I'm a student again!

I'd posted a while back about how I'd been "released" from my course with The Art Instruction Schools due to surpassing a time constraint I didn't know existed. I was given three months to come up with $900 to continue with the course, and I knew right away that would never happen. (Honestly, I was peeved enough with them to say "to heck with you!" and not give them another dime just out of spite!)

Fortunately, my husband could see through my "I could care less" attitude to how sad I was about not being able to finish. A few weeks ago, with cattle prices at an all-time high, he took one of our yearling calves to the sale barn, and with the money, he paid my way back into the course. Do I have a wonderful husband or what? :)

I now have until April 26, 2013 to finish the course. I'm on lesson 20 of 27, and they suggest around six weeks for each lesson, so I should be able to finish easily as long as I keep working at it.

Lesson 20 is called "Practical Lettering". It's studying the ins and outs of different styles of lettering and what message they convey. I'm having mixed feelings about the lesson. Lettering styles do interest me, but reading about them is quite dull. I love creating my own fonts, but practicing basic lines bores me.

So here's a look at what I'm working on now - row after row, page after page of practicing perfect letters. Pretty snore-worthy, but hopefully it gets better. :)

Friday favorites May 20

As you're reading this, I'm on my way to Chicago. First time in the big city, and my first time away from my husband for two consecutive nights - wish me luck!

Love these peacock wine glasses from marywibis on Etsy. I think they would make beautiful candle holders!

Embellished paper cranes from localcolorist on ArtFire. I loved doing origami when I was a kid. Never did a crane though.

Peacock colored pendant from AzureTreasures on Etsy. This struck me because it would go perfectly with my bridesmaid dress!

This necklace from binichohan on Etsy. The design of this necklace is so unique!

These earrings from Pinkymonkey on ArtFire. I also like the silver and blue pair (see the other product photos).

How fun is this agate cuff from EzzaExclusive on Etsy? I had an obsession with these stones when I was younger, and I sure would've loved to have had this!

My little sister's wedding is in a month, so I've been looking at lots of wedding stuff like this ring pillow and flower girl basket from All4Brides on ArtFire. My whole family likes orchids, and the fuschia/white combo is very striking (unfortunately not the right colors for the wedding though).

My first blog giveaway win!

Yep, I finally won one of the giveaways I entered! I'm so excited to win something! But beyond that, if I could have chosen only one giveaway out of all the ones I've entered, this would've been it!
I won.... are you ready for this?.....

6 MONTHS of ad space!!!

(I got to practice my Photoshop skills too in designing the ad!) :)

I've been considering using some of my limited art funds on advertising on blogs, but I didn't know if it'd be worth the money, not to mention, which blogs would I choose? Now I get to see how much traffic actually comes from a blog ad and if it's something I want to do more of in the future.

Just in case you couldn't tell, I'm super excited! :)


Make sure you drop by and have a look at my ad at Cinders Says. She's doing a giveaway every day in May, so it's well worth checking out!

Friday favorites #1!

I've seen other blogs do Friday Favorites posts, and I always enjoy them, so I want to try the same thing here. It maybe won't be every week, but I'll do my best. This will most likely be a very eclectic mix of things as my tastes vary widely from horses and western things to colorful, whimsical things. So, if you're ready for a wild ride, let's get started! :)

I have been in love with this drawing from AndreenHarrisart on Etsy for ages! This is one of those pieces that makes me supremely jealous! :)

I had to laugh when I ran across these stick horses from PaintedPonyshop on Etsy. Back when I was in high school, my mom went to lots of shows selling tire horse swings, and I came up with this grand scheme of making stick horses each with their own coloring and personality. I'm kind of sad now that it never came to be. Look how much fun I could've had!

One more horse today. This one from NatureVisions on ArtFire reminds me of my horse, Sawyer.

Though I prefer horses, this reindeer carousel from BusyCrowStudio on ArtFire is just gorgeous! Makes me wish for Christmas (almost!)

These awesome elf coats (this one's from FairyTea on Etsy, but there are a lot of other people selling them too) seem to be everywhere now (online anyway, haven't seen one in person yet). I love the colors of this one!

Here's more gorgeous colors in this painting by JacquelineSwann on ArtFire!

