Welcome?

This is a painting from around Halloween.  Thus the "welcome" sign on a gateless fence...

The Path not Taken

Today, we are enveloped in a snow storm, so I'm posting this painting from more pleasant weather as a distraction.  Enjoy!

The Newborn

This is a sweet little 8x10 on canvas board that I painted from a friend's baby announcement.  I am planning to give it to her, hopefully before the little one is in college!

The Firefly Princess

This is a fun little 5x7 painting on canvas board, part of my dreaming fairies series, based on little girls playing dress-up.  This little one is lost in a beautiful dream world, looking to the distance for her next adventure.

Thursday is craft day! Recycled earring card beads.

Check out this new blog, showcasing my daughter's crafts, she is so talented!  Parties and Crafts  I think she is trying to send me a hint that we need to have another Valentine's party!

Valentines day: green is the new pink...heart bracelet

My next posts are going to be about "green" being the new pink for Valentines Day.  I will be using recycled materials as much as I can to make cute Valentines day crafts and party favors.

This is a bracelet that I am making for my friends for Valentines day.  The little sparkly purple and blue hearts are made from the cards that earrings come on.  These are from Claire's, but any should work.

For the instructions, click here.

Painting of window with forest view

This is one of the most beautiful views in the world to me, Sirkka and Olavi's kitchen window.  Once upon a time, many years ago, I was an exchange student and stayed with two terrific families in Finland.  The second family I stayed with didn't really speak English, and was hesitant to take an exchange student.  We had so much fun, and have remained good friends today.  They have moved from the town where I stayed with them, but their new house has a beautiful view of the forest, and if you follow a trail to the left a couple hundred meters, there are ancient, prehistoric graves covered by lots of granite stones.  Like most places in Finland, the forest is full of berries in the summer, and ski trails in the winter.  It is a beautiful place out this window, I have sat here often with my morning coffee.  Now, this painting on stretched canvas hangs in my dining room, a great memory and constant reminder of my dear friends.  Some day I may give it to them, but maybe I will wait until they come to visit and fetch it...

Painting without brushes--palette knife painting

This is an 8x10 acrylic painting on stretched canvas that was made entirely with a palette knife, no brushes at all.  I love making birch trees with palette knives, they have so much more depth than brush-painted ones.  This one is a favorite of mine, it has so much movement.