ART RETREAT JOURNAL COVER

This is the cover of a new journal I'm making for a class I am teaching soon.  Twice a year my Outdoor Painting Group goes to Monteagle, TN for a painting retreat.  I'm teaching them how to make artist's journals out of a 22" x 30" sheet of watercolor paper.  These are great to take along when you travel because they are 8" x 10", but you can cram a lot into them because counting fronts and backs, you have 16 pages to play with.  

I HEART WOODSTOCK TOTE

Today I made this super cute tote out of muslin and lime green seam binding.  Lightweight but sturdy enough to hold a bunch of books, magazines, newspapers and art supplies.  This is what I had in mind when I designed the "I Heart Woodstock" illustration.

I used my illustration, flipped it and ironed it on using a fabric transfer from Office Depot.  I have lined all of the seams using a kiwi green seam binding to make the seams extra sturdy and very neat and professional looking.

Here is the finished bag.

You can see the pocket, just the right size for your library card!

The perfect little lightweight summer tote for going to the library, summer concerts or the grocery store!
I'll be selling them at my etsy shop paintingsthatfly.etsy.com.

AWESOME STAMP

I want to show you this awesome stamp I received in the mail today.  I ordered it from NoteTrunk's etsy shop so I could stamp my name and etsy address on the back of my cards.  I just LOVE them!  Check out their cute stamps.  They have a lot of stamps for the bride to be, etc.  It's exactly what I wanted, they were so easy to work with and my stamp came incredibly fast!!! 

and it comes in this cute little muslin bag......................

WOODSTOCK MOURNS

A young 20 year old soldier from Woodstock was killed in Mosul, Iraq April 5th.  His body came back home today and the people of Woodstock lined the streets with flags and prayers for him and his family.  The soldier's name is Army Spc. Gary Lee Nelson III.  He attended Woodstock High School, just like my kids.

Below, a little cub scout gives out American flags to people lining the streets.

Just a few minutes before the hearse carrying Army Spc. Nelson's body is to arrive, a car stalls on the street.  With no hesitation, five guys jump off the curb to push her car across the street to clear the path.

I could see his family's faces as they passed and I could tell they were so thankful we were there waving our flags and showing our gratitude and appreciation to them.  I can't even imagine what they are going through at this time.

There were countless police cars and veterans on motorcycles.  I could see the streets were lined with people on Towne Lake Parkway and Main Street all the way to the funeral home.

LIGHTS CAMERA READ

LIGHTS, CAMERA, READ is a new display I made for our library this week.  It is based on books made into movies.  I found a director's chair at home that my son received as a high school senior.  I recovered a Georgia Tech megaphone with craft paper and wrote "ACTION".  I had a metal calendar that I had painted with blackboard paint so I wrote the words LIGHTS CAMERA READ.  My daughter had an original large popcorn container from when she went to see the movie "Titanic".  I made a clapper out of a Lowe's paint stick which I painted black and white stripes.  I also used a heavy piece of cardboard from the back of a watercolor pad and painted it with the blackboard paint.  I painted "director, camera, production," etc.  I also found an old hat my boys used in Boy Scouts that I hung on the back of the director's chair.  All in all, I think it turned out pretty cute for 0 $$$.  We found a lot of books to display and a lot have been checked out so far.

NEW NOTECARDS IN MY ETSY SHOP

I added a few more cards to my ETSY SHOP this afternoon.  I printed these on heavy cardstock, include a white envelope and enclosed each one in it's own cellophane envelope.  I'm experimenting with color combinations.  I can always print them in any color and sell in any quantity.  

I HEART WOODSTOCK

Just received my new notecards I had made from my watercolor painting of downtown Woodstock.  They turned out really nice and are printed on heavy cardstock with a slight sheen.  I include a white envelope and they will be packaged in cellophane. I will be selling them for $2.50 on etsy.  Let me know if you want some, and you can have them with no shipping charge.  I'm still working on putting this design on a book tote.