tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-47153602123522765972024-03-05T01:06:51.506-05:00Samantha Gallagher's Art Studio blogMy blog is where I share tips and advice for other artists while also giving readers a peek into my studio. See what paintings or drawings are currently in progress, how I'm making my art business (and life in general) more eco-friendly, tips and tricks for blogging, making your own prints, or painting, and day-to-day life, too!Samantha Ghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11324304321751170433noreply@blogger.comBlogger235125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4715360212352276597.post-58681829169937390252012-02-02T17:14:00.003-05:002012-02-02T17:15:17.207-05:00Newbies- er, New Bees!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>Here is the drawing that I mentioned at the end of my last post! I didn't want to upload it before it was given to the recipients. I know the chances that they *just happen* to read my blog or anything related to it are pretty much 0.00000000000000000000000000000001% but I felt it was more respectful to wait to post it.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjke0OyG782CocFTD9PeanEzroYGGiLhEncWe-nSWkV_qD7hxDD5um5t7uauiGH6E4vXy3cFQYvLaXNWst2uHILWims4g05XS8wihWYvidrm-aDT9G8Iqzp3vhyphenhyphenGtMgmmKx7-mgtFjIIcwJ/s1600/StarBees1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="396" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjke0OyG782CocFTD9PeanEzroYGGiLhEncWe-nSWkV_qD7hxDD5um5t7uauiGH6E4vXy3cFQYvLaXNWst2uHILWims4g05XS8wihWYvidrm-aDT9G8Iqzp3vhyphenhyphenGtMgmmKx7-mgtFjIIcwJ/s640/StarBees1.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />
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So in my head, I've been calling the piece "Nectar," partly because, of course, that's what the bees are feasting on in this picture. But also partly because I had just downloaded Tindersticks' first album and was enjoying listening to it on repeat while I was drawing. One of the songs on it is titled "Nectar" which seemed quite appropriate :)<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/gqtSC-C0zpY" width="560"></iframe><br />
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I'm working on a box with some decoupage of this drawing in there... it'll be up in <a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/samanthasartstudio" target="_blank">my Etsy shop</a> eventually, which, by the way, is up and running again!! Yay!Samantha Ghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11324304321751170433noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4715360212352276597.post-29177506577313385662012-01-16T18:15:00.004-05:002012-01-16T18:58:55.892-05:00AH'M THE TUHMINAYTAH AHND AH'LL BE BAAHHHCK.I did not end my previous blog post with that statement but I should have. I didn't realize I'd take a months-and-months long break from posting.<br />
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<div style="color: #38761d;"><i><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: large;"><b>What the hell has been going on with me these last 10 months!?!? </b></span></i></div><br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><b>I toured the world with my husband for 3 months.</b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnxuWyKiWj7XWVaPsB0fYnvoMi9F487F-QB-j6QyMGLE_00pl_AANLVmi89Da_ZpdCm_C7Iz0xqHROwms92YDzdDfYgcmHXOzcxxNUyljLm-z6uj-_vh0ozheWo0QwJPsK-81JDTS4qxue/s1600/KiliSm.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnxuWyKiWj7XWVaPsB0fYnvoMi9F487F-QB-j6QyMGLE_00pl_AANLVmi89Da_ZpdCm_C7Iz0xqHROwms92YDzdDfYgcmHXOzcxxNUyljLm-z6uj-_vh0ozheWo0QwJPsK-81JDTS4qxue/s640/KiliSm.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><b>The week after we came back from our trip I got royally *#@#^&!ed over by Bank of America. </b>My identity was stolen, someone went into Philly with a fake ID of me, withdrew ALL of my money, bought money orders, and went shopping. It was an inside job. I had detectives helping me out to find the person responsible. Finally Bank of America told me it was an inside job and one of their employees had given up my information. But they couldn't tell me the name of anyone intolved (so I could prosecute the hell out of them) due to <i>respect of privacy</i>. Yet they didn't make my life very easy while all of this was going on. Unbelievable.<br />
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They did refund my money after 32879134 pissed-off calls from me cause I gots billz ta pay, and then they complained that <i>they worked on my case <b>alllllllll weekend-</b> boo hoo! What an inconvenience!</i>- and finally came to the conclusion that it was not actually <b>me</b> who withdrew my money. <br />
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</div><div style="text-align: center;">Obviously I am no longer a customer there. </div><br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><b>I painted two 4'x8' graffiti-style murals to install in my family's dance studio.</b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOPLOqiRK3w-0lTES0a7P6vPf7ITX3Di0zC2DeCgbgao91Dk5K_5WS7EC3Qvwksu9sXLXSYIw9YkIGIOS1c3tR2Fqat0EBZmzQhxPO5EIQw1bvS2iZP5PBRUtU6NFIPX8-e-xBMZI7N-6S/s1600/Mural1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="356" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOPLOqiRK3w-0lTES0a7P6vPf7ITX3Di0zC2DeCgbgao91Dk5K_5WS7EC3Qvwksu9sXLXSYIw9YkIGIOS1c3tR2Fqat0EBZmzQhxPO5EIQw1bvS2iZP5PBRUtU6NFIPX8-e-xBMZI7N-6S/s640/Mural1.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>(As you can see, this is VERY different from my normal style. While being super fun, it was also pretty difficult. </i><br />
<i>Challenging, but in a good way. Always good to expand your horizons, right?)</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
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</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><b>My fantastic husband took me to see <a href="http://samanthasartstudio.blogspot.com/2009/10/happy-birthday-to-weird-al.html" target="_blank">Weird Al</a> for my birthday in October: </b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/qpMvS1Q1sos" width="420"></iframe></div><br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><b>I ran my first marathon:</b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQkuMQf15WmygWgf3uJXCycHUlV-w5sxipI8SoAQ5aYnXQI6poe6iZWogVs6viQG2GXqMr0zTXjGtvDWphuW_SoIWVe5gLup_TACwSKY_Et9kwg0OT9xX85pzkTOgeiiv8FC7NtpEaFpVJ/s1600/Picture+8.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQkuMQf15WmygWgf3uJXCycHUlV-w5sxipI8SoAQ5aYnXQI6poe6iZWogVs6viQG2GXqMr0zTXjGtvDWphuW_SoIWVe5gLup_TACwSKY_Et9kwg0OT9xX85pzkTOgeiiv8FC7NtpEaFpVJ/s640/Picture+8.png" width="411" /></a></div><br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><b>In November I painted most of my house (I talked about doing so <a href="http://samanthasartstudio.blogspot.com/2010/07/painting-on-great-big-scale.html">in this post</a>):</b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHG-l-E1_Cq454ku5vX9EdKvGWCA_jjYVIC-bVoJcAlwBgj7GZnmUgdhtpkO7Cz9Qw1Nsag6XEl8Y2o5UWp90jHcsBd7GJVvOzL1N_xg8TF0-ONMKKWCPN_r_Paf3Xszo4vSSRAMT-Q_RI/s1600/ourYellowHouse.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="356" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHG-l-E1_Cq454ku5vX9EdKvGWCA_jjYVIC-bVoJcAlwBgj7GZnmUgdhtpkO7Cz9Qw1Nsag6XEl8Y2o5UWp90jHcsBd7GJVvOzL1N_xg8TF0-ONMKKWCPN_r_Paf3Xszo4vSSRAMT-Q_RI/s640/ourYellowHouse.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><b>I redesigned and added some recipes to <a href="http://wehasaflavor.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">my silly Flavor blog</a>:</b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicqD9TDrslzvN5pHRXyyqInIqcfwDRYxZLdQ8NkBNxu4DE3Jz6bALW7qjpw0jUZHFsEI1vcxr4KZ730xjwoABvXoxyTSu0tndhVtfYx3XPNm_0F0GglQ9eGU6aFIIQ8GEjoWe9TdKLXsYq/s1600/flvr.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="155" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicqD9TDrslzvN5pHRXyyqInIqcfwDRYxZLdQ8NkBNxu4DE3Jz6bALW7qjpw0jUZHFsEI1vcxr4KZ730xjwoABvXoxyTSu0tndhVtfYx3XPNm_0F0GglQ9eGU6aFIIQ8GEjoWe9TdKLXsYq/s640/flvr.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>(and will soon get rid of Colorful Kitchen and put that info over on that blog).<br />
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</div><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;">I failed at <a href="http://samanthasartstudio.blogspot.com/search/label/2011%20in%202011" target="_blank">2011 in 2011</a> but have been managing to continue de-cluttering and getting rid of things here and there and will continue to do so in 2012. (I will not be counting though.)</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">I also failed to obtain enough applications to pass the <a href="http://www.pollinatorplates.com/" target="_blank">Pollinator license plates</a> I'm working on, so I've been continuing to find ways to spread the word about them.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghIa7a4Wmr5d-I2mSbGC6Pni0LWZGMgrwz0ADDs5fGr-xteo40fsj8VQIwI2mk3MN2y_7U-0GnQm-1yX1ctgh4SIkSc520L5guImODhdA1eKP7CaoNLQMtZQS1hGZS-XtPlNoJqF5tYKXt/s1600/omg.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghIa7a4Wmr5d-I2mSbGC6Pni0LWZGMgrwz0ADDs5fGr-xteo40fsj8VQIwI2mk3MN2y_7U-0GnQm-1yX1ctgh4SIkSc520L5guImODhdA1eKP7CaoNLQMtZQS1hGZS-XtPlNoJqF5tYKXt/s400/omg.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">I <a href="http://samanthasartstudio.blogspot.com/2011/02/upcycling-on-brain.html" target="_blank">winter-sowed</a> some seeds again.</div><br />
I <b>just</b> finished a commissioned piece of artwork (which will get its own post after the recipient receives it, since it's a gift).<br />
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And... that leads up to now. I hadn't worked on a drawing or painting in at least 6 months and really had no inspiration to work on anything. When I was asked to do a drawing of some bees, I realized I better hurry up and find some inspiration to get the drawing done. Once I was finished with it and happy with the result, I realized how much I've missed drawing. I would love to hammer out a bunch relatively soon, but all that time off must have made my drawing muscles atrophy and thus... my hands are still pretty sore. SAD. Looks like I need to build up those calluses again!<br />
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Now that I'm inspired and working on some new stuff, I hope to post more often :)Samantha Ghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11324304321751170433noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4715360212352276597.post-85691507270008770952011-03-17T00:10:00.000-04:002011-03-17T00:10:16.595-04:00My New Favorite Book...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJlxasxW956zvDSRdvgafaCyMBdkuMXFgvVlhsw1gj5yXeYD987iuhkoKFE4ZJWVwckcHeb5Gs0PXqhyOzDilHsh8S4lw0skJuW0_YPVfo-Yr4MVp6KBghmCMt2VRlYJnbQrtH2_pN5XDN/s1600/51DlLDce12L.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJlxasxW956zvDSRdvgafaCyMBdkuMXFgvVlhsw1gj5yXeYD987iuhkoKFE4ZJWVwckcHeb5Gs0PXqhyOzDilHsh8S4lw0skJuW0_YPVfo-Yr4MVp6KBghmCMt2VRlYJnbQrtH2_pN5XDN/s1600/51DlLDce12L.jpg" /></a></div><br />
"The Life Cycles of Butterflies" by Judy Burris & Wayne Richards.<br />
You can buy it from Amazon (at a VERY reasonable price of less than $12!) here:<br />
<a href="http://astore.amazon.com/samanthasartstudio-20/detail/1580176178">http://astore.amazon.com/samanthasartstudio-20/detail/1580176178</a><br />
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I learned about this book online a few weeks ago- I wish I could remember where I read about it. I think I was following a butterfly gardening blog and the author posted about it. Anyway I had the book at the forefront of my mind when my husband and I recently passed a Borders with a big <i>"GOING OUT OF BUSINESS!!"</i> sale sign in the window. We were on our way to dinner with friends, but I begged to stop by if dinner finished early enough.<br />
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Dinner finished around 9:45, which I figured was too late, and I had on some ridiculously high-heels and wasn't exactly prepared to be running around all over a bookstore in search of ONE book. I told him we could just go home and I'd stop by the bookstore the next day.<br />
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But being the <i style="color: #38761d;">wonderful awesome honeybee husband</i> that he is, he pulled his car in front of the store and dropped me off. The store closed at 10:00, so by then I had about 10 minutes to find the book.<br />
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I dashed in and took a glance around the first floor. Humor, no. Young adult, don't think so. Travel, no. Self help... no? I headed for the escalators. And, of course, they weren't working... but for my convenience they had become stairs, which I climbed as quickly as possible in previously mentioned ridiculous heels.<br />
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As soon as I got upstairs I saw the SCIENCE section.<br />
<i>Now we're on to something.</i><br />
I headed that way and saw NATURE<br />
and then ANIMALS.<br />
Perfect!<br />
I found the kitty books.... then the dog books... birds... reptiles...<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Bugs!</span><br />
And there it was. In all its glory. It was the first book I laid my eyes upon. It was the last one.<br />
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I did not open it. I did not read the back cover. I did not look at the price. I did not pass go. I did not collect $200.<br />
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I <i>did</i> quickly grab another cool looking insect guide book and head toward the way-too-tall-for-ludicrous-heels-escalator-turned-stairs. I made my way down safely, <span style="font-size: x-small;">somehow</span>, and got in line to check out, just as the announcement came on that the store was closing.<br />
