Painted Panache by Joann Y Wheeler

Funny Little Find

2012-02-07T08:15:00.000-05:00

So today as I'm doing morning prayer out of an old prayer book (My Prayer Book - Father Lasance) a prayer card fell out. I love prayer cards. Mostly the old ones with the beautiful religious paintings on them. People know that and give them to me all the time. I have a few that belonged to family who have longed past. It's a running joke that I'm the rescuer of religious items. If someone dies and family wants to toss those things out and they give it to me because they know I will keep them.

Well anyway back to the story. So out falls a card. The front says "God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change...courage to change the things I can and wisdom to know the difference."

But the REVERSE says the following (I think God is trying to tell me something)

A Prayer for those Growing Old

Lord, tThou knowest I am growing older. Keep me from becoming talkative and possessed with the idea that I must express myself on every subject.

Release me from the craving to straighten out everyone's affairs.

Keep me from the recital of endless detail. Give me the wings to get to the point.

Seal my lips when I am inclined to tell of my aches and pains. They are increasing with the years and my love to speak of them grows sweeter as time goes by.

Teach me the glorious lesson that occasionally I may be wrong.

Make me thoughtful but not nosey; helpful but not bossey. With my vast store of wisdom and experience it does seem a pity not to use it all. But Thou knowest, Lord, that I want a few friends at the end. Amen.

Valentine's Blog Give Away

2012-01-30T07:51:00.001-05:00

In celebration of St. Valentine's Day, I am offering this piece of porcelain as a blog give away. It's painted with blue forget me knots and accented with white gold details. You can use it for any of the following.

butter dish
vanity tray to hold jewelry
glasses holder
paper clip holder
tray for your salt & pepper shakers

It's very functional. It has been china painted and fired in a kiln so the paint in permanently fired into the glaze.

So what's the catch for winning it? Just do the following:

Leave a comment with your email (1 entry)
Follow my blog.(1 entry)
Go to my etsy shop: Http://jywheeler.etsy.com and find a item with a heart on it and tell me which one is your favorite in your comment (1 entries)
Read my January 27th blog entry & let me know which pet portrait is your favorite. (1 entry)

GOOD LUCK!!!! ALL ENTRIES DUE BY FEB 5TH...WINNERS DRAWN FEB 6TH. US ENTRIES ONLY.

New Shop, New Friend on Etsy

2012-01-29T05:31:00.000-05:00

Well for sometime now I have been taking card making & jewelry workshops at the Pascal Senior Center. It's been a lot of fun. Besides the lovely cards and the beautiful jewelry I have come home with, I also found a friend. Susan Brown the instructor.

In our discussions about handmade things, we discussed Etsy and I encouraged her to open a shop there since I have been there for a number of years and really like the community at large, not to mention making a few sales here and there. LOL

Well she bit the bullet and jumped in with both feet and hence was borne:

The photo above is a bracelet, I'm hoping she will teach us soon...hint hint.

So go check it out! And if you love this bracelet as much as me, go buy it at: http://www.etsy.com/listing/90966831/bead-crocheted-bracelet

OFG Says Thank You....

2012-01-28T09:02:00.001-05:00

...to our loyal customers. Many of our Old Farmhouse Gathering Etsy team shops will be having a 50Club category in their shops. In that category will be an item 50% off. To find all the sale items Search for OFG50Club on Etsy. Sale Ends February 5th!

Here's my item. It's a handpainted bird house. The birdhouse is not designed to go outside. It is made for decorative purposes only. Longing for spring. I am...

Here's the link to the birdhouse.

http://www.etsy.com/listing/33502861/handpainted-bird-house-ofg50club

Remember the sale ends February 5, 2012.

Pet Portraits

2012-01-27T15:49:00.002-05:00

So lately it seems that I have become a pet portrait artist! LOL I have done a few in the past in watercolor and on porcelain but lately I've had a run of commission work.....so check out a few.

This one was done for someone who didn't have a King Charles Spaniel but liked them...I found a photograph of one of these animals online and used it for my study

.This one was done for a friend who's dog had to be put to sleep. She had his ashes in a box and wanted to have his portrait to be mounted on it. I also did one for my cousin. She wanted her cat's portrait put on a porcelain urn into which she wanted to put his ashes. Sure enough I found a porcelain urn and painted it for her but I don't have a photo of that one.

Then just a couple of weeks ago someone wanted me to do a plate of their son's girlfriend's cat. The photo was not very sharp. It was a bit blurred but I did the best I could with it. She seemed to like it alot. So much so that she has asked me to do another one of her cat. So I'm guessing that I will be doing more pet portraits. :)

Happy Paint Party Friday. For more Paint Party Features visit: http://paintpartyfriday.blogspot.com/

The Wedding is Over....

2012-01-26T11:20:00.000-05:00

So the wedding is over and things have settled down. This week Glenn and I helped Jay move all his stuff to Jackie's boy oh boy....they've got a lot of things to go through. But I'm sure they will get it all taken care of in time and the place will be a perfect mesh of both him and her.

The wedding went off beautifully. Everything was perfect. From the weather to the ceremony. Thank you to Father Brian Nolan, Sister Liz Sjoberg and Deacon Joe Goldsmith for a beautiful ceremony. Oh and to one of the bridesmaids Diana Healy for a beautiful "Ave Maria".

The hotel where we had the reception - Doubletree by Hilton BWI was incredible. They were so accommodating and helpful. I stayed there 4 days and it was one of the nicest hotel stays I've ever had. Everyone was so friendly and helpful. They even let us have the honeymoon suite early so Jackie and the girls could get ready for the wedding.

All those little details came of perfectly as well. I have such wonderfully talented friends. They helped make this day as special as my daughter is to me. Thank you friends.

Beth Pardoe made the cake. It was 5 flavors. And everyone raved about how good it was. It included funfetti which is Jackie's favorite. There was also Orange Chocolate for Jay. Also Almond, Lemon and Chocolate.

Allison Wade did the centerpieces, purse corsages, boutiners, corsages & bouquets. Everything was equisite. The brooch bouquet was breath taking. Jackie had asked her to include a locket with a photo of her deceased grandmother and her friend who died in a car accident. She told her she 'wanted them in the wedding.' Allison put them right where Jackie could see them while she was going down the aisle. I cried when I saw it. It was so beautiful.

My friend, Jeannie O'Hare did the restoration to the gown. After 60 years the lace was a bit dry-rotted. She reinforced it with netting and where there were 2 stains from dye from a swatch of my bridesmaids fabric (which had somehow gotten into the bag with the gown) she did a wonderful job of hiding it with bridal appliques...you could not tell. It looked like the designs were supposed to be there....Jeanne is incredible.

The men's boutineers were fun. They were feathers and buttons. Jackie loves feathers. Jay's included typewriter keys J and P. His grandfather had a typewriter repair shop years ago. The kids also had a 100 year old manual typewriter for the guest book. It was cute.

Patricia Potze made the green silk pocket handkerchiefs. They looked perfect..Jackie wanted a touch of green. Her favorite color.

Then they were off to St. Augustine Florida for a week of relaxation but alas, they both got colds and came back sick. Of course, they shared their colds with me and her father...what are families for!

The Day Before....

2012-01-13T12:05:00.000-05:00

Joey & Jackie, my son and daughter....

...the wedding of my baby girl. This morning we went to daily Mass at Holy Trinity with friends. One of them arranged for Jackie to get a bride's blessing. It was very special. Marlene is a good friend. The readings today were about Israel who insisted on a King to rule them like the other nations. The Priest said that they should have asked for was to follow God's plan. One of the things the priest said in the Homily was that we should all strive, not to be like other people as Israel wanted, but to be people of God.

When he blessed Jackie, he told her to not to be like other wives but a wife that God would want her to be. It made me think about when she was little. I always asked God for my children to bring glory to Him through their lives. I believe he has answered that prayer. I'm sure she will be the wife God wants her to be and I look forward to watching it happen!

It's Finished!

2012-01-09T20:50:00.004-05:00

Well my brother finished tiling the kitchen..I'm a little slow getting the photos up! But I've been a little preoccupied with the wedding and such...LOL

Anyway, here are the photos. The tile is tumbled marble. It's so beautiful. It had lots of holes all over it, reminding me of Roman ruins. When my brother grouted it all over it filled the holes in, making an interesting contrast.

I love the accent tiles and the trim. It's a metal that looks like old copper.

The whole thing looks great with my dark cabinet and light counter. I'm very pleased with it. I even found stone light switch & plug covers and Joe put those in for me. He was so funny. The tiles are mis-shappened because they are supposed to look rustic and old. But he's such a perfectionist that he kept trying to get them total lined up etc.

I kept telling him that I wanted the old world charm. He would look at me like I had 3 heads. LOL

I'm so in love with it...it really classes up the joint! :)

Sunday Sketches

2012-01-01T06:33:00.000-05:00

Well, it's been a while since I've done Sunday Sketches. I need to get back into my blogging routine.That's my New Year's Resolutions! LOL
I have been trying to be a little more regular with my other blog ring so now I'm going to try to keep this one up as well....so what have I been doing? Well, I've been busy with craft shows and then my daughter's wedding which is coming up on January 14! Yayyy..... I do have a few new things to show you. But for today there is just one (I have to save some for future SS's!)

This is a pendant. It's china painted. I love blue jays. My yard is full of them and they are quite entertaining.

You can find it in my Etsy shop: http://www.etsy.com/listing/89354654/handpainted-porcelain-bluejay-pendant

Enjoy the Sunday Sketch and for more awesome art visit http://bluechairdiary.blogspot.com/

Looking Back & Happy New Year

2011-12-31T02:00:00.000-05:00

Well today is the last day of 2011. I'm thinking it's been a pretty good year. My daughter got engaged and my son got married this year. I joined a senior center (I'm one of the youngest there) and have been having fun making cards & jewelry. I lost 13 pounds but I think 5 found their way back! LOL. My family had this photo taken. I've always wanted to have one taken and never had. This was the best year to do it since we would include my two newest kids (Diana and Jay).

My husband and I made a trip to Atlantic City. We didn't win anything but we had a great time. I hadn't been there in years. My whole family (kids & grandson) went on the annual trip to Ocean City. It was lots of fun. I look forward to that trip every year. This summer I also saw Bill Cosby at Pier 6. He was awesome. I have always wanted to see him. It was a real treat.

My parents have been in fairly good health for 83 and 84. I'm so lucky to have them. I realize I won't have them here for ever so I try to spend as much time with them as possible.

This year I began making greeting cards. I made all my Christmas Cards and have made several get well and birthday cards. I had a friend tell me she planned to keep all the cards I sent her when she was sick. That made me feel good! :)

So I hope your 2011 was a good one too. If not, remember, there's always next year and it can only get better! So I wish you lots of blessings in 2012, health, happiness and prosperity. Thank you for taking the time to visit my blog. :)

Paint Party Friday!

2011-12-30T02:00:00.000-05:00

So lately I have been making cards. In fact I made all my Christmas cards this year. I made a bunch of Get Well and Birthday cards and I've given most of them away.

The other day I made a bunch of Valentine's Day cards that I hope to get up on Etsy.

I have a ton of paper these days...I'm become quite the paper addict. Anyway, I was thinking one day when I was getting ready to paint these Angel ornaments that it would be cool to combine the paper and paint. So here it is. I just LOVE the way it looks. I painted the wings and faces but the dresses are scrapbook paper with embellishment. I also did some snowmen but I did the hats in paper. And, I did some snowflakes that way. They are all in my Etsy shop. Go take a look: http://www.etsy.com/shop/JYWheeler?section_id=5261008....Happy Paint Party Friday!

For more Paint Party Features visit: http://paintpartyfriday.blogspot.com/

What Do These 2 Things Have in Common?

2011-12-29T08:22:00.001-05:00

The kitchen! Yes, I'm finally going to get my wall under the cabinets tiled. I wanted to do glass tile but it seems lately everyone else is doing that so always wanting to be different, I decided that I would go to tumbled marble tile. It's every beautiful and very European. And I think the design will be timeless.

So stay tuned. I'm having the best contractor in town do the work, my brother! Joe Yori is the owner of Yori's Building Improvement. He does awesome work if I may say so myself. He does every thing. My Dad always says he's 7 contractors in one because he can do everything, carpentry, brick & stone work, drywall, windows, asphalt, siding concrete ...he does bathrooms, kitchens, additions, siding...commercial or residental....whatever you need he can do it. He recently did a bathroom rennovation, just finished 2 kitchens, a whole house window replacement & commercial tile work for a restuarant in Ocean City.

Look at these beautiful brick steps he did for me. I was away on vacation, came back and they were there! All I asked for was another row of brick on the top step so my Dad could come in and out of the door easier and he just rebuilt them. I even had a kid who was trick or treating tell me he loved the steps. How funny is that?

So stay tuned for the finished product. I'll post photos afterwards.

Yori's Building Improvement. 443-250-9899 in the Baltimore Area as well as Lower Delaware & Maryland Eastern Shores.

