if she would make me one in Turquoise, as it is one of my favorite colors, and she graciously did so. She even put a little kitty on the back, inside wall of it! :)

Organism Font Tints and shades Liquid Electric blue


As you can see, she sent me a couple of 'blank' houses to play with on my own. I want to do a Halloween one and I couldn't find them here. Finally, she sent me a pattern of the beautiful chalkboard robin plant poke that I admired. She is so fun and talented, and I love all of her stuff. Amy and I are working on her Halloween Club that is kicking off now. The designs are completely hers and I am cutting the wood pieces for the members. It has been widely successful and we are both thrilled with the outcome. You can get more information on the club at her website here: https://classicamyjoanne.com/classic-halloween-ornie-painting-club/ It is never too late to join!

As for my other work, I am just about finished up with my "Maiden Voyage" Ark from the Lynne Andrews Inspirational Ark Series.

Clock Art Wood Font Symbol


All I need to do is to finish the details on the little birds and add the hay under the front animals. Then I can move on the 'month-by-month' pieces. You can find the patterns for the Ark pieces at Lynne's site: www.lynneandrews.com and the wood pieces (including the display tree) on my own site Painting Surfaces page. I am pleased that Amy is also designing a fence and topper for the tree so those who are in both clubs can use the same display tree and only need to switch the fence and topper. I haven't seen what Amy has come up with, but I am sure it will be fabulous!

You can join our Facebook pages for both of these projects and paint along with us or just watch and cheer us on. The Classic Halloween Ornament Club page is here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/HalloweenClub2017/ and the Inspirational Ark page is here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/lynnesark/

Both groups are fun, helpful and inspiring!

Finally, I wanted to show you all a couple of new project designs from Keith. He created this Psalm 56:4 plaque that says "Choose Faith Over Fear" (SLDK726)

Brown Rectangle Font Wood Tints and shades


He also created a plaque to honor dispatchers (SLDK727 - Dispatch/Dispatcher - The Thin Gold Line) which include four versions of the plaque.

Rectangle Font Signage Handwriting Electric blue


Either plaque would not only make a great Father's Day gift but a nice project for any time of the year.

So that is about it for today. I have several directions to head. My biggest problem is deciding what to do first. :) (That is a good problem to have!)

Happy Thursday to you all! The weekend in just around the corner!
Enjoyed the picture of the plants and planting, since we will be basically gone all summer I didn't do any gardening, the only thing growing at home is the same colored hosta's and a bed of Lilly of the valley, Your place is as nice as your paintings.
 

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#13,209 ·
#1839 More New Projects

What a beautiful and busy weekend we had!

There is something about the nice weather that just makes us want to 'do' things, isn't there? Even though Friday was a rather dark and dreary day, with heavy rain for most of the day, things calmed down by the evening and both Saturday and Sunday were warm, sunny and picture-perfect! We couldn't have asked for better! I was actually rather happy for the rain on Friday, as it gave all the flowers and plants that I just put in a chance to settle. While watering with the hose is OK, there is nothing like a drink from Mother Nature to really make a difference. The timing couldn't have been better. Also, the fact that the weekend was clear and lovely made a lot of people from this area happy, I am sure. I know it did me.

I had planned on working in my shop most of the day Saturday, leaving Sunday for me to enjoy the outside and have my "day off", but when I came down for a light lunch at around 1 pm, Keith and I got to talking and we figured it would be a nice day to head out and take a drive. After all, we were both cooped up most of the winter, like everyone else. I suppose that is one of the best parts of being self-employed - being flexible enough to seize the moment and change things up a bit. We put the top down on Keith's Miata and headed up north to New Minas for some quick shopping and fresh air. We weren't disappointed.

In this case, it was truly the journey that was the treat. Everything in our area is beautiful and green and pretty. Sometimes in winter, we tend to forget what a beautiful place Nova Scotia is. Although I enjoy the snow as much as the nice weather, I find that I truly enjoy all four seasons and by winter's end, I look forward to being out in the country and driving around our beautiful province. It is refreshing and fun.

Because I played "hooky" on Saturday, it meant that I needed to work a bit on Sunday. I didn't mind at all though, as I love my shop and splitting the work up into two days was not at all a hardship. Before long, I got a pile of work finished - not only the orders I had pending, but I was able to make some extra things and fill up my stock as well. It is good to feel that everything is under control. I finished by about 3 pm or so and still had some time to do some crafting on my front veranda before I needed to make dinner. It was a great weekend.

