ACEO's

Art Cards, Editions and Originals (ACEO) dimensions- 2 1/2 x 3 1/2 inches

I know they've been around for quite a while, but they're fairly new to me.

With my love of miniatures, and little things, I'm surprised I hadn't heard of them sooner.

I've been making original little/mini paintings, but not to the specific measurements of these art trading cards... until now. I just bought these chipboard cards from krazykatedesigns and was excited to paint them!

Affordable little works of art. How fun is that?

Here's a photo of my 1st group of ACEOs (9), in progress...

So far, I've finished 4 of them- they are initialled on the front, signed & dated on the back, and a clear protective gloss protects the painting.

I used a base coat of gesso to create different textures. It took a long time to dry, before I could actually paint on them.

Here's a photo of the four I've completed.

This mountain scene set of 3 is already sold, but I'm going to list the green mountain scene in my Etsy shop.

I'm looking forward to finishing the other 5, the texture of them reminds me of batik! They'll be completely different from this 1st group. It's going to be fun.

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BTW, I love doing custom orders.

I enjoy the challenge of creating a piece- based on someone else's description, and making it work.

This week I had the opportunity to make a custom pair of turquoise earrings... with lime-green, jade beads. It meant a visit to Abacus Beads, (our local bead shop), on my lunch break, looking for lime green beads.

Among my little treasures, I found these amazing swirl lampwork beads, and couldn't wait to finish work so I could go home and make some earrings. Here they are:

Follow me on my FB fanpage

Google yourself.

Ha, ha, you probably thought I meant something bad didn't you?

Sorry to disappoint you, I mean it in the literal sense, have you googled your nickname lately?

If you Google "smilingbluedog", you'll find my stuff... all over the place. Flickr, Etsy, and

now, I'm happy to see, my home website shows up!

And some photos I added of Kokanee Creek Park, are on Google maps too!

Some stuff' is so old, but it's still alive on the Internet. (Reminder to self- don't say dumb things, they stay forever and you never know who is watching.)

I just Googled myself, and found 6 pages of smilingbluedog links! So I tried some of the ones I don't recognize, and wandered off on a goose chase, to see where my name shows up...

My little skull beads are on the Art Bead Scene blog and I'm even on a link called "Cow Ranching" because of my miniature cow skull pin on my homesite!

So try it, Google your name, and see what you get, you may be surprised!

BTW-

I've been asked where did I get the name smilingbluedog?

To save time, I often say it's after our dog - he's so black he's almost blue, and he smiles when he greets you. The true-er story isn't very exciting, but it is what it is.

Years ago, I was trying to set up my 1st Yahoo e-mail account, but the name (I had thought long and hard to come-up with) was taken, so I tried another, then more and all the names I wanted were unavailable!

I was upset to find that I'd been on the computer over an hour and still hadn't completed my "mission".

Yahoo had suggestions, but I wanted to make my own name (like everything else, I try to do/make it myself- yes, it takes longer, but is more rewarding.)

So I put together 3 words that relate to me:

Smiling- because I smile... a LOT! I'm generally a happy person.

Blue- it's my favourite- a creative and energizing colour for me.

Dog- if I were an animal, I'd be a dog. Happy, companionable, faithful, curious, loving.

So now you know :)

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Last night I was in my studio painting... until 1am. I just received these little chipboard cards ordered from Krazykatedesigns and have been excited to paint them. They are my 1st set of ACEO (Art cards, editions and originals.) I'm starting with a group of 9 little pictures, of mountain/landscapes, representative of where I live- in the Kootenays, BC. Each one starts off the same, but as I paint I'm using different colours and texture.

These little pieces are all about technique rather than design. I'm not sure where they'll take me, but that's the whole idea.

I love working in the wee hours, however this time of year it's kind of scary to go from the studio to the house. It's bear season, and our walnut tree is just starting to drop nuts and leaves. They hit the shed and it's startling to hear the loud "bang" of a walnut bouncing off the tin roof. It's driving us and the squirels a little nuts :)

Anyhow, I hope you'll have a great day, and I'd love to hear about

how you came up with your nickname(s).

Idaho Peak

The drive up to the parking lot (above Sandon).

Idaho Peak

Aug 2/10

One of the more amazing views in the Kootenays, is from the top of Idaho Peak.

It's hard to express the sense of awe that I got when we finally made it to the top. It was a long, hard climb for me,

but well worth it.

I hope the pictures speak for themselves, with or without the "narratives".

Still going up...lots of switchbacks & a narrow road.

The trail leading to the lookout on Idaho Peak.

Just some of the wildflowers up there.

Almost at the top.

Views from the top.

Me & Peppy at the lookout. It's not foggy, it's smokey from forest fires.

