Something to Crow About

...a cup of tea with this cute little hand painted porcelain Rooster Tea Caddy. Available on Etsy.

Ash Wednesday

The beginning of Lent, a period of 40 days
 for prayer, sacrifice and almsgiving. May this time be meaningful and full of blessings for you.

Available on Etsy

 For hand painted china, decorative painting & fine art, visit my shop JYWheeler on Etsy. The large 3.5 inch porcelain egg pictured below is china painted and kiln fired with stand. Click the photo to take you to the listing.

The Month of Love

February, the month of love.

February is not just for St. Valentine's Day but also a month of anniversaries...well at least in my family.

My parents were married on February 4th. This year would have been their 64th Wedding Anniversary!

Available on Etsy

The end of the month (28th) marks my 39th Wedding Anniversary!  The year I married was my parents 25th Wedding Anniversary and I wore my Mom's wedding gown.

How many of you were married in February?
Here's hoping that this month brings you lots of love. Happy Valentine's Day!

Meet Paris

Paris, the Stick in the Mud, is a balding Travel Agent.  He loves to travel himself when he's not being a stick in the mud.  He holds a  red gem (because he thinks he's hot), a globe charm and an Eiffel Tower because, of course, his parents named him after that famous City.  His definition says: " Travel Agent: a person who arranges for travel accomodations and appointments in a travel agency.

Something New

Recently I bought a magazine while at the craft store. It had tutorials in it. Most of them were dolls. One of them was an art doll called stick in the mud. I decided I'd give it a go.

My stick in the muds are a little different from the designer. I didn't use a branch from outside for fear of insects, etc.  I bought a dowel. And rather than hobbies I decided mine would be careers. Each one  has a hand molded face and bodies wrapped in fabric. Their arms are wire and  they hold charms that relate to their career. The dolls  have the definition of their career decoupaged to them.
Around the bottom brown fabric is wrapped and around that is brass wire with a shell bead that I've written MUD on.

Here is the first one. Meet  Willow. She is a "Natural Scientist: a person who is trained or works in the field of natural science.  She holds a tree (because she's a Forester), acorn and a green gem (because you know she's also green).  Her hair is a bun in the back.

Tomorrow I will introduce you to Paris. He is a travel agent.

Punky & Funky

I love this crazy steam punk vase.  I painted it and then applied a green luster around the gear & along the edge. This photo doesn't do it justice. I love the look of the lusters in general. 

It's not my usual style. I really liked it but apparently others didn't. I have painted other steam punk porcelain pieces which sold immediately. Not this piece. 

So I'm taking a chance and reinventing it. Sometimes things just need a little touch of something different.  I've wired it with various pieces of metal hardware giving it more of an industrial look. We will see how it goes. What do you think? Even if you aren't a steam punk fan. Hardware or no hardware?

It's even funkier looking and I still like it. I'm thinking I need to sell this so I am not tempted to change my cottage style over to steam punk. My kids will think I am suffering from mid life crisis if I do that! LOL

Here's the  link on Etsy if you like it. LINK TO VASE