Painting with MY FRIENDS...Monday, March 31, 2014

Time got away from me again, but then we just have to SOMETIMES make decisions...

I've been trying to paint some of the designs of my friends the past few weeks...

I LOVE to think about my friends as I am painting their design...

The First design I painted was by my friend, Mindy, from the Woodshop in West Virginia...

I was HONORED to be able to be the first to paint this...We did a pattern packet together and you can buy it from Mindy's shop... click  HERE  or from my etsy shop by clicking HERE

Mindy is one of my group of friends that I met in a painting group...She is a VERY naughty girl, JUST like the rest of them...ME?  I'm the GOOD one...

Mindy is the REASON that people post pictures of SQUIRRELS with me looking for NUTS...

She is funny and talented and WELL NAUGHTY!

 IF you need wood cut, then Mindy is your gal!

She is a mother, a grandmother, a wife, a woodcutter, a friend, and SO much more rolled up into a tiny little body of strength...She KNOWS what is important in life and I'm glad to say 

SHE is my Friend!

The next thing that I painted was a candle mat by Sheila Landry...

It is a PAINTING with Friends Pattern, designed by Sheila

You will be hearing this a lot, but WHAT a talent she is!! 

Sheila lives in Canada, but don't get any ideas, she is NOT your typical NICE Canadian that we hear so much about...

Could it be BECAUSE she is from Chicago...BWAH!!

Sheila and her boyfriend design and cut some of the most AWESOME scroll saw designs I have ever seen...

You can find her link on the left side of my blog...

Sheila is a Mother, a Grandmother, a cook, a classically trained pianist, and so much more...

Sheila also cuts wood if ever you need any...

While Mindy SEEMS all sweet on the outside, Sheila does NOT try to hide it ONE BIT...BWAH HA HAHAHAHAAA...

No, Sheila is one of the sweetest, most supportive friends that one could EVER wish to have in your life...

The next design I painted was by Sharon Cook

Sharon is not like my other friends...she is NEVER naughty and ALWAYS NICE...I'm sure she does NOT have to sweat out the Christmas Season WONDERING which list she is on!

Sharon creates the funniest characters with BIG NOSES and EYES...hmmm...the better to SMELL you with and SEE you with my dear??  I'm not sure about that!!

Sharon is a TRUE reflection of God's love by the way she interacts and encourages others...

I am SO blessed that I get to RECEIVE the LOVE from Sharon...

To find her patterns click HERE

The last pattern that I got painted was by my friend, Silvia Andreoli, from Italy...

 

I LOVE this pattern...Silvia had painted it on a lampshade, but I put it on a tea kettle...I LOVE it...

I thought about where Silvia lives...She is a farm girl like me...

I remembered her telling me of living close to a resort and watching the fireworks on several occasions...

Silvia and I love MANY of the same TV shows...

I laughed when she told me that she watches them in English

THEN in Italian...She doesn't WANT to miss anything!

Click HERE to find here patterns.

This last picture is from another of my friends in New York...

Suzie Q, as I call her, is Italian, too...LOL...

I LOVE this bunny painted with Suzanne's darling primitive touch. IT is NOW a very special treasure from ANOTHER one of my NAUGHTY friends!!  

Suzanne is CRAZY, but she is so full of love...

Like my other friends, she is a Mother, a wife, a Grandmother and a good friend with a GREAT sense of humor!

I was so happy to receive this bunny wabbit,  that I designed a sheep, which we BOTH love, JUST for her...

 

Suzanne painted him and shared him and I think she did MUCH better than I did...I LOVE how she put him on a penny rug!!

 

While it may seem that I get NOTHING done, I think you can say that I have gotten SOME things done...If nothing else than PLAYING with my friends...

I have been BLESSED beyond Measure!!

Oh, and one last thing...One of the teams that I am on is having a SPRING SALE on Facebook starting April 1 - April 20...You must be a friend of ours to be added, BUT that is NOT a problem...IF you are my friend, then let me  know you want to be added and I will get that done...I have already seen some things that I would LOVE to have!!

 

I HOPE that you have some GOOD friends that you enjoy being with and sharing with...Be SURE to tell them ALL how much they mean to YOU...Blessings to YOU...~charlotte♥

Making Scripture REAL...Thursday, March 20, 2014

I shared this a few months ago on my page, BUT I have had so many prayer requests from my friends, I thought it was worth sharing again.

My Mother taught me to do this with scripture.  SO many times we just read WORDS and often fail to see the message the WORDS have for us...

I want EACH of you to read this, and where you see MY name, replace it with YOUR name and make it REAL and BELIEVE it...I hope this will bring you great comfort....

