Painting Primitive Nests

Those blank canvases are getting painted finally! You can see I decided to go with nests and eggs for the theme on these six. My inspiration came from Helan Barrick's 1996 publication, Angel Twigs Book 2. The inside cover contains copyright information which allows for painting the designs for fun or profit but not mass production in any way. So I changed up the design a bit. All six are unique and similar at the same time.

No 1 Nest is extra grungy with tiny crackle and heavy antiquing. I stained the entire piece several times, scrubbing and sanding and crackling over the finished painting. This is my favorite of the group. Primitive folk art is my favorite art of all. The natural colors and aged looks reminds me of antique paintings.

No 2 Nest looks very similar but this one wasn't crackled at all. I sanded the front more and the frame structures is more evident in this painting. I used stretch canvas, gesso and acrylic paints. Once the painting was dry, I sanded it with coarse grit paper and then rubbed it with raw umber stain.

No 3 Nest looks very similar to no 2 but this one wasn't crackled and has light antiquing. I spattered the front more and the frame structures is more evident in this painting. This is actually my second favorite of the group. You can buy no 3 nest here.

This is Nest no 4 with a soft white wash, no antiquing, and very light spatter.

Thanks for stopping by my blog. I really enjoy painting ans sharing my work with you.

Frida Kahlo Challenge

Frida Kahlo acrylic on canvas

She's my first Frida! I painted her as part of the Frida Kahlo Challenge at Gritty Jane's on facebook. The challenge has been such fun! I honestly didn't know much about this fascinating artist. The challenge helped me understand the character of Frida and the following she has around the world. Frida was passionate about painting. She suffered in pain and found paint as a pain killer. I have fallen in love with the artist and the followers who are inspired by her works. This is my first contribution to the challenge.

I wanted to capture her beauty without the pain but realized she is who she is because of the pain she endured in her adulthood. One of her original pieces shows her body punctured by nails or pins representing the pain from surgeries and heartbreak. I chose to dress her neck in the sharp tacks, though she often wore elaborate jewelry, this was my interpretation of her jewels. I found beauty in her smile.

She wore flowers in her hair and her eyes were very distinctly shaped, almost almond shaped and dark, and mysterious.

She painted self portraits showing her hair up mostly. Flowers and big bows adorned the top of her dark black hair like a crown. In researching her images I found a photograph of her with her hair down. Her hair in this piece was painted with pure black heavily applied by twisting the worn brush back and forth as I drew downward.

And to finish her trademark look I extended her eyebrows and dusted her upper lip with a mustache.

This is my first Frida. When I photograph my work, I notice all the things I could change. I am so tempted to repaint and touch up here or there. I need to walk away, sleep on it, return in the morning light, and let it go.

So I have... here at Dabbling In The Dew. Yea... she sold for around $2.00. Call me a starving artist.
I have been selling vintage collectibles in this etsy shop for a long time. Truthfully, I opened it originally to sell folk art and hand painted items. I had gotten away from painting for such a long time. There was a time I painted everyday, on canvas, floor cloths, wood, furniture, and walls. I was so passionate about painting, like Frida, but I stopped at some point for what I am not certain. I'm just glad to be able to paint again. It feels good to scrub a canvas with gesso and create something from a glob of color.
I hope you like my return to painting. 

Painting Taylor's Portrait

I'm a painter at heart. My first passion has been to paint and I am willing to paint on almost any surface. I have been painting since all my life. My mother is an artist and she encouraged us at a very young age to be creative and use our talents. Painting has been one of those talents I wasn't using for many years.

Things are changing in my studio. I moved my etsy inventory into a smaller room and decided to make the studio into a real artist working space. And then I primed a bunch of canvases, ready for creating! I'd already painted my great nephews portrait a few weeks ago and wanted to do more. Taylor's portrait would be next.

I have this black and white grainy image to work with. I like the pose and I wanted the challenge of painting a side portrait. So, this is it. This is the image I used.

First, I sketched the outlines and contours of her face. If I messed this up, the painting would look like someone elses most adorable little girl... not Taylor. stressed! But happy at the same time.

