Bratislava Slovakia My European Vacation

The next stop on my European vacation was a very short visit to Bratislava Slovakia. It was en route to Budapest, so we stopped for a couple hour lunch break and to stretch our legs.
Such a cute and sweet town.  The people reminded me so much of the folks I grew up with in my hometown.
I have to keep reminding myself that these countries were suppressed by communism and only recently have become free.

Enjoy!

Prague Czech Republic My European Vacation

I had the opportunity to vacation in Eastern Europe this June. I think I mentioned before that my ancestors from both sides immigrated to America from the Czech Republic. Some came in the mid to late 1800's and some came around the early 1900's.  Most of my life I knew it as Czechoslovakia.
My sister and I have always wanted to visit Praha or Prague as they are calling the city now. Prague was the main reason for the trip but we decided to go with a tour group and visit 4 other countries in the area.
I'm going to share some of my photos of the trip. I took about 900 photos, but in all fairness I was there two weeks.
I'll start with Prague today, even tough my trip began in Munich Germany. Unfortunately we did not get to see much of Munich. We only flew in for one night, met our tour group and hopped on a bus the next morning to begin the adventure.
Our first stop was Nuremberg and I took a ton of photos but so sad my memory card on my camera went bad and I lost everything from Munich and Nuremberg.
Luckily I was able to get a new card before Prague or otherwise I would have been extremely unhappy.
Enjoy these pictures of Prague. Tomorrow or next week or whenever I will post the next stop in our wonderful vacation which was called "Bohemian Rhapsody".

I'm Published

Oh my gosh! 
I've been published in Somerset Studio Gallery!

I just received my copy in the mail today and I'm doing the happy dance. There it is to the left.
It's in the summer 2016 issue, so it's probably not even on the shelves yet.
I'm in the Spotlight section on pages 18 and 19.

My "Listen to the Whispers of Your Heart" and "Thankful Girl" are featured along with a brief description of how I created them. I can't believe I got two pages. So cool! 

Somerset has such a wonderful assortment of publications. I always love looking through them. It's eye candy for the artist soul, and of course I like to read them too.

Mother Nature

 On another note, I introduce to you my newest painting "Mother Nature"!

She is already in my Etsy shop.

I used the quote form Erin Hanson 

"What if I fall?

Oh my darling what if you fly?"

 for my inspiration.

I'm kind of still walking around in lala land and probably will be for a few days, so for now I'm going to get lost in my new magazine.

Boho Dream Catcher Art, Magic Cat and Another Pretty Girl Painting

Pierre likes to meditate

Boho Dream Catcher Painting

Mandala

Magic Cat

Enjoy The Now


 I'm moving right along continuing to make art. My challenge this year is to create 100 pieces.  These above plus about 5 journal pages bring the count to 23 for the year...I'm behind :(.
I finished my journal and can not get myself to start another themed journal.  I will probably use my sketch books from now on and try to expand on the simple drawings.
And of course I have my travel journal...I forgot about that one. I'll have to count those pages.
I can't believe April is almost over. Summer will be here soon. I can't wait for June because we are going to Eastern Europe in June for two weeks. (Prague, Munich, Budapest, Vienna and Salzburg) Somebody pinch me.! I never in a million years thought I would get to travel to where my ancestors came from...the Czech Republic. It's a little scary! I don't know that much about Eastern Europe.

Charlotte's Art, Aprons & Journal Pages For January & February 2016

Wow it's been a long time since I've touched base here on blog land. My apologies. I have been busy, busy, busy making art and sewing.

Last year I took on a personal challenge to make 100 pieces of art. Well, I fell short and only made 75. I think that number was pretty darn good anyway, so I'm really happy with myself. 
It was not all pieces of canvas art. It included journal pages, painted aprons and other handmade items like my banners. 
So..... this year I'm doing the same challenge. I only hope I can make it to 75 again, but I'd like to push it and get to 100 this year.


This year my art count is at 11. The following are the canvas art pieces that I've painted so far.

"Yoga Girl"

"SunFace"

"Sunset Village"

These three paintings are listed in my Etsy shop. Click on the title below each picture to link it to my Etsy store.

The next are journal pages that I have made this year. I don't know how anyone can make a journal page a day and still manage to make art to sell. Sometimes my journal pages take longer to make then actual art on canvas. I think I need to change my strategy. 

Most of the time my journal pages are just practice. I practice faces and drawing in general. Other pages are just a big jumbled mess. Like the one above. I write down whatever I happen to think is important at the that moment.

Vintage Table Cloth Apron

Pink Full lApron

I'm including the aprons that I have sewn in my art count. Just because I want to! I designed them, made them and it's still a creative endeavor.  I alternate between painting and sewing. I sell aprons in my Etsy shop. Last year I painted some hand painted art aprons that went pretty well. I hope to make more this year, but who knows.... I go where my muse tells me. 

Hope to be back soon with more art to show off. For now I have to get busy making. 

Hugs,

C.

Thankful Girl Mixed Media Collage

I'm still plugging along painting, creating and selling miscellaneous items in my Etsy store.
"Thankful Girl" which is my latest painting listed in my shop is very special to me. I am so grateful for all the many blessings that came my way this year. Not only for me but for my family as well.
I wanted to share her and get her out for Thanksgiving. Just a little reminder to all to be grateful, and remember how blessed we are. I know I have to remind myself fequently to be thankful all year long not just during Thanksgiving.

Here is a link to this listing in my shop.
Thankful Girl

Wishing you a wonderful and blessed Thanksgiving for tomorrow and always.
Your Grateful friend in Texas.
C.

Halloween Decorations Some Old Some New

It's almost time for Halloween and I'm ready!..
This year I made a few new decorations and bought some other items to add to the collection. 

Spider is old but the bats are new, and the spider used to be above my mantel.

One new project I did this year was painting these thrift store plastic pumpkins an off white with black eyes. A  very easy and cheap project anyone can do. Not sure why the thrift store charges a $1.00 each which is the same price one can get them brand new at a grocery store.????????

Then add cheap, dollar store flowers in black. So cute I made four and put them in my shabby chic shelves. 

My fire place is a challenge and I really wanted to change it up from last year. It's really wide and the ceiling comes in at an angle in the corner of the room. Ahhhhggg! My only solution is to have a single large item on the wall. Therefore I made a really, really large wreath to hang above the mantel. I thought it turned out pretty good. I put the mesh in at large loopy sections to make it fuller. 

My daughter gave me the rat skeletons from Grandin Road for my birthday. I love them! They look so cute on my dinning table. EEEEk! 

Oh and that reminds me the Eek light up for the mantel is new too. 

Happy, Happy Halloween Y'all!