Celebrate 365

The new summer issue of Celebrate 365 magazine is out ! Connie Porcher, creator of this awesome magazine graciously used three of my Alice figures in the lastest edition! 2 dolls figures and the large teapot clock. All of the pieces in this magazine are wonderful, it is a honor to be in the magazine with them. Check out the feature interview with Flora Thompson of Bone Head Studio, I am a huge fan of this talented lady's work. Her version of Alice is amazing! Congrats to everyone ! check out Celebrate365.com For the latest work of your favorite artists and market lines. ~Susan~

2 new items listed on Ebay

I have just listed 2 new Halloween pieces on Ebay. Yeah! Finally have been able to get some fun stuff done. Now, I face the daunting task of cleaning up my studio so I can actually find the things I need for my next creations.
My husband continues to lurk outside my studio door any time he wants to speak to me. My husband " mister neat nick" fears being consumed by my hideous messiness.
On occasion, he will point a finger accusingly at the carpet as bits of fluff , threads, and crepe paper that hitch rides on the legs of my uber noisy, fluffy little dogs, that then carry the objectionable bits outside the confines of my studio. I can't be held responsible for bits of rubbish that sneak out of the studio of their own accord.
I invite you to check our AHA groups offerings on ebay using aha art in the search box! Enjoy your weekend ! ~Susan~

Here are the pictures !

I thought I'd post a few actual pictures of the house now that it's painted . Thank You EV!! For reminding me to post the outcome. I had a hard time getting a good picture because Oregon is in the middle of a for real heat wave!! It's a whopping 105 flipping degrees out there!
In the immortal words of the Wicked Witch from the Wizard of Oz " I'm melting!!" We went from 65 degrees to 105 in the space of about 3 days! On those cold, endlessly rainy months of Oregon ,I wonder why we left Phoenix AZ. Oh yea, I remember now!
I need to get in gear and work on some of my paper mache pieces, man those puppies will be completely dry within a few hours. Tomorrows going to be another scorcher , so you'll know what I'll be working on tomorrow. Unless my husband offers to take me to the beach that is.
Bye for now I've got pumpkins to paint! ~Susan~
PS: for those who have joined Flora's (BoneHeadStudios) prayer group to prayer for our country & it's leaders , stay strong we can make a difference! Blessings to one and all!

Phew!

Sorry about the cliff hanger! I had quite the shock when we were finally able to sneak out of the house to view the new color. My heart sunk , when I first saw it. The color looked so light and we had Sunshine too which really made the color look light.
We had been testing the color on our normal gray skies which apparently made the color darken even more. The picture that is currently post of our deck is the color it was. Sort of a light tan which we liked but felt we wanted to change it up a bit, so we went with something different. Once the cream trim was painted and the front door received its new color sun dried tomato ( a color my husband confessed was way out of his comfort zone) everything just sort of fell into place.
It was sort of funny though , my husband kept reassuring me that the color looked great,
of course once they allowed us out he was all over the place making sure he didn't miss anything. I went back inside and hid, secure in the knowledge that we had made a huge house sized mistake. It took me several hours to wander back out side to check the color again. Since our backyard had the contrasting white pergola it was easier to see how the color really looked. The color had a chance to dry a bit & darken and I felt so much better.
It took a good 4 days for the color to dry and now we both love it. A couple of our neighbors have stopped by to tell us how much they love the new look! YAY!
My recommendations for anyone who is having their homes painted this summer, take a deep breath try to stay calm, check out homes that have colors you like, get lots of samples paints to try out and cross your fingers!! ~Susan~

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....

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

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~