Kitchen Craft Project Gone Wrong

2011-12-24T00:30:00.000-05:00

Sometimes I wonder why I even walk into the kitchen. Most times I have one kind of disaster or another. Yesterday's disaster was quite entertaining. So I saw this candy tray on Pinterest and thought, "I can do that" How many times do we think "I can do that." but never do but I was determined since I had some peppermints and the oven was already hot to try it. So I printed out the directions and followed the instructions:
1) preheat oven to 350 degrees
2) put wax paper on cookie tray
3) unwrap peppermints and place in a pattern.
4) bake 8-10 minutes
5) cool on cookie sheet and remove carefully as it is fragile.

I did just that. Well what do you know. My oven began to smoke like crazy! It was so bad I had to open the window. Now the little window usually has a little doll sitting on it. It's a cute little doll made for me by Pocomedio of my Etsy Team, Old Farmhouse Gathering. It looks like my husband and sits on the window. The DH (darling husband) said, "put the screen in." I said, it's too cold for bugs to be out. It will be fine." and I carefully opened the window." Before long, I hear the DH say to me, "He couldn't stand it anymore and he jumped out of the window." "WHAT???" I said, thinking it was something on TV.

I turned around and this is what I saw. Stoney was GONE! Oh my. I ran outside to retrieve him. At first I couldn't find him. Where could he have gone. He must be here some where. Finally I spotted him, face down in the bushes. Whew! I picked him up and put him back on the window...this time I closed it as all the smoke had left the family room & kitchen. I checked the tray...it's a little lopsided. Here's what it looks like. I can't make anymore because I'm out of those peppermints. I believe the instructions should have said to turn off the oven when it reaches 350 degrees and let it sit for 8-10 minutes. That would have been enough to melt them....Lesson Learned.....Maybe after Christmas when all the candy goes on sale I'll try this again making sure Stoney is out of the window if I open it.

And people wonder why my email is HeyLucy1....well I gotta lotta splainin to do! Merry Christmas.

Paint Party Friday

2011-12-23T06:59:00.000-05:00

It's sure been warm here. We've got spring for the first days of winter here on the East Coast and I'm really enjoying it.....well enough of the weather report. Today's post for Paint Party Friday is a butterfly watercolor ACEO. I love butterflies. There is a bush next to my parent's which always has a ton of butterflies on it.

Recently I've gotten in to card making. I was thinking one day that it might be fun to combine my art with my card making and so my Art on a Card was born. It's an original ACEO in plastic adhered to a handmade card. So it's a Greeting & Gift in One!!!! The ACEO slides easily out of the plastic. The card is blank inside. I have 4 so far in my shop. More to come.

For more Paint Party Features visit: http://paintpartyfriday.blogspot.com/

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Link to this card on my etsy shop:

http://www.etsy.com/listing/72640673/art-on-a-card-watercolor-aceo-original

Christmas Menu Planning

2011-12-21T09:47:00.001-05:00

Every 4 years I get the rotation for the Wheeler family Christmas. It's always painful for me because I hate cooking, baking, etc. Not to mention that I burn things and have my Lucy Episode Kitchen Catastrophes!

Well this year on the menu is Turkey (of course), Honey Spiral Ham, Sausage Stuffing, Scalloped Corn, Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins, Biscuits, Gravy, Cranberry Sauce, Brownies, Rum Cake and pie. So what do you think My son is bringing another pie. My daughter is bringing a sweet potato casserole. My sister in laws are bringing pie and a vegetable casserole and my brother in law is bringing mashed potatoes. You might laugh but my mashed potatoes are called Mashed Potato Surprise in my house. I just cannot make them from the real thing. It's either burned, watery, lumpy, or too thick. It's better left to someone else.

I generally make kielbasa and sauerkraut but the place I get my polish sausage from went out of business and I don't feel like driving to Baltimore to get it from Ostrowski's. I really need to find a place locally that has it. All sausage is not the same. I cannot stand the stuff from the grocery stores with the thick casings! Yuck!

I cannot wait to do the muffins. Here's the recipe...so easy:

1 box yellow cake mix
15 oz pumpkin pie filling
1 cup mini chocolate chips

Fill ups 1/2 way, Bake 350 for 12 min. Drizzle chocolate on the top. The blog I got it from gave a good tip. Melt the chocolate in a baggie, cut off the tip and then use it to drizzle the chocolate! Here's the link to the blog: http://cheatdaycafe.blogspot.com/2009/06/chocolate-chip-pumpkin-muffins.html

Hope your menu planning is going well!

Paint Party Friday

2011-12-16T00:01:00.000-05:00

Today's Paint Party Feature is my little tribute to our service men and women....it seemed appropriate now that the war in Iraq is winding down.

Thank you for your service. I know it's very hard to be away from your families not to mention the danger. My heart goes out to your families who miss you every day especially during the holidays.

My prayer for this Christmas is that all our service men & women will one day all be home with their families & that there will be peace on Earth....

For more cool Paint Party Friday Features go to: http://paintpartyfriday.blogspot.com/

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Link to this snowman hand painted porcelain ornament: http://www.etsy.com/listing/87779301/hand-painted-porcelain-cammoflage

It's just less than a month before...

2011-12-15T11:46:00.000-05:00

..my baby (well not so much a baby anymore) gets married. I am so delighted about the young woman Jacklyn Nicole Wheeler has grown up to be. She makes me proud every day of her life. Not ust because she went through one of the most difficult majors in College (Chemical Engineering) with both a bachelor's degree and master's degree. Not just because she is a successful professional woman. Not just because she's beautiful (and she really is). Not just because of her creativity. And not just because she is the most down to earth person I know and a loving daughter, sister, aunt and grand daughter. Not not just because of all of that....I am most proud of her because of her life in the spirit.

Her life is a daily testament to the gospel. It's how she lives her life in faith and in charity in everything that she does. I have always told God I just wanted my children to bring glory to Him...and I feel like my prayer was answered. I am so delighted that she found her soul mate...Jay Perry. He is the perfect match for her. He's a very talented graphic/web designer and artist. What I'd call a "Big Brush". A match made in heaven.

So on January 14, 2012 Jackie and Jay will wed and I will be the proudest person in that church and I will say a prayer of thanksgiving for the gift I was given when God blessed me with her by beautiful daughter. I will pray for this new chapter of their lives. God Bless you both. I love you.

Paint Party Friday

2011-12-09T08:41:00.001-05:00

Today's Paint Party Friday feature is this little tea caddy. China painted on porcelain, I painted 51...yes you read it right 51 of these little guys for my daughter's bridal shower. They all had different designs on them. Mostly floral or fruit. I had a decal made up for the back that I fired on them. It read "Jackie and Jay 1.14.12" (the date of their wedding).

They were a big hit at the shower. Everyone loved them. I also painted several teapots for game prizes. The one in the middle I painted for my daughter and the one behind it with the grapes was painted for her new mother in law.

So that's what I've been painting lately! LOL.....the little grape tea caddy pictured is available in my Etsy shop. Here's the link. http://www.etsy.com/listing/87893177/hand-painted-porcelain-tea-caddy

For more Paint Party Features visit: http://paintpartyfriday.blogspot.com/

Paint Party Friday

2011-12-02T06:52:00.001-05:00

Ewe EEE...it's been a while since I participated. I really need to get back to my blogging routine. But you know how life has a way of taking you downstream.......like a leaf in a stream...well that's me it seems in a fast running stream to boot. So now I'm trying to swim back up. LOLSo today's feature for Paint Party Friday is this beautiful china painted rosary box.

I painted it with a dogwood desing and then I thought, well it still needed something. I toyed with the idea of edging it in gold but then I thought I'd try some little scroll work around the edge. I like it much better with the scrolls. It's something different. I may do the other ones I have with scrollwork. But then again if I do too many it won't be different will it. Oh well.

I love dogwoods and I was thinking that rather than being headed for winter, I sure would love it to be spring. So it's spring in my mind.

For more cool Paint Party Friday Features go to: http://paintpartyfriday.blogspot.com/
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If you like the Rosary Box, it's available in my Etsy shop. But I do a craft show tomorrow so I can't promise it will still be there in a day or so. I'm putting my Etsy shop on "vacation" mode tonight until Sunday. But here's the link.
http://www.etsy.com/listing/86965504/hand-painted-porcelain-cross-shaped

Openhouse at the Farmhouse

2011-12-02T06:30:00.001-05:00

Come to the Farmhouse Gathering for Christmas from December 5-9 .....on Etsy search "OFG Open House" and look in the shop announcement line for Christmas Sales. My shop JYWheeler will be offering 20% off using Coupon Code: Open House.....come to the Farmhouse Gathering...you won't be disappointed.

Thank You God

2011-11-27T15:27:00.001-05:00

Ready, Set, Advent.........

2011-11-26T07:29:00.001-05:00

What Is Advent?The word means coming or arrival...it's Latin. Go figure! :) It basically means that God came to Earth as Jesus and as such it changed the world. So it's something we CeLeBraTE and REJOICE!!!! It's a time of Prayer and meditation, contemplation and waiting. Waiting for the day our Savior comes and rejoicing in it. It always starts on a Sunday. This year it's November 27.

It's a countdown from the first day of Advent to Christmas. One day at a time. Week by week. And each week we light a candle at church before Mass starts. But you can also have one in your home.Advent candle 1 (purple - representing HOPE) is light on November 27th. Then candle 2 (purple - representing LOVE) on December 4. Candle 3 (pink - representing LOVE) on December 11 and the last one on December 18th (Purple - representing PEACE). During the great countdown, we are doing some things to PREPARE for the coming of Christ.

We thank God for the coming of Christ, we celebrate His arrival (Christmas), pray and prepare (through the sacrament of Confession) for Christmas...the coming of our Savior Jesus Christ.

Advent is not a new thing. It's been around since the 4th Century France started by some monks. They used the 6 weeks before Christmas as a penitential and devotional time. Later in Rome began a 3-6 week fast and regularly going to church before Christmas. The way Advent is practiced today came from Pope Gregory I. He set it at 4 weeks long. And he wrote "litu bergical" materials for liturgical use during that time. In the 10th Century saw the special practices and prayers. And finally the liturgical color...purple (the Catholic church has lots of colors for lots of things...but that's another blog). It gained a resurgence in the 20th Century and the Eastern Orthodox prepare via the Nativity Fast.

So keep your focus on the real PRESENT OF CHRISTMAS--------JESUS......Ready Set Advent.

Here's a link to DIY your own Advent Wreath. http://catholicism.about.com/od/adventactivities/ss/Make_Adv_Wreath_7.htm

It's Getting to Look Alot Like Christmas!

2011-11-25T00:01:00.000-05:00

Well at least it is in my shop! I have been adding more. Here's a selection of just the Christmas items. Speaking of Christmas...my OFG Team is doing a sale...search OFG Team on Etsy and put in OFGthanksyou2011 in the coupon code for 10% or more off (depending on the shop).

It's not looking like Christmas at my house yet. I generally put the tree up the day after Thanksgiving but my daughter is at her future in laws this weekend so we wont' be putting it up until Monday night! :( But I'll get my Christmas tree decorating fix tonight because my son is continuing the tradition at his house with his son. You gotta love traditions!

Happy Thanksgiving!

2011-11-24T09:20:00.001-05:00

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone! Today I am thankful to God for the following...my top 10:
1) my parents, in their 80's I'm so fortunate to still have them.
2) the love of my family, especially my husband, children and grandson
3) my friends who make my life so full of laughter and fun
4) retirement...it was worth working all those years...going straight to work after high school.
5) my God given talents. They bring me such joy.
6) my health
7) that my grandparents chose to take the chance on coming to America to find the American dream
8) that I finally got the last of the wallpaper down in this house this year! wooo hooo
9) my kitties...I have 2 of the best girls in the world
10) that I have a roof over my head, food in my belly and clothes on my body....I pray for all those who do not have that...........

So what are YOU thankful for today?

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the ACEO above is no longer available.

Are you on Pinterest?

2011-11-23T22:16:00.001-05:00

I love Pinterest.com . It's a cool new social network which allows you to organize and make bulletin boards of cool things you find on the internet. It's nice to be able to see at a glance all the things you bookmark.

On my page I have 18 boards one is for religious icons, one of china painting, others are: painting instructions, cool craft ideas, jewelry, hats, recipes, you name it I have it. Many of the bookmarks are of DIY things I would like to do in the future and some things I'd like to do around the house. The hat board are hats I'd like to buy at some point.

I love herbs and I tried doing an herb garden at some point but wasn't very successful. Next year I plan to try again so I have an herb board! Recently I began making greeting cards so I've made a board of cool card ideas.

If you aren't on pinterest, you need to check it out. And when you do, follow me and I'll follow you!

OOO Baby It's Cold Outside!

2011-11-20T07:49:00.001-05:00

What happened to summer? I know it's not politically correct to wish for global warming but today I could use just a bit.

Summer is my favorite time of year. Maybe it's because I was born in summer. Or maybe it's just because I'm an informal kind of girl and summer is all about informal, flip flops and shorts....but whatever the reason, I just wish I could have summer year round. How about you?

