...And the WINNER is...

Long Day
The grand prize winner for the Aceo Bounty Holiday Sale has been drawn, vbabrams is the winner. She had 6 entries out of 48 entries from 31 different users.



Thank you to everyone who purchased items from our sale, we all had a lot of fun.

Red Sails

Both of these ACEOs are on the way to the winner.

Thankful

North Head
While the turkey roasts in the oven and parades and football are the tv fare I remember all the Thanksgiving days I've celebrated in my life. So many family members and friends and wonderful memories. Even an uninvited guest bat one year :D

Plenty to be thankful for, indeed. Although things aren't running smooothly, I am so glad to be here and preparing dinner to share.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Winter Sunset

Winter Sunset
It's getting late and you are out crunching uphill in the snow.
The shadows grow long and the colorful sky has you almost convinced it's warm.
Almost - not quite!

Snow Date?

Have you ever been on a "Snow Date"?
This ordinary snow couple is on one right now. Hope they're having a great time!
(I am glad that isn't my Christmas Tree)
A little watercolor with touches of gold to brighten the tree. I think it needs all the help it can get!

Bazaar Season

I'm always surprised at how quickly time passes. I have a stack of books I want to read and a crochet project underway plus several paintings in various stages of "not done".

I read in the newspaper that we are in Bazaar Season.





That means one thing...

I'd better hurry and get all my prep for Christmas done before Thanksgiving.

Challenged

Watercolors WNW has a monthly challenge...this month was a size and time limit but the subject was up to the artist.

I have stopped watching the clock...don't need to. All the appliances ding when I need to attend them so I usually get wrapped up in whatever I'm doing and just jump with the dings.

Painting Three Tulips was quite different. I timed every step to be sure I didn't exceed the time allotted. Marked it all down on scrap paper and made sure I didn't just take off with a ding and forget to write in my time.

Made it! (with time to spare but don't tell on me!)

Before the Fall

Autumn in the Pacific NW brings a wonder of gold and yellow to the trees that shed their leaves. Just touches of orange and brown for contrast. This is a glimpse Before the Fall.

For the first time, I painted on a totally blank piece of paper. No drawing at all, not even a horizon line. After getting past the fear...it was fun! Done completely by the picture in my head and the colors outside my window with a little help from my brushes.

Missing from picture, one very annoying squirrel!

ABHS Shop and Save!

ACEO Bounty Holiday Sale
November 1st to 22nd 2009

New items have been added!

I did a little looking and here are just a few of the many items available!

Etsy Buy Handmade leepierce

For more items Click Here

Conflicted

Birches

Tough day today, I wanted to be someplace other than here. I like the smell of cold crisp air after a snowfall and love to walk through it.










Early Arrival

Then the cold gets the better of me and as I watch the rain fall here, I think of the beaches in the Bahamas and the blue green water.






It was nice to work on these little paintings today. For a moment I got to be in both places.

Elevation

Snowing

It's a matter of elevation. Here it's just rainy and grey but a few miles away (uphill) there's SNOW on the mountain.
So I get up, look out and see it's another rainy day.






There's a lot to be said for living just a few feet above sea level. Winter is mild and very green. Today, I caught the squirrel snatching a big bunch of ferns and dragging them up the tree so he could safely munch them.

Meanwhile, on the mountain it's...


Still Snowing

Oh, and skiing season is here.

Fresh Fruit

Reclining Pear (nude)

Created especially for fun, these nude, still life ACEOs are ready to join your collection!







Pomegranate Unabashed (nude)






Don't forget to check out the ACEO Bounty Holiday Sale!
Click Here

ABHS - What's in it for YOU?

ABHS means Aceo Bounty Holiday Sale!

Why is our sale called the "ACEO Bounty Holiday Sale" ?

It is a name we came up with, in part because most of us are part of the ACEO Bounty competition, and in part because this will be a PLENTIFUL, HUGE, BOUNTIFUL FUN Sale.

Here are just a few of the items offered:

Etsy: Your place to buy & sell all things handmade leepierce.etsy.com

Visit ETSY and Search ABHS in Tags or check out this list of shops!

PARTICIPATING SHOPS AND THEIR LINKS:

alwaysartistic
artistsuetaylor
backroomtreasures
cindydouglass
jbguess
lazyhawk
leepierce
pinkglitterfae
readingsully2
tapestry316
LDPhotography

Holly Berry - visits the ABHS

Holly Berry
It's time for a little HOLIDAY FUN!
It's time to visit ETSY and check out the
Aceo Bounty Holiday Sale
November 1st to 22nd 2009

Search ABHS on ETSY.

Holly Berry may be visiting the sale but I don't believe this portrait looks anything like her.


WHAT?


Nevermind

For more details ACEO Bounty Holiday Sale

Dude!?

Winter Snowsacpe

May not have any here yet, but ski season is on the way!

Fall Surprise

The tree that flowers abundantly each Spring gave me a little surprise this Fall.

All along I believed it was a non-fruit bearing plum.

Well, they don't look anything like plums!
Plum Berries

Happy Anniversary!

There's certainly nothing I need but DH scored big when he gave me this new orchid for an Anniversary present. Small enough to fit in a coffee cup but loaded with flowers, it fit right in with the rest of the family.

Just looking for the carving tools

Three little punkins sitting on the shelf...
I'll soon be carving them up to make Jack O Lanterns for Halloween.

Painting and Football...

I got to paint these little bits today while watching football. I love this new arrangement called "red zone".

All the action and excitement of all the games can be seen.

New England added a little weather to the mix...hence the snowscape!






Then things were bleak for the Lions. I had so much hope...hence the bare treed river bank.