 Psalm 23

The Lord is Charlotte's shepherd; Charlotte shall not want.

² He maketh Charlotte to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth Charlotte beside the still waters.

³ He restoreth Charlotte's soul: he leadeth Charlotte in the paths of righteousness for HIS name's sake.

⁴ Yea, though Charlotte walks through the valley of the shadow of death, Charlotte will fear no evil: for thou art with Charlotte; thy rod and thy staff they comfort Charlotte.

⁵ Thou preparest a table before Charlotte in the presence of Charlotte's enemies: thou anointest Charlotte's head with oil; Charlotte's cup runneth over.

⁶ Surely goodness and mercy shall follow Charlotte all the days of Charlotte's life: and Charlotte WILL dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.

Oh, how my cup runs over!...Blessings to YOU...~charlotte

Be the BEST YOU, Wednesday, March 19, 2014

I was checking my etsy page yesterday and I stopped cold when I saw that someone had sent a review...I couldn't move because of the FEAR of what they might say...I thought of EVERY single negative thought that they might share and how my review rating MIGHT go down...I didn't want to go read them...

BUT once again, MY fears did NOT play out...the reviews were fine...WHEW...

HOW in the world can I be a SOMEWHAT sane person and fear a REVIEW at THIS AGE?!  There is NOT one single thing that I can control about anyone else, so WHAT IS MY PROBLEM?

I THINK I have read too many horror stories from my fellow teammates...

I've come to accept that we ALL have different Standards and Expectations...

I've always expected more from friends and customers than is probably fair, BUT I also do my best to meet MY high expectations...

Last night I was cutting out some wooden pieces for a friend who placed an order...I was doing my BEST to make sure I followed the lines EXACTLY and that there were no VOIDS in the wood and that I was doing a good job of sanding...I was taking FAR more time with them than I would have taken on something I would cut for myself...I wanted to PRESENT the BEST product that I could...

I recently ordered a product from a business and I would have been HORRIFIED to have sent THAT to a stranger...TO ME, the PRODUCT was a reflection of THEM and how they conducted business...IF they were OK with representing THEMSELVES that way, then it should NOT matter to me...I just don't have to order from them again...

I also ordered from another place and was overcharged shipping by $5...AND no refund was offered...hmmmm...In MY CIRCLE of friends, this would have been refunded...

I have had UNHAPPY customers, and sometimes there is NOTHING that can be done to make them happy...I accept that because I have worked retail for MANY years.  

I try to be FAIR...I get THAT quality from my Mother...she was TOO FAIR...

Today I saw a post from someone that said it Just does NOT pay to be nice...WRONG!!  It ALWAYS pays to be NICE...

In this life, sometimes our HONOR is the only thing we are left with...IF we treat people fairly and honestly, then I BELIEVE that in the end, WE will be the victors...

We have NO control over anyone else...it is NOT our responsibility to decide for OTHERS...ALL we can do is be a REFLECTION of God's Love to ALL people that we meet...WE will one day have to answer for WHAT WE DO and WHAT we SAY...BUT I also think that we answer WHILE we are here on EARTH...so TODAY, I'm trying to SPRING CLEAN my heart...

BE the BEST YOU that you can be...Don't be a person that people DREAD to see when your name or face appears...Blessings to YOU...~charlotte♥

Daddy's Saw...Tuesday, March 18, 2014

I thought I would share the cross-cut saw that Mother painted for my Daddy...

Mother most ALWAYS had great meaning behind everything that she did...This saw was no exception.  Mother would sneak off to Aunt Becky's to paint this for Daddy...He WONDERED why she was spending so much time at Aunt Becky's, BUT as long as he got fed, he didn't really mind...Mother and Daddy trusted each other and they had great respect BOTH for themselves and for each other.

 On the left side of the saw, Mother painted Daddy's Tobacco barn that is located behind our house...I would LOVE to go with Daddy to hold the light when he would go to check the fires when we had tobacco that was being fired...The barn is BIG and I would love to see the dancing coals shimmering in the darkness of the night...I was always amazed at how Daddy could back a wagon into the barn since I hate to back up and can't "back back down the lane" as Aunt Maude used to say!  lol...Isn't it funny the small insignificant things that we remember and that bring a smile to our faces...Seldom is it EVER the big stuff we remember...the small simple things are the BEST...

