With God All Things are Possible

I decided to do this little "journal my faith thing". I was compelled to do this through two blogs that I have stumble upon this past week. I have thoroughly enjoyed reading them.  The first one Homegrown Hospitality  by Stephanie Ackerman. By reading Stephanie's blog, of course,  led me to the next blog Telling Stories by Courtney Walsh. I recommend you stopping by them both to get a dose of inspirations from time to time. 

It will be hard for me to do a post every week. Or at least it will be hard for me to get in the habit of doing it!!  I have been wanting to do some type of weekly/(possibly daily-haha) blog sketch for a while. I feel like it will help me get my mind in the creative gear I need it in.   Working as a full-time artist,  it is very hard to draw the line between fun creativity and deadlines!   Unfortunately, the fun creativity does not always pay the bills!

Going back to the post...Courtney, on her blog, encouraged her readers to scrapbook, journal or document your faith. I do scrapbook, just not on a daily basis.  I usually do not get to do that until our scrapbooking trip that is scheduled twice a year. However, I do draw ALL THE TIME! Quite necessary for my line of work! So mine will just have to be creative drawing stuff.

For the past year I have felt God moving my career in a different direction.  When God places a dream, a goal or calling on your life, the first reaction we have is "Oh my!  That is so much bigger than me, I can't do that!"  Then all the "What ifs" flood your mind.

My devotions today led me to (Luke 1:37)KJV  "For with God nothing will be impossible." When I opened  my bible to turn there, (Mark 10:30)KJV  jumps out! "With men it is impossible, but NOT with God; for with God all things are possible!  I love these GOD-cidences as I call them. When he lines up scriptures in a day and they just fall in front of your eyes.  I know that he is saying..."Just chill...I have this!"  In my devotion today God tells me "Nothing is too difficult for Me. I have chosen to use weak ones like you to accomplish My purposes.  Therefore, do not fear your limitations or measure the day's demands against your strength.Talk with Me, and listen while I talk you through each challenging situation."~Jesus Calling devotional.

What He requires is that I stay connected to Him. So enjoy your life...God has this! Have a blessed week!

Until next time~Carmen b.

GIVE-AWAY-Sharing The Cuteness

Ok...I know...I am a terrible blogger! Just know that I have been insanely busy working on NEW art!  I  can't wait until I can share!

 I am so excited about spring! All of my flowers are just blooming away! Spring just brings me new energy and I feel like I could just conquer the world! Since I am in such an energetic mood, I decided to share some of my cuteness with you! I painted all of these buckets last night..Yes, you read correct....LAST NIGHT!  Not sure what has got into me, but I decided to take a break from my collection development to just have fun and JUST paint!!

 I have posted these beach buckets and I am going to give away ONE of them to ONE LUCKY WINNER!  I will personalize it for the winner.  Here is how to enter: You can enter in one of three ways:


1) Leave a comment here


2) Leave a comment on my facebook page under the giveaway status.


3) Copy and paste this to your twitter status:
  RT @carmenbrunson Enter to win ONE hand-painted beach bucket www.ladypaintsalot.blogspot.com #giveaway


You can increase your chances to win by doing ALL three!

I  will draw the winner on Wednesday, March 21, 2012. Good Luck!
April Free Boone is the winner of the Beach bucket!  Thank you all for you comments!

Until next time~Carmen b.

Creative Treasures

I have finally finished all the the trunk shows for the season! Whew! I am taking a moment to breath. "TiZ the season"! Notice I said "TiZ" not 'Tis! Usually this time of year I am in a TiZZZZ!

I was so excited to go to my mailbox last week to find a creative treasure from online friend Kathy Weller. I love Santas and I just HAD to order him to add to my collection. You can visit her Etsy shop here.Kathy is in an illustrator, graphic designer and the creative brain behind WellerWishes Illustration & Design studio. She does amazingly cute art! I am so thrilled to have some of her cuteness to brighten up my tree! I was also glad to see all of the other little extras that she sent! I have posted them below. Thanks Kathy! I hope your Christmas season is off to a smooth start! I am off to work on something creative! ~Until next time~ Carmen b.

