Tuesday, January 29, 2008


Monday Paint Classes ~
We had so much fun painting on Monday. We painted a lighthouse seascape painting and I can't tell you enough how much my students AMAZE me with their talents! Everyone did a beautiful job and even had the manager coming in to see which one he could purchase for his wife. No one was willing to sell theirs though as they wanted them for themselves.











Alice












Brenda

























Brenda's sister and Nicole's Aunt
Linda

Linda won the drawing and got to take
home the project piece I painted in class ~
and she collects lighthouses how awesome is that?!!




















Nicole

(She was so sick but didn't want to miss paint class ~ now that's dedication)

























Melanie


















Latricia























Jenny














Kim


























Ellen's



























Barb















Dawn




















Doriann























Nicolanne























Connie




















Don't forget to enter my giveaway for the One World One Heart Event ~ you can leave a message on any post from my first OWOHE post to Feb. 14th. I'm giving away the strawberry tray that I painted below.
Click on the OWOH picture below to go to Lisa's blog and see all the other amazing artist's joining in the givewaway.























I'm off to play with Studio Clay and get ready for my Feb. paint classes. Have a fabulous day.
Sandy

Saturday, January 26, 2008

Studio Home Dimensions!

I'm back from my certification and I'm so excited about everything I learned!!


I had a fabulous time seeing my friend Charlie at Certification and my friend Nancy drove up from Tampa to have dinner with me the first night I was there - I haven't seen her in 8 years and it was great to catch up.



So what is Studio Home Dimensions you ask? (and even if you didn't - I'm so exctied about it I'm gonna tell you anyway)!LOL



Donna Dewberry and Sculpey Clay have teamed up and created Studio Home Dimensions. I hear that it is available right now at JoAnn super stores and AC Moore stores - two stores that are not anywhere near where I live unfortunately. They are scheduled to be at the other craft stores (Hobby Lobby and Michaels soon) - if you are curious about this new product or if you like to play with clay ask those stores if they have the products, and if they don't ask them when are going to get them!!



I'm all about tools! When I scrapbook I like to have all the latest and greatest tools. When I paint, I have to have all my colors and different brushes, and now when I create with Studio Clay I have all the greatest tools right there to help me design and create so awesome stuff! I've included pictures of some of those things below!



Donna


(creator of One Stroke Painting)


You can click on her picture and it will take you to her website.



The Studio Home Dimensions certification was a three day course that was packed with lots of information and lots of creativity! It's always incredible to learn techniques from masters like Donna and Iris and Amy from Polyform. They taught us non-clay people how to create some incredible ART pieces.

























We learned how to make flowers of all kinds and this is the flower (paper mache) box that we created in class.



This is mine ~ it amazes me and I've spent a long time just looking at it cause I'm shocked that I created it!















We created this awesome Thistle piece that looked daunting at first but just like One Stroke Painting ~ when it's broken down into manageable steps it all makes sense and comes together in the end looking gorgeous!






















This is my favorite thing that we learned how to do - leaves! Totally my style from the colors to the design to just about everything!





We antiqued it fauxed the frame with paint.











This is the votive that we made.


It's got textured clay on it with cutouts and leaves on top. Again, we antiqued it with a white wash and after seeing it loaded on the computer have to say it looks so much better in person. The texture is incredible!













Here are the texture mats to texture the clay - too cool is all I can say. I don't know if I'll have a smooth piece of clay ever on anything because these tools are beyond incredible!









Some of the Studio Home Dimension
tools.
I absolutely LOVE all the packaging
of the Studio products too! So sleak and must I say it sexy.



























and the clay - OMgoodness! The colors are incredible. The clay is so easy to work with and the possibilities are limitless!



I'm so looking forward to just sitting and playing and creating!










Here are some of the things that were created by Donna and Amy and again ~ the frame is so totally my style and I can see making 100's of these!






























It's always nice to come home and boy was I so excited that we got done early enough that I drove home Friday afternoon/evening and got to see my family and sleep in my own bed! I didn't sleep very well while gone and I really needed some good sleep. Of course, I came home to a very clean home - my hubby is the best - and the boys were all thrilled to have mom home. The doggies were excited to see me as well - my hubby said they moped around all week cause I wasn't here.

So, a scary thing kinda happened while in Fla. When Charlie, her husband and I were loading the car with our fun creations a bus hit the car door. The scary thing was that I was in the door loading stuff and it hit the edge of the door and pushed me in. I wasn't hurt or anything and didn't realize until the next day that my back was sore from it. I don't think the impact is what hurt it but more of the surprise reaction and the push forward into the car from the hit. Bad thing was the bus driver just kept driving like nothing happened and the hotel couldn't/didn't do anything about it. I'm pretty sore today - but I really think it's a combination of that scary event and the class from rolling out the clay.

Don't forget to leave me a comment to entry my giveaway. You can leave a comment on any of my posts from my Sunday, Jan. 20th to Feb. 13th to be entered to win. I'll do the drawing on February 14th and will draw names from all comments left during the time period I mentioned above - so the more posts you comment on the more you are entered.



My giveaway item -
my handpainted strawberry tray.

Click on the OWOH picture above to go to Lisa's Blog to see all the other incredible artists giveaway items.
It's not officially kicked off until Feb.1st so make sure to check back often to see the updates of participants.

