Nervous

{Photo by Carrie Coronado}

Garage Sale Spoils

My apologies for this being posted so late! I had planned on doing it this morning after our first intermediate obedience class but instead I came home and slept.

Here it is 3:40 and I just woke up. I hoping all that sleep will help kick what ever has a hold of me.

I'm still excited about the stuff I scored at the yard sale yesterday. Looking at the pic some people might think it a lot of junk but to any creatives out there it's gold. I ended up buying pretty much all the artsy type stuff she had.

The canvas rolls I got alone were worth the total $124 I paid for everything.

The place was packed by the time I got there ten minutes after it opened with a bunch of stuff I would have liked to purchase already sold. They were downsizing their home and selling off antiques, tools, art, art supplies and lots of wood.

The antique end table needs a lot of work but I think it will go great in our guest bedroom.


The window is in good condition but needs to be sanded down and painted. I plan to put it in our kitchen.


I snagged two rolls of artist canvas. I was most excited about these two finds.


I love, love, love to paint on old wood. There is just something about the contrast between the old messed up wood and fresh clean paint.


I also go this bucket of stuff. It's full of lino cutters, rubber stamps, oil paints, cheese cloths and more. She gave me a deal of $5 as she didn't know how well the paints would work. She said she bought them to experiment with but never got the chance to use them.


Anyone ever used these before? I'm wondering if I could set them with a heat gun.

A rainbow after the storm

I've been busy the past two weeks. First with my vendor fair and then we decided to announce Etsy Fort Worth's vendor fair, the Cowtown Indie Bazaar, and I've been doing about ten things at once.

I guess it caught up with me because I've had a sore throat and a headache since Friday afternoon. Blech.

So while Cory went off to bowling I spent the evening laying on the couch in my sweats watching Twilight and New Moon.

I started today off with kick ass yard sale (I'll post the spoils later). Since it was so pretty outside I took the dog for a walk once I got home, took an unexpected hour long nap, watched New Moon with Cory when he returned home and have been painting ever since.

I forget how much I love to paint until I go without doing it for a while. Once I start up again I am always amazed that I stopped in the first place.

March Giveaway Reminder

Don't forget to sign up for this month's giveaway, Acrylic Revolution by Nancy Reyner.

Acrylic Revolution is your essential, all-in-one guide for acrylic painting techniques and more. It features over 101 ways to break through the boundaries of conventional painting and re-define the creative potential of this all-purpose medium.

You still have plenty of time to enter. Check out this post to sign up!

Worn Out

New Monster Series

I just started painting a new little series that I am super psyched about!

I had drawn the sketches I'm using a while back (I'm talking a couple of years) for a chunky book swap on a mail art site. I remember being really excited about the sketches when I drew them too!

I ended up stepping away from the swap due to that excitement. The host was quite restrictive when it came to artistic freedom and I found myself making pages out of chore instead of simply getting to enjoy the process. Not cool.


I never could part with those sketches and now I'm glad I didn't. I finished one painting on Friday and hope to have the other two done by the end of the weekend.


Also, now that I think about it I'm glad it worked out this way. I will be able to create monsters so much better in a larger format than I would have been able to in a four inch square anyway.

What a difference a year makes!

This is what my booth looked like at last year's Funky Finds Spring Fling. It was a pitiful state wasn't it?

No banner, hardly any artwork and a tablecloth that only covered half the table.

I was working a ton of hours and didn't have time to prep for the show much less create. I thought about flaking out over and over but I couldn't let my booth partner, Stacy, down.

I only sold one item that day $15.00. However, I made a bunch of new contacts and learned much more than a couple of sales would have given me anyway.



This year I was determined not to be under prepared. I painted and printed and packaged until I was dreaming about it at night.

On top of that Etsy Fort Worth was a sponsor so I was constantly thinking about where we were with everything. I can't tell you how many times I had dreams about some of the members.

Toward the end of it I about had a breakdown. I was getting chest pains several times a day, I couldn't remember anything for the life of me and was just plain exhausted.

I wouldn't have gotten through it if it weren't for Cory. He even stayed with me all day at the show. I'm very fortunate to have a man like him around.



I'm proud of what I accomplished this year. Granted I didn't make a ton of sales but I earned back my booth fee, got onto a couple of blogs and made a lot of contacts.

I have a booth set up planned out so I won't have quite as much to stress about for my next show and I once again I absorbed as much as I possibly could to apply to the next go-round.

Things are starting to come together.

{Top photo by Stephanie Drake-Moyes of Sketch Customs. Bottom photo by Kay Nash of Gnash Arts}

This weekend is the Funky Finds Spring Fling!

It's here! The Funky Finds Spring Fling is this Saturday from 9am - 3pm at the Will Rogers Memorial Center.

Parking and Admission is free and the event is pet friendly so bring the whole family.

Visit the booths of over 120 artists, crafters and designers!

Don't forget to stop by my booth. I made up the coupon just for you!

It's almost here!

The Funky Finds Spring Fling is in less than a week!

Will I be seeing you there?

Like the bags you see in the background? They were handcrafted by Etsy Fort Worth members.

Want to know what's inside? Be one of the first 50 attendees to purchase five raffle tickets and find out!

Two Steps Forward...

Well, I'm working as fast as I can but sometimes I don't feel like I'm getting anywhere. I start one thing and something else blows up in my face.

I'm finishing up paintings then once I put the laquer on them the paint is turning!

Anyone want a comic book woman with peach teeth?

No one? Didn't think so.

I've got her repainted now and will try sealing it with gel medium first. Cross your fingers!

The custom table cloth I ordered that takes two weeks to deliver? It was made the wrong size. Yep, got to run around looking for one on short notice.

This evening I worked on finishing up my booth set up. I one side wall with about eight paintings that decided to fall face first into the garage floor when I touched it.

Yep, ALL of the paintings were damaged in some shape or form. Shortly thereafter I had a little breakdown.

Thankfully none of them were damaged beyond repair. Most of them just had the paint on the edges scraped off - easy fix.

Two of them, however, were not such an easy fix and I'm not sure they will be able to be used in the show.

Good news though is I am making a ton of progress on my prints! I figure those will be the majority of what I am selling anyway so I guess it's good that it's what I'm on top of, right?

Daddy's Girl

March Giveaway!

Have all that acrylic paint but not quite sure what to do with it?

This month's giveaway , Acrylic Revolution by Nancy Reyner, will teach you tricks and techniques to further enhance your paintings and take them to the next level.

Acrylic Revolution is your essential, all-in-one guide for acrylic painting techniques and more. It features over 101 ways to break through the boundaries of conventional painting and re-define the creative potential of this all-purpose medium.

To enter just sign up in the widget box at the bottom of this post before Saturday, March 27th!

Want TWO chances to win?

Create a post on your blog mentioning this giveaway and leave a comment here with the link.

Good luck to all who enter!

Giveaway Winner

Congratulations go to Patti of PBSArtStudio!

Thank you to all that entered! More giveaways will come soon.