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The watercolor ACEO shown above is available in my ArtfulPurpose shop on Etsy. Here's the link:
Beach Walk

It's Been A While....

2011-11-19T07:13:00.001-05:00

,,,but I'm back. I am sorry I have been remiss at my blogging. LOL. Lots have been going on in my life. My beautiful daughter Jackie is getting married in January. I have been doing my Mother of the Bride duties running here and there with her. I painted 51 tea caddies and 6 teapots for her tea party bridal shower. Here's a photo of her at the shower with the little veil her maid of honor made her.

I've also been preparing for 2 craft shows one of which is this weekend. It's a home show.I'd like to thank all my friends who have come to the 3 day show and supported us. It means a lot to me. No matter if you bought something of mine or not, just your smiling faces and compliments are a huge pick me up! It's so tiring to be on one's feet for long days.

I have got to say my craft show buddies have done a wonderful job. Marie has the most adorable prim things. Patricia (another porcelain artist) has lovely unusual lustered ornaments. Allison's florals are top knotch. Tisha's watercolors are beautiful and her knitting is awesome. I bought the cutest little grey hat (and you know how I love hats) but that's another story.

After the craft show I will have lots of new pieces in my Etsy shop. Right now it's on "vacation" status until after this show. I want to wish all of you a Blessed Thanksgiving. And speaking of giving thanks I'd like to leave you with a prayer I found on Catholic.org:

Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,
We praise you and give you glory:
We bless you for calling us to be your holy people.

Remain in our hearts,
And guide us in our love and service.
Help us to let our light shine before others
And lead them to the way of faith.

Holy Trinity of love,
We praise you now and for ever.

Amen!
-----------See You SOON!

Check These Out

2011-07-22T00:01:00.000-04:00

The other day I went over to a friend's house. She has been fiddling with wire wrapping. I asked her to show me since I'm really left-handed it's hard to turn the directions around in my mind. All the directions are written for righty's.

Well anyway, she sat across the table from me and I could figure it out.

I was happy with the way they turned out the top left one is a large stone bead. Two of them are from smashed pieces of my china. The other two are from flat stones made to be pendants. In fact they were in settings and I popped them out.

Not sure what I'm going to do with these. I might sell them but then again, I might just save them and give them as gifts. I'll likely put them on some beaded necklace, as I have tons of beads.

My Newest Antique Store Find

2011-07-21T14:43:00.000-04:00

So here it is. Isn't it cool. It was outside of the antique store which means they wanted it to go on quick sale. I walked by it and then did a double take. It is a wire rooster and it has a circular section in it so you can put in a plant. I had just the one for it.

This plant is very old. I have have had it for 12 years or so now. My mother in law had given it to me. She was downsizing her plants. She has since passed away so every time I see it I think of her.

It looks great in my sunroom!

Sunday Sketches

2011-06-12T00:01:00.002-04:00

Another from my Sketchbook Project 2011 (theme: Make Mine a Double)

Colored pencil...I love peeps. It's like double the pleasure double the fun when you can have not just one peep but two! LOL. Anyway in separating the Peeps the one on the right I got a little rough with it. And in my haste gave it a little deformity in his ears. I was going to correct it in the drawing but then I thought why not let sketch it as is. The fun part of drawing them was knowing in the end I could eat them. :) And I am happy to report the deformed one was just as tasty as it's mate.

Enjoy the Sunday Sketch and for more awesome art visit http://bluechairdiary.blogspot.com/

Fun Times!

2011-06-11T21:38:00.001-04:00

What a great day today was. My son, my grandson and I went to the National Aquarium in Baltimore. I hadn't been in quite a while so it was nice to go there again. We went very early and still it was very crowded. I would have liked to stay and read the exhibits but when you have a 4 year old you end up jumping from one thing to another...well let's say I maybe got to read one or two. Mason was so excited. It was fun to see the aquarium through his eyes. In the photo to the left. They spotted a conure in the rainforest exhibit.

After the aquarium, we ate at an Irish Restaurant. Mason loved his new mask. He wore it around the Inner Harbor and then wanted to wear it at lunch til he realized he couldn't eat with it on. My son, Joe had Sheppard's Pie. I had Bangers and Mash and what did Mason want? Spaghetti! LOL It was a fun day with the boys.

Sunday Sketches

2011-06-05T07:55:00.001-04:00

So here's another from my Sketchbook Project 2011...the theme was Make Mine A Double.

I love roses! I have 2 rose bushes. Sometimes they are out of control with roses and then other times it's zip. I'm not sure why. I take care of them the same way all the time.

Did you know what the colors of the roses mean? Here it is:

Red Roses desire, passion, courage, respect, beauty, sincerity and say "I love you". A red rosebud symbolizes purity and loveliness.

Coral Roses - desire and passion.

Lilac or Lavender Roses -love at first sight or enchantment.

Orange Roses - desire, enthusiasm and fascination.

Peach Roses - gratitude, appreciation, admiration or sympathy. Also convey sociability and friendship and send the message "Let's get together". A pale peach rose symbolizes modesty.

Pink Roses - grace, gentility and happiness and express appreciation and gratitude.

Pale Pink Roses - grace, joy, gentility and gratitude.

Light Pink Roses - happiness and fun.Also convey admiration and appreciation.

Deep Pink Roses - express appreciation, admiration, sincerity and sympathy.

White Roses -truth and innocence, silence, secrecy, reverence, humility, youthfulness and charm. A white rosebud symbolizes girlhood.

Yellow Roses - friendship and freedom, convey congratulations, joy, gladness, delight. and a new beginning. Yellow roses with red tips convey friendship and falling in love.

Dead Roses - Dead roses in any color convey "It's over!"
My favorite rose is the white rose? What's yours?

Enjoy the Sunday Sketch and for more awesome art visit http://bluechairdiary.blogspot.com/

In Remembrance this Memorial Day

2011-05-30T07:43:00.001-04:00

For the 30 heroes below who died in May, 2011 in Operation Enduring Freedom. I pray:

O God, by whose mercy the faithful departed find rest, look kindly on your departed veterans who gave their lives in the service of their country. Grant that through the passion, death, and resurrection of your Son they may share in the joy of your heavenly kingdom and rejoice in you with your saints forever. We ask this through Christ our Lord.

Please take a moment to read each name and reflect on their sacrifice. Keep their families in your prayers.

5-28-2011 Hamilton, Adam S., Specialist,22, Ohio. Hostile fire, Helmand Haji Ruf. U.S. Army, Fort Riley, KS

5-27-2011 Johnson, John C., Private 1st Class, 28, Arizona. Hostile fire, Kandahar. U.S. Army, Fort Drum, NY

5-26-2011 Runkle, John M., 1st Lieutenant, 27, Ohio. Hostile fire, Kandahar. U.S. Army, Fort Campbell, KY

5-26-2011 Mills Jr., Edward D.,Staff Sergeant, 29, Pennsylvania. Hostile fire, Kandahar. U.S. Army, Fort Campbell, KY

5-26-2011 Osman, Ergin V.Staff, Sergeant, 35, North Carolina. Hostile fire, Kandahar. U.S. Army, Fort Campbell, KY

5-26-2011 Bohall, Thomas A.Sergeant, 25, Kansas. Hostile fire, Kandahar. U.S. Army, Fort Campbell, KY

5-26-2011 Velazquez, Louie A. Ramos, Sergeant, 39, Puerto Rico. Hostile fire, Kandahar. U.S. Army, Fort Campbell, KY

5-26-2011 Patton, Adam J.Specialist, 21, Washington. Hostile fire, Kandahar. U.S. Army, Fort Campbell, KY

5-26-2011 Solesbee, Kristoffer M., Technical Sergeant, 32, California. Hostile fire, Kandahar. U.S. Air Force, Squadron Hill Air Force Base, Utah

5-26-2011 Hamski, Joseph J., Staff Sergeant, 28, Iowa. Hostile. Kandahar U.S. Air Force, Schofield Barracks, HI

5-26-2011 Thibodeau, Christopher R., Chief Warrant Officer, 28, Ohio. Hostile - Helicopter crash. Paktika. U.S. Army, Fort Hood, Texas

5-23-2011 Lorenzo, Kristofferson B., Staff Sergeant, 33. California. Hostile fire, Kunar. U.S. Army Schofield Barracks, HI

5-23-2011 Blevins, William S., Private 1st Class, 21, Ohio. Hostile fire, Kunar. U.S. Army, Schofield Barracks, HI

5-23-2011 Krippner, Andrew M.,Private, 20, Texas. Hostile fire, Kunar. U.S. Army, Schofield Barracks, HI

5-23-2011 Allers, Thomas C., Private, 23, Michigan, Hostile fire, Kunar. U.S. Army ,Schofield Barracks

5-18-2011 Kirton, Brandon M.Specialist, 25, Colorado. Hostile fire, Kandahar. U.S. Army , Fort Campbell, KY

5-16-2011 Self, David D., Staff Sergeant,29, Mississippi. Hostile fire. Zabul. U.S. Army, Vilseck, Germany

5-16-2011 Melton, Bradley L.Specialist, 29, Missouri. Hostile fire, Zabul. U.S. Army Fort Wainwright, Fairbanks, AK

5-16-2011 Tucker, Lamarol J.Private,26, Florida. Hostile fire, Zabul. U.S. Army, Fort Wainwright, Fairbanks, AK

5-16-2011 Pressley, Cheziray, Private, 21, North Carolina. Hostile fire, Zabul. U.S. Army, Fort Wainwright, Fairbanks, AK

5-15-2011 Riley Jr., Brian D., Specialist, 24, Florida. Non-hostile, Kunar. U.S. Army, Schofield Barracks, HI

5-14-2011 Schlote, Robert C., Sergeant, 26 , Nebraska. Non-Hostile – Illness. U.S. Army, Army National GuardOmaha, NB

5-13-2011 Aguilar, Amaru,Sergeant,26, Florida. Hostile fire, Kandahar. U.S. Army, Fort Riley, KS

5-12-2011 Palmer, Benjamin J., Lieutenant Colonel, 43, California. Hostile fire, Helmand . U.S. Marine Cherry Point, NC

5-12-2011 Balduf, Kevin B., Sergeant,27, Tennessee. Hostile fire, Helmand . U.S. Marine, Camp Lejeune, NC

5-10-2011 Frison, Demetrius M.,1st Lieutenant,26, Pennsylvania. Hostile fire,Khost. U.S. Army, Fort Knox, KY

5-09-2011 Hermogino, Ken K., Sergeant, 30, Californa. Vehicle accident, Heart. U.S. Army, Fort Carson, CO

5-04-2011 Spaulding, Riley S., Specialist, 21, Texas. Non-hostile, Kandahar. U.S. Army, Vilseck, Germany

5-02-2011 White, Kevin W.Corporal, 22, New York. Hostile fire, Kuna. U.S. Army, Schofield Barracks, HI.

(http://icasualties.org/OEF/Fatalities.aspx)

2011-05-29T10:41:00.000-04:00

So another Sunday Sketch from my 2011 Sketchbook Project....here it is...again the theme was Make Mine A Double:

This also was colored pencil. I had a little trouble with one of their rumps...can you figure out which. If you look close you can see I had to do some readjusting. I don't know what's with me. I always tend to straighten things out. I have trouble drawing or painting something that's not straight. Even the ram that is on an angle still looks weird to me. The one on the right I make straight. Not sure why I always do that sort of thing. Well anyway here it is.

The Sketchbook Project tour came through my area. Actually it went to Washington DC but I didn't have anyone to go with and that week was particularly busy anyway. Maybe if I do it again this year I'll be able to see it. It's supposed to come to Philadelphia which is about 2 hrs away. DC would have been just a bit closer. Oh well.

Enjoy the Sunday Sketch and for more awesome art visit http://bluechairdiary.blogspot.com/

Sunday Sketches

2011-05-21T00:01:00.002-04:00

Last week I missed the Sunday Sketches. I just wasn't in the blogging mood I guess or got lazy. Whatever. But this week I'm here... Yayyyyyy....This is another sketch from my Sketchbook Project 2011. It's colored pencils.

This is one of my favorites. As you recall, my theme was Make Mine a Double. I love the beach. When my kids were little, I'd take them for early morning beach walks and we'd pick up shells along the way. I always told them the shells were little treasures left for us by God to find.
I remember one morning walk I really wanted to find a whelk shell and I prayed " Lord send me a whelk shell." As I was walking, a wave crashed at my feet and guess what it was a whelk shell like the one on the right! Ask and ye shall receive!

Paint Party Friday

2011-05-20T00:01:00.000-04:00

Well last week I missed the PPF. I had things painted just didn't get to blog about it. Well this one I painted while I was in Ocean City, Md for Mother's Day weekend. It was so beautiful that morning I couldn't resist. It's an ACEO. The nice thing about painting an ACEO (2.5 x 3.5 inches) is that you can easily carry your painting supplies and paper along with you.