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I guess you're waiting for a review! I can tell you, this book is everything I hoped it would be AND MORE. I wish the online version had a "look through" option, but just believe me when I say it is well worth every penny if you're interested in butterflies and their caterpillars and how to get them into your gardens. I could look at it for hours. Flip through. Re-open. Re-read. Skim through again. Pause. Repeat.<br />
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The best part was that as I was looking through the whole thing for the first time, slowly taking everything in, I realized I was getting close to the end of the book. <b><i>Noooooooooooo!!!!!! I want it to last FOREVER.....</i></b> But as I turned the pages, I kept finding more and more cool stuff. A whole section on host plants. A section on nectar plants. A section on butterflies that they didn't have <i>quite</i> so much documentation about, but showed them anyway.<br />
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I can't get enough of this book! I finally put it on the bookshelf tonight since it's been sitting in various places around my room for the last couple of weeks, but I don't expect it to remain on the bookshelf for very long :)Samantha Ghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11324304321751170433noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4715360212352276597.post-61773943508566824572011-03-11T12:36:00.002-05:002011-03-11T12:39:46.112-05:00New Painting! Operation Fill-A-Frame #7My mom gave me two giant silvery frames that my husband and I decided would look good behind our couch in the teal room of our house. The two frames have been sitting in the office forever, and since they're part of Operation Fill-A-Frame (even though I don't plan on selling them), I figured since I had the idea and the intent, might as well get started on them.<br />
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We decided that some tropical birds would look cool in that room. The only birds I'd painted were <a href="http://www.samanthasartstudio.com/Penguins.html" target="_blank">these penguins</a> and <a href="http://www.samanthasartstudio.com/heron.html" target="_blank">the blue heron</a>, and for a few years now I have wanted to paint some more tropical birds... just kept putting it off. I knew right away that one would be a toucan but was unsure of the 2nd bird.<br />
I got out a couple of canvases and began painting blue skies:<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDwUYD0q-Xkaoc7VjhwwRWfdIWnePPBkRoP5kTQFefa9b9kpoQwp-WNkDFulrRnXRIHjRD4ioQabY-XF_SDAbTDDOZIju89qw49gg8ZCmsxHtENZge0YZ8aQiE11Al51aNQUDvfO-zRpCy/s1600/197882_10150134539697593_114570282592_6326970_2893722_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDwUYD0q-Xkaoc7VjhwwRWfdIWnePPBkRoP5kTQFefa9b9kpoQwp-WNkDFulrRnXRIHjRD4ioQabY-XF_SDAbTDDOZIju89qw49gg8ZCmsxHtENZge0YZ8aQiE11Al51aNQUDvfO-zRpCy/s400/197882_10150134539697593_114570282592_6326970_2893722_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The skies were tough because if I made them too dark they would look nasty and stormy, but if I made them too light, they'd clash with the dark teal that's already on the walls. I thought these were going to be too dark for my liking but they ended up being just right.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I started the first one and sketched a bird I found after extensive research online. I ended up changing the bird quite a bit though, and added those fun little plumey things on his head.</div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihW0vwVmBNFaWSoas6J3vhICOXHys0fXNnTfh0ZDjXrIEj9Melghd3kh63tj3_306-YgLpE0l8LaHtcimPWZt8Q_IQT685XNQMa4tqXLingD9F9VY9_OpOCvRqLxhFZJaHOZNcuXSM6dkS/s1600/185765_10150134541422593_114570282592_6326980_343060_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihW0vwVmBNFaWSoas6J3vhICOXHys0fXNnTfh0ZDjXrIEj9Melghd3kh63tj3_306-YgLpE0l8LaHtcimPWZt8Q_IQT685XNQMa4tqXLingD9F9VY9_OpOCvRqLxhFZJaHOZNcuXSM6dkS/s400/185765_10150134541422593_114570282592_6326980_343060_n.jpg" width="292" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">First coat of paint, just blocking in color.</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br />
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</tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkVwdbRkWTfdU2LaI7zhKCYbGKHzoFkihUoEOrSq4exuzCcNSyHlKUWXqvrO_oUSPEd0TjBLcx5VDBbe6B2LzIfDl867yAvEZ1t9DL8KR9rLwcx_3oi13hRI_VR2vn68NOPIc8qTGkaCho/s1600/190788_10150134539762593_114570282592_6326971_4658866_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a></div>You're going to think I'm crazy, but after the first night of painting- sketching out the composition and blocking in the color, I was playing around online and went to <a href="http://graphjam.memebase.com/" target="_blank">GraphJam.com</a>, one of my favorite silly sites. I saw <a href="http://graphjam.memebase.com/2011/03/07/funny-graphs-update-your-do-not-haunt-list/" target="_blank">this graph</a> and didn't care so much about what the graph was actually representing- I just couldn't get enough of the color scheme.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://graphjam.files.wordpress.com/2011/03/funny-graphs14.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="393" src="http://graphjam.files.wordpress.com/2011/03/funny-graphs14.png" width="400" /></a></div><br />
I had to have it.<br />
I decided to adapt my black bird to this color scheme. I made him a dark purple instead of just flat black.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkVwdbRkWTfdU2LaI7zhKCYbGKHzoFkihUoEOrSq4exuzCcNSyHlKUWXqvrO_oUSPEd0TjBLcx5VDBbe6B2LzIfDl867yAvEZ1t9DL8KR9rLwcx_3oi13hRI_VR2vn68NOPIc8qTGkaCho/s1600/190788_10150134539762593_114570282592_6326971_4658866_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkVwdbRkWTfdU2LaI7zhKCYbGKHzoFkihUoEOrSq4exuzCcNSyHlKUWXqvrO_oUSPEd0TjBLcx5VDBbe6B2LzIfDl867yAvEZ1t9DL8KR9rLwcx_3oi13hRI_VR2vn68NOPIc8qTGkaCho/s640/190788_10150134539762593_114570282592_6326971_4658866_n.jpg" width="467" /></a></div><br />
I did a little more work on the plants, painted his wings, and gave him a bright orange beak rather than a plain gray one. <br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnoxIdlIcL6wmA4FD3cr2Qlz_IIWMEhzyLt1mbaT41I0QkC9YPcZ4PzxT9LxER1-9vut0dkkeeseDXkxq6DVZ9Ktga7V3VpPYWNpXrIrrsPz4kNjAUkYKtzULEMv5GI8eTiMv4G2sOqxkb/s1600/189709_10150134539797593_114570282592_6326972_3454812_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnoxIdlIcL6wmA4FD3cr2Qlz_IIWMEhzyLt1mbaT41I0QkC9YPcZ4PzxT9LxER1-9vut0dkkeeseDXkxq6DVZ9Ktga7V3VpPYWNpXrIrrsPz4kNjAUkYKtzULEMv5GI8eTiMv4G2sOqxkb/s640/189709_10150134539797593_114570282592_6326972_3454812_n.jpg" width="467" /></a></div><br />
Finished up the details on the bird and the plants and framed him up. Done!<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_wBva9IQRzV-w1IvqFEWMuYq94EBGH1P0jMO7bnF3lv6pWJqZkc7PDO1xGUttnJE_aUp1H65Qc-QstzNd3aWUDIXQW5XMAUjlxGM2z9CIhVr8ElCjy15TAaP7V4Nl8zOqLc7SlqzD9OPf/s1600/188524_10150134539867593_114570282592_6326973_6867827_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_wBva9IQRzV-w1IvqFEWMuYq94EBGH1P0jMO7bnF3lv6pWJqZkc7PDO1xGUttnJE_aUp1H65Qc-QstzNd3aWUDIXQW5XMAUjlxGM2z9CIhVr8ElCjy15TAaP7V4Nl8zOqLc7SlqzD9OPf/s640/188524_10150134539867593_114570282592_6326973_6867827_n.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />
I'm not too happy with the composition in the mat the way that it is- even though I measured, I still went too high with his head. I might have to actually use my husband's circular saw and cut off the bottom 2 inches of the painting (I didn't paint anything there anyway) and move it down in the frame to where I want it. It's a canvas panel, so I think sawing off the bottom should be OK.<br />
<br />
I also changed up my painting process on this one. Instead of taking<i> a month or more</i> to do a painting, I did this one in about 4 nights- <b>10 hours</b>. I could have easily spent <b>40</b> or more hours on it though. What I'm finding at art shows is that people enjoy my art, but they seem to enjoy the subject matter more than the <i>technique</i> and craftsmanship that goes into it. If I spent 40 hours on a painting, I've got to charge a pretty good price for it to pay myself for my time, right? But if people like a picture but don't care or notice that every leaf has the tiniest amount of detail in it and is blended to perfection, why painstakingly take the time to do all of my paintings that way?<br />
<br />
It's tough because you don't want to sell out, but at the same time if you have an idea that you think people might like, you've got to make it marketable- if you're going to try and sell it, that is. I'm experimenting a little with trying to find a balance there, so as I do more paintings, you may notice some of my new stuff being cheaper. I figure if I ever get myself into a prestigious art gallery, that market is going to be a lot different than the outdoor-art-show crowd (at least the ones I've gone to). The art gallery can appreciate the detailed florals, the outdoor crowd will probably enjoy the same subject matter with a fraction of the time it takes to create a more detailed piece.<br />
<br />
<br />
Have a great weekend everyone!Samantha Ghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11324304321751170433noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4715360212352276597.post-30895630835312001922011-03-01T18:04:00.001-05:002011-03-01T18:05:35.256-05:00Spring is coming!!I am so happy that it's March!<br />
Ever since I moved into our new house in September, I've been dying to do some landscaping and planting and gardening.<br />
I planted just a couple of things last fall, and some bulbs.. which are slowly but surely starting to poke up from out of the cold ground!<br />
<br />
One part of spring and summer that I enjoy the most is eating meals outdoors. I can't explain it... but there's just something about it that makes the whole experience more enjoyable to me. With that in mind and in anticipation of warm weather, I painted this little wooden utensil holder- perfect for a picnic, or any meal outdoors! <br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.etsy.com/listing/67921854/lady-bug-picnic-silverware-and-napkin"><img border="0" height="383" src="http://ny-image3.etsy.com/il_570xN.216425655.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>It has 3 compartments up front for silverware and one long compartment in the back for napkins.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://ny-image3.etsy.com/il_570xN.216425759.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://ny-image3.etsy.com/il_570xN.216425759.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>I also realized that if you wanted to use it year-round, it would make a great desk organizer! :)<br />
<br />
I found the original item at a thrift store. It was in okay condition, which means luckily it didn't need much work..... but just seemed like it needed a little cheerful pick-me-up. I painted the design in acrylic paints and spray-poly'd a couple light coats over the paint for durability. <br />
<br />
If you're interested in a ladybug picnic all your own, the item is in my Etsy shop here:<br />
<a href="http://www.etsy.com/listing/67921854/lady-bug-picnic-silverware-and-napkin">http://www.etsy.com/listing/67921854/lady-bug-picnic-silverware-and-napkin</a><br />
<br />
Or if you're in the market for any other custom-painted box or item similar to this, please contact me and tell me what you'd like! I love doing commission work :)<br />
<br />
Happy March, everyone!Samantha Ghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11324304321751170433noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4715360212352276597.post-85829953701031959462011-02-16T18:46:00.005-05:002011-02-16T18:55:33.635-05:00Another great item from BuildASign! :)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcbfhkJGYaB6dSdLnMpl3xeeZYd8tHwfVPvHyHqi_Ff-JLNXG1_bxYEryOEshhrhSyLiv5db7ypwNukiYpfp-qhhi0VBj-TcCCZV0SRX-hO45HYjGj9uD7m045TirzvVVZgPjAFGt0hZhE/s1600/P1010711.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcbfhkJGYaB6dSdLnMpl3xeeZYd8tHwfVPvHyHqi_Ff-JLNXG1_bxYEryOEshhrhSyLiv5db7ypwNukiYpfp-qhhi0VBj-TcCCZV0SRX-hO45HYjGj9uD7m045TirzvVVZgPjAFGt0hZhE/s400/P1010711.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>I received the last of my promotional items in the mail from <a href="http://www.buildasign.com/" target="_blank">BuildASign.com</a>! It's a fully customized aluminum license plate! <br />
<br />
You can go on BuildASign's website and create a <a href="http://www.buildasign.com/LicensePlates" target="_blank">fully customized license plate</a>, or personalize one of the many templates they have available. <i style="color: #274e13;">Way cool!</i><br />
<br />
While I can't legally put this on my car and drive around in the state of Virginia (a REAL plate is required on both the front and back of the car here), it's going to be a wonderful item to have with me for people to touch and feel when I'm out promoting the plates. I was <span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: large;"><i>squeeing</i></span> with delight when it arrived in the mail and I pulled it out of the packaging! It's so cool to see it in person, to get a <i>real feel</i> for how it's going to look when I finally get these things passed into legislation, and BuildASign did a <b>great job</b> with the print. The plate is sturdy and feels like if I have to it around to a lot of events, it won't get scratched up in the process; the ink most certainly does not feel like it's going to easily start rubbing off or anything like that.<br />
<br />
(Oh, one thing my husband pointed out- he asked why Virginia wasn't centered. That was definitely not Build-A-Sign's fault, that was all me- when I was building the template I just tried to make sure everything that I wanted to fit on the plate was within the bleed area, I didn't even really look at where things were centered. <u>My</u> fault, not theirs!) <br />
