Before I left on vacation earlier this month, I had several requests for custom orders.  It seems they always come in groups.  I let everyone know they would not be done until I got back from my trip and it all worked out.  I completed 3 custom orders this week.

-- A Red-Hatters pendant for my mother-in-law --

This is a reverse painted glass oval dome mounted on a hand carved and painted polymer clay setting.

I had also previously made a sign for a friend's business (photography) to hang up when she does art shows.  Another mutual friend ordered one just like it.

The first sign came out beautifully, but a hair dark.  So I tried to lighten it up in the second sign and it came out pretty darn light.  I like them both, but somewhere in the middle was what I was shooting for.

And the last custom order was for a guy who called because he wanted an anniversary gift for his girlfriend of a giraffe and a sloth together (pet names).  He sent me a link to some artwork he googled.  Who knew you could so easily find a cute little drawing of a giraffe and sloth together??  I adjusted the drawing a bit to fit my needs, clarify the faces a little and removed the clothing/glasses on the giraffe.  I painted it in my normal way and am very happy with the result.  This one was so much fun!



 

My sister, Kristin Shields, is a terrific quilt artist.  She uses a liberated style to build her quilts and they are so much fun.  She was chosen as the Featured Quilter at this year's huge Sister's Outdoor Quilt Show in Sisters, Oregon.

That is her - far left of picture in white shirt and brown hair - and a tiny portion of the folks that stopped by her space on Saturday, July 13th.

So, last year we had an idea - let's collaborate!  Our parents' 50th wedding anniversary is this year and so we decided to make a hanging for them.  I made a reverse glass painting of a tree with intertwining trunks and limbs and little birds all in the favorite colors of each of the family members (parents, kids and grandkids). 

I sent that up to Kristin in January and she ended up making a little quilt the same width of a close up of the two red birds (our parents' favorite colors) on a limb with leaves.  She used almost all fabrics she had died herself.

Kristin had both pieces mounted and framed together and the we presented it to our parents this past Tuesday while I was visiting them all in Oregon.

This was a fun little project and it was exciting just sending off a tile and getting to see the finished project all put together.  Maybe we will try another pairing some time - have a little show of them - that would be fun!