It's available in my Etsy shop ArtfulPurpose: http://www.etsy.com/listing/74258865/watercolor-aceo-original-sunrise

The ACEO Challenge

2011-05-17T08:04:00.000-04:00

This is the first time I have participated....the theme is May flowers. Here's my entry. It's called Fresh Picked.
It's available in my Etsy shop, ArtfulPurpose....click here to go to the link.

Sunday Sketches

2011-05-08T00:01:00.002-04:00

Happy Mother's Day to all of you who are mothers, grandmothers, godmothers, foster mothers.....What are your plans today? I'm coming back from a weekend at the beach. I so needed that get a way.

Today's Sunday Sketch is another one from my Sketchbook Project...theme Make Mine a Double:

Of course I had to do kitties. This reminds me a lot of my girls, Lily and LeeLu. They both like to sit on a bench and look out of the guest room window.

Enjoy the Sunday Sketch and for more awesome art visit http://bluechairdiary.blogspot.com/

Paint Party Friday

2011-05-06T00:01:00.001-04:00

Today's painting is on porcelain. I love how these turned out. I was inspired by spring. The leafing out of all the trees and vines. I get so excited when I see the first buds on the trees.

Here's a set of salt & pepper shakers and napking rings. I actually painted 8 of the napkin rings. First I applied the blue pearl luster fired it and then painted the vine and leaves. For the napkin rings I put a band of blue tape where I wanted the vine to go. I love how these. They are in my Etsy shop. I just put them up this week. The links are below.

Check out some awesome Paint Party Friday art visit this link: http://paintpartyfriday.blogspot.com
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Napkin Rings: http://www.etsy.com/listing/73442585/handpainted-porcelain-napkin-rings
Salt & Pepper http://www.etsy.com/listing/73442885/handpainted-porcelain-salt-pepper

Wednesday......it's hump day and....

2011-05-04T16:51:00.000-04:00

I thought all my friends could use a little chuckle. Takes you back doesn't it? When life was so much simpler!

The 7-Ups of Life

2011-05-03T07:24:00.000-04:00

1. Wake Up - Decide to have a good day. "Today is the day the Lord hath made; let us rejoice & be glad in it" Psalms 118:24

2. Dress Up - The best way to dress up is to put on a smile. A smile is an inexpensive way to improve your looks. "The Lord does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at outward appearance but the Lord looks at the heart" I Sam 16:7

3. Shut Up - Say nice things & learn to listen. God gave us 2 ears and 1 mouth so He must have meant for us to do twice as much listening as talking. "He who guards his lips guards his soul" Proverbs 13:3 "Gossip betrays confidence avoid men who talk too much" Proverbs 20:19 "Listen to advice, accept instruction and in the end, you will be wise" Proverbs 19:20

4. Stand Up - For what you believe in. Stand for something or you will fall for anything. "Let us not be weary in doing good; for at the proper time, we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good..." Galatians 6:9-10

5. Look Up - To the Lord. "I can do everything through Him who gives me strength" Philippians 4:13

6. Reach Up - For something higher. "...press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus." Philippians 3:14

7. Lift Up - Your Prayers. "Do not worry about anything; instead PRAY ABOUT EVERYTHING" Philippians 4:6
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The ACEO pictured above is available in my Etsy shop. Here's the link:

http://www.etsy.com/listing/66749291/watercolor-aceo-original-church-yard

Sunday Sketches

2011-05-01T00:01:00.004-04:00

Another Sunday Sketch from my Sketchbook Project! As you will recall the theme was "Make Mine a Double"......so what does this have to do with double....think about it a minute while I babble.

I'm thinking about doing another Sketchbook Project. It's a big commitment. Well maybe not so big because I glued the pages together to give them some substance. The problem with the book is that the pages are so thin any pressure from the colored pencils goes right through. So I read online someone had glued the pages. That worked great.

I cannot decide on a theme. There are 40! Help me Friends.....here's what I've narrowed it down to: Uncharted Waters, Things Found Under Car Seats, It's Summer Where You Are. Let me know what you think I should choose.

Just in case you want to participate, here's the link for the Sketchbook Project: Then you can post them on your Sunday Sketches as well.: http://arthousecoop.com/projects/sketchbookproject

.
Okay so now back to that sketch. What do you think? Did you get it right? The cowboy is shooting a double barrel shotgun. So now you have it! LOL That's the double reference.

Enjoy the Sunday Sketch and for more awesome art visit http://bluechairdiary.blogspot.com/

The Day After...

2011-04-30T07:50:00.000-04:00

...the Royal Wedding. Well I'm not a Royal Watcher but like I said the other day my friend is. So as you will recall she invited me to watch the Royal Wedding at her house. So at 3:45 am, I trudged to Baltimore in my finest complete with a hat. When I arrived, the speculation of hat or fascinator was answered. Charmaine wore a fascinator. She had invited another friend but I guess Sandi slept in.

Charmaine went all out and had a beautiful tea set up for us. There were tea sandwiches & scones & biscuits....you name it. The table was set up with lace fine china and complete with flowers.

So we spent 4 hours, sipping tea, eating crumpets, having fun hat watching and getting ideas for future hat purchases.

It was an early day and a little early for all those sweets, but it was fun to spend the morning with a good friend.

Paint Party Friday

2011-04-29T00:01:00.004-04:00

Another fabulous Paint Party Friday. Today's PPF post is an ACEO. It is watercolor.

It's making me a little crazy because I see something wrong that needs to be corrected. If I get time today I may try to change it. But for right now, it will have to stay this way. It's already in my Etsy shop. Oh my. Well can you see it? Take a guess. Saturday I'll post a comment to tell you what's making me nuts and we can compare notes.

Anyway on to another subject. I was watching the news this morning at the devastation in the south. It breaks my heart to see the damage and the loss of life. Keep those affected by the storms in your prayers. They are most certainly on my mind and in my prayers. I hope none of you are affected by them.

Check out some awesome Paint Party Friday art visit this link: http://paintpartyfriday.blogspot.com
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The link to the Lily in my Etsy shop:
http://www.etsy.com/listing/72642103/watercolor-aceo-original-water-lily

Royal Ado Hat or Fascinator?

2011-04-27T10:19:00.000-04:00

It seems that the Royal Wedding has caused a Royal Ado. You cannot go to any channel without seeing something speculating on what Kate will be wearing or who will be attending. Then there's the interviews with the fashion designers ad nauseam. Today the morning shows were outside the Palace. The world seems to have the Royal Fever.

Even one of my friends has it. She called the other day. The conversation went like this.

Charmaine (Char)

Char: What are you doing Friday? Me: I think I'm free. What do you have in mind? Char: I know you are an early bird. Can you be at my house at 5:30 am.? Me: For what????? Char: for the Royal Wedding and don't forget to wear a hat. Me: What???? Char: Well I've invited another friend and will be making breakfast. Me: 5:30 am? That means I have to get up at 4:30 to get dressed and drive to Baltimore. Char: But I know you are an early bird. Me: Well see.

So what are you doing at 5:30 am EST on Friday? I'm probably going to go to my friend's house. She's a pastry chef so I know breakfast will be awesome and she's been out of town for a couple months. So I will go to see her not Kate. But NOW I have to decide a fascinator like Char's or a hat. I've got lots of them in all colors!

cRaZy Dreams

2011-04-26T07:06:00.000-04:00

What's with me? Lately I have had the craziest dreams. I used to have crazy dreams but then they went away or I couldn't remember them. Well the other night I had a crazy one and last night, here we go again.

I somehow got a new pet. A chicken. Now it wasn't a cute little chick like the one in my ACEO. NO it was a full grown chicken! Big and YELLOW. And it was running around my house. Then I noticed a few spots on the carpet. So I put the chicken in a diaper. She was having a grand ole time.

A good little pet. She even talked. She told me she couldn't call me Momma because she already had a chicken Momma. My nickname is Momma Jo so I'm guessing I must have had that on my mind. Not sure why the chicken although my brother did made grilled chicken last night on the grill at my parents and I went over there for dinner. Maybe I was having pangs of guilt. The dream ended when I didn't have another diaper and I was trying to get my husband to go to the store to buy a box of diapers......how crazy is that? Tell me your crazy dreams!

Sunday Sketches

2011-04-24T00:01:00.002-04:00

Another one of my pages from the Sketchbook Project 2011.....colored pencil.

I took this photo of the two pelicans in Key West. It was one of those things...take it because I want to paint it one day. One day doesn't usually come but it did in this case.

Hope you all have a Blessed Easter....off to my parent's house today!

Enjoy the Sunday Sketch and for more awesome art visit http://bluechairdiary.blogspot.com/

Paint Party Friday

2011-04-22T00:01:00.001-04:00

This week's PPF ACEO is a watercolor....inspired by my wish for summer! LOL I call it Welcome Summer!

This week we had the taste of summer. One day of 80 degree weather...alas it didn't stay. The next day it was like 50.........burrr....but I'm thankful we don't have snow like some of my facebook friends!

Check out some awesome Paint Party Friday art visit this link: http://paintpartyfriday.blogspot.com
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The link to my butterfly ACEO in my Etsy shop: http://www.etsy.com/listing/72640673/watercolor-aceo-original-butterfly

Tomorrow is Good Friday and....

2011-04-21T17:57:00.000-04:00

I wanted to share this beautiful prayer with you.

O Jesus, Who by reason of Thy burning love for us
hast willed to be crucified
and to shed Thy Most Precious Blood
for the redemption and salvation of our souls,
look down upon us here gathered together
in remembrance of Thy most sorrowful Passion and Death,
fully trusting in Thy mercy;
cleanse us from sin by Thy grace,
sanctify our toil,
give unto us and unto all those who are dear to us our
daily bread,
sweeten our sufferings,
bless our families,
and to the nations so sorely afflicted,
grant Thy peace,
which is the only true peace,
so that by obeying Thy commandments
we may come at last to the glory of heaven.

Amen. (http://catholic.org)

Sunday Sketches

2011-04-17T00:01:00.001-04:00

As promised here's another one of my pages from the Sketchbook Project. My theme was Make Mine a Double.

I tried to do things that were less obvious than two of something, although many in the sketchbook are doubles. Okay do you get what is the double in this???? It's the double edged hatchet. It's done in colored pencils. Look for more Sketchbook Project 2011 pages to come.

Enjoy the Sunday Sketch and for more awesome art visit http://bluechairdiary.blogspot.com/

Easter Memories

2011-04-16T06:20:00.001-04:00

So I was looking for a recipe for something and I came across this recipe and photo....boy did it bring back memories of Easter's gone by. I can remember going to my Father's Mother's house in Little Italy, Baltimore at Easter and seeing a bread similar to this one on my grandmother's kitchen table.

There would also be a lamb shaped cake as well. I used to love going to her house. The smells were incredible in that kitchen where her and my Aunt Nat would make the most wonderful meals. I can almost smell that spaghetti gravy (as we called sauce) which would cook for almost the entire day to make it that wonderful thick consistency. There was no Ragu in those days. Anyway, I hope you all have a wonderful Easter. Here's the recipe just in case someone wants to make this bread. It's from AllRecipes website. Click Here

It's funny I should come across this today. Today is the clean up of an abandoned cemetery, St. Vincent's in Baltimore. There was a number of descrecrations to the point the tombstones were bulldozed to hide the dead and then the place was left to grow up into a jungle. I'm in a group trying to restore that cemetery were two children of my Grandmom, Beatrice Iori lie buried as babies, Angelo and Giovanni Iori, one died at 6 weeks and one died at birth. I guess Grandmom is letting me know she'll be there today with us. Pray for us and our work....here's a website about the cemetery that I put together for the group:
http://stvincentcemetery.tripod.com

Paint Party Friday

2011-04-15T00:01:00.000-04:00

Boy the weather was nice Thursday after a bout of rainy days, it was a welcomed sight! All this rain will bring beautiful flowers which reminds me of this little ACEO I painted recently.

It's available in myArtfulPurpose etsy shop: Click Here

This is going to be a fun Friday for me. I'm taking my grandson to the Train Museum in Baltimore. I've never been but I have heard some awesome reviews of it. They even have train rides there. Hopefully we will be able to get on one.

Check out some awesome Paint Party Friday art visit this link: http://paintpartyfriday.blogspot.com

Sunday Sketches

2011-04-10T00:01:00.003-04:00

So I was thinking, I recently participated in the Sketch Book Project through Art House Coop...here's the link http://www.arthousecoop.com/projects/sketchbookproject

It occurred to me that I should feature some of the sketches from my sketch book that were submitted for the project. My theme was Make Mine A Double. Most of them were colored pencil. So for the next few Sunday Sketches I'd like to highlight my sketches from the Sketch Book Project. Here's the first one. All of the sketches refer to double in some way...some are obvious like this one but you can try to figure out the others.

Enjoy the Sunday Sketch and for more awesome art visit http://bluechairdiary.blogspot.com/

Paint Party Friday

2011-04-08T00:01:00.004-04:00

Well Dad is out of the hospital. He seems to be better but his breathing is a little irregular. I guess it will take time to get back to normal. He had his follow up doctor's appointment today and came out with flying colors. Now he goes to the heart specialist in 3 weeks for a follow up too. Just thought I'd update everyone but enough about that....now to painting.

