Here is the APJ contest entry I finished. I LOVE painting on vintage wooden ironing boards. They invoke the warmest feelings and have a great surface to paint on. I don't know if you can see the details or not. Inside the larger snowman is a nativity snowman scene. It was a lot of fun to do! Hugs!!!

God Bless Our Veterans

I just wanted to send out a very happy Veterans Day to our Vets. Thank you and God bless you for your service to our great country. Our family loves and values every effort you and your families have made in your lives for each of us. It's our wish that each of you has a blessed holiday season and a prosperous and happy new year! Be safe and you are in our hearts!!!

Prim Grubby Iceskate

I had to delete the photo and the post for this tutorial. I asked that it not be copied or reposted without my permission and unfortunately it has been. I'm sorry for the inconvenience and hope that in the future the people that stole this & who were not artistic on their own without swiping my tutorial can find other means to find inspiration. I hope I can find other means to share my tutorials.

Taking time to do the shows

I wanted to post something about working a craft show or a booth. This past weekend I went to one of the largest outdoor craftshows in southern Colorado. The setting was absolutely gorgeous... in a historic landmark park, near Pikes Peak in the background, beautiful grounds. I have gone for many many years to this event and look forward to it every year. There are thousands of people who come to it.
I noticed a few less booths/tents this year and that is probably attributed to the economy. At first glance you see several EZ-ups in various stages of set up. This show opened on a Friday late afternoon and I was there first thing at opening on Saturday morning. That was a surprise that so many people had not taken the time to be finished setting up with hundreds of people already getting into line. I know that between getting the last of your items made, tagged and packed that you can be so exhausted during set up. The problem is... I don't want to stand there and wait for the set up while I have already stood in line for 30-45 minutes already to pay to get in. The vendors were still trying to assemble displays and then frantically hanging their items from the poles and the upper tent structure inside. That doesn't make it look appealing at all. Those are potentially lost sales because of a lack of preparation.
I also noticed very few attempts at a welcoming entrance to the space. Something autumn... cornstalks, scarecrow. mums... anything like you would use to draw someones attention and make it welcoming. The entrances into the booths were generally tight and not easy to manuever around in just by yourself. When you put decorative elements (or for sale decorative elements) at your entrance... attach it to the posts to keep it out of the way. Keeps the tripping and manuevering to a minimum.
I was surprised at how vendors didn't take advantage of using varying heights to display their items. Nothing up near the eye level mostly flat on a table or leaning on the front of the tables. It won't make your eye travel to see all of what is available in that booth.
Lastly... and most surprisingly I was so disappointed at the lackluster greetings if any I received when coming up on a booth/tent. I tried to engage the vendors, admiring their wares and they seemed very disinterested and sat solemnly in a chair behind some items. Very few smiles, hellos and just a general who cares attitude. In this economy every sale is important. Take the time to say hello, make small talk and make people feel welcome in your space!! If you don't... it is easy to just shrug shoulders and move on to the next one... which is what I did. It doesn't cost a single penny to wish someone a good day, smile, and be genuinely pleased that someone took the time to pause and look over the things you took such time to work on. People will remember that and perhaps the next year or the next show when they see you again they will be eager to say hello and come in again. Kindness matters !!! I hope everyone has a lot of success with any shows they are working on and enjoys the upcoming season when they can visit the latest booths of wonderful creations!! Wishing you many blessings and a delightful autumn season, Dawn !!

Textured Snowman Pots

I thought I would post a tut on the snowman pots that I have made for many years. I do several different kinds but we'll go with the textured one for now. These pots are for wrapped candies or goodies... NOT for plants and definitely not for food to directly touch the pot. Prewrap some homemade goodies and place it inside this sweet little snowman pot.

For the supplies you will need:

* terra cotta pots with all labels and stickers removed (you pick the size you want)

* off set spatula (ONLY for craft use-NEVER FOR FOOD)

* paint brush/ paint rinse container

* acrylic paints- white and any other colors of your preference

* interior latex texture paint

* clear or white glitter/ glass glitter

* table covering/floor covering

* old long shirt

* pumpkin colored sculpey clay

* toothpick

* parchment covered OLD cookie sheet (NOT USED FOR FOOD!!)

* black buttons for eyes/ or choose something you'd like for the eyes

* OLD powdered blush with brush

* black thin line fabric paint in a bottle (ie..tulip)

