Hope for Oklahoma

Besides doing my teddy bear collection I have also donated 5 of my inspired art gals to help raise money for the families in Oklahoma. There is over 170 items amazing stuff from all over. So head on over to www.facebook.com/hopeforok

Bid often and generously if you can!!!

Be the good

Is it just me or does it feel like lately we go from one tragedy to another?  The recent devastating tornado in Moore, OK has left me with a heavy heart.  I am a weepy mess and felt like I wanted no NEEDED to do something.  It was while I was driving my kids that the thought of teddy bears came to me and I knew it wasnt just a silly thought, I had to do this, I needed to collect as many teddy bears as possible and so I created a FB page and a blog.  I told my family and friends and sent the information out into the world with a prayer that this would be huge that we would comfort as many kids as we could.  

I am in the very early stages but I know in my heart and soul this is only the beginning!  I would love your support of my calling, here is the blog:  teddybearsforkids.blogspot.com and the FB page: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Teddy-Bears-for-Kids/317264511737405

Please share and like the facebook page, lets have this journey together!

Finding the time to paint

The #1 question I get (especially once someone finds out I have four kids under the age of 6) is when do I find the time to paint. Some of its late nights but honestly lately I'm so tired after I get all the kids down for the night I'm pretty quick to have my own head to hit the pillow. So instead I'm creative with my time.



I put the baby in a sling. I pull out the paint during quiet time. And today since the weather is getting nice I take the paints with me to our different appointments we have during the week. I get about 30 -45 minutes a day just by doing that.

So there you go, no excuses if you want to be creative carve out the time!

The (ugly) truth about painting

I am very much so a novice painter. I only started to dip my fingers/brushes in paint a few years ago. And more value based painting? I think we are approaching a month :D.

Here is what I'm learning its all about layers. Some really ugly "will this ever look pretty?" layers.

Here is the current painting I have up on my easel. No pretty picture here (yet)!




Layer one the outline/foundation of the darkest spots




Getting some flesh tones laid in




Put in her irises.




Hated her irises so whited them out again!




And this is where ugly stage really comes in! I looked back at my reference photo and her eyes had gotten really low while I kept packing on the shading areas. Solution? Never be afraid to gesso out and start over? And her hands? Not feeling confident on such a detailed hand so gessoed that out and re-drafted her pose.

And that is where she is right now on my easel! Back to work I go, more updates soon!

Now go paint, draw, sew, write.... Whatever makes your crafty heart sing, and don't be afraid of "mistakes" think of them as just another layer of the finished product!

Newsletter..... wha?!?!?!?

This photo has nothing to do with the post I just figured a cute photo will prompt you to sign up!

Yep, I did it I finally got my butt in gear and got a link over there on the right for you to sign up for my newsletter.  Why sign up for my newsletter, well I promise I will only send it out once a month unless I have something fun and up my sleeve for my newsletter subscribers like coupons, promotions, and what the heck even some free stuff!  So if you want to hear a bit more from me on a casual basis sign up buddy!

a moment in time

I recently read a silly quote on facebook, something along the lines of: my house was clean last night, then the kids woke up this morning, the end.  

his favorite silly face currently

That sums up my life pretty well, I am trying really hard to embrace the mess and all that comes with a houseful of kiddos (if you are keeping track we are now up to four!)  I know that one day they will all be grown up and the only messes I will have will be mine (most likely from paint tubes).  So instead of focusing on the mess I will focus on the kiddos that make the mess because boy oh boy do they make my heart swell!

the mess seems to come back everyday

What is making your heart swell lately?  Lets chat in the comments!

Pay what you can, no really!

So as some of you may (or may not know)  I have been pushing my art for awhile, and as I have been pushing my art has taken some twists and turns really changing even from what I was doing less than 6 months ago.  Because of that I am ready to move on and find permanent homes for the art I have made over the last few years.  There is a big mix of items (some only a few months old others 3 years old!) I am ready to part with and I thought a fun way to do this would be to give those that have always wanted some of my art but didnt have the funds to be able to name your own price.  No really, I am asking that minimally the price is $5 plus shipping.  Want to pay more, great, cant, no biggie leave the price at $5 at the time of check out.  

So here is how this will work, see the link on the top of my blog that says, shop?  (Those using a feed reader, you need to click over to my site) click on that link and it will take you to all the pieces up for grabs, there are a lot of different series and as new pieces come back into inventory (I have some stores sending over some pieces to get a new rotation going) I will put them up as well.  (also those that were hoping for inspired art gals, I have a HUGE amount in inventory but I am waiting to hear back from a consignment store first before I list these, if they dont want them, they are all yours folks!)  Sorry back to the details, when you find a piece you love and must have add it to your shopping cart, if you feel the piece is worth more than the $5 minimum you can adjust the price right there in the shopping cart and then click update cart.  Now shipping, I have set it up that each piece is $10 shipping for US customers, now if the shipping is less I will refund you the cost after it is mailed back to your paypal account, so please dont let the shipping cost sway you.  International customers, please contact me for a quote and I can send you a paypal invoice.  I have set up the cart to not let you add a piece if it has already sold, but I am new with some of this html coding so if a piece has already sold, please dont get mad if I have to refund you your offer, I will also try my best to delete art pieces as they are sold but I cant guarantee how quick I will be able to do that, such is life with four kiddos running around.  

So if you got through all the fine print, yay!  Now get to shopping!

Progression of a painting

We are going to focus on the top right painting (sorry I didn't take a picture of the sketch on its own). So first I sketch out my drawing. Then I lay down a glaze where flesh tones will be seen.

Shading begins, when I work on a face I almost always wait to paint the eyes until I'm almost done with the face.


Background is laid in.

And here she is. I'm thinking about doing a few videos of my paintings but not sure if there is interest and there is a good chance there will be lots of seeing my kiddos popping their heads in and out throughout the whole thing!
Not sure anyone is still out there but if you are, hi and thanks for sticking out all the silence, I'm really hoping that this time I'm really back for good!!!