Tag- I'm it!!!

Tag I'm it!! I love to be it!! Reminds me of being chosen on the playground, what a good feeling it was to just run as fast as I could! 

The Rules
...you must post the rules
...answer 11 questions the tagger posted for you
...create 11 questions to ask the people you tag
...tag 11 people
...let them know they've been tagged.1.   If you could stay a certain age forever, what age would it be? 29

2.   Strength training or cardio? cardio/ love to run and yoga

3.   What was the last book you read, title and author?  Would you recommend it? I'm reading the Tiger's Wife by Tea Obreht, it's been highly praised and I'm reading it for my book club.

4.   Favorite ice cream flavor? Ben and Jerry's ice cream- something with fudge chunks or brownies...yummy!

5.   What chore do you absolutely hate to do? folding laundry and unloading dishwasher

6    What is your favorite time of the day/ day of the week/ month of the year? favorite time is afternoon, favorite day-all days, favorite month- June(because its a summer month, I love warm days)

7.   If you were a crayon, what color would you be? green

8.   What's your favorite type of music to listen to? folk rock? Mumford & sons, John Mayer, Adele

9.   What do you miss most about being a kid? the freedom- meaning get to play all day but don't have to worry about making money:)

10. What are a couple of your favorite sounds to listen to? birds chirping, kids laughing

11. Who would you like to have dinner with, living or dead? hmm.....for drinks and girl time- Drew Barrymore or Kate Hudson, for dinner- Martha Stewart- to pick her brain & to listen to all of her interesting stories, for dessert maybe Bradley Cooper, cause he's easy on the eyes...
The Rules
...you must post the rules
...answer 11 questions the tagger posted for you
...create 11 questions to ask the people you tag
...tag 11 people
...let them know they've been tagged.

NOW, "TAG, YOU'RE IT!".  I hope you'll play

These lovely lades are the ones I've tagged!  I hope you'll visit them, whether they play or not!

1. Ann Marie http://thatgirldesigns.com/
2. Cambria Washington http://www.knit-alonglittledoggie.blogspot.com/
3. Cat Hooley-Jones http://www.bluecrowdreaming.blogspot.com/
4. Janet Pippins http://bokiedokie.blogspot.com/
5. Jill Lambert http://jill-lambert.blogspot.com/
6. Julie hamilton http://www.spaark.wordpress.com/
7. Jade Scarlett - http://jadescarlettart.blogspot.com/
8. Flutter Before You http://flutterbeforeyou.blogspot.com/
9. Kathy May http://kathymaydesigns.org/
10. Lori L. Moon http://lorimoonstudio.blogspot.com/
11. Kelly Hoernig http://www.kellyhoernig.blogspot.com/

Here's the Questions I asked them:

1. How do you start your day?
2. Instruments you can play?
3. Pets?
4. Favorite vacation spot?
5. Favorite zoo animal?
6. Favorite book author?
7. What sports did you play growing up?
8. What's your pet peeve?
9. favorite quote?
10. How do you end your day?
11. What's the one food you could eat everyday?

Here are the questions, I was asked: I was tagged by the fabulous Carol of the http://theredpaintedcottage.blogspot.com/ so check her out:)

fear...

A few days I wrote a post on my first adult workshop and stated I was fearless....well let me state that it doesn't mean that I have no fears. Oh, boy do I...but I USE my fears to push my capacities and my potential forward in life and business.I used to be fearful of setting up my artwork, fearful of what people would say. But why would I let that fear stay with me? Not that I don't care what people say, but I absolutely can't let it dictate my life! It makes me a stronger person when I push past the fear. I remember when I did the tv show,3 Plus You, last yr, I was so fearful I made myself sick, literally...But I did it anyway! "Decide that you want it more than you are afraid of it"- Bill Cosby. I'm taking an online class called Hello Soul, Hello Business which is supposed to help my business grow,  I haven't had much time to really get involved in the class but I popped over there today and noticed that they had a section on facing your fears which really resonated with me. Here is another great quote they posted..."without fear, I could have never accomplished all I have"- Edvard Munch. What are your fears?

new items being added to my business....

