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!