Last week, I spent some more time fine tuning and organizing my studio. We are coming up on a year in our new home here, and I still needed to "tweak" the last of my two large cupboards here in my workroom. While most everything was in good shape, I have now had a chance to 'settle in' to my new environment and had a better feel as to where everything should go. I promise that I will be showing everything soon. I may even make a short video of things. I feel that since moving into our place here, I have been able to have much better productivity because of the additional room. It is so easy to keep neat and supplies that I use are right at hand. The key is to KEEP things in order and take the time to put things back when I am done with them. I am in that habit and rarely leave my shop or studio in disarray. It only takes a minute to tuck things back where they should be and it saves lots of time hunting for things later on. (That is my lecture for the day!)

In reorganizing things, I once again 'visited' my beautiful embroidery supplies. One thing I haven't taken much time for since moving here is embroidery. I am very grateful for the increased amount of work, but I sorely miss the quiet time I had stitching in the evenings or on a nice day when there was a lull in my work. I still have ambitions of creating some kits for you all to enjoy, as I realize that many of my readers and customers also love needlework. My goal is to have at least one done by the end of the year. (Remember - the first one is the most difficult!) I think it will open up an entirely new avenue of creativity for all of us.

Because of this, I decided to pick up my needle and thread and just START stitching. I thought I would start small, and decided to make some little sheep. I used the linework from my "SLD504 Layered Sheep Bowl and Baa-bins" pattern and was trying to figure out how I would stitch a little sheep. Since I had at least five ideas in my head, I thought that I would 'limber up' by stitching them all, one at a time. By the time I ran out of ideas, I thought I would figure out what to do with them. So far, I finished two of them and I already have a pretty good idea as to where they will wind up. You will just have to stay tuned.

The first one I decided to stitch in all Bullion Knots. For those who don't know, Bullion Knots are like French Knots on steroids. While French Knots have usually 2-3 wraps, Bullion Knots can have up to 30 or even more. These make long, tapering knots that I thought would depict a wool coat of a sheep beautifully. I used my pretty #12 Perle Cotten thread from Valdani Threads and created this cute little wooly guy:

Glasses Toy Textile Dog Creative arts


Isn't he fun?? I have quite a beautiful collection of thread from Valdani and I plan to use them in my embroidery kits. The colors are amazing, colorfast and very high quality. It feels good to actually USE the threads that I have purchased from them and actually see how pretty they look. What fun, new adventures we will have in store!

The next sheep on my mind was also done by using Bullion Knots. (I guess I didn't do enough of them in the first sheep!) This time, I thought of making little Bullion Knot rosettes, with glass pearl centers. I finished the second sheep up last night:

Art Creative arts Headgear Body jewelry Jewellery


I used a solid creme #12 Perle Cotton for this project and little glass pearl seed beads. He is just as cute as his friend. I think together they make a nice pair.

Glasses White Art Headgear Creative arts


But that is only the beginning. I have lots of friends in store for these guys and you will have to come back and see what I am going to do with them. I promise it will be fun.

Before I go today, I want to share a new pattern from Keith as well. He created this beautiful SLDK459 Amazing Grace Sectional Plaque by using and modifying several beautiful fonts.

Wood Font Rectangle Poster Paper


Happy Monday to you all!

those "good to be alive" days.
 

Attachments

#13,210 ·
#1839 More New Projects

What a beautiful and busy weekend we had!

There is something about the nice weather that just makes us want to 'do' things, isn't there? Even though Friday was a rather dark and dreary day, with heavy rain for most of the day, things calmed down by the evening and both Saturday and Sunday were warm, sunny and picture-perfect! We couldn't have asked for better! I was actually rather happy for the rain on Friday, as it gave all the flowers and plants that I just put in a chance to settle. While watering with the hose is OK, there is nothing like a drink from Mother Nature to really make a difference. The timing couldn't have been better. Also, the fact that the weekend was clear and lovely made a lot of people from this area happy, I am sure. I know it did me.

I had planned on working in my shop most of the day Saturday, leaving Sunday for me to enjoy the outside and have my "day off", but when I came down for a light lunch at around 1 pm, Keith and I got to talking and we figured it would be a nice day to head out and take a drive. After all, we were both cooped up most of the winter, like everyone else. I suppose that is one of the best parts of being self-employed - being flexible enough to seize the moment and change things up a bit. We put the top down on Keith's Miata and headed up north to New Minas for some quick shopping and fresh air. We weren't disappointed.