Something different

Typically, I create cute art. Occasionally I will venture away to another style. This cotton plant is not my usual style, but I thought it turned out nice, especially since I was working with a paint medium I am not familiar with. A few months back, I was talking with my art consultant Carol Eldridge. I happened to ask her what medium she prefers to work in. She said that she prefers gouache because it is so forgiving. You can visit her site here. Carol has been a licensed designer for over 20 years and does fabulous work. She also offers art licensing consultation services. You can find her art on many products throughout the giftware industry. Of course, after she told me about the paint, I just had to go out and buy some. I tried it a few months back, but was not able to spend a lot of time with it. My medium of choice is colored pencils and markers. However, today I decided to try my hand at gouache, again. Gouache is much like watercolor paint. It is a very forgiving. If you mess up you can just to dot the area with water and blot with a dry q-tip or a towel. Well off to work on something creative! Until next time~Carmen b.

A Peek Into My Creative Space

Let me first say, My studio is NEVER this neat!!! Just a week ago, you could not even see the floor and it looked like a bomb had exploded! I did some Fall cleaning this weekend to prepare for the busy holiday season. A few of my online artist friends have shared their creative spaces, so I thought I would share mine. I figured now would be a good time to share them, since I can still see the floor! I am sure in a couple of weeks, that will not be the case!

In the above photo is my bookcase. I bought it at Americas Mart. One of the showrooms had some of their fixtures for sale. I bought it for $10 and painted it green and glazed it. I used a tension rod to drape some dot fabric over. It hides some books, papers and other what-nots. The black curtain behind the chair is my "make-shift" closet. I took two black sheets, cut a hole on each end of the seam and ran it across a piece of metal conduit. You can use PVC pipe, but electrical conduit is much cheaper.

This is another view. You can see the chandelier that I purchased at the flea market for $2 and painted it to match the room. Actually, my entire studio came from the flea market. By the way, it is located in the barn in the backyard. The walls are an old picket fence. My work table is a piece of cabinetry that was not finished. The curtains below hides my packaging supplies, file folders and the trash can.

This is the view of the window area. This is where I look out and watch the hummingbirds during the summer months. I also have my children's art work in the frames on either side. I need to have them draw me something new to update them.

I keep my pens, paint brushes, and other needed stuff in these buckets above my work area. I had my husband cut holes in a 1X4 board. I painted the board black. I used two metal brackets to mount on the wall. Notice, I love black! Every time it gets messy looking I just paint over it!

I hope you have enjoyed touring my creative spot!

Until next time!~Carmen b.

Blueberry Picking

We went blueberry picking this past weekend. I took a picture of our basket of blueberries. Thought it was a nice inspiration for my artist friends out there. I might do some painting of these myself.

Here is another picture of the bush. Very lush! Such eye candy for the artsy mind!

Hope you are having a fun summer!

Until next time~Carmen b.

Last Day Of School

Today was the children's last day of school and I thought I would share the flower pots that we gave our teachers. I thought they turned out really cute. I am sure they will enjoy them. I am so glad that we have the school year behind us. I am not sure who is more excited, me or the children! I really need a vacation! I do see one in our near future. Not to mention days by the pool and just fun in the sun. After having such a long and COLD winter, I would be happy if summer lasted a YEAR!

Until next time~Carmen b.

The Red Dragon

Lately, I have been working on some projects that are not ready for me to share just yet, so I have been posting some art inspirations that my children have created. This past weekend we had the pleasure of visiting the craft store. The closest craft store to us is 45mi away. So, going to the craft store is a real treat for me! I hardly ever have time to go due to our busy schedule! I usually order most of my art supplies online.

While we were at the craft store, my daughter decided that she wanted some modeling clay. She has quite an imagination! I always encourage art in our house and will buy any art supplies that they desire. I know that if they get tired of it, I will have new toys! Hehe. I have posted a red dragon that my daughter sculpted. She is into dragons right now. Her sketch book is full of them. I can't wait to see what she come up with next!