<br />
I haven't mentioned the plates much since I created their own special website, <a href="http://www.pollinatorplates.com/" target="_blank">www.PollinatorPlates.com</a> . Right now the goings-on focus only on the state of Virginia, and I know I have readers from other places :) But if you're in a state that you think would enjoy showing its love of pollinators via fancy-pants vehicular accessory, by all means let me know. We can research how to get one passed in your state and I'd love to work on another new and unique design!Samantha Ghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11324304321751170433noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4715360212352276597.post-3777058447104488482011-02-11T01:08:00.003-05:002011-02-11T01:13:07.678-05:00"In The Waiting Line" Operation Fill-A-Frame #6<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://samanthasartstudio.com/pillar.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://ny-image3.etsy.com/il_fullxfull.216303771.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="380" src="http://ny-image3.etsy.com/il_fullxfull.216303771.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.etsy.com/listing/67892531/in-the-waiting-line-2-swallowtail-study">http://www.etsy.com/listing/67892531/in-the-waiting-line-2-swallowtail-study</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>Operation Fill-A-Frame #6 is complete! This one is very similar to #5 and thus has the same title (with a 2 at the end). "In The Waiting Line 2" is another butterfly and caterpillar study, this time featuring the Tiger Swallowtail, also known as the Eastern Tiger Swallowtail.<br />
<br />
Just like the Monarch "In The Waiting Line 1", the mat of this picture is <i>outside</i> of the glass, not under it. (It feels like a hard wood or plastic and is painted.) The two drawings are on a single sheet of <a href="http://www.dickblick.com/products/canson-xl-recycled-bristol-pads/" target="_blank">Canson Recycled Bristol</a> art paper, and the drawing was created with ink and my Forest Choice colored pencils. <br />
<br />
This was another quick one, and thus, is a cheap one! $25 for this framed original drawing in my Etsy shop- you can see the listing here :)<br />
<a href="http://www.etsy.com/listing/67892531/in-the-waiting-line-2-swallowtail-study">http://www.etsy.com/listing/67892531/in-the-waiting-line-2-swallowtail-study</a><br />
<br />
<b> Man, oh man, did I learn a LOT while researching this piece.</b><br />
<br />
First of all, let's talk about this caterpillar.<br />
Years and years ago I painted a swallowtail caterpillar- does this guy look familiar?<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.samanthasartstudio.com/caterpillar.html" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://samanthasartstudio.com/Caterpillar2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
He is, indeed, a swallowtail caterpillar. When I took the original photo of him and looked him up, that's what I learned. It made sense because the year I found him, our yard was <i>covered</i> in yellow tiger swallowtail butterflies.<br />
BUT<br />
It turns out, he's NOT the caterpillar of the <i>tiger</i> swallowtail. Nope. (It's very easy to get confused because if you do a Google image search for Tiger Swallowtail Caterpillar, just "swallowtail caterpillar" is included in the search and pictures of those guys come up!)<br />
<br />
He is the caterpillar of the Black Swallowtail butterfly, seen here:<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2j2swRHwxyMiIWPtpCwRDCMCPVdubTzTzBxycyHjXkxQ_un-VGjpkBc1fLqlhHiXa9jFIanfixnA5u_8bpNaimrg25Ofh6Lzkv0z6aioGf4nZgrPSViD5RAt2pZN5iyvsIpCJYRyfGYLt/s1600/800px-Black_Swallowtail_Papilio_polyxenes_1700px.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="282" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2j2swRHwxyMiIWPtpCwRDCMCPVdubTzTzBxycyHjXkxQ_un-VGjpkBc1fLqlhHiXa9jFIanfixnA5u_8bpNaimrg25Ofh6Lzkv0z6aioGf4nZgrPSViD5RAt2pZN5iyvsIpCJYRyfGYLt/s400/800px-Black_Swallowtail_Papilio_polyxenes_1700px.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo by Derek Ramsey (<a class="extiw" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Ram-Man" target="_blank" title="en:User:Ram-Man">Ram-Man</a>)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>So if those caterpillars weren't from the tiger swallowtail, then where did all those butterflies come from? And why were they staying??<br />
<br />
Answer- because their host plant is (....drumroll....) the Tulip Tree! Well, that is <i>one</i> of their host plants (this should look familiar, too!) Our house was surrounded on all sides by Liriodendrons (I also learned the Tulip Tree has a bunch of different names!) :)<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://samanthasartstudio.com/Lg/LargeTulipTree2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="285" src="http://samanthasartstudio.com/Lg/LargeTulipTree2.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.samanthasartstudio.com/tuliptree2.html">http://www.samanthasartstudio.com/tuliptree2.html</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>And their caterpillars look way, way, <b>way</b> different than the guy above that I painted! What's very interesting is the variation in the caterpillars <i>themselves</i>. I was looking all over the web for clarification of the different caterpillars and didn't understand why so many different looking ones were all tagged as the tiger swallowtail.<br />
<br />
Some are bright neon green. Some are brown. Some are multicolored. This is due to the different <i>instars</i> of the caterpillar. Each time the caterpillar sheds its skin, it looks slightly different. This happens to a lot of caterpillars, but this one seems quite dramatic to me.<br />
<br />
Imagine my world being turned upside down upon finding out this whole time I've been telling people this caterpillar grows into the wrong butterfly! <i>(Sorry!)</i><br />
<br />
AND<br />
Imagine my confusion when I found out that all male tiger swallowtail butterflies are yellow and black, but <b>only some</b> of the females are yellow and black. The rest are just plain black! (There is also a rare morph of the two.) <br />
See great pictures and the explanation here:<br />
<a href="http://www.rlephoto.com/swallowtails/swallowtail_ET01.html" target="_blank">http://www.rlephoto.com/swallowtails/swallowtail_ET01.html</a><br />
Eventually I'll learn the differences.... but in my confusion and endless searching for which butterfly was which, I found out there are Black Swallowtails, Black Tiger Swallowtails, Spicebush Swallowtails, and Pipevine Swallowtails<br />
and<br />
they<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">ALL</span><br />
look<br />
almost<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">exactly</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">THE SAME!</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">...Eeep!</span>Samantha Ghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11324304321751170433noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4715360212352276597.post-33553318362080321202011-02-07T18:51:00.000-05:002011-02-07T18:51:21.448-05:00"In The Waiting Line" Operation Fill-A-Frame #5<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://ny-image0.etsy.com/il_fullxfull.215306284.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="352" src="http://ny-image0.etsy.com/il_fullxfull.215306284.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.etsy.com/listing/67648352/in-the-waiting-line-monarch-study" target="_blank">http://www.etsy.com/listing/67648352/in-the-waiting-line-monarch-study</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
Operation Fill-A-Frame #5 is complete! This was one of the frames I was looking forward to filling the most. "In The Waiting Line" features a big (4th instar) Monarch Caterpillar, crawling and munching his way among the Milkweeds, awaiting the time to turn into a chrysalis and become a beautiful Monarch butterfly! <br />
<br />
The title seemed appropriate for a caterpillar and was also the name of a song I listened to while creating the art- listen here:<br />
<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/72H5pNHPagQ" title="YouTube video player" width="480"></iframe><br />
<br />
The mat of this picture is <i>outside</i> of the glass, not under it. (It feels like a hard wood or plastic and is painted.) The two drawings are on a single sheet of <a href="http://www.dickblick.com/products/canson-xl-recycled-bristol-pads/" target="_blank">Canson Recycled Bristol</a> art paper, and the drawing was created with ink and my Forest Choice colored pencils. I hadn't done a colored pencil drawing with ink in a long time- maybe not since my 30 bugs in 30 days project! I yearned to do something a little realistic, a little cartoony, and so this was created.<br />
<br />
This was a quick one, and thus, is a cheap one! $25 for this framed original drawing in my Etsy shop- you can see the listing here :)<br />
<a href="http://www.etsy.com/listing/67648352/in-the-waiting-line-monarch-study" target="_blank">http://www.etsy.com/listing/67648352/in-the-waiting-line-monarch-study</a><br />
<br />
I have another frame identical to this one and will probably do another caterpillar/butterfly combo drawing. I'm thinking an eastern Yellow Tiger Swallowtail butterflies for the next one!Samantha Ghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11324304321751170433noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4715360212352276597.post-81259314866067832712011-02-04T14:21:00.001-05:002011-02-04T14:45:14.113-05:00UPCYCLING on the brain!!It must have been giving new life to all these old picture frames* that got me slightly obsessing over <b>upcycling</b> recently.<br />
I've found myself second-guessing almost *anything* I'm throwing out!<br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">(* Technically my Fill-A-Frame project isn't really upcycling, more like "fixing up" since I'm just either filling up existing frames that are already in good condition, or re-painting those that aren't in such good shape.)</span><br />
<br />
<i>First of all, you may ask, what's "upcycling"? Is it different from recycling? If so, how?</i><br />
Upcycling is to giving new life to something that otherwise would have been thrown out- thrown out into the trash <i>or</i> the recycle bin, whichever. We've all heard <span style="color: #38761d;">reduce, reuse, recycle. </span>Upcycling can be thought of simply as the <b>reuse</b> part of that.<br />
<br />
You don't even have to reuse it for what it was originally intended. For example, you don't have to take an old plastic bottle (from soda or water) and fill it back up with something else to drink. You could cut it in half and make two little domes to put on top of seeds you've planted and are awaiting germination! <br />
<br />
The difference with <i>recycling</i> is that the bottle would go to a processing plant where it would be melted down with other plastics and eventually formed into something else. (You could still recycle the bottle after using it for your seed-greenhouse, of course.)<br />
<br />
Back in December I started learning about <a href="http://wintersown.org/wseo1/FAQs.html">Winter Sowing</a>. Have you heard of it? In a nutshell, you fill a container with dirt (make sure it has drainage holes or add your own), plant seeds in it (most times native seeds or plants that reseed themselves in your gardening zone work best), cover it with clear plastic (with holes in it), stick it outside, and at the appropriate time in Spring the seeds will figure out when to germinate and do so!! Then you can plant little clumps of the seedlings right in your garden. There's no worrying about wildlife eating them, there's no hardening off, there's no taking up a ton of room in every warm windowsill of your house.<br />
<br />
Here is a whole page about it if you want to learn more!<br />
<a href="http://wintersown.org/wseo1/How_to_Winter_Sow.html">http://wintersown.org/wseo1/How_to_Winter_Sow.html</a><br />
<br />
Upcycling is HUGE in the winter sowing community! I have occasionally poked drainage holes into the bottom of a yogurt or margarine container to try and grow a plant big enough to be planted outside. I had<i> no idea </i>there was a whole cult of people who do it every year- sometimes with HUNDREDS of containers in every shape and size- to get their seeds started for their gardens. Amazing! <br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-Wlv8dDC7HCJAM_A3qgsq96Vv_rwVVApejFVx3u8SGbzU7n1lLFl5PsXB7W7ZeUgrN5TAimfSqX8_GOfy12LCn1rqWhs89mCd2YINs-sB5_i_jaMoiblJtZ8nxnKx68RxukqgpNdhw-V_/s1600/ws1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-Wlv8dDC7HCJAM_A3qgsq96Vv_rwVVApejFVx3u8SGbzU7n1lLFl5PsXB7W7ZeUgrN5TAimfSqX8_GOfy12LCn1rqWhs89mCd2YINs-sB5_i_jaMoiblJtZ8nxnKx68RxukqgpNdhw-V_/s1600/ws1.JPG" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">From WinterSown.org</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<br />
I've always had such terrible luck with seeds, even back when I had a greenhouse. I planted many many seeds and ended up with only a handful of plants to show for them- some lime green zinnias and okra and tomatoes. It was the hardening-off process that did them in, but with winter sowing the seedlings were born outside, so they're completely ready for the outdoors!<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgh4_D91yep1YkWKAvV83S_nS7fpZLu4JzStvYWcD8ht-cJ3jYU1ch0N5mUhvwEi41v3dDC8w9Mc_vtj0O5xHglvPR7ijFwj0S1ar57jKEgfIYhhjgUV4M-4Lb-YgzHGdF8b-c1rQVG524n/s1600/P1010734.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgh4_D91yep1YkWKAvV83S_nS7fpZLu4JzStvYWcD8ht-cJ3jYU1ch0N5mUhvwEi41v3dDC8w9Mc_vtj0O5xHglvPR7ijFwj0S1ar57jKEgfIYhhjgUV4M-4Lb-YgzHGdF8b-c1rQVG524n/s400/P1010734.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My collection of random seeds in my repurposed pottting station</td></tr>