And then I outlined the image with sienna, just to get a good feel for her facial porportions. I'm a beginner portrait artist... and honestly.. I love the tones in this and the simple unfinished look. I was ready to call it finished!

add color! Aghhh... I am so nervous at this point.

And then I keep painting and start to hate what I have done. I can see I lost the features of Taylor's face. Her nose is in the wrong place, her cheek is all wrong, this doesn't look like Taylor! Back to the drawing board!

and there ya go! That's sooo much better!

I'm pretty happy with this. There's a few things I would change, her eyes need some shadowing on the upper lids, and maybe a little shading on her cheeks but over all I think this is good for a #2 child's portrait.
Next!?

Antique Skeleton Keys and Other Key Findings

Old skeleton keys always remind me of the home where I grew up. The house was built in 1918 and the keys were huge, and black, and they felt so charming to me. We had heavy solid wood doors with crackled varnish. The doors had a drop ventilation window above, our version of air conditioning. It actually worked well to move hot air out but I also remember bees would come in.

These keys have a lot of rust and grunge, and are equally as charming.

This collection is a nice mix of vintage keys, some grungy and rusty, some brass, each one has charm of it's own. It makes me wonder what the keys unlocked. It's fun to sift through these, like sifting through an old button box. You never know what special piece you'll find. All of these are available now in my etsy shop, Triple Trouble.

Triple Trouble Packaging Tutorial and New Products

This is the newest labeling and packaging ideas for Triple Trouble. I've been playing around with different packaging materials for quite some time and felt it was time to get serious about how I market my products. The goal was to find some consistency in the labeling of the products. I previously used a lot of the paper laces sold in the shop for wrapping and packing certain items but the paper was too short and limited what I could wrap. I was also wanting to include some thank you notes with my orders.

The handy shop stamp is perfect for stamping on my chipboard packaging and envelopes. I also used it on the back of the new thank you tags. My daughter, Heather made this and can make you one for your etsy shop, too! I have a stamp for each of my etsy shops. She did a great job designing them. Don't you think?

The stamp works well on vintage paper wrapping strips. This paper is the same antique dictionary paper used in my paper lace products. I cut the strips 2" wide and stamped the strip in the middle. they are ready to use on many different products. The string is vintage fine jute. It's charming and works great with the colors of my labeling papers.

The thank you tags are handmade using white card stock cut 5" x 2 1/2". The paper lace is layered over the white tag. and the tag is strung with vintage lace, jute, and dark brown paper cord. The T H A N K Y O U stamp was done using those little single letter stamps.

I like the irregularity of spacing and the sepia tones in this tag. The paper lace is cut from an antique children's book page. I punch the lace edge first and then cut the piece to fit the tag, 2 1/4" x 4", giving enough room for the sentiment on the bottom.

The back of the tag is blank and has plenty of room for a handwritten note thanking your buyer for being so awesome!

Wide paper lace strips can be used to wrap almost anything. This paper is 25" long. I cut it into 3" strips and set the strips aside so they are ready to use when I have a big bundle like this to wrap. These parchment pouches are great for filling with paper scraps, photographs, cookies, whatever!

Here's another example of how I bundle my etsy sales before shipping to the buyer. The clear plastic bag is actually a food storage bag. I buy them at discount stores, usually sold near the sandwich bags. They hold a lot of merchandise. The thank you tag fits around the top and gives this package a finished look.
Packaging products is a good way to impress your buyers. It gives products a professional look. Labeling is very important as well. The stamps are a very good investment and make a big impact when used in label making and packaging.
Thanks for stopping by my blog. I hope you can use some of the ideas I have shared here.

May Day Inspiration Packs

April has been a busy month around the home front. We've been rearranging rooms and making a better studio space for classes. We had company after Easter which was delightful. We have borrowed sheep in the back yard enjoying the honeysuckle growing on the fences at the same time they fertilize the lawn. It's been busy busy.

This is the new inventory room. There are four metal racks full of supplies and listed inventory. The table is for processing orders. The windows need a fresh coat of paint. so much to do... so little time! All this was inside the front room of our home.
I discovered so many forgotten treasures until I started moving boxes of estates sale finds. I am a treasure hoarder! Well, technically speaking, hoarders don't let go of their treasures. I'm so happy to share the good stuff. It funds my passion to find more good stuff!

