Wednesday, November 28, 2007

Wednesday Paint Class ~



Today we painted the Holiday Candy/Cookie jars and had so much fun! They are a bit tedious with all the steps and outling all of the things we painted on the jars but it sure does finish them off with a bit of whimsey!




Jane











Brenda



















Jo

















Mary Jo



















Jenny

Jenny won the drawing today and got to take home the project piece I painted in class ~ this was her first win since taking classes with me which is awesome!
















M & E Designs latest canvas creation

8x10 canvas painted Baby Pink with handpainted dasies. Can be personalized with name, different initial, or monogram. Hangs with a beautiful satin magenta ribbon that finishes it off beautifully.







Click on the M&E Designs
button to check out our yummy goodies!

Bowling went just okay yesterday. I bowled a 173, 129, and 150.
Tomorrow is the first day that I have no where I have to be so I'm cleaning this pig sty of mine!
Have a wonderful THURSDAY!

Blessings,
Sandy

Monday, November 26, 2007

What's this world coming to? Two posts in one day you say?
Yes, two posts in one day. I taught a painting class this morning and wanted to share those photos with you.




We painted the Holiday Placemats on canvas board. When you back them with felt or cork and seal the canvas they make the perfect holiday placemat!









Melanie



Nicole




Nicole was showing me her finger as she stuck it right in the corner of her wet holly leaves and berries.














Nicole's daughter - Hallie Zoe
She was sick and didn't go to school ~ I couldn't let her just sit there and watch ~ so she joined in and painted with us.
















Mary Jo











We've been asked many times and here they finally are ~ handpainted personalized canvases. We'll list them in our ETSY store soon but if you are interested in having one just email me at mandedesigns@ourpaintedgifts.com Change the color combinations, name or monogram initials, polka dots or stripes, etc. The canvas shown are 16x20 gallery wrapped canvas so there are no staples on the sides. You can either frame it or hang it like it is as the sides are painted as well. We'll be adding some personalized ornaments to our Etsy store this week as well so make sure to check it out often for new additions.















EDIT: I took pictures of these two when they were still wet - so you'll see a sheen under Gabby's name and on the letters below that are not there when dry.
















We had some much needed rain today! I'm not sure how much we got but it rained HARD! and we sure did need it here in Georgia. Hope N. Ga. got double what we did today as they are really hurting for rain in that part of the state.
I'm so excited about bowling tomorrow. I haven't been in two weeks because of my cold and last week because of Thanksgiving.
Have a fabulous week!
Sandy
Just following Kari and Sandi's lead ~

Wanna know what kind of Christmas tree and not so great Christmas present? Click on the question links to take you there. Here are my results ~

You Are a Cranberry and Popcorn Strung Tree

Christmas is all about showcasing your creative talents.
From cookies to nicely wrapped presents, your unique creations impress everyone.





You Are Socks!

Cozy and warm... but easily lost.You make a good puppet.

Have a fantastic Monday! I have a painting class this morning and will share photos with you later today.
Blessings,
Sandy

Saturday, November 24, 2007

The Store is OPEN for business!

That's right the M & E ETSY store is open for business!
I'm also running a special for all of my loyal blog friends ~ you can special order this personalized Snowman ceramic tile (6x8) through me here at my personal blog. You can pay by paypal, money order or personal check. They are only $12.00 plus shipping.
All you have to do is email at me at:
mandedesigns@ourpaintedgifts.com and let me know how many you want, the names you want on them and we can even add snow dogs & cats to complete your family sign.
Again, you can pay by paypal or money order or personal check.
ORDER TODAY so that you or your friends can
hang their sign during this joyous holiday season.


click on the photo if you want to go
to our ETSY shop.

Friday, November 23, 2007

WARNING: Long post - grab a cup of coffee and enjoy!
First, our puppies! Posh & Becks
We had another scare ~ let me just start by saying we've thrown on bones/rawhide treats away. I bought a big dental bone that is supposed to be good for their teeth and gentle on their tummies and and well Becks decided to bite off a chunk way to big and proceeded to choke on it. I stuck my finger down his throat and that didn't seem to work. He rolled over on his back and things looked that they were all about to give way (if you know what I mean) and I picked him up and shook him a bit. This obviously dislodged anything that was stuck. I tried to stay calm but do think that I paniced. My husband wasn't home to help, two of my boys were in the kitchen watching the whole thing and I didn't want our dog dieing in front of the boys like this.




