New blog

Hi, everyone! I've begun a new blog to focus on my new path in life.....I will still be faux finishing, but very little. Teaching is a huge commitment and I intend to give it my all, so any painting I do will be on holidays and over summer break. Miss P Productions, www.misspproductions.blogspot.com, will focus on my art and my family. I'd love to have you come by!

A Performance in Temecula!

My daughter, Stephanie Scarcella, an opera studies student at The Boston Conservatory, has a paid (well, a tiny amount, anyway) gig performing opera at The Merc in Temecula, California on August 6! I am so proud of her! If you are nearby and want to hear her beautiful mezzo-soprano voice, please give her a hug and tell her you know about her from my blog.....and wish her success with her upcoming graduate degree program! If anyone out there wants to tell me how to load a recording of her singing, I'd love to add one to this post.

We made it!

We made it through the graduation and celebration without tears! Yes, I did get a little watery eyed a couple of times, but mostly with pride. Everyone was so gracious and helpful, and we had enough food to have three parties! Here is Natalie with her grandmothers at the inspiration celebration (what is now done instead of a baccalaureate).

Life's twists and turns

What a wild ride we're on. Last weekend my youngest daughter and I attended my oldest daughter's college graduation in Boston. In two short weeks Stephanie and I will be attending my youngest's graduation! Family is coming in and festivities must be prepared for. I will be using ideas gathered on many websites, including Heather's and Suze's.

Unfortunately, we must also face a challenge - my mother in law, a beautiful 69 year old woman, suffered a stroke. She is currently doing well with therapy, but the cause of the stroke brings some scary decisions and much uncertainty.

So we keep living our rollercoaster ride of a life, and are grateful for friends and loved ones who are there for us to share the joys, sorrows, challenges, and triumphs!

Mother's Day

Can birds read?

What a lazy, lovely Mother's Day! I did whatever I darn well pleased! :) Here are a couple of pictures from my trip to the beach early yesterday. The heron on the pier rail let me get within two feet of him to take photos, although this one was from across the walkway. A young boy walked up to look at him, and after about 10 seconds he flew off - poor kid may have thought he was a statue, he jumped so! Click on the image if you 'd like to see it up close and personal (the way we did!). And if you would like to leave me a comment, just click the blue word comments directly beneath this post to send me a little message.

Keeping up with baby

I try to check in on baby Bella to see how she is growing - you might want to visit this blog, http://daisyrockerjenn.blogspot.com, to see her photos, video, and pictures of her progress. It truly is a miracle.

I have offered to donate a custom piece to help defray medical costs for a beautiful, premature baby, Bella. Please read more about her and the lovely people who have donated incredible art to help her at http://talkingwhitetrash.blogspot.com/2009/04/great-i-am.html.

Freebies!

Tammy is giving away a cute piece of her art! Stop by http://thefroufroufrog.blogspot.com/ to enter.

My babies are growing up!

Lately I've been frantically preparing graduation announcements - those for my youngest, Natalie, who is graduating from high school, and those for my oldest, Stephanie, who is graduating college. When I picked up photos to insert in the announcements, I looked at graduation cards, and reality hit. Now, I am not your weepy mom type, but I truly got tears in my eyes realizing that my little girls, both beautiful, talented, and independent, will need and even want me or my input less and less. After all, that is what I raised them to do! I am so proud of who each of them are, but I am already missing being as important a part of their life as I used to be. Guess this is what they mean by the empty nest syndrome!

Fenway Victory Gardens, Boston

Here are a few of my favorite pictures from the Fenway Victory Gardens in Boston. I will make it a point to take pictures again in May to record the changes. So many things were budding and I was lucky enough to find a few blooming during my small, sunny window of warmth opportunity! Most of my visit was cold and wet!

copper backsplash

I just love how rich this aged copper backsplash looks with the existing cabinetry! I also put this treatment in the recessed ceiling tray which has a stainless steel frame - very chic!

Promised before and afters

Here are the promised before and after photos, although not the best lighting was available. I'll be taking new photos for my portfolio after I seal them, in the daylight.

