A day at the beach

Gotta love this shot. A little shopping beforehand. Look at the awful flip flops they were trying to sell in a souvenir shop. We had to take pictures because no one would quite be able to picture them with words only. And NO we did not purchase them. lol Mine are the red toes, you see on the pale feet. Look at that gorgeous blue sky. No photo retouching here, just pure mother nature.

This is a April Cornell quilt that I found for get this $4.50 at a thrift shop in Charleston. We were in need of a beach blanket so I ran in to see what they had then laundered it and voila it was perfect. I love the colors and the vintage look of the fabric.

Well I have housework calling my name so off I go. Have a lovely Monday.

Great FREE photo editing website

I was getting tired of my background andwas looking for something happy and this is what I am trying on for now. I just love being able to change things up depending on the season or my mood. It's like finding the perfect pair of shoes to go with your dress.
I found this great little photo editing website called Picnik just now and so I have been playing around with it. This is what I came up with for my signature. I think Imay make it even smaller. It is FREE. It is fun and has some neat tools. Check it out. You may lose yourself in it for hours. I know I could if I weren't tired. I hope you are all having a lovely weekend.

Life is a Beach... or so they say and another giveaway

Feeling inspired to paint a beach scene.

The colors are so calming. These are my first clouds ever. I watched a tutorial on painting them on Youtube. They are not super easy. Trust me.

I added more clouds to show distance and some water rolling in.

I need something perfect to finish it off but I'm not sure what. Palm fronds cascading in at a corner? Adirondak chairs? A beach ball for the vivid color? A kite flying into the scene? I hate getting this far and risking ruining it, as I am pretty happy with the way it is turning out and I am not having to look at it from different angles or squint my eyes to make it look better, either. lol So glad you all understand my sense of humor. Any ideas? Please share and don't say people as they would have to be inpressionistic as I can only draw faces not bodies. Maybe some day. Let me know what your ideas are.

If you like to give gifts then this giveaway is for you. This lady has awesome ideas. Check it out here.

Before and after painting and a giveaway

Before with the colors so bright:After with crackling and antique glazing:

Cose up of the crackling:

Love this orange with the crackling and antiquing:

Lok at these colors: I love blending blues and greens. I am off to list it in my etsy shop. There's a Giveaway going on over at: Cindy's Art and Soul. She makes gorgeous jewelry and is offering a $50. Gift Certificate to her online shop. How fun. So hop over there and check it out.

Creative idea goes awry.

I bought 4 canvases yesterday and 5 new tubes of paint with the anticipation of creating a beachy scene.

I gathered my paints, a rag, brushes and one of the canvases.

Well, as you can see my muse had other ideas. I think it is so funny how the creative process leads you along and not necessarily where you might have intended to go.

I was initially thinking of senset colors but this is what came about. Not even close to a beachy scene. The colors are there, yes but this is not where I wanted to go. Oh well, we adapt.

So after all of this I brushed on a layer of crackle paint and will let that dry over night. Tomorrow I will add some antique glazing to it and see what happens. Anyway, it is interesting what comes about sometimes when you just roll with it. Ever have that happen?

Have a lovely day,

Tammy

Nature inspires me

See the bee to the left in this image. I caught him mid flight heading in to find some pollen. I love these flowers. Can't remember the name but they remind me of fireworks. There are all sorts of little pink curlicues that look like those golden lights streaming down from the sky.

Daisies in my garden make me smile. They are sunny and dance towards the sky. This one seems to be floating right before my lens. The white is so white and the lines in the petals are so subtle but they are there. Just lovely. The center reminds me of a sunflower with row upon row of miniscule yellow heads. There is a pattern there that you can only see upon closer inspection. I must get a macro lens. Things like this itrigue me.

When I was little I remember having fun trying to figure out what the partial photo was, that was in the back of a kids magazine. You know the ones where they only have a small fraction of something or a macro view of say a bees abdomen.

Our bathroom remodel

Remember last month I mentioned that our bathroom was finished. Well here is the grand unveiling. This is after demolition, with new green and blue tile backer boards up. TA-DA! After. We love it!

I chose a neutral pallet for that spa like feel. I love the bronze finishes on all of the accessories.

That's a Jacuzzi jetted whirlpool tub, ladies. We still have yet to take a bath in it, though. I'll have to make some time for that, soon. Rub-a-dub-dub...

I'm on the hunt for just the right window treatment. I frosted the bottom pane of the window for privacy. I traded in some of my old white towels for some new beige/taupe colored ones, to my husbands dismay. The old ones had seen better days, a long time ago, so off they went to the rag pile. Oh yeah, that gold door knob is being replaced to match the bronze on everything else.

It's Party Time! Woohoo!

Well hello there! I'm so glad you came. Don't you look wonderful! I love your dress! Grab a cocktail and there are some finger foods if you are hungry . Oh my gosh, the cucumber sandwiches are fabulous! Try this Fruitini. It's yummy and refreshing. So as you can see the party is in full swing. Okay, I am to list 5 Inspirations for my art. So here goes:

nature and colornew suppliesdelicious papersgorgeous embellishmentsvintage ephemera As part of the Etsy street team"Inspiration Avenue", we decided to host this blog party and offer up some wonderful prizes. Alls you have to do is hop on over there. Good luck and have fun mingling with all the other members. Cheers! I am so glad you came by. Now go get your chance to win.