a christmas announcement...

 

 

Looking for Christmas gift ideas?  Why not skip the department stores and give something that adds color, meaning, and style to any room?  I'll be taking orders until December 10th or until I've reached my limit of 75 orders, whichever comes first!

My Etsy Shop

To see pieces that are ready for sale, visit  The Not So Blank Canvas on etsy. If you're local and want to order something through Etsy, simply type conwaybuyer in the coupon code section and it will waive your shipping cost. Otherwise you can contact me directly and skip Etsy altogether.

 The Not So Blank Canvas on Facebook     

If you'd like to see photos of past pieces to get ideas for a custom order, you can visit  my Facebook page here.  I love to paint custom orders!

 

Special Teacher Gift Offer
Until November 31st, I'll be offering buy two, get one free of the 6x6 or 8x8 "be merry" or "joy" pieces.  These make great teacher gifts!

 

 Business Orders
I offer a 10% discount on bulk orders of 10 or more pieces. This is a great deal if you need Christmas gifts for employees, co-workers, volunteers, etc.

  

Gift Certificates

Since it's sometimes difficult to pick the right piece for someone, why not give them a gift certificate from The Not So Blank Canvas?

You can either gift them an amount or a size.

 

Contact Me

Feel free to contact me with any questions you have or to place your order.
 

merry christmas! 

 

 

 

 

quotes for little ones

Today, I want to give you a sneak peak at a piece from my new collection--

 

Quotes for Little Ones.

 

It includes quotes from Children's Literature painted in many different colors and sizes.  None of them are up for sale on Etsy yet, but I wanted to give my blog readers the first look.  

 

 

Don't you love children's books?

 There's something about those books that we read and read and read when we're little and now with our own kids that seems to stick with us.

 

and an ocean tumbled by with a private boat for Max and he sailed off

through night and day and in and out of weeks and almost

over a year to where the wild things are

 

 

Where The Wild Things Are is definitely one of our favorites--every little member of our family could quote the entire book by age 4!

 

 

 

 I'll probably sell this one by itself but just for fun, I painted this little orange one too...

Do you have a favorite Children's Literature quote? 

 Share it in the comments, and if I use it you'll receive one of them at half price!

and the winner is...

 

 

And the winner of the YOU ARE MY SUNSHINE canvas is:

 

katiechiet

 

 I just sent an email to you with the details.  Congratulations Katie!

good weekend reads

I hope everyone is having a great weekend.  We're spending the weekend at my parents' house. 

If you combine porch swings, hay fields, lazy afternoons, homemade soup, white bread, and unlimited movie watching you'll have a pretty good idea of why my boys never want to leave.

Here are a few good weekend reads...

Edie at Life in Grace tells us everything we need to know about a well appointed guest room; The Nester gives a great perspective on hoarding and organizing and such; and Melissa at The Inspired Room has some great photos of decorating with orange and red.

Do you have favorite blogs? Feel free to share in the comments!

And don't forget that the drawing for this piece will be on Monday.  If you want to win it, just sign up to follow by rss or email.  good luck!

circles of sunshine

 

I'm guest posting over at Circles of Sunshine today.

 

Each Friday they have a series called Rays of Sunshine:

featuring different women from different walks of life;

  giving us a small glimpse into their lives with the hope

of leaving you encouraged.

 

Jenny and Daspri are two of the most artistic, crafty, and fun ladies in blogland and I'm honored that they asked me to be a part.

 If you ever wonder what a day of a craft-business person looks like,

click on over and check it out.

  

colors

Just a quick post today to share my latest creation with you!  Even though it's long overdue--who knew that it would take me two years to finally make my own color chart!?--I'm excited to be able to use this as a reference for custom orders in  my etsy shop.

 

 I love 6 and 28.  What's your favorite?

color infusion

Today is the first post in my color infusion series.  Each week we'll focus on ways that we can add color and style in unsuspecting places. 

 

Let's begin with these sweet little teacups.  

 

 

These go with my fiesta dishes but you can use any teacup or coffee mug.  They could be displayed on your kitchen counter, in a basket, or used as a small vase to hold a flower brought in from your yard.  But today I'll show you how we use them around our house. 

 

I've had these glass canisters from Wal-Mart for years and recently found the chalkboard labels on this etsy site. 

I know there are countless ways to add style and function in unsuspecting places. 

So what are some ways you add color where it's unexpected?

 

 

Don't forget--the giveaway for
this canvas is only 7 days away, so be sure to sign up to follow through RSS or email if you'd like your name to be in the drawing!

inspired by mercy

in·spire: to stir, prompt, or move to action, particularly to create; to breathe in and be filled 

 

 

After I talked yesterday about inspiration, I began to wonder what constitutes inspiration?  I looked it up to find~anything that moves us, that prompts us to create...

 

to breathe in and be filled.

 

Isn't that our hope--that our creativity wouldn't be something that is forced but something that is inspired, that we breathe in and be so filled that the overflow is something beautiful? 

 

 

It's vulnerable, it takes courage, it takes constantly tending the fires within so that the overflow is actually something we would want to make visible. 

 

  As I told you yesterday, here's a song that I adore and that inspired the piece you see above. 

happy fall

 

Happy Fall everyone!  Doesn't fall just make everything better? 

Pictures of fall always make me want to breathe in the cool, crisp air and surround myself with greens and golds and reds.  When I saw this photo, I was immediately moved to paint this Happy Fall canvas.  I wanted a piece that reminded me of the fall leaves raining down. 

 

I love how inspiration can come from anywhere.  Mine often comes from photos, songs, being outside and words that move me.  Tomorrow, I want to share one of those songs with you and the result.

 

So what about you, where does your inspiration come from?