Poppy Place Pdx: August 2009

Monday, August 31, 2009

My Little Pink Princess Pony.

I have always been a big advocate on giving back; whether it is via donations of money, time or items. I hope I have instilled this sense of advocacy in my children. I believe, regardless of how poor we all feel at times or how tough our situation (and recently I have felt both intensely) we can still help our fellow humans as we navigate this planet together.

So, on this Monday morning I thought I would brighten the day with some photos from a volunteer project I participated in a few years ago. It was the Rocking Horse Art Show. The organisation is the Children's Relief Nursery. Their Mission: To prevent abuse and neglect in children birth through four by partnering with caregivers committed to strengthening their families. http://www.crn4kids.org/

They would put a call out to Artists in the late summer and ask them to come pick up the wooden Rocking Horses and decorate they as they wished. Oh, an Artists dream, someone giving them a blank canvas. So, that is how "My Little Pink Princess Pony" was born.

I wanted to make her as girlie as possible so a feather boa and sparkles and ribbons. :)

Of course, every Princess has to have a crown and jewels. :)

I first painted her all pink and then painted her all over with sparkles. This was such a fun project to do.

The Art show was held in a popular gallery downtown and lots of people showed up. I believe lots of money was made too. :)It was such a fun way to be creative and also give back at the same time, a win, win for me. Unfortunately, they do not do this event anymore.

Happy Painting/Creating. :) T.

Monday, August 24, 2009

I WON!!!!!

I WON!!!!!!!

I am soooo excited and I wanted to share this with everyone. :)

Look what I won.

I came back from Ohio (you remember I took my youngest off to college :(

to find out that I had won a giveaway on a very talented girl's blog. She is Holly from PeaceFrogDesigns and I love the necklace so much I decided that I would interview her as the first in my blog series on fellow Etsians. So stay tuned because coming soon there will be a fun interview with Holly. You can check out her work at: http://www.peacefrogdesigns.etsy.com/

and her blog at: http://peacefrogdesigns.blogspot.com/

Have a wonderful Weekend!

Don't forget to enter my blog Giveaway it ends on Monday 31st.

Happy Painting/Creating! :) T.

My Son is a College Freshman.

My Son is now officially a college Freshman, with the first day of classes behind him and excitedly awaiting the first football game of the season.

My Hubby and I took our Son to his chosen college in Ohio last week to get him settled. I thought it would be easier with the last child to leave and go off to college but with each one it has been a bittersweet experience. I am excited that they are able to get into the colleges of their choice but I hate that they happen to be so far from home (Oregon). I am glad they are independent enough to be able to deal with the challenges of being so far away especially long distance flying but I miss them. Believe it our not we are a very close family, yet our children are scattered now in Ohio, California and England. I guess I will just have to build up my frequent flyer miles by visiting more often :)

Although I am a Brit I have lived in every State and one Province on the West coast of North America and consider myself a West coast girl even though my heart is still in London. I have only had the opportunity to travel to one other State (Arizona) until now. I did not quite know what to expect and boy I was pleasantly surprised. The people in Ohio are so friendly which really helped me feel comfortable getting on the plane to return to Oregon leaving my son at college in their capable hands.

So, I thank them and wish my Son the best for his college Freshman year.

Happy Painting/Creating! :) T.

Thursday, August 13, 2009

Third Giveaway from Poppy Place Pdx.

Here we are another month another Giveaway!

I am loving these giveaways because I get to interact with some really awesome people and making connections is so much fun.

This Month I have decided to go back to giving away artwork, but 2 pieces this time!!!

First up is this bright and colourful card. It is original artwork in different colours and types of inks mounted on a card. This card measures 6.5" x 4.5" approx. and comes with a matching white envelope.

Then we have a fun piece, this was an experiment for me to start producing smaller pieces, as my artwork is getting rather large (4' x 6' canvases) over the past few years and hard to get into the car to carry around, let alone trying to hang in art shows. So, I feel really good about this piece. It is a fun technique using inks and mylar. Inks, like watercolours are sometimes very difficult to control so trying to do an art piece that needs to stay "within the lines" can prove challenging, so always happy to get the result I was working towards.

A little about this piece;

"Bright Strips" is a great piece of original art work, a one of a kind piece, it is signed on the back.

Created in bright shades of Fuchsia Pink, Purple and Reds; In Winsor and Newton water based inks on watercolour paper.(Colours are more vivid on Artwork)

There is a unique sheen and a playful intrigue in this piece creating an abstract form.

"Bright Strips" measures 11 x 11 and is Ready to Frame.

The great thing about this piece is that it can be hung which ever way you choose, it will look great anyway you decide.

(I get rather frustrated with photographs, even using a professional, because they rarely capture the vivid colours my artwork comes in, so believe me on this, the colours are way more vibrant than the photo indicates!)

So, all you have to do is check out my Etsy Shops and please heart me! :)

Follow my blog and then post comments back here on my blog until the 31st of August; I will enter every name from the comments and have a drawing on the 31st.

Have fun!

Happy Painting/Creating! :) T.

http://vintaget.etsy.com/ (for Vintage wares)
http://poppyplace.etsy.com/ (for Artwork)
http://designt.etsy.com/ (for Handmade items)

Monday, August 10, 2009

WinterTime in my Garden!

Well here is the last installment of my garden thru the seasons. This one I guess is more fun than anything else. ENJOY!!!

I love Christmas, it is absolutely my favourite day of the year, oh, apart from my B.Day of course. :)

These photos were taken 10 days before Christmas last winter, the passion plant is still green (on left) and there are still some plants in the flower pots, they are so brave. :) I didn't even go outside to take these photos it was soooo cold!

It is tradition we make at least one Snow "Person" a year!

Happy Painting/Creating! :) T.

Saturday, August 8, 2009

Autumn in my Garden!

Well, here is the next installment of my garden photos, this time Autumn. I realised when I started looking for Fall photos I really hadn't taken very many.

I am showing the Halloween photo, well because I love to decorate but I also wanted to show that the hanging Fuchsias are still going at the end of October, isn't that amazing. The Busy Lizzies are still going strong in the doorway and in the foreground you just get a peek at other pots and hanging baskets with flowers in them, I guess we are lucky we have such a moderate climate in the Willamette Valley, Oregon.

ENJOY!!!!!!!

The rest of the photos were taken last year the week before Halloween. It really is a magical time of the year.

Happy Painting/Creating! :) T.

Thursday, August 6, 2009

SummerTime in my Garden!

Here are more flowers from my garden, this time photos of the garden in the SummerTime. ENJOY!!!!!!!!!!

My Favourite rosebush, "PlayBoy" and "Iceberg", (yes, 2 in one! :) the moles have disturbed the roots and it isn't flowering right now, but I live in hope that it will be back flourishing next year.:)