Cowboys and Indians Magazine...My Favorite!

I'm checking in this morning for a quick hello and to touch base with you all. I hope you are having a wonderful summer...seems like it's hotter all around the country than ever...I know it's been killer here with the 90 degree temps and 80 % humidity.

I'm spending my time during the heat of the day in the studio or online researching the values of things going into the shop. I am working hard on my time management skills...the ad I mentioned earlier is now in print in the latest edition of Cowboys and Indians Magazine -look for Reba on the cover. I got a preview about two weeks ago and wanted so badly to show you...

Most months, there is a handsome cowboy on the cover, but every so often they will feature an outstanding cowgirl. This time it's our girl Reba with a 10 page feature article.This is also the Western and Native Art issue. Good stuff!

FYI, I have 8 years of back issues that I'm going to start parting with  soon. Who's your favorite cowboy? Real or movie star, I bet he's been on the cover of C & I. And, just so you know in advance...Russell Crowe is not going anywhere.

At any rate, my website traffic was somewhat improved over the weekend and I am excited. This issue will be distributed through September at lots of interesting venues such as the Western Design Conference in Jackson Hole, Wy and the World Equestrian Games in Lexington, Kentucky. My ad is in the back in the General Store section.

I had wanted badly to try and exhibit at the Western Design Conference this year. I haven't been since 2003 or since they moved it from Cody to Jackson. After some discussion with Rick back in March and a few tears later I decided he's right...again...and that it would be crazy to throw another element into my life right now...I am, after all  supposed to be enjoying this journey I'm on. So, I thought I'd take a shot with my favorite magazine and see what happens.

I chose to use an old pet portrait that's still on my website because it's one of my absolute favorite pieces. It was exhibited at the WDC in 2002. The adult dog is my dad's and is still alive and well, while the pup, Cowboy, was my son's. We lost him 2 years ago to kidney disease and there's not a day that goes by that I don't think about that dog! He was the one I yelled at every morning of his life with us until his last couple..."Bad dog, bad dog!" He reminded me of the dog from the movie Hope Floats that chased and barked at the ducks everyday...well Cowboy barked at and annoyed the horses coming into the barn every morning. It's just what he did. Good memories.

I hope you will run out and get a copy of the September edition of the magazine if you don't subscribe to it already. It's full of interesting articles and the ads have more eye candy than you can absorb in one sitting. I always check them out first to see what's new with my peeps!

Talk to you soon.

Worktable Wednesday

I am using my worktable again and it feels sooooo good to know where all of my supplies are and have space to work. This was worth all the effort of the re-do. I hardly remember the bumps and bruises.

Today's project is for me. I am working on a collage with 20 years worth of memories...from day one in the floorcloth business. My first hand lettered and hand drawn business cards and brochures created by my sister and I in 1989 to accomplishments in 2009. I'm not quite sure where to draw the line or just how big this thing is going to be.

I wanted to do a collage to save wall space and put the history all in one area. I didn't realize until today what an accumulation I have! I have impressed myself. I think sometimes we forget how we get were we are.

This is me in 1990 from a newspaper article....I look like a kid! 

I had just mailed slides off to Country Living Magazine.

I think getting into the magazine gave the confidence to continue and build a business rather than to supplement our income while I was out of work raising our daughter.

The plan was to go back to work once she was in school and I did try that for a while but it felt WRONG! I am so happy the way things have turned out.

I can't wait to show you the collage when I'm done. No promises when...it will evolve as I am inspired. It will most likely be done this month. I will keep you posted. 

Has anyone else taken on such a project...so much in one piece? I don't think it will have any rhyme or reason, but we will see. Talk to you soon.

Taking a Breather

Thought I'd surface and come up for a little air and catch up...

It took almost two weeks to paint my studio. When I started moving things out away from the walls one thing lead to another and I ended up throwing out loads of things and reorganizing. After being in business for over 20 years it was beyond time to purge and start fresh in some areas. It had gotten to the point that it was too cluttered to work on more than a couple of projects at a time and ideally I needed to take it back to the basics of more floorspace with better storage.

I found a new gallon of blue paint I had left over from a job and decided I'd love to have a Carolina Blue ceiling. This was an ambitious undertaking to say the least...but me and Rock 92 got the job done. When you are painting walls and ceilings all you have to do is think or sing...so I solved all the world's problems and sang all my old favorite songs from my teenage years...funny how you never forget the words.

Here is a peek at my office...I've started putting things back in place and this was the first area of business. There are a few things that need tweaking but this area is pretty much finished. I'm waiting on Hobby Lobby to put their frames on sale for 50% off and I want to finish the skirt to hide my "shipping department" and then I'll be ready for the big reveal.

I already like the blue sky above...I thought I would paint the floor but, now after some serious thought I'm leaving it the way it is...very paint splattered...because in a week of working it will become newly paint splattered.  Too much new will make me feel like I can't work as freely as I am used to...isn't that the point of having a studio?

Rick has been working hard on his shop...the longest project on record...nothing about it has gone right or on schedule, but it's coming along. 

