Eva Sleeping

We bought this floor pillow a couple of months ago, and now the cats, and sometimes Tony, fight over who gets to use it. Eva won last night, and looked so cute all curled up asleep.

Domino pin

We also made cute little domino pins at the Ginger Edwards painting seminar. I had some trouble getting a good picture, and it's still not great. Ginger sands and sprays the domino with sealer, then stamps an image with a Staz On pad. To paint it she uses glass and tile medium to thin out the paints. It was cute, and a lot easier than the ones I've done with just ink pads.

Daisies

I added a metallic brown line around the oval, and I think that helped finish off this piece. I really am pleased with how this turned out. It measures about 12.5" x 10". I'm thinking about hanging it with the spring and autumn tin pockets I painted last fall with Judy Diephouse.

Teacup

I fixed the shadows on the teacup, and added some gold around the cup and saucer. Not too shabby for my first still life. The piece measures 16.5" x 10.5".

If you would like to buy this piece, let me know. While it was interesting to paint, it doesn't really fit in with my decor.

Ginger Edwards Seminar

The Society of Decorative Painters hosted a seminar with Ginger Edwards over the weekend. I love Ginger's flowers, and have always wanted to paint with her. So I schlepped out to Wichita, KS for three and a half days of painting. I'm very sorry to report the weekend was tainted by technical difficulties, a freezing room, and less than welcoming hospitality. Oh, and of course I had trouble with a noisy hotel room, and my flight home, so I wound up having to spend an extra night in Wichita.

On the plus side, I painted with a wonderful group of women, and Ginger was a delightful person. And I was quite astonished to bring home two mostly finished pieces, and one beautiful rose (achieved with three amazingly, beautifying strokes from Ginger). While the teacup picture is not really my style (I thoughtfully avoided saying my cup of tea :-)), I am pleased with how it turned out. I need to play with some of the shadows and add some gold paint to the rim of the cup and saucer. The rose is painted on a small stool, and this piece will require a lot of work. I have to finish all the leaves and add the lettering. We painted this on the day it was unimaginably cold in the classroom, and of course it required a lot of concentration. Lastly, I am quite pleased with my little landscape tin. Of all the pieces, this one was more in my comfort zone, and I do think it's a charming little scene. We painted on a tin pocket that already had some writing on it. I want to add an outline around the oval and then it's done.


I suppose it was a character building experience. Hopefully after a couple of days, I'll be able to look back on the experience a bit more favorably and remember the fun of it, and the new techniques I learned from Ginger.

Santas

MIL wanted to try painting, so we did that on Friday. We painted up a cute Pam Grady santa. MIL has done some watercolor, but not much with acrylics. I think she did a great job.

Crafting

What do you do when your mother-in-law comes to town? CRAFT! DH had to work in the mornings with MIL was here, so we signed up for three classes at Archivers. We had a lot of fun making 10 Little Tags, Create a Calendar, and a Recipe Book. We also made up some cute little treat packets for her work, and spent lots of time shopping! It was a fun week.