World of Pets Expo

This time of year it's kind of hard to find things to do.  For the past few weekends the weather has been particularly nasty.  But this weekend is fab!  It was actually 74 degrees yesterday.  We busted out of the house and headed over to the Hampton Convention Center for the World of Pets Expo.

I really wasn't intending to go this year as my interest is mostly in turtles these days and I didn't see anything about turtles on their website.  But a co-worker told me that they were going to have a reptile section with turtle displays so I quickly changed my mind.  I was so looking forward to seeing some cute little fellows and also I'm searching for a local reptile vet.

The entry line was amazingly long.  And almost everyone had their dog with them.  Dogs of all varieties and states of dress abounded!  Of course I took some photos.  Not my best work as the dogs were quite excited and I had to work in between lots of human legs!

I think she was the prettiest

In line for the contest

A crowd favorite

Coolness!

What a cutie!

There was also a show called Johnny Peers Muttville Comix.  The dogs were great and the crowd loved the show.

Johnny Peers Muttville Comix

Here we go!

Brave little guy

One of the most popular events was the Dock Dogs competition.  I have seen the Dock Dogs in the past and it's always a good time.  I always get a kick out of the doggie "swimsuits".  I'd love to get one for Chloe but it might be best to not draw attention to her full figure!

Color coordinated team

All in all it was a fun event.  There were snakes, mice, miniature horses and even some camels in addition to the cats and dogs.  The petting zoo had just about any animal you could think of to pet.  I especially loved the baby goats and miniature horses.  I would be very happy to bring them home with me.  The only disappointment I had was in not seeing even one single turtle.  Guess I need to look for a Reptile Expo.

Sharon

#worldofpetsexpo, #petexpo,

New Whimsical Candlesticks

Here are my newest beauties!  I really love the colors on these.  And I enjoy painting the whimsical patterns.  It's very soothing.

I like to paint while I watch TV.  I say watch but I really mean listen.  I concentrate on painting and only look up when something interesting happens.  It's amazing how little there is on TV that's interesting enough to draw my attention!

I have developed a work flow for my painting.
Step One:  Stare at object to be painted for hours trying to get an idea of which way I want to go
Step Two:  Pick out a couple of patterns I want to include for sure
Step Three:  Pick out my color scheme
Step Four:  Get to painting!
Step Five:  Fix anything I don't like

Originally I intended to go with a Christmas theme in blues and either gold or silver.  But I never could decide on a shade of blue.  So I ended up with green, tomato red and a custom mixed gold.  I have some other candlesticks that may end up a wintry blue.  Maybe I just have to stare at them a bit longer!
Sharon

Available at http://www.etsy.com/shop/sharonstrouddesigns

#whimsicalart, #whimsical, #paintedfurniture, #aliceinwonderland, #wonderland,

A New Whimsical Jewelry Box

Here's my latest creation!  I really enjoyed painting this one.  Actually I've had this box for a year and just got around to working on it.  I've been concentrating so much on the scrapbooks my painting has kind of taken the back burner.  It seems to be good for my creative juices to alternate between scrapbooking and painting.  Keeps me from getting burned out.

I really love the detail on this piece.  I will admit I resorted to wearing my magnifying glasses a few times!

I normally don't paint anything on the back.  But I decided to add a bit of pretty detail and besides that it makes a great place to sign my work!


I finished this jewelry box over the weekend while I was snowed in.  At least one thing good came from that snowstorm.  On a sad note my beautiful guppies were casualties of the storm.

We lost power on Saturday and the temperature drop stressed the fancy guppies.  I never realized they were so fragile.  The guppy tank is in my studio which is the coldest room in the house.  The power was only out for 3 hours but it was mighty cold outside and hubby was having some issues getting the generator started.  I wasn't worried about the turtle tank as it sits in the den right next to the gas fireplace which I had blazing nicely.

When the power came on I thought everything was fine.  The water temp had dropped down in the 60's but warmed back up quickly.  But the very next day my newest guppy which I just got last week wasn't looking so happy.  When I looked closely I could see that he had the dreaded ick.  I then had to brave the icy roads to get some ick medicine from the pet store.  I started treating them right away but it didn't help.  Alas within 3 days all the fish were dead.  Poor little things.

OK enough of the sadness.  On a happier note this jewelry box sold the very first day.  I had to quickly take photos before I sent it off.  A lucky lady received this for her wedding anniversary.  Another satisfied customer!

I have two more jewelry boxes to paint.  Hopefully I can get started on them this weekend.  Right now I have two whimsical candlesticks and a scrapbook to photo and list.  I think need a longer weekend.

