It's That Time Again.....

Update time, that is! Can you believe it is September already? As I was writing descriptions for my updates this month, I was having a difficult time typing "September" ....that means that the summer vacation is now over! :(

Oh well, after summer comes fall!, one of my favorite seasons! And this month of, uh...September,
I've updated on TDIPT and Early Work Mercantile.

For TDIPT I've painted some ancestral owls in period clothing with painted bronze funky frames:

Owliver and Owlivia

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a painted muslin pumpkin on a crackled box.......

~Harvest Box~

(You could hide your own Halloween treats in here! No one would know.....shhhhh!)

Just click on the photos or follow this link to see more:
Me on TDIPT
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And on Early Work Mercantile, I've painted a profile portrait:

~Miss Stanton~


Miss Stanton is sold.....thanks so much!

Me on Early Work Mercantile

Thanks for stopping by!

Back to School Supplies

The phrase "Back to School Supplies" takes on a new meaning when you home school. Yes, new clothes aren't needed...(unless the kids have outgrown the old ones!).
Backpacks, or a supply list from the teacher don't need to be filled. However, storage and organized space is always helpful!

The demolition begins!.....we took the plywood backing off.

After a good sanding, we start with a coat of black paint....this helps with the "aging"/distressing process when we apply the topcoat.

The past few days we've been "readying" the house for the start of school. My husband has been busy with start of his school (he is the choir director at a local high school), but he still worked on the "getting ready for school" projects here at home.Now the topcoat is painted.

The "Duh" moment came to us while we were considering more space for books. I don't know why we didn't think of it a few years ago when we moved into our home. But we didn't, and the bookcases we had in our other home just sat in our garage here for almost four years. So, we measured and rearranged some furniture and the old bookcases would fit! Perfect for all the books that were still in the garage AND books for school.

The shelves all painted and drying.

After the creamy topcoat, a little sanding to show the black paint, and then some antiquing (burnt umber oil) is applied.

Our bookcases were a purchase we made many years ago and they are only oak veneer, so we didn't mind painting them to match our existing furniture in the room.

There are two bookcases....I snapped a photo of this one before the shelves were placed.

And this is the smaller bookcase full of books, ETC! :)

A work space was next....one son works mostly on the kitchen table (gotta keep my eye on him!). The other one works in his room, but last year his desk was a little wobbly and needed refurbishing.

My husband took the old desk apart and saved the keyboard drawer and the desktop, but the rest went into the trash.

He built the bottom of the desk, adding a cubbie and some tapered legs with decorative insets on the sides and back.

(I'll have to hide those cords somehow!)

And we painted it to match most of the other furniture in the house...a creamy off-white with distressing.
That color seems to look best against the tan walls and makes our rooms and house look bigger! Lol!

So, school starts this week...and we now have more space for all sorts of things...and maybe a book or two! :)

The Primitive Gathering~

is updated with a new look and new offerings.
You can take a peek here:

The Primitive Gathering

I'm offering a fall-themed painting.....

~ Autumn Leaves~

and another puppy painting that didn't quite get finished in time for AFA's update last week....

~Brantley~



just click on the photos and it should take you to my selling page. Thanks!

American Folk Art

The theme this month is "Dog Days of Summer" over at American Folk Art. Here are a few offerings from some of the talented artists:

Barb McNamara of Thimblefolk made these beach bathing beauties....they look like they are ready for some summer fun!

Barb's sister Sarah McNamara of The Paisley Studio hand hooked this adorable terrier.
Wow, I love the colors!

Lana of Honeysuckle Lane made this sweet early-style pup.

Priscilla is Sold, Thanks!

And I painted a "Period pooch" that goes by the name of Priscilla.
Pear Tree Primitives

Please join us by clicking on any of our names or by following this link:

http://www.american-folk-art.com/

Thanks!

My Special Day

Sounds like a title to a school essay, but here is what happened on my birthday this past Wednesday that made it so special:

I woke up and found these on my kitchen table.