Not much different from the last few photos really, but much has gone on inside...

Walls and ceiling are primed and we will paint the ceiling this evening after he gets in from work...looking forward to it in the 95 degree heat...NOT. But, I am looking forward to this being FINISHED so I can get started downstairs in my shop. 

I have designed my lighting plan and am going to order the lights next week. I'm going with track lighting similar to what we had in the gallery but with smaller spots. There is so much more to choose from today compared to only 6 years ago. I loved how the gallery looked, but I am really going to be happier with the look of this shop because it will reflect more of my personality...it doesn't have to conform to anyone's rules but ours.

Today, I've been catching up on neglected things...like my blog, my Facebook Fan Page and my website. I have an ad coming out in a national magazine the end of the month and I need to get this part of my biz organized as well. So, if you need me, I'm not in my nice newly painted office in the studio...I'm sitting under the ceiling fan on the porch with my laptop...with my sweet tea of course. 

The view is pretty nice too...our Crepe Myrtle is in full bloom and will be this pretty until frost. 

Just my two cents on a beautiful Tuesday afternoon. Talk to you soon.

Thusday's Thrifty Find

No thrifting this week for me...to add more fuel to the fire we've had to get up hay from the fields at our place and at our neighbor's. It's kind of late for a first cutting but we've had so much rain this spring we missed out on prime time and have been fortunate not to lose it (the hay, and some sanity I suppose) altogether.

I love the smell of hay and when it's stacked in the loft and I know we are good for the year it's well worth the sweat, scratches and itchiness until shower time. We have one more trailer left to stack and then we are done.

Because of our busy summer schedule we will not have a proper vacation this year. I do have a trip planned for August to visit our daughter in Oklahoma and made reservations this week. In lieu of staying on the cheap in the camper on the ranch, I decided to make the best of it and stay on Lake Murray this time since my sister and her 6 year old are traveling with me. It's about 15 minutes from the ranch and there's lots to do....And, somehow, I don't know why this keeps happening, I've chosen another place that is "said" to be haunted. We'll see. If so, it will be a great post for the blog.

Tucker Tower on Lake Murray

click here for an interesting little video...and history of the "ghost" Alfalfa Bill Murray

The water on this lake is really blue...not like the murky brown waters in NC.

One of the cabins on the lake...maybe ours?

Do you want to bet that the storage cabinet beside the fireplace is the only "closet" in the place?

So...my thrifty find for the week is a mini vacation for the same price as a room at the Holiday Inn for the same amount of days...and this is what we get.

A little from their website.....Lake Murray State Park is Oklahoma's oldest and largest state park consisting of 12,500 acres located on the shores of beautiful Lake Murray. Other activities include golfing, picnics, camping, horseback riding, hayrides, hiking, biking, rollerblading, swimming, miniature golf and paddle boating. Sports facilities include an 18-hole golf course with a pro shop, tennis courts, softball fields, baseball diamond, horseshoe pits, badminton and volleyball nets.

Lake Murray State Park offers a wonderful ATV area for 3/4 wheelers, motorcycles and dirt bikes. Other facilities found in the park include an airstrip, bait and tackle shop, marina with rentals, swimming pool with a changing house, swimming beach, riding stable, remote control air field for hobbyists, miniature golf course and Frisbee golf. The Tucker Tower Nature Center features local artifacts, nature programs and activities conducted by the state park naturalist.

Erin discovered the lake when she was looking for places to run besides the road where she lives. Now that Summer is here she goes to the lake for swimming, boating and fishing with friends weekly...so it's just the perfect place for us to stay. Can't wait till August!

 The lake at sunset...taken by Erin

Worktable Wednesday

If you are a follower you know what my worktable "really" looks like these days...but I actually finished a commissioned floorcloth last week...Benadryl and all.  If you are a Face Book fan you've already seen it there.

Normally, I don't show commission work online because of piracy. My clients pay me to design and paint something specifically for them and it really hurts us all when a knock off shows up on ebay for mere pennies...yep it's really happened.

Anyhoo...this one was commissioned by a woman that is donating it to an auction that will benefit breast cancer and the more people that see it the better. It will be part of the silent auction at the Rally for the Cure - Golf Tournament at the Old North State Club July 14th, 2010.

She called me in May and said she wanted a floorcloth with a woman in pink on a golf course and that she liked the gate there and would like to include something from that......

So this is what we ended up with.... Stylized gal and stylized trees with an argyle border to coordinate with her pink sweater. The emblems in the corners are from the sign at the gate with the club's logo. Very "cutsie". Lots of fun.

Live, Laugh, and Do whatever it is you love!

