Red, White & Blue

Happy Saturday, everyone!
I thought it's about time I got a little festive for the 4th of July! It seems with every relocation, I lose a little more of my patriotic decor. We're often traveling that week, so I rarely have opportunity for red, white and blue themed entertaining anyway. But I did find a little American flag that I nestled into a reed diffuser; and added a red satin ribbon accent:And pulled out this neat red silk cording:I made a little "Freedom" tag, and with the cording, embellished a cute candle jar. Independence Day is one week from today! Let's celebrate our country's unique heritage.

NOTE: I just added 5 x 7 print sizes of my art in my Etsy store.

Studio Tour Continues

Oh - aren't these LONG summer days glorious?! I know there are a lot of Autumn-lovers out there, but summer is my season and I am lovin' it!And, since the "lazy days" of summer are in full swing ... how 'bout another peak into my studio today? :-)

Between the two doorways, I found a perfect spot for a mini-gallery of some of my retro paintings. They are 20 x 24 inch wood panels. I thought these large black gallery shelves from Lowe's would allow me to change my mind "every five minutes" about what I wanted to display and not have 541 nail holes in the wall. (Tip - in other areas of my home I have used the "Hercules Hook" with great success! )Above one of the doorways, hangs this plaque. It's another example of something you could create for yourself using my Lettering Tutorial . It's a product from a home decor collection I used to sell. "Trust in the Lord" done in a casual script font. One way to create the thin black outline "at home" is to use a fine paint pen, a raised ruler (so the ink will not bleed under) and a very steady hand. Above the other doorway I have this "W" plate. A fun clearance find a while back from Anthropologie:
I thank you for taking the tour with me ... please exit to your right ... for prints or cards of the items you've seen on today's tour, please visit the gift shop. :-)

Sharing the Fruit of the Harvest

For this post I'm joining in with Kimba over at A Soft Place to Land for her lovely Garden Party. Please visit her blog to see links to TONS of cool decorating/outdoor/garden ideas!

We are so enjoying having fruit trees in our yard!! It's our third summer of harvest and right now we're loving sweet, juicy apricots!!This is a very simple way to share some of your garden treats with neighbors and friends! And perhaps an alternative to secretly leaving those cucumbers by someone's door in the middle of the night! :-)

Parchment paper folded into a little bag; add a message tag; tie with ribbon or cording and away you go! All stuff you have readily at hand! And you might even have some little helpers:

Giveaway Day!

Today I was one of a small group of artists/designers being featured over at Nesting Place.
Let me tell you this is one fabulous collection of talented women! I am pleased to be hangin' with them for the day! :-) Nester has outdone herself again by hosting an amazing Giveaway Day with luscious prizes from each artist. If you're visiting from Nesting Place for the first time - welcome and I hope you explore a bit and find some Inspiring Ideas!

Enter the Jeanne Winters Giveaway to win 2 items from my Etsy shop! Also, I recently added some new prints and here are two of them:Please, browse my shop if you like, then pop on over to enter the giveaway on Nester's blog. (You must comment on her blog post before Wednesday midnight to be entered.) Thanks, Nester!!!

Lettering Tutorial

Hello again! First of all, let me 'splain that I am in total summer mode - as you can see from my limited posting these past 2 months. So, no, I haven't disappeared, I'm most likely in the pool with the kids! And ... as much as I want you glued to my blog and etsy site ... I hope you enjoy more fresh air activities this summer, too! :-)

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On with today's idea. As you regulars know, many of my ideas involve words, and I have mentioned alphabet stencils a number of times. Well, here's an easy alternative to stencils AND a way to make letters/words with more font variety, in more sizes and well, pretty much exactly how you want!

I'm calling this a tutorial, but really, about half my blog posts are tutorials! :-) Let's get started! All you need is your
• computer, printer & paper,
• tracing paper,
• sharp pencil,
• ruler,
• paint & brush: We're going to write "Bless This Child" on a wood wall plaque. Our plaque is already painted & ready for our letters. I used "Bickley Script" font and sized the letters to the exact height & width for my plaque. I printed them out with an underline so I could easily line the paper up on my surface. See - I even used an 8 1/2 x 11 sheet - so you'll see that that is enough for most projects - and that even tho my text ran onto two lines, I can use that underline to line it up straight!
Position your lettered paper exactly where it should go on the plaque. Then slip the tracing paper between the two. Note: be sure the "ink" side is down. Then begin tracing. Hold your paper very still and press down firmly and smoothly. I like to use colored pencils, so I can see where I've already been with my tracing:
Here's what you'll see on the plaque when you're done with the tracing:
It's all ready for you to paint!
Hey - we're done!

Now ... do you know what this is???OK, hopefully you didn't guess anything too gross! It's the kneaded eraser I've had over 20 years!! ... we're pretty attached! :-)

A kneaded eraser is an awesome tool for your craft arsenal. In this project it's terrific for erasing any extra lines or markings when you're all done and the paint is completely dry. It won't leave a trace. If you like "crafting" and have never used a kneaded eraser, pick one up next time you're out. You won't know how you lived without it! Let's give our kneaded erasers some love in the comments! :-)

Paint a Tray for Outdoor Entertaining

Summer is all about living outdoors - enjoying the fresh air, flowers & sunshine! We eat just about every meal outside this time of year ... and the kids love it! Serving trays are essential to making this easy - whether you're entertaining or enjoying a quiet backyard moment alone.
Consider creating a one-of-a-kind serving tray with a little paint! Restore an old tray or pick up a nice unfinished wood one and give it life, like this one I did a number of years ago:
For this look, I primed, then painted 2 coats of white gloss. Simple painter's masking tape will allow you to whip out some neutral stripes. Add your unique touch with some alphabet stencils - "Faith, Hope & Love." Then, you MUST finish with a sealer, so you won't damage your art with condensation & drink spills.
(PS: the "Living Water" etched glasses & carafe in the top photo are something I designed for DaySpring and can be seen here if you're interested in a better look.) :-)