Oh, Such a Bad Blogger!

I told myself I wasn't even going to begin by saying anything about resolutions...

 it's over two weeks into 2014

(how did that happen?)

 and I am just now wishing you all a Happy New Year...

I hope it's going well for everyone!

Why is it that I put off things that I love doing?

♥

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I identify so well with this fellow!

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My good friend Ardeth sent me this cute kitty New Year's card...



Love it!

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And, I promised pictures of some of my animal-portrait ornaments,



so even though it is late, late, late...



(Or extremely early, depending on how you look at it)



I'll still post some pictures ~ :)



Hope you like them...I just love doing these ornaments!



Let's just pretend I'm really on the ball for 2014!



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Here's my painting set-up...satin glass ornaments and acrylic paints.

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I begin by lightly sketching in the face using a liner brush



 with thinned white acrylic.



This is my Tallulah ~ ♥



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Then I blocked in the main colors...



White always takes several coats!



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Leo, contemplating art and life...



and wondering why it's 'Lulah on the ornament!



(It looks like he's just drained the shot glass, doesn't it?



Those little glasses are perfect ornament-holders!)



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Making progress on Tallulah's ornament...

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Finished!

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Here are a couple of sweet canines..



Since I wasn't familiar with these fellows,



I did more detailed preliminary sketches before actually painting on the ornaments.

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Here's one of the finished pups...this is Kody ~ ♥



I'll also be adding house-portrait ornaments for 2014 :)

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Now, I'm actually going to do a second post with a little project I just finished!



Stay tuned!



I'm going to leave you with a few photos from Christmas...



hope all of you had a merry, blessed one!

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I didn't really have a plan for decorating this year...



I was so busy with commissions, and there had been so much going on...



Somehow little vintage toys just gathered themselves together...;)



and I decided that they were as good a theme as any...♥

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I know, there's a LOT of stuff...



When it was finished it kind of reminded me of a Christmas "I Spy" book



Jonathan had when he was little....

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The Crossword Anagram letters are from my childhood...



The truck was Nelson's, and the little iron was my mom's...as were the story books.



(Except "Alice", I got that when I was little.)

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The china doll, toy kitchen utensils and miniature furniture were also my mom's.

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The little vintage Santa belonged to husband Nelson's mother...



a birthday candle just fits in his holder ~ :)

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Antique German chocolate molds...many from my dear friends Elaine and Wendy. ♥♥♥

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An Ino Schaller belsnickle...in lavender...love him!

The celluloid reindeer has red rhinestone eyes...♥

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I filled my sleigh with all vintage glass ornaments...there's a Santa lightbulb,




twisted tin icicles, aluminum bells (also Nelson's mom's) and my little Woolworth's Nativity, too,




still in its original box (29 cents) in there, too!




Have a wonderful weekend, all!









Love,






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The "Catch-Up Queen"...

Hello, All!

 

Once again, catching up...

 

So much going on here, so many changes...


 

Still not used to the "new normal" empty nest ~

 

♥

 

We have also lost two family members

 

 in the last

few weeks, one human, one "fur"...

 

My brother-in-law Charles, first  ~

 

Charles was a father-figure for my husband and my SIL (their own dad had passed away)...

 

they were practically still babies when he married their older sister, DeeDee.



Charles got not only a wife, but a whole family...he was their rock for 57 years.

 

♥ ♥ ♥

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"Uncle Charles" was a good man.



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Then yesterday, my daughter Mandy's kitty, Basil.

 

She explained it best in her Facebook post, which I will borrow here...

"My sweet Basil died in my arms this morning.

Six years old - heart failure, blood clot.

 I've known the end was coming for about a month, but I had no idea when,

 & I guess one is never really prepared.

 I am so thankful it was quick, at home ...

& that I was with him.

 He was a sweet, crazy boy from day one,

& life will never be the same without him.

So, now it's just me & two tabbies.

It's not quite right for BlackCatPratt to not have a black cat..."

 

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As for me, I've been trying to get some things accomplished...



(Can you believe a month from today is Christmas?)



a beading project is in the works...



Kitties love beads, I've found...



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Cyrus is guarding the beads...



Sitting on them like a dragon...



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When I kept snapping pictures with my phone,



he turned around...



