New Christmas Ornaments

The newest additions to the pieces I'm bringing to the Holiday Gift Fair on Saturday!

Holiday Gift Faire and Christmas Jewelry

This coming Saturday I'll be doing a Holiday Gift Fair at EniThing in San Jose, CA! So if you're in town please stop on by. It's a small venue, but with some great and talented crafters and artists. Anyone who comes up to me while there and mentions that they saw me post about this on Facebook or my blog will get a free mini bookmark. :)
Above are some of the pieces I'm working on right now. These hand-painted (by yours truly) polymer discs will be turned into pins, pendants, earrings and rings!

A Chill in the Air

Yes, even being in the San Francisco Bay Area it gets chilly from yime to time!
The amazing tree in our backyard is finally shedding it's crown of leaves. The bed of gold that carpets everything makes our yard look as if it's a fairy land. Right now I'm seated at my kitchen table (which also serves as a makeshift computer table for me!) gazing at it in complete wonder. This time of the year it's the best seat in the house. :)

Shop-wide SALE!

Who's in the mood for a SALE?!
Now through Cyber Monday you can get 30% off of EVERYTHING in my Etsy Shop! Does that include Clearance items (which have already been marked down 50% or more)? It sure does!
Simply use the coupon code 'DICKENS' at check-out and the discount will automatically apply. Happy Shopping!!!

Sorry for the lack of work lately...

...but it seems I've got some nasty carpal tunnel in both hands, and the thumb on my painting hand sometimes get so painful I can't hold a pencil. :(
I'm hoping to finish a couple of paintings in the near future, though, so please keep checking back! I'll be starting physical therapy soon, so hopefully it will help. Keep your fingers crossed!

EniThing Fall Art Bazaar!

I had a wonderful time last friday at the Fall Art Bazaar! I met a bunch of wonderful people, and was actually pretty successful!
My biggest sale of the night was also my very favorite painting; I am so very happy she went to a good home!
I finished her just 2 nights before the big day. Here she is:

She's entitled "The Dreamer". I was inspired by this incredible thrift store frame I found; she was painted specifically for it. The painting itself measures 5"x7", and is acrylics with antique music sheet circa 1890 on canvas board.

Two New Paintings

These are my 2 newest paintings, which will be at the bazaar tomorrow night:('Protected' - 8"x10" acrylics with decoupaged antique music sheet circa 1890, on gallery-wrapped canvas)


('All Roads Lead Home' - 8"x10" acrylics with decoupaged antique music sheet circa 1890, on canvas board; will be framed)

More New Items!

More goodies to share with you as I prepare for the Art Bazaar this friday, each one hand-painted: earring posts, hair pins, art boxes (decoupaged with circa 1890 sheet music), and a paperclay crow sculpture. More still to come!

New Pieces for October

Trying new things again!
Here are new pins, pendants, rings, hair pins, as well as a paper clay house and a paper mache box. Each piece is one of a kind and hand-painted!:

The nest rings in the bottom right are made of actual acorn caps, and the eggs are hand-formed out of paper clay and hand-painted, and securely adhered inside. These are for the Fall Art Bazaar I'm attending this friday; I'll be posting more pics as I finish them!

Do They Think Of Me At Home - Acrylic Painting

Here's a new painting, added to my Etsy shop! It measures 8x10 on gallery-wrapped canvas, with a circa 1913 music sheet from a song book decoupaged for a background. These are too much fun to do! I'll be adding several more shortly!

Hurray for Rings and Earrings!

