Selling Angel Art for American Cancer Society

Sorry for not posting recently...but I am excited to report that I have submitted four of my angel paintings to the Fine Art America website!  All proceeds from my Angel Art will be donated to the American Cancer Society.  This fine organization not only helps fund much-needed research, but also provides services such as transportation to treatment for cancer victims and their families.

Ice Blue Angel

Pastel Angel

Glowing Angel

Rainbow Angel

Many of you are aware that my husband is now a one-year survivor of metastatic prostate cancer.  Today he spent the afternoon helping me take some high-resolution photographs with his Nikon camera and a tripod.  I purchased some black velvet fabric and covered a Masonite board with it.  We set up outdoors in the sun's natural light with a tabletop easel perched on a stool.  We were ducking showers, but managed to take some good-quality photographs in direct sunlight.

The Fine Art America website lets you choose from products such as prints, (framed or unframed), notecards, greeting cards, phone cases, postcards, pouches, tote bags, towels, even shower curtains with the artwork that you select.  All of the financial transactions, printing, and shipping are provided by the company.  I have added the minimal mark-up so that any profits will go to the American Cancer Society.

In the near future I will also be adding some original Angel Art to my Easy shop...I have many small original paintings that can be framed or used on notecards.  

Thank you for your encouragement and support!

Florida Fun

We have just returned from a wonderful week on the Gulf coast of Florida.  First stop was Sarasota, where my husband Charlie had his one-year check-up at the Dattoli Cancer Center.  Scans and ultrasounds and exams showed no recurrence or new cancer!  Great news!

Then it was on to Lido Key Beach for a couple of days.  We stayed once again at the Sand Castle Resort.  It was only steps to the water from our room, and warm enough to enjoy sitting on the beach.

On Thursday, we drove down to Ft. Myers for the weekend with my brother Jeff, his wife Anna, and their son Michael who has recently graduated from Florida State.  He leaves on Thursday for a new job in Washington, DC, so we were glad for a chance to visit with him, too.

Jeff took us on a boat ride up the Caloosahatchie River in Ft. Myers, right up to the bridge we crossed every day on our trips to Sarasota for Charlie's treatment.

We saw a lot of great sunsets on this trip.  This one is from the deck behind my brother's house.

And on our last night, we sat on the causeway to Sanibel Island and watched our last Florida sunset for awhile.  

Next check-up is in September, and we hope that visit will be just as magical.

Early Spring

February brought some extremely warm temperatures this year.  Raleigh is in full bloom.  I was inspired to paint some bunnies.

The first one I call "I'm not fat, I'm fluffy!"

And for one slightly less whimsical but still colorful, how about a rainbow rabbit?  I was inspired by one I saw on Pinterest.

After several days of wearing shorts and sandals, we came up to the mountains yesterday and this morning it snowed!  Bummer!  We went to town this morning and picked out flooring and carpet for the new basement studio.  We chose a wood-look tile for the floors and a thick carpet for the stairwell.  And tomorrow our nephew is going to help us finish the basement ceiling.

This afternoon I started a new painting.  I worked from a photo of our woods, and added a nice buck. Needs some work before it"s done.

Our little granddaughter Layla turned six months old this week.  She is getting to be full of personality and LOVES attention.

On Monday we will be heading back to warm weather when we go back to Florida for my husband's one-year check-up at the cancer center.  We are planning to meet up with a friend from Raleigh who is  currently being treated at Dattoli Cancer Center, and also my husband's business partner who is vacationing in Florida next week.  Then back for a long weekend with my brother Jeff and wife Anna, who graciously hosted us during Charlie's months of radiation.  We are looking forward to a good report from the doctor, and then some good times in the sun.

And...She Liked Her Quilt!

Layla approved of her new quilt!  Makes my heart melt!

"Layla's Garden" Quilt: Done!

Layla's Garden quilt is now quilted and bound...and ready to give to our little grand baby when we get back to Raleigh!

I really had fun custom-quilting this one.  A flower meander in the center block, lots of feathers...

I added quilt art to the back with some leftover blocks.

Layla's "Flower Garden" Baby Quilt

Finally, I finished the quilt top for my newest grand baby, Layla Grace.  She is now five months old!  Here is the finished top.

The green borders are more of a spring green than the photo shows.  

The birds and butterflies and center panel are from patterns that I have had for many years.  The patchwork squares are from coordinating fabrics for Layla's nursery, as well as fabrics from my stash. the vivid oranges and pinks are hand-dyed fabric.

Today I used some leftover blocks to make the pieced back, and mounted it on the machine.  I hope to get some quilting done tomorrow.  

Here is the sweet little recipient of the new quilt.  She is lying on the first quilt I ever made...for her dad!

We worked hard on the sewing room/studio space in our basement last weekend.  We got great help from Charlie's brother Richard, and our nephew, Jason.  Most of the ceiling is now complete, along with some wonderful LED light panels.

Next up:  finish the ceiling over the steps and in the bathroom, put in the bathroom fixtures, and then the floors.  I am thinking of using porcelain tiles that look like wood.

We have been having a great week here at the cabin in the North Carolina mountains.  Some pictures from a recent walk:

We will be here through the weekend.  We are hoping our nephew will come back and help finish the ceiling.  If not, it will keep for a few more weeks!

Sweet Sue #2

I got a new car while we were in the mountains last week...a 2017 Subaru Outback to replace my 2004 model.  There was nothing wrong with it, but I wanted the new feature like back-up camera, blind spot indicators, HID headlights, and of course the navigation system and blue-tooth capacity.  I drove it home down our snowy mountain driveway, and it did great.  In fact, I love it!  The color is Crystal Black Silica, and it has little sparkles in the sunshine that look blue or green.

                                

I did get the binding applied to the charity quilt.  It was fun sewing these tropical fabrics while it was snowing outside.  I used the bright turquoise floral print for both backing and binding.  My friend Mary gave me a humongous piece of it while we were making our charity quilt tops in January.  So, this one is ready to turn into the Capital Quilters Guild.  They make charity quilts for premature babies in NICU, and also wheelchair quilts and quilts for families participating in child abuse education programs.

I felt like painting on Sunday, and looked through some Pinterest inspiration pieces to see what I could do.  This one came out nicely, I think!

I am still painting lots of angels, and I made this one for our mountain neighbor's daughter who requested one with this scripture verse.

That's about it for now.  Thanks for stopping by!