Twelve fleur des lis pendants all painted and ready to go for a special order! This was a perfect project for me, I just love this symbol. I'll have to offer a few of these on my site, and maybe paint a couple more for me!

Black Friday Through Cyber Monday Sale at The Painted Cottage Studio!

20% OFF all items at The Painted Cottage Studio, where you'll find my hand painted jewelry! The sale runs from 11/24/11 through 11/28/11. Enter coupon code HOLIDAY20 at checkout for 20% off your entire order!

THANKFUL FOR YOU SALE

Thank you to all of my past, present and future customers! To show my appreciation, I'm having a THANKFUL FOR YOU SALE going on right now through Monday, November 28th at my hand painted jewelry shop, The Painted Cottage Studio! Save 10% on your entire order by entering the code THANKFUL10 at checkout. Or email me at handpaintedjewelry@charter.net for a custom item!

Also, my Wallflowers items have joined in on the sale with 15% off your entire order through Monday, November 28th! Simply enter the code THANKFUL15 at checkout.

Have fun shopping, getting ready for the holidays and being with family and friends. Have a wonderful day!

Yummy (and easy!) Pumpkin Muffins

These muffins are so yummy and so easy! I believe this is a Weight Watchers
recipe, but it was passed on to me by a friend. I just had to share...

1 can (15 oz.) pumpkin

1 box spice cake mix

1/8 cup water

**option... 2/3 bag of mini chocolate chips for the chocolate lovers! Yum!

Mix together with mixer and fill muffin cups half full, or bake in muffin
tins sprayed with cooking spray. Bake approx. 12 minutes or until
toothpick in center comes out clean. Bake at temperature according to
directions on the box.

Custom Painted Necklace

I just completed a custom made, hand painted necklace for a friend. I used very tiny brushes with this one, it's all on a 1 inch square!

Holidays and Traditions Shabby Lane Shops Magazine

Another wonderful Shabby Lane Shops magazine just hit the news stands! This "Holidays and Traditions" issue includes my short story, titled The Christmas Tree Farm.

You can find "Holidays and Traditions" in select Barnes & Noble, Bookworld and Hancock Fabric stores! And of course, you can also order this issue, a subscription and back issues at this link.

The Making of a Mural

I recently finished a mural at a friend's house and luckily took a few pictures along the way! She wanted a tranquil ocean with a palm tree on each side and a few flowers.

It didn't look like much when I first started...

Okay, a little peaceful looking now...

I love this, the floating coconut stage. It made me laugh. (Notice how my client wanted fluffy looking clouds, so I changed them for her.)

We labeled these "the aliens". Unfortunately I had to leave it like this overnight and my client woke up during the night thinking aliens had landed!

What a difference a few leaves make!

Here's the left side...

and now the right side...

and ta da! It's finished!

Back to the Missouri Botanical Gardens

I was lucky enough to find this heart shaped hydrangea at the gardens. How perfect!

The climatron and water lilies look so beautiful together. It was great to be there on a sunny day, a little hot of course (in St. Louis, what do you expect?) but that's okay, we were just happy to be there!

Chihuly created these glass sculptures a few years ago and they add so much color. Those lily pads are so large, we had to resist walking on them like stepping stones.

These guys were just asking me to come over and take their picture. I couldn't say no.

Still green, but finding these gourds was a subtle reminder that fall is just up ahead. (Yay!)

The New Veggie Garden

Freshly picked radishes! Unfortunately I don't really like radishes but still, we have radishes in our new garden. Yay! We put our garden in a little late so I'm thrilled to get anything to grow in the 90+ heat.

The baby carrots are up in the corner and are slow growin'. But that's okay, I'm just happy to see them there, alive and happy. And now I can say..."oh yes, we have carrots in our garden this year."

The first tomato is just turning red. I have big plans for this little guy. Oh yes. Hopefully there will be many (many) more to follow.

Introducing Lucy

I couldn't help myself but post these photos of our kitty, Lucy. She just turned a year old in April and I have to admit, she's a sweetie. She likes to lay on her back a lot, super surprising for a cat.

I have no idea what she was thinking here.

I couldn't believe she could still fit in a soda box. This used to be one of her favorite toys when she was...umm, smaller. We used to push her around the house like riding in a little kitty car.

Now Lucy's a member of the family and it's getting hard to remember what it was like before she was here.

My New Hand Painted Pendants

I wanted to share a few of my new hand painted pendants I recently listed on Etsy. These are teeny little paintings where I use teeny little brushes and lots and lots of patience!

I'm having so much fun creating these little paintings, I'm in the middle of making more and I can't wait to add them to my new Etsy site next week!

Oh by the way, if you want to check it out I'm at www.HandPaintedJewelry.Etsy.com.

Shabby Lane Shops Giveaway and Latest Magazine

Click here to enter to win this Spring Shabby Lane Shops Boutique Bag giveaway! That link will take you to the Shabby Lane Shops blog where the entries are being accepted. There are 32 shops that contributed to this giveaway, so this would be a great one to win! If you can see it, my mini blackboard tag is right in the center of the picture.

Four of the last Shabby Lane Shops magazine are included, along with the recent Spring & Summer issue that will hit newstands April 6th! My latest short story is included in this new issue. It's titled "The Unexpected Garden" and it's very much a spring and Mother's Day story. If you don't see it in your Barnes & Noble or other local bookstore, you can always order it here.

My New Mini-Sized Painting

I painted this itty bitty painting last night and baked it this morning. I love how sweet and small it is.

I have several more just waiting to be painted. I can't wait!

I'm Back At It Again...

But this time I didn't paint one large chalkboard, I painted over 40 small, sweet little chalkboards. These have been shipped off to Tennessee to be included in the Shabby Lane Shops boutique bags, to be sold at the Nashville Women's Show in April. I even included a little mini piece of chalk with each one!

They can be used for gift tags or for labels in the kitchen, etc. AND since they're chalkboards, they're totally reusable. I kept three for myself, but I can see it's not going to be enough!

By the way, if you would like to order a Boutique Bag from Shabby Lane Shops and receive a sampling of what many of the shops have to offer, the link is http://www.shabbylaneshops.com/catalog.htm?item=354

The Ice Storm

Every single twig and blade of grass was covered today. It was beautiful but I have to admit, I enjoyed its awesomeness much more from the inside of the warm house as I watched through the window.

My lavender is trying desperately to hang in there.

And this is all before the sleet hit. We had so much sleet it looked like snow.

But the kids played in it anyway.

Which means, of course, these icicles were demolished.

Hang in there lavender. Spring will be here soon....

I Just Finished My Chalkboard!

I don't know what it is, but I have a thing for chalkboards. I found this cabinet door at a yard sale and, for some reason unknown, had it sitting in my basement unused. It's so fun to give something new life, to change it into something totally unexpected. I should really do that more often.

I have the perfect spot in my kitchen for this freshly painted 'Menu' but the thing is, I still have more chalkboard paint. And I still have more cabinet doors from that yard sale. Where will I go with all of them when I'm finished?

It's voting time! I've decorated my website once again for Valentine's Day. I even have falling pink hearts this year! Click here to see how it looks. But then come back and remember to vote for me (by clicking on the button below) for this year's Valentine's Day contest! Thank you!!

Have a Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy New Year everyone! I'm sharing a link to the new Shabby Lane Shops magazine on sale now either through this link or at book stores across the country, including select Barnes & Noble stores. I have a short story included in this magazine titled "Romance in Bloom".

This magazine is called New Year Romance and is the New Year/Valentine issue. Just like the past issues, this magazine has great articles and beautiful photos, so don't miss it! Subscriptions are also available.