With my venture into little art shows I decided to add to my jewelry by making rings and earrings! They are so much fun. The ring I wear is really an eye-catcher; people comment on it wherever I go. And with the earrings I've made them tiny little posts (sometimes I think I like to dare myself to make something as tiny as possible to paint on to test myself; this time I believe I went overboard!)
Right now I only have them in the little shop I consign with. But look for them soon in my Etsy shop! And please don't be afraid to contact me at hoydendesigns@gmail.com should you like one for yourself before I get them up for sale. :)

First Boutique Show

There's a local boutique I sell at called EniThing (you can find a link to the shop's website on the right sidebar) that had a small sidewalk jewelry show one evening a few weeks ago. I was lucky enough to be asked to join, and this is the little display I set up. It's the first time ever I've done anything like this, so though it was a small venue it was a HUGE deal to me. I was surprised (seeing as how introverted I am) how much I truly enjoyed it!

Fox Illustration

I've been stretching my wings a bit lately, carefully testing myself in new avenues of art. One thing I've been trying to broaden is my style for illustration. This fox painting is the latest in my quest for a better understanding of illustrative techniques.

Where Has the Time Gone!

I was truly in shock when I realized I haven't posted to my blog for an entire month! I suppose it's been much more hectic here than I realized. As far as art goes, I've been keeping myself busy, exercising my fingers with sketches in the children's illustration type, which I will post here once I complete one of the myriad paintings I've begun and have yet to finish. And I've managed to also create these bits of hand-painted jewelry:

It's been several years I believe since I painted one of these little garden pendants. Each measures about 1" by 1"; so tiny! They are such fun, though I think I'll be needing some new glasses, as I don't remember having quite this hard of time seeing such small details up close!

I also had a bit of fun with some heart shaped polymer pendants I created a while back during the makings of a couple of custom pieces:

And I utilized some small pieces of wood for some little pins, my very first of their kind!:

Here you can see the back of the pins; so enjoyable to make!:

Lastly, I created this display from a garage sale frame, muslin, and some nails. Off to the consignment shop it goes!:

If you don't see the piece you like in the shop please feel free to contact me; I'll be happy to re-create it for you.
Hope to see you soon!

Cutting and Sewing and Painting, Oh My!

There are times when my fingers need more to do than work a paint brush. In times like those I pull out my trusty sewing machine!
Needing a protective pouch for my iPod, that's what I turned my attentions and energy to. So after some trial and error (and a few uselessly small pouches), I finally came up with these. And in typical Christina Fashion I had to put a bit of hand-painting on each to give them my own spin. Each also sports vintage buttons as a final touch.
The first is my little Alice, once again making an appearance on my own pouch:

The second I created for my husband, with a hand-painted dragon, and very long necklace cord added so he can hang it around his neck:

Rivers of Tears Acrylic Painting

Every now and then I get disconected from art for a while. Eventually some strong emotion will need to manifest itself, and that's when I express myself in a painting that is completely different from the normal pieces I paint. These paintings are done very quickly with no pre-thinking; I basically let the brush do what is wants to do.
Last night I completed one of those "emotional" paintings, and this is the result.

A bit of Romance....

I found this lovely and very romantic dedication in the first page of my 100 year old copy of Jane Austen's Letters and my heart skipped a beat. Who owned this book? Who were these people? What was THEIR love story? So very sweet, to have this viable connection to the romance of two people who lived and loved so very long ago.

Happy Birthday to Me!

2 weeks ago I celebrated a pretty big birthday. My sweetheart of a husband (and my incredible mom-turned-babysitter) gave me a wonderful date night out. After a lovely romantic movie (Letters to Juliet - I so loved this movie) we went to a local outdoor hot spot where I took pictures to my heart's content:




For dinner we went to a wonderful Louisiana style restaurant.

The food was amazing...etouffe, gumbo, jambalaya...and best of all, these fried green tomatoes with a mouth-watering remoulade sauce and juicy prawns...yummm!

To top it off, I had quite the shopping spree at our local art supply store...I have enough blank canvas now to keep my imagination ecstatically happy for quite some time...

I was so spoiled...and I loved every minute of it!

And The Winner Is....!

