Mason the Safety & the Maryland State Flag

Acrylic on wood. Available in my Etsy Shop

Mason, my grandson, is back in school. Can't believe he is in 5th grade. He applied to be a Safety this year and was thrilled to be chosen as the Flag Safety. That means every day he puts up and takes down the American Flag and the Maryland State Flag.

We had a big discussion about the Maryland State Flag and how to remember which way was up. I told him the  right corner should have the cross that goes up to Heaven, like Jesus did. I googled it and showed him how it should look.  So the day before yesterday before he takes the flag down, he runs up to my car and say's "Granny Jo look at the flag." I almost spit out my coke. He had it upside down!!!

I told him so but he said that one of the teachers told him that when he put it the way I told him that it was incorrect. I told him, I knew my flag. I worked 35 years for the State of MD and that was one of my pet peeves!  So yesterday he runs out to the car pointing to the flag and I gave him a thumbs up because it was correct.

Mason said the teacher told him again  it was wrong again and instead of being diplomatic, he told her she should google it because Granny Jo worked for the State for 35 years and it's her pet peeve.

Well if this apple box doesn't sell I just might have to give it to her as an apology at the end of the year.

Winter's Coming...Fall is Here!

Well it's Fall. It feels like it here. For a long while it was an extended summer which was okay by me but it didn't make me want to get my butt in gear for the craft shows and events.  I did manage to come through as I generally do.

There will be new porcelain and lots of new decorative painted items. Like this cute little nutcracker snowman ornament.  I've also made more jewelry, cards and painted 6 canvas Christmas stockings to just name a few things.

My crafty friends have worked hard on having an incredible variety for this season. I'm excited to go just as a shopper! I plan to starting my Christmas shopping there.

So drop by for the craft show this coming weekend. Here's the flyer!

I would love to see you there.....oh and my Etsy team is hosting their Winter's Coming Celebration.  If you are in love with Prim or Cottage, you really need to check out my team.

It's called Old Farmhouse Gathering Team. Search everyday for OFG Team on Etsy. But if you want to see some awesome crafts just for the winter season, search on Monday for WCCOFG on Etsy.  I had the pleasure of checking out the new items when I uploaded my photos. There are some beautiful pieces on there and I plan to do some Christmas shopping here too!

Pretty Paint Party Friday

 Happy Paint Party Friday....Most Tuesday nights I go to a decorative painting class. It's taught by my friend Kathy Anthony of Beyond Brushstrokes.

It's always fun to paint with friends.  This past month we were painting this beautiful stroke work design.

I'm not crazy about stroke work but it is good practice. It's one of those things that I make myself do...like landscapes I suck at them but I make myself paint them from time to time.

The other's painted it on a very large tray. For some time I have had this green bowl with the wood top and have wanted to paint something on it. So when this project came up I just decided to do it on it. It made it a little more challenging because that meant the design was much smaller than it was designed to be but it worked out okay.

And here is the finished product!

On another topic...here's LeeLu. The other day I was sitting in my sun room with my phone and she kept wanting to "use" the phone so I turned on the camera and took a photo of her. Can you hear her say cheese?  


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

Paint Party Friday!

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/ 

Something to Crow About

Crows are fascinating little critters. There are lots of them in my yard these days.  Did you know?

Crows are considered to be one of  the most adaptable and intelligent birds in the world. They have their own little language which is very evolved and varied. They can mimic animal sounds. They are pretty smart! They can even associate the noises with distribution of food! You can find them all over north America and they will live successfully in cities or suburban areas with humans.

Night time is the favorite time for crows to roost and in the winter they'll roost in flocks of thousands. Smaller groups will fly during the day to fifty miles to find food.
Crows will eat just about anything available: insects, small amphibians and snakes, earthworms, eggs and nestling birds, and clams, mussels, and other salt-water invertebrates. They will eat carrion, garbage, and wild and cultivated fruit and vegetables.

Crows prefer coniferous trees and will build their nests of branches in twigs in woods or isolated trees at least sixty feet above ground. That's probably why there are so many in my yard....good habitat for them.


Crows have quite the good little family life going on. They lay 4-6 eggs. Both parents share in the care of the eggs. Of those hatchlings one young bird will hang around to help the parents through the next nesting season in caring for the new babies. They'll bring them food and guard the nest.
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The wooden hang tag pictured above is painted in acrylic and is available in my Etsy shop. Here's the link:
http://www.etsy.com/listing/42517293/handpainted-wood-primitive-tag-black

Happy New Year--New Venture!

Well I have a new venture for 2009. I've opened another online store. I love this shop!
It's called Bonanzle. I am running a sale from now until the end of the month of January.....if you type in coupon code Friend, you will receive 20% off!

My new shop is called Eclectic Spirit because it's very eclectic. It's a joint venture with my daughter which includes some of the things we create on our creative nights. My new shop not only has ACEO's, china painting, decorative painting on wood & glass but also jewelry.....so check us out. I have lots of new stuff that has never been on Ebay or Etsy........Http://www.bonanzle.com/booths/eclecticspirit

Thanks for reading! Joann Y Wheeler

Gingerbread

My daughter Jackie and her boyfriend Jay and I made Christmas cookies Sunday, some of which were Gingerbread. With 2 artists & an engineer working on decorating them, we had some interesting designs...not so traditional. This ornament is available on our Bonanzle store - click here for the listing http://www.bonanzle.com/booths/EclecticSpirit/items/Gingerbread_Man_Handpainted_Ornament

It's Christmas Eve and I would like to wish you all a blessed Christmas full of love and happiness! Thank you for reading my blog!

I'm Feeling Practical Today!

...hence today's feature....a scissor holder. Do you always loose your scissors? I do. Here's the solution a scissor holder (scissors not included). Hang it in your cottage kitchen or craft room. Painted in pink roses on a light pink background on wood.
Here's the link to my etsy listing.

Surprise, Surprise....

...I was searching for my decorative painting chapter's website and I found I was featured on a site....go figure...I had no idea. I'm on page ONE!
http://primitivecrossroads.com/Etsyshops.htm

What a surprise.............go see her site which promotes etsy shops.

Here's a little something for you to look at from my shop. It's a vanity tray....here's the link: http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=11349559