Home Again, Home Again

My weekend in Boston was so short and sweet! My lovely daughter sang beautifully and looked like a grown woman - well, I'd best face the fact that she is! The weather was gorgeous, not cold at all, until Monday morning........it snowed! I stood on her roof catching snowflakes on my tongue until it was time to walk to the T and head to the airport. We arrived in Fort Myers to 80 degrees and sunshine.

I'm working on a staircase for a client, which I hope to show you soon!

Finding my muse

After a little disappointment on the job front, I felt a need to be productive in some way other than housework (don't we all?). On Saturday I wasn't completely sure of my direction after deciding that I needed to rework my inchie canvas, but suddenly I felt the urge to drill. Yes, drill, as to put holes into things. So I pulled out all kinds of metal, plastic and wood embellishments I had saved and drilled away! It felt great!

On Sunday I got to Lakes Park just after the gates opened at 8 a.m. to look for birds, critters, and scenery to photograph. It was amazingly quiet there, and the birds were rather shy, but I managed to find a few treasures. Some of the camoflauge was awesome!

First is a little yellow finch, who came out of the center of his tree to pose for me, then a red wing blackbird scolding me for getting too close, a portal through the trees, and a spider web glistening in the sunbeam (there is actually another, larger spider web to the right that you might be able to see if you enlarge the photo).

I hope you enjoy the few pictures I am sharing today. I am off to walk a dog, then on to a lovely day with my best friend......part of which involves getting a new canvas for my inchies!

shabby chic mode

Perhaps it was Valentine's Day, perhaps just my need for soft, gentle surroundings at this particular time, but I've been playing in the shabby chic materials! I want to share the three matchboxes I received in a swap recently, via the Speckled Egg, as well as some things I've done with some of the contents of those sweet little boxes. The blue green heart seems to need an image on the tag.....Now I'd best get started on my altered book!

On-line course offer!

Have you ever wanted to refinish a piece of furniture or your cabinetry? Now is your chance to go through the process with a qualified instructor step-by-step! We will work on something on a smaller scale to give you a taste, but your final product will be one of quality and beauty. As I refinish a small cabinet, I will offer you downloaded instructions, on-line question and answer capabilities, photos, supply lists, and every little tip and hint you might need to avoid frustration and be proud of your accomplishment! The price of the class is $25.

Above is an example of the item I will be refinishing; I picked it up at a thrift store for $3 just to play with it. I don't know about you, but I always need more storage for little art supplies. I might even leave the doors off for use in some other way....hmmm....

Please come join us at ArtisticAvantGarde, (http://artisticag.ning.com), and let me know that you are interested. I look forward to having fun with you!

And the winners are....

Third place - men working pendant - Jill with Jewelry Elegance
Second place - connect pendant - Contessa Kris

First Place, the 16X20 photo of the beached starfish.........Crystal Neubauer!

I am going to send each one of them (you) an email, but if I don't hear from you by Sunday, I'll draw again.

Congratulations! I wonder if I'll get lucky today?......

For Sale?

This week I have been helping a friend of mine prepare her home for sale - taking off wallpaper, adding texture, priming, and soon I will paint, all in the main bathroom. When she bought this home three years ago she put a lot of money into remodeling the kitchen, so now it's time to update the bath......including the 1980 formica cabinetry. She's such a dear friend and sweet, loving lady, that I just want to help her get it sold in this poor market.

Oh! Let's not forget that tomorrow ends the OWOH event, and I will not take any submissions to the drawing after 6 P.M. I'll have my daughter help me choose first for the two pendants, then for the photo, and will post them Friday morning. I'll be sure to contact the winner via their email, also! Won't this be fun????!

Almost 200!

As I look into the entries for my OWOH drawing, I see that the number has reached almost 200 entrants! So.....I am offering the two soldered pendants shown in addition to the 16 X 20 inch photo originally offered! These photos were given to me by my mother, and were taken in the WWI era. Don't forget to put your email address IN your comment - I've tried to track some down, which takes a long time and often doesn't get me an address, which means I can't put that name in the drawing. :(
If you have time, please indulge me and answer the poll question on my sidebar to the right. I'm planning to offer an on-line class and would love your input.