Sunday, January 20, 2008



Don't you just LOVE to learn how to do something NEW? & a GIVEAWAY


I'm doing just that this week. I'm off to Florida this week to learn how to design with Polymer Clay. It's actually a certification and I'll learn quite a bit about the product, how to create home decor items with it and how to teach others how to use it!





I hemmed and hawed about it until all the cards just fell into place and it worked out where I was able to go, hubby could be here for the dogs and boys and I found a hotel for 1/2 the rate of what I thought I was going to have to pay. Plus, I get to visit with one of my friends from England that I haven't seen in way too many years! She lives about an hour away and is going to drive up to have dinner with me on Tuesday. I am really excited to that my friend Charlie from North Carolina is going to the same certification and we'll get to catch up with each other. I haven't seen her in a couple of years and it will be fun to see each other again. Click on her name to go by and visit her blog! She is super talented.



I am looking forward to sharing what I learned when I get home with you all! I'll be away from blogland until next Sunday. Have a fabulous week and I hope you'll let me know you came by to visit.




I got some painting done this week too - finished (FINALLY I KNOW MOM) a pitcher and glasses for my moms friend in Germany. Will get it mailed soon! Hoping to get some other things done before I mail it.




I started on my Feb. paint class projects as well and am really looking forward to those projects and the projects that are swirling around in my head that I will teach in the next couple of months.

Lisa is hosting the 2nd annual Blogwide One World One Heart Giveaway and I participated last year and met some of the most amazing people! Click on her name to go and visit her amazing blog.
I'm participating again this year and have decided that my giveway prize will be my Strawberry tray!

All you have to do is leave a message and I will draw a name from all comments left between now and Feb. 14th. Let your friends know and tell them to reference you and I will add your name into the pot that many more times.
EDIT: Go on over to the M&E blog by clicking HERE to see what we are giving away there!


Blessings,
Sandy

Wednesday, January 16, 2008

More paint class photos from this week ~

Had two more paint classes since I last posted!




Today we painted strawberries on a wooden tray



Nicole













Dale

This was her first class with me and she did a beautiful job!



















Anne

Today was Anne's first class and just like her friend Dale~ she jumped right in and did a fabulous job on her tray.

























Barb

















Monday evening we painted the seahorse, starfish and seashells box again.

Barbara (Shannon's mom)

This was her first class and didn't she do well!
She has a beach house and was excited to do this project
so that she could put this in the house.
















Shannon

This was Shannon's first class as well and it was obvious that she's painted before! She did a super job.





















Kim





















Ellen's



Dawn























Barb




















I recieved my box today from my For Love Of Supplies Swap (hosted by Artsymama) Swap Partner ~ Amy. Click on her name to go check out her blog. WOW and DOUBLE WOW! I got some amazing supplies not to mention the vintage candy box that they came in! WOW!!! I had so much fun looking through it all and can't wait to create with the supplies!!! THANK YOU AMY!!! You outdid yourself and spoiled me big time. She also created a beautiful Valentine for me.

















































I finally got a box big enough to mail Amy's today so will get hers mailed off tomorrow!


Had my bowing league yesterday - bowled a 165, 145, and 158.

We're having sleet/freezing rain here now -they cancelled my sons basketball game tonight because of it. My boys would love to wake up with 6 inches of snow on the ground!!! They sure do miss the winters we had when we lived in Nebraska - we even got snow in England but down here in the South ~ not likely I've told them ~ however, they are still hopefull.
Well, have to get dinner going! Have an outstanding day!

Blessings,
Sandy

Monday, January 14, 2008

Bad Blogger I know!
I know how frustrating it is to go to blogs that I enjoyed visiting and it's the same post from the day before and worse yet when it's weeks old. So sorry for being such a bad blogger lately.
I've been busy and trying to keep on top of my NEW YEAR goals of being organized and ready for my classes so that I'm not rushing at the last minute to do it all. Well, I've managed to be more organized but not as organized as I had hoped ~ hence, the delay in posts.

I have to apologize to my blogging friends too for being so lame at getting around to your blogs. I pop in more often than you realize but have had very little time lately to read and leave comments. WILL get around and visit this week and LET YOU KNOW that I've visited!


It was so nice to get back into my routine of teaching classes and I was so excited to see all of
my students since I took a bit of time off during the holidays. It was great to catch up and see what they've all been up to.

Two fabulous classes on Saturday ~ we painted strawberries and veggies.


Dawn

























Ann





















Kim























I had two new students in this class ~

Carolyn ~ she has taken paint classes before but this was her first with me and she jumped right it and WOW ~ painted beautifully!


















Cathy was my other new student and unlike Carolyn she hasn't painted before. She was nervous at first seeing out finished project but double WOW! She did a beautiful job didn't she?!




















Next we painted a vegetable medley on a wooden
plate.



Ann


















Alice




















Monday Paint Class ~ This morning we painted the wooden box with Seashells, a starfish and a seahorse! It was great catching up with my morning crew after my holiday break.
This was such a FUN project and everyone really seemed to enjoy it ~ and their projects turned out FABULOUS!


Jenny























Nicole
























Melanie























Alice
























CeeAnn




















Jo





















Too much to get done before my class this evening and not enough time to get it all done so I'm off! Have an outstanding week.

Blessings,
Sandy