Sharon

#whimsical art, #whimsical painting, #jewelrybox, #sharonstrouddesigns

Back To Work After The Holidays

I took most of December off as far as creating new pieces.  I didn't really want to stop working on projects but I knew that it would be best to just enjoy the season and come back refreshed in the new year.  So I've got a couple of projects I'm just finishing up.

The first one is a whimsical trinket box clock.  This one is actually a reclaimed clock.  I wish I had taken photos of the original.  It was quite cheesy!  I really like the way it turned out and it was so much fun to paint.

It's listed on my website as well as my Etsy Store.  I call it Whimsical Trinket Box Clock.  Inventive, I know!

I have another jewelry box in the works and it's 90 percent finished.  As I'm waiting for the blizzard of the century (not!) I intend to wrap it up today.  My plan is to get into the studio, crank up the space heater under my desk and work like a madwoman!

Stay warm wherever you are,
Sharon

Last Photos of Howl-O-Scream 2015

Much as I miss the fun of Howl-O-Scream I'm totally looking forward to the opening day of Christmas Town!  I figured I needed to finish up my Fall photos before moving onto Christmas.  Here are a few of the highlights.

Dr. Frankenstein

Wendigo Monster

Christmas Town opens the day after Thanksgiving.  I'm really looking forward to the yummy peppermint fudge hot chocolate!  In the meantime I'm trying to get prepared for Thanksgiving.  I've got a 23 pound turkey in the freezer that I can almost taste.  Sounds kind of bloodthirsty now that I've put it into words!

Sharon
#Buschgardens, #howl-o-scream, #halloween, #busch,

Fall Photos and a New Topaz Labs Filter

I am so far behind!  Not that that's anything too unusual but the pressure is starting to build up on me.  I took lots of photos this year but unfortunately real life and two jobs have taken up a great deal of my time.  I have barely scratched the surface on my processing tasks.  What a bummer.  Hopefully after the holiday season I can take a break and just work on my photos.

Topaz Labs has just released a new special effects filter called Texture Effects.  I should mention that I LOVE Topaz Labs products.  So when this new one was released I just couldn't resist.

I played around with it the other night just for fun.  These products are so easy to use you can just jump right in there and get some cool effects.  But they are also very powerful editing programs that can give you some amazing effects if you take the time to really work with them.  There is a bit of a learning curve because there are so many options and effects but fortunately Topaz Labs has many webinars and videos to help you get the most out of the program.

On this first picture I had had some difficulty with my camera settings.  I seem to have trouble at night under red lights.  Hopefully I will figure it out some day!  It was much darker than it appears and the area was lit with red spotlights.  Very creepy but didn't translate well in the photo.  I wanted to see if I could salvage this mess and get a usable image with a dark, old world vibe.

Scary ladies at the Busch Gardens Unearthed Haunted House

This next one is just a standard amusement park shot.  I do love the carousel horses at Busch Gardens.  They are painted authentically and the park really keeps them in great shape.  I thought I would give it a somewhat grungy neon look.

Here are the original photos.

 

If you like to play around with special effects you might like to give Texture Effects a try.  They offer a free 30 day trial version.

I'm really hoping to get my fall photos posted before Christmas catches up with me!  It's not likely to happy but I can dream, can't I?

Sharon

Looking Forward to Fall

Darkastle At Sunset

Funky Mood

I'll admit it.  I've been in a funk for the last couple of weeks.  This time of year is always depressing to me.  I just hate to see the end of Summer.  And so here were are in the very last week before school starts and it's a sad, sad time.  Already the days are getting shorter.  Can't say it's any cooler since it was 94 humid degrees today.

Howl-O-Scream Countdown

The only bright spot in the near future is the start of Howl-O-Scream at Busch Gardens.  It opens on September 25 and I'm happy to report they've already started some preparations. They even have a three new haunts this year.

Here's one of the new haunts.  Looks promising.  This one is replacing 13:You're Number's Up.  I liked 13.  In fact, it was probably my favorite.  But it was a few years old and I'm glad to see something new going in.  I'm very curious to see what is behind the boarded doors.  Here is a preview of Unearthed.

One of the other new haunts is called Cornered.  Busch has just released Cornered preview as well.  Kind of reminds me of Children of the Corn!  Terrifying!  I don't know if I can handle being chased through cornfields.

Lumberhack looks to be zombie lumberjacks.  Can't wait to see that one!  Zombies are so scary to me...but now as scary as clowns.  I still wish they would bring them back.  Maybe it's just my personal phobia but the clowns were the creepiest.  Once I was just standing there having a conversation when I felt something on the back of my neck.  Thinking it was a bug I reached up to swat it away.  I felt something I didn't recognize so I turned my head and came face to face with an evil clown.  (Insert scream here)  He had his nose on my neck!  Gives me the heebie jeebies just remembering it!

Sharon

#howl-o-scream, #busch-gardens-williamsburg,