Here is a little Spring Lamb.....it's a watercolor ACEO. Easter's coming when the Lamb of God gave His life to save us. Hallelujah!!!!

The ACEO is available in my Etsy shop CLICK HERE

Check out some awesome Paint Party Friday art visit this link: http://paintpartyfriday.blogspot.com

Cute Things from a Cute Kid

2011-04-07T21:54:00.000-04:00

My grandson Mason is 4 years old. He's so sweet. He has such a love of God. He's always praying. It's so cute. I take him to preschool everyday. And everyday I read to him in the car. He loves me to read his little Bible.

Today we were reading Adam & Eve. We got to the part where the snake was tempting Eve to eat the apple after God said don't eat that fruit. Mason got very excited and said to the book. "I wouldn't eat that if I were you!" Of course we all know what happened. He just sighed and then when Eve tempted Adam, he got really upset and kept saying "Don't eat it, Don't eat it...noooo." And when he found out Adam ate it he said "You shouldn't have done that Adam." And at the part where Adam and Eve are tossed out of Eden. He said, "I told you not to eat that. You should have listened to God."

Out of the mouths of Babes!

Sunday Sketches

2011-04-03T00:01:00.001-04:00

Well it's been one of those crazy weeks. Dad went into the hospital Thursday and I've spent 12-14 hours a day there with him.

So needless to say I haven't "arted" much. In one of the quieter moments of the day as I waited for him the nurses to do his morning washing, I decided to "spring doodle" on the back of a piece of paper and here it is.....I am so ready for spring and Easter can you tell?

I got a little silly with the spinner beanie on the pooped chickie. Maybe I'll redo this on an ACEO later.....Happy Spring Ya'll.

Oh and good news Dad may be coming home from the hospital tomorrow!

Enjoy the Sunday Sketch and for more awesome art visit http://bluechairdiary.blogspot.com/

Paint Party Friday

2011-04-01T07:03:00.000-04:00

Today I almost didn't get something in. My Dad was admitted to the hospital with congestive heart failure last night and I was going to just forget this, this week but I thought maybe I need to concentrate on something else. So here I am. I'm looking to checking out some of the other blogs before I go to the hospital this morning.

Well this week's PPF for me is a piece of porcelain. It's china painted on porcelain. Some paint on canvas, some on paper....I do that too but I also paint on porcelain.

China paints come as dry paint pigments that are mixed with oil. Each piece is painted multiple times and then fired in between each firing in the kiln. It takes several firings to reach the desired colors and look. This particular piece took me 4 firings to achieve the look I was going for. Don't you just love this sweet little face?
If you like her, she's available in my Etsy shop. Here's the link:
http://www.etsy.com/listing/6533017/hand-painted-porcelain-victoriancottage

Check out some awesome Paint Party Friday art visit this link: http://paintpartyfriday.blogspot.com/

Sunday Sketches

2011-03-27T00:01:00.002-04:00

I had an art block this week. A lot is going on in my life so I just doodled a little face and then of course I saw the colored pencils on the desk and it grew from there.....so I call her the Doodle Girl.

I keep looking at her thinking I know that face. Not sure who she looks like but it's familiar. So meet Doodle Girl.

Enjoy the Sunday Sketch and for more awesome art visit http://bluechairdiary.blogspot.com/

Paint Party Friday

2011-03-25T00:01:00.004-04:00

So I decided to put up 2 this week. Both are ACEO's. I like both of them and couldn't decide. I went to Michael's Craft Store yesterday. Big mistake. I always end up spending tooooo much money there. I was poking around and saw some water soluable crayon pastels...who knew. And of course the moment I got home I had to play with them and here's what I ended up with. It's the water soluable pastels & ink. It's what I call "happy art". I needed some happy art today.

I also bought a set of new soft pastel pencils. A little pricey but I had a 40% off coupon. These are much thinner than the old ones I have so they are easier to work smaller. It's the Archangel Raphael. He's one of the 7 archangels. Healing powers are attributed to Raphael. In the book of Tobit he was sent by the Lord to heal Tobit of his blindness. He is considered the patron saint of medical workers and travellers.

Check out some awesome Paint Party Friday art visit this link: http://paintpartyfriday.blogspot.com/
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I just listed these in my Etsy shop-ArtfulPurpose (where art turns into charity). Here's the links:
Daisy: http://www.etsy.com/listing/70751402/mixed-media-aceo-original-daisy

Angel: http://www.etsy.com/listing/70751182/pastel-aceo-original-archangel-raphael

Don't Like the Weather? Wait a Minute.

2011-03-24T06:09:00.000-04:00

I was thinking yesterday that Easter is right around the corner. I need to get up into the attic today and pull out those Easter decorations.

But this morning the weather lady said there is 60% chance of snow on Sunday. How can that be? Wasn't it just 80 degrees last week? Well you know what they say about Maryland weather? "Don't like it? Wait a minute it will change." So maybe by Sunday the chance of snow will go away. I sure hope so.

There are daffodils all over my front yard! I would hate to see them covered in snow. They are so pretty, the other day I picked one for my grandson. He was so tickled when I gave it to him. He loves flowers because they have green on them. It's his favorite color. He is the President of the Green Club. I'm in the club of course. Not that I'm a big green fan but he thinks I am! LOL
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Easter Egg Salt & Pepper Shakers pictured above are in my Etsy shop. Here's the link: http://www.etsy.com/listing/70391626/easter-egg-salt-pepper-shakers-hand

Sunday Sketches

2011-03-20T00:01:00.001-04:00

Well as luck would have it, I was scurrying to do a Sunday Sketch and I was having a time getting started. First off I had the kids for the first half of the week and then the last half I've had a stomach virus while trying to get my porcelain together for Saturday's Craft Show. It's been kind of a crazy time for me.

What to do? What do do? I followed the girls (my 2 cats) around. They'd lay down in cute poses and they I'd get them 1/2 sketched and they moved. Good grief. I gave up. Then I remembered I have bunches of travel photos I've taken over the years with the intention of doing some sort of art with them. I was looking at my last cruise which was to Bermuda and I had taken a photo of this clock tower. Now I'm not crazy about painting & drawing buildings because of their stiffness but for some reason the lines always speak to me and I have to photograph them. So I thought what the heck, I'll do an ACEO sketch of it. Looking at it scanned, I think I need to use a straight edge for some of those lines but I'm pressed for time so here it is.

One of these days I hope to return to Bermuda and shop in the little shops just below this clock tower.

Enjoy the Sunday Sketch and for more awesome art visit http://bluechairdiary.blogspot.com/

Paint Party Friday

2011-03-18T15:12:00.000-04:00

So now I have 2 blog posts to write every Friday...my usual Friday Feature...below and also something new Paint Party Friday. I almost forgot about it. But better late than never! LOL

Here's my first Paint Party Friday post! It is a pastel ACEO. I love to do pastels but find it more difficult smaller for some reason so I don't do as many of them as ACEO's. But I was very pleased with the way this one turned out. I love lemons and that old saying "when life gives you lemons, make lemonade". I try to do that as much as possible sometimes I am not so successful.

This little piece for some reason when I look at it makes me smile. I hope it does the same for you.
It's available in my etsy shop - Artful Purpose (where art turns to charity) listing: http://www.etsy.com/listing/66688127/pastel-aceo-flowers-and-lemons-original

For checking out some awesome Paint Party Friday art visit this link: http://paintpartyfriday.blogspot.com/

Friday Feature

2011-03-18T00:01:00.001-04:00

So this week to find my Friday Feature I had St Patty's Day on my mind so I searched for Green, Art and picked the first thing that appealed to me. Here it is....He is donating 100% of this purchase to the Japanese Red Cross.

It's from MantaWave Here's the link. http://www.etsy.com/people/MantaWave?ref=ls_profile

Gregory Bryant is from Norfolk, VA.
He got his name, "MantaWave" from mantarays and ocean waves -- two things he finds very inspiring.

He indicates in his profile that he is "very interested the the spiral -- especially the spiral as it exists in Nature. It is omnipresent, from the tiniest (dna) to the grandest (spiral galaxies) and this fascinates me." Gregory also is influenced by music (underground post punk & indie) and sea creatures (such as jellyfish and octopi), ancient maps, compass roses, fractals and crop circles/mazes as an art form.

He graduated with degree in Geography and traveled to Europe. During this trip he realized his desire to create

His shop is full of beautiful jewelry. He uses porcelain, a very durable clay. His glazes do not resemble a glazed clay but natural surfaces like stone, wood, metal, bone, etc.

So go check out his work. It's pretty awesome and so is his photography too!

Here's the link to that beautiful green piece of art. http://www.etsy.com/listing/70172073/earthquake-relief-in-the-zen-garden-all?ref=pr_shop

A Bit About St. Patrick.....

2011-03-17T08:57:00.000-04:00

Everyone knows about St. Patrick's Day...green beer and corn beef and cabbage but how many of you know the man? Did you know he was not Irish?

He is not someone of legend. St. Patrick was the Bishop of Ireland!
But he was born in 387 in Scotland. His father belong to a Roman famly of high ranking. When Patrick was 16 he was kidnapped, taken to Ireland as a slave. For 6 years he tended his master's flocks and during that time developed a life of prayer.

He became fluent the Celtic language which would one day help him preach the Word of God. His master Milchu was a druid high priest. Through him he became familiar with Druidism so that later he could liberate the Irish race from it.

Upon proding from an angel, he escaped, found a ship out of there to Britan. St. Germane came into his life and finally Patrick went into the priesthood. After a period of time, in summer 433 he was sent as a missionary to Ireland. He first went to his master to pay his ransom...some guy huh? I don't think I'd have been so nice! He spent years travelling Ireland touching the hearts of the Irish, turning them from Druidism and baptizing many into Christianity and establishing churches. Many miracles were attributed to him.

St. Patrick wrote two documents. According to the Catholic Encyclopedia: "The "Confessio" and the "Epistola ad Coroticum" are recognized by all modern critical writers as of unquestionable genuineness."

In March 493, he received last rights and died. He was wrapped in a shroud made by the hands of St. Bridgit. People came from all parts to pay their respects. It is said that for several days the light of heaven shone on his coffin. His remains were interred at the chieftan's Dun or Fort two miles from Saul, later to be the cathedral of Down.

So I hope you learned something today! I leave you with a prayer from Saint Patrick's Breastplate . I would hope we would all be so Christ Centered! Happy St. Patricks Day.

Christ be with me
Christ before me
Christ behind me
Christ in me
Christ beneath me
Christ above me
Christ on my right
Christ on my left
Christ where I lie
Christ where I sit
Christ where I arise
Christ in the heart of every man who thinks of me
Christ in the mouth of every man who speaks of me
Christ in every eye that sees me
Christ in every ear that hears me
Salvation is of the Lord.
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The plate of St. Patrick is not for sale. It was painted for a priest.

An Art Break

2011-03-16T16:26:00.002-04:00

Please watch this video and support them either financially or in prayer. God bless.

http://littlesistersofthepoorbaltimore.org/

I Could Use a Cup of Tea!

2011-03-14T09:53:00.000-04:00

Well I really have been having fun with the 3 kids I'm babysitting for a week. Tomorrow their Mom returns and it's back to normalcy. But I have missed making art. I just can't do it with 2 preschoolers who want my undivided attention.

Like right now I have a 3 year old about to perch on my laptop. I really need a cup of tea right now! LOL

Saturday is a craft show that I have to prepare for. I guess all the procelain I'm gonna take is already painted because I won't have time to make anymore. I have a number of new items I need to upload to my shop but again just haven't had time to do it. The little tea pot shaped hinged box is one of the items I managed to get up online before the kids came to visit. It's so cute. I love tulips and I'm longing for spring!

A friend pointed out that you can put tea bags in it. Who knew? I never thought about that before. So store your teabags in it (it will only hold a few) or you can deposite your used one's in it until you can toss them.

It's available in my shop: http://www.etsy.com/listing/66149252/hand-painted-porcelain-tea-pot-shaped

Sunday Sketches

2011-03-13T00:01:00.002-05:00

so since I've been posting photos of my art for Sunday Sketches, they've all be ACEO cards of one media or another. I was going to do another one but I've been babysitting 2 toddlers and an 7 year old for a week while their Mom tends to her grandmother who had a stroke out of state. So rather than just not do a Sunday Sketch I thought I'd post a piece of my porcelain art that started as a sketch!

Inspiration Piece

Blank China

People always ask me how I do this. Each piece of china is painted and fired in a kiln to a temperature of 1800 degrees multiple times. Here's some pictures of how it progresses:

Design Sketched in

I generally sketch the design I want on with a wax pencil. The wax will burn off in the kiln, leaving just the paint behind. The paints used are powdered paint pigments, mixed with oil into a consistency of tooth paste.Oil is also used as a painting medium. Some people buy special mixtures of oils, however, you can use anything from mineral oil to motor oil!

