Christmas Catch-up

Well, it's about time! Our family has experienced much this year, (snippets can be read on the post below).  Hopefully, 2013 won't be as "exciting"!

In 2007, my husband asked for some original artwork for our church's Christmas Eve program. So, for five years now, I've painted something original for Christmas. It is a "joint" effort, my husband gives me "ideas" of what he would like to see, and I have to "execute" them. lol!

Here is this year's artwork~

~2012 Mary and Babe Sketch~

~2012 Mary and Babe Painting~

(as you can see, I didn't really stick with my original drawing when I painted this one!)

Wishing you a Wonderful Christmas with family and friends. May your time together be a Blessed time of celebration. From our family to yours, Merry Christmas!

~*~*~*~

A look back on Christmas covers past:

And Then What Happened?

 It is update day on TDIPT, and although the cooler autumn weather hasn't hit Boise yet, I've been thinking about and planning fall items since July. I took August off from the selling site to catch up on stuff here at home, but.......that didn't work out as planned! It has been a crazy August!

Here is the rundown: (Mind you, this has all happened in a few weeks, and no, I'm not making this up!) :)

* Husband fell, caught his ring finger on a railing as he went down and cut his finger deep enough for stitches. The wedding ring flew off, but he found it! He had nerve damage in the finger, so he had to have surgery. He will have to wear this HUGE bandage for three weeks while he tries to play the piano and guitar for school and church. Oh, and school (he is a Choir/Music teacher) started for him.

* Oldest Son (Ethan) has a severe sleep disorder. Sadly, no one in the medical field can figure out why he sleeps 18 plus hours a day (some days are worse, some are a little better). And, we do our best to keep him on a schedule and get him to wake up....again, some days are worse, some are better. He has sleep apnea with hypersomnia...which just means they don't know what to call it, or why it is happening. But, they gave him a CPAP (which only helps with the sleep apnea). This has been going on for years and impacts his life, as well as ours. Prayers for him please! He has decided to take classes at BSU, but we talked him into just two this semester...and they are both online.

* Youngest Son (Ben) ran into a base cabinet door at church while playing a game at youth group. His knee started swelling, so we had to take him to the ER (second time to visit that place in a week!). He didn't break anything, but tore some cartilage. He has to wear a brace for a few days, but should be okay.......and we started our last year of home school!

Well, I guess "home school" may never be over, especially now that "we've" started college. So far, we are taking Psychology 101 and Sociology 101. Should be an interesting semester! :)....IF I can keep him awake!
So, thank goodness I started some of my offerings before all of this happened! And, if you'd like to visit them, please click this link:

Pear Tree on TDIPT

Here is a quick peek at all of them:

Crow's Feet~ This was one of those quirky ideas in my head that turned out cute when I was done, lol! 
 

 Autumn~ A primitive portrait. Haven't painted one of these in awhile, but thought I'd give it a "fall flair".  She was started way back in July! :)

 ~Little Miss Muffet and her Pumpkin Tuffet~ My Halloween/Harvest spin on the nursery rhyme.

Sorry for yet another longish post. Things happen so fast around here, I just can't keep up with blogging about them! 

~Happy "Almost" Fall! ~

Fall Cleaning

I'm having a "Fall Clean-up" over on Ebay. I haven't put anything on Ebay in so long...they changed how you do it on me! So, after staring at the computer screen all day and trying to figure out a little "html", I've uploaded four items, and plan to add more later this week.

I'm starting items "low-ish" to clean-up my storage area. (I think this is typically called "Spring Cleaning", but I'm a few seasons behind!...or ahead?).    :)

Please have a look, and check back later in the week for more:

Pear Tree Primitives on Ebay

 

Here's Your Sign

Thank you for the Happy Birthday wishes. :) August is a big month of birthdays for us. Next week my oldest son will be twenty! YIKES! Why does that seem more of a milestone than me turning fifty?! GULP!

This week I had a rare afternoon alone in the house. It was quiet and I was trying to get some painting done. Then came a knock on the front door. Molly, our min schnauzer, started to bark. Well, it was more like she became unglued! She really goes nuts when someone comes to the door, even if it is her owners! :)

Thinking it was one of my boys who forgot their key, I opened the door. Nope, not a family member, but a salesman! Grrrrr!

Evidently my signage was not a deterrent for this guy.

When I opened the door, the young man said, "Ha!, that is the funniest thing I've ever seen!" (referring to my sign-photo above), and then asked, "Can I take a picture?".

Really? Well, just for the record: This sign is counterproductive. Haha!