When having a booth full of art and setting up at a festival or an open air market, sometimes people will just walk by and not even look at your art...gasp..... I know, it's weird, but some people are just not that into looking at whimsical paintings..so to draw them in, you must have other items to catch their fancy...This past Christmas I made some super cute bird ornaments and that drew in people, so for spring and summer I thought about what would draw people in....I decided on pillows...everyone likes to update their look with pillows. Right? I'm still working on designs and I find it a perfect extension of my business...

First Adult Workshop

Fearless...I'm just fearless...I learn how to paint by trial and error and now I'm holding adult workshops and teaching other women to paint...I really can't help myself, as I approach the big 4-0, I can't help but be who I am and I guess deep down, I must be a teacher..I have no other explanation...anyways it turned out to be an amazing time and I was very happy that these women get why I paint, it's FUN, challenging and relaxing!  I had a few last minute cancellations, but that's to be expected with the busy lives we lead BUT I did end up teaching 4 women  Friday night. We ended up staying an 1 1/2 hours over the intended time, I'd say that was because we were enjoying each other's company and loving the painting fun...

 Here is the work they created: They wanted to do "birdie" art, so we did!

Successful Weekend...

The weekend started out great for Sunshine Girl Designs, I received an art print from an artist that I admire, Deona Fish...I love her colors and creativity

deona fish

I also received my new business cards from Moo Cards...I love how small and cute they are, they have a fast turnaround and the quality is amazing..

 I highly recommend!

I then got inspired and completed 4 new paintings!

5 x 7 $40/ sold!

5 x 7 $40- Available!
http://www.etsy.com/shop/sunshinegirldesigns



5 x 7 $40- Available

http://www.etsy.com/shop/sunshinegirldesigns





12 x 12 $75- Available
http://etsy.com/shop/sunshinegirldesigns

 It was a very productive weekend!

Sale!!!

Head on over to my ETSY store to celebrate reaching 600 fans on my facebook fan page....15% off!! Yay.. The code is superfanday! http://www.etsy.com/shop/sunshinegirldesigns

Girls

Stretching myself to paint new subjects...I find these girls to be quite fun. I need more practice, so I will continue to work on these, but leave me a comment to let me know what you think..

Summer Camp 2012 schedule announced!!!!!

Here are the details!!  I will have my assistant working alongside me every week along with an additional helper, so I can work more one on one with the kids on their paintings.
What are the times? 9:00- 2:00, bring a lunch on Mon and Tues...Wednesdays are pizza days! I provide a fun snack all days.
Where is it? The old location of Sweet Gipsy on James Blvd.Signal Mtn.
What is the price? $125, if you sign up for more than one week you will get $25 off, more than one child? $25 off!!Space will be limited in each class.  We WILL have a ton of FUN!!
Ages 5-12 you must be 5 before your session starts!

session 1: May 28-30 whimsical folk art houses
session 2: June 18-20 hippie week
session 3: July 9-11  peacocks
session 4: July 16-18  fun bird cages/ birds
session 5: July 23-25 self portraits( whimiscal not realistic!)
session 6: July 30-Aug 1 let's paint a cow!
session 7: Aug 6-8  butterflys

I will also be having a few drop in Fridays for fun events throughout the summer that will be geared for boys and younger kids:) more details coming soon.
 
email me at sunshinegirldesigns09@gmail.com if you have any questions!!

For the love of art.

I'm participating in a blog hop today that is all about love, so please hop in and click here to enjoy the love!

Why do I love art?
I love colors and love to play around with different color combinations.
I love to come up with new original designs.
I love to play with textures.
I love to create.
I love to give.
I love to stretch my imagination.
I love to find art in every aspect of my life.
I love to express myself.
I love the quiet.
I love the process.
I love to create with words.
I love the challenge.
I love the finished product.
I love art.

Here are two pieces I created for my girls today. My valentines to them, my heart was involved in every step.

Valentines decor

Incorporating a little love in my house! I wanted to match my decor so I didn't go with pink. Black and white and a touch of red were just the right colors. I found the love banner at one of my favorite stores in Chattanooga, The Clay Pot (a tiny little house filled with amazing finds) along with the little ferns that I placed in the red pots that I got at another one of my favorite stores...Sophies (an amazing store filled with amazing furniture,jewelry,and great gifts). 2 white birds found at Target(yep, you guessed it, another one of my favorite stores!)The blocks of wood  were painted by my mother!! Art is rampant in my family. The wreath I got at Michael's, but my mother makes these by hand by finding the vines in the woods. I'm just not that dedicated, and I wanted something quicker! The sign in the center is an old piece of barn wood that I simply just wrote the word love in red paint! I added 2 red tissue flowers and Voila, done!! I can't wait till Easter!!!

