Moon Dancer at Grand Prairie

I've just taken in a few new things
I think will be nice, inexpensive,
unique, quality, handmade gifts at
Moon Dancer
out at the Shoppes at Grand Prairie
in Peoria, Il.



Valentine's Day

is right around the corner
and whether you need
a beautiful hand painted

mirror for your gal or
locket for your ma or

sassy card to let some one
know that
You DON'T care,
You can find it all at
Moon Dancer
along with about 1,000 other
interesting artful gifts.






Should you need custom
painting for your home, murals,
hand painted clothing or
greeting cards

you can find it all right there!

It's not my fault

Here I am introducing my
{SIC}
Greeting Card Line.
These
Socially Inappropriate Cards
just had to be made!
It's not my fault!
Hallmark just doesn't cover
the real issues that need
to be addressed in day to day life.

I've been selling these cards at
Moon Dancer
at the
Shoppes at Grand Prairie

and
by personal order
for those custom situations
that just can't go by without comment.

Hopefully, soon, I will be selling them on my
ETSY site too.

Feel free to call or Email me
to share real life situations
that they just don't make cards for.
Example:
Not only do I have Get Well for Kidney Stones-
"I hope everything comes out okay",
And accidents- "Get Well Clumsy Dumbass"
but for general life and encouragement,
"So you found out your son is gay-
At least he didn't get the neighbor girl pregnant".
"Happy Unbirthday-celebrating the 364 days a year
you AREN'T getting older"
which let's face it,
is REALLY something to celebrate,
unless you've passed away...
In which case I have a card for that too.
Please communicate any ideas and situations you think
just NEED to be addressed.
Enjoy!

I Love ME

With Valentine's Day right around the corner
I thought now was a good time to
show you how my mirror
for DecoArt turned out.
I'm excited to say
that you should
be seeing this on their Feb projects page.

You can order one from me painted with YOUR name
or that of a loved one, grandchild or saying
for just $25.
Let me know if you love this
as much as I do!

Happy New Year....and Valentines Day

So, it's New Year's Day
and I'm doing what ever other
art addict
is doing today.
I'm lining up all the projects
that I promised myself I was going
to get done last year
and lying to myself again
about how I'm going to organize my studio
and set and stick to a schedule.
As I pack away multiple boxes of Christmas projects
that I didn't get to AGAIN this year I look forward to
what's next on my palette.

Luckily there are others that have set deadlines
for me so I WILL actually get some things painted very soon.

One of those fine businesses is DecoArt.
They were nice enough to publish my Santa Box
on their website and I got so many nice comments
and made new friends.
Well I am happy to report that I sent off
another picture to see if they were interested in
a Valentine's Day pattern and they said
They LOVED it!
Well, I won't ruin the surprise for you
but here is what it looks like now.

Check back to see how it turns out.
I'd love to hear from you about
your ideas and art or what you'd like to
see from me!
*

Bringing the outdoors in for the Winter

Here is what I've been working on for my sister.
She has those ugly plastic blinds that get dusty and
broken (especially when dogs chew on them).
She was looking for a unique inexpensive way to
decorate her windows without covering them up with big curtains
the dogs would chew up and get dirty.

What do ya do?

Roller Shades



The old roller shades used to be actually made out of fabric.
Now they are plastic for the most part.
I sprayed them with a fixative to hold the paint a bit
better.
You should spray them when you are done
as well. You can use the fixative instead of
a varnish if you want.
A varnish has a shine which
I didn't want on this project.

Now she can look at her window and
enjoy the flowers all year long!

DecoArt Christmas Project

T'is the season!
Yes already!

Now I used to have a very strict rule
about not selling or displaying
Christmas before Halloween.
But when you are in the design world
we work 6 months ahead usually
so actually I am way behind (as usual).

This project
Laughter and Joy Santa Box
is for DecoArt, Inc.
They sell the fabulous
Americana Paint
that I've used on the project.
If all goes well you will be able to
find it on their
Free Christmas Project
list on their website.

I've painted on an 18" wooden band box.
I just sketch a basic picture
then transfer it to the surface.
Then I begin painting using all sorts
of really complicated tips and tricks
only master artists can handle.

Okay-or maybe only really really easy techniques
anyone can do.

I made up my own little saying here.
Imagine how you could personalize yours!
My version of Holly leaves.
That's the great thing about being an artist.
You can make your world any way you want.

Santa needed a fashion break
so he hung up his hot red hat
for a cooler hip pine wreath.
Now he smells good as well as looking good.
mmmm....manly pine scent.So since I have to wear readers now too
that detail was even more important for me to add.
Santa HAD to pull out his
Bling Bling Metallic Gold ones.
I'm not sure if you can see the
actual twinkle in his eye from the pictures.
I painted the iris with
DecoArt's new Sparkle paint
and then added
Crystal Twinkle Glitter
for the highlights.





I hope this gets you in the mood
to start painting gifts
for the holidays!
Let me see what you are working on!

What I've been up to

Well, by now I'm sure you have noticed
the obvious lack of postings
on this blog.
My world has exploded into a frenzy
of art activity.

No- not like always.
Like always times 100!!
There are too many wonderful
projects for me to address
in one post so
I'll just throw up a few pics and
a few hints with promises
of amazing posts to come.

Yes, I am still at Moon Dancer.
I have my Halloween Decor
on sale 50% off now!



Yes, I'm still at One World's
Lagron Miller

but it's under construction
and I'm sure you didn't expect me
to sit on my thumbs until they
were done!

To fill in my down time (ahahahaa.aa.a.)
I've been painting special orders
like this desk.

I love the old rustic shabby chic feel.
I antiqued and waxed it so it's

so smooth and comfortable to
work on.

I also painted the
old post office box shelf above last year.

Now throw in some trips to see
kids & grandkids

and a wedding


and then add
Christmas projects
for DecoArt
http://www.decoart.com/





and you've gotten to enjoy
my week with me.
Oh- except for the
REALLY Big News.....