Catching Up from May to July

Do you like a picture story? That's what we'll do this time since I have to cover 2 1/2 months... with just a small amount of narration. You can click on the photos for larger views. :)

The kids gave me a new 70-300mm zoom lens for Mother's Day. Love it!

I listed some small church paintings on Etsy.

Painted more antique and vintage book covers. Just fun, carefree florals... nothing fancy.

Someone thought it would be funny to leave me this message when I suggested they do something clever with the Scrabble tiles. I always leave them on the kitchen counter in case someone thinks of a verse, a quote, a word or two for the day. Thanks, Wes! ;)

We had flycatchers hatch on the front porch... and make a mess.

Visited cemeteries.

Found a 4 foot long snakeskin at the edge of the yard.

Picked some gorgeous peonies at a neighbor's house...

and picked some more...

and took photos of even more...

and more... but I think I'll share those in the next blog post. :)

Saw a skunk...

and a doe and her spotted fawn off in the distance...

Did some yard work (it looks much better than this now)...

and got sidetracked from yard work by a frog and Ava...

Took morning and evening breaks to watch the birds and the rabbits and the chipmunks eat and play in the yard...

Picked daisies...

Found baby birds in my wisteria...

Took care of little ones for a little while. You can read the story here.

Washed out at the Lavender Festival with rain and storms... but there's lots of art in my Etsy shop now! :)

Made dozens of vintage velvet pumpkins! The finished ones are not listed in my Etsy shop yet, but I'll get them there soon.

Painted more...

even 2-1/2" miniatures!

Had some of the best smoked brisket ever! More about that later... it deserves its own post!

And painted more churches...

Even though it doesn't look like it, I did do some work, too, lol! I just don't usually photograph dirty, uninteresting work.

That pretty much hit the highlights of my photo files from May until now. I left out a few things here and there to share later.

Thanks for hanging around....

Take care and God bless!
Lana

I Didn't Know It Was This Easy!

Finally! I didn't know it was so easy... once I figured it out... to print my photographs and artwork directly onto blank store bought note cards! No more printing art on photo paper, then cutting each one out with decorative scissors, and then affixing to a note card! I know I can have cards printed by VistaPrint, PSPrints, and other places, but this way, I can print smaller quantities till I know which ones are more popular.

I spent the better part of yesterday googling "how to print note cards at home"... finding all kinds of templates, youtube videos, blog tips, etc. but each time I ran into something that didn't work for me.

Adobe Photoshop Elements 9 would probably have worked, but it is sooooo slooooowww and I had to restart my laptop several times. I finally gave up.
PrintMaster 16 is a favorite of mine, but it didn't have my note card size listed and I never did find a place where I could add a custom size. I gave up on that one, too.
Finally I went back to good ol' tried and true Microsoft Works Word Processor. Yes, mine is from 2005, but I love it. I chose my paper size, orientation, set my printer properties, fiddled with the margins a bit, added a photo on one side and my artist info on the other side... and I had cards printing!!! Whoo-hoo! :)

I printed lots and lots of cards... till I ran out of paper, lol!
The set I'm sharing with you today is my Summer Garden series... no the horse weather vane wasn't in the garden but it was overlooking the flower garden!

It is an assorted set, 4 cards (4" x 5.5") & envelopes, packed in clear cellophane sleeves;
$10 (plus $3 for 1st class shipping in the U.S).
Just EMAIL ME if interested and I can send you a PayPal invoice. I'll get them in my Etsy shop by the weekend for those of you that want to shop via Etsy.

Now that I know how to do this, I'll be going back through my older photos to see what I can use for cards! Get ready! ;-)

Take care & God bless,
Lana

Happy Independence Day!

Have a blessed weekend,
Lana

Little Miracles, If Only for A Time

Baby cottontails...

 

These little ones were the sweetest things ever, taken in at only a few days old. Their nest was accidentally destroyed and after covering it back the best we could, the mama didn't return to feed the next night or day.

They seemed to do well for several days. We kept them warm, fed them KMR with probiotics, then later introduced them to alfalfa pellets, timothy hay, clover, and water.

This little one had cataracts when  its eyes opened.

Sadly, despite our best efforts and consulting with two vets about them, they didn't make it past a few weeks. I researched and read so much about taking care of these babies, but from all I'd read, the odds were against them since they were so young.

 I was heartbroken about them, but know I did all I could. Taking care of and feeding them for so long each day made me slow down and just enjoy God's creations... even the small ones!

They were little miracles for a time.

We still see wild cottontails that come to visit near our front porch every day...

...a chipmunk, too!