New Barrettes

And now something to tame your wild mane:)
I painted a few pretty hair barrettes today.






I'm always looking for something different to paint. You can see them in my Etsy shop. I've only ordered 7. If they sell well, I will buy more.
Thanks for looking!

Winter

With my husband off from school I've been able to get some work done. Just completed two winter welcome signs. One is of a gorgeous grey Arabian. The other is a magical winter unicorn (I think he looks so handsome and regal). Hope to have them on ebay tonight so please check back!
I also received in the mail something very special to paint. It is small and will be affordable and you can wear it (not a pendant). I have 3 of them started and will be listing some of them on Etsy by the weekend. I can't wait!!! I think they will be a lot of fun. May have to keep one for myself:)

Also wanted to add that you can follow me on Twitter now. I will be adding updates frequently.

Hi Ho

Hi ho, hi ho, it's back to work I go...
I added 5 new pendants to Etsy yesterday and one has already sold! Please take a stroll by my shop today and check them out:)

Also Linda (aka Artwolf) has inlcuded one of my pendants in her stunning new Etsy Treasury. Please hurry on by before it expires! Also don't forget to check out Linda's shop and her lovely blog. I have a keychain and a pocketmirror from her store and they are wonderful!

Now off to shop for some Christmas bargains today! I had a most excellent Christmas. Two of my gifts were a sewing machine from my mom and a $100 gift card for Joann Fabrics from my husband. Yipee, I'm gonna sew!

Merry Christmas!

"Our hearts grow tender with childhood memories and love of kindred, and we are better throughout the year for having, in spirit, become a child again at Christmas-time." ~ Laura Ingalls Wilder





"I will honour Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year."
~ Charles Dickens





I heard the bells on Christmas Day
Their old, familiar carols play,
And wild and sweet
The words repeat
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

~Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

More Beautiful Things

I snagged two more treasuries today. Here are some screenshots below. Click on the links to view the treasuries. If you would like to do me a huge favor, leave a comment on each treasury and click on each picture. Come on, it just takes a sec. :)

My Winter Fantasy Treasury

Animal Magnetism Treasury




I finished 4 pendants for Etsy today but have yet to string them up. Check back tomorrow for a lovely buckskin horse on purple, a raven with a full blue moon, a wacky voodoo doll (perfect for a special valentine maybe) and a blue crescent moon and stars.

Gypsy Mare & Night Mare

Two new pendants for Etsy!

I won't be painting anything else for Ebay until after Christmas but I do plan on making some things for Etsy, maybe even an oil painting soon!

The kid and I managed to make a snowlady yesterday. Isn't she sweet?
She has hydrangea hair, an oak leaf necklace, ivy belt and pine bough skirt.

The Last Unicorn

The Last Unicorn was a pretty neat movie back in the 80's when I was a kid. I decided to put the dvd in and show my 3 year old daughter the other day and she quickly lost interest. I guess it can't compete with today's computer animated movies like Toy Story and Wall-E.

What this post is really about is my last holiday sign of 2008. I was asked by a few people to paint another "Believe" unicorn sign and since I was without the child today and the snow was falling and I was listening to my newly created, super cool Christmas playlist (look to the right and hit the play button), I decided to comply with their wishes.
I also finished a winter welcome Dutch bunny sign. Since I was in such a good mood, I started that one out on ebay with no reserve. Yes, that's right, the bidding starts at one cent!

Both of these signs end on Friday so if the high bidder pays promptly I will get them in the mail on Saturday. Plenty of time to have them hanging for Christmas or wrapped up and under the tree for someone special.

2 Cool Treasuries

I made two very cool new treasuries on Etsy today. Here some screen shots but you will have to click on my links to visit.

Two of my favorite themes:

Quoth the Raven Treasury

We're all mad here! Treasury




It have a lot of great new pendants in my Etsy shop. Please take a look. I ship promptly if you need something for Christmas.

Only a few more...

Well, I only have time for a few more signs before Christmas. Just finished this one today of a young Shire horse trotting through the snow.
I have another one started. It may turn into unicorn. Also have a winter witch sleigh design started on a box. Hope to get a lot finished tomorrow. Please check back!

Mount Hope Estate

We made it to the Mount Hope Estate and Winery today for their annual Christmas open house. The mansion is all dressed up for the holiday with ornaments and decorated trees in every room. There are carollers singing and people dressed up like they popped right out of a Dickens story. Around the bar/tasting room were all sorts of delicious cookies, coffee and hot chocolate with marshmallows. All to be enjoyed by a roaring fire. Zoe got to decorate a gingerbread man and make an angel ornament for our tree. If you are in the area and get a chance, they have a wonderful show they put on called A Dickens of a Christmas. Kevin and I used to go when we first met. It's the kind of show that likes audience participation.
Here are a few photos from around the mansion. The one of the fireplace has a painting above that shows the mansion from the outside. During the summer this is the site of the Pennsylvania Renaissance Faire.

Drumroll please...

I had a record 56 entries in my giveaway this week (I left one comment which was not counted)! So I wrote down the numbers 1-56, cut them out and put them in a stocking.
Next I wrestled my daughter down, drug her in front of the tree and made her pull an number. She wanted to take the number and run but I was able to grab her hand and snap a quick, if not blurry, photo of number 48. So the 48th comment (not including mine - gee I hope I counted right) was...

Ireland Rose Studios!

Thank you so much to EVERYONE who entered. I really wish I could have given everyone a prize. I had so much fun reading all the favorite ornament comments.

I'm thinking I may have to do another giveaway soon so please check back.









