Window Painting - Part 1

Someone recently gave me two old vintage windows to paint on. It is a scary new project with something I've never tried before, but here I go again! I will be using opaque acrylics directly on the glass, so where it's painted you will no longer be able to see through it, but I'm leaving sections unpainted for an interesting effect, it will NOT look like stained glass...this is all crazy experimentation so it's just gonna be fun and (hopefully!) stress free, mistakes are allowed!

I couldn't find much about painting on glass techniques through the internet so I'm going to try and make up my own fun and easy instructions!

If you like what you see, try it out for yourself!



Start off by giving your window a good scrub, my window has beautiful worn vintage paint but is very dirty, I cleaned the glass and left the wooden parts alone for now, I don't want the pretty green paint to come off the wood. You don't want any dirt on the glass or it will really mess up the way your paint sticks to the glass.

If you have a design in mind, now is the time to print it out, having your print sized to fit your glass piece is great because you can simply place it under your glass and copy it! Printing it like that is too much work for me (especially since my window is HUGE!) so I free-handed my sketch (on the opposite side of the glass that I will be painting) using an oil pastel, crayons also work well, you want to make sure that whatever you use for your pre-sketch is easily removable so there's plenty of room to erase mistakes.

This is my basic sketch without details, I used the blue for the leaves so I don't get them confused with the wispy branches.

The leaves won't actually look like cotton candy, but I just needed to reserve space for them in my painting =P

I just love the beautiful green wood!

That's all for now! I will post more about the actual painting process soon!

Ahhh, more reptile projects!

I want to be able to spend time with my pets, and lately I've only been caring for their health needs and forgetting to just love them. Of course the only remedy is a project! I won't be taking any more reptile rescues and I'm going to spend some time making each of my pet's homes an eye-catching naturalistic vivarium that is beautiful enough to put in any main living space where they can demand someone's attention (mine!).

Enclosure list:

• The Reefers, Shawn and Jules.
• Zar, my crested gecko
• Fallyn, the bearded dragon (this is certainly going to be the biggest project)

I'm gonna start off with the reefers because they're small and it will be kinda like a test before the big stuff...I'm hoping to make these terrariums a sort of zen garden, where I can chill out while designing and upkeeping my tiny zoo.

They will each be different, but I would like for each of them to be very naturalistic and each have a water feature...we'll see how this goes!

Meet Shawn and Juliet!

So...

There was a reptile expo.

I went to the reptile expo.

And of course...I came home with more pets!

I said I was downsizing, and believe me, I AM!!

My new critters are only 1.5 inches, and full grown!

They are Florida Reef Geckos! Believed to be the ONLY gecko native to america, they are quite tiny, and soooo adorable!!!

They are very social, so naturally I had to get a pair!

Meet Shawn (if you don't watch Psych, you won't get the names...but it's ok!)

And Juliet (I like to call her Jules)

The two dots on Jules' neck indicate she is female.

They are so totally cool! I will be posting more about them as I get them set up in their new home. Until then....see ya!

I lied...

...Now I'm looking at Icelandic horses, not a Foxtrotter. One of the purest breeds in the world today, they are beautiful, rugged and anceint. The size of a pony, they have the temperment of a draft.
They stand an average of 13 to 14 hands high, which is often considered pony size, but breeders and breed registries always refer to Icelandics as horses. Several theories have been put forward as to why Icelandics are always called horses, among them the breed's large personality, and the lack of a word in Icelandic for "pony". Another theory suggests that the breed's weight, bone structure and weight-carrying abilities mean it can be classified as a horse, rather than a pony.

The Icelandic Horse is renowned for its five natural gaits. Icelandic horses have the three basic gaits that most other breeds have; walk, trot and canter. They also may have one or both of two other gaits; tolt and flying pace. The sensation the rider experiences in the tolt is that of floating often called "The Magic Carpet Ride". An Icelandic that can perform the walk, trot, canter and tolt is considered four gaited. The flying pace is a very fast thrilling gait that can only be maintained for a short period of time and is considered equal to a full gallop. A horse that can perform the walk, trot, canter, tolt AND flying pace is considered five gaited.

They are beautiful and simply amazing!

To see sure footed Icelandic horses performing both gaits on ice, click here.

To see three different Icelandic horses using the Bitless Bridle for the first time click here.

Will I change my mind again? I don't think so, but never say never!

What's the deal with all this horse craze?!