My thought for today:

"Sometimes I think I'm lucky to be naive. If I had known how much time & effort it would take to get to this point... I probably wouldn't be here :) "

The drive back down is no less amazing.

Working on my website...

I just can't leave everything (computer/indoor related) for winter, so I spent part of this stunning summer day-off, working inside, on the computer- building my own website. Is it cheating if I use their templates? I don't think so- that's why they are there.

I've got a Domain (www.smilingbluedog.com) and have had it forwarded to my etsy shop, until today. As I get familiar with it, I hope to be able to show and sell more of my hand-made giftwares on my own site as well as on Etsy.

For the rest of the day...well... did some laundry, watered lawn & garden (me too), caught a little brown snake (and let him go where I found him), picked a whole bunch of yellow and green beans and froze them, and had a wonderful bar-b-que steak dinner with our family, on the patio.

It's almost bed-time and back to work tomorrow. *pouting*

But... I'm excited to start reading my new book "Shelters of Stone" by Jean M. Auel. It's the 5th book in her Earth's Children novels, that started with Clan of the Cave Bear. ( I've spent most of my lunch hours, breaks and spare-time in a totally different time and space this summer, following the saga of the heroine, Ayla.)

Enough said for now, I'm off to read, before I go to bed.

Enjoy your night (or day)...

Angie

Fire in downtown Nelson, BC

Downtown Nelson, BC was filled with smoke early this evening.

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I was still in town, (Nelson, BC) at 7:30pm tonight.

The air smelled of smoke, as I walked up Vernon St, and then I could see it.

I followed the gathering crowd and the billowing smoke up Ward Street, to Baker.

Firemen were already fighting the fire... it's the Redfish Grill, I was going to go there for lunch today!

It sounds like no one was hurt or in the building (that "they" know of).

Since we no longer have our Nelson Daily News paper- I figured I'd take some pictures and

share the news. Fortunately the "grapevine" works pretty well in a small town. I'm hoping we can read about the fire and maybe see pictures some day soon (next week?)

But I wonder... what else has happened in Nelson since we lost our paper this month?

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Note: There was a fire in Ainsworth about a month ago and the Silver Ledge Hotel burned down. It was arson.

A rainy day in my studio

Today was a particularly stormy day. Lots of thunder & lightening, and finally some rain.

This kind of weather makes it easy to spend the day in my studio.

Recently I bought a small block of self-hardening clay, that doesn't need to be fired in a kiln.

I used the whole block to make a whole bunch of little skulls and one big one.

Now that they've dried for a few days, today was a perfect day to paint them all, so that's what I did. I think they look great all together.

The big skull I made into a wall hanging, complete with glow in the dark beads. Each small skull has a hole in it, so they can be used as beads, or pendants.

I took numerous photos of them, and will add some to my etsy store. I'm just not sure if it would be better to sell them individually, in groups, make them into necklaces or sell them as a supply for someone else to use... in their creations.

I ended up liking some of the photos so much, that I made a few really cool gift cards with them.

A long time ago, I had joined and set up a shop on Zazzle- but hadn't really added anything to it, so I uploaded a couple of skull photos (and grandpuppy photos) and designed some cool buttons, key-chains, mugs, a neckTie, and even shoes!!

Decisions, decisions...

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Updated Oct 29/10

It's almost Halloween, and I've finally added some of the skulls in my Etsy shop.

(I've added links to the photos, and to the highlighted texts.)

Sorry, I just can't do white shoes...

I bought a new pair of comfy, leather, walking shoes last week.

For 10 bucks they were a steal...except that they were white.

I'm sorry, I just can't do white shoes, especially when anything white

looks like a blank canvas to me.

I should have taken a "Before" picture, but this is close...

I painted them black, wiped most of the paint off, then took this picture.

I've painted canvas shoes before, but never leather.

I probably should have worn them a bit 1st, but I was too excited, so I just went

ahead & painted them.

I'm so pleased with the results, I just had to show them off.

I painted them completely brown (using acrylic paints), then

using a darker brown, I painted the "leaf" designs with a thin brush.

I used a cardboard box as a spray paint booth...

(I used an old toothbrush and a stick to spatter some black

on the shoes, to make them darker and to soften the design.)

I liked the texture and colour, so they're

ready for a clear coat, but I needed them to dry, completely.

Since it was 2am, I left them to dry overnight.

The next day, I used a matt clear coat, but wasn't happy with it,

so I let them dry and used 2 coats of a glossy clear finish.

(I put them under the furnace and

let them "blow dry" between coats.)

Here's my finished shoes.

I'm not sure how long they'll look like this, but I

think I'll wear them to work tomorrow.

If the paint doesn't last, I'll just wear them at home,

and probably paint them again :)