The Gatlinburg, TN Art Loop

In October, we were in Gatlinburg and drove the eight-mile art loop where over 120 working artists and craftsmen create and sell their heart-felt work. These pieces range from baskets, soaps, jewelry, watercolors and ceramics to brooms, quilts, pottery, fine art and a whole lot more. 

Here's one section of shops.

Unfortunately, I didn't take many photos. In fact, we've never made it through the entire art loop--not even close! It's so easy to get caught up in one location and lose track of time. The good part is that it leaves us lots more goodies to see in the future.

Some favorite stops on the loop are:

Alewine Pottery

This large place is teeming with pretty pottery, and a lot of it is available in various sizes. I loved the Rebekah pitchers!

Apple Annie's

A nice selection of delightfully scented organic soap was the big attraction for me. The paper-banded labels on some of the holistic bars and others conveniently list the therapeutic benefits as well.  

A. Jenn Pietso

Ms. Pietso is a watercolor artist whose work is whimsical, colorful, happy and bright! Her art will, without a doubt, make you smile if you like color and whimsy. And maybe even if you don't! I encourage you to click HERE and check out her store. 

We've been on the art loop twice and forgot to find Ms. Pietso's studio both times! She has been selling her art at the Gatlinburg Craftsmen's Fair every time we've been there, and it's where we purchased a rooster/hen print on two separate occasions. Her Christmas prints and quilt prints are on my radar along with her amusing character, Gussie Mae! Click HERE for her online shop.  

After finding the YouTube video below, I'm even more curious to stop by her studio the next time we're out that way! 

To see the entire list of artists and craftsmen on the loop, click HERE.

A map of the art loop can be found HERE.

That's it for now folks but I'll be back soon. 

Tootles For Now,

D~~~~

Art at Nebraska Furniture Mart

Yesterday, the hubster and I went to Nebraska Furniture Mart. On the way out, we discovered this nifty art composition! 

First, George noticed the main light fixture 

which led me to the paint can lights 

on the back wall.

As you can see, the strips hanging from the  

can lights are painted to look like spilling paint.

Here's a close up.

 Pretty cool, isn't it?

Blessings & Hugs Y'all,

D~~~~

Rock Painting and The Kindness Rocks Project

In August, we spent three amazing weeks in Colorado. While there, my friend Linda introduced me to the latest artsy craze--rock painting. It's a hide and seek style event in which participants paint rocks and then hide them for other folks to find. 

The goal of the painted rock is to inspire, make someone smile, brighten a day, etc. More about the origin of this rock painting trend--The Kindness Rocks Project--as well as a video at the end of this post.

With this in mind, Linda & I decided to paint rocks so we collected some in and around the RV park. 

Time to paint!
Oh, but first things first.

We had to make sure our 
canine companions were
comfy & cozy near our work table.

(Front to back: Harley, Tootie, Chewy, Sally)

They're always very happy campers when they're outside! 

Next, our supplies were gathered...
Paint ⤋ and artsy stuff!


...and we played.

Linda Van Gogh enjoying the painting journey!

Sweet Elmer begged me to paint! 

He melted my heart with his adorable 

plea but I had to deny his request.

George and Joe got bored watching us paint so they decided to go on a steep, rugged 1/4 mile hike up to a waterfall in Ouray. 

Joe & Geo triumphant in their hiking endeavor.

When at the location above, 

they found this happy painted rock!
How appropriate is that?

Pretty, isn't it?

We weren't able to finish our rocks that day but I finished mine when we returned home. Linda & Joe were able to stay in Colorado for several more wonderful weeks, and she finished her rocks then.

Here's Linda's very cool vintage trailer.

That's as cute as can be!

And here is her heart rock.

It makes me smile!

I love the colors and all the circles!

I painted one rock, and I guess it could 

be classified a mixed media rock. 

Whoops!

Wrong side.

It looks like a pink blob, doesn't it?

The rock was actually

kind of, sort of...

...a heart-shaped rock

So I went with painting it accordingly. 

The finished rock 

in all it's glittery glory!

Art supplies used in addition to acrylic paint:

• Tissue paper (the center of the heart with the big circles), 
• A Pitt pen (the black around the big tissue paper circles), 
• Glitter glue (matching colors of glitter glue on top of the tissue paper circles and blue spots of glitter glue on a few of the white painted circles), 
• Clear acrylic glitter paint, and 
• Mod Podge to seal it. 

