If I only had a brain....

Ugh! I have never been very tech savvy. Or good at math. Or spelling. Or sewing. Pretty much anything technical. My hair changes from brunette to blonde. I am pretty good with Etsy and this blog – but I am pretty clueless if it any more complicated than these. I purchased a website for my little business The Painting Libra today from GoDaddy.com. I knew www.thepaintinglibra.com was still available and my boyfriend suggested I snatch it up before anyone else does. After the endless pages to sign up and fine print your brain basically scans over, I finally purchased the domain name. After that, I couldn’t get the hang of anything! I thought by purchasing their template making wizard it would help me upload everything. Not so much. Finally after several hours and about $50 of wasted money, I have given up wondering if I wasted my time and money on this. I wonder if I can find someone to build it for me. The problem is I am so picky about the content and I don’t have too much money to throw around. Ugh! Oh well. For now I will let it sit until my scarecrow body grows a brain.

Kiss Me Goodbye

I have always loved the picture caught by Alfred Eisendtaedt in Times Square on August 14, 1945 of an unknown sailor kissing a nurse. I always thought it was so romantic how the celebration of the war ending caught this sailor in the moment of planting a smooch on a nurse who just happened to be in the right place at the right time.

I wanted to do something with the image on my pottery. I started to sketch the outline of the couple on a large square plate and I loved how it came out.

I painted a bright red border and left his sailor hat peaking out the top. I added a thin black stripe on the inside rim and that was it! It came out perfect.

I also made a matching tall latte mug with a bright red center.

The mug has already found a happy home, but the plate is still up for grabs on my Etsy page so don’t miss out!

http://www.thepaintinglibra.etsy.com/

If you like this design, I can always make you a custom one with the colors of your choice!

Sake it to me

I was a good friend’s birthday party a while back when I noticed a beautiful blue bottle of SakeOne Moonstone Plum Sake. Typically I have seen sake in those short stubby bottles, but this one had an absolutely beautiful blue glass with a swirling bright pink pattern across the base. The colors together where so striking. I asked our friend who was hosting the party if I could have an empty bottle. Happily she gave me one before I left. (Pictured to the far right)

A few weeks later our friends returned from their honeymoon in Italy and brought me back a particular shirt you can only find in Italy. As a thank you to the hostest who gave me a bottle, I painted the Moonstone swirl design on one of my large latte mug.


I kept the background white and used a deep cobalt blue on the inside and used jet black for the swirl pattern. It came out very cute and I heard she knew what the design was from the minute she saw it.

I like to find designs and colors in things that you may not see on a mug that make it more unique.

Blah

Lately, I have been feeling kind of blah. Not sad or mad, just blah. I have no creative juices flowing through me what so ever. Typically this lasts only a week or so with me, but lately, nothing. I haven’t wanted to paint any new pottery, I haven’t wanted to decorate the new apartment I am in. Nothing. I have ideas in the back of my head of stuff I want to do, but part of me doesn’t want to spend the money either. It seems like when ever money becomes an issue with me, meaning the lack of, my creative side comes to a halt. Time seems to be going by so fast and there doesn’t seem like there is enough time in the day any more to do anything. Get up, go to work, drive home in traffic, go to the gym, shower, eat, watch your favorite show, get ready for the next day go to bed, get up and do it all over again. It is like my creative side is sleeping and I need to wake her up. Hmmm…

Peace, Love and Paws

Like most of us, we all love animals. I have had two dogs to personally call my own. My first, a Westie name Abbey Road, but sadly passed away before her first birthday.

My second dog, a Dachshund/Chihuahua I found in the middle of the highway on Thanksgiving evening a few years ago. She had no collar or identification. My mom and I had just left my grandparents thanksgiving dinner and I spotted her sitting in the left turn lane at a red light. Of course I jumped out of the car leaving my mom, her dog, turkey and pumpkin pie behind.

After a long pursuit across four dark lanes of traffic, I finally was able to reach her. We knew the shelter was closed for the holiday, so I begged my mom to take her home for safe keeping until we could locate the owner.

She is the cutest darn dog. She straight down the middle with Dachshund/Chihuahua features. A long body, low to the ground with giant ears that stick straight up 9" tip to tip.

(This is her in one of her many funny t-shirts I buy her.)

She came into our lives the night before my mom was about to start radiation treatment for a second brain tumor. She was a sweet distraction to us while we tried to find the owner. My mom thought she looked like the Taco Bell dog, but I said “No mom, she is a girl, she is Taco Bella.”

After weeks of putting up posters and having the vet check for a micro chip, she became ours. Of course we had to keep the name Bella, but added Felice after it which means “lucky you” in Italian. So basically I ended up with a Mexican/German dog with an Italian name. You gotta love the cards life deals you at the moment you need them.