 The next thing that Mother painted was our house.  Daddy came to live with Uncle Bud and Aunt Jenny when he was 22 months old when his Mother died of pneumonia.  Daddy lived here until his death at 80 in 2003.  The house was built in 1913 and had MANY remodels including a new den/kitchen in 1962.  Mother was NOT allowed to come home UNTIL the room was finished when she had me...She spent 10 days in the hospital...BUT NOT because the room wasn't finished, but because Dr. Stone KNEW she needed the rest and would get NONE when she went home with me, a brother 2 years older and another brother 10.5 years older AND 3 people past 80!  WHEW...our house was BUSY!

Mother painted our church next...this was BEFORE the last addition that added a gym, elevator, more rooms, a parlor, new carpeting and paint...that makes me sad because the church is almost dead now and WAS FULL of life...When Mother and Daddy got married, Mother didn't care WHERE they went to church, she just wanted them to be TOGETHER and to worship TOGETHER.  OK...here is my FAMOUS line:  "Mother was a Baptist and Daddy was a Christian...UNTIL he married Mother...NOW they are Cumberland Presbyterians"~~ROFL...Daddy did NOT want to join the Baptist Church BECAUSE he refused to be re-baptized...He said that IF his baptism was GOOD enough for God, then it should be GOOD ENOUGH for any church...hmmm...THAT is a discussion for another DAY...BUT mother said that it would be best for them to find another denomination that was different for BOTH of them and they did...They BOTH served faithfully their entire life...Daddy was a deacon for MANY years and Mother sang in the choir until the LAST time she was able to attend church.  Both of them are buried behind the church and I will one day join them there.

The last picture that Mother painted was the house where Daddy was born and that is Him standing on the porch.  Daddy's Father was a sharecropper and this house was located on the Borthick Farm...This is a special picture!  Daddy had one sister and two brothers. They all died in the order of their birth at the age of 80.

This is such a special piece and I find great comfort when I look at it.  Mother painted every stroke with love...and Daddy was proud of it.  I can remember the day that Daddy died, I would sit in His chair and look at the saw and would remember WHAT a GREAT MAN he was and HOW blessed I was...

Mother didn't learn to paint until she was about 51, which is my age now!  I have such a creative and talented family...I'm glad that I was encouraged to try new things and that I got so much support for what I did...I was SO lucky to be able to do craft shows for MANY years with my parents...WOW...I'm a LUCKY GIRL!

Have a great day and TRY something NEW this week...Be the little TRAIN that COULD...I think I can...I THINK I can...I CAN...Blessings to YOU...~charlotte♥

Happy St. Patrick's Day, Monday, March 17, 2014

Happy Saint Patrick's Day to YOU...

I have to admit, this day has NEVER had ONE BIT of meaning to me...I was raised in Middle Tennessee and to my knowledge, I never knew anyone of DIRECT Irish Decent, NOR did I know ANYONE who was Catholic, SO it was NOT a BIG Holiday in my area...THE MOST FUN I had was looking for SOMEONE to PINCH because they were NOT wearing GREEN, and believe me, IF you were WEARING GREEN underwear, THEN I had BETTER BE ABLE TO SEE IT, or YOU were getting PINCHED!!

I love so many of the Irish Blessings that I have heard...

 A friend shared a funny with me the other day that said SINCE we PRETEND to be NICE at Christmas, then it is FINE to pretend to be IRISH on St. Patty's DAY... teeheeee...

I would like to leave you today with the Tradition Gaelic Blessing

May the road rise up to meet you.
May the wind be always at your back.
May the sun shine warm upon your face;
the rains fall soft upon your fields and until we meet again,
may God hold you in the palm of His hand.

I wish you the HAPPIEST of HAPPY St. Patty's Day...
...Blessings to YOU...~charlotte♥

I'm having a GIVE AWAY on my Facebook Business Page...

If you would like to Enter, Go to my Facebook Page and Comment UNDER the Post of the Contest
WHAT EASTER MEANS TO YOU
That is ALL you have to do
You do NOT have to Share anything
You do NOT have to LIKE anything
JUST COMMENT
I have NOT decided HOW I will chose the winner, 
But you have until Friday, March  21st to leave a comment
Click HERE to Go to my Facebook Page to Comment
This is OPEN to EVERYONE, no matter where you may live
Facebook is in NO WAY connected to this Contest and 
You have to do NOTHING except comment

Painting a Bird's Nest Bowl...Sunday, March 16, 2014

I've spent the last few days reflecting on WHAT was important to Mother...What she liked to do, what qualities in a person were important to her, but MOST of all, I have remembered HOW CREATIVE she was...She instilled this in all of us...

So today, I thought I would share how to paint this Bird's nest bowl...

Mother LOVED to watch the hummingbirds, goldfinches and got SO EXCITED the first time she saw a bluebird on our farm.  When she saw a bird that was new, she would track in down in the bird book...