Brushes used are very soft and they are oiled and then the oil pressed out on a paper towel prior to going into the paints. Unlike other types of painting very little paint is loaded on the brush. Your brush "kisses" the porcelain as you paint.

The First Painting & Firing

Second Painting & Firing

Each piece is painted multiple times as you build up your color from light to dark. There is no white on the palette, the white seen is actually the porcelain showing through. At each firing the glaze opens up and the paint goes into the glaze. As it cools the glaze closes and the paints become permanent. They will never wash off. They are dishwasher & microwave safe.

Third Painting & Firing

The only exception to this is if the porcelain artist uses gold or lusters on the piece. Gold is actually 24kt. liquid gold. When fired it doesn't go into the glaze. It sits on top of the glaze. Lusters like mother of pearl also sit on the top of the glaze. For that reason should you have gold or lusters, handwashing is advised. Gold should never be put into the microwave as it is a metal and might give you a fireworks show!

So, if you are interested in porcelain art (a gift to treasure for generations to come), please visit my Etsy shop: http://jywheeler.etsy.com

Hope you've enjoyed the work in progress...now back to chasing toddlers !

For more awesome Sunday Sketches visit: http://bluechairdiary.blogspot.com

Friday Feature

2011-03-11T00:01:00.002-05:00

Another random pick from Etsy. This week I just searched on RAIN and then I narrowed it to art to find this fun piece of art. It seemed fitting to search rain with the deluge we've had lately. This piece is from the shop RKDsign88. Here's the link to her lovely shop: http://rkdisgn88.etsy.com

The shop is full of whimsical designs available in prints, stationery, tags, you name it. You can't help but smile when you look at these adorable little faces! According to her profile the artist is "a mom with a daughter & a wonderful husband." She used to live in Stevens Point, Wisconsin & Los Angeles for 8 years and now resides in Jakarta Indonesia. So check her shop out and if you love the print that I have shown as much as I do, go to this link: http://www.etsy.com/listing/64869088/rainy-day-blonde-whimsical-girl-with

So It Has a Name!

2011-03-07T09:16:00.000-05:00

Last weekend when I put up my Sunday Sketch I put up a doodle I did when my cable was out. I just did it with a couple of pens. No big deal. Just doodling.

After I posted my link to my Sunday Sketch, I had a couple of people tell me that it was a zentangle.....who knew? I had no idea what a zentangle was. Turns out it some sort of mediative drawing or doodling. According to zentangle.com "Zentangle is an easy to learn method of creating beautiful images from repetitive patterns. It is a fascinating new art form that is fun and relaxing. It increases focus and creativity. Zentangle provides artistic satisfaction and an increased sense of personal well being"

They also call it a "elegant metaphor for deliberate artistry in life" and also "mediative". You can buy kits and books...they've taken doodling to a whole new commercial thing. I was amazed people would pay money to doodle!

Then I did a search on Etsy. There are a lot of zentangles on there. But for me, it's just a doodle. I do that when I'm bored. I always have. When I go to meetings my notes are filled with doodles. So inspired by the beautiful doodles or zentangles in color, I decided to do another this time with the DAWG Team Ocean Quest in mind, and enhance it with watercolor and here it is. I

It is available in my Etsy Shop at this link: http://www.etsy.com/listing/69525379/mixed-media-aceo-original-sea-of-life

Sunday Sketches

2011-03-06T00:01:00.002-05:00

My Sunday Sketch is actually an ink doodle on an ACEO card. I call it, "Cable's Out". My cable TV was out for a couple of days. Not much to do. So I started doodling on a piece of paper and then thought, "Wait, I should just do an ACEO doodle" and I did. And here it is.

Visit BlueChairDiary Blog for some awesome other Sunday Sketches: http://bluechairdiary.blogspot.com/ Please keep Sophia's father & Sophia in your prayers!

The Sounds of Quiet

2011-03-05T07:05:00.001-05:00

My cable has been out for a couple of days. The guy is supposed to come today to fix it. Yesterday I was just sitting in the family room on the laptop, reading blogs, facebook, checking out my etsy shops, whatever. And then it hit me how quiet it was.

So I grabbed a cup of tea and listened to how my house sounded quiet. I decided it's pretty noisey for quiet. The furnance goes on and off and I was amazed how long it's on. There was a little drip in my kitchen faucet that I had not noticed until it was quiet. I could hear the clock tick and a small noise from the overhead kitchen ceiling fan.

Birds could be heard through the window. I could even hear the cats walking. There was the faint sound of a plane and I wondered where it was going. I have never heard a plane from inside my house before. It was an interested exercise/observation.
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The hand painted porcelain mug pictured above is available in my Etsy shop. Here's the link: http://www.etsy.com/listing/9959446/handpainted-porcelain-mug-cottage-style

Friday Feature

2011-03-04T00:01:00.002-05:00

This Friday I thought I'd try something different. I decided to just plug in the word garden into the Etsy search and find something that appealed to me on the first page of the search. This appealed to me. It's a photograph by artofsisters of New York http://artofsisters.etsy.com/

According to the shop profile, the shop owner is mother, wife, creator, and dreamer. She has two daughters who share her love for the Arts. They have taken photos since they were young.

Their work is lovely. I love photography. It speaks to me. So check out their shop and if you like the photograph pictured to the left, check it out at: http://www.etsy.com/listing/69251173/sunflower

Oh and while poking around their shop, I find that Etsy is a complete family affair.....her husband has a shop there with photography as well. It's called EveryThingHarley http://www.etsy.com/people/EveryThingHarley

Things That Make Me Giggle

2011-03-03T08:06:00.000-05:00

Okay so yesterday I had another episode that made me giggle. My daughter lives in Columbia, Md. It's a "planned community" and things look very uniform and it'sjust hard to find things there unless you are familiar with it. So when I go I generally use a gps to get around.

I needed to go to find a Party City for some party supplies. So I typed in Party City and GO. Things were going fine until the end. With less than a mile to go, I pass a BIG shopping center but that wasn't it. So I kept going, into a neighborhood. Strange, I thought, no more shopping centers and then I hear. "Arriving at Party City on the Right." There was no mall or shopping center. Where was I?

LONG REACH HIGH SCHOOL.....I just giggled.

And it was born...........

2011-03-02T09:04:00.000-05:00

So as you know I'm a china painter. I love porcelain art and spend hours everyday painting it. For many years I've painted spoon rests like the one pictured on the left.

I had painted one of them and it was already fired, finished and ready to be photographed. It was sitting beside my work table. At the time I was in the middle of doing some decorative painting and was applying varnish. Now if you paint, you know if you put varnish on your pallette paper it will run...sometimes even to the edge of the paper and off. So I grabbed the spoon rest and put the varnish in the little well. It was perfect for what I needed to hold my varnish. And because it is porcelain clean up was a snap.

As I was cleaning it out, I thought, well I have to clean my brushes. Generally I put the brushes in brush soap and scrub in my hand but for some reason I just used the little spoon rest. The paint on the porcelain had enough "tooth" to clean but be gentle to my bristles!

and the Paint Buddy was born!

I love my Paint Buddy. I use it all the time. One day I was thinking, I should share this with others. So I made some paint buddies in put them in my Etsy shop. You can purchase them at this link: http://www.etsy.com/listing/66765859/handpainted-porcelain-paint-buddy

or if you prefer a spoon rest. Here's the link for the one pictured. http://www.etsy.com/listing/39694775/handpainted-porcelain-spoon-rest-ofg

Sunday Sketches

2011-02-27T00:01:00.001-05:00

So this week we had more snow. Oh man, I'm so sick of cold weather and snow. When I was trying to figure out what I wanted to do for Sunday Sketches I thought, "Well if I do the beach, maybe summer will sneak up on us quicker." Don't know if it will but what the heck!

So I started with a quick little sketch. From there I used watercolor pencils. I don 't use them often so it was fun to just play with them.

I love the beach. When I'm at the beach I love to pick up the shells. I always told my kids that God left us a little treasure on the beach to remind us how much He loves us. One time was on the Beach in Ocean City and a whole bunch of starfish were all over the beach as the tide went out. I spent, I dont' know how much time, tossing them back into the ocean. I often wonder did I save any of them? Oh well, I hope you enjoyed my little Sunday Sketch!

Visit BlueChairDiary Blog for some awesome other Sunday Sketches: http://bluechairdiary.blogspot.com/
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Oh & if you like the ACEO it's in my Etsy shop: http://www.etsy.com/listing/68869193/watercolor-aceo-original-beach-walk

Friday Feature

2011-02-25T11:20:00.000-05:00

So I'm a little late this am getting this up. My cold has knocked me out! I'll be glad when it goes away. But enough about me. As usual, I picked someone who "hearted" one of my handpainted porcelain pendants (pictured below)

This time, it's not an artist but someone who sells on the vintage side. The shop name is ShabbyPinkFlamingo, Barbara Hannah from Douglasville Georgia.. Here's the link: http://www.etsy.com/shop/shabbypinkflamingo
Her shop carries a wide variety of items that are Victorian, romantic, vintage, and shabby chic. According to her profile she got the name of her shop from her love of shabby chic items and pink flamingos. She also seems to do some upcycling as well.

I love profiles because they give you some insight into the person. Her's says, she loves going to yard sales, thrift stores, flea markets and consignment malls (my kind of gal) She's been happily married for 32 years and has one grown son. She also claims 4 water turtles and 3 cats and she adopted sea turtle named Spitfire and an adopted manatee named Whiskers. Now as a former employee of a natural resource agency, I'm hoping that her adoptees are still int he wild and not in her bathtub! LOL

The item pictured at the top is my favorite from her shop. Here's the link to the listing: http://www.etsy.com/listing/54601939/handmadeshabby

The pendant to the right is the one she hearted in my shop. Here's the link to that listing:

http://www.etsy.com/listing/68058171/hand-painted-porcelain-triple-pink-rose

God is like...............

2011-02-23T20:07:00.000-05:00

I got this in an email and I thought it was so cute (and SOOO true) that I wanted to pass it along to you!

Fifth Grade Assignment

A fifth grade teacher in a Christian school asked her class to look at TV commercials and see if they could use them in 20 ways to communicate ideas about God. Here are some of the results: scroll down.

God is like...

BAYER ASPIRIN

He works miracles.

God is like...

A FORD

He's got a better idea..

God is like...

COKE

He's the real thing.

God is like...

HALLMARK CARDS

He cares enough to send His very best.

God is like...

TIDE

He gets the stains out others leave behind. .

God is like...

GENERAL ELECTRIC

He brings good things to life.

God is like...

WAL-MART

He has everything.

God is like...

ALKA-SELTZER

Try Him, you'll like Him

God is like...

SCOTCH TAPE

You can't see Him, but you know He's there.

God is like...

DELTA

He's ready when you are.

God is like...

ALLSTATE

You're in good hands with Him.

God is like...

VO-5 Hair Spray;

He holds through all kinds of weather

God is like...

Dial Soap.....

Aren't you glad you have Him? Don't you wish everybody did?

God is like ..

The U.S. POST OFFICE

Neither rain, nor snow, nor sleet nor ice will keep Him from His appointed destination.

God is like...

Chevrolet. . . .

the heart beat of America

God is like..

Maxwell House. .... .

Good to the very last drop

God is like...

Bounty....

He is the quicker picker upper. Can handle the tough jobs. ..and He won't fall apart on you.

Sunday Sketches

2011-02-20T00:00:00.003-05:00

This week's Sunday Sketch is of St. Philomena. It's a watercolor ACEO.

I've been doing a series of saints to help benefit the Little Sisters of the Poor as you know if you are one of my usual readers. I don't know why I keep doing watercolor portraits. It's not easy. I need to do another medium but for some reason I feel an attraction to watercolor. It's not like I can't do acrylic or oil. But anyway...I ramble.

A little bit about this card and the symbolism of it. St. Philomena was an early church martyr. You can tell that by the red she is wearing. The palm is an early church symbol of Christianity - relates back to the waving of the Palms when Jesus was going to Jerusalem. The ring of flowers around her head tells us that she was a virgin. Notice the two arrows. It is tradition that a King wanted to marry her. She wanted to dedicate her life to Jesus and wanted no part of it. So she was thrown in the water with an anchor around her neck. But God freed the anchor and she survived. So the King had her showered with arrows which pierced her but she was healed of that. He did it again and again she survived. In the end, the King decapitated her and she died. So the 2 arrows represent the 2 times she was shot with arrows. St. Philomena is considered the patroness of the Rosary.

Hope that gives you a little insight into St. Philomena! :) My father's sister was named Philomena. Now I understand why my Grandmom named my aunt after her. She was faith-filled, virtuous and not to mention a tough cookie!