In this case, it was truly the journey that was the treat. Everything in our area is beautiful and green and pretty. Sometimes in winter, we tend to forget what a beautiful place Nova Scotia is. Although I enjoy the snow as much as the nice weather, I find that I truly enjoy all four seasons and by winter's end, I look forward to being out in the country and driving around our beautiful province. It is refreshing and fun.

Because I played "hooky" on Saturday, it meant that I needed to work a bit on Sunday. I didn't mind at all though, as I love my shop and splitting the work up into two days was not at all a hardship. Before long, I got a pile of work finished - not only the orders I had pending, but I was able to make some extra things and fill up my stock as well. It is good to feel that everything is under control. I finished by about 3 pm or so and still had some time to do some crafting on my front veranda before I needed to make dinner. It was a great weekend.

Last week, I spent some more time fine tuning and organizing my studio. We are coming up on a year in our new home here, and I still needed to "tweak" the last of my two large cupboards here in my workroom. While most everything was in good shape, I have now had a chance to 'settle in' to my new environment and had a better feel as to where everything should go. I promise that I will be showing everything soon. I may even make a short video of things. I feel that since moving into our place here, I have been able to have much better productivity because of the additional room. It is so easy to keep neat and supplies that I use are right at hand. The key is to KEEP things in order and take the time to put things back when I am done with them. I am in that habit and rarely leave my shop or studio in disarray. It only takes a minute to tuck things back where they should be and it saves lots of time hunting for things later on. (That is my lecture for the day!)

In reorganizing things, I once again 'visited' my beautiful embroidery supplies. One thing I haven't taken much time for since moving here is embroidery. I am very grateful for the increased amount of work, but I sorely miss the quiet time I had stitching in the evenings or on a nice day when there was a lull in my work. I still have ambitions of creating some kits for you all to enjoy, as I realize that many of my readers and customers also love needlework. My goal is to have at least one done by the end of the year. (Remember - the first one is the most difficult!) I think it will open up an entirely new avenue of creativity for all of us.

Because of this, I decided to pick up my needle and thread and just START stitching. I thought I would start small, and decided to make some little sheep. I used the linework from my "SLD504 Layered Sheep Bowl and Baa-bins" pattern and was trying to figure out how I would stitch a little sheep. Since I had at least five ideas in my head, I thought that I would 'limber up' by stitching them all, one at a time. By the time I ran out of ideas, I thought I would figure out what to do with them. So far, I finished two of them and I already have a pretty good idea as to where they will wind up. You will just have to stay tuned.

The first one I decided to stitch in all Bullion Knots. For those who don't know, Bullion Knots are like French Knots on steroids. While French Knots have usually 2-3 wraps, Bullion Knots can have up to 30 or even more. These make long, tapering knots that I thought would depict a wool coat of a sheep beautifully. I used my pretty #12 Perle Cotten thread from Valdani Threads and created this cute little wooly guy:

Glasses Toy Textile Dog Creative arts


Isn't he fun?? I have quite a beautiful collection of thread from Valdani and I plan to use them in my embroidery kits. The colors are amazing, colorfast and very high quality. It feels good to actually USE the threads that I have purchased from them and actually see how pretty they look. What fun, new adventures we will have in store!

The next sheep on my mind was also done by using Bullion Knots. (I guess I didn't do enough of them in the first sheep!) This time, I thought of making little Bullion Knot rosettes, with glass pearl centers. I finished the second sheep up last night:

Art Creative arts Headgear Body jewelry Jewellery


I used a solid creme #12 Perle Cotton for this project and little glass pearl seed beads. He is just as cute as his friend. I think together they make a nice pair.

Glasses White Art Headgear Creative arts


But that is only the beginning. I have lots of friends in store for these guys and you will have to come back and see what I am going to do with them. I promise it will be fun.

Before I go today, I want to share a new pattern from Keith as well. He created this beautiful SLDK459 Amazing Grace Sectional Plaque by using and modifying several beautiful fonts.

Wood Font Rectangle Poster Paper


Happy Monday to you all!

those "good to be alive" days.
Glad you had a nice weekend and the woolly fellows are super cute. I arrived in Ontario yesterday, I am really sick, since Saturday, but came early to help my son in law make doors for storage cabinet at his church. I am dead on my feet but helped and got 24 2 by 4 feet doors cut and installed today, Another bunch to do tomorrow. not as many…
 

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#13,212 ·
The "Maiden Voyage" Completed!

