thank you thank you thank you!!

Just a quick note to say thank you to all who made 2009 a wonderful year!!! I had an awesome time and even though portraits didn't really start to happen until September and my hours were cut from my office job in May, I still managed to have a good time!!

Thank you to Them Crooked Vultures for making me excited about music (not that I ever wasn't but these guys took it to a new level!)

Thank you to my sister for coming back home where she belongs!! I'm so glad you decided to move closer to your family. Means so much to me that we mean so much to you!

Thank you to Kitty Connection in Medford for bringing Luna girl into my life. She's such a sweet kitty!! And thank you Metro Cat in Brookline for being so thoughtful and helpful when I had to say goodbye to my Sweet D.

Thank you to my bosses who, even though cut hours on a weekly basis, still managed to get the bonuses out! Made Christmas that much more easy!!

Thanks to my family, especially my parents for their continuing support of my goal of living as an artist.

And lastly, Thank you Jason, my love. You are the best man a girl could ever have. XOXOX

Happy New Year!!! 2010 2010 2010 2010 2010 2010 2010 Holy Crap!!!!!!!!!

Ho Ho Ho

Well, kids this is it! Christmas week .... Are you ready? I'm NOT! Here's where the stress really begins!! Times I feel where my work is really interfering with the rest of my life LOL.

The portraits are out, have a couple of cards to make and then I need to get cleaning my house for the big Wednesday night Christmas. This is my true Christmas time and means a lot to me. I love hosting party (mainly cause I don't have to worry about driving my butt home.) I spent the last week deckin' the halls and baking Christmas cookies. I made my own wreath which took some time, but J & I were watching "The Prisoner" (original) and that's always a good time.

How to make your own Christmas wreath

What you'll need:

Pine Boughs (When you get your Christmas tree there's usually a pile of boughs that the boys will take off some trees per customer requests. These are FREE)

Wire Coat Hanger

Scissors

Paddle or Floral Wire

Ribbon and other decorating Christmas-y things

A Glass of Wine (optional)

take the pine boughs and clip the branches to different lengths with the scissors and make a small pile

Cut the paddle wire into 1.5" long pieces and make a small pile.

Take the wire coat hanger and bend it into a circle shape.

then take the boughs and start attaching them to the hanger using the paddle wire. I find it's easier to twist tie the wire on the stem and then use that double wire to wrap around the stem for a secure hold.

Have plenty of patience. It's not going to look pretty until you get about 3 layers thick. (This is when the wine comes in handy).

When you're satisfied with the thickness take the wreath to a place where you can hang it (with the hanger part of the hanger) Decorate with ribbon and other Christmas-y things. Have paddle wire handy if you need to secure items.

Hang on door and admire your work!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

It's that time of year....

When the world falls in love, or at least that's how the song goes! Today is December 14th and it was 14 years ago when my boyfriend and I had a heart to heart and said..."I love you" to each other.... aw! Happy anniversary Sweets!!

It's also the day that I cut off the orders! It's officially the Christmas season for me and time to celebrate. I got my tree yesterday and strung up some cranberries for the garland. My nephew was going to help me but then he was all "this is boring, Auntie Chrissy!" Yea, it is, but needs to get done. So we watched some extreme snowboarding on TV while I continued to string the berries.

I've also finished my Christmas card. I only ordered 20 cards to mail, but did an online card as well. The image is of Saint John the Evangelist. And I finished all but one portrait, including my Christmas presents. Things seem to be going a long smoothly, I'm almost scared!!

My final show for the year....

So the JP 1st Church craft fair was this weekend. I did okay, but could have done better I think. This was the 4th year that I've done this show and maybe I need new merch? But all everyone bought from me was magnets that are only $3 and $4. They make great stocking stuffers, no doubt, but I wished someone had bought a print from me. And of course there were plenty of promo card/pamphlet takers. Hopefully I'll get a commission out of it. My friend T also did the show and did extremely well. She paints slates and makes her own jewelry and she totally banked! I was so proud of my friend!!!! Next year, if I do this again, because there's always that evil thought in your mind that says, "there's got to be a better way." I'm going to request that I not be shoved in the corner on the piano. I thought it was a great space at first, but I noticed it was too easy to get sidetracked by the lunch counter right next to me and it was tight! I would love to make cards and stationary with my images, but it's so expensive. I wish I could find a quality place to print cards and not have it cost an arm and a leg.

Sunday, I started some Christmas shopping. And the first person on my list was ME and the first thing on my list was a new SOFA! I'm very excited!! It's being delivered tomorrow and it was like a breath of fresh air putting my ratty old one out on the sidewalk!! Bernie & Phyls has great product, prices and I went to the one in Westboro. The sales staff is there to help and they are SO not overbearing that it actually made it a great experience. It's a beautiful burgundy red color. So last night I spent sweeping out the living room and cleaning the floors and put up new curtains too. Now it lookes like the walls desperately need to be painted! That's the project goal this winter!

Pictures in this blog:

"Frozen Pond" Watercolor 2006

"Lemur" Watercolor & Colored pencil 2009

"Drink Up Mr. Owl" and I put this in so you could see the former UGLY curtains that I was happy to finally throw away last night!!