</tbody></table>I've started a few flats of seeds myself- so far, just 3.<br />
A plastic tray from some edamame became a greenhouse for some Campion seeds.<br />
A plastic tray from Ortega taco shells became a greenhouse for some Larkspur seeds.<br />
A plastic tub (with holes already in the top and bottom!!) from grape tomatoes became a greenhouse for Black-Eyed-Susan seeds. <br />
I've got 2 empty strawberry tubs to use, also with drainage and ventilation holes already in them. I plan to put Pink Coneflower in one and.... not sure about the other.<br />
<br />
I have so many seeds saved up I don't even know what some of them are!Samantha Ghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11324304321751170433noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4715360212352276597.post-87589109709047266922011-02-02T01:03:00.002-05:002011-02-02T09:16:19.116-05:00Banner from BuildASign.com is here :)I just got my Pollinator Plates <a href="http://www.buildasign.com/CustomBanners" target="_blank">custom banner</a> from <a href="http://www.buildasign.com/" target="_blank">BuildASign</a>.com!<br />
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I am so happy with it!<br />
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Here it is!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBEMh2bcXIadc024a4dyQ_TkuBFiNSAl0ujgN6jPIIB97KfjZPtXnhraWL_ZaoyWdHDw_9q2R4Gpjo37xIn1D6yvNeUMxmWmYr0YfBggXwXI-tAStMgwqfYOpAYhTF0c2BxeWmHb6V94BC/s1600/DSC00352.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="328" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBEMh2bcXIadc024a4dyQ_TkuBFiNSAl0ujgN6jPIIB97KfjZPtXnhraWL_ZaoyWdHDw_9q2R4Gpjo37xIn1D6yvNeUMxmWmYr0YfBggXwXI-tAStMgwqfYOpAYhTF0c2BxeWmHb6V94BC/s640/DSC00352.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEil3XmcrqmJpLww1-mkQ4YWZmloINRZRRj3FMtq0z0_lbokoODV0A1ENhohOoUnOTjlKE_FtHf9vdtd7WPMJs6rFJMMPtxMKYRBRLSZWHNYdOK-vo946uvmjpI0W31dbpZsWt-6quDbndsd/s1600/DSC00351.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a></div><br />
What's great about this banner:<br />
<ul><li>The banner material itself feels <b>super strong and durable</b>. Honestly, for the prices online (this one is a 24" x 48"- that's 2'x4'- and only $23 and I'm not even kidding), I was expecting something flimsier that might tear easily and probably not last for very many uses. I was very pleasantly surprised!</li>
<li>The colors came out very true-to-life. Colors usually vary from monitor to monitor, and a slight variation wouldn't have disappointed me. Again, another pleasant surprise! It looks exactly the same as the image that I sent to them! The colors are so bright and vivid!</li>
<li>It also came with 4 grommets, one in each corner. Again, for something so inexpensive, I expected <i>maybe</i> one grommet in each top corner for hanging. </li>
</ul><br />
I am so pleased with this!<br />
<br />
It will be the perfect size for a 6-foot table or a 10-foot booth spot, the sizes I've seen most commonly at various events. My little table is 5-feet long, so it will work with that as well. Once I can start the official process of collecting license plate applications, I plan to go "out in the field" as much as I can, to as many events as I can, to obtain as much interest as possible. I will even dress up in my bee costume if that is what it takes... (But hopefully with an eye-catching banner like THIS, the bee costume won't BEE necessary.)<br />
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So if you're in need of a banner, I highly recommend <a href="http://www.buildasign.com/" target="_blank">BuildASign.com</a>! You can order from their templates, or use their online design software (VERY easy), or create your own custom design (like I did here with this one).They have lots of other fun stuff besides banners, such as personalized street signs and license plates, stickers, signs, magnetics. Playing around on their website made me miss my days of working back at the sign shop.... Le sigh.....Samantha Ghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11324304321751170433noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4715360212352276597.post-88668521198943299072011-01-24T10:21:00.130-05:002011-01-24T10:21:00.377-05:00Operation: Fill-A-Frame #4<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://ny-image0.etsy.com/il_570xN.210797180.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://ny-image0.etsy.com/il_570xN.210797180.jpg" width="395" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"Love You To Death"</td></tr>
</tbody></table>Oh man... what to say about this piece, where do I start?<br />
<br />
Chronologically sounds good...<br />
I started with the frame. I bought it at least 2 years ago. I thought the coppery-metallic-orange would look great filled with some orange tropical flower. But after getting the frame home I found myself less than enthusiastic about filling it. A tropical flower didn't seem right for it... but I had no idea what <i>did</i> seem right. So there it sat. I felt a twinge of guilt every time I saw it, thinking I had wasted money on yet another frame I was never going to fill, another project I was never going to complete. <br />
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In 2009 my awesome husband took me to <a href="http://www.reptiland.com/" target="_blank">Reptiland</a> in Pennsylvania for my birthday. The place was amazing! (I loved it so much we returned in 2010.) There were frogs, snakes, turtles, and a butterfly house! Since it was late in the year when we went, most of the foliage and flowers were gone and only a few lonely surviving butterflies remained. I took tons of pictures of them. It was cold; they weren't moving much; you could get <i>so</i> close to them.<br />
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Here are two of the pictures that I took and the two that inspired the piece of art:<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2fkq9hG6qOmKEfkhcH8bsYIaPYtLrW99CBLElWDejoz9nbZXPb15_L1Yr_Rm9cusE0mL8LVVnypUaY375lVHim6JAnNca9k1Pl0pejhuRlD1y46FgG2dRvgv8dMLxofdpJrHD0sFx1M3B/s1600/P1010671sm.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2fkq9hG6qOmKEfkhcH8bsYIaPYtLrW99CBLElWDejoz9nbZXPb15_L1Yr_Rm9cusE0mL8LVVnypUaY375lVHim6JAnNca9k1Pl0pejhuRlD1y46FgG2dRvgv8dMLxofdpJrHD0sFx1M3B/s400/P1010671sm.jpg" width="310" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_akB2VBY8Clk41PgSlsvyGZf3YxJJntC2mSkHrw7uBNeJJwHFym2osJ68Qni1e2Gb4SRzKOPkne9W6eX_Cyl69fsiDTTrZ_z7BJV44YMrcApBfyrHwH2BJdb8xKgruLuAO7qhNRLdbS4h/s1600/P1010675sm.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_akB2VBY8Clk41PgSlsvyGZf3YxJJntC2mSkHrw7uBNeJJwHFym2osJ68Qni1e2Gb4SRzKOPkne9W6eX_Cyl69fsiDTTrZ_z7BJV44YMrcApBfyrHwH2BJdb8xKgruLuAO7qhNRLdbS4h/s400/P1010675sm.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><br />
Fast forward to now and it's January and I'm working on this Fill-A-Frame project. I decided to take a break from the 8x10's and standard sizes I had around and get this square copper frame back out. I decided instead of a tropical flower, <i>a monarch butterfly</i> would look <i>much</i> better with the orange tones. I went through my Reptiland pictures again and loved the composition with the <b>two</b> butterflies (above) so much that I did a nasty <span style="font-size: x-small;">(meaning, executed poorly but good and accurate enough for me to work from)</span> rendition via Photoshop of what two monarchs would look like in the same position and began to work on the drawing. <br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvqrJ0UXupm7JouAvVH1T2LskP2SttgJcLmzMK-kYzhJZOgf7RBTgJa2HlI0d6EWrHRaxQ0VGocaNTcBz5vQEmtkYxv4f15emkzucJf9HLgQ05EB_JzUNyCrKlcfiKEylOsmLYpN8MgnXP/s1600/Monarchs.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvqrJ0UXupm7JouAvVH1T2LskP2SttgJcLmzMK-kYzhJZOgf7RBTgJa2HlI0d6EWrHRaxQ0VGocaNTcBz5vQEmtkYxv4f15emkzucJf9HLgQ05EB_JzUNyCrKlcfiKEylOsmLYpN8MgnXP/s400/Monarchs.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Nasty Photoshop reference rough-draft</td></tr>
</tbody></table>(I originally planned to extend the drawing onto the mat again, but I didn't have any white or light colored matboard around and eventually decided that I wanted only a small mat on this art, so unless I messed up the mat and HAD to color over it, I'd rather just have a plain mat.)<br />
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Here's the finished drawing:<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://ny-image3.etsy.com/il_570xN.210797235.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="362" src="http://ny-image3.etsy.com/il_570xN.210797235.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
I usually have trouble naming a drawing or painting, but most of the Fill-A-Frame project names are coming from songs or albums I'm listening to at the time that I create the art. It seemed quite fitting for this piece that the song I currently can't stop listening to is called "Love You To Death."<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" class="youtube-player" frameborder="0" height="349" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/haQFP_WikhQ" title="YouTube video player" type="text/html" width="425"></iframe><br />
<br />
Why fitting?<br />
<i>I know,</i> usually my art is super cheerful and happy,<i> right? I</i> definitely stepped out of my comfort zone a little for this one.<br />
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Here's why. The pictures that inspired the art were taken in a butterfly house... right before winter. <a href="http://www.bigsurcalifornia.org/monarchs.html" target="_blank">Normally Monarch butterflies would migrate,</a> but when importing live butterflies (chrysalis) from other states into a butterfly house, it's actually illegal to release those butterflies into the wild. When you visit a butterfly house, do you ever notice all of the signs asking you to check for "hitchhikers" before you leave? It's not just because they don't want to lose their butterflies... they don't want to break the law! When non-native species are released into a new environment, they can breed like crazy and mess up entire eco-systems... so there are strict laws against releasing those imported butterflies. <br />
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So even though the Monarch species was native to the area of the butterfly house, they still weren't allowed to be released into the wild. They, and the other remaining butterflies, had to just sit in the butterfly house and wait to die in the cold. I found it particularly sad with the Monarchs since they would've normally migrated south. They were imprisoned and just waiting for death.<br />
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Since there were a pair of them in this picture (well, in my made-up picture), it seemed at least a little more comforting that the two butterflies had each other and could wait for death together. Hence the "Love You To Death" title. (I know that's not what the actual song is about, but the title fit well.)<br />
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Next it was time to mat the drawing. Since I didn't need a huge mat, I went to a local art gallery to see if they had any matboard scraps around that they might otherwise be throwing away. Sometimes galleries will sell them to you cheap or in rare and especially nice cases just give them away! :) I got EXTREMELY lucky because not only did I find one of those <a href="http://broadwaygalleries.net/" target="_blank">NICE galleries,</a> the lady working in the matting section even cut it to size (I did the inside cut) <b>and</b> the mat was this really cool tan color with some grayish-fibery-pieces in it. It was perfect; no way was I going to draw on it.<br />
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I put it all together, and there you have it. My first piece of <b><i>sad</i></b> artwork. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://ny-image2.etsy.com/il_570xN.210797218.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="377" src="http://ny-image2.etsy.com/il_570xN.210797218.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>Samantha Ghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11324304321751170433noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4715360212352276597.post-29601715040206944812011-01-23T12:27:00.004-05:002011-01-23T12:29:48.432-05:00Operation Fill-A-Frame #2 & #3I filled up a couple more frames a while back and completely forgot to post about it!<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDGLnwrszXF2FFK5WfNhW-GjlMusKrJvU_jytDgqO26JWUFDyT1ZislP7A2Am3bI022qpbdAUPyaKqw9_USZ9Sqm17Di0um-YNAJeDpSDS08b0lp3WQf8DT0g2nRl8Wd2iIzq7G6f9YBJ8/s1600/ValentinesBoth.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="369" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDGLnwrszXF2FFK5WfNhW-GjlMusKrJvU_jytDgqO26JWUFDyT1ZislP7A2Am3bI022qpbdAUPyaKqw9_USZ9Sqm17Di0um-YNAJeDpSDS08b0lp3WQf8DT0g2nRl8Wd2iIzq7G6f9YBJ8/s640/ValentinesBoth.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Valentine's Bugs!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>This artwork wasn't created specifically for Operation: Fill-A-Frame, it was actually created last year for an Etsy Team Challenge. However, like the frames, it was something I had laying around that I wanted to finish (i.e. <i>frame it</i>) eventually. So the two projects came together perfectly! I had the art... I had the frames... They just needed mats.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEVhcVkM80gkI6GSOmVJdrv2CCWhK1Z8omKtoOCS54UoTdRpOAvT-GUPHpIAzgHc2sGUUGNsv5u9HrH7WBlE-JKWXThxmDcTCqItdz1xX0PJ0ShT-kRztk9XWt0GWOQyZTgyVPlBZcvxCl/s1600/Valentines1a.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEVhcVkM80gkI6GSOmVJdrv2CCWhK1Z8omKtoOCS54UoTdRpOAvT-GUPHpIAzgHc2sGUUGNsv5u9HrH7WBlE-JKWXThxmDcTCqItdz1xX0PJ0ShT-kRztk9XWt0GWOQyZTgyVPlBZcvxCl/s400/Valentines1a.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br />