I teach faux finishing classes here!

Please provide me with feedback!

I am going to try something - teaching a faux finishing class on-line. Would you kindly help me by answering the poll question to the right, in my sidebar? Feel free to choose more than one answer. Your feedback would really be helpful to me in choosing the class to teach. Keep on blogging!

Teaser

Here's a teaser for all of you participating in the One World, One Heart event......when I have 100 comments, I'm going to add another prize! In size, it will be much smaller. :)

Poem from a friend

Wow! I'd really like to share a poem written by one of my entrants into the One World, One Heart give-away - she sent it to my email and honored me again by allowing me to post it to my blog.

Be sure that if you are entering to comment to the previous post, not this one.

Lovely little starfish

Covered in some sand,

Wondering ‘bout his life

While sitting on dry land.

Then along came a lady

With camera in hand,

And made that starfish famous

Ain’t life grand!

Katina

Kjkoukla(at)hotmail(dot)com

Isn't that cool??

Big give-away!

The big event has begun! As a member of the One World, One Heart gypsy caravan, I am offering a 16" x 20" photo of the above starfish, the same photo of mine that was published in Somerset Life Images last summer. This starfish was beached at low tide on the north end of Fort Myers Beach, Florida, and the early morning sun was casting shadows and peeking around the tiny dunes.

Here's what you have to do to be in the drawing: comment to this post, leaving me your email address so that I can contact you if you win! It's that easy! You don't have to be a blogger or a member of any group. I must have your email address and you must comment to this post only. By checking back, you can find out how many people have entered; but remember, there is only one entry per person, so everyone's odds are the same! You never know who will win! The drawing is on February 12, 2009. Click on the One World, One Heart icon on the right hand side of my blog page to see others who are participating.

Give Away!

Hi, everyone! Just a reminder to peek here tomorrow for the One World, One Heart give-away! I'll be posting the item I will give away to a winner announced on February 12, and everyone is welcome to try to win! Check out the link on the right for more information, but I'll also have thorough directions tomorrow! Hint: It's something I'm very proud of!

Cape Coral Arts Festival

Bonnie Fulks, my dear friend, and I, decided to team up! We entered a booth at the Cape Coral Arts Festival, but were on a waiting list for a space. Friday, the day of registration and set-up, we found out we were in - thank goodness we were all ready to go! And thank goodness we did this! Wonderful connections with people were made and we had so much fun. Of course, the compliments felt terrific, but the best parts were meeting so many people, sharing our passion with the public, and getting to know one another even better. Bonnie has had experience with this venue, and was a great leader in the set-up and break-down experience. All in all, it was fantastic, and we feel sure we will have the opportunity to share our skills with new clients in the future.

Art Festival

Oh, my goodness. A good friend, another faux finisher, and I were on a waiting list to have a booth at a large art festival here - and we found out we're in! We have everything ready (we think). Tonight we check in, can set up her tent at 8:00, and set up tomorrow before the show which starts at 10 and runs until 5. It repeats those hours on Sunday, too. We really have talked a long time about working together, playing off of each other's strengths (hers being plasters and mine being cabinetry), so we are hoping and praying that this venue brings us appointments and jobs for months to come. It will definitely be a new experience for me! I'll post pictures Sunday night or Monday.

Ending the year right!

Oh, what a lovely last day of 2008! After lingering over coffee and browsing artsy websites, my best friend and I went to the beach, my absolute favorite place. Score! It was a perfect day! We talked, walked, perused magazines, people and pet watched, took photos, and sneaked a small D.Q. Blizzard. We forced ourselves to leave after four hours of bliss, and I came home to work on sample doors. Perhaps I should find a new word to use for "work", because I just love doing it. A breeze was blowing through the studio, Sophia was chillin' on the floor beside me, and Bella Fleck was keeping me humming. After dinner we watched a couple of movies, munched popcorn, and vegetated until the New Year arrived. Perfect.