* varnish for sealing interior and lip edge of pot

* E6000 glue

* Qtip

Paint the interior of the pots you are making with a color of your choice. I used black inside mine. Along the rim edge of the pot you can paint it however you wish. You can do a solid color, plaid, stripes, tiny snowflakes, a scripture verse, a seasonal greeting, or perhaps someones name painted along the edge. After this dries paint the outside of the pot below the lip with your white acrylic paint. Do not worry about complete and even coverage. It's just to help hide the terra cotta color from peeking through the texture you will be applying. You can apply a thin coat of varnish to cover the interior of the pot and the decorated edge of the pot. Don't worry about covering the white painted sides with varnish. Let the varnish dry. After this step take your offset spatula and begin spreading the latex texture across the sides of the pot...without getting it onto the decorated edge. Do not make it a thick layer. Evenly spread it just enough to cover the sides of the pot. Do not put any texture on the outside bottom of the pot. You can use the offset spatula to carefully push up the texture just enough to meet the painted edge of the pot. Use a Qtip to wipe a very small dime sized area of texture from the area you will want to glue on the nose. If you want you can sprinkle the glitter on the textured area for a little new snow sparkle. Tap gently to release the loose glitter. Set the pot(s) aside to dry thoroughly for at least a full day if not a bit longer. While the pot dries get out the pumpkin colored sculpey clay and pinch off a small ball of it. Place it on a very clean work area and make sure your hands are clean as well. Knead it and roll it into a ball. On one side of the ball roll it slowly to bring it to a cone shape. Flatten out the large end so it will adhere to the side of the pot. Take your toothpick and make small lines randomly across and around the entire "cone" to give it the appearance of a carrot. You can bend it slightly or leave it as is. Bake as directed on sculpey package. Watch it carefully so it doesn't brown or burn. It may take a tiny bit longer if you make a thicker nose. Once the nose(s) have been baked and cooled completely, varnish with a thin coat. Let dry completely. Take your textured pot once it's dry and add a little bit of blush where the cheeks would be. Put a dab of E6000 on the end of the nose and attach it to the pot in the spot you wiped clean with a Qtip. When this is set, glue the buttons or whatever you chose for the eyes with the E6000. You can make a tiny white highlight mark at the top of each eye. When the glued items have set you can add a squiggly "happy" smile line with the fabric paint. Be sure when you do get ready to squeeze the fabric paint that the paint is to the tip of the bottle so the air bubbles don't pop and splatter on the texture. Let the pot dry again and fill it with whatever makes you smile. I have some other ways I've made the pots that you can see in the picture. Have a blessed day!!! No reproductions of this article without my express permission, thank you.

Painting on chairs!

I think handpainted chairs are so special! You can take a keepsake...your childs first rocking chair or your fathers chair that he always used at the table and really personalize it. There is something uniquely welcoming with a chair. It invites you to rest, perhaps we will slide it next to that special someone to share some smiles, and an empty chair can invoke anticipation of a friends visit. We can rock in them, sit with our arms resting on them, or watch our little ones squiggle at the thought of being big enough for their own chair. They can be painted to suit well in our nests or perhaps be painted to look perfect in a friends home. I love painting everything from large adult rockers, adult chairs, small rockers, and childrens chairs.

I want to preface this with the fact that you can make it amazingly simple or as ornate as your hands (and patience :) ) will allow. It's up to you. First...if this is a keepsake you are keeping or giving look at it as such. Are you going to use colors and designs that will go along with the memories of the chair? If it's your dads...you can use colors that invoke him and his preferences. Did he like to fish, hunt, work on his car, camp, bbq, construct...use these images and put them on the seat or along the top back of the chair. I like to paint and use pictures to inspire me. If handpainting isn't your thing maybe you could find some images that represent the feelings you are trying to convey and modge podge it onto the chair. You can even modge podge a cut length of fabric from your grandpas shirt or grandmas apron onto the top back of the chair/rocker. For a childs chair you could make it with tiny flowers for a little girl or a race track across the top back down the arms and onto the seat for a boy. For my taste I don't really get into the aspects of decorating with licensed characters. There is enough of that stuff out there to choke a horse. Besides if you are going to go thru the effort of doing this work...why have what someone else has. You can use simple strokes to paint petals, leaves, vines, etc and the end of your paintbrush or end of an eraser for circles or berries. Handlettering is also a nice personal touch but you can use thin paper letter cut outs and modge podge them on if that's your preference.

When you pick out your chair...take a good look at it. If it needs some minor repairs, sanding, peeling paint... get that out of the way. Prep it by cleaning it very well. All the spindles, slats, rockers need to be scrubbed up. If not you will see extra bumps and even dirt/grease rolled in your work. Yikes! The extra attention to the details will make it worthwhile in the end. After you've cleaned it you can lightly sand the entire thing. This to remove the top layer so your paint will adhere nicely to the chair. After completing this you need to take a damp cloth/tac cloth to get in and around all the crevices and it will remove the sanding dust. You can choose to spray prime the chair grey if it is unevenly colored to give it a nice jumping off point. I have done it both ways so it is just personal choice. Decide ahead of time your colors and use painters tape to contain the areas you want to paint. For example if you want to paint the spindles/slats one color and the seat another... tape off areas to keep the paint colors crisp and separate. It may very well take several layers to give adequate coverage. Thin even coats are really crucial to a nice look. Do not use thick layers of paint to hurry the job. It looks blotchy and generally pretty bad. If you are in a hurry.... wait and do it when you have the time. I use my absolute favorite PLAID brushes for painting chairs. They have some larger ones to cover more area, but I love the control of smaller brushes. Yes it takes longer but it's worth it. Believe me... one chair in particular that I painted took me about 24 hrs total. I didn't want to see a chair again for at least a week LOL! It was worth it though in the end. After you have completed the chair and like what you see...you can spray clear acrylic paint to seal it or varnish it with a few light coats. Now...pull up a chair and enjoy having created something that will bring lots of smiles and uniquely yours! I would like to give credit to Renee Mullins for her snowman design that I handpainted on the middle chair seat!! Blessings, Dawn

Can't get my profile picture to show

I'm frustrated because no matter what I seem to do I can not get my profile picture to show up when I am following other blogs! The grey shadow box that currently shows makes me look like I'm in a line up...LOL!! I wish I had the computer skills to get what is in my head onto my blog, etc.... someday??? :)