This card is available in my Etsy shop. 100% of the sale of this card goes to Little Sisters of the Poor St. Martins Home in Baltimore. Here's the link to the listing: http://www.etsy.com/listing/68362934/watercolor-aceo-original-st-philomena

Oh and just in case you want to help out the Little Sisters here's their link. They still are working on trying to find $25 million! http://littlesistersofthepoorbaltimore.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=63&Itemid=56

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Visit BlueChairDiary Blog for some awesome other Sunday Sketches: http://bluechairdiary.blogspot.com/

Friday Feature

2011-02-18T00:00:00.003-05:00

So this week's Friday Feature is taking a little detour. I know I've been featuring folks who have 'hearted' me on Etsy but I found someone interesting somewhere else. Meet Katka Holloman Lucanova -- "Kate"

According to her blog profile she is from the Heart of Europe, the Czech republic. She lived there for 20 years, met her husband at a christian camp, got married and then after a year together in the CZ moved to the States. Kate is a member of my ACEO Online Magazine Group on Facebook.

She's a very talented artist. The horse pictured to the right is one of my favorie pieces in her Etsy shop:
http://www.etsy.com/shop/katehollart

She posted a link to her blog on our group. The blog features a little character called Jimmy the Sheep. To the right is a Jimmy the Sheep ACEO available in her Etsy shop. He was born in 2005 and was in children's magazine in the Czech and Slovak republics. The blog will follow his life of Christian Virtues and struggles.

In her recent blog post Kate says: "To smile is better than to worry! And a happy one goes through life better than the grumpy." Amen to that Kate! I was the first follower of her blog so follow her blog & join me in watching what Jimmy gets into: http://jimmythesheep.blogspot.com/

God is soooo good!

2011-02-17T17:35:00.000-05:00

Today I sold another ACEO for the Little Sisters of the Poor. This one is of St. Katharine Drexel. Her Feast Day is right around the corner, March 3. She was born in 1858 and became a sister at the age of 33. She died the year I was born in 1955 at the age of 96.

She's sort of a neighbor to me. I'm in the Baltimore Area she was in Philadelphia.

St. Katharine was devoted to the African and Native Americans. She founded the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament for Black and Native American peoples. Mother Drexel took part in opening the first mission school for Indians, in Santa Fe, New Mexico. In 1915 she also founded Xavier University in New Orleans, first Catholic university in the United States for African Americans.

When she died there were more than 500 Sisters teaching in 63 schools throughout the country. Saint Katharine was beatified by Pope John Paul II on November 20, 1988 and II canonized her on October 1, 2000. At that time she was only the second recognized American-born saint.

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The patient and humble endurance of the cross—whatever nature it may be—is the highest work we have to do. - St. Katharine Drexel

25% of all secular art and 100% of religious art in my shop http://artfulpurpose.etsy.com go to support Little Sister's of the Poor, St. Martin's Home in Baltimore

Please visit their website and support their capital campaign...they need to raise $25 million within 2 years or they will have to remove the 75 elderly poor they serve from St. Martin's Home..... http://www.littlesistersofthepoorbaltimore.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=63&Itemid=56

Coming Soon!

2011-02-16T06:51:00.000-05:00

What you wonder? Lent! Advent & Christmas it seems was just yesterday and now it's time to prepare for Easter. Easter is more than Easter baskets and chocolate bunnies! It's the day our Savior rose from the dead! It takes preparation!

Three weeks from now comes Ash Wednesday and that's the start of Lent. As a Roman Catholic it will be forty days of fasting from meat on Friday's, prayer, penance, almsgiving and giving up something in preparation for Easter!

So three weeks to decide my "Lenten Plan". Hmmm....

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The 4 porcelain fish sauce dishes are available in my Etsy shop: http://www.etsy.com/listing/68055121/handpainted-porcelain-set-of-4-fish

Sunday Sketches

2011-02-13T12:13:00.000-05:00

So another fine mess you've gotten me into Ollie! LOL My friend Marlene gets me into things....good things. First she got me into the Sketchbook Project and now Sunday Sketches. Marlene Hawkins inspires me to good things! Thank you Marlene otherwise known as LazyHawk around the Ebay, Etsy art world.

So look for me to feature a piece of art each week on Sunday! This week's feature is a piece I did for the ACEO Online Magazine competition. The theme was symbols of love. So I thought what to me is a symbol of love and it came to me. There was NO GREATER LOVE that the sacrifice Jesus made for us. That inspired me to do the pictured colored pencil ACEO, entitled, what else "No Greater Love.

Visit BlueChairDiary Blog for some awesome other Sunday Sketches: http://bluechairdiary.blogspot.com/

And while you are at it go visit my friend Marlene: http://marlenes-musings.blogspot.com/
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This ACEO is available in my Etsy shop. Here's the link: http://www.etsy.com/listing/67794472/colored-pencil-aceo-original-no-greater

Friday Feature

2011-02-11T08:36:00.000-05:00

Today's Friday Feature is someone who "favorited" one of my pieces of porcelain pictured below from my shop: JYWheeler on Etsy.

Turns out it a friend Brenda Thour. Her shop is Luv2Paint on Etsy! Brenda is from Minnesota so that's probably why the snow scene appealed to her! Her Etsy shop is full of beautiful wildlife and animals. She's even turned some of her art into pendants. The zebra pictured is one of my favorite pieces of hers. The fact that it's in Africa and it's hot there probably appealed to me. I'm ready for summer! LOL

Brenda is such a talented painted. I've known her a long while as she is a member of my DAWG Team on Etsy.

She also sells on http://www.brendathour.com, and has a blog at http://www.brendathour.blogspot.com. Become her fan on facebook.
http://www.facebook.com/business/dashboard/?ref=sb#/pages/Brenda-Thour/191242265270 or follow her on Twitter http://www.twitter.com/brendathour. So go grab a cup of coffee and check out her sites!

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The hand painted procelain box is available in my Etsy shop.....here's the link:
http://www.etsy.com/listing/39695217/handpainted-porcelain-dresser-box

So I've been painting away to the point....

2011-02-05T09:24:00.000-05:00

that my fingers lock up occasionally! It's heck getting old! I hate it when Arthur (Arthritis) comes to visit. Anyway, I have been filling my new shop, ArtfulPurpose, with ACEO's of saints and framed prints of my icons. Here's one of the ACEO's. This one is of St. Kateri Tekakwitha, a native American Saint. Here's the listing for it: http://www.etsy.com/listing/67437223/mixed-media-aceo-original-blessed-kateri

Remember 25% of all sales there go to Little Sisters of the Poor for nonsecular paintings. 100% of all religious art goes to the Little Sisters. Also remember their capital campaign in your prayers and financially if you can. Here's their website...the donate button is at the bottom right: http://www.littlesistersofthepoorbaltimore.org/

In my other shop JYWheeler - which I refer to as Painted Panache, I have been working on some miniature porcelain pieces in the form of pendants and a number of pieces for the spring challenge for the Old Farmhouse Gathering Team (OFG Team) I belong to on Etsy. I don't have photos up yet since they are still in the works. But look for four footed mugs, a porcelain egg and an adorable small dresser tray. Oh and I shouldn't forget, a little teapot shaped hinged box. It's so cute. I cannot wait to post the photos.

Here is a piece of porcelain I recently put up. It's a toothbrush holder with a matching cup. Can you tell I'm finished with winter? I'm ready for summer and the beach. Here's the link to the listing on Etsy: http://www.etsy.com/listing/66762506/handpainted-porcelain-shell-design

So stay tuned for more porcelain to come your way with a spring/summer theme because I'm done with winter! I hate to say it because I LOVE snowmen. I have quite a collection of the little guys but I put them away until next year! I'm ready to pull out my bunny collection!

Friday Feature

2011-02-04T11:29:00.000-05:00

Today I'm taking a break from the "heart" features. I decided today to feature my new team, Catholic Etsy Artist Guild. I was poking around one day on Etsy and found them. I'm tickled pink to be a part of TeamCatholic on Etsy. For me being Catholic is not just a religion but a way of life. It's in the pores. I could never leave my faith so it's nice to find others with the same mind set.

Pictured below is a treasury I put together for TeamCatholic entitled "Hail Mary Full of Grace" Not all of the artisans on TeamCatholic make religious themed articles. So the next time you are on Etsy, search for "TeamCatholic" in the Tags & Title search for some awesome art and craftsmanship.

'Hail Mary, Full of Grace' by ArtfulPurpose

Featuring TeamCatholic .

Hail Mary Art Print... AutumnDaisy $7.00	Our Lady of Lourdes... TheRecycledCat... $14.99	FREE SHIPPING Rosar... LaudeArts $84.99
Framed Print Religi... ArtfulPurpose $19.95	Yellow Rose May Cro... CherubinoCraft... $5.00	Vintage Image of Ma... thevelvetheart $
Keys to Mass for Ch... juniperplum $15.00	Riverstone Rosary B... GracefulRosari... $	Our Lady of Perpetu... AxisMundiDesig... $14.00
Rhodonite Gemstone ... AngelosTreasur... $24.00	Madonna and Christ ... AxisMundiDesig... $9.50	Handmade Croatian P... prayerbedes $15.00
Mary Mother of God,... Art4thesoul $20.00	Our Lady of Guadalu... janallisfinede... $40.00	Madonna and Child B... LadyinBlueShop $10.00

Treasury tool is sponsored by Lazzia.com A/B image testing.

Happiness on Hump Day!

2011-02-02T13:17:00.000-05:00

Well this has been a wonderful hump day. For one, I won 3rd Place in the ACEO Online Magazine for my ACEO "Oh My". Angela did an interview with me. Here's the link: http://www.angelasartarea.com/aom_interviews_jan2011_winners/joann_y_wheeler

I was pretty tickled because it gave me a forum to promote the Little Sisters of the Poor, St. Martin's Home and their Capital Campaign.

Speaking of which, in the last 2 days, I had 2 sales there. One for 3 religious ACEO's and another for 2 framed prints of my religious icons! Soooo 100% of the sale went to Little Sisters! I was happy to be able to give them $90 in 2 days. If this keeps up, who know I might help make a dent in that $25 million...well maybe not because that's alot of painting. I did another 4 religious ACEO's and put them up in my shop: http://artfulpurpose.etsy.com/ I did one called "The Appearance" (the Blessed Mother), St. John Neumann, Jesus in the Garden & St. Rose of Lima. Speaking of St. Rose. My favorite quote of her's is "Let all men know graces comes after tribulation."

So as a reminder all religious painting sales are donated 100% to the Little Sisters. Other sales, 25% goes to them. Have a blessed day!

Friday Feature

2011-01-28T07:26:00.000-05:00

It's that time again.....boy the week goes by quickly. I'm still featuring people who "favorite" my porcelain. Today's pick is for my heart plate kitty pictured below.

The last person who favorited it was Stone Cottage Studio ....click her shop name to go to it. The little rock star to the left is one of her 8x10 prints in her shop. I love her work. it's what I'd call "happy art". It makes me smile.

She is an acrylic artist who sometimes dabbles in watercolors and oils, even an occasional colored pencil drawing. She's offering a Free ACEO with every order and will do custom work. Many of her prints are available in a variety of sizes and many originals are still available.

She is member of the DAWG Team, Designing Artist Women's Group on etsy as well as Acetsy team- Aceo team. This is so funny because I didn't recognize the shop name and she's on 2 teams I am. Turns out she's also Backroomtreasures - Judy O'Hara. It's her second shop. You've got to check it out when she's back from vacation. She is quite a talented artist.

Also please check out her wonderful blog: http://Art-lovers.blogspot.com She finally finished her quilt. She painted all the blocks and then quilted them together...you gotta see it!

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Here's the link to the Kitty Heart Dish:

http://www.etsy.com/listing/8822511/handpainted-porcelain-cat-heart-plate

An Artful Purpose & A Group Worth Helping

2011-01-26T07:21:00.000-05:00

Sister Lourdes & Resident

So, I was thinking the other day....art should have a purpose besides being collectible or something cool to hang on a wall. Mine needs to benefit something greater than me! So I pulled all my fine art out of my Etsy shop and created Artful Purpose...the purpose of that shop is to donate 25% of the earnings to a charity. Of course my favorite charity is the Little Sisters of the Poor!

St Jeanne Jugan icon I painted for the Little Sisters

Did you know they have to raise $25 MILLION in less than 2 years?!? If they don't they will have to move out of the St. Martin's Home where they serve 75 elderly poor residents. Now if it were me, I'd be shaking in my boots but Sister Rosemary, God Bless HER, just says St. Joseph & St. Jeanne Jugan will help us. I don't doubt they will, Sister.

Now I know I don't make enough money to donate $25 Million to them (I sure wish I did) but I try to give them what I can, when I can and I hope that through reading my blog or seeing it on Facebook or Twitter you will consider helping them out. You know,
every dollar adds up. We can all do this together.

Please take a moment to watch Mother Loraine's talk about the campaign & the renovations which are necessary.

Please go to their website: http://www.littlesistersofthepoorbaltimore.org/ and think about helping them out. (the donation button is at the bottom right)

Remember, we Baby Boomers, one day we may find ourselves one of the elderly poor. I don't know about you, but it gives me comfort to know that the Little Sisters are around!

So please donate. However, if you cannot donate financially, donate through your prayers. I believe in the Little Sisters, your intercessory prayers & those of St. Joseph and St. Jeanne Jugan. AND I believe that God gives us miracles!