Becks












Posh
















We had such a blast at the Mistletoe Market the weekend of my birthday. Thank you all so much for the visits to the Market to see me and all my blog friends/familiy for the sweet birthday wishes. You can check out more pictures here
or click the big button to the left.







Nicole & I


Our only regret is that we didn't take photos of all of our merchandise. We had some awesome stuff and a lot of it sold before we got to take photos of them ~ especially the fabulous ornaments that we personalized for FREE!






































Any of these items can be special ordered here:



















I saw a pillow at J & J's blog and it inspired window!











3 Nutcrackers painted on an old cabinet door.





Long cabinet door made into chalkboard! I loved this cabinet as did Nicole and both of us said that if it didn't sell we wanted it in our kitchen. Well, it sold ~ but since we have more cabinet doors in this style we can paint more!























I've really neglected posting pictures from my classes and to my students and their families that look forward to seeing their pictures.

Glass painting - Poinsettia


Beverly














Nicole










Doriann












Brenda


















Jane


Alice

















Wendy






Joyce






















Stacia

Ann




























Kim

Erica


























Jo

Barb






















Ellen's
















Corncucopia Class

Wendy

Ellen's

















Jo

Ann


Doriann
Stacia










Erica










Holiday place mats

I had originally planned to paint this on the same canvas cloth that we painted the wall hangings on but last minute decided to paint the holiday placemats on canvas board. I love the Pimpernel (sp?) placemats I used to purchase in England. They were expensive but I loved the sturdiness of them and wanted ours to be similar. The canvas board can be sealed with a clear non-yellowing acrylic sealer and will be perfect for the holidays.



Then I found these great accessories for the placemat at Hobby Lobby of course.

They are Make It Christmas brand felt snowflakes (perfect for a coaster) and tag (perfect for place card).










Joyce


Doriann


Kim



Nita

Barb






















Cindy


















Stacia

We painted Nutcrackers. I had seen a nutcracker like this in the Painting Magazine 2001 and saved it because I knew some day I'd paint him.

We painted him on a paper mache gift box.












Barb





Melanie















Nicole







Nicolanne














Kim













Doriann
















Stephanie


















Holiday Candy/Cookie Jar class ~
Love this project. We painted lollipops, cupcakes,
candy and cookies on our jar that would make a perfect (inexpensive) gift for co workers, teachers and friends.
It can be filled with wrapped or unwrapped candy and
topped with a beautiful ribbon around the top.


Barb









Stephanie





Lisa
















Connie & Son







I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving. We had a fabulous day with my younger sister, brother in law, neice and nephew. It was stress FREE. We purchased a small enough turkey so that we wouldn't have left overs for weeks like usual. I tend to do things LARGE and over the top and usually purchase the largest turkey that I can. We had enough for lunch yesterday and today which is perfect since I'm not much on left overs. Now, it's time to decorate for Christmas. We're going to get the stuff out of the attic today and deck the halls! This is our first Christmas with the puppies so we've rearranged some furniture so that we can put the Christmas tree somewhere they don't usually go - I'm sure that will change when they start exploring to see what it is.

Finally, J & J over at The Bowerbird's Nest


gave me this You Make Me Smile Award. Thank you J & J! So sweet of you. If you've not been to their blog you MUST GO NOW! Truly inspirational and FUN!
I have quite a few awards to pass along that have been given to me over the last couple of months and I've been a naughty blogger and haven't passed them along like I should. I will get right on that Monday a.m.

I didn't hit any of the stores yesterday. Have to admit that it's just not my thing anymore. I do not like the pushing and shoving of holiday shoppers - kinda does something negative to my holiday spirit. I did take my youngest son to see August Rush yesterday and cried and laughed and absolutely LOVED it! I'll warn you it's a bit slow but it does all come together and the music is FABULOUS! A must see movie! If you go and see it let me know what you think.

Have a wonderful weekend. I'll be back on Monday!