Until next time~Carmen b.

Ready for Spring

Winter was sooo cold this year and I am so ready for spring! I can just smell it in the air. It was 70 degrees here today, so I had all of the windows of the house open. The warm weather inspired me to pull out some of my spring décor today. While digging through all of my spring time pretties, I found this cute illustration that my daughter did last year. The colors are so vibrant and refreshing. I thought I would share it with you to lighten your day!

Until next time~Carmen b.

Hello 2011

Wow! I made it back to my blog and it has only been a week. Amazing!! I am FINALLY welcoming the New Year in writing! I hope all of you had a wonderful New Year! The New Year is definitely a mile marker in time. It is a time to reflect back over our journey, whether good or bad. I have not made a New Year's resolution. I think New Year’s resolutions are good….If you are going to stick to it. Only a percentage of people that make a resolution actually follow through. They usually only last about two weeks and then it is forgotten!

Personally, I am more goal oriented. My goals do not start with a new year. Sure, I would like to achieve most of them within a year’s time, but I have to be realistic. I think often times people set high goals for themselves, and when they don’t reach them instantly, they give up. Not to say that I have never given up. I give up EVERDAY!! I sometimes throw paint brushes at the wall and scream in frustration!!!! Then I realize, I am made for this and I go back to the drawing board.

I believe that when you set your goals, you should write them down. I once read, “A goal, not in writing, is simply a wish.” So write down the things you want to accomplish…But, be realistic. I do have my goals in writing and I have a check list to get there. I am quite sure it will not all happen within the year! Of course, I do believe in miracles, but not banking on it. Hehe!
So what goals have you set for yourself?

Hopefully all your goals for the future will be successful!

Until next time!~Carmen b.

Looking Forward to the New Year

I hope everyone is having a Happy Holiday Season. I certainly do not mind the rush of the season being over! When you run a creative business, it is always hectic during the holidays! The rush starts in September and does not let up until a few days before Christmas! I am sure that I have a least a pound of glitter in my lungs! Anyone who has one of my ornaments knows I put lots of fine glitter on them, so that they can glisten in the dim tree lights.

I usually post a photo of one of my latest creations, however, my latest creations are not quite ready for exposure yet. I thought I would share a photo of our creative baking day. I helped my children make sugar cookies(above). I think they did a great job! It was fun & messy, too! I am sure they will remember the fun we had for years to come!

I know everyone is looking forward to a New Year! Hopefully, next year I will not stay absent from my blog. I will try to make it a goal to post at least monthly to update you on the latest in my creative journey. As of right now, I will be attending the Atlanta Gift Show in January. I am so excited about attending. I will be going to check out the Licensing & Design section. I want to see the layout, how things work and to visit with a few designers that I have met along my journey.

Hopefully, with the New Year will come some new goals that I will set for myself. Number one on the list is developing collections needed for licensing. Since I am "real new" at licensing, the "developing collections" is something I really have to wrap my head around! It will come, in due time! Well I am off to think something creative! Until next time~Carmen b.

Something Beachy

I have been away from my blog for quite awhile. I haven't even been on facebook or TWITTER! That is hard to believe!! I have been working like a busy bee designing all kinds of fun stuff, so I guess I have been rather busy. I am starting to build a portfolio in hopes of moving towards the art licensing industry so that has taken up much of my spare time. Not to mention, I have two children that keep me EXTREMELY busy!

I am going to take some "Me" time this weekend. I am going to the beach with my "scrapbooking buddies" It is just the girls! No Kids, No responsiblities! I am not sure how much scrapbooking I will get done, since I create non-stop most of the time! Just being away from it all will be good!

I have decided to post a photo of a large canvas and wall painting I did for a client when I was doing custom work. It has been almost two years since I did this work. I went to see her today and while I was there, I FINALLY got to take the photos. I thought it would be a nice picture for my readers, since we are saying good-bye to summer. I hope you find some inspiration from them. It was certainly a fun project to do.

