Charlie's Christmas Present

After lots of studying and plan drawing, my Dad and I finally came up with a cool idea for Charlie's "Big Boy Bed". He is still sleeping in a toddler bed so for Christmas, Grandma and Grandpa (aka Papa), said they would get the materials to build him a bed. Grant and my Dad went to work yesterday in the basement and basically finished this masterpiece. All we have to do now is put some paint and a finish coat on. Of course we still have to sew the top canopy and the drop down flaps that will make him a fort!
(I'm going to want to sleep in it)

Charlie doesn't know any of this is going on so we'll set up in his room in the next week or two and surprise him. Here is a pic of the bed so far...

I think he will loose his mind when he sees it.

So cool. I'll post more pics when it's done.

Ruler Growth Chart

Also finished is my Ruler Growth Chart. So cool. Already had people tell me they want to do one too. Here are some pics. We should have two marks for Charlie, one from the top of his head and one from the top of his wicked hair!
Which reminds me, we got our Christmas cards in today. Hahaha! I'll post the picture later, I don't want to spoil the surprise for those of you actually getting the cards. ha!

Frederick the Elf

Okay, as promised, here are some pics of two complete projects. I know Christmas is coming when I start completing projects. So, here is a pic of our elf cutouts on the front lawn. They look cool, even better at night, even better with snow. Where is the snow by the way?

Christmas Elf and 3 Trees

It was super fun project and thanks to having a week off, I got them painting in time for the holidays. I haven't named the elf yet... hmm... Yep I have. It's Frederick. Frederick the Elf.

Christmas Cut-Outs

So here is the beginning of my latest project. We decided that we were going to add something to our Outdoor Christmas decor each year. I was inspired by our trip to Santa's Village this summer. They had these cool trees painting off in the forest and I thought my normal thought, "I can do that."
So I drew out some cutouts (a 4' tree, a 5' tree, a 6' tree and a 5' elf to be exact) on plywood and Grant cut them out for me. Here are some pics of the beginning stages. They are painted now and up on the lawn, I just haven't got a picture. I will take one this weekend. Hopefully by then we have our spot light on them at night too so I can show you how cool they look by the house when they are lit up.
Ho Ho Ho. Charlie loves them! Thinks they're cool.

All is Well Painting

So, like I said... busy, busy, busy. Here is a painting that my mom asked me to do. She wanted to give something special to a woman she works with this Christmas and decided that a painting with her favorite saying would do the trick. I agreed to do the painting thinking it was a short saying, then my mom email me this"All is well, all shall be well and all manner of things shall be well."
My only restriction was colour. I was told not too much colour, probably best to stay neutral.

I was a bit worried, I won't lie, but I think it turned out well. Its a 12"x18" painting in acrylic and tissue paper. Mostly brown and beige but some blues bled through on the letter which is what I had hoped for and adds something. The ladybugs are because I just felt like it.

Hope you like it.

All is Well

On to the next project. Stay tuned. It's a fun one.

Gearing Up for Christmas

So, it's been a while. What can I say, it's been a busy Fall. I've been putting a few extra hours in at work because our new website went live. What an experience. I've never designed a website before, so it was a really interesting and I've learned a bunch of really nerdy stuff. If you want to check out the website, here you go... www.flagsunlimited.com.
But, now the Christmas season is upon us and I'm into full swing gift making. I'm not entering in any craft shows this year, so pretty much everything I'm working on is as a gift or for myself. Yeah!! I've got some really cool projects on the go.
First is an oversized ruler. I'm making this as our growth chart for Charlie. I found the idea online (check it out on my Pinterest board). Here is the picture so far...

Ruler Growth Chart

Second is a painting I've been asked by my Mom to do a painting for a co-worker that has been super supportive lately and I will post a pic of that once I'm done.

Third is that I finished the top of my quilt which is crazy exciting so now I just have to quilt it.

4th (Ha, that's because I don't know if it's fourth or forth) is a painting I'm working on just because...

Watching the Tide Roll Away

Fifth is just doing wicked sparkly crafts with my munchkin. He might love glitter glue more than me.

And last but not least are some ceramic Christmas ornaments. I found some awesome, huge, cookie cutters and they will make FANtastic snowflake ornaments. These I will probably sell. Once I've made enough.