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When Cyrus wasn't helping, Leo was.



Look how he lies half-on/half-off the table!



Graceful, that fellow is...no "Bull in the China Shop" here...



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"I caused Mom to have to re-string an entire necklace after I swished



it off the coffee table with my tail...my work here is done...for now." ~ Cyrus



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That's it for now...



Check back in a day or so and I will post step-by-step instructions



for my animal ornaments...



Really.



I'll be back.



Love,

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Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween!

 

I wasn't on the ball enough this year to join any Halloween blog festivities,

 

but here are a few pictures anyway!

 

♥

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I really had fun combining Halloween and Dia de los Muertos
themes...



Next year I want to find some Day of the Dead and Saint votives...



and I really want to order some sugar skulls...



I hope I remember in time!



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Here again is my sweet little pumpkin that Grandma Collier



gave me on my second Halloween...



So glad my Mom took good care of it for me, because I would have



used it year-round for collecting things...



Tadpoles in spring and other critters the rest of the year, probably...;^)




(The cool Edgar Allan Poe art card is from Susan of Flutter Before You.)



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My dear friend Elaine made the lovely Halloween "make-do" for me,



and also sent the sweet little Mousie-girl with her bucket of candy corn...



(She also made the Kitty-girl last year!) ~ ♥




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Fun planter-shoes and Marigolds ~



with a pink Chrysanthemum tucked in for good measure...



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This pretty cone is also from Susan at Flutter Before You...



I was the lucky winner of one of her Halloween drawings last year ~ :^)



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A flock of Vultures adorn my tree!



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Black licorice "Crows" and Halloween Ghostie Peeps



I couldn't resist!



I think they should call them "Boos" or something, though...;^)



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This plastic candy dish is from the early 1960s



(also well taken care of by my Mom),



a Woolworth's purchase...a whole 29 cents!



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And lastly, cupcakes...(and marshmallow Skulls) ~



Don't worry, I checked first before adding the Marigolds...



(They're edible and have vitamins, but can be bitter!)



Since I can't have any goodies right now ~ I resisted, not even a tiny taste ~



Jonathan and his dorm-mates got the spoils of my photo-shoot!



That's all for now!



Have a fun rest of the evening, this All Hallow's Eve!



Love,



 

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Dia de los Muertos Pumpkin, Step-by-Step

Hello again!

 

Here's how I did the Day of the Dead (Dia de los Muertos) pumpkin...

 

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I began by folding a piece of typing paper in half and cutting out



a simple skull shape. I folded it a little to fit the curve of the pumpkin



and lightly traced around the pattern with a liner brush,



then base-coated the skull background with white acrylic ~



(I used Golden Liquid Acrylic).



While that was drying, I sketched my design on the paper pattern,



this time cutting out the eyes, mouth and nose shapes.



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I placed the cut-out shapes on the pumpkin and used a liner brush



and pink acrylic (thinned) to trace around them...



(I used pink paint instead of black as it would be easier to blend into



the finished design ~ also easier to cover up any stray lines later.)



I used the brush to free-hand "sketch" in the different elements;



Swirls, flowers, hearts ~ the more the merrier!



It looks pretty messy at this stage...but it all comes together!



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I filled in the main shapes with bright, light to medium colors.

 

Now for the fun!

 

Using slightly thinned black acrylic and a liner brush, I outlined all the shapes ~

 

I then used a small round brush for the larger areas and the negative shapes around the eyes.

 

I got "dotty" with a brush handle dipped in various colors!

 

You could just go wild with details...I had to keep reminding myself that

 

this was just a (perishable) pumpkin!
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Even though it's not going to last all that long, I wanted the skull to have a



nice gloss, so I put a coat of water-based sealer on the painted design only.




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It's a good thing the sealer was dry, Leo!



He has to check everything out.



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Now, this part is really short-lived... (Aren't many really good things fleeting, though?)



but it was fun ~ I had oodles of marigolds, and they are such a significant part



of Dia de los Muertos that I had to do it.



Just a tiny bit of hot-glue holds each flower-head in place.



And they did last until the next day!



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Leo didn't know what to think about this part...;^)
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Leo does love to pose! (This is his "Lassie" look.)
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And that's it!



Join me for Halloween tomorrow night!



♥

Love,



 

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