The courtesy of a thank you

Next weekend we will be having our Studio Artist Expo held at the Art MoB. In appreciation, I made a basket of thank you/gift cards with my handmade paper to give away to everyone who watches my demo. If they have to stand there and listen to me jabber away, they deserve something for their time!

I used Susan K. Weckesser stamps on the front of the tiny cards, just perfect in size!
Grandma's Needlepoint
Tumbleweed Houses
What's Up Gnomey? 

I added a touch of bling from The Buckle Boutique on the sides of my business cards, just love the rows of bling and how easy they are to cut off and apply!

Each Gift card packet has a small pressed flower sticker in them to seal the envelope up. 

If you would to see how I made the cards then please stop by the Arnold Grummer blog and you can get the discount code while you are over there if you want to make some gift cards of your own.

Just shut up Sandee

I can remember the first time I had a story printed about me in the local newspaper and being so excited and then totally dismayed at the picture they posted of me, or the time they wrote another newspaper story about me and thinking...seriously, that is a little exaggerated! My feelings for being put in print have diminished over time because now, my first thoughts are...

what are they going to do to it? 

Now, don't get me wrong, I still have kept every article, every story ever written because it is exciting, it is an ego boost to have you memorialized in print.

But it just makes me wary nowadays.

My latest publication is a feature article written about me and about the upcoming Artists Studio Expo show coming up on July 25th in the Bold Life magazine. If you would like to read the article then you can go here. 

Now I am NOT trying to be sour grapes and all, and I AM appreciate of being featured in the magazine but sometimes I just say "huh?" when I see what they do, in this case it's the picture they put up on the page next to the article. If you go read the article you will see that the picture below doesn't correspond as well to the article as the one I sent to them, which was Night Watch...sigh...oh well, as one of my fellow artist from the Art MoB pointed out to me, any publicity is good publicity.

If you want to see the "how to" behind the Laced in Copper canvas, feel free to check out the Helmar blog post... as it has nothing to do with the article..smh

***update 7 - 19 - 15 ***
( Guess I cannot complain too much because since I published this post, this canvas has sold )

Laced in Copper- $175.00 12x24" mixed media canvas - acrylic, hand stitching, metallic floss, beads with acrylic skins

This is the one that I sent in to the magazine for them to publish with the article, which correlates to the questions that they asked me :) Although they didn't use it in the printed magazine they at least used it in the online piece!

12x36 "Night Watch" Mixed Media Magazine Collage canvas $225.00

I am always amazed that they write anything about me, so I need to just shut up, huh?

Anyway, check back on Sunday to see how the show turned out!

upcoming show Press release

 Press Release:   Art MoB Studios Studio Artists ExpoHendersonville – June 11, 2015On Saturday, July 25, Art MoB Studios and Market Place in downtown Hendersonville is inviting art lovers to experience our studio artists first hand at our inaugural Studio Artists Expo. TheExpo will be held from 4 p.m. until 7 p.m. and will include demonstrations and talks by each artist. Visitors will have a chance to learn some of the artist’s secrets and see works evolve.
Art MoB’s studio artists have been creating unique works at Art MoB for three years since Art MoB opened in 2012. Recently, they have been busy knocking down walls and quickly filling up their expanded spaces with more one-of-a kind works. On any one day a visitor may find one or two of them at work, but not often, all four. Each of them are involved in exhibiting in regional and national fine art shows. They are all award winning artists who enjoy creating their work in an environment where visitors can observe and engage to learn more about their techniques.
One artist hand builds pottery vessels – coil by coil. Another paints primarily with her fingers. An acrylic painter first creates a sculpture on the canvas surface before even beginning a painting. A mixed media artist works bits of hand-made papers and unique objects into her often whimsical pieces. To have an “Expo” where visitor can see all four artists at work, plus a special exhibit of their work, was the idea of gallery owner Michele Sparks. Michele said, “Pinning down these four busy artists to agree on a date was quite challenging. But, I did it!” Each artist will demo and talk about their techniques and process at scheduled times.
Music, wine and hors d’oeuvres will be served.
The artists and schedules are:
Lucy Clark – Hand Built Pottery – 5:00 p.m. 
In addition to demonstrating her hand building method, Lucy will discuss how she embellishes and caves her surfaces, her firing process, and where she finds her inspiration.
Diane Dean – Representational/Abstract Acrylic Painting – 5:30 p.m.
The artist’s approach to creating an abstract textured surface will be demonstrated, plus Diane will show pieces in various stages of her painting process. She will also discuss materials and tools.
Sandee Setliff – Mixed Media Artist – 6:00 p.m.Sandee will show some of the secrets of how she pieces together her mixed media works. Her creative styles range from cute and fun to clean and simple. Paint and glue are always involved.Amy Perrier – Finger Painter – 6:30 p.m.
“No brushes!” Amy will exclaim as she demonstrates her “fingers only” technique for acrylic painting. She also will talk about the use of graphite and palette knives, plus what inspires her in her unique approach.
What: Studio Artists Expo
Where: Art MoB Studios and Marketplace, 124 4^th Avenue East, downtown Hendersonville, NC
When: Saturday, July 25   4:00 p.m. – 7 p.m

Sharing my secrets? If it was truly a secret I wouldn't be sharing it, lol However, I will be discussing my decoupage canvas which I haven't named yet. I want to have most of it completed before doing a live hands-on demonstration...I really don't like working in front of people, I don't consider myself to be an entertainment artist. ( I admire people that are comfortable doing that!)

So here is the first step to my canvas. First I drew in the shapes and then outlined everything with DecoArt's Gloss Enamel Writers. I also used some paint and crackle medium to create some texture on the tree branch. I like to mix a little bit of paint along with collaging, and I am thinking of sewing some beads into the center of the flowers too.