So, I have the next week off from work (about time), to keep working on all these projects and more. Like always, stay tuned.

Peace Out.

Atay

Sharks are Done

Well, I finished painting the sharks. Just in time too, the new baby comes this week. Good luck with everything Cindy and Todd! And Kiedis, I hope you enjoy your new bedroom. Check out these sharks! What a fun project. It's got me thinking about what Charlie's room should look like. I've got so many ideas, I can't narrow it down. I should stick to finishing some of my own projects first. Like the backsplash and the quilt. Focus Andrea!
Here are some pics.

Requin! (Shark!)

So, as usual I'm multitasking, but my latest request it super cool. Friends of ours, Todd and Cindy, have a son a couple of weeks older than our little guy. His name is Kiedis and he LOVES sharks! As Todd and Cindy are expecting their second baby any time now, they wanted to move Kiedis into his own super cool room and thought that Sharks would do the trick. I've been asked to paint two sharks on his bedroom walls; a Great White and a Hammerhead (Kiedis's favorites from Finding Nemo). I'm not don't yet, but here is a pic of my progress so far.

I'm in the clear because I'm not done yet and Kiedis knows what they are. I should mention that he speaks French so when he sees the wall he yells "Requin!" which scared me at first, but Cindy has assured me that it's "Shark" in french. It's pretty awesome. I'll post some pics when I'm done.

It's Quilting Time...

So I've officially started my quilt. My sister Melanie and I went out last week and I bought my fabric (she already has hers).
Just as a little side note, I bought all my material except two patterns at Fabricland last Monday for $15/m. I went back this past Sunday to get the last two patterns I wanted, and they were on sale for $7/m. Everything I bough less than a week ago was less than half price. GRRRRR....
Anyway, I'm pretty excited about this quilt. I've bought all dark greys and browns and navys with a bit of beige in men's suit fabrics. So a bit of plaid or pin stripes too. Here is a picture of the pattern that we are following. It's called "Around the World".

"Around the World" quilt pattern

So I have almost got all the material cut out, which by the way is a royal pain in the @$%!! So the fun part of piecing together the pattern is next. Still haven't decided if this is for the guest room or my room. Hmmmm....

Update Time

Okay, so I didn't get the drift wood piece done. It's kind of a problem to not have any drift wood to paint on. So, it's sort of side lined for a bit until I come up with a suitable canvas. But, I have officially started a new project. With my sister's guidence, I will be working on a king size quilt. Yikes! I'm pretty excited about it though and as I write this, the material is in the washing machine. It's all brown and grey suit material. Once I have a picture of the pattern I'll post it. Hopefully this will either inspire the decor for our master bedroom or guest bedroom. Oh, fingers crossed it turns out.

I am also happy to report that Parker, my most recent beaver, has been placed at the Georgian Mall. So head on over and see him out front of Homesense and Sport Check. If you do, take your picture with him and send it to me so I can post it!

AND... not to bite off more than I can chew, but I think I might know what my next painting is. I'd say drum roll please, but you could be at it for a while. Stay tuned...

Busy Busy

Okay, so I know I haven't posted in a while. I have an excuse... I'm doing a ridiculous puzzle. I love doing puzzles but haven't done a puzzle in at least 2 years. I have 2 year old though, it's not like I've had tons of time. Anyway, it's nice to get it done. I'm probably going to throw it in the garbage when I'm done because it was way to hard and that this point I'm only finishing to say that I did. It's not fun anymore. :)

However, I did get a call to do a small house warming present for a friend who would like to give it for a gift. It has to be done my Monday, so I should have something to show by then. This is what I was asked to do: Paint the words "At the end of the day..." on a piece of drift wood. Hopefully it looks cool when I'm done.

Hope you're all enjoying the sweet weather we've been having! Keep cool!

2011 Barrie Beaver Festival - The Finished Product

Okay, well, this is it. My Beaver is finally done. Everyone meet "Parker the Perch". He turned out really well. I don't know where he is going yet, but once I know I'll pass that info along. But for now, I'm going to enjoy having some evenings back to myself that people can't make fun of. Although I will miss the repetitive and occasionally clever remarks about my Beaver, another year has come to an end. I'm sure people will find other things to make fun of.
Until then, check these pics of Parker from last night. What a stud!!

