Inexpensive, Modest, Non-Frumpy, Practical, Feminine Clothes

Have you every tried to find inexpensive, modest, non-frumpy, practical, feminine clothes? That's a tall order. It can be discouraging, walking through stores.

One solution I've found for work clothes that don't look like boy clothes is to paint t-shirts. Sometimes you have to go to the boys section to get good t-shirts, but then you transform them with a little fabric paint. I paint flowers on my shirts, but any little detail on the sleeves or pretty design would make it look more feminine. I'm not a good painter. I usually make a big cartoony, muddy, mess. But fabric paint is usually fairly easy to work with. You can paint with the bottle but I prefer to pour the paint out on a plate and use a paintbrush on the shirt. That gives me better control. After a day or two of drying, the shirts can go in the wash just like any other t-shirt, except you should inside-out them when they're in the wash. Some of the paint may chip off over time, especially when you've painted it too thick.

Second-hand stores are cool too!

Plant Agent Returns

Miss Charle' is over the gardens and grounds of the City of Clarkesville. About five years ago she wrote an article for the newspaper. My Mom contacted her through the article to see if she'd be willing to take on a little 10-year-old apprentice. She was willing - we've worked together ever since.

Miss Charle' has been a huge supporter of my business from the beginning. I consider her my plant agent. If I'm working on a picture with some weird color or texture that I'm having a hard time matching, I'll tell Miss Charle'. Sooner or later she'll come up with something. Miss Charle's good at seeing things when others don't. She'll point out the grand texture in the seemingly ugly brown leaf.

Miss Charle's also introduced me to the garden club, which has opened up into many good things. Miss Charle' practically forced me to start doing the two-minute plant lessons once a month at the garden club meetings. Through that simple exercise I've been learning how to prepare for speaking and overcome the fears of speaking in front of people. Wow, I didn't want to do it, but she made me, and I'm so thankful.

Miss Charle's a good friend of our family. She's always bringing us something, whether it be a snack, a building pallet, a leaf or a book. She knows what we like. Miss Charle' is finally back from her two-week trip. She's been working among the needy in Central America. She's been struck by the fact that the people don't have poor self-pity sorts of attitudes. They live in poorer conditions than we can truly grasp, but they plant gardens outside of their houses.

I'm glad Miss Charle' had a good time on her trip, but it's so nice to have her back home!
If you want to see some artwork, just come to the Mauldin House Gardens in Clarkesville, where you'll see these gardens Miss Charle' planted. Above is a slideshow to give you a sample.

Scarlet Returns

Mom and I had a good laugh when this Scarlet O' Hara was rediscovered. She had been in my closet and forgotten about. I probably crotcheted her when I was 9 or 10.

60 Sheep Down, 30 Shepherds To Go

Last Saturday I instructed around 15 people, mostly children, on making corn husk sheep. The goal was 60 sheep to decorate the church. We figured that people would have to take home materials and make several sheep at home, but to my happy surprise all 60 were completed within a few hours! What a good, diligent class!

Prior to the class I trained my dad and my brother in sheep making. That way they were able to be good helpers during class. They did such an excellent job. It's so wonderful to operate as a family and always have someone there to advise, encourage or help you. It was very practical for Dad to take us there and for us to work together rather than meeting up with a group of friends to teach them how to help make sheep and then meet up with them again on the actual day of teaching. God designed the family for a reason.

Now, the next step is teaching the adults how to make shepherds to go with the sheep. The goal for them is 30.

Untitled Picture

Sheep are mentioned 189 times in the Bible. Sometimes they're talked about in the context of sacrifices, but the Bible often compares people with sheep. Like sheep, we've all gone astray and are in need of Jesus, The Good Shepherd. Isn't it comforting to know that whatever we get tangled up in, Jesus, who laid down his life for his sheep, is always there to save us?

This picture is made of: aucuba, money plant, cotton, maiden grass, cattail, poinsettia, smoke tree, corn husk, cornflower, dill and basil.

Inspiration Comes From Strange Places

Inspiration comes from many strange places, but the inspiration for this picture may be my strangest yet. There are a couple of girls from church whom I admire for their butterfly like attitude. They fly about the church smiling and encouraging and cheerfully greeting people. And believe it or not, they were the inspiration for this picture.

This picture is made of: butterfly weed, aucuba, corn husk, cornflower and cosmos.

Card Prints

For a while I've wanted to get together enough cat pictures that would coordinate nicely to form a card set. I thought I had four suitable cat pictures that could be printed and that we could have ready in time for Christmas. But at the last minute I found that I didn't have one of the pictures I thought I had. It was hard for me to settle for only three cats, so I made that picture in the lower right hand corner of the cat with a ball of yarn. We got the cards printed in time for Christmas presents, and now I have another original. We ordered the cards from http://www.vistaprint.com/ and were happy with the results.

