The Apple Does Not Fall Far from The Tree!

This is my son, Spencer, the photo of him was taken about 6 mo. ago, he has cut his hair off since then...all graduated from high school and growing up. He is testing out his hand at all kinds of things...work, will start college in January....taking on more responsibility, and just testing the waters to see what it is he enjoys doing. He decided the other day to try his hand at painting. Now grant you, both my kids will play a little in my studio with me, but for the most part...they think paint and art supplies are "mom's thing". But since I have been painting more lately, and having moved my studio/office back home...he has shown an interest. When I say "gallery" ...his hears perk up...he has become curious as to how this whole art thing works. So, when I came home from the gallery the other day and told him about several of the new artist, he decided he wanted to try his hand at painting. So, above you can see his first two attempts! When he was finished, we packed them in the van and I took them over to the gallery with some of my paintings...well much to his delight! Gaylynn like his work, gave him cuddos for his first attempts and framed them and hung them at the gallery...not just at the gallery, but in a prime spot. Spencer is so excited about this, he even posted it on fb to show his friends! He said he had some request paintings for their dorm room! How exciting is that, to be young, discover something that you enjoy doing and for it to be such an exciting thing to see if they sell!!! Yes! For me, it means all those hours of painting and exposing my kids to art, has paid off. If they even love it enough to have it as a hobby, it will make me so happy. Art has been my saving grace all my life, if I can pass that on to even one of my children, that is a good thing!
Hope everyone is looking forward to a great weekend and maybe even some creating! I know I am, the ideas are just poppin around in here....counting the hours till I can pick up the paint brush!!!! Hey, and look, I have posted three days straight now...think that may be a record for me....till tomorrow, bye my friends!

Exciting,Fabulous, Wonderful Day!!!

What a Day!!! Yesterday was such an exciting day! I attended a luncheon at the gallery where I sell my artwork, La Montage, for the Society of Interior Design-Dallas Chapter. Jill and I got to present our line of original artwork for children's rooms! There were two of the other artist there, we also got to meet and that all in itself was a treat. Melissa McKean and Julie Pharr were there to present there artwork too. The group of Interior Designers were such a sweet group of ladies and seemed so encouraging of one another. I loved seeing that. Gaylynn, the gallery owner, had the gallery all decorated for the Holidays and served a lovely lunch of bowtie pasta with sun dried tomatoes in a cream sauce, caesar salad and baguettes. Each place setting had a beautiful handmade ornament from Melissa of ELLE Designs. I wish I had snapped a picture of the tables, they were beautiful! A beautiful gallery filled to the brim with inspiring artwork, lovely ladies, a beautiful hostess, a chance to discuss the benefits of custom artwork....what a fabulous time! And after the event, all the artist gathered at a table and enjoyed lunch together. Wonderful conversation about our work, what inspires us, future projects....and we got to know each other a little more. Kelly, Gaylynn's new assistant joined us and she was so much fun! It was nice to see how great she fit into the mix as she will be representing out work to clients and stores in the future.
It was a day that made me realize how truly blessed I am to be doing something I absolutely love. To be passionate about your work is the most rewarding thing. To wake up each day and look forward to creating.....is like living in a dream!!! Really, if I could make art, teach art, sell art all day everyday... makes me one very happy girl!!!

JUst FoR ToDaY....

I absolutely love reading blogs, love seeing all the pictures too. Every time I read blogs, I get inspired, promise to blog more, but then when I start to try and figure out what to blog about, I get overwhelmed....art, life, emotion, work...what to blog. Well, JUst FoR ToDaY, I will not freak out, not stress...just share a random picture and babble about a little of it all, because, JUst FoR ToDaY, I don't have to be PERFECT!!!
Today is Wednesday, middle of the week and I have an exciting day ahead. I am attending a luncheon for the Dallas Interior Design Society, that is being hosted by La Montage. La Montage is the gallery where I sell my artwork. I am attending not as a designer...but as an artist! I am changing hats and can not wait to wear this one!!! I and several of the other artist that are represented at the gallery, will be on hand to discuss our art, promote our art and just welcome the designers to the gallery. I stayed up really late last night, deciding what to wear (need to look artsy!), even painted my toenails and fingernails! My son came home and said to me...Mom, most women go get their nails done!. Well, not if you decide at 10:00 that it needs to be done! I never plan that far in advance. But nails are done, outfit and accessories are chosen! I am about to hit the shower and get ready....so excited. I will try to remember to take my camera and take some pictures...especially of the other artist and the designers there. I am excited to meet two of the other artist that I have never met. Butterflies in the tummy kind of day, but in a good way. And reminding myself all the way...I do not have to be PERFECT, if JUst FoR ToDay!!!