I was really torn between matting it in green or red. The<span style="color: #274e13;"> dark green</span> went well with both pieces and seemed practical because <span style="color: #274e13;">dark green</span> is easy color to match to almost any decor in any home. But since the art was created <i>for</i> <i>Valentine's day,</i> it made sense to frame it in the obligatory <span style="color: #cc0000;">red</span>. People <b>love</b> buying things in <span style="color: #cc0000;">red</span> for Valentine's day... for what other reason does <b>every</b> store currently look like <b><span style="color: #cc0000;">red</span></b>, <b><span style="color: #e06666;">pink</span></b>, and <b><span style="color: magenta;">magenta</span></b> came in and threw up all over their entryway!? <br />
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I decided to offer the option of either color mat. <br />
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They are both pastels with ink. Both pieces are currently $35 each, but check the listings as they may go on sale. I may offer a bundle discount if someone's interested in buying both!<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://ny-image0.etsy.com/il_570xN.206781224.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://ny-image0.etsy.com/il_570xN.206781224.jpg" width="326" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Original "Bee Mine" framed artwork</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div style="text-align: center;">If you're interested in buying this piece or seeing more photos, it's here in my Etsy gift shop:</div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.etsy.com/listing/65547037/bee-mine-original-valentines-honeybee">http://www.etsy.com/listing/65547037/bee-mine-original-valentines-honeybee</a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://ny-image3.etsy.com/il_570xN.206781823.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://ny-image3.etsy.com/il_570xN.206781823.jpg" width="326" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Original "Love Bug" framed artwork</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div style="text-align: center;">If you'd like to buy this piece or see more detailed photos, it's here in my Etsy gift shop:</div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.etsy.com/listing/65546619/love-bug-original-valentines-ladybug">http://www.etsy.com/listing/65546619/love-bug-original-valentines-ladybug</a></div><br />
This ladybird beetle one was a tough one- I had an idea for the composition but it took a lot of sketches to get it just right. Ladybugs love climbing around on the grass and the red and green colors look so nice together. The little beetle is pulling down blades of grass into the shape of a heart, and I made his little body slightly heart-shaped too :)Samantha Ghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11324304321751170433noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4715360212352276597.post-34150277705637202692011-01-19T12:35:00.000-05:002011-01-19T12:35:20.490-05:00Please Vote :)(Or as Puff Daddy (P. Diddy? Diddy?) would say, Vote or Die!)<br />
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I'm running a 24 hour poll on <a href="http://pollinatorplates.blogspot.com/">the Pollinator Plates blog</a> regarding the design of the plate. Virginia has a lot of plates with a lot of blue in the background, but none (or at least very few) that are pimarily green. I posted two designs and want to choose the final one by tomorrow so I can send my legislator another letter with the new design.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0eLZgvgOEvUYgB_9AE1PXj-NkOjDVz8jKK4INfOydwPPN8ZD4mVcNc2rSSQAlqO1EB2_lZO6RRbsjC0zBfNTmjo8aJukfwi-FAK6MUjPz4_PDtmq8zchiPVwhIGL9-jnLZkxGTdljcQO6/s1600/Picture+10.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="205" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0eLZgvgOEvUYgB_9AE1PXj-NkOjDVz8jKK4INfOydwPPN8ZD4mVcNc2rSSQAlqO1EB2_lZO6RRbsjC0zBfNTmjo8aJukfwi-FAK6MUjPz4_PDtmq8zchiPVwhIGL9-jnLZkxGTdljcQO6/s400/Picture+10.png" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDKrn6WIQIW4WBIluZjwaIAm312N0c6UI4dA2nX87kIN4L8wjlDqYy0xmHxbXJwI2UIX8wvQBZhZ9NgiwtkXfL1et1PpXnQ4Qo2uZqw3hVCMVMB7IfQNfYqxs14Mrh0QMYYZabmxihAn5i/s1600/Picture+1.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="203" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDKrn6WIQIW4WBIluZjwaIAm312N0c6UI4dA2nX87kIN4L8wjlDqYy0xmHxbXJwI2UIX8wvQBZhZ9NgiwtkXfL1et1PpXnQ4Qo2uZqw3hVCMVMB7IfQNfYqxs14Mrh0QMYYZabmxihAn5i/s400/Picture+1.png" width="400" /></a></div><br />
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If you have a moment, could you stop by the Pollinator Plates site and vote? The poll is in the upper right corner:<br />
<a href="http://pollinatorplates.blogspot.com/">http://pollinatorplates.blogspot.com/</a><br />
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Thanks!! :)Samantha Ghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11324304321751170433noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4715360212352276597.post-14705584140377212422011-01-13T13:11:00.000-05:002011-01-13T13:11:40.607-05:00Oh no! I forgot my bread!!I haven't posted about <a href="http://samanthasartstudio.blogspot.com/2009/03/were-sick-and-tired-of-shades-of-grey.html">Tacos Y Burritos</a> in a while, so like I recently did for <a href="http://samanthasartstudio.blogspot.com/2010/12/happy-fluffy-friday.html">my Tosh</a>, here's a post for him since I have a silly story about him to share.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5iDXU66V8ydrPe7_e38Un65ali4npapyc7lZPXKQoyvHUUVQAv62oYiJui_QTtTCQiZjqfvwkrt4fThmkB050hgUEwfhVkjXfFtD1lZgrXsC9jtqGiCCV7K_avT7r9THDLJBXZ_-bSUfP/s1600/P1010009.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5iDXU66V8ydrPe7_e38Un65ali4npapyc7lZPXKQoyvHUUVQAv62oYiJui_QTtTCQiZjqfvwkrt4fThmkB050hgUEwfhVkjXfFtD1lZgrXsC9jtqGiCCV7K_avT7r9THDLJBXZ_-bSUfP/s320/P1010009.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tacos Y Burritos in Harrisburg!!</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
Today I was making a PBJ and used up the last 2 slices of bread. When this happens, we give Tacos the end (butt) of the bread as a treat. I'm not sure how "treaty" it is to him but we figure it has to be healthier than most other dogs treats out there (which, <i>yes</i>, he does get-- we are not totally mean!!) :)<br />
<br />
I gave one of the ends to him but he wasn't very interested. I finished making my sandwich and thought he might like to go outside for a bit. So I asked him to speak (we're trying to teach him "speak" to be let outside... hoping that one day he'll figure out if he NEEDS to go out, when he speaks, we'll come open the door for him!), he did, I opened the door. He went out, immediately did a 180, and just stood there at the door looking back inside. <br />
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That's pretty odd since he's not like a cat who will waffle all day between in or out. He's pretty decisive about it!<br />
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I told him to come on back in and he did. I closed the door since it is cold outside today. But he seemed <i>so excited</i> to be outside, so I thought maybe he was just confused.<br />
I asked him to sit, he did, I said "good boy" and patted him on the head.<br />
I asked him to speak and he smacked his lips at me.<br />
I asked him one more time, and this time he spoke- making one of his little whiney howly husky noises.<br />
Once again, I opened the door- <b>this time</b> he whirled around and <span style="font-size: large;"><i>grabbed that sad looking bread butt and <b>sprinted</b> outside with it!!</i></span><br />
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<i>Hahaha! </i>So the first time he had forgotten the bread, realized it immediately, and wanted to come back in and get it. Then took it outside WITH A PURPOSE.<br />
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Dogs are so weird! <br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMNCzIMnbNX5gvd8eSfWUUnDFtIV6ioRpQYgwQuFtQm7fqWz_sP2IcjEfthetuQKkkTbpQjkjrU2qGoKXw1EfMi1pcUhVP4hbFN4SiITpj83MGisVjQxqjnN4lkYzgy2vprdLzLEe2ApVw/s1600/P1010721.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMNCzIMnbNX5gvd8eSfWUUnDFtIV6ioRpQYgwQuFtQm7fqWz_sP2IcjEfthetuQKkkTbpQjkjrU2qGoKXw1EfMi1pcUhVP4hbFN4SiITpj83MGisVjQxqjnN4lkYzgy2vprdLzLEe2ApVw/s400/P1010721.JPG" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"Who you callin' weird!?!?"</td></tr>
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.Samantha Ghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11324304321751170433noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4715360212352276597.post-45184404033109773722011-01-04T11:36:00.003-05:002011-01-05T21:37:25.349-05:00Operation: Fill-A-Frame #1<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwG2lKXUWyGcEONEaBbMLdHb2wm3gGl65RxkDkH7RtuU7_dXQq9vQEc46G8pAHI_xiVmRt25xicsbkXBgt1mhkPGj-hvAqOGNtO4oxny81iJ4oWRwiUpwdTG2ykFTNyE4duA8t2ooiMz6-/s1600/Oleander1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwG2lKXUWyGcEONEaBbMLdHb2wm3gGl65RxkDkH7RtuU7_dXQq9vQEc46G8pAHI_xiVmRt25xicsbkXBgt1mhkPGj-hvAqOGNtO4oxny81iJ4oWRwiUpwdTG2ykFTNyE4duA8t2ooiMz6-/s640/Oleander1.jpg" width="534" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Now available in my Etsy shop:<br />
<a href="http://www.etsy.com/listing/65263488/oleander-moth-charisma-original-artwork">http://www.etsy.com/listing/65263488/oleander-moth-charisma-original-artwork</a></td></tr>
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Number one is complete! A couple of nights ago I dreamed about moths- fuzzy, soft, friendly moths flying around and landing on people and instead of going "EW EW EW!" and swatting and flailing at the moths, everyone welcomed them, which made me happy. I always enjoy a friendly moth visit :)<br />
Anyway, the dream was what inspired this piece. I've wanted to draw or paint an <a href="http://www.google.com/images?q=oleander+hawk+moth&oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&um=1&ie=UTF-8&source=og&sa=N&hl=en&tab=wi&biw=1549&bih=905" target="_blank">Oleander Hawk Moth</a> <i>with</i> Oleander forever, so I finally did it.<br />
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I did 3 <span style="color: #38761d; font-size: large;">new and different</span> things with this piece:<br />
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<b>#1 I left the background white.</b> I usually can't do that with colored pencils because the little flecks that accumulate as you press down HARD (like I do) stick to the paper and make tiny obnoxious specks. You can blow at them and hope they fly away, or sometimes take a pin or tip of an exacto and try to remove them like a surgical procedure. More often I end trying to so-gently brush them away with my hand... which results in a colored smear, hence why my backgrounds are always filled with color. At least with a painting I could just paint the whole background white when I'm done and cover up the mistakes! ...Now don't get me wrong, I had my share of little flecks that <i>did</i> find their way onto parts of the paper where I didn't want them! When that happened I added a flower bud or a leaf to cover it up :)<br />
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<b>#2 I used a new set of eco-friendly colored pencils.</b> I wrote a little about this yesterday in my review of the colored pencils (it was my first time using them and I loved them). I picked out the frame I was going to fill, then grabbed my box of colored pencils and picked out the paper I was going to use- a Strathmore drawing paper made from recycled paper. I realized at that point that if I used my eco-friendly colored pencils instead of my regular ones, this whole finished piece would be made from environmentally friendly materials and I thought that would be really cool. So I put back the box of colored pencils and, instead, took out the <span style="font-size: x-small;">little</span> package of 12 eco-friendly pencils.<br />
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This presented a challenge as well because I went from having a <span style="color: magenta;">w</span><span style="color: blue;">h</span><span style="color: #38761d;">o</span><span style="color: #0b5394;">l</span><span style="color: orange;">e</span> <span style="color: red;">b</span><span style="color: #38761d;">o</span><span style="color: #351c75;">x</span> <span style="color: #cc0000;">o</span><span style="color: #0b5394;">f</span> <span style="color: blue;">m</span><span style="color: #6aa84f;">a</span><span style="color: #a64d79;">n</span><span style="color: orange;">y</span> <span style="color: #38761d;">c</span><span style="color: blue;">o</span><span style="color: #0c343d;">l</span><span style="color: #bf9000;">o</span><span style="color: #783f04;">r</span><span style="color: #cc0000;">s</span> from which to choose, to having only these 12. And of those 12, I used only 9:<br />
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</div><div style="text-align: left;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhY5N14eoV7lkFoj1Ma0j07JaW-kh-FankVsaVjjNYJG4KSCl34SKr9tZXDP6dVDQlpSN6IGuu8QacYuECkxfdPDEFISu8WqW_eBCQdPEC0iADzVEHDML4VZWp-2WiJ-q4XL3ChgQEhqzWW/s1600/IMAG0309.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhY5N14eoV7lkFoj1Ma0j07JaW-kh-FankVsaVjjNYJG4KSCl34SKr9tZXDP6dVDQlpSN6IGuu8QacYuECkxfdPDEFISu8WqW_eBCQdPEC0iADzVEHDML4VZWp-2WiJ-q4XL3ChgQEhqzWW/s320/IMAG0309.jpg" width="241" /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhY3JD8oHq-kbjJwZDLu9BYq5DUk-2p2xt-ANMt54h3UVrHokHjdtfa_-DzZqFMuMzDdkejuFz8h8TjW5c-kVOrZxFqf-tXmYk3u7hCsyUzK0KoDIejovDkQI_DIy6hKaEKPjgGqhsorocB/s1600/IMAG0310.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhY3JD8oHq-kbjJwZDLu9BYq5DUk-2p2xt-ANMt54h3UVrHokHjdtfa_-DzZqFMuMzDdkejuFz8h8TjW5c-kVOrZxFqf-tXmYk3u7hCsyUzK0KoDIejovDkQI_DIy6hKaEKPjgGqhsorocB/s320/IMAG0310.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><b></b><br />
