AND THE CRAZY TRAIN KEEPS ON ROLLIN

As September is right around the corner, I also start realizing, Christmas is right around the corner too! And, Halloween! My two favorite holidays -

And speaking of Christmas, isn't this candle holder cool? At 1st glance I thought it might be painted, but on further exploration and reading, this artisan has attached little leaf beads and round bits of glass to the holder to form a wreath - what a cool idea!

And oh yeah - it is in Exquisite Studios



along with this really cool handwoven basket with all it's little red and clear crystals - what a pretty basket! And it would look wonderful with some greens tucked in it and maybe a candle holder with a candle glowing to make those crystals sparkle! Be sure to check out Exquisite Studios as this artisan also has some pretty neat jewelry too! Another versatile artist for sure!

Now this is a studio I could go nutty in - Amy's Holiday Gifts - she has really cool glass ornaments - one of my favorite things for my two favorite holidays! Isn't this little fused glass ghost ornament just adorable -

And one of my all time favorites - rocking horses!! When my daughter was little she had one of those bouncy horses - and dad was a horseman - and well doesn't every little girl fall in love with horses? I thought it would be ok to just keep one in our backyard when I was little! I started giving my children an ornament every year starting their 1st Christmas, and my daughter does have a few rocking horses in that collection - this one may just join them! That is one of the cool things about finding handmade items on Artfire and other places too - I love being able to give my kids and grandson unique ornaments (and a new grandchild next year) - and where else are you going to find truly unique ornaments? not at those big box stores that for sure!

And we are back to some very pretty red jewelry (it's either red or blue it seems like!) from Beadlady5 who is also a member of the Handmade Artists Forum Artfire Guild. I really like her studio banner - under her name she has "Girls just wanna have pearls" - and if not pearls, then gems, or crystals, or...................................................and she does have a nice variety of jewelry and all reasonably priced too. I love this victorian style pendant with it's pretty red crystals and if this red doesn't do for you.................................................

check out this gorgeous red lampwork bead strung from an awesome bail on a wonderful group of strung beads...............................................oh and wishing I had more money than I do.................not sure what it is about this one - just the whole combination I think, that bail is so cool sort of an art nouveau design - wouldn't that look wonderful with that little black dress for the holidays????

And here, I would like to mention that I am now trying very hard to remember to link the pictures to the item in the studio! As well as linking to the shop in the posts.

And now I'm off to the hardware store to pick up a few supplies so I can finish up some items to get in my own studio - and I've got some new ideas brewing!

Have a wonderful weekend.

The ArtFire Crazy Train Continues

"It's A Jewelry Thing" on ArtFire really has some pretty cool jewelry - and I'm sitting here drooling over this one for sure - love this round piece of Ming Dynasty pottery shard wrapped all nice and pretty dangling below those pretty rasberry pearls and the Hill Tribe silver tube! It's sort of funny, I don't wear much red - but for some reason I'm definitely drawn to red jewelry, I think it must have something to do with garnet being my birthstone!
And these little seashell earrings are pretty cool, and what a sweet idea dangling a light pink pearl below them! OOOH those would look great with the sea shell I wrapped a while back, I never did list it or even show it too many people, I haven't decided yet if I want to make any changes to it - and why am I mentioning it here??? Because, I just want to make sure that people understand that I made my little seashell pendant almost a month ago and didn't copy it from "It's a Jewelry Thing" I'll have to post a picture of it soon! But these earrings are really cool - I love how the pink pearls bring out the pink in the shells. Be sure to visit "It's A Jewelry Thing" there's a sale going on until Sept. 21!

Studio JRU is all about mixed media art inspired by this artisan's faith. If you are looking for something that is inspired by faith, this is the studio to go to with some interesting mixed media art.

I kind of like this Just Imagine plaque - and interesting enough I made a digital collage picture of a hummingbird flying over the moon not too long ago and titled it "Just Imagine" - I think our imaginations are great things when allowed to grow and used to create beauty - so, if you are looking for some inspirational art, go check out Studio JRU

And last but certainly not least, we have Soy Scentual , who makes some of the most delicious looking soy candles, and melts. I really appreciate the fact that this person has posted on the intro to her studio about contacting her 1st if you want to order several items so she can ship everything in the most economical way possible!!! I really appreciate it when people do things like that, and don't start adding up all the shipping charges for each item!