For more information on the Beaver Festival, go to www.barriebeaverfestival.com

Andrea

Backsplash Update

Okay, this is probably one of my slowest moving projects. I wish it was done, but it is taking way longer than I imagined. But, great things take time. I'm never going to want to move I'll tell you that right now. How could I ever part with this.

Kitchen Backsplash as of June 2011

Also, I should have finished pics of my beaver by the end of week. Yeah!! Man, what am I going to do with all my time??? I may have something up my sleeve! See you back here soon.

ATay out.

The Dark Side - Finished

Well, it worked. For those of you hanging at the edge of you seat, waiting to see if my idea of making the painting look a bit worn would work. It did (enter sigh of relief here). No trip to the hardware store for me.
Christine and I put the finishing touches on the two paintings last night. I really like how the turned out. We're expecting tears from the birthday boy! Well, Christine is.

On a different possibly more exciting note, I have a follower! A big shout out to Darryl. Holla!!!

That's it for me for the weekend. Hope you all have a fantastic Canada Day long weekend. Cheers!

The Dark Side

So, as I'm hard at work on my Beaver still, I have had a request in from a friend for another friends birthday. I've attached a picture of a recent trip to Playa Del Carmen, Mexcio. A group of friends that went down together and then at a local bar found this sign. I was told the only thing that could make this better would be if "Dark Side" was in the Star Wars font. Well his birthday is next week so the painting will be done and posted soon. Here is the photo until then... TEQUILA BOOM!!

Oh, and I would like to thank Christine for all her help. I should mention that these paintings are a tag team effort! We've changed the look a bit to try and make it something you would want to hang in your house. That being said, if it doesn't work, I could be going to the hardware store later this week for plywood and spray paint! Fingers crossed!

Peace Out!

Beaver Update

Well, he is coming along well...
I'm working on the front now. Face and fins. But check out his back. The scales turned out better than I planned.

2011 Barrie Beaver Festival

Well, it's official, I'm painting my Beaver again this year (insert joke here). So the usual question is "Huh?" But, it really isn't as strange as it sounds. These Beavers are purchased by companies and the festival will raise money for the Kempenfelt Rotary Club, which in turn donate the money to local charities. I responded to a Call for Artist and was one of the artists chosen to paint for the second year in a row.
So what does one paint on a 4' beaver? A Yellow Perch. That's right, my beaver is hopefully going to look like a fish out of water when I'm done. I can't wait! It's turning out better than I thought. Check back to see the transformation take place. For more information visit, www.barriebeaverfestival.com.

Kitchen Backsplash: The Beginning

Well, those of you who know me, know I have a kiln and do ceramics. I always thought it would be fun to paint tiles and install custom painted swimming pools. Picture swimming in a pool with sharks and cool fish painted all over the tiles. Don't tell me that wouldn't be wicked. I had a plan and everything. Obviously I'd measure, then figure out the tile pattern, then basically draw a grid over it and do the whole paint by number thing with a design I created. Sounds easy enough right?

Kitchen Backsplash after a few evenings of work.

Well, I've know decided, as friggn' sweet as that would be, it's crazy. Why you ask? Let me tell you. After our kitchen renovation, I said I would do a custom backsplash. I tackled it a bit differently going at it like a mosaic. I should note that I am painting, glazing, firing, smashing and gluing the tiles all myself. Not exactly a "simple" project, but it will be worth it. Stay tuned, but don't hold your breath for a custom pool any time soon!

Nice to Meet You...

Hi Everyone,

It's me, Andrea.

I've been inspired.

More specifically, I've been inspired to start a blog. My parents will probably laugh at me. I don't blame them, I'm not even sure where this is going yet. So here goes nothing...

I'm an Artist with a Graphic Design background. I don't like to limit myself to one medium. I can paint, I can carve, I can design. I'm okay at sewing (my mom and sister got that gene), I love tools (thanks dad), and I'm terrible in the kitchen.

I have ideas for random creations all the time. Some come to life. Some don't. My plan is to get a few projects that I'm working on posted in the next couple of days. I thought that by keeping a blog on the progress of my ideas may keep me motivated, while at the same time, putting my name out there.

So, I hope you enjoy it. I hope you check back frequently to see what's new. And I hope you get inspired to maybe try something for yourself.