Bunny Ornament in the Winter Issue of Celebrate 365

So excited about having my little rabbit ornament included in the winter issue of Celebrate 365! This little guy will be listed on eBay Tuesday, Dec 13th for 5 days, together with a copy of the magazine. This is my very first published piece and I'm just over the moon.

Inspired by all of my antique children's books

this little guy will be listed on ebay tonight... maryhelen22 or simply search PFATT for lots of wonderful offerings by some very talented Folk artists.

Another new little batty on ebay

These little bats are taking over my life! But I like it. Click on the title if you'd like to be whisked away to this little guys ebay auction. :)

Very, very busy summer but now I'm back to work...well Artwork

Finally, after a super summer of hustle and bustle, I'm back to creating :)...and blogging. I've missed visiting everyone and posting myself, but hopefully I'll be back on track starting today. Wanted to give you a glimpse of my new Halloween creation. He's listed on ebay (click on the title to be whisked on over to the auction) and will be there for the next 6 days.

I hope everyone had a wonderful summer and is safe and sound. Irene hit the surrounding area around me pretty hard and I'm so very thankful to be OK. My heart goes out to all who lost so much during that horrible storm.

PFATT Breast Cancer Awareness Charity Auction

Hi everyone, I wanted to take a moment and ask you all to attend out PFATT Breast Cancer Awareness Charity Auction to be held on ebay, June 12th at 9:30 EST and 6:30 PST. I and several other members of PFATT have decorated a lovely 34 inch cream colored, real goose feather tree from Ragan house, with OOAK ornaments for this worthy cause. The little Breast Cancer fighter shown in an earlier post is my contribution to the tree.

100% of the proceeds of this auction will be donated to the non profit organization FORCE ( Facing our risk of Cancer Empowered). To provide support, resources and information and promote awareness and research specific to hereditary breast and ovarian cancer and to unite families affected by hereditary breast and ovarian cancer.

Here is a sneak peek of the tree with the ornies that have arrived so far. Each one is made with love from the giving hearts of some of the most talented artists on Ebay.

We hope you will join us for this very worthy cause and mark your calendars for Sunday June 12th at 9:30pm EST. We hope you will place a bid and help us by advertising for this amazing auction. Feel free to grab the banner above and post it on your blog to help spread the word.

New Bat ornament will list on ebay tomorrow

Just finished a new little bat ornament that I'll be listing on ebay tomorrow. The photo really doesn't do him justice. You can't see the marabou around his neck or the glitter on the moon but it was the best I could get. All in all, he's pretty cute I think.

So sorry to be gone for so long...but it's been a busy month

Wow, the weeks have just flown by and I've had sooo much to do! First, we had a "biggest loser" contest at work...and my partner and I won!!! 26 lbs for me and 17 for her in just 6 weeks! I feel great! Also, I joined PFATT and have been working like crazy to get things on ebay. We're also going to be auctioning off a fully ornamented feather tree in June to raise money for Breast Cancer research. Many of the PFATT ladies have already created an ornament for the tree and I myself, have finished my contribution, a little breast cancer fighter! I'll be posting more information about this wonderful auction soon. Thanks so much for sticking with me, even though I'm sometimes a lousy blogger! It means so much. :)

A NEW MEMBER OF PFATT

Sooooo thrilled to be a new member of PFATT! I'm still in awe! I posted the banner and link yesterday and totally forgot to do a post! I am wayyyyy out of it! I'm so honored and humbled and I hope that I can pull my weight in such a prestigious group of artists!!! It is for sure, a birthday wish come true!!! Thanks to Lori Davis of http://vintagepaletteart.blogspot.com/ and all of the girls at PFATT! click the title of this post to be taken to the amazing PFATT blog!

A New Bunny, a little different than what I usually do

Working on Bunnies today

I LOVE rabbits and bunnies, always have. I wanted to work on some tags for Easter, so I pulled out my old stand by rabbit pattern I'd created years ago and decided it needed updating. So, I spent a bit of time reworking it until I came up with a shape I really liked. Then, I created these sweet little prim tags, or they could be used as ornaments, from some scrapbook card stock. I have soooo many bunny ideas and will be making several of them in next few days. Meanwhile, this set of 3 were listed on Ebay tonight.

Easterween Giveaway!

If you're a Halloween Fan like I am, you will want to scurry on over to Artistic Halloween Queens for their Easterween Giveaway! The giveaway is for a basket full of Halloween "OOAK" ornaments created by the talented Halloween Queens! Head on over to their blog now so you don't miss this Awesome Giveaway!!!!!

