Thanks for posting pics of so many projects Diane. I'm smiling back at those cute little snowman expressions! ;o) Isn't it great that we can enlarge/reduce or even use just parts of patterns to create the design we need for our projects? You did that very well on these.

Your hummingbird and kitty are nice too--not easy projects for beginners either! Kudos to you for such a good painting job on your first projects.

Luvs

Thanks Luvs, I love painting ornaments. I haven't painted any in some time but I think this year I will have a little tree full in my craft show booth again. They always did well for me. For the last several years a good seller has been painted ice skates...my best seller are two very primitive snowman designs. Nothing fancy but they are cute and can be kept up all through the winter since they are not "Christmas". I couldn't keep up with the orders for them for a while, but some other people are painting skates now so it is slowing down for me but I got a good 4 years out of it and am still doing ok. Thing for me is I like painting on the little skates and they are getting really hard to find. I have lots of the bigger ones.

The hummingbird and the kitty are NOT my favorites. They were class projects and while I have been painting for a LOT of years the kitty is my first "realistic" animal project. It is not a project I would pick on my own but I'll paint any project we do in class, I always learn something. The hummingbird was the same thing. One of the ladies wanted to paint that project...I didn't "love" the hummingbird in the picture when she showed it to us but hey...there is always something to learn...that's one reason I didn't want to spend a lot of money on a surface.

Happy Painting,

Diane

Diane,

It's so wonderful that you are posting so many projects. I hope you get everthing ready for your craft show. I love the kitty. You captured that look, like he's watching something. I bet your ornaments will sell well at the show. I have several of Susan Kelly's books and she is a great artist. I always enjoy painting her patterns.

Your humming bird, chair and snowmen are also adorable so keep posting for us to enjoy. You paint on alot of different surfaces and I'm getting better at trying new surfaces. I have an old coffee pot that I'd like to paint something on but keep putting it off. I want to start on the old suitcase just need to take time. I'm never sure if I want flowers or a scene of something. Just call me the Procrastinator. haha

GTG, Punk

Thanks Punk, I do paint on a lot of surfaces. I have and old coffee pot around here somewhere that I have an Annie and "friend" painted on. I'll try to dig that up and post it. I also have a teapot that I painted a winter scene on (I think...it's been so long since I've seen it) if I can find that one I'll post a picture of it too. I aslo did an old teapot that i kind of "winged" old salt box houses, sheep, trees...I sold that one on Ebay years ago but I might still have a picture of it somewhere. I love painting on "stuff" LOL I don't paint too many flowers. I have little suitcase that I painted a Pam Grady design on, that I keep my 100's floppy disks that have my pictures. My old Sony digital camera takes those disks and while I love that camera it sure is out of "style" now.

My motto is if it doesn't move paint it LOL

Happy Painting,

Diane

Hey, Punk, you can't be the Procrastinator--I already resemble that title! LOL My hardest part is deciding what to paint and what to paint it on. Once those parts of the decision are made, the rest is easy.

Diane, I'm glad you are doing well at your shows. I did one show with a friend but didn't really enjoy it. I got lots of nice compliments and some inquiries about special orders but I just never feel my painting is "professional" enough for selling! At the last craft show I attended, I was surprized to see lots of more primitive pieces again. Some are so simple and yet so darn cute. Be sure to let us know how your shows go and what kinds of items seem to be popular, okay?

Luvs

Luvs, craft shows have slowed down soooo much. A few years ago I switched from selling my painted stuff to selling purses and accessories. About 2 years ago I got an embroidery machine so I started adding some of machine embroidery. Those have been my "main" booth set up for about 7 years now and I always have a few painted pieces like my skates and a few other things mixed in to my display. I would love to go back to full time painting for shows but there was so many decorative painters trying to sell their work not many of us were making money. If you had original designs you could do pretty well...but mostly I can't draw anything...I can adapt things but not draw from scratch...I need a pattern to start from. Now it is getting to be the same way with purses. When I first started I was the only purse vendor at most shows now there are a lot of us. I just hope the shows start doing well again. I can remember doing shows when you could make a living at it (and that's when I did painted wood, yard signs, small furniture like benches, shelving, etc...my husband used to cut all my wood for me and we were sooooo busy we used to have our lumber delivered to our home. Ahhhh to see those times again :) I'll try to keep my eyes open and let you know what is selling. I have a friend who sells painted items at shows, but I'm not sure how many shows she will be doing this year as her husband is not in good health.

Your work is certainly professional enough to sell. You never know what people are looking for. Often times a piece I don't like or don't think is well done will be one of the first to sell...one I think will sell first I still have at the end of the day.

Happy Painting,

Diane