All in all it was a very good day...Drew really wiped Eli's nose in it. (It's the only time I don't scream for the Giants.) Buffalo did it...and Brett had fun too!

A beautiful fall day!

By the Sea

Well it used to be!

Now it's part of my collection.

It doesn't remind me of the Bahamas and the sun and sand and coral but it does make me yearn for conch fritters!

Sun setting even now

It isn't raining at this moment and the sun is going down. Just over an hour of day left, wishful thinking? Sure!
Bad news for all you guys back east...weather headed your way and I heard the "S" word!

What's the story?

Yes it is...Morning Glory! Yet another watercolor greeting card, measuring 5x7 and blank inside. Mail it to a flower lover or mat and frame and keep it for yourself.

How Soon?

It rained again today. That can only mean one thing, there's snow falling in higher elevations.

How soon will it look like this?

Another 5x7 greeting card suitable for framing or sending to someone special.

On the greeting card express

Took a little break to plant some flowers but I'm right back at my table getting a few new greeting cards ready.

Another sunny fall day. Can't stay away from flowers. I love my orchids and live in the land of roses so there you go!

Planted a zillion of these and none showed up!

Don't seem to be able to grow things outdoors. I planted so many petunia seeds this year and guess how many popped up...

None.
If they did, they would have looked like this.

Maybe next year.

On the way

Ready to open and ready to close, poppies on a greeting card ready to go.

Fall Greetings

So many sunflowers are hanging their heavy heads. Another sign of the season, loaded with seeds and tempting all the birds.

Back in greeting card mode and getting ready for a show.

More little bits...

Snowfall
A rainy day today good for reading and doing a few little paintings.







Escape








White Peak

Little bits

Wanting to play with my new paint and testing on a variety of paper leads me to do a few ACEOs.
Of the 2 autumn fields minis, this one is my favorite. I prefer a bright sky with clouds rolling in just like so many fall days I spent picking apples and then baking pies, making applesauce and fritters.






This iris was done with Daniel Smith watercolors but not the amethyst genuine. I found it flat and even though it has a glimmer, it doesn't show when scanned or photographed.








I do love fall and really miss all the colorful changes that are abundant in the northeast or even midwest regions.






And believe it or not, I still have flowers blooming in pots on the deck. Even though it's cool at night the cosmos are hanging in and my little frog has relocated to the box on the deck rail. He's been in my flowers forever and seems to prefer second story dwelling. I bet he's what the birds are looking for when they stand on the rims and pluck up bunches of dirt. He's made it so far and I'm rooting for him. The birds can have all the acorns.

Boys and their toys...

Back to greeting card mode and they seem to get a little more involved. Little boys grow into big boys and are looking at big toys.

Not sure what the deal is with a 57 vette now. I sure thought they were great when I was a kid and actually like them better than what goes for a vette now.

Closest I got was a 65 corvair with treacherous dual carb. White with red interior and tons of fun to drive.





Wasn't sure I'd get these done in time...

Fall?

It's fall but the weather here says summer is having a tough time letting go.

I needed a change so while I pack up greeting cards to mail, I painted this calla a bit bigger. Tried out some new stuff including a dark sap green from Daniel Smith.
It was fun playing with gel medium and it gave me a few ideas...

Everything was going nicely...

I was on a roll...painting greeting cards and managing to do more keepers than throw aways.
Perfect season to do a little grape still life. I bought 5 lbs of them because they were so beautiful and tasty, too.

I just plunked a small bunch on my table to draw and paint. Everything was going quite nicely until I got a little hungry.

So, the bunch got a little smaller.

I put the first wash on and the bunch got a little smaller.

Well, I had them pictured in my mind so I didn't really need them all to finish the painting.

The bunch got really small and the pile of the little bits of stem got bigger.

As I finished the painting, I looked for the grapes and they were gone! Good thing I captured them in a little painting.

Just Hanging Around

Here's a still life...why not? The acorns have been plunking all over the deck and bouncing on the roof luring the squirrels. As long as they're just hanging around I might as well use them for a greeting card.

One more down and still more to go.

Thanks for stopping by, see you later!

Not a Clue

I found these seeds that said "Orange and Yellow Cosmos" and couldn't resist. I'd never seen anything but white and pink and fuschia cosmos. I've been waiting all summer to see a flower. I was sure it was a joke because the leaves looked more like marigolds than my cosmos.


The first flower was tiny and pale yellow and did appear to be a marigold but then this popped open.
I haven't a clue. What do you think?

Just a Quick One...

All tied up with domestic goddess work today. Shopping at the grocery warehouse and returning home to clean and organize the freezer then break all the bulk food into portions, make a bunch of 4 oz. burgers and then pack it all away. It was already late afternoon by the time I finished.

I was determined to complete another card but had to squeeze it in and still cook dinner.

A quick fall landscape (trying to match the sky I saw on the route home) and don't tell anyone, I forgot the barn.
So what do you say? Missing from picture...

Small Celebration

A party for one!

Great timing and many Thanks to Karin Jurick and the latest Different Strokes Challenge.

Here is one more card ready to send off for a Birthday. I'm positive there are no calories in this cupcake.

It's perfect for my sister, she won't have to agonize over devouring it and plan for a number of days at the gym to make up for it.

See you later!

It's Inevitable

Just as I get into summer and finally have an orange cosmos blooming (I had no idea there was such a thing) the leaves are quietly falling off the trees. The acorns aren't so quiet, but they are dropping off the oaks and pelting the deck and roof.

Fall is coming and nothing will stop it.

I look at this card and think how bleak. No hot cider or caramel apples in this picture.

That's it! See you later, I need to celebrate the season.