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ABOUT ROCK PAINTING

Below are some of the things I've learned via the internet. 

When you find a painted rock. You can: 

• Re-hide it in another location,
• Take it and leave one in its place,
• Post a pic on that town's FB rock page saying where you found it. (Search the town's name where you found it, and the words "painted rocks."), 
• You can also post where you found it, and what you're going to do with it. 

When you paint a rock and hide it, you can:

• Write directions for the finder on the back of it, 
• Post a photo of it on your town's FB page and give a hint as to where it will be, e.g. a park, shopping center, school yard,
• Keep it!

Of course, you can always do anything your little ole heart desires to do. I don't think the Painted Rock Police will hunt you down and throw you in Rock Prison where you'll eat only rock candy for the rest of your rocky life. I don't think so but don't hold me to it. 

There's a lot of inspiring info on the internet about it, such as the groups of people that are gathering together to paint rocks--families, friends, and strangers. Even better is the fact that they are getting out in nature to hide and seek them as well!

I picked up a prescription the other day at the drive through window of the local pharmacy, and when the pharmacy's drawer extended to the window of my car, a cute painted rock with the pharmacy name on it was inside!

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

This rock painting joy was founded as:

The Kindness Rocks Project 

Kindness has been on my mind for quite awhile so I really enjoyed the video below from the gal who started it. It's very cool and I loved it!

A couple more rock painting 
videos can be found here.

While we were painting, Linda and I decided that we'd each put together a kit of art supplies to bring along on future trips. Oh the joy! 

Happy Rock Painting Y'all!
D~~~~

Quilt Collector

Awhile back, my kind friend Faye 

gave me this cool sign photo. 

Thank you Faye.

I love it!

Since then, it's been on a shelf 

next to my sewing machine.

Recently, however,

I got a hankerin' to frame it.

So what do you do when 

you get a frame hankerin'?

Go for it!

I have a closet full of frames so I 

dug into it and came out with this one.

Did you notice how I gussied

up the frame pic above with the
shadow of me taking the pic?

Yeah, I planned that!

(wink-wink)

The frame needed some extra gussying up 

so I applied a coat of black acrylic paint.

BUT,

OH NO, 

it definitely needed more!

You'll have to trust me on that because I

forgot to take a photo of it in all it's dullness.
So dull!
So boring!

It made me yawn.

Repeatedly.

I was happy to quickly settle on 

painting stitches around the frame's edges

 to mimic the stitches in the text!

YAY!

The painted stitches look like hand 

stitching which brings a smile to my face.
It makes me so happy that 

I would have a gigantic skip in my
step if I was standing up right now.

I decided to hang it above the 

peg board in my sewing studio

where I will admire it forevermore.

That is, unless we move, 

then I'll admire it somewhere else.

I apologize for the poor pic above.

Perhaps I was skipping when I took it.

Okay, I think I'll skip off now.

For real.

See ya soon.

Warm Blessings & Big Hugs,

D~~~~

Teresa Cash & Me

My blogland friend, Artist, Teresa Cash, was in need of smile photos for a project she was working on, aptly named The Smile Project. 

The project is about honoring the value and importance of a smile. Of course, since my other blog is titled "Smiles For Many Miles," you might know that Teresa and I are on the same page--smiles have value and are quite important!

I contributed this pic.

This is the drawing she created from it! 

I think she did a fabulous job, don't you? 

Thank you Teresa!

Her blog states that she's still looking to draw more smiles so if you'd like to send her a pic here's the link: 

http://teresacashart.com/portfolio/smiles.html

Teresa also paints some really cool stuff so there's a good chance you might find some fun eye candy while you're there. I love her work!

I'm painting some odds and ends 

stuff so see ya soon.

Warm Blessings & Big Hugs,

D~~~~

MISSING: A CREATIVE GET UP AND GO!

My CREATIVE GET UP AND GO done got up and went! Perhaps I should file a police report. I'm not sure if it ran way or was kidnapped! All I know for sure is that it is missing! 

I thought blogging might be a good way to entice it to return so I looked around for something to blog about.

At first glance, I spotted this cute little vintage travel trailer hanging on one of my studio shelves. I bought it at Kirkland's to hang outside our RV but wanted to add a bit of us (hubby and I) to it. So far, I embellished it with the orange, polka dotted buttons but it needs more. The boring brown wheel definitely needs some life and some other areas could use spiffing up too. Perhaps our name should be on it somewhere as well.   