Tickled Pink and Pleased As Punch!

How could you not be tickled pink when you get to spend the day painting at a fabulous Children's Boutique! I have just completed the dressing room and the castle at Heaven Sent Children's Boutique in Lewisville! What a fun project! I could not help but be inspired by all the darling girlie things at this adorable shop! Tutu's and hairbows, cute, cute clothes and the most precious baby things you could ever want to see! They even have Vera Bradley bags and purses!!! It is a good think I do not have a little girl to dress, but even though I do not, I managed to come home with some of their treasures!!! A tutu for my big dog, the cutest pink stockings for the studio and the sudden urge to paint everything PINK!!! My next project there is to paint a carriage fit for a princess on one of the walls....can't wait to begin!!!!

New Adventures...just a beginning!

As most of you know my first love is painting...I have been know to say that if I could stay home in my pajamas and paint all day, I would be oh so happy!
Well, God must have heard me say it so much, that he began to make that a reality! I have along with my friend Jill Collins, begun an new adventure...we are creating a line of children's art work! We are selling thru a local gallery and loving this new adventure. Beginning in November, they will be marketed to Children's Boutiques and Specialty Stores. Available in prints and originals.
This is so much darn fun that it does not even feel like work!!! So excited to be doing this! So I really do get to spend days in my leopard and rose jammies with paint all over my hands and in my hair...creating whimsical fun!!! This all started and then my friend Shawnee that owns Heaven Sent Children's Boutique in Lewisville, called to say that she was moving her shop to a new location...and then Stride Rite called to ask me to help on there new location too. So that opened the door to two commercial jobs that were so open to creative thinking...I got to let my imagination soar on these! Next post will be some of that work! I am so blessed in my work, I truly love what I am doing and look forward to each new day!!!

Oh Where Do I Begin.....

Where do I even begin to tell you all the places I have been or the things I have done since last I blogged!?! It truly is frightening to recount them all. There are so many things happening, so many things in the works, so many events attended, so much still to do! I have been painting till my fingers have about fallen off, but so happy to be doing that! Filled to overflowing with the joy of constant creating! Well...I guess I will start at the beginning or at least a few months back...Starting in August, we closed the warehouse out....for those of you that had attended our monthly sales, thank you so much for your following! But it truly was becoming a full time job for me...my design work and art making were taking a back seat to it....and it was a mutual agreement from all the Warehouse Artchix involved that it was time for each of us to put our energy into something new. I moved my office and art supplies back home to Irving...creating a home office in one of the spare bedrooms and also creating a larger studio. I now have a seperate studio from my house, but also a studio inside my house as well. And I am still overflowing with art supplies and projects! I love having it all back home and readily available to get to at any time...day or night. I learned so much by having the warehouse, business lessons, creative lessons and lessons in dealing with people and different personalities. I learned to let God take control, to let him lead and to follow. I am glad to turn a page and begin in a new direction too.
So stay tuned and I will fill you in on that new direction and where it is taking me! Have a great weekend!~Sandra

Happy Saturday !

Happy Saturday everyone!!! Hope you are finding this rainy day to be as inspiring as I have.....when it is rainy and overcast, it makes me feel like I need to stay home and work on projects...and that is a good thing. I have been home these last few rainy days working on some new things...do you want a peek? ~~~hint...look at the above photos!

I love painting roses, and the "smooshier" the better! I painted these into a paper cone, the only thing missing is the vintage jeweled piece I am adding to it later today.

I have decided that this piece will be my next class subject to teach. I will be sending out class information this weekend, so stay tuned for the dates and time. I loved teaching at Paper Cowgirl and want to teach more painting classes...or shall I say creative workshops. The girls that took the class at PC were so inspring, I loved interacting with them and seeing what they created!! It just makes me so happy, so why not add more of it to my life!! I am into creating HAPPY, aren't you?

Yes, One Thing Leads to Another and Another...

Now, back to the story.....

if you read the post below (in my backward kind of way!) :)

here are some pics of the monster furniture....see it is so big I could not get it all in the camera lens!

It started out a pale murky green color, but not for long...as I took the brush that already had the brown paint on it from the walls and began painting it, dipping in a can of white paint as I went, so it gave it a kinda vintage whitewashed look. Then for the final coat, I dry brushed a whiter white on top and added some iron pieced to the top and on the table front...painted those white too! THEN the fun began!!!!

