And the winner is.....

Hello my dear friends!  Thank you to all who visited and left such heart warming compliments.  This has truly been a wonderful gift to me and I am grateful to Natasha for hosting this party.  So without further ado I will announce the winner!  And the winner is.... Julie Marie of Idyllhours!  Congratulations and I hope you enjoy your little package of holiday goodies!!

I am excited to give you a little peak into my world in my studio.  It is usually really messy with projects going all over the place but I tidied it up a bit to snap some pictures.  I am in the process of setting up for my annual Enchanted Christmas sale event!!  It is by far the best and most favorite sale I have for the year.  I wish you could all visit me personally and share my it with you.  I live in a very rural community on the edge of a town with the population of 2200.  My mailing list spreads over many miles and people come from all over.  Our little town bursts with tourists who come to see all of the holiday boutiques in our local area.  We have wonderful, talented artisans and it is a treat for some happy shoppers.

So here is a sneak peak....

The picture above is my work space of my studio.  My sweet loving hubby built it for me out of new and salvaged materials.  I regreted not having more windows in this back space so I bought this mirror mantel at a yard sale for $3 and it opens up the space and reflects light wonderfully.  It just needed some paint and I think it turned out beautiful!  One day I dream of having more windows and some skylights.  All of the furniture in here is vintage, even the metal stools.

Below is the backside of the front of my studio where I showcase my creations.  Every sale that I have has a new theme.  I paint walls and move things around.  This beautiful old cornice was in here before and made a room within the studio with it.  I have a table now where it used to be so Justin (my hubby) moved it back for me.  I love how it looks with the chandelier in front and the beautiful leaded glass window behind it.  It feels so magical and warm to me.  Chippy and well loved is what I have a passion for in my decorating.

Above in this corner I am going with a silver and blue theme.  In front of this (not pictured) is an old tressel table that I painted PINK!!  I don't think I will be able to sell it.  Not only because it is pretty but because it is very functional.  I can use it for when I have workshops.

Thank you once again for stopping in.  I look forward to sharing more as I get closer to the date.  The sale will be on November 14th with a preview sale for friends and family the night before.  I hope to make it magical with lots of twinkling Christmas lights!

Hugs and blessings ~ Nichole

It's All About Me! Party and Give away!

A couple weeks ago I was invited to join Natasha's blog/swap party.  This is not your average, ordinary swap party however...instead of creating for someone else you were asked to make something for yourself!  Right away I knew what I wanted to do.  Although I had planned to do more with it, I ran out of time.  I am also having a give away ~ please scroll down to see what the prizes are!

Sooooo....here it is!  Portraits of my children!  They are older now but I always wanted to do one of them at these ages.  The first one is my oldest Jacob, then it is Isaac, and my baby Alison.

The portraits are done in graphite pencil and after taking pictures of them I edited them on my photoshop program.  I added a frame to the portrait and made it a sepia color for softness.  It gives them a vintage feel which I love.  Initially I wanted to take these images and make a soldered pendant with them but I ran out of time.  I have yet to use my soldering iron too...one of the many things on my list I haven't done yet....but now I can cross off drawing portraits of my children from my list of things to do : )  In the past I have painted my children, but I have never done a pencil portrait.  It was quite an experience doing this, as I think I know my children's faces better than anything else I have drawn before.  I experienced myself what many may feel and think when they see a drawn portrait for themselves done by me.  My children are a little older now and they have changed in a lot of ways.  I am so glad to have done this and I love how their characters shine through.  Jacob is my smart and witty boy, with an awesome sense of humor and loving heart.  Isaac is my little character full of grand imagination and wonder.  Alison is my little princess and my shadow.  She is a loving little girl and one day will work along side me in my studio.  It is so much fun to share my creativity with all of them and they are my best creations by God's loving grace!  They all love to create and it truly is a blessing to share.

Thank you Natasha for putting this party together!  Please visit her here to see all of the participants of this party and see all of the lovely creations everyone has made.  Natasha's project is a painting and it is breath taking, you must see it! 

And now my dear friends, I am happy to have my first ever give away!!  Below are pictures of the items I made to give to one special person : )  The gift package includes hand made embellished ornaments, a vintage style tree topper, an angel magnet, a gold grapevine angel,a vintage style gift tag and note cards designed by me.  I hope whoever wins it will enjoy it all!  To win this prize all you have to do is leave a comment.

I look forward to hearing from you!   It has been a lot of fun doing this and I hope you enjoyed visiting and letting me share my art with you.  Have a wonderful and blessed day!