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<b>#3 I let the drawing overflow onto the mat.</b> I've always <i>wanted</i> to do a drawing and mat it and have parts of the drawing spill onto the mat for that sort-of 3D effect. I've seen it done so many times by other artists but never actually completed a drawing where I felt like putting some of it onto the mat would necessarily add anything to it. I decided that it would be fun to do with this piece.<br />
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Here are some pictures of the piece as it progressed:<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhE0u4uW-YeWQHEM-CHLdBPkD4XJ9zLYWqa8En45Sj24QrdpJhScsonFj29h59ckPMqWHUwcVL7fVEBhtchDxkQfz6JUy6pCxtPITbh4H6Sjj7vbBarFub9vErreJJKB7gtVovK71y-r31k/s1600/IMAG0307a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhE0u4uW-YeWQHEM-CHLdBPkD4XJ9zLYWqa8En45Sj24QrdpJhScsonFj29h59ckPMqWHUwcVL7fVEBhtchDxkQfz6JUy6pCxtPITbh4H6Sjj7vbBarFub9vErreJJKB7gtVovK71y-r31k/s640/IMAG0307a.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Moth is done, starting on the flowers.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxiNjGA4OZOSk2hIiSH-Bt79wYeMfTphp8o9FP1sAHR23jw_MR5oPgFwVhQGAfhyphenhyphenUFPrT2nThw1vEcfEXD99Dh55GuPxCAb5cwjsCicMU9TLcML3lfB7aDankCEIPZ6iIOhfJ99OJIbCV1/s1600/IMAG0311a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxiNjGA4OZOSk2hIiSH-Bt79wYeMfTphp8o9FP1sAHR23jw_MR5oPgFwVhQGAfhyphenhyphenUFPrT2nThw1vEcfEXD99Dh55GuPxCAb5cwjsCicMU9TLcML3lfB7aDankCEIPZ6iIOhfJ99OJIbCV1/s640/IMAG0311a.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The drawing on paper is done. Time to mat it up!</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhF8WvI-TJkGBZC2GzR1lpZV8Xv3fdYXTpywjFRncjru-LOtEVa7reXSxCyxjqQdjOuBiENK6h8SRab9RZg2rASNZSvn76uAhEZdmR8GSyKLg6ZsQTkCW_i8T3ar7K5oslqe8BWvEmrhjt/s1600/IMAG0312a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhF8WvI-TJkGBZC2GzR1lpZV8Xv3fdYXTpywjFRncjru-LOtEVa7reXSxCyxjqQdjOuBiENK6h8SRab9RZg2rASNZSvn76uAhEZdmR8GSyKLg6ZsQTkCW_i8T3ar7K5oslqe8BWvEmrhjt/s640/IMAG0312a.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The drawing extended onto the mat.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiix46NfI26057gieCZzSEqseaStDrfmNtZ0cF3aKM4bb_asgCXMb4v1S3EJjo9LMfzo-394uT0x7a7yI-kSzDVie7WZbPPjfMyrUnyizQT-qvEnn6RBvoSkGyYr5ti3VFHRDX0P7NZfGoC/s1600/P1010692a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiix46NfI26057gieCZzSEqseaStDrfmNtZ0cF3aKM4bb_asgCXMb4v1S3EJjo9LMfzo-394uT0x7a7yI-kSzDVie7WZbPPjfMyrUnyizQT-qvEnn6RBvoSkGyYr5ti3VFHRDX0P7NZfGoC/s640/P1010692a.jpg" width="572" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Framed & ready for its close-up :)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>Samantha Ghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11324304321751170433noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4715360212352276597.post-40346113275178898652011-01-03T19:18:00.004-05:002011-01-03T19:26:41.852-05:00Forest Choice Colored Pencils... Awesomeness<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.forestchoice.com/store/index.cfm" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" target="_blank"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQyreRkGWaIh0KcDCQHE3XddhyEE_X0AjATKzHlVpB8SFwIfae69XxMRqgAx-AjjsJ7j2E0fBC14ywMjJpmpgpPJCxrVP6noPplSHSzaAXRJeBdFIMVUVH80LATeeVs8oR7bh4N_X7q1sg/s320/Picture+4.png" width="218" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.forestchoice.com/store/index.cfm">Click to visit ForestChoice.com</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>A while ago a good friend of mine got me a set of Forest Choice colored pencils. Since I <b>resolved</b> <span style="color: #38761d;">(though not </span><u><i style="color: #38761d;">technically</i></u><span style="color: #38761d;"> an </span><u><i style="color: #38761d;">official</i></u><span style="color: #38761d;"> New Years Resolution- I don't believe in those- the timing happened to work out that way, thanks to the holiday and a <b>very</b> productive weekend)</span> to get back to creating art <span style="font-size: x-small;">(see yesterday's post about all these frames I have to fill!)</span>, I decided to finally put those pencils to use.<br />
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They seemed like the <span style="font-size: large;"><i style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">perfect</i></span> choice for <a href="http://samanthasartstudio.blogspot.com/search/label/operation%20fill-a-frame">Operation: Fill-A-Frame</a>: Eco-Friendly! All my frames were from a thrift store or rescued from being trash-bound, so the project is inherently environmentally friendly. Combine that with the Strathmore Premium Recycled Drawing paper on which I chose to do my first drawing for the project.... It all fit together. (I can't find the actual paper online, I think they changed their line up a bit since I bought mine, but here's one that looks close: <a href="http://www.strathmoreartist.com/product-reader/items/400-series-recycled-drawing.html" target="_blank">http://www.strathmoreartist.com/product-reader/items/400-series-recycled-drawing.html</a>) <br />
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I expected the pencils to be.... <i>okay</i>. What I <i>didn't</i> expect was that I would love them so much <i>aside</i> from the fact that they're made from environmentally responsible sources. They are really great pencils!<br />
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So what's so great about them?<br />
<ul><li>Artistically I felt that they blended very well and the colors maintained themselves really well- meaning when I pressed hard on the yellow and then later accidentally went over it with a darker color, the yellow maintained its integrity there on the paper. The darker pencil did not trump the lighter color. </li>
<li>There are 12 in the set: <b><span style="color: #0b5394;">Two</span></b> <b><span style="color: blue;">blues</span></b>, <b style="color: #6aa84f;">two</b> <b style="color: #274e13;">greens</b>, a <b style="background-color: #999999;"><span style="color: yellow;">yellow</span></b>, a <b><span style="color: #ea9999;">pink</span></b>, <b><span style="color: red;">red</span></b>, <b style="color: orange;">orange</b>, <b><span style="color: #351c75;">purple</span></b>, <b><span style="color: #783f04;">brown</span></b>, <b>black</b>, white. <br />
</li>
<li>Environmentally the wood in the pencils comes from well managed forests and is <a href="http://www.forestchoice.com/certification/index.cfm">certified by the FSC</a>. </li>
<li>The label is printed on recycled paper (not sure the content info) and the wrapper <i>appears</i> to be made from some recycled and unbleached paper but I cannot find that information anywhere on the packaging or online.</li>
</ul>I <b style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><i>love</i></b> it when I find an environmentally friendly product that is <u>just as good</u> as its larger-carbon-footprint-bearing counterparts.... or better! I would say I enjoy using these just as much as my Prismacolors (actually <i>more</i> since I like the idea behind them) and am absolutely entertaining the idea of drawing with them exclusively for Operation: FIll-A-Frame. I still have a whole box full of Prismacolors and other assorted pencils and wouldn't just get rid of them or anything. But for this project these pencils seem perfect. <br />
<br />
I rate these pencils EXCELLENT!Samantha Ghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11324304321751170433noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4715360212352276597.post-42727286834405455222011-01-02T11:48:00.001-05:002011-01-02T12:06:54.050-05:00Operation: Fill-A-FrameAfter we moved and I unpacked all my art stuff, I decided to actually try and organize some things this time around! One of the first things I did was organize ALL of my empty frames, or frames that did have something in them but the frame got scratched or something.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgU69jYr6zOVT1OE5eF7IbeH-MCtRfkDZIs8nmHDZuleMqOnYs1aq-pHHRRkepQ4lYXgiHNd2Fzv1rEER5vhraisVWb0WIT6Bi16IwiP_K9lG7dK-G2668lVpGzgslSWdRkXd1fRzjSDOHS/s1600/P1010683.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgU69jYr6zOVT1OE5eF7IbeH-MCtRfkDZIs8nmHDZuleMqOnYs1aq-pHHRRkepQ4lYXgiHNd2Fzv1rEER5vhraisVWb0WIT6Bi16IwiP_K9lG7dK-G2668lVpGzgslSWdRkXd1fRzjSDOHS/s400/P1010683.JPG" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sooo many frames.</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjyiYD2w1EcgOjVi6bgnMVU22wasy8ujONnZf7H3vpLxh7aMKN9bbO_X_I3I-KqXoUcf0OKHJY3LiRo_jB4a4JvaNuuktXUhC-3tZpBBodBCL7gtOusHo-qdtXcO6Bn27xcwdx-IqBmQYX/s1600/P1010684.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjyiYD2w1EcgOjVi6bgnMVU22wasy8ujONnZf7H3vpLxh7aMKN9bbO_X_I3I-KqXoUcf0OKHJY3LiRo_jB4a4JvaNuuktXUhC-3tZpBBodBCL7gtOusHo-qdtXcO6Bn27xcwdx-IqBmQYX/s400/P1010684.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">More frames! </td></tr>
</tbody></table>Hm. I have a lot of frames. <br />
<br />
A bunch of them were given to me by friends or family- one of my best friends goes to Salvation Army once in a while and if she sees a nice frame for a cheap price, she'll pick it up for me. Some of them I picked up if I saw a good sale going on, not realizing how many frames I already had!!<br />
<br />
My goal in organizing the frames was, eventually, to <b style="color: #073763;">fill</b><span style="color: #073763;"> them</span>/<span style="color: #274e13;">fix them</span>/<span style="color: #0b5394;">paint them</span>/<span style="color: #20124d;">all of the above</span>. Whatever they need to get into good shape and be worthwhile. I also decided that while I could easily fill them with various prints, instead I'd fill them with ORIGINAL art. If the piece needs a colorful and unique mat, I'll use of some of the matboard I have sitting around and do a custom job for that piece. As I finish pieces, I plan to put them in my <a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/samanthasartstudio">Etsy Shop</a> since that's the easiest way for me to create unique listings for original one-of-a-kind pieces. If I do any art shows this year I'll probably bring the pieces there as well. <br />
(I haven't signed up to do any art shows this year because #1 I was too busy with the move and #2 I'd like to do some of the local shows here but want to see where I'd fit in best before dropping $500 per show and picking shows at random.) <br />
<br />
I'm hoping to start filling a frame today. I woke up feeling quite inspired since last night I dreamed about moths. Soft, friendly, fluffy, fluttery moths that were flying around and landing on people. Beautifully colored moths- luna moths, oleander moths, etc.I'm looking forward to finally getting out my colored pencils and using them again!!Samantha Ghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11324304321751170433noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4715360212352276597.post-52386885939739177522010-12-17T12:06:00.002-05:002010-12-17T12:09:27.540-05:00Happy Fluffy Friday!!Or, Happeh Fluffeh Friday if you speak LOLspeak! :)<br />
<br />
Some websites and blogs that feature cute animals (such as my favorite, <a href="http://squee.icanhascheezburger.com/">DAILY SQUEE!</a>) have special weekly posts including "Fluffy Friday."<br />
I don't feel that I've given enough mention to Dear Tosh, Baby Kitty, Pretty Girl, Tosh.0, or her whole other slew of nicknames, in my blog.... so here's a special Fluffy Friday post, just for her! :)<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3I8U4CSvq0MmsK2fToyzco3iYjzpsyhTrhx4Z3LPdLF2CJ1odPQMVuMsXTZG27Qpl5M9w7wQfy-db5qJVWORZ8W8lVVxm-y6S4IPm0aT4ZMWuN4RLXNsdFdDjPmVdhrPY30TT1On1qxli/s1600/beautyqueen1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3I8U4CSvq0MmsK2fToyzco3iYjzpsyhTrhx4Z3LPdLF2CJ1odPQMVuMsXTZG27Qpl5M9w7wQfy-db5qJVWORZ8W8lVVxm-y6S4IPm0aT4ZMWuN4RLXNsdFdDjPmVdhrPY30TT1On1qxli/s640/beautyqueen1.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoK55rrU1hU7pcMjHGL2H7NxYxLl0y047J21ICuYZKSkzGqml_ntqZbhiwi4bGUvk6EWdY6b9p5OYGIKBiEBU7o7bD85C9XukYd2t5eJ1vgAkZRy93SHlAFw1fuuNmIBy4F9PMCVVcO8Kq/s1600/BeautyQueen3.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoK55rrU1hU7pcMjHGL2H7NxYxLl0y047J21ICuYZKSkzGqml_ntqZbhiwi4bGUvk6EWdY6b9p5OYGIKBiEBU7o7bD85C9XukYd2t5eJ1vgAkZRy93SHlAFw1fuuNmIBy4F9PMCVVcO8Kq/s640/BeautyQueen3.JPG" width="480" /></a></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinz-U6dklk4fW5OdNYzUPuyLhZ0Wq5xN23VuZxSU_s-_tUanTFpzaSWCrgdHalQCRqsb9u-wvkZc-kFovQqt_h45vNgIaqB2i6MuyKZlnxRqMnwN0zOZEOXERPaqKQj07SjtuZRkiMTJUJ/s1600/SashaSamSunning.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinz-U6dklk4fW5OdNYzUPuyLhZ0Wq5xN23VuZxSU_s-_tUanTFpzaSWCrgdHalQCRqsb9u-wvkZc-kFovQqt_h45vNgIaqB2i6MuyKZlnxRqMnwN0zOZEOXERPaqKQj07SjtuZRkiMTJUJ/s640/SashaSamSunning.jpg" width="640" /></a>Samantha Ghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11324304321751170433noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4715360212352276597.post-59814345660545772922010-12-07T13:10:00.002-05:002010-12-07T15:04:44.615-05:00Reunited!When we started packing up and getting ready to move, I de-activated most of the items in <a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/samanthasartstudio?ref=top_trail">my Etsy shop</a> since I wasn't sure when I'd be able to find them again.<br />
Last night I was so excited to FINALLY come across a few items I have been missing <i>(and just in time for Chreeeeeeestmas!)</i>.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.etsy.com/listing/51141380/upcycled-butterfly-wooden-slide-top-box" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://ny-image3.etsy.com/il_fullxfull.157122299.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.etsy.com/listing/51141380/upcycled-butterfly-wooden-slide-top-box">Butterfly Box- $15 + shipping</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
