Yeah for Today!!

So today is Friday - today is Friday - Fridays Roast Beef, does anyone remember singing that in grade school in music class.  er, um, I guess I am showing my age.  Anyway - today is Friday, I have finished my latest custom piece - Ryan will be cutting my wooden edging for it this weekend, and my wonderful client should receive it by the mid-end of next week. I am thrilled! I can't wait to share it with all (4) of you (hee hee - there is hopefully at least 5 of you!)  Where are the pictures you may ask - oh, heavens I have a policy to not share images of my pieces until the person they were done for sees it first.  I do have manners!

I have started my next little custom piece and should have that done after early next week! After that it is back to the grind stone, finishing themes and other projects waiting in the wings. I've gotten a few cool requests from friends and family - a golf scene, a cheese wedge (my lil' bro is a HUGE Packers fan!)  So I've got plenty to keep me busy - I keep trying to convince the kids of that! 

I am off - I have a spectacular girls weekend planned with my dearest of girlfriends - so I will catch up with new photos on Monday!

Ciao!

who's happy it's Friday???

Nocturnal Painter

So I was honored by being hired to paint a 24 x 24 canvas for a darling little girls room.  I won't go into too many details because I want to save it for when I post the final painting.  Since beginning this project I have been working busily each night until way to late!  I am usually a pretty late time girl, only to be squelched in the wee hours of the morning by my early riser tag team (Penny and Drew).  So I am going to try something different today - the boys will be a VBS and Penny will most likely nap - so I am going to grab my gear and head upstairs from my basement office/studio and try painting in the daytime - so novel.  I am over half way done and my goal is to finish by the end of this week and work on the wood edging this weekend. I am sure my client is anxiously awaiting her custom piece!  (I know I would be!)  

I also have several little things in the works- I've gotten a couple of inquiries for my cause ribbons, so I will be doing a couple more of those along with a red ribbon for heart disease.  I also will be doing a another fairy tile for my cousins daughter, whose room is transforming into a "big girl" room.  Jon is anxiously awaiting his baseball scene - its almost done, but hired work takes precedence.  He just looks at it and says, "mom you are so close, can I finish it for you?" Ahh, he has the patience of his mother!  I also have a cowboy tile just about finished, but have a few more ideas about different cowboy/girl tile styles - I've got a mom of mini-cowboy waiting on those too.  So we're keeping busy - but busy is good -  have a great day!  

BTW - I am a total nerd, but I bought in honor of my second large custom project, a new angled natural hair brush. 

Its a 1/4" angle shader - but it is perfect for making the petals of my flowers. Can I tell you how divine this little tool is?  I LOVE using it, it was 9$, the most expensive I have ever bought - there are one SO much more expensive, but baby steps.  Can I tell you though it absolutely goes along with the adage, you get what you pay for, I smile with each stroke.  Okay - enough brush talk - on to the day...

let me tell you about this lady

I have this wonderful lady friend named Heather.

Heather is an incredible designer of all things graphic. Check out Heather's website - Maida Vale. Heather is chic, Heather is fun. Heather can speak Italian. Heather has an affinity for all things England. Heather is awesome! Why am I devoting this blog space to Heather? Because H.Lo, took pity on my pathetic, web-unsavvy soul and offered to recreate my header. So I thought she'd just pop in the html-whatchamacallit and have my logo up top. No, Miss H.Lo surprised me and created, recreated, heck I don't know what she did, but she took what I have on my welcome page and she put it here. So here's to Heather, thank you so much for your talent and time. I can not tell you how much I appreciate it! Love You Lady!

the latest

Stars and Moons - Since my last post I have been busily working on some new tiles. The first is the girlie version of my stars and moons theme, because the sky is the limit for both boys and girls. Not to mention those beautiful purple skies during a sunrise and sunset.



A Cause for Hope- This weekend I participated in the Relay for Life, it was a wonderful experience and best of all it raises money for a cause that is dear to my heart -the fight against cancer. After caring for my mom, and ultimately watching her succumb to her long fight with cancer, I was moved to do something, anything. Now I know that the world is inundated with ribbons, ribbons for every cause. Well here's one more. The idea behind this tile is not one to monogram, but rather have a small piece of art to remember, honor, or support. With one of our simple wooden edging frames, this piece will hopefully bring a smile and some hope. I dedicate this piece to my mom, Mary.




Coming soon!!! Cowboys and more Cause Ribbons! I've also been commissioned to do two more custom pieces - I can't wait to share them with all of you! Thanks for visiting!

The equivalent to my first $1

This post is the equivalent to my first dollar - if I had a shop it would be taped to the wall behind me. Sherrie, owner of Itty Bitty Baby Bunz, hired me to paint her logo and company name on a canvas as a display sign for expos and fairs. We began discussions in April, sizes, how to display, framing, etc. We decided on a 20 x 24 canvas, with a simple chocolate brown frame, we modified the background to a creamy color to make her fonts and baby stand out a bit. She also has an adorable catch phrase: "Caring for your family, one change after another." So sweet. We decided that not all expo booths are alike, so I modified a wooden easel to be both table top and floor height. It took me about 3 weeks, but the final product is something I am truly proud of, take a look:









The following is an excerpt from Sherrie's follow up email:
Annie,

I got the boxes today with my canvas and easel -- words cannot express what
an incredible talent you have! I love it!!!!! The details are beautiful,
the colors are perfect, the professionalism is way beyond what I could have
hoped for! Thank you so much for sharing a part of yourself with me. I am
touched to be the proud owner of a one-of-a-kind-Penny-Pickles masterpiece.
It is an honor to have done business with you!

