pamgarrison

good fun

rebecca ringquist sampler

One guess what my latest obsession has been. I've been having a great time stitching away on a pre-designed sampler made by Rebecca Ringquist. I don't know Rebecca, and have never seen her work in person, but one look at her website and I'm in love! My pal Charlotte was teaching with Rebecca recently at Squam and bought this pre-designed sampler (one for me, one for her and I think Jenny bought one for herself too), so we can all have a go at it and see how differently they turn out. Charlotte has a photo of Rebecca's finished sampler on her blog, go here and scroll down to see it.  I have already had to pull some of the stitches above out, as I realized later that I wasn't doing the right stitches. I found this wonderful site that has links with pictures to tons of stitches. It's been especially fun to follow Rebecca's lead and learn and stitch as she has called out on her printed sampler. Anyone know if we can buy any of her sampler patterns online? I'm not having any luck looking for them. It might just be something she sells at live events. ??? I've a long way to go, but I just wanted to check in and show you what my hands have been up to on these last days of the school year. It's going to be a great project to take to the beach with the kids.

p.s. charlotte posted a photo of hers and of the sampler as bought too {here}

p.p.s. good news! rebecca has opened an etsy shop and you can get your own sampler pattern here. happy stitching! {dropcloth.etsy.com}

dreamsicle creamsicle sorbets

 

I can't resist using Lorelei and Suzan's descriptive words for this set of paintings. Once they left them in the comments, I couldn't get them out of my head: dreamsicle, creamsicle sorbets. Perfect for this beginning of summer sale. Here they are, I hope you like them!!!! I'm starting a whole new set too, painting seems to be  where my art heart is right now.

 SOLD- painting above: sweet summer day   12"x16" 2 1/4 " edge      $260

painting above:    moody blues 24"x24" 1 1/2" edge   $425.00

  

 

SOLD- painting above:  this nest is best    24" x 48" 1 7/8" side edge    $750.00

painting above: all in a day's work   24" x 20" 1 1/2" edge   $365.00

 

SOLD -painting above: easy afternoons 20" x 20" x 1  3/4" sides    $210.00

 

painting above: spring meadow  10" x8" 2" edge    $165.00

painting above:  sherbet sky 24" x 30" 1 1/2" edge   $485.00

 

 

SOLD - painting above:  on summer 16" x 12" 2 1/4" edge    $250.00

SOLD - painting above:   summer folly 24" x 20" x 1 1/2" edge    $385.00

this weekend

This weekend I'll be listing 10 paintings. Here's how I'm planning on working it:

I'm going to put the paintings up for sale here, on my blog. Once they are up here with names and dimensions, if you are interested in one, you'll just email me and let me know. I'll send a paypal invoice and once payment is received, I'll mark them as sold here. I'll put any that don't sell here in my etsy sometime in the next couple weeks. Buyer to pay actual shipping charges (determined before actually shipping so that you'll know the rate). Of course, for shipping prices it matters where the paintings are going, and the size of the painting as well (sorry, U.S. only this time while I learn more about the art of shipping large paintings...any advice welcome.) Please allow 5-7 days for packaging once payment is received. These are all cradled panels made using either hardwood or birch and pine. (Which mean they have nice thick edges of at least 1 1/2" or larger. The sizes vary, and will be posted alongside the photos of the piece. I'll be listing more non-cradled paintings (like before), and their prices will be much less than this cradled collection. I figure it'll be less confusing to list the similarly priced paintings in groups. So, if these cradled pieces are too pricey, there will be others that are not, coming soon.

Thank you for the comments and emails expressing interest and enthusiasm; it is very encouraging and I am really excited about continuing down this painting path. Have a great weekend!

They are looking for YOU

Yes, you! If you have dreams of your home being featured by Matthew Mead, that is... The creative team at Holiday With Matthew Mead has outdone themselves with their latest contest, a chance to have your home featured in the magazine! Here's what they have to say about it:

  EXTRA EXTRA.. Want to see your home in a HOLIDAY with Matthew Mead full size spread?? Do friends and family tell you your home is magazine worthy? Have you ever wondered if your home has what it takes to be featured in print? Yes? Well, get ready to put your home's best face forward and see if we agree.

We, the team at Holiday with Matthew Mead, are looking for a great home with style to feature in a three-spread layout in the upcoming issue (to be launched in October 2010). We will come to YOUR home and decorate it for the holidays, with all styling and photography done by Matthew Mead, himself. We will work at your home for 2-3 days... propping and photographing all aspects of lifestyle, including food, people, decorations, etc.

  Go here for all the details. Will we be seeing your home featured in the magazine???

 

I'm getting ready to send off my project that will be in the book and can't wait to see what Matthew has come up with in this, his latest adventure. Remember, you can only buy it online, so go here if you don't want to miss out.

making some finishing touches

 

 

paintings for sale soon

There. I said it. I'm committed now. When Amy called the other day, I overheard my husband say, "our kitchen has turned into an art gallery". And he wasn't saying that with any pleasure in his voice. Nope, none. Which is fair. Now I've moved the art gallery to the outside anyway, hahahaha. But seriously, I've got to let go of some of these so I can keep going on others. I mean, really, how many of one's own things can you hang in your home? Sheesh! Although, as I write this my Dad is constructing me a 5'x5' cradle wrapped board to hang in my dining room. Not even sure I have enough paint for 60"x 60"! Oh darn, I guess I'll have to make a trip to the art store soon....

one step closer to finished

It dawned on me that I already had a vintage towel bar I could use on the back of the new island in the making. I bought it at the flea market long ago and we had previously attached it to a piece in the garage. It works out just fine, nice and light, and about 3' long. You can see the vintage wallpaper I chose to use and bleached, painted, sanded and peeled once it was on. Now to get a piece of marble cut for the top...the final dreaded step...

meet my easel!

Remember how I said I was out playing with a new toy? Well here it is! My Dad made me an easel out of an old rolling clothing rack he found left in the rafters by the previous owners. I put some big paintings on it so you can really get an idea of the size. There are 3 paintings on it and the smallest in the upper right corner is 18x22 just for scale. Anyway..... Isn't it great? I am in heaven. It's so beautiful, but I think I need a wide angle lens to really capture it to show you. Here are some of the details that my Dad made that make it over the top cool to me:

 

Isn't it great?!? So I got down to playing a bit...

 

 

couldn't resist

I'm playing outside today with a new toy (of course, I'll show you more on that soon). While out there I decided to really enjoy myself and cut a bundle of roses and lemons from the garden and put them in a $10.00 jar from the flea market. It felt so indulgent, cutting them to make my creative time more pleasant...just for me. Isn't that silly?  Cutting and arranging them is happy making itself! How could I have forgotten that?

 

It's the simple things in life, right? I'm determined to see that and work on living that more and more. For the holiday weekend, we went to Palm Desert with friends. On the last night,
after the nightly game of flashlight tag on the golf course (where I was most often "it"-or should have been, but they took pity on me- due to the fact that I was afraid to run full speed for the "safe" lantern on a hilly golf course in the dark...am I getting old, or is the back surgery too prevalent in my mind? Probably a bit of both), we all lay down on the grass looking up at the stars. After a few of the kids said they saw shooting stars (all at different times), and there were doubters among us, I said, "I hope we all see a shooting start that is undeniable go across the sky". Right then, and I mean right when I finished saying that, we did! It was thrilling! We all shouted at the same time, struck by the magic moment. My girlfriend said I literally kicked my legs back and forth in the air. Now, I'm not sure about that, but I do know that moment, the excitement we all felt and shared together, will bring me happiness for years. Joy, it's as simple as seeing a shooting star with some loved ones.