First off, I would like to thank everyone who attended my little tea party here last weekend! I would also like to give a special thanks to everyone who left such sweet comments about my artwork; that meant so much to me! (And to answer one lovely person's question, yes, I did create all of the paintings and pendants specifically for the Mad Tea Party.)
And now, to announce the winner...!
("Off With Her Head" acrylics and collaged playing cards on gallery stretched canvas, 16"x20")

The wonderfully sweet person who won the Mad Hatter hand-painted pendant is Scrap Vamp! Congratulations!

Thank you again to everyone for visiting my blog! I hope to see you back here soon!
All the best,
Christina

Mad Tea Party - and GIVEAWAY!

Now is the time, my sweets, for a fantastically magical Mad Tea Party! Thank you to the lovely Miss Vanessa at 'A Fanciful Twist' for hosting such a splendid event!

Please be sure to scroll all the way down to see the very very mad and cunning little pendant that you can WIN by leaving me a comment on this post! And be sure to visit the 'A Fanciful Twist' blog to visit the amazing array of participants in this, the maddest of tea parties ever...!


Was little Alice dreaming, or was that a White Rabbit she saw, sporting a waistcoat and a pocketwatch! Down a rabbit hole it went...

("Ready to Follow" - 8"x10" acrylic paints with circa 1890's antique music sheet on canvas board - RESERVED)


"In another moment down went Alice after it, never once considering how in the world she was to get out again."

("Alice Where Art Thou" - 9"x12" acrylic paints on circa 1913 antique music sheet and canvas board - RESERVED)


..."Down, down, down. Would the fall never come to an end!"..."'Well' thought Alice to herself, 'after such a fall as this, I shall think of nothing of tumbling downstairs!'"

("Falling Down the Rabbit Hole" - 5"x7" acrylic paints on canvas board - for sale here.)


With a bit of a detour at the White Rabbit's house, she's off to explore this magical Wonderland...

("A Bit Too Large" - 8"x10" acrylic paints on canvas board - for sale here.)


How strange this place is, to be sure! Perhaps a rest before seeing which side of this mushroom will make her large, and which will make her even smaller...

("Which Side to Eat" - 8"x10" acrylic paints on circa 1890's antique music paper and canvas board - for sale here.)


But what is that emerging from the garden? A large top hat, in the most alarming shade of green! She must get to the clearing to see who belongs to that ridiculous hat...

("We're All a Bit Mad" - 5"x7" acrylic paints on gallery-wrapped canvas - for sale here.)


But what should our Alice find when coming upon the clearing? A fabulously mad tea party, and with more than enough room for her!


And such a table it is! There is almost enough here to make up for the madness of the host - almost...


Such loveliness as she's never seen!


Surely chilled watermelon is just the thing on such a warm summer's day. And the scent of lavendar is enough to bring a bit of peace to such madness as this!


Such delectable treats were there! Enough to tempt even the fussiest child. Banana bread still warm from the oven, beautifully blue-sugared vanilla biscuits, and - of all things! - pink champagne truffles!


Surely there's enough tea for all! I think I'll take a nibble of those lovely tea-sandwiches, as well. And a bite of fresh fruit is just the thing to finish it off.


But would she ever find that White Rabbit?


Time to leave the tea party and continue her search! Off into the garden she scampers...

("Alice in the Garden" - 9"x12" acrylic paints on gallery-wrapped canvas - RESERVED)


...Only to find the most wonderful display of pendants! Oh! That she could own one to adorn herself, she would be the happiest creature on earth!

(hand-painted pendants on polymer clay and wood, for sale in my Etsy shop here.)


But what's this??? The Mad Hatter is feeling particularly kind today it seems, and is offering up this cunning little pendant for you, my sweet guests! Yes, leave me a comment on this post, and you could WIN this sweet hand-painted pendant!

(acrylics on wooden pendant)

You have until Saturday July 3rd at midnight EST for your chance to win! Please don't forget to visit the other amazing participants, and thank you so very very much for your lovely visit!