I will complete this in the near future.

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Next, I saw these quilt patterns and directions laying on my table. I stumbled on them recently while cleaning out a drawer in the studio. 

 (Sorry the pic isn't better!)

The dogs on the top row are adorable Amy Bradley quilt blocks from the series "Dazzling Dogs." I purchased them at a quilt store closing sale many years ago. I really want to make that quilt but I must say it's not a priority right now. Maybe one day.

I've had the Quilters Angel pattern (bottom left) about as long as I've had the dog patterns! Next to that are "On the Road" mug rug directions which I printed off the Craftsy site not too long ago. Those need to be in the RV soon!  

The Hen House pattern was purchased at JoAnn's a few years back. I hope to hang it in the kitchen one day. The actual quilt--not the pattern--but throwing the pattern up there might be a start! 

The Dwellings pattern was purchased at the International Quilt Festival in Houston in 2015. I love it, and as much as I would like to make it soon, I don't see it happening. Nevertheless, maybe I can get to it before too long.

As a result of this post, I think that maybe, just maybe, my CREATIVE GET UP AND GO will be returning.  

May Your CREATIVE GET UP AND GO, 

always stay right where you want it!

(And if you see mine, please send it home.)

D~~~~~

Practice, Cactus and Canine Fellas

I've been practicing the Chunky Versals I recently learned in Martha Lever's online class.

Hubby's name

 OBVIOUSLY, 

I need more practice!

LOTS MORE!

If you don't think so, zoom in!

No matter what, this is great fun,

 and Martha is a joy to learn from! 

Created with Pencil, Sharpies, Twinkling H2O's and a Pitt Pen.

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My friend Faye gave me this lovely 

Christmas Cactus in December 2015.

It wasn't blooming then.

But it is now!

I'd say it's a bloomin' beauty!

Wouldn't you?

~~~~~~~~~~~~

These two fellas were in

BIG 

trouble yesterday!

I forgot to put the trash up when I left.

Always enticing pork chop bones were inside.

Need I say more...

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See you soon.

May Your Day Be Blessed With Creativity,

D~~~~

Happenings Around Here This Year (or in January)

Happy New Year to all you creative sisters (and brothers) out there in blogland! 

I'm starting off 2017 by taking Martha Lever's online Chunky Versals class which is offered on the Creative Workshops website. It starts tomorrow and I'm very much looking forward to it!

I love this colorful stuff!

I've followed Martha's blog for many years and I took her Calligra-Fun class a few years back. It's fair to say that I'm a big Martha Lever fan! 

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I will also be starting off the year 

by finishing up these two UFO's.

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In addition, I've joined in on Beth Moore's SSMT (Siesta Scripture Memory Team) which will help me memorize 24 scriptures in 12 months. I love this opportunity because it sounds like a great method for learning scripture! 

Anyone can start at any time. Basically, you go to Beth's Living Proof Ministries blog on the 1st and 15th of each month, and comment with your name, city, state, the verse you have chosen to memorize, and the Bible translation from which you took the scripture. 

I started out on 1/1 with: 

Donna, Krugerville, TX, 1 Timothy 2:1-2 

Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercession, and giving of thanks be made for all men, for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence. NKJV 

I stumbled on these two scriptures while looking up some completely unrelated scriptures, and immediately knew they were perfect to start with since our new president will soon be inaugurated. I chose it because of the importance of lifting our government up in prayer, as well as the governments of other countries, especially Israel.  

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This year, I'll be posting a poll on my blog every two weeks. If you get this through a blog reader or email, you can click here to go to the blog. The poll is at the top, right.

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I am currently in Jigsaw Puzzle season. 

Isn't everybody?

It commences right after Christmas and CAN go through February when it's cold outside and cozy inside, although I doubt it will be that long this year because I have other things I want to do as you can tell. 

Elmer enjoys Jigsaw Puzzle season.

He stands on the chair...

...and rests his head on the table all the 

while looking out the window for squirrels!

He's a hoot!!!

It was funny and very cute until he tried to jump on the table in the middle of the puzzle! Fortunately, I was able to stop him the second he began to jump. Thankfully, there was little to no puzzle damage. Whew!

As for Mr. Chewy, he could care less!

See you soon!

May Your Day Be Merry, Creative and Bright,

D~~~~