Oh, but that's not all. After I said,"Sure", and pulled the barking schnauzer back into the house, he called all of his friends over to see my sign. You know, the van load of salesmen that are released on a street to canvas a neighborhood? Well, they all gathered on my front porch.

Molly was beside herself at this point.....so much for my "quiet" afternoon alone at home!

Click to Enlarge

  And here is what I was trying to work on that afternoon. The boys have dubbed her "Creepy Girl".  Lol! Guess she is a little creepy, but she will be getting a dress and some hair next, so that should make her a little more attractive and self-confident. *snicker*

50 is the new......me!

Today is my 50th birthday, and I'm okay with that.  :) For some reason I thought turning 30 was hard, but now, looking back, it wasn't. Life changed for me at 30, I had my first child. My husband and I were "late" bloomers. When others already had two or three children, we were just starting our family. So, that has kept me "young", at least, young-at-heart. :)

However unintentionally, I've given myself a birthday present today. My birthday present started over the last year and four months- since April of 2011. My husband and I began a fitness program called P90X (and went on to complete P90X2, just 'cause we are crazy like that!). We both have changed, in a good way! And this change will help us hopefully be stronger as we grow older. This isn't a "plug" for any specific program, just a story about our journey.

Our son, Ethan, introduced us to P90X. His developmental therapist had showed it to us and had Ethan using it....as much as he could. So, we thought we would support Ethan with his new fitness routine and he could join us. He did for a few weeks, and then he had his accident.
 (It is a long post.  If you click to read it, just scroll down to the "Blessing" part!).

Although we had a billion excuses to stop, we didn't. We continued....without Ethan. (He started a new program this past month). We started for Ethan, but we continued for us. And, if you think about it, we really continued for both of our boys as well.

It was time we carved out of our day to spend together, it was good for our bodies and good for us mentally and emotionally too. And, honestly, I think we really just needed to relieve stress from our lives, and the physical changes were a bonus. So, in the evening, after dinner we workout. Not the best time, we are already tired from our day, but that is the only time we can be together. And, with only one night off a week, we push on.

It wasn't easy however. Lots of interruptions, until the boys understood that this was our time to workout. And, lots of soreness! Working out at our age after years of a sedentary (or semi-sedentary)  lifestyle wasn't easy. Plus, the things that crazy Tony Horton makes you do on those DVDs seemed completely impossible, but after a few weeks of trying,  it's not as impossible as you originally thought.

We've completed P90X three times and since January 2012 we've completed P90X2 twice. We are now doing a hybrid of both. Next, my husband wants to try another program called Insanity....and now, after a year and four months of working out beside him, I don't think he is that crazy to suggest it! :)

50 is just a number and I can do that in push-ups! :)

 If you would like to learn more about the programs we've done you can visit Michelle Sylvia (you may also know her from The Black Berry Briar-link on my sidebar).

Happy Fourth of July

quote by ~Rudyard Kipling, The Old Issue, 1899

Hope you have a Safe and Happy 4th of July~

Sand, Surf, Saltwater and Sun

It finally reached the 90's here (more on that and our poor little garden the next post). 90 is going to feel wonderful about the middle of July when my family gets together in Galveston, TX, to play at the beach, in the middle of July, in Texas, did I mention it will be in the middle of July....in TX?

So, to psych myself up for this adventure, I've painted a few beach-themed signs for my update this month on TDIPT. You can visit my page here: Pear Tree on TDIPT

But, before you go, I'd like to show you how I made some of these new offerings ~*~*~*~*~

I am in love with old weathered barn boards. They just appeal to me for many reasons and they look cool too! :) So, I thought I'd try to replicate their "look" in a condensed version. I found some craft sticks in my stash of supplies. (Not really sure why I had those, can't even remember buying them, but they came in handy for this project).

I had my handyman cut 3 x 4.5 pieces of hardboard (the kind of board in the back of cabinets, and sometimes used for peg boards). This was approx. the length of my craft stick...they peeked over the edges of the board just a bit, but that was my plan! :)

Since all my pieces were wood, I used wood glue to adhere the sticks to the board. (Much stronger glue!) Then, I let them dry and painted them with one coat of acrylic white (I think it was FolkArt Vintage White). Then I sanded heavily! :)

I also sanded the edges of the boards where they extended past the hardboard. This gave the craft sticks, a "weathered board" look.

I drew my design on the boards and painted them, then sanded lightly this time.

Then, I applied a matte sealant and drilled holes for the jute to be threaded through.

Fun project!

The other item I have for the update is a little girl headed to the Beach! She is hand drawn onto a maple board that has a "custom" mix aqua/ blue sea color for the background.

