Monday, October 5, 2009

19th Century Inspired ornaments

I initially saw these little cuties on Better Homes & Gardens website last year and wanted to try some of my own. (I tried one out last year) The end result is pretty much the same but I used some different materials to make them. I used a glass ball Christmas ornament and paper clay.

Remove the hanger(the silver top) from the glass ball and mold paper clay around the ball. I pushed down gently on the ball at this point so that the bottom is a bit flat and it will sit on a surface too as well as hang. Make a ball for the head and blend in to the neck and body of the ornament. Use two smaller pieces of round clay for the cheeks and blend in. Make a shape for the nose and blend in to the face. I trimmed the bottom of the silver hanger(hat) with wire cutters(just so they weren't so long) and slipped it right in to the top of the head. Let dry.

Once they're dry, it's time to paint! You can sand them a bit if you'd like. I like all the imperfections so I didn't do any sanding. I did mine to resemble the ones on BHG.com, but the possibilities are endless! I used antique white and pink acrylic paint and painted their faces with black. Added a few words to their bellies and let dry.
I grunged these fellows up a bit with some water based Maple Stain. I took a paint brush and wet it with water and then brushed it over the snowmen and then brushed on the stain and dabbed it with a towel until I got the look I wanted. A little brown paint mixed with water will give the same effect. After this dried I took some spray gold glitter and gave them a spritz of gold. I let that dry and sprayed them with a clear acrylic sealer. But wait......!



What snowman doesn't appreciate a nice scarf? I glued some glittery tinsel garland around their necks. I also put two stripes of glue around the stripes on their tummies and added some glitter glass and sparkles. Viola! Again, there are endless possibilities to how these are painted and what you add to them. Such sweet little guys!

Friday, October 2, 2009

Angel

Angel
Loving Light
Embracing White Wings
Contented and Perfectly Safe
Enchanting


Wednesday, September 23, 2009

Hidden Angels

This is one of two paintings I've been working on for a silent auction that's being held at a golf resort in our area. The Rivanna Resort & Golf Club will be teaming up with Rock ‘n Renew
(www.rocknrenew.com) on a number of innovative green projects
including an ecology program at the resort that will educate Virginia
students on sustainability, water and eco-system conservation and
green jobs. My painting is done on a 12X12 piece of birch. I collaged her dress with beautiful vintage images in black and white and added paint to it. There are some sweet angels playing hide and seek. Can you find them?


Wednesday, September 16, 2009

Va. Safari Park

One of the day trips we took this summer was to the Va. Safari Park, which is in Natural Bridge Va. It's about an hour and a half from our home. I had been before with some friends, but this was a first time for my son and he had a blast! The drive thru park is situated on 180 acres with all kinds of animals from zebras and camels to pot bellied pigs and ostrich's. It's a chance to see animals in a more natural habitat and as you drive through you get to feed them. AND, they are not shy at all! Tons of fun!

My what big eyes you have!




Tuesday, September 15, 2009

Sweet Summertime..

I can't seem to slow it down, no matter how hard I try! Time that is. What a whirlwind of a summer. Trying to get back in to the swing of things now that school has started back, but I find myself staying up way to late and getting up way to early and wanting to take a nap in the middle of the day. Gotta stop that...even though it is quite heavenly....

This is one of my favorite pics of this summer. We had a brief storm one day and then to our delight, a double rainbow appeared! It was beautiful. Wonder if you get twice the loot?


Monday, August 24, 2009

Waiting To Exhale

Whew! Time to take a breath. Hello everyone. School started today-yay, so it's time to get back in to the working mode again. Hope everyone is well! I have a lot of catching up to do. I've barely picked up a paintbrush in two weeks :(...so I'm itching to get busy. These are some little ladies I managed to fit in here and there. I can't wait to see what you guys have been up to!


Sunday, July 19, 2009

Shades Of Lazy

I've only worked on two paintings in the past 7 days. I really need to get busy. This is one of them. I've been practicing on doing lots of shading on the faces with a bunch of color. She's still a work in progress, but she's coming along. She might like to have some arms too. Where does time go? I know......

Have you ever played FarmTown on Facebook???? Zan? You would love it-it's quite addicting!