A Valentine Craft Project

A quick, easy and fun way to dress up a window for Valentine's Day is to decorate with a cluster of sunny Crayon Hearts hung from wire. This idea is from Martha Stewart's gifts and crafts section.
My little hearts are all cut out and hanging in the window waiting to catch the next sunny rays. Unfortunately waiting for the sun to shine can take forever if you live where I live in the Pacific Northwest. When it does shine though these little gems will be there to help brighten the day.

To make Crayon Hearts all you need are pink and red crayons, a pencil sharpener, scissors, wax paper, ribbon or curly wire, and a hot iron. I cut my hearts out first, but Martha's directions tell you to melt the wax between full sheets of wax paper first then cut the hearts. With the pencil sharpener, make crayon shavings on one piece of the wax paper. Then add the top layer of wax paper.

Place kraft paper between the iron and wax paper. Pass the iron over until crayons have melted.

The cool thing about not following directions is I ended up with melted heart shapes on the kraft paper. These melty hearts could look quite handsome glued onto cardstock for your special valentine.

Here's the whole suncatcher hearts group on display. For added whimsy use twisty wire instead of string or ribbon.
What sort of Valentines will you be creating this season? Share your ideas...

New Fresh Abstract Art

"All Life is an Experiment #3"
22x26" Watermedia/Paper

This is the latest piece from the studio. Each time I start a painting my goal is the same, which is to create a piece that is unique and original. At times it is not an easy accomplishment due to influences from creative interesting art and design that is all around us each and every day. I am a product of my times so to not let some of my work reflect daily life would not be true to who I am. My ultimate goal is to entertain you the viewer in some inspiring way.

Below is this very same painting at an early stage, which can be a difficult stage because it's often the time when I want to just walk away and leave the piece in pile unfinished and unseen. It takes real courage to continue painting on until it feels right. Often the only way to get to that point is having to make decisions to paint over beautiful areas in order to make the painting come together as a whole. If all goes well, it's worth the struggle and in the end just maybe wind up with a piece that you really, really love.

Work in progress.

Update: Hoorah! Good news concerning our recent charity print auctions! Thanks to you my lovely collectors we've raised a total of $95.60 for organizations working heroically to help save the Haitian earthquake people. Thank you so much for your kind generosity in making our efforts a success! The two charities we contributed to were Doctors Without Borders and The American Red Cross. If you would like to help, your donations are needed now more than ever. Visit their websites to see how you can donate directly.

A Handful of Charity Auctions for Haiti

Friday was the day I had been dreading for weeks and now it was over. Spent the rest of the day laying on the sofa deep in my favorite down comforter not wanting the local anesthetic to finally wear off and the pain in my mouth to begin from dental surgery. I was feeling so sorry for myself, like a big chicken.
Wow, big deal when you think about the real pain and suffering that is going on in other parts of the world right at this moment. Really! I deserve no sympathy what so ever.
Been thinking for a while about how to do my part for the earthquake victims of Haiti. While I was stewing in my own pain, it dawned on me a way that I could help is to donate art prints, auction style starting at a $1. Then let the buyers decide on the amount they wish to give.
During the next week I'll be running a total of 5 separate print auctions for you to bid on. 100% of all proceeds will be donated to a charity that is directly involved in helping the Haitian people in this time of crisis. The two charities chosen are Doctors Without Borders and The American Red Cross.
Please take the time to stop by the charity auctions choose your print then place your bid. Together let's see how much we can raise for a very worthy cause.
Update: 1/25/10 - 3 auctions have already ended with the total so far of a $47 donation!
Thank you so much for your support! Hurry you still have a chance to make a contribution by bidding on this print.

One of the prints up for Haiti Charity Auction