Featured Artist: ILLUSTRATED INK - Wicked Art From the Heart

Today I came across a great Etsy artist that I had to feature, ILLUSTRATED INK. This shop really caught my eye. Illustrated Ink combines old school flash tattoo art and Day of the Dead to make some really unique items. Plus, she has a ton of mermaid stuff that makes me want to snatch them all up for myself.

This cute mermaid print is Illustrated Inks version of the Mexican loteria card but with a Day of the Dead twist called La Sirena.

I love how the colors are so bold and really stand out. The print measures 8.5” x 11”, perfect to frame for a bedroom or kitchen.

I have a thing for reading books at the gym, but I always use an old receipt or once a prescription card as a book mark. I know, I know…. that is not very wise of me. But I totally would change my ways on these adorable Old School Mermaid bookmarks.

They stand 5” tall and are laminated with a deep purple ribbon. There is no way I will lose my place in my book with these sexy but tough mermaids!

If anyone has been to my apartment, there is more stuff stuck to the outside of my fridge than in the inside. I don’t cook for anything! But I love to have pictures and mementos pasted all over the front of my fridge. These Nautical Journey Magnet sets would be a nice addition to my collection.

You can pick out any four magnets and Illustrated Ink will even gift wrap it for you with a card upon request! What a great housewarming gift – if you can bare to give them up.

All in all, Illustrated Ink has some fantastic stuff and she is the seller to watch. I know I will! Check out her Etsy page at www. illustratedink.etsy.com or her blog at www.illustratedink.blogspot.com

DIY Wall Decals

Many of us 20 something’s out there live in apartments. And many of those 20’s something’s have landlords that won’t let them paint the walls, even with a lease. When I moved into my first apartment this last year, the white walls were driving me INSANE. I really liked the idea of removable wall decals, but they are so expensive for anything bigger than four inches. I really wanted something to cover a large part of my wall but didn’t want to break the bank.

(Before)

(After)

So I turned to contact paper. Yup! That stuff your grandmother uses to line her kitchen cupboards. It is super thin, easy to cut and the best part – cheap! They come in tons of different colors and textures. I wanted black contact paper for my design so I found a huge roll of contact paper on Amazon.com for around $30 with shipping. It gave me plenty of paper to experiment with and use in other rooms. But you can find contact paper at any art or hardware supply store in smaller rolls if you want to go even cheaper and don’t want to wait for shipping. Contact paper will work on smooth and textured surfaces. However, it won’t work on popcorn style walls and ceilings. Sorry!

It is super simple! All you need is:

Contact paper of your choice
Scissors
Felt tip marker or pencil
Painters Blue Tape
Newspaper or poster paper
Old library or old credit card
Your imagination

Step 1: Take your contact paper and roll it out on a flat surface with the contact paper facing down. The backing has a white logo that peels off – this should be the part facing up.

Step 2: Draw your design on the backing of the contact paper with a felt pen. If you wish to repeat a pattern like I did, you can cut out a template using newspaper or poster paper. I found using a thicker piece of paper helps when tracing out the design multiple times. You can also trace out stencil patterns, leaves, flowers, birds and if you have A LOT of patience – try letters and words. Use your imagination!

Step 3: Cut out your design

Step 4: Now take your cut out pieces to the wall you wish to use the decal on. With the backing still on the contact paper, use a couple of pieces of painters tape and tape up the cut out design to the wall to see if it is in the position you want. This way you can get it in the spot you want without wasting the contact paper.

Step 5: If you like the position of your design, start at the edge or corner of the design and start to pull the backing off the contact paper of the first 3” or 4” inches. Smooth it down with the library card to get out any air bubbles. Keep working in 3” to 4” inch increments until you get the hang of it. Smooth out any air bubbles with the plastic card and remove the painters tape.

If you don’t like where you placed the design after you pulled off the backing, don’t worry! Just gently peel the design off of the wall and re-stick where you want it. Smooth out any air bubbles with the plastic card. You can do this about 2 to 3 more times before the contact paper starts to lose its tackiness.

Step 6: If you like your design – then there ya go! If not, layer more pieces of contact paper on top of each other. The great thing about the black contact paper is the layers are almost invisible to the eye making one big seamless design like mine. My design was just layers of four or five swirl designs that I layered how I liked. I then cut out little flowers and slapped them on the wall where I wanted. Bam! You got yourself a cheap awesome way to dress up your walls!

(Close up of the design - layered pieces of contact paper)

Step 7: If it’s time to move or you are sick of your design and want to do something new, just gently pull the contact paper from the wall starting in one corner. The Contact paper shouldn’t leave any marks or stickiness on the wall. But always check the manufactures website to ensure the surface you wish to use is safe. The Kitterich Corp who makes Contact paper is helpful in this area. Their website is http://www.contactbrand.com/

ENJOY!