And another fun painting from ModernHouseArt on Etsy. Make sure you go look at the close up  photos of this one.

So what do you think? Would you like to see something like this on a weekly basis?

Rummage sale weekend!

I've never been much of a thrift shopper. I think I get annoyed at looking through so much "junk" to find so few treasures, but this past weekend was the "Around the Town Rummage Sale" weekend in the town where I work. Since there were a few of them on Friday, I decided to hit them after work, and boy, am I glad I did!

My finds:

An awesome top - empire-waisted, plunging front and back, tag still attached! (And it's only a medium! Guess the zumba and running are paying off!)

A pair of super cute sandals. They're a size too small, but I have such trouble finding sandals I like and that fit, and they're close enough to my size that I can live with them. These are also near new - the plastic size stickers on the bottoms are still there. They came from the same sale as the top.

The nifty little gadget sitting on the toes is a writing guide. I didn't even know they made such a thing. It's basically a ruler with a whole bunch of loops out one side. These loops form a visual line on the paper, and they're flexible, so they'll move out of the way easily for doing descending letters. This is so much better than drawing lines and then erasing them after the lettering is done.

Some gorgeous candy cane candles. Three pillars with a mirror, and the floaters were found at a completely different sale, yet they go so well together. I almost can't wait for Christmas now, so I can put them out.

Large plastic drawers. I have a stack of these next to my studio table, and I love them, but they're too small for my larger sketchbooks, matboard, canvas, etc., so these larger ones will be wonderful!

I'm going to reveal my true dorkiness here, but I grew up with these things, and I can't seem to eat corn on the cob without them now. If you haven't seen these, they're just awesome. The dishes are shaped to hold your cob of corn just perfectly (and keep the butter in place instead of all over the plate), and the ends are notched to allow the picks into the ends of the cob. The picks have two prongs that you stick into each end of the cob, and voila! You can pick up the cob without getting butter all over your hands! Best invention EVER!

This might be another revelation of my dorkiness, but I actually bought my husband's birthday present at a garage sale. He's a John Deere fanatic, so when I found this perpetual calendar with 12 miniature JD collector plates, complete with certificate of authenticity for $25, I knew it was perfect for him! Now I just have to hide it until July!

And missing from the first photo, but by far the best find of the day - an Epson Stylus NX415 printer/scanner for $20!!!

 Only a year or two old, it came with the installation software, owner's manual, and a half dozen extra ink cartridges - everything but the USB cable. I was nervous buying something like this on a rummage sale, but since buying our Mac, I've had to print everything with the transfer file to flash drive, boot up the Dell computer, and print on the ancient Dell printer method. Extra great since the scanner on the Dell quit working, and I've been without scanning capabilities for too long.

Total for the weekend (including "Shallow Hal" on DVD and a dozen homemade monster cookies, neither pictured): $66! I think I could turn into one of those crazy people who waits outside the garage until the sale starts! :)

What are your thoughts on rummage sales? Fun? Too much effort for the possible rewards?

Easter equine eye-candy

For Easter weekend, I went to visit relatives in Wisconsin. A side benefit to this trip is that I get to visit a nationally-known Arabian farm. Being that it's spring, there's a lot of little foals running around. 

I only managed to get one clear photo in the dim light of the barn.

I know it's blurry, but I just love the expression on this one's face.

The weather was crappy, so only the oldest foals went out later in the day, one of whom hid on the other side of the paddock the whole time, so I really only got to photograph one baby. He was a beauty though!

Snotty baby! :)

Trying to reach the grass despite those long legs.

What did you do for Easter? Any good spring photos?

I'm a favorite blog!

For those of you keeping up with the ArtFire/Postling boot camp (if you aren't, it's well worth checking out!), I was listed as one of their favorite blogs!

I'm sorry, this is going to run into the text on the right, but I wanted it to be large enough print so it's legible:

I tend to wonder if people really find any interest in what I have to say. I also feel really bad that I haven't put more time into the design for my blog. Although I have some basic design experience from my newspaper job, I am web illiterate, and every tutorial on the topic might as well be written in Greek. It was a big confidence boost for me that someone thinks my blog is worthwhile! :)

So thanks to everyone who thinks it's worth their time to read my ramblings, and hello to all the new followers who find their way here from the boot camp post!