Speaking of Winning

I’d like to share with you one of the most adorable creatures I’ve ever seen! His name is Piccolo and he was created by Carol, a wonderfully talented artist whose blog is called Battatter's. I’d entered a contest she was having and to my delight, I WON! My prize was that she would create any creature I’d like. Well, if you have seen her bats you’d understand why my first and only choice was a bat. (Though I have to say that she also sent me some photos of other works she’d created and if I’d not already been set on the bat, it would have been a very difficult decision for sure!) If you haven’t seen her work, do take yourself over to her blog and be prepared to be blown away! The detail in this little bat is amazing! I can’t begin to tell you how in love I am with him! He’s really, really a treasure and I’m so, so very lucky that he’s come to stay with me.

Thank you again Carol, I'm just thrilled with my little baby bat!

OWOH Prize Winnings

First I need to apologize for posting this so late, I'm afraid so many other things have detoured me from being a good blogger lately. But I've wanted so badly to share these for some time.
I really loved the downloadable print that we all received from Jo at Tanglefrost blog, I think it’s just beautiful. I love the colors so much! Visit her blog and see more from this talented artist.

I also received an online Folk Art Doll Workshop from the very, very talented Moriah at MLB Studios. I had so hoped to get started with making a doll with that workshop during my school break but way too many things, including a blizzard, came up. Luckily, I can go to the workshop whenever I’d like and work on my doll at my own pace. Thank you again Moriah, I’m a very lucky girl indeed. Take a moment and visit Moriah’s blog if you haven’t already. She has some awesome tutorials and she’s just as creative as a person can get!

Last but certainly not least was a wonderful little goodie package sent to me by Wanda at A Frayed of Fibers blog. Isn’t the little Dottie doll adorable! Fall is one of my favorite times of the year and she will have a special place in my decorating for sure! I am also IN LOVE with my little initial pendant, it makes quite a statement and I’ve already been complimented on it. And look at all of those lovely handmade beads; I’ve actually already started using some of them in a project, I’ll be sure to post when I’m finished. Do take a moment and take a peek at Wanda’s blog, her work is so lovely, you’ll be glad you did.

Ahhh the Heralds of spring

A Midsummer Night's Dream - 1909 (1/2)

A Midsummer Night's Dream - 1909 (2/2)

When oh When will Winter be over?

photo from shorpy.com

2 feet, that's what I got to wake up to this morning, 2 feet of fresh white snow. It did it's best to sparkle and gleam in the early dawn light and try to gain my affection, but I'm just done. Ok, I might have hesitated a bit during my shoveling and gazed at the beautiful colors and light bouncing off of each glittery flake, but once it was in the shovel the sheer weight of it was enough to break my trance. It is pretty, really...it is. I'm just ready for Spring.

A little Spring Inside with a Lilac candle

The Lilac candle is at least making it smell like Spring inside...but outside, it is clearly still Winter...*sigh*

A Week Break!

I'm on school break and have no excuse not to get some artwork done! I'd thought about doing some ACEO's (Art Card Editions and Originals, just 2 1/2" by 3 1/2 " in size) again, I've not done any in about a year. I also want to continue to work on faces and flesh tones...so, I put the two together this morning and did this little piece here.

Though I'm not entirely happy with it, I tend to over work things horribly. I decided she's fine as is and I should move on.

I can't wait to get an new scanner though, so I don't need to photograph my 2D work. The camera never seems to pick up the colors correctly...too much blue, not enough red. But it is what it is for now. ( I will probably list her on Ebay tonight )

We Have A Winner!!!

I used the True Random Number Generator at Random.org and the number selected was #79 Bleubeard and Elizabeth! Congratulations Elizabeth, I've sent you an email and as soon as I receive your address I'll be sending Alice and her glittery pink flamingo to you via "rabbit hole"...ok, USPS...lol

I've had such a great time exploring many of the blogs on this OWOH journey. I'm following several and have already been contacted by some new friends. Thank you to Lisa for making it all happen, I've had a blast!

A little "twist" on an Easter chenille and scrap ornament

I love vintage chenille ornaments so I purchased some scrap bunny heads and thought I'd try my hand at making a few. I wanted them to be a bit different than what I've seen before so I got the idea to wind some eyelash yarn around thin chenille stems for his body. And let me say that, I LOVE the way it turned out! I finished the little guy with a glitter ribbon ruffle, and gave him a little glittered egg to hold. Well, he turned out better than I imagined and I think he's just so darn cute! Can't wait to make some more!

OWOH Giveaway Drawing

Elaine Thomas of Alphabet Studio is having a Birthday today but wants to give you a chance to get the gift in her Birthday Giveaway Spectacular!

We all know it's Valentine's Day but did you also know it's Elaine's birthday, over at Alphabet Studios? Her work is just fabulous! The photo above is one of Elaine's sweet little creations. Click on the Alphabet Studios link and once there, wish her a Happy Birthday and you could be in the drawing to win one of her wonderful little bunnies! She is just the sweetest! You'll be so glad you did!