New mixed media pieces for the kitchen!

I've been busy making some art! Art for me to keep! I just moved into a new house that we had built and I'm having a ton of fun decorating and well, making art for me. Here are two pieces I made especially for my kitchen. I really challenged myself in adding those layers and collage elements, and I think I'm getting better!

Sunshine Girl Designs-60's themed art party.

This past weekend I was hired to do an art party...such a fun time. The theme was hippie/groovy. So I came up with the VW bus and doing peace signs and groovy flowers in the background...Take a look at my pics.

Signs!.

If there is one thing I can count on to consistently sell it would be my signs for the front door. I love making them too! I love to come up with new designs, choose different fonts, colors, select diff ribbons.. it's just fun! It's amazing to think that I have people as far away as Californina with one of my signs hanging on their front door! Makes me smile:) I added a new kind of sign last spring that has done amazingly well. I made so many for Christmas it was crazy! I hope one day I will have a lake house!

I'm going to add a new line of signs this winter...Kitchen signs, I'm really quite excited, the ideas are endless. I can't wait to see how these fare.

New work

First piece of 2012...I took a week off after Christmas and read magazines, visited with family, read an entire book, watched a few movies, shopped and well, just relaxed!! But I really must paint, I'm addicted! I missed it.

Goals for 2012

2012 is going to be a big year for Sunshine Girl Designs. I feel like I'm on the edge of big things happening. Working hard, paying attention, learning and growing are all key to this upcoming year. One of the reasons I've had so much fun with this business is that I'm learning new things everyday and that keeps me engaged and striving for greater things.
My top ten goals are:
1)getting published in magazine(somerset studio or cloth, paper, scissors)
2) grow my workshops and fine tune them- keep working on fresh new ideas to teach the kids
3)write a blog post everyday
4)work on growing my twitter and fb fan page
5)keep learning new techniques in my art
6)being more balanced(not focusing on my business 24/7)
7)thinking more carefully before I launch new things into my business( I get too excited sometimes and don't think!!)
8)learning how to make my blog look more like I want it to look(which means I must learn alot!)
9)work on my tent "look" for when I sell at the Chatt market or art festivals
10) work on my ETSY store

Valentines Workshop

I did two different camps in the yr of 2011 and well it was a ton of work but also a ton of fun. I've decided to do a few mini workshops throughout the yr as well as my summer and winter camps. Valentines is coming up and I thought it would be a great time to hold a workshop. How much fun is it to be creative when you have a ton of supplies to choose from. I think most parents would agree that making homemade valentines cards is the way to go, BUT all the supplies can be expensive and the task of finding all the supplies(cards, glitter, stamps, ribbon, doilies, construction paper, paints, glitter pens, markers, etc!!) can be overwhelming! Of course when you get all of the supplies and are ready to start, WHAT kind of cards are you going to make? Pinterest of course has helped with this, providing you with the most amazing ideas. But then your child wants to make cards with a few of her closest friends, so your on the phone trying to arrange times with the other parents and  calling the hubby to pick up snacks and drinks...and well why not just send them to a workshop where I provide all the fun, glitter, friends and snacks?

Holiday Workshop at Sunshine Girl Designs!

This past summer I had 2 weeks of art camp and it went so well, I decided to have a holiday workshop where I would have the kids paint Christmas paintings and make bird ornaments. I decided to offer 3 days and take kids aged 5-12. I'm lucky that right now I am renting out a space that used to be a small restaurant/bakeshop. It's a wonderful space with great restrooms and a kitchen(great for storing snacks and baking ornaments!) It's for sale right now, but I have my fingers crossed that it will still be free for me to hold my summer camps this summer. What talent these kids have...I love looking at all the paintings lined up. We had a ton of fun!  We painted, collaged, drank hot chocolate, ate Christmas cookies, listened to Christmas music, ate pizza, played musical chairs, sculpted birds...whew..alot of work but a ton of fun. Here's some highlights...