So, to the beach we go!

Hope you all have a wonderful 4th of July! Have fun and please stay safe!

Refresh, Renew and Restart

Hi~

Okay, just don't look at the time stamp on my last post. I know you are tempted, but don't look! It's embarrassing! I've been "blogging" since 2007 according to my blog account,  this past year has been the worst as far as keeping this blog up and running.

 

 I know I have "egg on my face" from the embarrassment of not keeping up with this blog; but, I've made you a little photo collage of an "egg with a face" instead! :) 

Egg donated by one of our chickens, artwork made using fun Photobucket features!)

Refresh: No excuses, although there are many! Okay, I guess the biggest reason is that once my oldest child became an adult (legally), life seemed to get more complicated, not easier. If you've read about my family on this blog, you'll know that my husband and I have two sons; both with high-functioning autism....and life can get crazy! Oh, and we home schooled both of them. And, now that one has graduated, we have one left to go. He will be a senior in the fall. Wow, one more year of high school for both of us! Yippee!

Uh-oh, sorry, I said I wasn't going to give excuses! Well, I guess that was more like a reason.


Renew: So, "Hi", Welcome to my blog. Thank you for finding me on the web and for taking the time to visit. My name is Suzanne and I love to paint, it is my "sanity" time. And this blog is about sharing my paintings, and occasionally my painting process (if I don't think it is TOO boring!), sharing our home-improvement projects on our little "Colonial Cottage", as well as life with our boys, dog Molly, and three chickens!

If you want to know more, or wonder what else I do in my free-time (Ha!), please click the "About" tab just under the banner (header) of my blog.

Restart: Tabs?, About Page? That's new. Why, yes, yes they are. Did you notice any changes to the blog? I've been "refluffing" (I suppose I could have used that "re" word too! :) My website: www.peartreeprimitives is no longer in use. My site was run on my Mac via MobileMe as the publisher. MobileMe is no longer a publisher as of June 30th, so...I either had to find another publisher for my website, OR just drop it.
Since I really didn't sell very much through that site (and b/c it cost money!), I've decided to use this blog as my main website, thus the "new look".

(I will be keeping my domain name, just in case I ever want to use a separate website again. Or, after awhile, I may mask this blog's url with my domain name.)

So, now you know, and probably more than you even had questions about! :)
Please click around and see if you can find any "boo-boos", or let me know if it is too confusing or difficult to navigate. I would appreciate any feedback!

And, stay tuned for another "new" venture. I'm trying to finish up a painting for a customer, (I'm really working on it, Debbie!) and simultaneously work on a new venue for my painting. HINT: If you click through the new pages, you may discover what I'm referring to before I actually post about it!

Oh, and one more thing, if you are on Facebook, come be my "friend". I'm not on there very much, but occasionally I'll post a photo of the "girls" (our chickens) or other silly family things:

 https://www.facebook.com/suzanne.peartreeprimitives

Thanks again for visiting!

Pattern, Preferences and Passions

Whoa? Two posts within a few days of one another? How unlike me lately! :)

We had a pretty, sunny day today (not especially warm, but it was sunny), and the sun made the house bright and cheery. So, it inspired me to take some quick photos of simple vignettes around our living/dining room. Of course, the dust on was brighter too, but hopefully you'll overlook that!

You'll probably see some Patterns (simple backgrounds), Preferences (uh, just about "white" everything! Walls, shelves, furniture, lol) and Passions (shoe forms and old wood!).

Let's start at the front door, or the wall beside the front door.....here I have a spoon rack that used to be painted black (don't worry, nothing I've painted was ever an "antique"!) I painted it white-ish, then distressed and rubbed some antiquing stain on it.



Cute little baby shoe forms, tiny books and old keys placed in the tops of the forms...."just because!" :) Kinda makes them look like wind-up toys.



Now walk on over to the farthest wall where my desk sits....only showing you the top of my desk, 'cause the inside is kinda messy! Oh, and my talented husband made my desk for me. I love the wood stain, so it didn't get painted white! :)



Another shoe last. I love that this one easily holds a few books. I've also used this one as an easel for a small painting.



On that same wall are two tall bookshelves. We've painted our bookshelves, you guessed it, white~ with antiquing and distressing, of course!




More shoe lasts/forms!...See a pattern, or passion? :) And, yes, the books between them touch the top of our ceiling.



Tucked inside one of the shelves is a sheep sitting on some books with wood block letters that spell "BAhave" in front of it. Or, you can flip over the "A" and it becomes an "E" and then is spells "Behave", which is what I SHOULD be spelling at all the time!