Valentine's Give Away

2011-01-19T08:38:00.000-05:00

Today seems like a good day to do my next blog give away! "Something of the heart: is what I said would be the next blog give away. This give away is for a piece of "spaghetti china". A pretty cottage style rose heart shaped dish 4 inches wide by 3 1/2 inches long. A single peach rose, blue accents. Gold border. Perfect gift for the new bride to hold her rings!

So here's the rules:

1) Eligible to US Residents only.
2) Time Period today until Wednesday, January 26th.
3) One entry per person with the following exceptions.
4) Two entries if you visit my Etsy Shop and post a link to your favorite item: http://jywheeler.etsy.com
5) Three entries if you visit my Etsy Shop, Post a link to your favorite item:
http://jywheeler.etsy.com AND follow my blog.
6) Must post your email address in comment box so that the winner can be contacted.

Friday Feature

2011-01-14T18:22:00.001-05:00

Today's Friday Feature is Jan of PaintingsbyJan. I picked her because I thought she favorited my little tea caddy (pictured below) however, going back to it, she didn't but she was the last person to favorite my shop!

Jan just joined Etsy this month! She is just starting to upload her art so make sure to come by frequently to see what she lists. My favorite piece in her shop is this 4x6 painting to the left.

Here's the link to her listing: http://www.etsy.com/listing/65780865/sfa-landscape-barn-country-4x6-inches

According to her profile from her blog she is a self taught artist painting since 2005.She loves to paint small artwork called Art Card's Editions & Originals (ACEOs) and Small Format Art (SFA). Her medium is acrylic paints on watercolor paper. She considers her style as Impressionism/Realism. She has loved art all of her life...ever since she knew what a box of crayons were. Now that she is all grown-up and over 60, she has traded in her crayons for acrylic paints.

Oh and while you are at it, check out her blog too: http://jansgalleryofsmallart.blogspot.com/

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The link for the tea caddy is: http://www.etsy.com/listing/63999340/hand-painted-porcelain-tea-caddy

I got a Blog Award---How About That!

2011-01-12T11:27:00.002-05:00

Well, well, I was awarded the "Stylish Blogger Award" from Marlene at Marlene's Musings. Marlene is along time online friend and fabulous artist. I hope you will click on the link to her blog. You won't be disappointed.

Part of accepting this award is to tell 7 things about yourself.
So what should I tell you..

1) My grandparents on both sides were from the "old country" My Dad's parents from Italy and my Mom's from Russia Poland (at the time that's what it was called).
2) I have 2 cats or the girls as I call them. Lily and LeeLu
3) My favorite vacations are cruises but now that my parents are up in age I'm afraid to go that far from them.
4) My favorite place on the Earth is the Ocean, where I feel the presence power and might of God.
5) When I look a things I have a habit of trying to figure out what color on my china paint pallet that thing might be...it's kind of comical.
6) I have 2 grown children who I love very much and a grandson who's 4.
7) I married my High School sweetheart sort of. Well I was in high school, he was out and had gone to another high school so I guess he wasn't really the high school sweetheart but we have been married 35 years this February!!!!

So now I'm supposed to send it to 15 blogs I follow but I, like Marlene, plan to do a short list. So here it is please go check out their blogs.

Thoughts to Ponder On
BasketsbyRose
ArtPlus
Alqouin
NotesfromSmellyRhinoSTudio
TheMoonStitch
TheRustyThimble

Well that's it for now...I've gotta go take my Dad to the Dentist or the list would be longer. Please visit their blogs and support their art.

Oh My! Like a Phoenix

2011-01-11T07:41:00.002-05:00

Like a Phoenix the ACEO Magazine rises from the ashes! Once an in print magazine, it went under for various reasons. But now, thanks to Angela Taylor it lives on Flickr as an online magazine! I recently joined the Flickr group and added some of my ACEO's to the group photos.

Angela is hard at work to make this online magazine fun and informative. Each month the online magazine will run an ACEO of the Month contest with a theme. This month's theme is Blue. Interpret it as you will, the color blue or the mood blue. The entries are judged by this time around by Angela Taylor and Andrew Kent.

The winning artist will have their work featured in an article. They will also recieve a badge for winning that can be used for their blog or any other purposes. This month the deadline for submissions is the 17th of Jan. Spread the word! The more the merrier!

Consider joining the ACEO Online Magazine Group on Flickr. Contact Angela (info@angelasartarea.com) to enter or if you would like to be a judge. Please note judges are not eligible to enter.

Here's the link to the group on Flickr:http://www.flickr.com/groups/1574980@N20/

So join and enter! The ACEO pictured entitled "Oh My" has been entered in this month's contest. It is not available for sale because it's been sold for some time now!

Visit my Etsy shop for more ACEO's http://jywheeler.etsy.com

Friday Feature

2011-01-07T08:45:00.000-05:00

Deciding who to feature every Friday is always agonizing for me. I am always torn between my Etsy team and friends so I thought how could I randomly do this and be fair. Not to feature more of one team or the other. So I decided I'm going to see who Hearted (or favorited) my items on Etsy! It may or may not be a team member.

Today's feature is for the last person to favorite my apple plate pictured at the bottom of the page. That person is....drum roll please!!!!!

The Farmer's Attic!!!!! (click the name to go to her shop. Co-incidentally she is a member of my Old Farmhouse Gathering Team. (glad to see my team members like my work! LOL) The quilted wallhanging to the right is my favorite in her shop. So sit back and read my interview with her.

Q What is the name of your Etsy shop and why did you choose that name?
FA: Farmers Attic. My husband was the one who felt that the name of our shop should be called “The Farmer’s Attic”.

Q. How long have you been on Etsy?
FA: Since December 20, 2007 but only really started adding items to the shop in October, 2009.

Q.. What type of items do you offer?
FA: We have a variety of items from home décor, primitives, vintage, fabric, quilts, pincushions, holiday, seasonal, handbags, heirloom items, etc.

Q. How long have you been crafting?
FA: I think I have been crafting all of my life. I learned a lot of sewing at a very early age by watching a dear lady sew clothing and curtains while she babysat me over the summer months. I also taught myself to knit in the car after visiting and watching a relative in North Carolina. On the way home to New Jersey, I had two rattail combs and some yarn that she gave me and I learned to knit during the long car ride home. I think I was about 9 or 10 at the time (I’m now 51!)

Q. Who or What inspires you?
FA: Fabric, fabric, fabric. I love the textures, colors, feel and flow. Also, lots of magazines and books (I’m a book hog!) and now I have the internet!!!!!!!!!

Q. What is your favorite item in your shop and why?
FA: I love my quilts. With all the beautiful designs from traditional to contemporary, there’s something for everyone. Techniques are always changing which makes the art fun and exciting.

Q. Other places where you can be found (Ebay, webstore, blog)
FA: My webstore went live in September, 2009 and can be found at www.farmersattic.com. I don’t yet have an Ebay store but I do sell under my username: thefarmersattic. I’m also fairly new to the blogging world and I think I’m addicted J You can find me at www.farmersattic.blogspot.com

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If you would like to purchase the apple plate or to see what's in my shop visit:
Http://jywheeler.etsy.com

My Christmas Prayer

2010-12-23T08:09:00.002-05:00

Lord, in this holy season of prayer and song and laughter, we praise you for the great wonders you have sent us: for shining star and angel's song, for infant's cry in lowly manger. We praise you for the Word made flesh in a little Child. We behold His glory, and are bathed in its radiance.

Be with us as we sing the ironies of Christmas, the incomprehensible comprehended, the poetry made hard fact, the helpless Babe who cracks the world asunder. We kneel before you shepherds, innkeepers, wisemen. Help us to rise bigger than we are. Amen. ~ Http://www.catholic.org
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To my Friends and Family, this Christmas and New Year, may God bless you with health, prosperity & happiness. I am thankful for each and every one of you. You have all touched my life in some way or another and make my life richer & fuller. I treasure your friendship and love.

A Ghostly Image

2010-12-18T18:21:00.000-05:00

Most of you know that I've been involved in restoring St. Vincent Cemetery in Baltimore, an abandoned cemetery. I've been up to my eyeballs in researching those buried there and cataloging tombstones. Other people have been photographing the stones as well but it's so hard to just transcribe the stones from photos so I like to go there to do it.

I haven't been able to get there for a while. It's been so cold. Recently someone uploaded some photos from our clean up day. I was particularly interested in the stones because I wanted to see if she got some stones I hadn't photographed. As I scrolled through her photos I was astonished to see that one of the photos had the image of a person on it. However, if you click on it and drag it to a larger size you cannot see the image.

I cannot read the name of the woman who's stone it is...but is says: ...beloved wife of Patrick Horan and she died in 1899........so as you look at this photo of Mrs. Horan, remember her and say a prayer for her.

We beseech Thee, O Lord,
in Thy mercy,
to have pity on the soul of Thy handmaid;
do Thou, Who hast freed her
from the perils of this mortal life,
restore to her the portion of everlasting salvation.
Through Christ our Lord,

Amen.
(Prayer from Catholic.org)

Friday Feature

2010-12-17T00:01:00.001-05:00

Today I'd like to feature Deborah O'Toole or Sunnyplainquilting as we know her on Etsy and in our Designing Artists Womens Group (DAWG Team). She joined Etsy this summer and then became a part of our Team.

She is a Nurse specialized in critical care. Her stress reliever is her sewing machine. She loves working with fabric on or off the machine. Very detailed oriented, you've got to see her work. It's beautiful.

I love her quilts but her shop is not just limited to quilts. You can find fabric wreaths and even glass blocks decorated with fabric. The quilt pictured is one of my favorites in her shop. So....grab your coffee and go check her out. Here's the link to her shop: http://www.etsy.com/shop/sunnyplainquilting
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Friday Feature

2010-12-10T00:01:00.000-05:00

Today's Friday Feature is Painted Prose by Patricia. Patricia is a long time friend. We met doing a craft show together and became fast friends. She introduced me to painting ACEO's and encouraged me to be a part of the Ebay ACEO group for which she was a moderator. Later I invited her to join the Chesapeake Bay Decorative Painters & taught her china painting and encouraged her to become a part of the China Painting Artists of Maryland.

Patricia is a wonderful painter and crafts person. Her style goes from Prim to Cottage. And lately with her dabbling in lusters on porcelain, she's even done some more modern pieces.

The photo is some of her hand molded porcelain. So check out her shop: http://www.paintedprose.etsy.com

Took-ees

2010-12-09T10:50:00.000-05:00

I'm thinking how much I am looking forward to going to St. Leo's in Little Italy this weekend to learn how to make Italian Cookies from a chef. I'm doing this with my daughter Jackie. Then we are going to find a day (ha ha ha...you are laughing if you know us and our schedules) to make more for Christmas.

I'm hoping it's going to be nice Saturday so we can also have lunch while we are down there.

Oh and you are probably wondering why my post is called Took-ees -- that's because Mason, my grandson calls cookies took-ees. And he is quite possibly the cutest kid in the whole wide world...or as he would say 'out to outer space.'
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The Santa bell ornament is available in my Etsy shop. http://www.etsy.com/listing/54409514/hand-painted-porcelain-santa-bell

And the WINNER is.....

2010-12-08T05:23:00.001-05:00

.....ready to be announced! LOL Well today is the day when I give away the hand painted porcelain place card holders! It's just in time for those upcoming Christmas or New Year's Day dinners!

This morning I didn't have anyone to draw it for me so I used a random number generator on random.org So by now you are saying, "Joann, hush up and tell us who it is." Okay, okay...so the winner is: Liz of Seattle Washington. Her blog profile says she has a love for fashion, makeup, and fabulous eats. Her blog is: http://crystal-lized.blogspot.com/

You should check it out. Her last blog post was on Lady Gaga Barbi's....you gotta see her creations! LOL Congratulations Liz.

I love doing these blog catalog's I meet the most interesting people. So you are wondering, "Joann, when's the next porcelain art give away?" Okay, okay....it's February 1. Something of the heart...that's the only clue you get!

But while you are waiting drop by my Etsy shop! Http://jywheeler.etsy.com

Friday Feature

2010-12-03T00:00:00.002-05:00

So we go from craftsmen and artisans to music this week. This is someone I met on Twitter. Her business is Renagades of Music http://www.renagadesmusic.com/

Renagade's specializes in Indie music. She says "Every artist here has shown true talent and a drive to make every song, every performance better than the last. They also each have a unique sound and styling that sets them apart from the crowd. They are truly "Renagades of Music""

Renagade's also offers services in press releases, cd sales, bios, album liner authoring, reviews, image/branding, promotions & PR and DIY consultations.

Who is the REAL renagade? Her name is Susan Leak. She is an online dealer of music offering the best quaility vinyl at the best price.She and her husband have a DJ/Karaoke music service at www.2wolves.com They also offer a transfer service, where we can transfer your vinyl or cassette to CDs.

Renagades can be found on Twitter, Facebook, Ebay and Bonanzle (and likely a ton of other places I haven't discovered yet). Go check her out!