Wednesday Favorites

Fabulous retro image in cheerful, eye-popping colors from designs2inspire!

Pretty in pastel Whimsical Candy Bar Sticker from CandyBuffet!

Elegant black and gold wedding invitation with peacock feather accent from NiteOwlStudio!

Lovely, simple design with blue tulips in a blue striped vase from FloatingLemons!


A very handsome recipe binder for your crockpot recipes from Klassy_Kitchen!

Influences

It was years ago. (I think it was probably shortly after suffering my last bearable indignity in high school and I had left for the last time.) It happened that I hadn't been awake until the wee hours of the morning and I was up early enough to be watching The Today Show. They were doing a segment on Milton Glaser and it was, during that short segment, when I decided I wanted to be a graphic artist. More specifically, it was this image that inspired the decision:The juxtaposition of the natural fluidity of the flowers and the rigid geometry of the grid left me awed. It had never occurred to me before that you could do such a thing! It completely changed the way I thought of art, making me realize that everything wasn't just the same prosaic paintings that hung on my grandmother's walls. Although I've since discovered many other wonderful artists since then, Mr. Glaser seems to be always at the back of my mind and continues be an influence in my work.

A True Flapper

My grandmother was the archetypal 1920's flapper. Born in 1903, she was at just that age when the 20's came roaring in. Ardently sought after by men, she was a dark-haired, mysterious beauty with finger curls and loads of style. Maybe a little wild (or, at least, what might have been considered wild for the time.)



By the time I knew her she was a quiet, gentle lady who wore Endora-from-Bewitched-style caftans with huge, chunky costume jewelry. She and my uncle, Jim, would throw lavish parties that would pack the house and everybody who was anybody was in attendance. She enjoyed those parties but, more than anything, else she loved to read. Not surprisingly, F. Scott Fitzgerald was her favorite author. My oldest brother was even named for him and he was always her pet. I didn't get to know her for very long. She died when I was just five years old, but I've never forgotten her style or her understated brand of elegance or her gentility. To this day, she still influences me.

It's Giveaway Time!

To show my appreciation to all the fantastic fans of SFCount Designs on Facebook, I'm offering the chance to win my Folk Art Flowers iPad case! (This case is for the original iPad - not the iPad 2) It has never been used, although it was on display at the Sundance Film Festival gift lounge earlier this year.


To enter, just leave a comment (including your name) on this post between now and July 19th. You can also comment on my Facebook page on the discussion board under the "iPad Case" topic for another chance. Each entry will be given a number. At the end of the entry time, I will generate the winning number through http://www.random.org/ and announce the winner on my page.

Once again, thanks so much for your support and good luck!

Fishing Buddies

For two mornings in a row, I was outside on my porch when a man went by in a Jeep with a rusty, old canoe strapped to the top and his big, black Lab in the passenger seat. I couldn't help but be inspired by the sight and a little envious of the nice, peaceful time they were going to have.

Zazzle magnet from Sarah: Watercolor Giant Panda Magnet

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Original watercolor painting of a peaceful giant panda sat among tall bamboo stems. My tribute to Ming Ming who died May 7th. Watercolor Giant Panda Magnet by sfcount Find more at Zazzle. Share This! |        At Zazzle you can: Shop billions of unique custom products. Create t-shirts, business cards, invitations, custom gifts, and more. Sell products and make $$$. Top searches this week: lesbian shirts, thank you cards, sportbike shirts, billy gibbons hat, mac t shirts, track and field posters, sailing sayings, halloween flyers, Louisiana screen printing, graduation gift ideas

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Welcome visitor

My mother lived in a rural area on a very large plot of land and few close neighbors. You could frequently hear Eastern Towhees scratching in the line of pine trees at the edge of her property and saying "tweet". (Although the experts say their call is "to-wheee", to me it sounds more like they are succinctly pronouncing the word "tweet" - "tuh-wee-t". I've always thought that was just so cute.) After my mother passed away five years ago, we moved into town and I never saw or heard those sweet little birds anymore. A couple of days ago, being such a beautiful spring day, I had the windows wide open to let the warm breezes in and lo and behold what do I hear? "Tweet!" I immediately got up and started trying to locate where the sound was coming from, but never could. The next day I heard that same call and heard the familiar scratching along the treeline at the back of our property. There he was! At that moment, I knew I had to paint him. Welcome to our home, little Towhee.