So sorry I'm late with the Valentine Drawing winners!

Yes, I said winners! I've decided to give a little Winged Valentine Ornament to everyone who commented on them. That would be Sheryl Parsons, Lori "Vintage Palette Art", Marina, Lynn "Beading Heart Art", Zan Asha "Vagabond Creations" and Robin's Egg Bleu.
Please email your mailing address and your favorite style so I can get it out to you ASAP. Thank you so much for your lovely comments, I appreciate each and every one of them so very, very much.

One World One Heart Event

My name is Mary Helen (artist of this and that), I live in a tiny little town in Upstate New York (my son was one of 18 in his graduation class), in a tiny little house with a tiny little yard, that's just perfect really. I've been a single, working mom to 3 wonderful children for 16 years. I've loved all things artful since I can remember, both visual and performance. Two years ago my son (the baby) struck out on his own (well college...) and I've had some time "just for me". I love to dabble in everything, and do. I do have a goal of painting all of my children's portraits within the next few years but beyond that, it's just about exploration with mediums and fun when I'm not at my day job. From 8am to 3pm I work at a residential school for special needs children, in the therapy pool. I've been there for 16 years as well and just love working with the kids, they're awesome! But anyway...

I'm just thrilled to be a part of the One World One Heart experience again this year. This is the 5th (and unfortunately last) year that Lisa, over at A Whimsical Bohemian, has hosted this magical blog adventure. It’s so incredible that the event has grown to a whopping 1,000 + blog participants! I had such a great time last year visiting so many blogs, viewing some fantastic art and meeting some great new people. I hope you’re having an awesome time as well.
This year, my door prize offering is someone who took quite an adventure herself. I’ve created Alice from muslin and she’s about 7 ½ “tall. I painted her face and legs with acrylics, hand sewed her dress from quilting cotton in a pattern I just love and finished her with a bit of blond mohair. And to top it all off, she holds a dusty pink glittered flamingo! I just LOVE glitter! I can’t get enough! (Alice is an art doll and not meant for children).
If you’d like to be entered in the drawing for Alice and her flamingo friend, just leave a comment (you must have an active blog to comment) and I’ll be randomly drawing a name on Feb. 17th. It’s as simple as that. But do make sure you leave me a way to contact you, should you win.
Thank you again for stopping by, it’s been my pleasure and hopefully we’ll meet again. Have a wonderful day!

Putting my request in early!

Please, please, please can we have an early Spring!!!

A new little Valentine Ornament Design

Still working on using up some of the stuff I've collected. This little guy is sort of fashioned after old batting ornaments but since I had this polka dot cloth I decided to dress him up, so now he looks much more modern, which is OK. I wasn't sure I liked the face after I painted it, but he's growing on me. I think I'll make another and distress it a bit. I hadn't thought about doing that until I'd already had him finished.

Another Valentine Ornament

Don't forget to comment for the Ornament Giveaway!

I want to have a Valentine Ornament Giveaway

I’m having so much fun making these little heart faced Valentine Ornaments; I’d like to give someone a chance to win one! I know this is last minute, Valentine's Day is less than a month away but I’ve never done a giveaway and I thought it might be fun. Because it’s such short notice, all you have to do is comment and tell me which of the little ornaments you like best. Or maybe you’d like to see an ornament in a different color, or style, ( maybe you like the marabou rather than the lace or crepe) I’d love to hear your thoughts! Anyway, on the 31st of this month I’ll throw all the names of everyone who left a comment in a hat and draw a winner. This way, I have plenty of time to get your ornament to you before Valentines Day.
No worries about posting, or linking or anything…just leave a comment and let me know your favorite, or your thoughts about them, that’s it! And keep watching because I have some new ideas and hopefully will have a lot of choices. Thanks to everyone following my blog, I really do appreciate it.

Bright Pink!

Little Gothic Valentine Ornament

I'm having fun with this little heart face and wings Valentine Ornament design.

The answer is "no"...

Valentine Decorations

Pulling out some of my Valentine decorations. It certainly helped to warm up this very, very cold day.

A couple more ornaments on ebay tonight. Both starting at $.99 and listing for 3 days.

It's snowing again

Little Valentine Ornament on ebay, starting at 99 cents!

Today, I decided to create a bit and use some of the things I'd bought last year but never opened and almost forgot about. This little ornament was created using some glitter hearts and wings I'd purchased but ended up putting in a bin. I've listed her on ebay today, starting at only 99 cents! It's a three day auction, so if you're interested, hop on over there soon. I'd post a link, but haven't figured out how to do that yet, so just search Folk Valentine Ornament and you should find her. Hope everyone is having a warm and wonderful weekend!

Totiana

The beginnings of a portrait of my other daughter, Totiana. I like to spend a lot of time on the face and make sure it’s right.

Just relaxing today

I have much to do, but not today...