Enjoy these last warm days while they last!

Until next time!~Carmen b.

Photograph courtesy of MaryMac Williams


Summer is quickly passing and soon we will be heading for Fall! I love Summer, but Fall is such an exciting season. I think it is exciting because I know that the holidays are creeping around the corner. Oh, I am getting excited just writing about it! Halloween and Christmas seem to be my favorite seasons. All the festive stuff that comes out that time of year! Although, I have really enjoyed this summer, so far.

I have been a busy little beaver working on some new designs. I will be adding them to my website www.ladypaintsalot.com in the next few weeks. I hope that you will take some time to check out the new designs and products that will be added. I will post most on the front page under featured items. I usually post the seasonal items there. I have certainly painted my share of sand pails this season. It is always so much fun painting the little gifts for the kids and they seem to really love them. You know I will paint anything that will sit still long enough to let me!! I honestly paint or draw in my sleep! I will post a recent photo that was sent to my by a customer. Seeing the photos of the children enjoying their personalized items just makes this job that much more fun.

I hope that I will get to post again before the holidays get in to full steam. I will try to update you on the latest items that will be coming from the studio.

Until next time~Carmen b.

Buckets!!

I was emailed this photo today from a very creative friend of mine, Rachel Ficek. She does local photography and some freelance graphic design and might I add, she does a fabulous job! You can visit her site at www.bairprints.blogspot.com.

This sweet photo reminded me about when I got started in the art biz. This is it...buckets! As most of you know, I have been drawing cute stuff for as long as I can remember. I started painting buckets back in 2002 as baby gifts for friends and family. As time has gone on, I have expanded my line of gifts to other things such as piggy banks, picture frames and now I am having some reproductions done for placemats, luggage tags and growth charts. Having my work reproduced, has allowed me more time to be “creative” and still offer some cute gifts to all of you. The journey of creativity continues and who knows where it will take me.

Well, I am off to paint something fun and cute! Until next time!~Carmen b.

Love What You Do!

Do what you love and love what you do…I say that OUT LOUD, VERY LOUD! Recently, I watched a guy on You tube and he spoke about doing what you love. He encouraged you to quit spending every day of your life doing something or working somewhere that you do not enjoy.

Folks, we only pass through this life once. You get one chance, so you can either make it happen or make it miserable. I made the decision to quit my job 7 years ago to pursue “doing what I love!” Not that I did not “like” my job, but I did not LOVE IT! I was not passionate about it. Plus, I have two children and it really seemed to be more functional for the family for me to work at home. I can truly say that after seven years, I have found my niche. Art is my niche. It makes me happy, it makes me smile and it makes others smile. Although it has not been the easiest road to travel, I STILL love what I do. I have had to change things about it to make it more lovable, but that is what life is all about, CHANGE. No I am not making my millions..at least not yet, anyway! Lol But, I am doing what I love and that is what is important!

So, I encourage you to step out in faith, and see where the road may take you. Look at yourself in the mirror and ask yourself, what do I want to do everyday for the the rest of my life? DO THAT! What do you enjoy? What are you good at? What are you passionate about? Believe in what your doing. If you don’t believe in it, Get Out!

Well, there you have it folks! That’s all have to say! Until next time~Carmen b.

Bloom, Grow, Love

I have been working so hard on a few different designs to add to my collection. For the last few weeks I have been sketching owls. However, I have gotten frustrated with them, so I put them aside for the time being.

When I get frustrated with a project I usually go back to something I really like doing. I absolutely love garden scenes, garden stuff...well, I just love gardening. Since it is the season of love my mind has been wandering in that direction. This is not my favorite season, but since it is here, why not create something that I love. It amazing how my doodling in church led to my present design... For those of you who attend church with me, Yes, I do listen during the sermon! I just DRAW while I listen! I have a photo above of my sketch on the back of my bulletin. I will post another picture of the finished product. I will add these to my notecards and placemat selections for those of you who like it.