I use Americana Paint by DecoArt.  I have used these paints for YEARS and I LOVE the color pallet and the consistency of the paint...WHEN I open a bottle of Americana, I know EXACTLY what the paint will be like!

If you do not use this brand, then use what YOU have and change the colors to reflect what YOU like...BECAUSE...Ok, Karalee...It is JUST PAINT and I want you to learn to LOVE to paint and to ENJOY it...

The colors I used were:  French Vanilla, Black, Raw Umber, Raw Sienna, Fawn, Light Avocado, Green Tea, Evergreen, Spa Blue, Indian Turquoise

The bowl I used was a 10 inch bowl and it came ALREADY based with Gesso...Ok...I understand that just flew over SOME of your heads...But you can find wooden bowls of all shapes and sizes at most any thrift shop...Clean them with HOT soap water and let them Dry THOROUGHLY...IF you wish, you may base them in WHITE to make the colors brighter, BUT this is NOT necessary... 

I based the bowl with two coats of Spa Blue...After this had dried, I added another coat of Spa Blue and WHILE it was still WET, I added some strokes of Indian Turquoise in an X pattern...the goal is to have some of both colors showing AND by mixing these two colors, you will get various shades of blue...Do NOT over-mix...Paint very loosely until it is what YOU LIKE...Let this dry completely...IF you paint gets MUDDY, and you will KNOW mud when you see it, LET it dry and start over...Don't fret!!

I then took Raw Umber and a #1 liner brush and thinned it just a bit and started in the center and drew squiggly lines in a circle...Do NOT worry if the blue shows through, because you will do this same things several more times...

 

As you can see, I added some Raw Sienna with this and started filling in more of the circles being careful to cover more of the blue

You will see pictures of the same thing...just keep adding swiggly lines...Here I'm adding more Raw Sienna and Raw umber..

 

I then added Black to the Raw Umber and added darker lines because when you paint a bird's nest, you want the base to be darker and then add LIGHTER colors (or highlights) on the top layers...this will give your nest some DEPTH.  Painting is simply building layers and that is what you are doing...

 

ok...so let me review WHAT I have done to this point...

I started with thinned Raw umber and laid in the FORM

I next added some Raw Sienna in this

Raw Umber mixed with black was added next which started the process of building your layers...the first two steps were JUST to get the SHAPE of the next defined.

I again added More Raw Sienna

Fawn was next

AND French Vanilla Highlights were added last...

I added some STRAY twigs to the top of the nest with the darker mix HIGHLIGHTED with the lighter colors...Leaves will be added to the STRAY twigs..

The next thing I did was to make a feather with the center being a straight line.  Feathers were added with an 18/0 liner brush using Indian Turquois and white

 

The leaves were done by double loading a #6 Flat brush with Light Avocado and Green Tea...IF you cannot do a one-stroke leaf, don't fret...SIMPLE paint a leaf shape with your #1 liner and Light Avocado.  WITHOUT getting your brush wet, with just a small amount of paint, work the Green Tea on the right side of the leaf and quickly blend the two colors with your brush...Add stems with your 18/0 liner brush...add some leaves inside the nest also... 

I added some smaller leaves with Evergreen and Green Tea using a #4 flat brush

 

Add some eggs using Spa Blue...The shape is simply an EGG shape...you can do it WITHOUT a pattern!  When you paint your eggs, have them overlapping so they will look more natural...Shade with Indian Turquoise...When this is dry, using an old scruffy brush, pick up JUST a very small amount of white and dry brush this into the center of your eggs.  When this dries, using a STIFF toothbrush, fleck Indian Turquoise onto the eggs (don't worry if it gets on the nest, BUT you can always remove them with a damp q-tip)

I then shaded around the eggs and feather with Black and that is it...I signed the bowl and later I will seal it with a Brush-on varnish...This will soon be on its way to its new owner is a swap I am in...I hope she will like it...

 

 What I LOVE about painting is being able to create something that is a REFLECTION of ME...I paint WHAT I like and do my best to add MY OWN style...Don't say you CAN'T, but instead TRY...I hope you see how simple this can be...

I am THANKFUL that my Mother encouraged me to be CREATIVE and that she led by example...Have a WONDERFUL WEEK and be a REFLECTION of the LOVE that has been shown to you...Blessings to YOU...~charlotte♥

Chasing Butterflies

I have been trying VERY HARD to get caught up this week...

Last night I tried to Pay FORWARD my esty treasuries...

I got 11 done...sigh

Part of that meant that I had to get back to BLOGGING...