After what seemed like a long, long time, I have finally completed the first (and largest and most complex) piece from Lynne Andrews' Inspirational Ark series! I can't express the wonderful sense of accomplishment that I feel right now. It isn't that the piece was particularly difficult or complex, but it has been painted at a time when I have been incredibly busy (ironically - from cutting ARKS for this series) and my part of our business was somewhat being re-shaped and turning in a new direction. Needless to say, I am very excited.

The piece itself is incredible:

Clock Art Font Wood Illustration


Lynne Andrews' attention to details always amazes me. With the entire Ark measuring about 9" wide and 8" tall, she fit the cluster of 'passengers' onto the piece with beautiful artistry.

Art Mythical creature Fictional character Wood Illustration


The colors are also amazing, and when one thinks of a palette of Prim or country colors, we don't expect to see the beautiful, vibrant tones. It surprises me each time I paint her designs.

Noah himself is cute and comical.

Brown Rectangle Wood Art Linens


"My" Noah came out looking like a mix between Christopher Lloyd and Santa. He has a slightly worried expression on his face which I can possible attribute to the amount of stress he is feeling in wondering if he "forgot" any of his passengers. (Unicorn, Noah. Unicorn!)

Each of the places on the Ark holds something new to look at. The little turtle on the left:

Brown Wood Rectangle Textile Font


. . . and the snake on the right . . .

Textile Wood Rectangle Art Font


a>) The group is not only for painters but for others who want to cheer us on. It is fun and amazing to see all the different 'versions' of the pieces.

The entire set is quite impressive:

Yellow Font Art Crest Symbol


There is a smaller Ark 'ornament' for each month (plus a bonus piece - the reindeer) and I even developed a little dowel tree to display the Arks, if one wants to do it that way.

Lynne has created a design for the topper and a 'wave' fence for the bottom of the tree:

Wood Clock Font Display case Shelf


It makes for a nice presentation.

I re-worked the tree design though since the above photo was taken to be a bit more stable:

Font Art Rectangle Cross Event


ter today. I know I mentioned that it would be sent yesterday, but we had a slight change of plans and decided to wait one more day. It will have a special discount coupon code in it that is good site-wide, so be sure to sign up on our Mailing List if you plan on visiting us. (Those of you who are in Amy Mogish's Halloween Club - Hang on to your one-time discount and use this for now - only one coupon can be applied at a time!)

Keep watch for your copy and code later today.

Well, that should do it for today. I hope you enjoy seeing my piece finished. I don't know why, but it feels fabulous to have this one in the books. I have had so little time to paint for my own personal pleasure that it seems like a huge accomplishment. I know most of you understand.

Badge Font Jewellery Emblem Symbol


Happy Tuesday to you all!
 

Attachments

#13,213 ·
The "Maiden Voyage" Completed!

After what seemed like a long, long time, I have finally completed the first (and largest and most complex) piece from Lynne Andrews' Inspirational Ark series! I can't express the wonderful sense of accomplishment that I feel right now. It isn't that the piece was particularly difficult or complex, but it has been painted at a time when I have been incredibly busy (ironically - from cutting ARKS for this series) and my part of our business was somewhat being re-shaped and turning in a new direction. Needless to say, I am very excited.

The piece itself is incredible:

Clock Art Font Wood Illustration


Lynne Andrews' attention to details always amazes me. With the entire Ark measuring about 9" wide and 8" tall, she fit the cluster of 'passengers' onto the piece with beautiful artistry.

Art Mythical creature Fictional character Wood Illustration


The colors are also amazing, and when one thinks of a palette of Prim or country colors, we don't expect to see the beautiful, vibrant tones. It surprises me each time I paint her designs.

Noah himself is cute and comical.

Brown Rectangle Wood Art Linens


"My" Noah came out looking like a mix between Christopher Lloyd and Santa. He has a slightly worried expression on his face which I can possible attribute to the amount of stress he is feeling in wondering if he "forgot" any of his passengers. (Unicorn, Noah. Unicorn!)

Each of the places on the Ark holds something new to look at. The little turtle on the left:

Brown Wood Rectangle Textile Font


. . . and the snake on the right . . .

Textile Wood Rectangle Art Font


a>) The group is not only for painters but for others who want to cheer us on. It is fun and amazing to see all the different 'versions' of the pieces.

The entire set is quite impressive:

Yellow Font Art Crest Symbol


There is a smaller Ark 'ornament' for each month (plus a bonus piece - the reindeer) and I even developed a little dowel tree to display the Arks, if one wants to do it that way.