I have been so excited about working with my new Copic markers. After reading Mary Engelbreit's blog on Old Dog, New Tricks, I decided that I just had to have some. Most of my drawings are done in marker and Prismacolor pencils. I have never used the Copic brand, but let me tell you, they are awesome...You will have to read more on her blog about them, because she is the expert artist!

Hopefully, this dreadful cold weather will be leaving us soon. I find that I have more inspiration during the warmer months of the year. So bloom, grow and love where you are planted! Until next time....Carmen b.

Bye bye 2009 Hellooooo 2010

I know I haven't posted since November because the Holidays were a whirlwind for me...I love that time of year, However, I am usually happy to see it go. 2009 was quite the year..I have learned a lot this year and might I say that I feel like a have checked off a few goals that I set for myself. One major goal was getting my website up! I wanted to be part of cyberspace, so that I could be available to you via the web. So, I must say Bye, bye to 2009 and Helloooo to 2010!

I have so many plans for the New Year..Soooo much is going through my mind ... Especially how I will be changing some things about my business this year ...I have not formally announced it, but I have decided to NOT do murals this year. It is a bitter sweet decision for me because I have met so many wonderful people and developed so many friendships through that part of my business. That is a phase of my career that I feel has developed my skill and it was good while it lasted. However, I think I should move forward to new horizons. At this point, I have not made up my mind as to where I want to go with my art, but I can assure I WILL go somewhere with it. I just need to decide on the direction. I am giving much prayer to this decision and we will just see where it takes me! As for now I will be working from my website...I will continue to sell my gift items and reproduce art from the website...

Although I will still have my regular website, I guess now would be a good time to announce my etsy site... www.ladypaintsalot.etsy.com I will post a screen shot to the left for you... I have not added any thing to the shop yet, because I am still working on the demographics of the site. I am so glad to be a part of the etsy world.... a world that I am so passionate about. There are so many talented artist there. I have been networking with a few artist on there and I feel like this will be a good decision for me.

I am sooooo excited about 2010 and all that it may bring!!!!!

Until next time~ Carmen b.

I feel like an elf this time a year, and if you look real close, you will probably see my ears starting to get pointed! Even though this is a busy time of year, Thanksgiving and Christmas are still my most favorite seasons! I just wish we had some cooler weather, so that it would feel more like the holidays! I wanted to share a few projects I have been working on.. I have posted them to the left. The pots are great holiday gift ideas. I think I might give a few to my friends and family this year. I hope that all of you have a Happy Thanksgiving! Remember to be thankful! The things that we take for granted...Family, friends, the small blessings in life-like running water...CLEAN running water...ha...and the coffee that I make with that water... that is a must have! Now I am just being silly. We do not always think of the smaller things... we just expect them to always be there! So this holiday...make sure you embrace your family and be truly thankful for all that we have! Until next time...~Carmen b.

I know I haven't blogged in a while and I hope you will understand... I have been trying to come up with some cute things for the Holidays. I will add a few pictures here of the ornaments that I will have available at the Holiday Market this year. I know that we have not even made it through Halloween yet, but I always have to think about Christmas really early! I hope that you will try to attend the Junior League Holiday Market. It will be in Orangeburg, SC at the First Baptist Family Life Center November 7, 2009. So, if your are in the area or just want to travel to see us, come on by! I hope to see you there. Until next time...

Summertime Designs

Wow....time flies when you are having fun....Can you believe that it is mid-July....I really cannot believe how fast the year slips away from us. I have been focusing a lot of my energy on some new designs. I will add a photo to let you see the newest designs to the collection. I got my inspiration for these fish from the one I did in Charleston. You can see a picture of that in the post below.

Summertime is such an inspiring time for me...I really enjoy being out in nature and just enjoying God's beautiful creation. These designs will be added to my place mats and hopefully a few other things. I will be working really hard over the next few weeks, preparing for the upcoming holidays...so stay tuned to my blog!