My boys gave me gifts: soap, lotion and a heart necklace.

I was taken here for lunch....just the two of us!

The weather was beautiful and we sat outside.

I thought to bring my camera..."Say Cheese!"

(Warning: do NOT enlarge....
you're just going to see a
couple of middle-aged people with wrinkles!) :-)

We ordered our food and then enjoyed the beautiful patio: it had a pond.

Our food came.....Yum!

and more Yum!

And the BEST present of all......


my sweet husband wrote an original story for my birthday! The story is a fictional account of a family that itinerant portrait artist Ammi Phillips spends an evening with and paints....the story is so sweet! I love it!

If you enlarge the photo, you'll notice that he typed: Written by Jeff Davis and Illustrated by Suzanne Davis.....so now I've got a little project to work on! I hope to share it with everyone when I've completed my commissioned task! :)

What a special day!

It's Time for TEA~

Since we returned from our trip, I've been painting non-stop. (Well, except for the day the windows were put in...kinda hard to paint in all that commotion!).
I think I really missed creating and painting because I've made and/or painted eight new offerings in the past two weeks. Here is a peek at what is being offered on a TDIPT and Early Work Merc:

You can also visit my website for additional views....photobucket was giving me a hard time and I couldn't make a slideshow, so I've added new pages to my website that correspond to the selling sites..links at the top of the front page: Pear Tree Primitives.



For TDIPT's Theme~ "Bippity-Boppity-Boo".....a couple of masked treats, and some other goodies:












Early Work Mercantile~

I sort of went with an "Edgar Allan Poe" theme here:












And last but certainly NOT least......TEA will be updated this evening:
August 1^st, at 7pm eastern (6 central, 5 mountain, and 4 pacific).

I've made two new items for our Autumn/Fall webshow this evening, so please join us if you can!

A Different View

(The old front window, "Before")

This week got away from me....lots of updates on the 1st and I've been painting non-stop since we came back from our trip. I'll post about the offerings tomorrow.

Before we left, we decided to take advantage of this year's tax credit for some home improvements and ordered new windows through a local company that also installs them. We really needed new windows. The old ones had been original to our 197o's home and some didn't seal well, or slide smoothly in the tracks, plus they weren't double paned so weatherwise they weren't very efficient.

So, for practical reasons it made good sense to order new ones. And since we have a small "Colonial Cottage" we only have five windows to replace.

When we moved into our home four years ago, we began the long process of remodeling..... slowly as time and money allowed. Most of the improvements have been inside where no one sees unless they are invited in!
The bathroom is redone, the kitchen, the ceilings (we scraped all the popcorn texture off....ugh!), new floors, and of course paint. The only outside improvements have been adding new plants, a walkway and paint.....oh, and of course the Porch Perils (click to read about that nightmare!).

(The window guys taking out the old windows. Sort of strange to see a huge hole in your home!)

The porch is still being "processed" by my husband. He is pricing concrete vs. wood and deciding which he'd rather work with, (and, he hasn't said it, but I'm pretty sure he's waiting until the weather gets a little cooler!)

(Here is the new front window from the outside, but without the custom trim.)

When we came home from our trip, we got a call that our windows were in and ready to be installed. We really were excited about it for lots of reasons, but we never expected the windows to transform the outside of our little cottage...wow!, what a difference a window can make!

(The window guys even put a custom trim around the outside of each window! Oh, and you can't see it for the honeysuckle, but there was some extra trim leftover and hubby framed the front door with it.)

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Late tomorrow, (or on the 1st), I'll be updating on three websites:

To Dwell In Primitive Thymes- is having a Bippity-Bobbity-Boo Halloween theme.

The Eclectic Artisans- is having an Autumn/Halloween/Thanksgiving theme.

Early Work Mercantile - I've tried my hand at something CREEPY, but 19th century! :)