I'm happy to say having moved things around has given me a better feeling about working at home. I am able to focus on new products like this awesome inspiration package.It's full of ephemera, laces, photographs, journaling papers, ribbons, and findings.

You'll get a collection of vintage black and white photos as well as one sepia toned cabinet card or the like. There's hand punched shapes and vintage eyelet lace, old receipts, and tag samples.

You'll get 3 genuine watch crystals, not plastic... glass! They are tucked in a vintage button envelope. The larger envelope contains pretty pink petals and a vintage chandelier crystal.

There's an vintage and heirloom lace bits wrapped around an antique spoon with 3 packaging tags ready for embellishments.

It's not an inspiration package without some awesome ephemera! You'll get full pages including antique sheet music, ships ledger paper, music writers papers, dictionary, mathematical tables, foreign language, poetry, and other reference papers.

There are color illustrations as well. Each package will contain a grouping similar to these, original plates, illustrations, and prints from my own collection.

You will also receive three illustrations, one of birds, flowers, and trees. These are really lovely large pages.

Of course there's always room for paper laces. These are cut from antique papers as well. The paper laces are nice for embellishing borders on tags or cards.

There's more! 10 yards of vintage fine jute is wrapped around a hand painted peg clothespin. There's a yard of hand dyed ribbon on a no. 8 Flinch card, 1 ft of surveyors tape, a packet of Martha Stewart flower confetti, a lace doily, and a large storage envelope, three parchments envelopes, and a yard of eyelet lace... so many treasures all in one!

Most of the vintage supplies in this inspiration package have a story to tell. I could tell you about the times I went estate sale hopping with my sisters and found the spoons, or the laces from my best friend who sews heirloom children's clothing, even the photographs tell of a precious past. What new story will these treasures soon tell?
All 8 packages are available one at a time and will be labeled No. 8, and will be for sale in my eBay shop, Dabbling In The Dew.  

This package has some super sweet antique photographs.

You can find this package here.

Southworth Cotton Typewriter Paper and other fun Vintage Finds

My sisters in Pittsburgh are always sharing neat vintage finds with me.
Charity sent this box of vintage typewriter paper which I really love! It has two red stripes on the front side, rules for lining up your typing just right.
The paper is 16 lb. weight, 25% cotton, you can imagine how nice it is! You can find it in my vintage goods shop, Dabblinginthedew.
There are some other cool things happening in the world of Triple Trouble. This is the third week of the third month! My favorite umber is three! You can get 30% off all items in Tripletrouble this week!
Listings are going fast!

These haven't been listed yet! They are metal parts from a candle holder or something decorative like that. The layers look like prim flowers! What do you think? Can you make something with these?

Isn't this coin purse adorable! I haven't listed it yet but it should go in Dabblinginthedew.etsy.com today. I have a lot of listings going up and they will be priced to sell quick. Some items sold as soon as I hit finish!
Thanks for stopping by my blog. I would love to hear what you think of my new layout and larger photographs. Please leave me a comment and share my blog with your friends.
Hugs to all who have been following me from the start. I appreciate each of you very much!
One last photograph

Seems perfect to share this antique photograph with you to save and copy as you wish. I love the number three!

Antique Books Walt Disney's GOLDEN TOUCH 1937 Book Hardcover w Dust Jackey King Midas

The Golden Touch a 1937 book by Walt Disney is for sale in my bay shop, Dabblinginthedew. The book is from my friend, Ginger, who has a house full of lovely old treasures. She shared a few very special books with me, like this old one.

The pages of Walt Disney's GOLDEN TOUCH  are beautifully aged in dark sepia tones. The pages are in tack, with many illustrations, some in color.

The dust jacket on Walt Disney's GOLDEN TOUCH is in fairly good condition with some yellowing of the plastic covering. The color illustration is vibrant. Spine is strong. Book cover could be cleaner. I chose to leave it as found.

Inside covers are illustrated as well. Walt Disney's GOLDEN TOUCH book will make you smile.

You can see the hard cover is in beautiful condition. I hope you will take a look at this and all my listing on ebay, as I list some of my favorite collectibles over the next few weeks.