A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood

I  thought I would try something different...

CLICK HERE to see a slideshow of my latest piece of art!

This really is a work of heART...

I wanted to make you SMILE as I shared some childhood memories and some things I love.

The church is in the middle  (well, kinda) to show that my Faith is the center of my being...

Our house was filled with love...
Our hands and our minds were kept busy creating and working...

Candy was homemade or bought for...REALLY--A PENNY!!

Our life was filled with COLOR!

I was taught to love and to respect the land and her inhabitants...

Clouds were there to entertain us as we hunted objects in the sky...

A tree to remind me of deep roots...to stand tall...to weather the storms of life...to stand for what is merciful and just...to grow...to spread my wings...

A sheep is a reminder that I wish to follow THE GREAT SHEPERD as He leads, comforts, protects and fights evil for me...


A dog, cat, owl--nature is to be cared for...

A frog to remember the laughter as Mother told about the BIG MOUTH FROG...

Beautiful flowers...Mother made gorgeous arrangements for our church altar...

Flowers to remind me to BLOOM...

Sunflowers as a reminder of feeding the birds and being planted by Daddy on the side of the road...

Black and white to remind me of our farm colors, Roma Land Farm, that reflected our Holstein cows that were milked to provide our income...

Homemade happiness!!

We all have a path to follow...

Our journey should be filled with good things...learning from our trials and roads we should have avoided...

Each day, I try to wake grateful...to reflect on the goodness and to follow my dreams!

The love of my parents really does flow through each stroke of my brush that is filled with DecoArt  Paint!

 (see how I snuck that in there! Lol)

Thank you for visiting

 my little corner of the world!

 I do not take my blessings for granted...
I am simply blessed to create ~charlotte ♡

The Art Challenge~~Day 5, Saturday, January 31, 2015

HOLY MOLY…I just spent a big bulk of time getting these 3 patterns into pdf form and I FORGOT how much time it took to resize stuff and check for words/symbols that didn’t scan…ROFL…NOW I don’t feel so bad that it took me so long last year to get most of my patterns into the pdf format!!  Yep, patting myself on the back!!  

 Today is my last day of my Art Challenge…It has been SO MUCH FUN getting to see the pictures that people have posted.  It has transplanted me, in some instances, to a place where I REMEMBER meeting so many of my Facebook friends!  

 I KNOW that I have never SEEN you in person and probably never will, but let me assure you that your friendships are REAL and I treasure each of you and what you have brought to my life…Thank YOU for accepting ME~~warts and all and I HOPE that you KNOW what you mean to me…

And that brings the reason I was converting pdf files into focus…to SHARE these 3 meaningful to me, Designs that I created to HONOR our Military.  

Our country is NOT perfect, our leaders are flawed, JUST LIKE each one who reads this is, BUT I APPLAUD the HONOR of living in the United States and I SUPPORT our Military and I PRAY for our leaders instead of BASHING them and spreading UNTRUTHS about them…we NEVER know what ANYONE deals with UNTIL we have walked in their shoes, SO THANK you to our MILITARY for ALLOWING us the FREEDOM to disagree, EVEN when we are WRONG and I send my heartfelt GRATITUDE to the families that support our military…Your sacrifices do NOT go unnoticed…GOD BLESS AMERICA and those countries who stand alongside us helping to protect FREEDOMS of ALL PEOPLE! 

The First Pattern is Called: I Pledge Allegiance to the Flag.  It has a light behind it.

The Next Pattern is called: 'Til You Come Home...this is another light design that could be left on while a soldier is away... or to simply help brighten a dark corner in HONOR of your soldier.

The last Pattern is Called Dandy Andy...It includes the line drawings for the 4 branches of the military...

 

 All of these patterns are available as INSTANT DOWNLOADS

 in my Etsy Shop. Go Visit and see what I have been doing!

I have enjoyed sharing on my Facebook page these past 5 days and I hope others have enjoyed seeing the pictures as much as I have...I HOPE that each one who has posted has FELT THE LOVE…I APPRECIATE YOU and your gifts…♥

Never be afraid to SHARE your ART!  We have been given gifts and we need to share them...we can never underestimate the doors that might be opened or the JOY they may cause someone...Blessings to YOU...~charlotte♥

Art Challenge Day 4, Friday, January 30, 2015

This was Day 4 of the Art Challenge.  I was NOT going to finish this challenge because of the RUDEST comment that I saw on a fellow artist’s posting by the person who “supposedly” started this challenge saying that it SURE had morphed into something else than what SHE intended it to be...

 WELL, I PERSONALLY am thankful that things MORPH and that people see a GREATER GOOD for inspirations and how simple IDEAS can become SO MUCH MORE than we originally can fathom by OURSELVES…

I am THANKFUL for ALL who have taken the time to SHARE their ART…no matter WHAT type of ART it is~~thread, oil, acrylic, designer, painter, photographer, mixed-media…For you see, the MOMENT any of us ATTEMPTS to put OURSELVES above someone else, THEN YOU WILL ALWAYS become a failure…It is ONLY through SHARING and SUPPORTING each other that we become ARTISTS…

GOD is the MASTER CREATOR. No matter how beautifully we paint, WE ALL are mere imitators of the MASTER…NONE of us can create something that is NEW because GOD has it all covered, BUT what he has done, is to give us a DESIRE to improve…to DEVELOP the skills He has planted into our lives…whether we create or admire ART, we ALL play a part in the appreciation and the furtherance of ART, so Today, I took my friends advice and decided NOT to let ONE MEAN-SPIRITED WOMAN ruin the JOY of SHARING the gifts that I have and that are DIFFERENT from any one else because we are ALL UNIQUE BUT we are FEARFULLY and WONDERFULLY made…

I am THANKFUL for those who have inspired me to work harder, paint longer and delve deeper into my creativity in WHATEVER form it appears on a surface! 