Jesus and Me

Often I turn 3-dimensional things into 2-dimensional things but this is the first time I've turned a 2-dimensional thing into a 3-dimensional thing. A good friend of mine commissioned this. It's a corn husk doll imitating folk artist Linda Anderson's painting of The Good Shepherd. I enjoyed making it and learned many things in the process.
I told my little sister that it is supposed to represent Jesus and one of us. So now she calls this sculpture "Jesus and Me."

She Let Me Pick Her Passion Flowers

Mrs. Darlene Mae Millard Spratlin had a beautiful style of pressed-flower artwork, much different from mine. She used more whole flowers, brighter colors and was very precise, as you can see in her picture above.

Mrs. Spratlin helped set me on the right road when I first started pressing flowers. She introduced me to the microwave flower press. She taught me what kind of glue to use and how much. She taught me the proper way to pick violas and answered many of my questions. She tried to teach me how to be organized, but I didn’t do so well there. She would also let me come over to pick her passion flowers. Mrs. Spratlin was our neighbor and a good one too. She let me come down and borrow things I needed, but often she just gave them to me. She even gave my brother her lawnmower and hired him to cut her grass while she was selling her house.

One of the best things she did for me was to introduce me to the World Wide Pressed Flower Guild. She hosted the first WWPFG conference I attended, which was held walking distance from my house. I also rode with her and another friend to the last WWPFG conference, which was held in Tennessee.

Mrs. Spratlin died the day after Christmas 2009. I was glad to have had the time with her that I did have. I’m glad to know I’ll see her in Heaven, but I, like many others, will miss seeing her here on Earth.

Merry Christmas Grandpa!

A little over a year ago my Grandpa (on Dad's side of the family) saw a picture I made of a brown trout and he wanted it, but it already sold. So back in August Grandma Mary and I started plotting for a Christmas Eve surprise. Grandma Mary commissioned and I cut leaves. Grandpa was happily surprised.
This picture is made of: lily, tomato peel, aucuba, money plant, skeletonized magnolia leaf, onion peel, periwinkle, fall leaves, azalea and heuchera.

Glory To God In The Highest!

And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.

Luke 2:9-14

Merry Christmas!

On Mom's Back

This mama bear is very patient and nice, kind of like my mom. My mom has five cubs and we all get on her back from time to time, but she’s very patient and not quick to growl. She knows that we get older every day and that someday she may miss having us on her back- maybe.

This picture is made of: banana peel, pampas grass, mushrooms, cornflower, maple, bark, mulberry, eggplant leaves, oak, garlic peel and mica.

The Culprit

This picture is made of: corn husk, cotton, cattail, smoke tree, maiden grass, pampas grass, aucuba, poppy seed, lettuce, mica, dogwood, mica and fall leaves.

Double "In Daddy's Arms"

At my last show I was commissioned to make two of the same picture for two different people. It shows that even though both pictures are made out of almost the exact same plant material, individual leaves naturally look different.

Christmas Time is Here

It's the Christmas season! My family has been decorating for the last two days. Above is a slide show of a Nativity I made out of corn husks.

A Great Art Show!

Saturday's art show was great! It was a good day of talking to people and showing and selling my artwork. I know Mr. Kollock had a nice day too. Many of our friends came including my grandparents who came up from Canton. It was great weather for the show. Now I have several commissions to fulfill but today my family is leaving for a Thanksgiving family visit and we won't be back until Monday.

Art Show Tomorrow!!!

Tomorrow is the art show I've been preparing for. It's a harvest festival to be held at the home of John and Nancy Kollock's from 10:00-5:00. Mr. Kollock will have his watercolor originals, prints and his latest book. My brother, Nathaniel, will be playing his mountain dulcimer but he'll have to leave around 3:00. I'll have my pressed-flower pictures, corn husk dolls and will bring out my T-shirts and totes for the first time. Come if you can!

Successful Transfers

Some months ago I posted that we got a heat press in order to get some of my pictures on totes and T-shirts. Well, after a long time of trial and error, we are finally getting it right! We've had valuable suggestions from friends and have made a lot of mistakes. But we now have the formula for good transfers. One thing that really helped was putting a piece of matt board inside whatever we were pressing in order to get a very flat surface. (We learned matt board works better than cardboard unless you want a corrugated image). Another thing is that often the images come out darker than the original picture so before I print the transfers I usually brighten them up with a photo editing program on the computer.

Pileated Woodpecker

This picture is made of: hydrangea flowers, hydrangea bark, aucuba, cotton, mica and a fall leaf.

A Nice Open House

Yesterday was the Christmas Open House at Homestead House and I think it went very well. I sold some corn husk dolls, talked to a lot of people, drank some apple cider and just had a good day. My dad and brother played dulcimers on the cabin porch. The weather was very nice- always something to be thankful for with an outdoor show. There was a steady flow of people- also something to be thankful for. I hope the other vendors did well too.