Lynne has created a design for the topper and a 'wave' fence for the bottom of the tree:

Wood Clock Font Display case Shelf


It makes for a nice presentation.

I re-worked the tree design though since the above photo was taken to be a bit more stable:

Font Art Rectangle Cross Event


ter today. I know I mentioned that it would be sent yesterday, but we had a slight change of plans and decided to wait one more day. It will have a special discount coupon code in it that is good site-wide, so be sure to sign up on our Mailing List if you plan on visiting us. (Those of you who are in Amy Mogish's Halloween Club - Hang on to your one-time discount and use this for now - only one coupon can be applied at a time!)

Keep watch for your copy and code later today.

Well, that should do it for today. I hope you enjoy seeing my piece finished. I don't know why, but it feels fabulous to have this one in the books. I have had so little time to paint for my own personal pleasure that it seems like a huge accomplishment. I know most of you understand.

Badge Font Jewellery Emblem Symbol


Happy Tuesday to you all!
That was one of my favorites. The pot shaped like waves at the base of the tree and the whale painted in it is a great idea. Fished the job today, yes I will lay low for the rest of the week so I can enjoy my grand daughter graduation.
 

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#13,215 ·
Classic Amy Joanne Halloween Ornament Club

One of the best things about being a designer is that I get to 'hang around' other artistic and creative people. With all the negativity in the world these days, it is good to have a place to focus where only positive thoughts are allowed inside. That is how I treat my "Creative Place".

Because my Creative Place is not a physical location and more or less a state of mind, I can be there anytime I wish, any day of the week. I only have to shift my thinking a bit and I can bring myself to that spot where things are 'better' and I am calm and happy. It helps keep me focused and productive and positive when things sometimes don't go as planned. But one needs to realize that this doesn't just happen automatically. It is a conscious effort on my part to decided when to visit my Creative Place, and if the outside world is shouting at me too loudly, it is sometimes more difficult than you can imagine for me to arrive there. Sometimes it takes a little practice.

After yesterday's update, I found myself at a point where I was 'in between projects'. I did the usual tidying up of my workspace, but since I did a substantial amount of organizing recently, it took no time at all. I found myself in the desirable place of making the decision of what to do next. Do I work on some existing projects or start something new? I have a couple of things on the go, but I still had some things that I wanted to start. As you know, I have been involved in several directions and I find it sometimes difficult to keep up with them all. But you can't blame me for trying. ;)

Lately, I have been busy cutting the wood pieces for the Amy Mogish's Halloween Club. As you all know, I love creating realism and very detailed artwork. But there is something about Amy's style of charming creativity that continually draws me in. Her whimsical designs are adorable and they look like they are fun and stress-free to create. After tackling the beautifully intricate Ark from Lynne Andrews that I showed in yesterday's post, I was ready for something that would be quick, easy and cute all the same.

Decision made. It was time for me to pull out my own ornaments and start the Halloween project!

Automotive tire Wood Dishware Font Auto part


This series is done on a chalkboard paint background. One thing I love about Amy's designs is that she often mixes painting with colored penciling. For these ornaments, the lettering is done in pencil, eliminating the stress of trying to paint fussy letters. The characters are also lots of fun and even though it doesn't show in the pictures, full of beautiful glass glitter for a nice contrast of the flat, chalky surface and the sparkly, chunky glitter. I just love them!

I base coated and traced the pattern onto my first set of three ornaments. . .

Guitar accessory Font Material property Pattern Fashion accessory


Then I began painting the little ghost. (He is the first one of the 12!)

Plant Computer keyboard Peripheral Sports equipment Font


He was fun, easy and stress-free to make. I watched some Netflix shows while painting and I thoroughly enjoyed the process.

By the time I was ready to go to bed (only a short time later) he was nearly done:

Font Peripheral Symbol Fashion accessory Carmine


st, and September. That way their ornaments will be all ready to use and display in the autumn. There are lots of perks with the club as well, and both Amy and I are offering special coupons for club members to use, making it even more of a value!

We have a Facebook group that you can join here: Classic Halloween Ornie Club

You don't have to join the club to be in it. We can always use cheerleaders and others to enjoy our progress. We hope to see you there.

Finding ways to de-stress is important. For myself, I find the best way is through creating. When I am making something pretty or fun (or both!) it is hard to be brought down by the rest of the world. I am lost in my "Creative Place" and for the time I am there, I am happy.

I hope you find your "Creative Place" too.

Happy Wednesday to you all!
 

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