Now look to your right and you'll see another painted, distressed and antiqued white shelf....I don't think I used the same "white" paint on any of the pieces, except the large bookshelves, so it all looks different, but the same! lol!

Yes, another one of those shoe thingys!

A vintage postcard for spring sitting in a painted candle sconce that my husband made many years ago. What? Is that a creamy white, almost tan color on that candle sconce?! Ha!



Hmmm, I'm thinking I would like an old wire birdcage to sit in the empty space on the buffet. I've been hoping to find one at a thrift shop.



And speaking of "finds". Today, I stopped at a fun shop called Good Goods. If you live in the Boise area.....you NEED to visit this shop!
She has SO many fun items...but, I had to "BAhave" myself and I walked out with this...the wood part or frame of an old mantel clock. How fun! I've put it on top of one of the larger bookcases and I plan to paint a little painting or silhouette, etc. for the inside. Oh, and the little wire easel came home with me too and if fits perfectly in the clock frame.

Side view of the clock frame.



The cute little wire easel.

That fits inside the clock frame opening.

Today is our first day back from Spring Break....back to the books (or computer, since we are enrolled in an online school!) We made a really quick trip to Washington state to visit family over our Spring Break. When we got back and looked through all of our mail...I had a letter from Early American Life:


They were gracious enough to include me in the Artisan Directory for another year. The 2012 Directory will be in the June issue~ so if you aren't a subscriber, please follow the above link to their site and find out more!
Thank you EAL!

Thanks for "vignette viewing" with me!

Buzzzzzzzzzz

It might seem like an infestation of Bees over on my TDIPT page this month.
But my bees don't sting and they are really very quiet.

This month I've painted a bee and a beehive in sepia on wood board. The paintings resemble flour sack cloths.....I love the look! It looks "vintage-y", "cottage-y", aged, prim, and rustic with the colors used. Click this link to view the bee paintings: Pear Tree on TDIPT (if you still see some bunnies after 9PM tonight, just refresh your page).

~**~**~**~**~

One of the projects on my list for spring is to clean out the garage! Why does that part of the house get SO messy? Every year it needs to be reorganized, well, no "Gutted" so it can be reorganized. This year, I'm sure to have the "help" of our chickens.....they just may need to be penned up while we clean!
My husband and I would like to clean it out to use as a workout room.....I'll post more on that later.

I'm feeling the need to clean out some of my paintings too...so, I invite you to a "Spring Fling" over on My Etsy Shop. Everything is 20% off for two weeks: April 1st- April 15th.
(If you are reading this on March 31st, you can go ahead and use the coupon.)

When you add an item to your cart and are checking out, just type in the code SPRINGFLING in the coupon code box and it will give you a 20% off discount from the item(s). Shipping stays the same,....but, I've reduced some of the items and with the 20% discount, it will be like getting free shipping! :).

If you have any questions, or you aren't signed up to use Etsy....just email me (on the sidebar) and let me know what you would like and I'll give you the discount.

Thanks for stopping by, and here's to a "CLEAN" spring! :)

March Update and other ramblings

Well, it looks as if I'm not getting better at blogging this year. It is March already and time for updates on TDIPT. With March comes spring, (and St. Patrick's Day)....which means veggies, flowers, shamrocks. :)

This update, my offerings have a spring theme. You can find Earnest and Esther Newberry holding carrots over at my TDIPT page: Pear Tree on TDIPT (this page will be updated later this evening, approx 9PM EST).

(I thought the Newberry's were very "spring-like"; so I made them my new banner)

And you can see the Irish Shamrock I've painted for St. Patrick's Day there too:




Here is the shamrock in the frame. It is sitting on a bookshelf in our living room. (Yes, we have a lot of books.....if I zoomed out, you would think we owned a bookstore :)



And, TDIPT is celebrating our 5th Birthday with a give away. Please visit our blog to sign up for the drawing starting March 1st:

To Dwell in Primitive Thymes Blog

A New Year

Well, this is embarrassing......it is a little late to wish you a Happy New Year, but I hope you've had a good start to your new year!

We had a nice Christmas and New Year.....and then January happened. Lots of medical issues, health issues and the dryer died. That about sums it up!

Glad to see February here with answers to medical and health issues, and possibly a new dryer, lol!

And, it is also update time on TDIPT.

For the month of February, I've made a few things:

~Love Bunnies~

(my sons cringed at this name....I know it is kind of silly~ sweet, but it fit!)

(See them here: Love Bunnies on TDIPT)

~Beatrice~

My first Wall Doll of the year. Beatrice wears her heart on her apron, lol!

(See her here: Beatrice on TDIPT)