Where Am I?

Oh yeah right ...Blogger!
Geez 2 days without a fix and I am lost.:) I have been so busy the last few days I wasn't able to visit my favorite blogs and read the posts.....wow it was eating me alive!
I felt like this old iron:

Rusty, dusty....out of practice, lol.
This week I had to go house painting, my tv broke down, the dryer went kaput so I have clothes hanging from every available door or towel rack. Not my finest hour and yet I survived and I can even smile this morning. 
Ah yes this weekend, I will clean the house, my friend's hubby is coming over tonight to look at the dryer (fingers crossed) and I will finally have some time to browse "my blogs" (similar to the old "my shows" but way more fun)!
So in addition to all the other stuff that happens around here I am setting aside quality time to BlogHop!
Miss you guys!

How Wonderful Is This?

This morning the Rustic Victorian posted this precious video from YouTube and I just had to re-post it here. This is something I would love to try and see how many hugs I would get! 
Wouldn't you love to try this in your town? 
Consider yourself hugged by me this morning!!!
    

Done!

Ok I am not sure whether to be thrilled or what...I crackled the painting and stained it. 
As you can see the crackle is not consistent which gives it interest and charm but it irks my perfectionist side no end!

I used DecoArt One Step Crackle which works great for small projects but try to get it to cover a 16" x 20" canvas in an even coat ...well it "ain't" going to happen. So it came out a little uneven and that got my goat.
Oh well I am hoping that maybe the finishing sealer may even out the surface a bit otherwise it will be what I refer to as a rustic finish.....:)
Thanks to everyone who weighed in on the question to "to crackle or not to crackle" it was fun to read the comments and overall I think crackling and staining was the way to go!

My Dilemma

I have reached my least favorite part in the creative process.....yes the dreaded "finishing"!

I really would like to crackle and age this painting, but I always hesitate and hem and haw for days over these decisions and it drives me nuts.
When I am this close to the end I am anxious to put it to bed if you know what I mean. Tomorrow I head out to Michael's for another bottle of OneStep crackle medium to make sure I have enough for this painting as it is 16"x20"

I kind of am leaning toward the crackle/aging process as I think this would look great as a vintage style piece...

I know a glaze of umber will be unifying, but should I crackle also?
Votes please.....

Christmas in January!

A few weeks ago I entered Jan's giveaway and what a happy day it was for me, I won! If you have never visited Jan's blog :http://janellabella.blogspot.com/2011/01 /i-recommend.html                                                                             do yourself a favor and stop by and say hi. Her blog is full of her adventures in and around her mountain home in Colorado and being an amazingly talented photographer and artist she shares it all with us!

 I knew when her parcel arrived it was going to be special but I was overwhelmed when I opened the package she had sent!

The most beautiful ribbons and a precious watercolor that I had admired when she shared it on her blog!

And then wrapped in more rose colored tissue paper was these love, delicate handkerchiefs...

 A layer of pink tissue paper later and I uncovered this! A beautiful Villeroy & Boch teacup and saucer! The pattern is called "Persia"! And inside the cup were dozens of paper flowers that you can see I spread around for the photos...(did you spot the tiny bottle of pink glitter?)

Oh we are not done yet!

A gorgeous package of lovely papers and cards all tied together with more pink ribbon! A sweet little card on weathervanes with a bookmark styled after a vintage weathervane and beautiful notebook I am going to enjoy using!

This is so precious, one of Jan's handmade beauties that is going to be hanging on my kitchen wall when I finish painting it! Notice the little mother-of-pearl disks by the ribbon hanger!

And all bundled up like a little angel was this amazing little treasure! She has such a sassy look in her eye you just have to love her and I am going to keep her close to my computer where I can feel her energy while I work!

Jan how can I ever thank you for so much bounty! You are not only a wonderful photographer and artist but a lovely and generous soul that I am so happy to know. 

Thank you so much for making my January feel like December 25th all over again!