Hugs ~ Nichole

Looking ahead

Hi friends!  I have enjoyed so much reading all your blogs and sharing your fall pictures and stories.  This time of year however, my mind is on the upcoming Holiday sale in my studio.  So much time and preparation goes into each sale.  It is a lot of hard work, but so rewarding.  For every sale I redecorate everything.  I paint walls, floors, even build and move walls (with my hubby's help).  It is all worth it to share my creations and imagination to those who come and shop.

So, as I am now in the planning stages and setting up the foundations for my new themes for this sale I look back at the photos from years past.   The photo below is from the very first year I had a sale.  My husband and brother started building my studio less than two months before I had it!  I think back and wonder how I did it all?  I am not sure how well you can see the framed print or not, but this was my first print.  It was from a pastel painting I did of my sister before my children were born.

I love making garden chandeliers for christmas time.  I love the look of rusty wire and the glitter of silk pointsettias and ribbon.

The following photos are from my last years sale.  As you can see the look had changed dramatically!

The picture below was of my daughters play house that we decorated for the sale. 

This picture below was from some pictures I took for an upcoming Christmas ad.

It is neat to look back and see what I have done and look ahead now to another Holiday sale event.  I am not sure what "theme" I am going for this year.  I am excited however for the fun projects that I am making for it.  I hope you enjoyed looking at the pictures and letting me share them with you!

Many hugs and blessings to you!  ~ Nichole

New Tags

I have been a busy bee!  Between the kids, keeping house, numerous appts, and all that life brings it is a wonder I am able to get out to the studio!  I have a sick little kiddo here at home to that I will be bringing in to the doctor today.  You can't be too cautious with all of the bugs going around.  Since I am in the house caring for my little girl, I thought I would share some of my new tags I have been working on : )

Inside my head I have a ton of ideas that I want to create, and never enough time.  For now I have been working on making some tags with images that I have already made.  Soon with some of my new paintings and drawings I will be printing more to use in my art.  I am also excited to be joining Natasha Burns Blog Party.  On October 22 we will be showing our " It's all about Me!" creations.  It is an opportunity for you to take the time to treat yourself to something you have always wanted to do but never take the time.  I am going to finally do something that I have never done....but I am not ready to share yet : )  I am very excited about it and cannot wait for the big day!

So here are some of the things I have been working on and will soon be adding to my site.  Right now I am kind of "playing" to get an idea of how and what to make.

The tags with the little boy and girl are from pictures I took of my daughter and my friends little boy.  They have since grown up some : )  The original portrait was done in pencil and I printed it in a sepia tone.  I then colored in the bib overalls and tinted their skin with a touch of pink.  I wish I had a better camera because the details are missed in the photos.  I have a Cricut machine that cut the tags and I embellished them with german glass glitter and lace.


Thank you my friends for visiting again and I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!  It has been so nice to meet so many nice people who have found me through sweet Amy's ~Bunny Rose Cottage!  I look forward to getting to know you all better : )


Blessings and hugs ~ Nichole

Mom's gift

I have an amazing mom!  I admire her selfless love that she shares to all who know her.  I was blessed to have my mom stay home with us while we were young.  She was always there for her kids and she was our safe place to land when the world outside was rough.  My mom is also an amazing artist.  Growing up I wanted to draw and create just like her.  She could draw portraits that looked like photographs.  I was so impatient when I was young and wanted to do what she did right at that moment.  I learned that it takes time and dedication, and she helped me along the way.  It is nice to have her critique my work when I have a hard time "seeing" something that may not be quite right.

My newest painting that I am showing you is of my mom and I.  I have loved and cherished this picture all of my life.  I always new one day I would paint it.  It is even more special to me now, having my own children.  I was the oldest of four children, and at this time of the picture I was the most precious thing in their life.  I had the same exact feelings when I had my first child and the fierce love and pride I had for every new thing he did.  Nothing is more powerful and great as a mothers love  for their child.  This painting I feel reflects that and that is why it is so special to me personally.  I hope that others would feel the same as they look at it.

I have a very talented family who are all artists.  I look forward to sharing their art with you in future posts.  As artists we live to create and share.  As a family we appreciate and support one another.  So I call this painting Mom's Gift.  Not only because this is my gift to her, but because I believe she is my gift from God, as was I to her.  So mom, I love you with all of my heart.  Thank you for all you have done for me : )

Thank you all of my friends for letting me share this with you!

Hugs and Blessings!  ~ Nichole