One of the items is this upcycled decoupaged Baltimore Checkerspot Butterfly Box! It's a slide-top wooden box and I've just re-listed it in my Etsy shop- have a look if you've got someone on your shopping list who loves flowers or bugs... or the state of Maryland! (The Black-Eyed Susan is the Maryland state flower and the Baltimore Checkerspot is the state butterfly.) :)Samantha Ghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11324304321751170433noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4715360212352276597.post-6012018499134823062010-12-01T07:50:00.090-05:002010-12-01T07:50:00.350-05:00Want! Want! Wednesday- the Pollinator Tree!<i><b>It's **DECEMBER** and that means it's almost CHREEEEESTMAS!</b></i><br />
<br />
And in proper holiday fashion the catalogs have been starting to arrive like crazy, supplying <i>plenty</i> of fodder for upcoming holiday-themed Want! Want! Wednesday posts! Plus they worked <i>perfectly</i> since Want! Want! Wednesday is all about silly things that I <u>don't </u>need and am not going to pay this much for..... <br />
but I like the <i>idea</i> of them.<br />
<div style="color: #38761d;"><i>(Although at the end of the post I will add, there is hope for those of us who love the items I'm featuring this week!!)</i></div><br />
This week's Want is a Pollinator-Themed Christmas Tree! It must be the trendy new thing this year because I found decorations in not one, but TWO catalogs! Observe....<br />
<br />
The first set of ornaments was in a catalog by a company called <a href="http://www.grandinroad.com/" target="_blank">Grandin Road</a>. <br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgS-p93Foq7lcMqEcH3pHpNu3a5H_kyJc0Nw4cgXl8_WKyUhGwVbCis5DtOyUTjjT35T4ynnhhH0fZ4npSa9cIWbzGIOFCr2MeEDUzi1fkS73m_6VmkdM6115R-a6s1XRLHnZwHRCbCuwZF/s1600/grandin2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgS-p93Foq7lcMqEcH3pHpNu3a5H_kyJc0Nw4cgXl8_WKyUhGwVbCis5DtOyUTjjT35T4ynnhhH0fZ4npSa9cIWbzGIOFCr2MeEDUzi1fkS73m_6VmkdM6115R-a6s1XRLHnZwHRCbCuwZF/s640/grandin2.jpg" width="276" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">(click to enlarge)</td></tr>
</tbody></table><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiT2lgqOOaFBGkkVgObRx3SUb23d7J35TKsN9Bj__JC8TaLFKUphsDOBtma3VMhqiqbQmz0UHvZbWgoF5b4H9Dc_P63w6kVNxDUp84fsPw5BIdLpiHGzIGda-05utGBFYhpcMAwb3vAqt9z/s1600/grandin1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiT2lgqOOaFBGkkVgObRx3SUb23d7J35TKsN9Bj__JC8TaLFKUphsDOBtma3VMhqiqbQmz0UHvZbWgoF5b4H9Dc_P63w6kVNxDUp84fsPw5BIdLpiHGzIGda-05utGBFYhpcMAwb3vAqt9z/s320/grandin1.jpg" width="192" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">(click to enlarge)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>While not all strictly pollinators, these garden-themed ornaments are simply adorable, no? <br />
<br />
(I am not sure where all of the other ornaments on this tree came from; I wish the catalog had them all.)<br />
I do wish there were some bees! That's one thing I haven't been able to find... a bee ornament. I've been thinking about <i>making</i> some.<br />
<br />
<br />
But in this little collection you get 25 ornaments for $99. Actually not a bad deal! That's about $4 an ornament. So this Want is actually obtainable.<br />
<br />
<br />
The direct link to these items from their website can be found here:<br />
<a href="http://www.grandinroad.com/jump.jsp?item=42281&maincatcode=null&subcatcode=null&itemID=31019&itemType=PRODUCT&path=1%2C2%2C474%2C6382%2C7946&iProductID=31019" target="_blank">http://www.grandinroad.com/jump.jsp?item=42281&maincatcode=null&subcatcode=null&itemID=31019&itemType=PRODUCT&path=1%2C2%2C474%2C6382%2C7946&iProductID=31019</a><br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
I got another catalog in the mail yesterday from a company called <a href="http://www.gumps.com/" target="_blank">Gump's</a> which, honestly with the prices of some of the stuff, I have no clue how they got my info or why they sent it to me. Even their website says "Luxury Gifts..." but whatever.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-CkyMXAW4E0ucQKO0cwORc4OXBmZfppaW-ZRbfdTkO3V_E3xohkzGUpCeuOStEF77z11c9Q6TPzPDlMYk73b2iTf32icvdaxMY33Bnkv7YS_qe0qkuL__c4gFljzrB5INA-W__KdWKpYc/s1600/gumpsbugs.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-CkyMXAW4E0ucQKO0cwORc4OXBmZfppaW-ZRbfdTkO3V_E3xohkzGUpCeuOStEF77z11c9Q6TPzPDlMYk73b2iTf32icvdaxMY33Bnkv7YS_qe0qkuL__c4gFljzrB5INA-W__KdWKpYc/s640/gumpsbugs.jpg" width="444" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">(click to enlarge)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>Super cute, right?<i> There is even a grasshopper!</i><br />
You can see their <b>entire</b> ornament collection here:<br />
<a href="http://www.gumps.com/HOLIDAY+SHOP/Christmas+Ornaments/" target="_blank">http://www.gumps.com/HOLIDAY+SHOP/Christmas+Ornaments/</a><br />
<br />
Now I'll let you in on the best part of this week's Want.<br />
It IS obtainable!<br />
<br />
I saw the first set of these ornaments a week ago and didn't buy them but couldn't stop thinking about them. Then I went into an AC Moore with my mom this weekend and.... there they were. Not <i>these</i>, specifically, but *some* bug ornaments! There were butterflies and dragonflies and all were 50% off, so each was $1.99. I picked up 10 of them and figured even if I have to just do a very little tree, I'll be able to have a Pollinator tree this year.<br />
At the Harris Teeter store down the street, they were also doing a sale on ornaments and I scored two glittery hummingbirds! Yay for more pollinators!<br />
<br />
So if you love the idea of a pollinator-themed Christmas tree this year but the items here are out of your budget, just keep your eyes open for deals all around you! Looks like bugs and birds are the new thing!<br />
<br />
<i>Happy Decorating!! :)</i>Samantha Ghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11324304321751170433noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4715360212352276597.post-83535766112328276332010-11-30T17:39:00.004-05:002010-11-30T17:41:41.703-05:00How-To Tuesday: Autoplay Music on your Blog<span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>HahAhAhaHAhaAhaHAhaahahhaaa!!!</b></span><br />
<br />
Did you really think I was <i>serious</i>?<br />
<br />
If I was going to do a post on "how to make music autoplay when someone opens your blog" I might as well title it, <span style="color: #cc0000;">"The most efficient way to get someone to navigate away from your blog as quickly as possible"</span> or <span style="color: #cc0000;">"How to instantly exponentially increase your bounce rate"</span><br />
<br />
But seriously, I've been without internet for about a <i>week</i> now, <b>AGAIN</b>, thanks Verizon.<br />
In the meantime I've been coming up with a bunch of fun haikus about Verizon and their internet 'service' (if you can call it that?) but none are appropriate for this blog so I won't publish them here because they'd just look like<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><blockquote style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><i>Verizon &$#*!! &$(#</i></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><i>*$*#& Verizon (### *$##**@!!! </i></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><i>*$!*#& Verizon.</i></span></blockquote></div><br />
<a href="http://www.samanthasartstudio.com/mantis.html" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://samanthasartstudio.com/Mantis.jpg" /></a>So while my internet is working for more than three consecutive minutes (probably sporadically because they're fixing an outage somewhere in the area) I'm actually working on <i>tomorrow's</i> blog post, because I came up with it last week but couldn't post it AND. HAD. A. SAD.<br />
<br />
But now <i><b>you</b></i> don't have to has a sad because I wrote a ridiculous blog post for today AND am writing a super cool Want! Want! Wednesday post with some very exciting goodies in there!<br />
<br />
And in the meantime here is a silly Mantis. <br />
<br />
No, I haven't been drinking, but am sort of on a burnt (on purpose) cookie and key-lime buzz.Samantha Ghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11324304321751170433noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4715360212352276597.post-1352406303034960372010-10-24T10:39:00.002-04:002010-10-24T10:41:22.833-04:00A Productive Sunday?Not sure how productive it will be since I slept in til 9:30; it's already 10:30 and I'm sitting here in pajamas and drinking coffee.<br />
<br />
Nevertheless on a day like this I tend to get up and look outside and imagine a whole day of possibilities. That's what weekends are for, right? Pretty soon my weekends will become even more meaningful since I'm going back to work full-time as of November 1st. The longer hours will definitely not be fun, but I can't argue with having twice the paycheck... especially in time for the holidays.<br />
<br />
<i>So what's on the agenda for a day like this? </i><br />
<br />
The first thing I'll do this morning while I finish my coffee is work on letters to my two representatives in the Virginia General Assembly. Remember my post about a new project I'm working on? That project is: <b>I'm designing a new license plate for the state of Virginia. </b>It will be a revenue sharing plate and the shared fees ($15 per plate after the first 1,000 are sold) will go to the<a href="http://www.pollinator.org/" target="_blank"> Pollinator Partnership</a>.<br />
<br />
The theme for the plates is "Protect Pollinators" and I think I've got the design just about finished, but I need to get it approved by the Pollinator Partnership and get one of my representatives to agree to sponsor it.<br />
<br />
BUT<br />
Even if I have to change some of it, I can't help but want to share a sneak peak:<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0eLZgvgOEvUYgB_9AE1PXj-NkOjDVz8jKK4INfOydwPPN8ZD4mVcNc2rSSQAlqO1EB2_lZO6RRbsjC0zBfNTmjo8aJukfwi-FAK6MUjPz4_PDtmq8zchiPVwhIGL9-jnLZkxGTdljcQO6/s1600/Picture+10.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="328" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0eLZgvgOEvUYgB_9AE1PXj-NkOjDVz8jKK4INfOydwPPN8ZD4mVcNc2rSSQAlqO1EB2_lZO6RRbsjC0zBfNTmjo8aJukfwi-FAK6MUjPz4_PDtmq8zchiPVwhIGL9-jnLZkxGTdljcQO6/s640/Picture+10.png" width="640" /></a></div><br />
If either of my representatives approves it, then I can start collecting signatures of people who would be interested in having this plate, or better yet, actually collect the official license plate applications AND fees from folks. I need 350 by January 1st to get it approved. If I don't get enough, I'll probably have to work on it all next year and try again in 2012.<br />
<br />
Wish me luck and please comment or contact me if you're a Virginia resident who would like a plate! And of course, I'll be posting more about this on my blog very soon.<br />
<br />
<br />
Also for today.... <br />
I'll definitely be going for a run- I was going to go yesterday but my husband surprised me with a birthday trip to the Smithsonian to see butterflies! We even got to meet up with <a href="http://trikeith.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">a couple of friends</a> of ours who were in town for a race today. I'll upload some pictures when I find the cables that connect the camera to the computer.<br />
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I'm also hoping to get my desk finished today. I need to go buy some legs for it, and was planning just to use sawed off 2x4's but my husband wants something sturdier. <i>And</i> a sturdy way to attach it to the desk (which is 2 doors in an L shape). Makes sense, but will I be able to get him motivated to go out and look at hardware with me when some football game is on at 1 that he wants to watch? If not, I don't totally suck at building things and don't mind making an attempt at it!Samantha Ghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11324304321751170433noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4715360212352276597.post-84546205686168033772010-10-18T12:37:00.001-04:002010-10-18T14:59:32.093-04:00New Project Idea!!Last night on our way home from PA, I was chatting with my husband and we came up with an idea for an AWESOME PROJECT!<br />
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<b>Awesome</b> because it's going to combine <b>me</b> making art with my favorite subject matter- POLLINATORS!- with raising funds for the <a href="http://pollinator.org/index.html" target="_blank">Pollinator Partnership</a>! <br />
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I don't want to give away too much about the project because I'm paranoid of jinxing it or other applications of Murphy's Law ("anything that CAN go wrong WILL go wrong"). So for now..... I'll just give you some visual hints! :)<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhp3u7Z3wACfZw0Ok_DvVmgBMAMALXBCZEf5HklpMyhNfPX40YgrOvWB0oLL5kFsEaKR2lmk-rgqTxbHOqM-iuqS_SKmmUjXkHuP6bCV6nh7ctFD099DHvR601Gntp2iyLB0NaxkjLA9FMP/s1600/BusyBees550.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="303" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhp3u7Z3wACfZw0Ok_DvVmgBMAMALXBCZEf5HklpMyhNfPX40YgrOvWB0oLL5kFsEaKR2lmk-rgqTxbHOqM-iuqS_SKmmUjXkHuP6bCV6nh7ctFD099DHvR601Gntp2iyLB0NaxkjLA9FMP/s400/BusyBees550.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUpm4hhsGxknx07NhFuJOKqbU1KMOQN1VGf-dLhGDLUHXuP78bYYUGJ-pIw4weyeKZdM3nuO5Rfaxutj4V4zRqcsOXW56tCJe4c3q7iuxF-E8Irr75TGpl1Hyu_TlxwEmyA_47-A6iQTU8/s1600/hydrantWrapNight.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="420" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUpm4hhsGxknx07NhFuJOKqbU1KMOQN1VGf-dLhGDLUHXuP78bYYUGJ-pIw4weyeKZdM3nuO5Rfaxutj4V4zRqcsOXW56tCJe4c3q7iuxF-E8Irr75TGpl1Hyu_TlxwEmyA_47-A6iQTU8/s640/hydrantWrapNight.jpg" width="640" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSNqNgSFNFmr-p_hrfN_dNZRZby72OI1yqvAqZ3h1Zb9MfU0o55NFfrMcP8Ycz184s_G0Rx2iL1_5793_zHSIPiMHJbRdm5whs7GnYaW1sd0C4O2M8xfT-b7Yu4tNymMWcxvoYcEouDUbk/s1600/350.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSNqNgSFNFmr-p_hrfN_dNZRZby72OI1yqvAqZ3h1Zb9MfU0o55NFfrMcP8Ycz184s_G0Rx2iL1_5793_zHSIPiMHJbRdm5whs7GnYaW1sd0C4O2M8xfT-b7Yu4tNymMWcxvoYcEouDUbk/s1600/350.jpg" /></a></div><br />
