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Welcome to The Painted Squirrel!


Magic is believing in yourself. If you can do that, you can do anything! - Johann Wolfgang Van Goethe

Tuesday, December 31, 2013

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year!  I hope that 2014 is your best year ever!  I've haven't been blogging recently because I can't seem to balance blogging, getting ready for the holidays and the huge amount of ornaments I paint in November and December!  On the one hand, I'm so grateful for the work and love painting, but on the other hand, I walk around the house looking like a cave woman on crack for months!  (I've never actually seen a cave woman on crack, but every time I passed a mirror, that was the thought that popped into my head :)).



I turned 49 in December.  Forty-nine.  49.  Neunundvierzig.  It's so different from the other adult "9" numbers; 19, 29, and 39.  Back then, I was only thinking about the next decade and really only looked back on the last ten years to see if my predictions came true and if I was on track.  Forty-nine means I am about to embark on the "second half" of my life and consequently, I'm not looking back and analyzing the last ten years, I'm looking at the last forty-nine!  This time it's become less about looking to see where my boat is heading and adjusting the course or the sails to get to my next destination and more about wondering if I'm even in the right OCEAN!   I can understand why so many people have a mid-life crisis.   I certainly feel an urgency to make sure I'm on the right track, now before it's too late, while I'm still young enough to make the changes and young enough to enjoy the changes I make!



What has gone right in my forty-nine years?  I would still choose the life I've led even if I could go back and change it.  Are Bob and I happy all of the time?  Of course not, but we are still committed to our relationship and the promise of making it better and better over time.  My kids are such a joy to me.   They are all such blessings and I'm lucky - I don't often pine for a life not lived.  My family and friends are my strong supporters and how I got mixed up in such a hilarious group of people is nothing short of a miracle!



What would I change?    The big rest-of-my-life goal is to get my creative opus that is hiding inside me out into the light.  Grandma Moses didn't start painting until her mid 70's and only because she was no longer able to embroider because she had arthritis (she went on to paint for almost 30 years!).  Julia Child wasn't THE Julia Child until after she was 50!  One of my favorite late bloomers is probably Sister Marion Irvine, who at 47 was overweight and smoked two packs of cigarettes a day and she decided to make some changes.  She started running and by the time she was 54 she qualified for the Olympic time trials!    It aint over til it's over folks!  I am committed to not just think about it, but to do it.  Learn the technology that will help my business and try and work smarter.  Write a business plan, sign up for Twitter and Instagram and figure out exactly how to link them to my facebook. (I am hoping that I will also find out what the heck Instagram is while I'm doing that...sheesh).  I am WOMAN, hear me TWEET!



The rest are the usual annual goals - improve my health, read more, take classes, simplify and get organized.  MARK MY WORDS - (she looks up and raises her fist to the sky) God as my witness - Christmas 2014 will not be stressful!!!   IT WILL NOT!!



So let's get started making this the best year - or 50 years - that we've ever had!  Happy 2014!  I am so grateful to be here with you and to have the opportunity to share my life and projects with you and I wish you health, success and the realization of all of your dreams this year!



Love, Andie











Saturday, November 23, 2013

Bling Things...

There is so much going on this time of year!  I am painting my little hands off for the ornament orders coming in - how lucky is that?  In between though, I am still trying to clean out my studio.  I am still working on the fabric surplus, and continue to make tote bags and dolls, yet somehow, it doesn't seem like my cache of fabric has gone down at all and I can't seem to figure out why?  I've decided that it's the same principle that applies to laundry, no matter how many loads you do, the baskets always seem to remain full?!  It defies logic and reason, but there it is all the same!   :)

I've now moved along into my stash of beads.  I've been collecting new and vintage beads for years.  Never with the idea of making jewelry with them, more for crafts here and there and the occasional yard sale "oh look!  It's pretty so maybe I will find something to do with it!"  Well, it's time!  I spent my spare time this week teaching myself (with the help of Youtube) how to make beaded jewelry and here are my results!



These were some of my Grandmothers beads.  They were on one string and very heavy and clunky.  I tried to modernize them by doing them in more of a layered look. 

















I am trying to improve my photography skills, however, I certainly still have a lot to learn.  I've put all of these on my Etsy shop, (www.etsy.com/shop/bojams) just to see what happens.  Now I'm off to a local craft fair where my wonderful friend, Paula, is showcasing her talent today!  Check out her etsy shop www.etsy.com/shop/snugglebunnytoo

I hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving, stay safe!  I am so thankful to all of you for letting me show you my humble projects!  Have a wonderful day!

Saturday, November 9, 2013

The Inevitable...

I think we all knew that when I started trying to use my surplus fabric to make rag dolls that eventually I would make one for myself, didn't we?


Monday, November 4, 2013

Ornament Avalanche!

Hello again!  I have had several folks ask me recently to see samples of my ornaments.  It never occurred to me that once I switched to blog format instead of a website that I would lose my "photo album"!  So here is a sampling for everyone to see!

























Sunday, November 3, 2013

Sounds Like a Plan!

Another week has just flown by!  The leaves are changing and Halloween has come and gone.  This was the first year that neither of my boys went trick or treating, but my nephew and his wife brought their two little ones to my house so I was able to get my "fix" of cuteness!  I tried to be a bit more creative with my pumkin this year - thanks to my addiction to Pinterest! - here's a quick look....

Over the summer, I was asked by interior designer Karen Dunlap (kmdinteriors.com) to paint a mural on the wall of one of her clients (he happens to be a friend of ours as well).  He recently purchased a gorgeous town house and asked Karen for her help in the design.  He was looking for a pop of color and something that sort of meandered from the top left corner of the wall to the bottom right.  He is so musical that I suggested we run a sound file down the wall.  He recorded a saying that would inspire him (I told him I wouldn't tell what he said :)) and I set about painting it on his wall. 

Here's the blank wall - the flat screen hangs in the middle and he will have two corner bar tables and stools with orange pendant lights above them in either corner.  I love that he opted to use his formal living area for a game room!

I used painters tape to approximate where I want the painting to go.  It's so easy to reposition and step back to look at the placement!

The first coats.  I wanted there to be a lot of movement in the painting so it looks like the wall is reacting to the sound.

 
I used some light teal to brighten some areas.

The teal really makes it glow.

Here's a close up of the top corner. 


The addition of the sound file across the wall (avoiding the inevitable equipment shelf!)


The finished product.  I used an opalescent paint on the sound file and it literally glows.  I can't wait to see it in the evening with the pendant lights hanging over it!  He certainly got the pop of color! You can't see that there's some orange subtly running through it which will tie it in with his color scheme, but it's there.

Have a great week everyone and enjoy your fall!