Hello again. Thanks to all our painting and crafting friends who have responded to the offer of a free copy of Painting Charming Cottages and Villages by Kerry Trout. I’m really enjoying reading about your “dream houses” and I just wish I were fabulously wealthy so I could make everyone’s dream come true!
I’m struck by how many of us long for that “log cabin in the woods” and for being near the ocean, a lake, a stream, etc., and for having a big porch and a studio, and some peace and quiet.
I’m also struck by how different our dream houses can be from what we actually live in. When was the last time any of us saw big wrap-around porches in a subdivision? Or charming architectural details on a suburban ranch house?My little fixer-upper has a few Craftsman-style touches inside, but white vinyl siding outside. Yet I long for a charming Victorian cottage with a bit of gingerbread trim, a big porch where the dog can snooze, lace curtains blowing in the breeze, and flowers everywhere. I found it in Kerry’s book, but that’s as close as I’ll ever come to it.
By the way, I noticed none of us wished for a gigantic McMansion with a six-car garage and a manicured lawn.
I hope we all find our dream house soon. Meanwhile, stay tuned—the winner of the free book will be announced shortly in this blog-space, and thanks again for sharing your dreams with us.
Hello again. I am so happy to see that a brand new book on painting cottages and villages has come out by one of my very favorite artists, Kerry Trout!Take a look at the recent blog post by MC Jackie to see some really cool examples of pretty, old-time cottages and sweetly nostalgic villages. These make perfect subjects if you like to make your own greeting cards, especially for the holidays.So please check it out – you could win a free copy of the book!
I love receiving hand-made greeting cards from friends and family, but now that everyone’s so crazy-busy and postage keeps going up, I wonder if I’ll get any this year. I hope so, because those are the ones I keep forever.
Kerry Trout’s new book has given me some great ideas for painting my own cards, and with all the easy-to-follow step-by-step photos in the book, I’m sure I could whip out several uniquely personal cards in a weekend.
What about you?Do you usually create something from the heart for those extra-special folks in your life?Care to share your ideas with us?
Ten step-by-step projects help you bring the storybook cottages and towns of your dreams to life. Each project is painted in acrylics. Full-color photos, traceable patterns, color swatches, detailed materials lists and a techniques section make each painting demonstration easy to follow.
Kerry developed Liquid Shadow, a water-based medium that enables painters to easily paint cast shadows and to deepen shading. It was awarded “New Product of the Year” in 2003 by the Society of Decorative Painters. You can learn more about Kerry and Liquid Shadow at her web site, www.kerrytrout.net.
All you have to do to enter to win is post a comment on this blog describing your dream home. Post on or before December 1, 2008. If you can’t wait to win and you want to order Paint Charming Cottages & Villages, visit the MyCraftivityShop.com.
Thanks for entering and good luck!
MCJackie
P.S. Here are a few of the charming scenes you'll learn how to paint in Paint Charming Cottages & Villages:
Hello again!Last time I talked about coming up with ideas for holiday gifts that took a “green” approach, and I received an interesting reply from painting friend, Penny, who suggested using those inexpensive woven baskets you can get at the craft stores for about a dollar. Thanks, Penny, that’s a great idea!I hadn’t thought about baskets, and they can be used not only as gifts, but as gift carriers too.
Baskets would most likely be reused by the recipient instead of thrown away like gift wrap often is, so that helps with the “re-use, re-purpose” idea. And painting a general, non-holiday-specific design on it means that basket can be used year ‘round. For the holidays, as Penny suggests, tie a gold ribbon on the handle for a bit of sparkle.
I like to bake my special sugar ‘n spice cookies as gifts for friends and family (no one’s died yet from my cookies so I guess they’re okay!) so putting them in a hand-decorated basket would be perfect. And much less expensive than buying those metal tins and gift bags. Well, problem solved, and now I can’t wait to get started.
Hello again!Isn’t amazing how every year, the holiday season seems to be such a surprise? Why am I always caught off-guard by seeing holiday decorations in the stores at the same time I’m buying a new rake to clean up the fall leaves? We all know it happens every year, but it’s a shock all the same.
I have a tradition of buying one new, special ornament every holiday season, but I think this year I’ll make my own.Handmade ornaments make great gifts, too, but only for friends or relatives who appreciate the time and effort you put into it. I’ve given up on giving handmade ornaments to the kids in my extended family—they want video games, I-pods, and Hannah Montana dolls. Ornaments are so uncool.
Since I love to paint, I may take a plain ornament and paint a winter scene on it and dust it with glitter, or I may take a foam ball and wrap it in ribbons left over from previous projects, but I’ve done both of those ideas before. I’d like to do something new, but use what I have on hand already.
H’mmm—what about a “green” approach to making ornaments? And I don’t mean going out and gathering leaves and twigs and hot-gluing them to a grapevine wreath—I’ve done that before, too, and it’s messy and unsatisfying. I’d like to make something that’s pretty, colorful and sparkling, but still “green.”
