This banner was a delightful piece to work on! My client wanted a banner for their son and new daughter-in-law's front wedding table. Because the piece was so large I was able to improvise making flourishes and large flowers for color and accent. It was an honor to be apart of this wedding in this manner but also, I was able to address their wedding invitations. Thank you Denise Peters for allowing me to share this piece on my insight page!

Recently I was able to take a trip to Maine and New Hampshire. The trees along with the fog laying low in the river area's was so inspiring. Bringing home leaves of various color for memories along with these pictures has been a blessing. Ron and I stayed at Kendall Tavern Bed and Breakfast for several days and were delighted with our memories of the area. Next year I'll be having a class right there at the Inn for Tim and Loree. Dates, time and projects will be posted soon within my schedule. They are delightful Inn keepers and what a wonderful Inn they run....I'm already looking forward to next year, seeing them and meeting new students.

What a wonderful feeling to have a new student come into a chapter just because she liked the project and wanted to learn how to paint. Gerri was so patient and moved right along with the rest of the gals from the chapter. No complaints on this gals part 'cause she was ready, willing and wanting to learn. Thank you to the New Hampshire crew, Margo Wiggin for all the work and the delightful time in your wonderful area.

SDP offered a new class this year inviting all who wanted to learn more about designing to " Come on Down." This is a program where basics are shared along with critiques of designs already painted and can be observed. The pitfalls as well as the successes are shared. Our team is hoping to have a three day seminar prior to next years convention! Now wouldn't that be fun? We will be sharing line, shape and text along with color and how to begin your own personal designs. Can hardly wait!

This year's SDP class was wonderful! It's always a privilege to be a part of nationals but this year was a whirlwind. I was there for only three days with all three full of classes! Design team, meetings as well as classes. What a joy my students were and as always, they always come through with their finished project! It's a funny thing, I seem to learn as much as them. I love it!

Pencil your lettering in Prior to painting!

A title company in Redding - 30 miles north of us ask for a mission statement to be placed on their wall. They wanted the statement to read loud and clear so much of the wall was taken up with lettering. Of course areas for furniture were kept negative but what a delight! Larger images of this wall may be seen in my portfolio. My husband Ron helped me out with ladder and his good eye's. Chalking the design as well as all letters needed to be done prior to paint applied. In doing this it gives one a sense of space, order, readability and proportion. If you are designing on a wall, placing nice guidelines or swatches of color in various places can be very helpful. Nice white chalk pencils (4-5) have on hand for larger jobs. The texture of the walls can take that pencil down to nothing quickly. Because this company only wanted lettering it was important to bring the colors in the total room to the wall. The pictures do not capture this but gold,linen, and brown was added for elegance.

This small oval round needed to have a new look! Using a 3 inch roller, rolled into Magic Mix + pigment of your choice and a lighter hue a wonderful texture appears. On this particular box the colors worked well with the added border around. This is a technique I often use for variation and depth. This technique works well on canvas, wood and walls. Clear Glazing medium or Magic Mix are my mediums of choice. Wall borders are beautiful with added complementary colors added with this simple roller. They usually are foam - which I use for smaller projects but the larger I've actually used cloth rollers. Try it, I think you'll enjoy the look that's achieved.

Applying bleach to paper is often times a huge surprise. For this particular piece, bleach using an automatic pen was used. With the technique, it's extremly important that your surface is clean and that your able to stablilize your hand for crisp type letters. Spots of bleach dropped onto your paper will result in an unwelcomed sign. Using a towel under your hand and over the main area that is not being written on can often times help leaving only the area that you are writing in free. Bleach can give you some wonderful colors after being added to your project. It's different and almost magical!