Ok, ok. So here it is. Yes, I am interesting in getting my own horse, but don't get all excited yet. I'm taking my time and it could even be several months before this becomes a reality. Will it live in the backyard? No, I will be boarding and working hard on its upkeep (cleaning stalls, ect). This isn't a silly whim, it is a serious long-term commitment, I know having a pony isn't all rainbows and roses and I can handle it. I do not have a horse picked out or anything, but it will probably be a Missouri Foxtrotter. A four-beat gaited horse that comes in almost any color and anywhere from 14-16 hands. Developed in the Missouri Ozarks they are known best for the comfort the Missouri Foxtrotter affords the rider, they have a gentle dispostition and are favored by forest rangers for their endurance and surefootedness in rugged terrain. The breed has quickly earned its reputation as a horse for all situations.

That's the basics for now, I'll write more later, love ya!

http://www.mfthba.com/

On the Wing

No one is awake, not even the sun. Inside the house, there is only silence and my mum is making her morning coffee. A tiny creature hops across the living room floor in the gloom. "Suzy is that you?" Mum calls. No answer. Thinking her daughter's pet rat has escaped, mum moves towards the little creature. As the mystery thing hops into the light, mum gasps, a tiny sparrow takes flight. Mum is shaking me awake. It can't be time to get up, not yet.  I look around rubbing the sleep from my eyes. "Ella! There is a bird in the house! Come catch it for me!" I sit up straight, A bird! "It's in the kitchen, come on!" I grab a small knitted blanket on my out and handing one corner to mum, we weild it like a fishing net. Above the sink the poor thing is flying into the window again and again. I move forwards and the sparrow dashes over our heads and into the living room. BAM! He slams into the bay window desperate for freedom and the open world outside. We cast our net. We miss. He flys in my room and hits the light, looking for the sun. Landing on my bed he sizes me up. Then he sizes me down. I sit on the bed with him and he dodges for the wall and slips in the narrow crack of the bed and under it. Oh boy. I crawl under there with him. We play the staring game for a while. He stares. I stare back. My eyes are feeling dry, but I win. Defeated by my amazing staring skills, he runs out from under the bed and flys around mum, who of course squeals in a bit of fright. I come out from under the bed too, not as gracefully as the tiny sparrow, and probably twice as scary. He spots another bird in the mirror, and flying to greet him, smacks into the mirror, when is this little dude gonna learn? We try to cast our net again, and again a miss. He dives under the bed again. Me too. This time I stuff pillows in the cracks so he won't go down there anymore. I think myself a genius. He is smarter. After I shoo him out a third time he hits the mirror once more before taking roost on the ceiling fan blades, and then swoops to a shelf where Sunkist my Leopard Gecko lives. The little bird nestles between the gecko tank and the shelf wall, Sunkist greets him with the friendly death stare and a slo-mo blink. GOTCHA! The little bird in my hand is so small and delicate, like the size of a mexican wedding cake, or snowball cookie, but not a nut-roll. I'm captivated by his beautiful striking features and teeny-ness. What a perfect creation, I marvel. Then we're walking to the front door. I stick my arm out into the cold winter and open my hand, he stays and gives me one last look. I like to think he was thanking me. Then he was gone, fluttering into the gray wild so fast I think I might have imagined the whole thing. Back in bed the giddiness of freedom is running in my veins, I fall asleep dreaming happily of flying endlessly into the sky.

Pottery Hide Box continued!

AHHHHH!!! Pottery is such a blast! It's so amazing and easy.  Like playdough for adults, it really brings out your creative childish side (as if mine isn't always). For my lizard hide box I decided to go with the hut style, I like the round shape and cone-ish roof.

I'm just starting off on my first day and my teacher is awesome! We're learning to wedge the clay, by kneading like bread dough, so there are no air pockets in it (or it will explode in the kiln, eek!)

Starting on the bottom half of the hide, I want it to have a flat solid bottom so when I put moss or earth inside it will not soak the cage floor. 

I'm carving some flowers and stuff on the outside to give it a whimsy effect, it seems to be telling me it's a hidden fairy hut, or the secret dwelling of a tiny hermit...maybe I'm crazy!  I left an opening in the top, (mainly because I just couldn't seem to fashion a point on the top, so I just cut it off!) and draped a "fallen" leaf over it, giving it more ventilation and cuteness! I just can't wait to see this in my living room!

I have no idea what colors to glaze it, but I'll cross that bridge when I come to it, and post more pictures of course!