I grabbed all the brown transfer ware I could find in my house, some ironstone pieces that I had from my dad's collections and began arranging. I am still working on it some, it changes daily....now I have added my red glass plates behind the brown transferware and love that! Who knew brown and red looked so cool together (yes, I do have the Country Living magazine with it on the cover, thanks to Cindy over at Yapping Cat!!!)

And do you see the cute little sconce hanging on the wall beside it??? I got those years ago at Golightley's in North Richland Hills...they were in my hall bath....but they got updated shades and moved to a better locale! They even came with muslin tea stained cord covers!

Hopefully by the end of the weekend (hear my kids snickering at this!!! and maybe even my sweet mom!) the dining room will be finished.......well it will be done in time for Christmas!!! I promise ...really! ~~~Sandra

Well, there are more things to lead to here...but that's another post~stay tuned for more!

One Thing Leads to Another!!

Yep, I told you in my last post that this would be the title of my next post! It all started when I returned home from the Paper Cowgirl (see pics below). I was so full of inspiration of the creating type and full of ideas I saw at The Dove's Nest, that I promptly began painting. Some on canvas and some on walls and some on furniture! I had work to do when I got home, four paintings for the gallery that a designer had ordered (really she only ordered two, but hey now you gotta give a girl some choices! ...so I painted four). Here are the four paintings~~~above...spa like with umber brown backgrounds and layers of tan, cream, beige and whites....can't wait to see which ones she pics! THEN...I decided I loved the umber back ground color and seeing that I had a huge treasure of a piece of furniture that a friend dropped off on my driveway.....the alternative was the trash (YIKES!!!! who would do that!!!) I decided to paint my dining room walls in the umber color...or at least two of the walls. My kids will testify to the fact that I can get very distracted when painting and sometimes it may be months before I finish the walls. You see, I have to decorate the walls as I finish painting them....working around the room. It is all a creative process to me and finishing the decor on each wall makes me eager to plan the next wall....doesn't everyone do it this way? So after painting the two walls, I had my son help me drag in the big furniture....did I mention that it was a hutch like kinda thing that was a long narrow table and then a shelved piece on top...almost 8 ft tall! Really, I had just three inches to spare to the ceiling! Now lets see if I can get a pic or two of the piece...don't want you to get bored with all the text! Darn it, I can never seem to get the pics right in blogger....it gets me all confused since I also have a typepad blog...and not to mention my ability to forget minor details!!! Lets blame it on ADD, and adult ADD at that! Sooooooo, let me publish this post and I will start a new one so the pics are in order....I know, a crazy way to do things, but hey that is just he way it is! ~~~~~Sandra

Finally Catching Up After Paper Cowgirl

I am finally posting some pictures from the Paper Cowgirl Event, what an incredible experience it was! There were over 70 women there, not just ordinary women, but creative, fun and inspiring women!!! I got to see some familiar face like Nancy, LaVerne, Chantal, Cindy and Ann Denise and I got to meet so many new people. The classes were awesome (the ones I took and the ones I heard about) and the vendor night was the best ever! I came home with an empty wallet and a full van!! Here are just a few of the pictures I took, you can go to www.warehouseartchix to see more!
Here's Cari at our first class on Friday morning (notice her dinosaur bracelet that she bought at the Doves Nest on Thurs. night)...and here is our class kit for Cindy G.'s class, La Petite Boutique...

and here is Cindy Gilstrap and her adorable daughter Courtney.....her class was a french inspired boutique dress form with paper ruffles made out of vintage sewing paper patterns! Too Cute and so fun to learn!!! I still have not finished mine, but I will post it when I finish it!

And here is the adorable Susan Skinner in her hat that I made for her in the Not Just Your Mama's Hat Swap.....it was so fun how it matched what she was wearing....it had lots of vintage baubles on top!

And then when I got home...it was back to creative work painting four "spa" paintings for the gallery, La Montage in Lewisville. These were special orders, and so fun to do....just wait till I show you what this led to. I think my next post will be entitled "One Thing Leads to Another"! That seems to be the way it goes in my world!

I have lots more photos of the PC event, so stay tuned for more of the fun! Thank you especially to Cindy Mayfield for the hard work and commitment she put into this event. She and the much loved and missed Tina Wright started PC and Cindy has put her heart and soul into keeping it going and growing after the death of Tina. Even though Tina was not there in body, we all felt she was there in spirit, and it was a special treat for us all to meet her husband and daughter at the Meet and Greet on Thursday night. Now I am off to post on the warehouseartchix blog...join me there with the link above!!!

Time for the Best Lil' Art Retreat in Texas!!!