I'm not sure why I grabbed these pictures, as there are some lovely looking citrus slices and some sweet little heart melts as well as one of many people's favorite, cucumber!

One of the great things about soy candles, is they burn so cleanly and after the candle has burned to end in a container, it's so easy to clean out the container. I keep getting distracted by that pretty turqouise candle right above this - and doesn't it look pretty along with that purple? Great color combo there - purple and turquoise - or aqua!

And finishing up with some love with this heart shaped candle - wow - Soy Scentual

has over 200 scents!!!! So many choices.........................mmmm let's see which one .........................
or 2 - or well let's see.........................................................................

CRAZY TRAIN ON ARTFIRE

The ArtFire Crazy Train returns to my blog once again!
I have been tweeting most of the shops, but thought I'd like to go back and do features on my blog.

Starting with The Calico Cat we have this beautiful Poinsettia Print Broomstick Skirt - I love this style of skirt, and this is so pretty in the different poinsettia prints.
Next, also by The Calico Cat are these lovely Prairie Wildflower Handknit socks - I love those colors and the design, and wow don't they look nice and warm - just in time for the upcoming cool weather!!! Be sure to visit http://calicocat.artfire.com/ for some wonderful handknit socks and custom made skirts!

Next, we have Baci's Creations with this very pretty pair of Black Delightful Diamond Earrings made with Czech beads and a silver bead - pretty pretty earrings and they would look great with.........

this Black Hematite necklace - both perfect for the litle black dress! Be sure to visit http://baciscreations.artfire.com/ for some great handmade jewelry.

And talk about your versatile artist, Liberty Doll Creations has the largest variety of just about any studio I've ever seen. From these delightful mini-envelopes, doll clothes, diecuts, polymer clay creations, altered notebooks to

these sweet little drawstring pouches - she has lots of other designs too - this is a great studio to check out if you are looking for something but don't know quite what you are looking for - because there are just so many wonderful little goodies here http://libertydoll.artfire.com/

Be sure to check out these studios and support handmade!

EXCITED

And I may have to change the title of my blog!!!

I was getting a bit jealous looking at other's art work - as in paintings.

This has been my dream ever since I was very young, to be an artist. I studied drawing and painting for 4 years in college, then a year or so after that I got sick.

Then, I got a little better and tried painting again. Painting made me sick, I would wake up the next day feeling like I had the worst hangover, and my eyes would usually be swollen almost shut and even my face would be very puffy - not a pretty sight!

and I cried, a lot!

Then, the other day, I just had to break out the oil paints, along with a painting I started about 8 years ago!
I painted about 2 hours on Sunday - and I didn't feel sick, my face didn't get all puffy - and I woke up Monday without feeling like I drank a whole bottle of whisky the night before!

Painted on it for about 1 hour on Monday, not bad.
worked on another one - the very 1st layer so that was with a lot of paint thinner - I could tell that was getting to me after about 1/2 hr - so that will have to happen outside for now on I think - but - again I woke up the next day without the icky side effects! although I did sleep a lot on tuesday.
I did have the window wide open and the air cleaner going right next to my palette. For a while, I had another fan going blowing the fumes away from me, but that was blowing cat fur onto the painting, so I turned that off. :) No paint thinner during the painting sessions, just wiped my brushes as clean as possible in between colors if need be and go on!

I'm also pretty happy about the way the picture came out, as the paint is really shiny due to the painting medium I'm using. It may take a while to get it finished as I'm still a bit hesitant to paint for more than a couple of hours at a time, and besides, the back doesn't really allow me to paint longer than that anyway.

So, with much delight, I give you the beginning stages of
"Amaryllis" a 24" x 30" original oil painting on artist board.

And The Winner Is..........................................

So, I looked around for someone to help me out with this drawing today - seems like everyone is out shopping - so I did this - and sorry one of the pics is sort of funny - seems blogger doesn't want to cooperate with me.



Cut up the names and put them in my lovely blue bowl.........................
Shut my eyes and pulled out a name - and the winner is:

Congrats Andrew!!!!!

So, when you get the pendant, I want to see a picture of you with it on!!

and then you can give it to your sweet wife!!!!!

Thanks everyone for entering and leaving comments - sorry if you didn't win this time, but be assured, I will have another drawing in the not too distant future.

Have a great day everyone!