Where Bloggers Create Party...Welcome to my Studio

I'm always a day late and at least a dollar short...and here I am again late for the party I've been looking forward to. Not my birthday party which was last night and lots of fun by the way...but the Where Bloggers Create Party sponsored by My Desert Cottage. To visit all the participants follow the link and look on the sidebar for the "Party Guests"

There are never good excuses for being late but always lots of reasons. On Friday which was my 50th birthday I had planned to finish up work in the studio around noon and take the afternoon to do some fun stuff for myself and write this post. Well, I ended up spending the day in a Benadryl funk and in and out of consciousness. I got stung by a wasp on Thursday and by Friday morning was absolutely miserable...swollen, red, blistery and itchy like you can't imagine. I didn't even celebrate my birthday until yesterday....anyway...I am now much better and ready to party!

My studio, as some of you that follow, may have guessed, is in complete chaos as I write. I've mentioned it in many posts recently that it looks like a hurricane blew through. When I signed up to participate in the party, I thought I could show you old photos and you'd never know the difference...but, that just isn't right! I will show a few old and a few current.

This post will serve two purposes....1. the blogger party. 2. the before pictures for our renovations that are soon to start.

My husband built the studio in late 1991 and I began working in there full time in January 1992. I had the upstairs portion and he had the downstairs. This is what it looked like last summer. This summer it will get railing and a board ramp like I showed in a previous post. And be updated with white trim and red screen doors. The garden in front will also be replanted with delicious smelling herbs like scented geranium and lavender.

The studio has served me well as my floorcloth studio and as space for art classes over the last 18 years. You can imagine the beating it has taken with all the hauling of materials up and down stairs and kids regularly running in and out.

I have had the same white walls and stenciled wild horse border since day one...ugh! My tastes have matured quite a bit but I just haven't had the time to make any changes until now. I'm going back with white walls but the border will bite the dust by the end of this week I hope.

 So here's where I am today....working simultaneously on floorcloth commissions, making items for the shop that will open in September, and renovating the studio upstairs and down.

WARNING: THIS IS NOT GOING TO WIN AN AWARD FOR PRETTY! Maybe next year...

You will be greeted by one of our sweet dogs upon arrival. This is Ada. She usually comes in for the day unless she's shedding...like now. By July we will be good to go again. Bless her heart, she just doesn't understand I can't have black dog hair in the finish coats of my floorcloths.

Welcome

As you walk in the stairs are immediately to the right...this is one of the first floorcloths I designed 20 years ago. The one on the floor is maybe 10 or so years old and yes that's dirt! I know I should be ashamed!

You see my office in the corner when you arrive at the top of the stairs. I've taken out the giant old Gateway computer and rarely ever take my laptop up there. We've also taken out our land line and it's actually been quite liberating to go unconnected while I'm working. I'm in the process of finishing a small floorcloth and once it's delivered I will stack as much as I can on the work table and begin painting the walls and ceiling this week. I've already unloaded some shelves.

This is my inspiration board where I have been accumulating ideas for my shop for the last couple of years...it has spilled over into a folder now but I leave the original things up to remind me that dreams come true and start with an idea or two. The custom boots have always been inspiring to my floorcloth designs...and too I am giving myself a pair sometime this year to celebrate being 50.

The corner where I keep my paint...outgrew it quickly so I also have a cabinet just for acrylics and specialty products. Another one of my first designs..."1840"

Multiple projects going on here...finished projects and loads of supplies underneath...You just don't know how much I am looking forward to opening the shop and having order back in my studio.

More finished projects and more stuff literally stuffed under the table, in boxes, drawers and cabinets.

I look forward to the day when I have floorspace again to paint large floorcloths...My worktable is 8' x 8' and my available floor space used to accommodate room size rugs. It will be so wonderful to have that much space when most of this stuff goes downstairs into Ranch Dressing.

So, this is my studio where I create. I hope you will come back in September to see the finished shop and renovated studio. I apologize for the length...when I haven't written for a while I tend to ramble. Now, I'm off to visit the other bloggers that create and look forward to seeing the beautiful places they work and live.

Killing Mildew Without Killing Yourself

We live where it's horribly humid during hot weather. When I was growing up we didn't have air conditioning in our house and our leather shoes would mildew in the closet.

We've come a long way since then, but I still have a mildew problem on my porches. I finally figured out that anything painted in latex fared much better than those painted or stained in oil-based products.

Our house trim is stained with oil and instead of gray it starts looking grimy after a rainy Spring. I also have an old cupboard out on the porch that too is painted with an oil based paint. It's gorgeous and I'm not wanting to repaint it.

I used to use bleach to clean the porch furniture but the last several years it has bothered me physically and consciously to use it so I looked for a greener, safer solution. It was right in my kitchen cabinet. White vinegar.  I've used it full strength without any harm to the paint, but I've been warned not to go this route in the shower...acetic acid kills mildew and even inhibits new growth but  it eats grout.

You can see here the mildew spots on the corner of the cupboard door

I sprayed it directly on the spots and wiped it right off...no waiting, no fumes, no carcinogens 

I've heard that Tea Tree Oil will produce the same results but I haven't tried it so I can't recommend it. Anyone gone that route?

White vinegar is also a natural disinfectant so I keep a bottle at the barn for spraying feed pans and water buckets after washing them. It's handy to have around and cheap to boot.

Just my two cents!