That' right, it's time for Paper Cowgirl 2010! And what a line up of classes and teachers...twelve, yep, count em, twelve classes to choose from! And guess what??? I am going to be one of them!!! This will be my second time to teach at Paper Cowgirl and I am so excited to teach another Beeswax Painting class! The big event will be held in Waxahachie, a charming town with lots to see and do! The dates are June 24th-27th, there will be classes, swaps, giveaways, good food and guaranteed friendly creative people to meet and make art with! This is the third year for Paper Cowgirl and I believe it will be the best one yet! To find out more about the retreat and how to sign up, go to http://www.papercowgirl.com/ and get all the details! And to see each artist project and more about them, here is a list of the teachers and thier blogs:

Lisa McIlvain - Mixed Media Art Tags http://tarnishedandtattered.blogspot.com/

Jennifer Babcock - Altered Bird Trinket Box http://glittermyday.blogspot.com/

Mendy Mitrani - Digi Class http://mendytexas.blogspot.com/

Dale McClain - Sea Inspired Shadow Box http://www.dalemclain.blogspot.com/

Jennifer Stewart - Beautiful 4th Banner http://jenniferstewarts.blogspot.com/

Ann-Denise Anderson - Victorian Boots http://www.whimandfancydesigns.blogspot.com/

Angela Berger - Shabby Classy Necklace http://www.filigreemoon.blogspot.com/.

Chantal Johnson - Inspirational Tag Book http://www.chantaljohnson.blogspot.com/

Laverne Johnson - "pocket" book http://www.riversidestudios.com/

Deb Taylor - "Found & Rebound" http://diddebdoit.blogspot.com/

Cindy Gilstrap - La Petite Boutique Altered Canvas http://cindygilstrap.typepad.com/junqueart/

Corrine Clark - French Paper Shoe http://100prettythings.blogspot.com/

Sandra Feazel - Beeswax/Painted Canvas http://7thststudio.blogspot.com/

Joanna Lewis- Feathered Friend Collage http://www.sweetfinds.typepad.com/

Wow! What a line up and what a treat 12 fabulous blogs to look at too! So go get another cup of coffee and join me as I check out each teacher and her project!

I will be featuring the the other teachers and their projects on my blog over the next few weeks too, so stay tuned for more info! But if you want to join us at the Paper Cowgirl Retreat, the first thing you need to do is go to http://www.papercowgirl.blogspot/ and let Cindy know which classes you want to take, before they all fill up!

A Little Lisa Kaus came to my house!!!

A little (really a lot!!!) 0f Lisa Kaus came to my house!!! by way of mail...

IN the way of a blog give away that I won!!! Lisa's blog is so much fun to keep up with, she has such a whimsical style! I love to read her blog and see her latest work, so imagine my surprise when I actually won her blog give away!!! I want to share with you the adorable things she sent to me!!! First, she sent the Sumerset Calendar for 2010...and surprise, she is featured on January with one of her dollie pieces!!! If you go to http://www.lisakaus.com/, you can see more of these fun pieces! Also in the box were two of her mini prints, they are mounted on wood and have the cutes scrolled hangers...I love the WISH one, it is in pink and has one of my favorite prints on it, a whimsical cake! and then she sent one that says "LIVE LIFE JOYOUSLY", that one I hung right by my winter scarves to remind me each day to do just that!!!! FILL IT WITH JOY! Next, she sent a sweet notecard with one of her prints that I will never want to send on, but will hang onto and probably frame....and she enclosed a sweet thank you note! It made me feel extra special to receive all the fabulous things from Lisa! It was such a generous thing to do!!! I look at these each day and am reminded of her thoughtfulness! Thanks Lisa!!! so very very much for all the goodies, I will treasure them always!!!

Saying Goodbye To The Old and Hello to the New...Year that is! 2010

2009 was an incredible year, with so many accomplishments! The biggest of which is my daughter graduated from college! She did it in 3 1/2 years and I am so proud of her! Now 2010 will bring another milestone as my son will graduate from High School! I think that may make me old....almost two grown kiddos! I am stepping into this New Year with great expectations, with great dreams and desires. To be all that God created me to be, to really take the time to look and listen to His guidance! I hope you are as excited to see what this new year brings as I am! Here we are in day 2 of the new year and I have hit the ground running...spent the morning cleaning (purging my house of clutter is a number one proirity!), going to have lunch with my lovely daughter and an old friend of ours that we have not seen in about 8 yrs! and then off to work I go. My January work project is the revamping of an old historical house into a hair salon and day spa....lots of work to do there, as we start off the project with special finishes on the interior and a new paint job on the exterior. Enjoy your day and get lots done too! And here are a few pics of our Baylor Grad! Congratulations Syd!!!!