CIJS

It's Christmas in July time! It seems funny to start trotting out X-mas goodies, but hey, everyone is doing it so I might as well get in on the fun.

I decided to do things just a little differently, my Etsy store is hosting some great vintage items that I've been saving. Like this wonderful tablecloth by California Hand Prints. It is still so bright and crisp, with just a tiny bit of wear.

For my Artfire store, I've taken advantage of an awesome sale tool

they provide

which allows me to mark down the entire store by any percent I choose. Since I don't have

a lot of Christmas items listed, I decided to run a 15% off sale. I do have 1 pair of earrings

listed, called Bella Christmas. Pretty & simple and red & green!

It's hard to think about Christmas when it's 100 outside, but maybe thoughts of cooler days can keep me cooler inside and out. So, merry x-mas everyone and have a great July!

Repurposing

I have a collection of salt & pepper shakers - some have lost their partners. I've been thinking of how I can repurpose them. My brilliant idea was to drill the holes a little larger and glue the stopper into the bottom in a permanent fashion so that I could use them as a bud vase. How cute would they look with a few long stem flowers coming out of them?

Unfortunately, this leaves me with the dilemma of how to get the water in and out. Maybe a slightly larger hole near the top hidden in the back would do. If anyone has an idea, post a comment. If your idea works, I'll make one for you :)

Happy 4th of July!

Happy 4th everyone! A great day for barbecues, getting together with friends and celebrating what makes the USA great! Remember, we are given the unalienable right of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Don't let anyone take this from you, especially our elected officials, many of whom have seem to forgotten that they work for us! Make your voice heard to preserve our rights.

Have a great day! Dee

Work Progressing

I've been doodling dragon sketches, working up towards a full piece that I want to create for my sons' room. Here's a diving dragon in it's early state.

My scanner has a real problem on capturing pencil, otherwise I would show some of the others. I worked on an ACEO version of this. Originally the background was sky blue but the dragon was lost. So I repainted it black and added puffs of white 'dragon breath' which changed the dynamic of the painting.

BTW, I had to change the description on this in my listing as google does not allow the word 'smoke' for uploading to google base. The completed ACEO is titled Night Dive - check it out! Happy 4th of July!!!

Self Challenge

So, I bought these shells - they were $2.95 individually, $10.95 for 10 - I bought the strand of 10. I've challenged myself to try and create at least 6 fun pieces of jewelry out of them.

The colors are great, brown, peach, green, even a touch of light blue. They're a Lisway shell in bamboo - I'm not sure if bamboo is a name of the cut or just what they look like. They do look like bamboo - pretty nice of the shell to create itself in this shape.

I have the 1st completed and listed for sale in my Artfire store.

I'm pretty happy with how it came out. Now I just have to figure out what to do with the rest.

So many things to do this summer, so little time!

Going Buggy!

I just love bugs!  Rolly polly's are my favorite, maybe because they are so interactive.  I also love butterflys (who doesn't!) and decided to paint a few inspired by photos I found in an old book.

This black butterfly was a fun model.  The wings are so pretty, but she actually has a very creepy looking face.  It reminded me of the Sponge Bob episode where everyone was running from the butterfly - viewed up close, they can be a bit scary!  

Since the book was missing pages, this butterfly wasn't identified.  I was able to make an educated guess by searching the web that it may be a female eastern swallowtail.  Since she's black, I named the painting simply, "Butterfly Noire" adding the "e" at the end since that's the feminine form of the word.  

I have more fun photo's I've taken in my garden so I think I'll be painting bugs, at least for a little while!

Butterfly Noire can be seen in my Artfire store.

Make Your June Special

Okay, I'll say it out loud, I had no sales in either of my shops in May.  Very sad ):  So to stimulate my own economy, I'm trying an experiment.  Every Monday, I'm choosing 3 items to list at a clearance price of 30% off that will last all month.

If you're reading this blog, you can actually choose your own special.  Check out both my Artfire and/or Etsy store and if you see an item you like, contact me from the link on the item's page.  I will then do a special listing of the item just for you at a 30% price reduction.  I can hold the item at that price for 5 days, so you don't even have to pay immediately.

Sound good?  Here's the link to the pretty creamer set in the photo.  So, make my June a little more special - Thanks! Dee