I did pretty well...

I have blogged here TWICE this week and NOW

I've added a blog on my Folkart and Primitive Team's Blog(FAAP)

SO I am GETTING BACK ON TRACK...

On my FAAP, I have been trying to share my thought process on some of my designs...

Please click HERE to visit my FAAP Blog, Chasing Butterflies, and learn WHY Butterflies are so special to me...

...Blessings to YOU...~charlotte♥

(Pay It) Forward Friday, Friday, March 14, 2014

Today marks TWO years since Mother died...I thought I would spend a few minutes sharing some pictures of her and letting you know her better...

Mother was born on January 25, 1932...

Mother was pretty...she wasn't gorgeous, but she radiated LIFE...

She played the piano some, but she didn't think she was any good, so I only heard her play a few times in my life...It was important for her to give me the opportunity to learn and she encouraged me to keep practicing...She always wished she would have stuck with it...Mother had a BEAUTIFUL alto voice and often sang with her sister at many church meetings...I never knew Mother NOT to sing...she sang in the choir until she could no longer go to church!  She OFTEN sang at home and as I learned later in my life, she would sing her troubles away...she would sing the same song over and over and IT DROVE me crazy sometimes, BUT she was PRAYING through her songs...I was such a brat...

Mother was a twin, and she was the youngest...Mother was the last of 8 children...Aunt Mary and Mother were VERY different...Mother always said that Aunt Mary got all of the brains.  Mother was the social butterfly.

Mother was FEARLESS...WHEN she WANTED to do something, she LEARNED...She learned to drive AFTER she was married because she thought it was important.  She was NOT a woman's libber, BUT she believed that she could DO WHATEVER she needed to do!  I am CERTAIN that she made the dress she is wearing!  This is the car she learned to drive...

Mother was a YOUNG mother...She was 19 when she married and 20 when she had Bob.  She and Daddy lacked ONE DAY being married 9 months when my oldest brother was born...SHE and DADDY LOVED being parents...they hit a dry spell and it was 8 years before they would have another child....

Mother was ALWAYS ready to GO...she loved to travel...she never traveled UNTIL she got married and they went to Oklahoma on their honeymoon...Mother always tried to put her best foot forward.  During her life, she was able to travel to South America twice, to Japan and China and to approximately 38 of the states.

Mother was  a good worker...She could type about 80 words a minute and to watch her use an adding machine was AMAZING!!  This was in 1959 when she worked for the City of Springfield to cover for someone on maternity leave...Mother didn't work outside of the home very often.  Her first job was working for a bank where she checked signatures on checks.  She would ride the bus to Nashville each day to work for Third National Bank.  When Mother would work at a place, she would save her money and buy something special with the money.

Mother was a wife.  She loved Daddy and the reason she married him was because she said that he loved his Aunt Jenny so much and she KNEW that he would love her...Daddy was 9 years older than Mother, so we called her "an old man's darling"...Mother was from a broken home and it was VERY important that she worked to keep her marriage vows...There were many hard days, BUT they both stuck it out and NEVER EVER filled our home with petty differences...This was taken on their 8th Wedding Anniversary on July 18, 1959

Mother was stylish!!  LOL...she made all of her clothes...On the back of this picture she wrote:  32 years old...Black cotton linen...like fabric with ascot tie and 4 square cut buttons...green-gold jewelry (necklace & earring)...She was an EXCELLENT seamstress...I never had a bought dress UNTIL I was 13 years old...
Mother ALSO made beautiful floral arrangements...(see to her left)

This picture SHOWS the personality of my mother...LAUGHING!!  She was so bubbly and had a wonderful sense of humor...SHE laughed...

Mother loved me, BUT OH, HER BOYS were the LIGHT of her life...This is Mother watching over the middle child and his two children...

Mother and Daddy waited a LONG time to have grandchildren, BUT oh, how they LOVED it!  This was the first grandchild, Kaylen...They didn't get to see her much since they lived in Seattle, but they loved her!!

 

Mother loved being a Mother and a Grandmother...WHAT joy they brought to her life...

 Mother LOVED like no person I have ever seen...SELDOM did she leave a phone conversation WITHOUT saying I LOVE YOU...

I would LIKE to ask EVERYONE who reads this to join me in 

(Pay It) FORWARD FRIDAY...

In memory of my mother, PLEASE take a moment today to tell ONE PERSON that is special to you that 

YOU LOVE THEM...

I can think OF NOTHING that would bring Mother greater JOY...

I LOVE YOU for joining me in my little corner of the world...

Blessings to YOU...~charlotte♥