THANK you GOD for being MY MASTER inspiration and for giving me the GIFT of ART...it is to GOD that I give ALL GLORY and HONOR for the gifts he has bestowed on me and it is my prayer that I will be SUPPORTIVE and that I will be an ENCOURAGER for those who work diligently to get their art noticed…we ALL need each other and we have NO room for pettiness or selfishness…

SO since I am on my SOAPBOX (again…sigh), I guess it is ONLY fitting that I share a pattern that I designed for painting on SOAP! LOL (yeah…I DARE anyone to come up with a BETTER transition than THAT one…BWAH…see there I go, patting myself on the back…sigh). 

Next, is a simple sign designed as a reflection of what I believe…

and the last just about sums up my faith…we are the sheep of HIS pasture and we should LOOK UP for guidance, no…we need to look in our hearts and ASK, BELIEVE and we WILL receive…

I design QUICK and EASY designs in hopes that EVERYONE who wishes to paint can see that THEY CAN...I use BRIGHT colors and HAPPY faces because life is hard enough and I WANT to be HAPPY and to spread CHEER...

Be a SUPPORTER of Art...Be an ENCOURAGER of ART...

Be the BEST YOU that YOU can BE...Blessings to YOU...~charlotte♥

Art Challenge, Day 3, Tuesday, January 27, 2015

This is DAY 3 of the Art Challenge.

Today, I share the reason I got on Facebook…A friend told me I NEEDED to join because EVERY business in town is on and it could help me…

WELL, once again, keeping the theme of BEING LATE, I got on Facebook in 2013, but it has opened doors for me and friendships beyond belief.  My desire was to help get my pattern business going, but I have gained so much more through the friendships that I have made and the support and encouragement that I so needed after a difficult time in my life…

I am sharing 3 of my favorite patterns…ALL of these are painted with MY FAVORITE paints...DecoArt Americana. GO VISIT THEIR WEBSITE to see their wonderful products and their projects to inspire you.  You will ALSO find a list of shading/highlighting charts and other helpful files under LEARN.

The Heart is my newest pattern…The front of this pattern is what I shared on my last post...This original piece is NOW at my friend's house in New York...

the Bunny is my first Painting with Friends Pattern…

and the scarecrow and crow are doing my FAVORITE pastime~~sitting around and eating!  LOL…

All of my patterns are available as instant downloads in  MY ETSY SHOP

BE an ENCOURAGER...Leave someone a NICE note for no reason at all...LET people know that you are thinking of them...Blessings to YOU...~charlotte♥

Art Challenge, Day 1, Thursday, January 22, 2015

There is a ART CHALLENGE going around on Facebook and it is really fun to see!  It is not only happening in the PAINTING world, but in EACH category of Art....

This is my FIRST mixed Media.  It was designed by my friend from Italy, Franca Marzi!  We both enjoy a LOVE of cooking and that is how we struck up a conversation!

 I was nominated for the ART CHALLENGE by Lisa Kast Robinson to share for 5 days, 3 items each day that I have created, and then I was to nominate another artist each day to do the same.  Lisa is an AMAZING artist who makes the cutest little creatures from gourds and light blubs...WELL, anything...Be sure to check out her Facebook page at Prim Chicks!  She is also on etsy with her patterns AND her creations!

I am LATE to all the games, it seems…I have NEVER liked to take pictures, so I have very few of my older items.  I have been on Facebook since June 2012, and that is when I bought a digital camera and started showcasing my art, so I have nothing from when I started doing craft shows in 1986!  That is PROBABLY a good thing because I was VERY BAD!  

This is a design by my cohort in crime...She is HILARIOUS...She has been such a good friend to me and I LOVE her whimsical animal designs...she is taking a break from it right now, but I just KNOW she will be back to designing soon!!  I LOVE my Ni Ome from down under!

Today I share 3 items that I painted that my friends designed…I LOVE to encourage and to support my fellow artists…I find great joy in painting the designs of those I LOVE because I spend my painting time thinking about them…I never knew what satisfaction could come from this…

This is a Sharon Cook design...I LOVE this happy little bird! 

The Bird is a Sharon Cook design…the rabbits are designed by Niomi Draper from Australia and the Angel over Tuscany is a design by Franca Marzi from Italy…Today, I wish to nominate my sweet friend and wonderful supporter, Sharon Cook to accept the ART CHALLENGE…Come on Sharon, Show us your AWESOME creations!

Sharon ACCEPTED the challenge and has been sharing her AMAZING painting and designing pieces...

This have been fun to see my friends sharing their painting creations and there is LOTS more to come...stay tuned for my day 2...Blessings to YOU...~charlotte♥