More to life than cupcakes

I have been so busy over the past few months with The Great American Moose Fest and the shop that I finally decided the weathre was nice and it was a good time for ma Grandma and me day. In this case I am the Great grandma and my daughter Patrice is the Grandma. So, I called her up and explained or project.......The three of us , her, me and JJ her grandson were going to build a green bean teepee. We picked the day collected the sticks and set out to get it built. At two JJ is more of a supervisor it seems, alot like his Dad. But he loved the digging in the dirt and the carrying sticks, sometimes away from the project. Her you see him and his Grandma finishing up the tying of the sticks.

Here all tired out from the hard work he tried it out to see if it was big ewnough to sleep in ( he was pretending to snore). After school Chrissy my grnadaughter helped hom plant pole beans, scarlet runner beans and some black eyed susan vines. We have been watering ever day and watching for something to sprout. JJ is at my house four days a week so he is very hands on with this project. This morning we had sprouts.

Now with my day off complete and feeling recharged I am back at the shop painting and adding photos to Etsy and my site of some of my new work. If only every day could be a play date. Wouldn't that be great. The moral of this is we should never get to busy to stop and enjoy the simple things like a little boy ,some dirt and green bean seeds........ PRICELESS

New Project

Today I decided to have a little fun while I worked on stocking the shop.

Rock Painting is a great form of therapy for me. A stress releiver and inexpensive way to let some of the creative juices flow.

First step is to FIND or buy a rock.....for a bunny I always tell students to find a baked potato shaped rock that is as smooth as possible. Wash it and let it dry.

Next step is to base coat the whole rock black. Let that dry completely. Right about here the students start to look a little skeptical.

Now using a piece of chalk, draw out the basic shapes of the bunny. Place the ears, eyes and back legs. Still not too sure of themselves we go on.

Thin white paint to an inky consistancy, out line the eyes, nose and ears. Then make short fur strokes up from the nose for the head and out to the sides. Always stoke in the direction hair grows or he could end up looking more like a porcupine. LOL

The back legs have hair in the direction of wheel spokes, hair runs down the back, just like his sides. Let these lines dry completely.

Now for some color, thin brown paint till in is but a tint and brush in the direction of your strokes covering all the fur lines. Add some white fur around the eye area, add a touch of flesh paint to the inner ears and the nose. Give the eyes a brown circle with black pupil and some black lashes. A touch of white paint for a reflection, then 4 white feet and that fluffy tail and you are done.

After your rock is all dry, coat it with a spray of clear acrylic and watch the colors pop. This rock can now sit on your porch or in the garden.