Thank you again! You put big smiles on my face each time I look at my new
painting! I can hardly wait to have a show to display my new easel and
canvas!!!! :)

Extremely thrilled,

Sherrie Cook
Owner of a Penny Pickles Treasure & Itty Bitty Baby Bunz, LLC

Words can not expressed how thrilled I was to work with Sherrie and how grateful I am for her to take a chance by hiring an unknown stay-at-home-mom-trying-to-be-an-artist.

Two notes:

I've adjusted my comments setting so you don't have to have or be a blogger to leave a comment! Please comment and come back often!

Also:

A funny side note about this project, when Sherrie hired me I was so excited and I told my oldest, Jon, "I was hired to paint a canvas, isn't that exciting?" Jon, in an excited tone said to me, "oh mom, maybe when you grow up you can be an artist!" Maybe Jon, maybe...

ahhh, new tiles

So now that my website is up and running and I shipped out my first commissioned piece, I have time to finish my core theme canvas tiles. New this week are princesses, sports and stars and moons. I am very excited about adding these themes to my collection. This evening I will be updating my website with these options, but for now here is a glimpse.

Stars and Moons:
Twinkle, twinkle little star, how you dazzle from where you are. There is very little out there that is more magical than shooting stars. The first paintings I ever did were the stars and moons theme for my boys room in our old house. You don't have to be an astrophysicist to study these stars, just a little kid with a big imagination.



Hooray for Mr. Touchdown:
What is more all-american than sports? We've knocked it out of the park with our sports theme. We've tried to capture the essence of all things athletic. Your little slugger may never sign with the Yankees, but that doesn't mean they can't have a ball while playing some. Check back soon for our new expanded sports theme selection.


The Dancing Princess
This particular theme is close to my heart. My mom had a Golden Book from her youth called "The Twelve Dancing Princesses." It is a book that she read as a child, that she read to me and that she shared with my children. The story goes that there are twelve princesses, the sneak out at night and dance until they have holes in their slippers, no one, not even the king can figure how or where they go. That is until a handsome solider finds his way back from war and offers his assistance. In turn, if he is able to solve the mystery, he can choose one of the daughters as his bride and become heir to the throne. What is more romantic and mysterious than that! So of course he finds their secret passage and follows the princesses to the secret castle where they dance the night away. Our daring solider tells the king all he knows and marries the eldest daughter. Ahhh, did I mention they live happily ever after? It seemed appropriate to me, when thinking about doing a princess theme, to model my princesses after a book I hold dear to my heart.

The Logo

So the logo, like anything else has taken on many forms.  I knew I needed a pickle, given the name I chose.  So the pickle began with arms and legs and bow, kind of the love child of Oscar Mayer and Mr. Peanut.  It didn't seem right, so then it was just a pickle with a bow.  I tried to draw it on the computer with no luck, then it dawned on me - hey I can paint this pickle - duh.  So I did, I painted the pickle.  That was the easy part, then it was deciding on a font, placement and background color.  For awhile it was a sketchy font with a floating pickle - it just wasn't right. Oh how we went round and round with what to do - but after fiddle farting and tweaking we got it!  I love it and am pleased to present our logo.

Compliments

Aren't compliments great?  So my oldest, Jon, has a very good friend named Anna.  She is the female version of Jon, sensitive, sweet, and creative.  One day I took the opportunity to paint, since Jon and Anna were playing so nicely and my other two were napping.  Little did I know that I would gather an audience.  I happened to be painting the "my fairy lady" theme tile and Anna wasn't leaving my side.  She loved it so much, I decided to paint one for her upcoming birthday.  I matched the fairies dresses and the chip board letter paint to the color scheme in her bedroom.  It turned out just adorable, sweet little fairies for a fair little lady.

That's what friends are for...

Insert cheesy 80's music.  I have a great friend named Jen.  Jen owns Not Your Mama's Cloth Diapers.  I met Jen on the Diaper Pin web forum, aren't we 21st century?  Anyway, Jen had an upcoming baby show that she was doing and I asked if she would mind being my guinea pig and let me paint a canvas for her to display, it would include her company name and logo.  Jen agreed, so I decided to work on an 18 X 30 canvas, I hand drew her logo and company name in the fonts that she used.  I painted my little heart out.  It turned out fantastic and Jen was thrilled (whew!).  I framed the canvas with a simple wooden frame, painted it in a blue lacquer finish, to compliment her font colors.  The canvas worked out great as a sign and was an excellent launching pad for me to want to do more.  Thanks again Jen for letting me create a canvas art piece for you!

 

Miles Tiles

Here is where it all began, I little idea I had, that developed into a birthday present, that turned out so nice I decided to make a company out of it.  The birth of Penny Pickles.

So my dear friend Betsy, has an adorable little fella, named Miles. Miles is two weeks older than my Penny.  Betsy had painted a canvas for Miles' room that has the happiest little bee you've ever seen. So taking that idea a step further I created my great outdoors theme.  I added the orange chip board letters to give it a three dimensional quality and mounted it on a double canvas of white and chocolate brown.  The result speaks for itself.  

Fortunately Betsy is also a fabulous photographer, so she generously took a few pictures of the finished product for us to enjoy!