In the meantime if you're starting your Christmas shopping a little early, take a look in my <a href="http://www.cafepress.com/samanthasbees" target="_blank">CafePress Bees store</a> for great <b>"Bee Kind!" </b>shirts, bags, and more! All profit from these items goes to the Pollinator Partnership! :)Samantha Ghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11324304321751170433noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4715360212352276597.post-84455258730128158162010-10-15T12:01:00.005-04:002010-10-15T12:21:29.568-04:00Weekend InspirationI finally decided this week that it's time to tackle..... the office. The art studio. <i>The office/art studio. </i><br />
Remember <b><i>this</i></b> photo? Yeah I know... It's a kitchen, not an office, but still.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXT19bDa0rWHRa5__ZDNA4aBoMw0PXUtNnuU4tTK9cmEkxvloKZ1TsWfhginZgcQs2db3Uu14EmtsIM2gkdE3WjhYA-oSBuANdhpmn4bzfmXttbyYWtDDanx5glxxSUp0T_NQ5YuiuVJOM/s1600/honeydew.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="422" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXT19bDa0rWHRa5__ZDNA4aBoMw0PXUtNnuU4tTK9cmEkxvloKZ1TsWfhginZgcQs2db3Uu14EmtsIM2gkdE3WjhYA-oSBuANdhpmn4bzfmXttbyYWtDDanx5glxxSUp0T_NQ5YuiuVJOM/s640/honeydew.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>Last night I started the painting process. I'm pretty excited!<br />
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I spent some time yesterday looking online for inspirational photos of great craft/art rooms and found this site via the Etsy forums:<br />
<a href="http://www.facebook.com/#%21/CraftRoomInspiration" target="_blank">http://www.facebook.com/#!/CraftRoomInspiration<br />
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Be sure to check it out if you've got an art studio or craft room you're in the mood to reorganize! There are so many great ideas here. I've never had a real craft/art room before, so I really didn't know where to begin. <i> </i><br />
<div style="color: #6aa84f;"><i>How do I store/display all my paints in a useful and practical way? </i></div><div style="color: #45818e;"><i>How do I keep my paper cutter, mat cutter, and self-healing-cutting-mat out in the open enough to access them easily when I need them, but keep them out of the way so as not to clutter up valuable desk space?</i></div><div style="color: #3d85c6;"><i>Since I have no right to be completely selfish about this whole thing, how do I integrate my husband's desk and super-awesome awards he's gotten from work into the office/studio without making him feel like he's in 'my' room, but instead in <b>our</b> office?</i></div><br />
When we first started the house-hunting process I had visions of a little room off the back of the house with a separate entrance where I could paint, make a big ol' mess, and invite clients to view my work in a private studio setting. That's a pretty specific requirement when you're under a time crunch and looking for houses in the DC area (where they move pretty fast). I decided to drop that from the priority list and focus on other things instead- things more important to <i>family</i> life (the kids being furbabies for now). <br />
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We ended up in this perfect not-so-typical split-level with 4 floors.<b> I love it.</b> We've talked about the possibilities of adding on a garage (with a sun-room on top?), and/or small sun-room/art studio in the back. It might happen one day.<br />
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For now our office/studio is a room in the back of the house among the other bedrooms. It's got one regular window and then one <span style="font-size: x-large;">GIANT</span> window.<br />
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As of about 9:00pm last night, the office looked like the mother of all disarray went in there and threw up after eating a hearty meal of boxes, art supplies, and shelves. <i>All</i> the random extra shelves and furniture were put back there with the thought that I'd find <i>something</i> crafty with which to fill them. Then add in all the paintings and computer accessories and<i> the cat's litterbox</i> and this desk I've had since I was 10 years old. Yes, <b>10</b>. The poor 20-year-old-particle-board desk sags <i>terribly</i> from the weight of my old CRT monitor circa 2000 (which <i>just</i> got replaced this year with a lightweight LCD). Pieces of it are falling off. I knew it was time to replace it. <br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="482" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRvUn-f_d02o_Wf6dC5cszgvvNAzTzuhLQSZGX8OWDqY0DFYfS-fTgVOoUfDzAeZVV4kEeFm2n3Vi0Md49RrzfChWz0taHxXarkiJXnuT9YbfJoGCdjVN2siDMRscljIYlZx-yMhN_2BO6/s640/IMAG0164.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="640" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Well now.... this is embarrassing.</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRvUn-f_d02o_Wf6dC5cszgvvNAzTzuhLQSZGX8OWDqY0DFYfS-fTgVOoUfDzAeZVV4kEeFm2n3Vi0Md49RrzfChWz0taHxXarkiJXnuT9YbfJoGCdjVN2siDMRscljIYlZx-yMhN_2BO6/s1600/IMAG0164.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a></div>The horrific cell-phone-photo seems appropriate for something that's already such a mess, n'est-ce-pas? So there's the old desk, and <i>yes, the litterbox,</i> and the state of the office as of last night.<br />
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Sadly, that's an <i style="color: #741b47;">improvement</i> from what it's looked like for the past 3 weeks.<br />
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Before I started the painting process, I begged my husband to take the door off the hinges (he thought I couldn't do it myself?). Why? Because <i><b>I had plans for it. </b>Ohhhh yes.</i><br />
The doors in this house are super old and super gross and dingy and have holes in them and we want to replace them with nice 6 panel doors since that's a pretty cheap and very nice way to improve a house. I decided that one of those ugly doors was going to become MY NEW DESK. Economical, eco-friendly, practical, my husband said it looks like crap but it's for arty stuff so crap = ok! Then who cares if you get paint or ink all over it!? Happy Birthday to ME!<br />
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The very first class I attended at my college was Drawing 101 and in that studio the teacher's desk was a door with two file cabinets underneath it. I thought that was the greatest idea ever and it stuck with me. The doorknob was still on that desk, but we took the doorknob off last night so I can run wires from various electronics through the premade hole. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCxKvii718qdhfqVaWwCTB5lnfwDUzHNbyb5QhzFMgUrNfoKpZKOzaZmNfghQaBmVaVer4sOujqBHope96ofgoHWqSarZBcDPQ1mCjNIdflxYhiTuoo8GJOkRHYCfkM5_lSItCFJIKj-5X/s1600/IMAG0166.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCxKvii718qdhfqVaWwCTB5lnfwDUzHNbyb5QhzFMgUrNfoKpZKOzaZmNfghQaBmVaVer4sOujqBHope96ofgoHWqSarZBcDPQ1mCjNIdflxYhiTuoo8GJOkRHYCfkM5_lSItCFJIKj-5X/s640/IMAG0166.jpg" width="481" /></a></div>I'll eventually add actual legs to it (ok, sawed off 2x4's), but I had some little shelving units that I thought would be perfect to put under the desk to hold it up. Also you can see my <i>old desk </i>under there, since where else was I going to put it? Eventually I dismantled it and piled the pieces up on the other side of the room. I also took the hutch off the top of it- no need for that any more, and it makes the workspace feel so... <i>closed</i>.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMGMXOOiaXAvkVeeFdPX5_xNdif0_Ei5GzEFpHA6dhO0nyp6IV7xFLaRdhtsk2CcI_kyeCzfWwt9_dBlzqI8qXdjbBHC-FsGyiM9nkbIK8n8N0NjtDxaZpDv91snkG47E_6PJ1Vfb3Rd3z/s1600/IMAG0170.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMGMXOOiaXAvkVeeFdPX5_xNdif0_Ei5GzEFpHA6dhO0nyp6IV7xFLaRdhtsk2CcI_kyeCzfWwt9_dBlzqI8qXdjbBHC-FsGyiM9nkbIK8n8N0NjtDxaZpDv91snkG47E_6PJ1Vfb3Rd3z/s640/IMAG0170.jpg" width="481" /></a></div><br />
I'm so in love with the door-desk that I'm going to add another one on the wall to the left to make a wonderful L shaped desk. That one will run under the GIANT window and provide a great space for drawing or other crafty things :)<br />
There is room for my husband's desk on either two of the other walls, so I don't feel toooooooo guilty for taking up so much space. <br />
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Now everything's in a huge state of disarray once more since I had to move EVERYTHING so I could start painting, but I really hope to have it almost done by the end of the weekend or early next week.<br />
I'll be sure to post more pictures of the process!<br />
What a great way to have a fantastic HUGE new desk without having to buy anything!Samantha Ghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11324304321751170433noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4715360212352276597.post-63661490290071502502010-10-14T16:23:00.006-04:002012-01-16T19:06:19.841-05:00How to pack a painting for moving<b>How to pack up a painting: </b><br />
Step 1: Lay some bubble wrap or some sheets of white packing paper FLAT on the floor or on a table- a <b>flat</b> surface. (You can also use: Sheets, towels, blankets, fabric... You can do a layer of paper and then the fabric for padding if you wish. The layer of paper will help protect from any fuzz from the fabric sticking to your painting.)<br />
Step 2: Carefully take the painting or artwork off the wall.<br />
Step 3: Lay it down FLAT on top of the bubble wrap or packing paper.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1KbhnrwVij76f4-7H01alV5uYYrg7KzlRgpM5IFW606J9ChX_TZDGSm6ZdCdkKu5Bi6WyKce5lTaXmDOn_Tj35UhgaOorB0e396h3aEaXWrZyccqo9FeioRPKkwCJtO2EIG8n2wzBf3XC/s1600/artwrap1.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="370" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1KbhnrwVij76f4-7H01alV5uYYrg7KzlRgpM5IFW606J9ChX_TZDGSm6ZdCdkKu5Bi6WyKce5lTaXmDOn_Tj35UhgaOorB0e396h3aEaXWrZyccqo9FeioRPKkwCJtO2EIG8n2wzBf3XC/s640/artwrap1.gif" width="640" /></a></div><br />
Step 4: Carefully fold the bubble wrap or packing paper around the painting.DO NOT BALL UP THE EXCESS! Keep it all very nice and flat. (Pretend you're wrapping a pretty gift for your mom. <i>"Mom! Aren't you impressed with my wrapping skills? See? I told you I can be good at <u>some</u>thing!")</i><br />
Step 5: Tape it together neatly.<br />
Step 6: Place it into a box and tape the box closed.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpvW3pEzAP9BX9bpvmksJSbNwqdRjD_SQV0uDA9lFPAgRoBx4Df6M6iH6u9ConUXRIWyYvFqgzKnXuJdm8X32SBUSGg2TEKcc8g9Ftuz_QclmOplC_42aCZ34ueOrRQ7BpPlX1iDWb4B3w/s1600/artwrap2.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="370" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpvW3pEzAP9BX9bpvmksJSbNwqdRjD_SQV0uDA9lFPAgRoBx4Df6M6iH6u9ConUXRIWyYvFqgzKnXuJdm8X32SBUSGg2TEKcc8g9Ftuz_QclmOplC_42aCZ34ueOrRQ7BpPlX1iDWb4B3w/s640/artwrap2.gif" width="640" /></a></div><br />
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<b>How </b><b style="background-color: red;">not</b><b> to pack up a painting:</b><br />
Step 1: Shove a bunch of packing paper down into a box.<br />
Step 2. Take the painting off the wall and shove it in the box. Smush the paper.<br />
Step 3: Fold and cram a bunch more paper around the frame of the painting and along the sides and top.<br />
Step 4: Make sure you have excess paper to ball it up and shove it in front of or behind the canvas.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMXWGSOYAEGCmuBfXb5FVFyvCxlFS9UQos_LNan4qq2QoJU7hFkC7J0uD4M5UFLGAnBk2wwEQl_DioIa66D5xCEUPwn75auLYI4AC17DFtkkDpY1fvoa2rbZYY_SYJ5DOpQ0DvEkNpFlVE/s1600/artwrap3.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="370" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMXWGSOYAEGCmuBfXb5FVFyvCxlFS9UQos_LNan4qq2QoJU7hFkC7J0uD4M5UFLGAnBk2wwEQl_DioIa66D5xCEUPwn75auLYI4AC17DFtkkDpY1fvoa2rbZYY_SYJ5DOpQ0DvEkNpFlVE/s640/artwrap3.gif" width="640" /></a></div><br />
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In the last 2 days I unpacked 3 paintings and two of them are damaged pretty badly. Paper- many, many sheets of folded and balled up white packing paper- was shoved around/behind/in front of the canvas and as a result I've got bubbles in my canvas the size of my fist. I'd like to find the person who packed them and give him a new hole in his head the size of my fist.<br />
I am confident that I would be acquitted by a jury of my arteest peers.<br />
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My advice to any artist who is moving is to be sure and pack up all your own paintings. Don't make the mistake that I did and think <i style="color: #3d85c6;"><span style="color: #990000;">"The movers are PROFESSIONALS! They know what they're doing! They can probably do a better job than me because THIS IS WHAT THEY GET <u>PAID</u> TO DO!"</span></i><br />
<span style="font-size: x-large;">Squeeeeeeeeeeeeeeehappythoughts</span>!!!!<br />
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I'll be looking around online for some advice on how to fix the canvas- a few products have been recommended to me by artist friends. I might call some local framing/art restoration shops and see if they can do it for me or what they would recommend.<br />
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After I get them fixed- if they can be fixed- I'll be sure to post about it so that anyone else who runs into this problem can find a solution and not cry about it like I did.<br />
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<i>EDIT: I left the canvases sitting out and after a couple of months they, pretty much, went back to the way they were. If you look very hard you can sort of tell, from some little cracks in the paint, but they are not a total loss. </i>Samantha Ghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11324304321751170433noreply@blogger.com2