I have mananged to paint a few more pendants for Etsy this week. I haven't strung them up with beads yet but here is a sneak peek...

What the heck?!+*&%$!

How is it that a tiny little kid can make a grown adult so sick and so often?
I was just sick 3 weeks ago and I'm sick again with another head cold. I was hoping to blog today about all the wonderful new pieces I've created but instead I'm just on here to complain! I even had Tuesday all to myself when Zoe went to her Gram's house but I got very little done. I sketched out a lovely new winter witch sleigh design but I have yet to paint it. Today I tried to paint a pendant but my head is in a fog and my hands are shaky.
Well, hopefully tomorrow will be better. I want to go the Landis Valley Museum for A Pennsylvania Dutch Christmas and bonfire. On Saturday is the Christmas open house at the Mount Hope Winery & Estate. The mansion will be all decked out for the holiday and Father Christmas will be there to meet the children. It is definitely not the time of year to be moping around with a head cold!


Father Christmas & Zoe 2007



On a happy note, Danielle has created another gorgeous treasury and added my polar bear pendant. Here is a screen shot but you have to follow this link to see the treasury. It only lasts a few days so hurry on over there!

Winter Magic

"Christmas waves a magic wand over this world, and behold, everything is softer and more beautiful."
~ Norman Vincent Peale


Just wanted to start off by thanking everyone who has signed up for my blog giveaway! I have never had such a great response to a giveaway. It will be so much picking the winner on Friday.

So, I have a few new pieces painted to share. Yesterday was miserable outside with wind gusts up to 50 mph. We decided to stay home and keep warm which gave me lots of time to create this magical winter unicorn "Believe" sign. It's on ebay for just 3 days so make sure you check it out soon if you're interested.



Also painted a few more pendants for my Etsy shop. For a change I did something other than horses, a polar bear and a raven. I thought they turned out beautifully.





Thanks for stopping by. Keep warm!
Jen

O Christmas Tree & GIVEAWAY TIME!

We finally got our tree today. I found a place just down the road. Literally, 1/2 mile down our street that sells them cut or you can cut one yourself. I am a stickler for freshness and my husband was still in his work clothes and didn't want to get dirty so I cut our tree. I am very happy with our choice this year. It's so full and smells wonderful. I think it's a Douglas fir.
Most of our ornaments are old. Some we've had since we were kids. Some are antiques. Some I even made. There is nothing more fun that hanging each special ornament on the tree and remembering when you got it and Christmases past.
Since I can never find a topper that I like, I just hang a large ornament up there. Last year my husband's step mom gave me this cute one with kittens riding a rocking horse. My two favorite animals, how perfect! So I'm going to make you look at my tree pictures before I get to what you probably came here for, the giveaway:)






Okay, time for the giveaway!
I just painted this fun winter windswept tree pendant. I love bonsai and that is what it reminds me of (I had one once and I killed it -very sad). I added glass beads in white and cobalt blue and it has a silver plated toggle clasp. Here's the deal, to be eligible to win this pendant you have to leave a comment on this post. Not just any old comment, mind you. You must tell me what your favorite ornament is on your tree at home. If you don't celebrate Christmas please let me know what your favorite winter time activity is.
Contest will last ONE week. I will have my little Zoe draw a name on Friday, December 12th around noon. I will try to contact you through blogger. If I don't contact you I will leave a post and ask you contact me with your shipping info.
So good luck everyone. Thanks for stopping by!

Oh, if you don't win the pendant and still want one, I have one in my etsy shop.

Paint Horse

I just listed a new Paint Horse Christmas sign on Ebay. I think he turned out well.


The other day I was looking to make a quick and yummy dessert and I didn't have the car so it had to be made with ingredients I had on hand. Well, I had all the basics and a few apples to I made this super yummy apple bundt cake.
It's so good I've made it twice now. Perfect compliment to your morning coffee too.
I ommited the walnuts since I didn't have any and had to add a little applesauce since I didn't have a full cup of oil.
I think it would actually make a really nice gift too.

Meemee Doodle

Okay, so my husband's cat (yes, we have his and her cats) was jealous that Zazu got her picture up on the computron and he says he wants all the fame and glory of an internet presence.
So here he is, my dear sweet Meemee Doodle. He was our first cat. My mom gave him to my husband as a Christmas gift in 2000 when he was just a little man.
He's such a sweetheart. Loves to sleep in your lap. Can smell one cat treat in a 1300 sq ft home. Prefers to drink out of the fish bowl. Sleeps in a child's Elmo chair.
An all around good guy!




Little Meemee!








I snagged another Etsy Treasury today. It only lasts for 3 days. This ones called
"Here kitty, kitty...". I'm totally in love with all of these paintings!
The painting called "Morning Light" looks just like my Zazu. In fact I am trading one of my pendants for a copy of the print. Can't wait!
Here what it looks like. Click on all the images to move it up in the standings (thanks).




I added one more new pendant to my Etsy shop today and an Arabian horse ornament. Here they are.







My wonderful horse art friend Linda Woolford, aka Artwolf, has included me in her new Etsy treasury, "Myth and Magic at Christmas". It looks wonderful! Makes me really want to lose some weight so I can buy one of those gorgeous pirate jackets!





I'm hoping to have a blog giveaway soon so please check back. Also started working on a Paint Horse Christmas sign for Ebay. I will try and finish it tomorrow.
Don't forget to do some of your Christmas shopping on Etsy and Ebay. They are such great places to find unique handmade gifts. Gifts that people will treasure!
Take care! Jen