Tuesday, June 29, 2010

I'm Freaking out here!!

Okay, so we decided to have our home painted. It took us forever to pick out the colors, finally my husband and I choose a Sherwin Williams color called Comfort Gray with Alabaster for the trim and Rookwood Red for the door.
Having been fans of the HGTV for a couple of years , especially Curb Appeal, we felt confident we could avoid the pitfalls of the folks on the shows, especially when the house color goes on and the owners freak out because the color looks totally different when painted on a large building. After all I am an artist, I work with color everyday ! We took their helpful hints on how to choose colors really taking into consideration the color of the brick on the front of our house, style and our yard.
Then, I found the Northern Shores and Seaports Sherwin Williams brochure. There it was ...the perfect house with the colors I crave. A two story painted pale gray with creamy soft white trim and a deep red brown front door.
The moment of truth, the painters have arrived today to paint the house. I am freaking out!! The reason, we have been entombed inside of our house ! It is covered in plastic, all of the doors and windows are covered I can't see anything!!!! If we have made a mistake in color choices, all of the neighbors will know it before we do. ARGH!!! I feel so helpless, and the fear keeps building, I have visions of those odd looking lilacs and blues people paint their houses. At least on Curb Appeal, the home owners are allowed to get out of the house before the actual painting begins. This allows them to freak out on camera and stop the painting to avert a horrible paint color fiasco.
The front door bell rings, I answer the door , the painters have a question and have been forced to create a exit for us because they have a problem in the back of the house. I quickly exit the door and run to the curb to view the house, my stomach sinks , the color is really really light ...... frantically I search for the huge paint sample we created on a large piece of artist canvas to compare the colors , then I realize I threw it away yesterday , trash day...... SCREWED!! I am praying the color darkens up when it completely dries..............
OMG! are we going to be those people with the odd color house????? I am painting another canvas with our color to compare it just to be sure the paint company didn't screw it up. I did dip one pinkie into the our color sample and covertly placed my color onto a spot already painted by the front door. Drat! the color blended perfectly ! We may have made a huge mistake. I am suppose to be dieting today, at the moment I am shoveling toffee coated peanuts in my mouth as I type. Bad day to diet , as reality kicks in .....this house paint is guaranteed to last 25 frickin years ! OMG! I think I'm going to be sick....

Sunday, June 20, 2010

Our new deck!

I thought I would share something else with you today. Even though we are still in winters clutches for the moment our backyard is in glorious living color. My husband decided it was time for a real deck to enjoy our blooming backyard. We had a pebble concrete deck before which wasn't very foot friendly for those of us who go barefoot virtually all the time.
Now it is soft & smooth to the foot and so inviting! However, it is drizzling again, sigh, and the ground is squashy , wet & cold on my feet as I take these pictures. Pooka & Chloe' investigate while I take pictures, silly doggies think there might be something new out there to find. They are fascinated with the pond, probably because of the singing froggies. They are only 1 1/2 inches long fully grown but boy do they like to singing!

Notice the gray skies..... Our backyard is long and sort of narrow, our a corner lot the slopes down on the far side. We wanted to create a intimate & private setting especially as our neighbors are fairly close on the backside. I think we managed to create a private sanctuary with all of the towering trees and lush foliage. This is our secret garden. Where Clematis commingle with tiny pink climbing roses, on hidden trellis's and climb the vintage white rattan headboards set out for them. There is a small waterfall that has been over taken with green leafy ground cover with it's purple flowers. Now if only the sun would grace us for a while , we could have it all!
Can you find Alice , the white rabbit, Daisy, the caterpillar and the mad hatter ? Probably not since the pictures a so small, but I have Alice sitting near the front of the waterfall Daisy is nestled to her left and the caterpillar is tucked in amongst the ferns . The rabbit and mad hatter are sitting shaded under the burgundy and green leafed Japanese maple trees.
For those of you with the sun shining on you , I envy you , for those of us that sit under the gray skies of the Pacific Northwest, hang in there our day in the sun will come! Blessings Susan

Wednesday, June 2, 2010

Halloween art pins.

Just a quick note to show off the wearable art pins I have just listed on EBay. They have been mounted on aged hang tags that can be displayed on your favorite holiday tree or easily removed to wear as a Halloween decorative pin. Have a wonderful day! ~Susan~

American Holiday Artists

American Holiday Artists
Ebay Art Group I belong to visit us to see all of our members creations

Phineas Birthday Surprise

Phineas Birthday Surprise
SOLD

Hawaii in early Dec

Hawaii in early Dec
North side of Oahu

Earlier this week

Earlier this week

Old World Santa Glass eyes

Old World Santa Glass eyes
Gourd

Snow Dec 2008

Snow Dec 2008

Snowflake Santa Gourd

Snowflake Santa Gourd
ex large gourd sculpted

Mirek's sculpt

Mirek's sculpt
HUH??

Mirek's updated version

Mirek's updated version

Victorian look Christmas Angels AHA/Adsg folk art Ooak

Victorian look Christmas Angels  AHA/Adsg folk art Ooak

Smoking Pipe & Red/Blk Santa's

Smoking Pipe & Red/Blk Santa's
Gourd Art

Mad Hatters Teapot

Mad Hatters Teapot
Just listed on Ebay

Christmas Snowman

Christmas Snowman

Fall Celebreate 365 is out!!

Fall Celebreate 365 is out!!
Be quick and grab yours! this book is amazing!

Jingle Bell Santa 2008

Jingle Bell Santa 2008