This is my first home decor project of the year (for my home, that is). This wood plate was purchased at a Painting Convention in Las Vegas several years ago. For the last few years I’ve been busy painting other stuff to sell and to give away as gifts. This year I am focusing on completing the projects for my home and then from there we shall see what I do next. So for the first project of the year I’d like to present my Garfield and Odie Picture that is now hanging happily on my office wall!

This month I decided to paint this wood plate which reminds me of my younger years, as Garfield was my favorite comic growing up. I had a Garfield poster (with this comic) on my wall, and over the years it got old and I wanted to do something with the comic and put it on something that would last for many many years….so I chose to paint it on wood.

The first thing I did was install a picture hanger on the back of the plate to make sure I could hang it on my wall. I then painted the backside two coats of black paint. To cheat and make it easy, I had traced (from the poster) and colored the design onto thin tissue paper (or drawing paper–can’t remember what the name of this paper is, but it’s very thin and see through), and from there I traced it onto the plate with a pencil using carbon paper underneath so I would line up the image just right onto the plate. Carbon paper is now called “Transfer” paper, but this is real carbon paper I had in storage in my file cabinet from years ago. It’s good to be able to put it to use after all these years.

I painted the background an antique white which almost looks ivory. Then I filled in the Garfield and Odie images with their appropriate colors. After filling in the colors, I outlined the images with black paint and filled in Garfield’s strips. I have to say, it was a very fun project and cheating cut my time down in half in that I didn’t have to “draw” the design onto the plate. I am very pleased with how it all came out!

After I gave the plate time to dry, I then sprayed several coats of clear acrylic sealer on both sides so it would have that glossy look. It also seals the paint into the wood so it won’t be ruined with water, moisture or dirt.

To paint on wood, use acrylic paints. I didn’t have orange paint so I opted to mix yellow and red paint together. So, for less than $20 I have a new art piece and picture for my wall and right now it is hanging in my office/craft room.

Click pictures to enlarge so you can see the details…

Garfield and Odie Wood Plate Picture Hand Painted

Garfield and Odie Wood Plate Picture Hand Painted (UP CLOSE VIEW)

Yesterday I wrote about My Painting Plans for 2012, and at the same time leaving room for changes along the way. Basically in a nutshell, I’ll be working on personal projects and then painting ornaments for Christmas (if time permits, etc.). I am playing it by ear. Maybe in a few months I will find something completely new to get into and not do ornaments at all! We shall see!

Today I have two announcements:

First, I’ve decided to get rid of my Artwanted.com account in which had a portfolio and a shop to sell my work. Because I never put much time into hanging out on it and making the effort needed to converse with people, etc., as I ultimately chose to be on Facebook instead, nothing ever happened on that site and no sales were generated from it either. So, in order to streamline Simply the Best Creations, I decided to delete the account.

Secondly, for two years now, I’ve had a Facebook Fan Page which is now known as a Facebook Business Page. On that page I DID try to interact with my fans, etc. but the growth rate stopped within a year of having the fan page. Although some business pages on Facebook are quite popular and have gained thousands of people, I realized that the reason for this growth had to do with “motivational” and “positive quotes” and things of that nature.

From what I have seen and experienced in dealing with Facebook Business Pages, unless you are on it for long lengths of time, posting several pictures and interacting with people at different times of the day, and that is every day, you will not grow your business page very much. There is one fellow painter who I have been following and she is constantly on it for several hours a day and that is how she gained her followers. Because I work other jobs and have other things going on in my life besides painting, nursing a business page is not something I am interested in any longer. It works for some people as a good marketing tool, so I am not knocking Facebook business pages, but for Simply the Best Creations,  it doesn’t work.

So with that said, after many months of thinking this through, I have decided to DELETE Simply the Best Creations business page on Facebook. I will still be using my blog/website and my ETSY store to sell my stuff online and to share my projects online.

Please feel free to UNLIKE my business page by going to it HERE and on the left bottom pressing the  UNLIKE link. I will be posting statuses twice a day for the next week telling other fans that I will not be keeping the page any longer. If you don’t want to see the same status posted twice a day, you can UNLIKE the page to avoid seeing it in your news feed. I will pull the plug on the Facebook Business Page on January 23rd!

Have a blessed day Everyone!

Devil's Bay Ocean OREGON

Yesterday I wrote about how I am changing Simply the Best Creations back to what it used to be…from business to hobby and I explained why and all that good stuff! You can read it HERE if you missed it.

On this blog post, I want to tell you my tentative painting plans for 2012. It is the plan NOW, but that doesn’t mean it won’t change later.

From now till the end of August this year,  I will be working on my own personal home decor projects. I have about 11 projects to complete (some are rather small so I combined those into one month) and so I gave myself one month to work on each big project. As I complete a project, I will share them on this website/blog. You can steal these ideas and use them to your advantage whenever and wherever you want. I give you full permission to do so. I may even come up with tutorials for other projects or make something completely different and share it with you on this blog too.

I also have over 60 clear ornaments sitting in my closet waiting to be painted. I have decided to go ahead and paint them for Christmas at least one more year (tentatively speaking). So, from September 1st till about November 20th or so (this year), I will paint those ornaments to sell. If that doesn’t work out or I decide not to paint those ornaments (as time gets closer to September), I will donate them to a church.

I am keeping my mind open to new and creative adventures. Right now, I am in the experimental mode and so I will be playing around with my craft and art supplies and seeing if I’d like to pursue something else. There are no limitations to creativity and I have many ideas in my head all the time.

I will still keep this website/blog and my ETSY shop to sell and share my stuff. I will no longer be exploring any other online stores to sell my stuff, at this time.

Tomorrow, Part 3 of 3, Getting Rid of Unnecessary Clutter and Streamlining Simply the Best Creations!

Devil's Bay Ocean in Oregon

Depoe Bay Oregon Sunset

Hi Friends and Fans!

After a few months of soul searching and heart changes, I have decided to make Simply the Best Creations back to what it used to be—a HOBBY! (like it used to be before 2009). At least for now—which means it could change later!

For the last three years I have worked myself to the bone on making Simply the Best Creations work as a entrepreneurial  career, but for the last 5 months or so I’ve been feeling the need to make some changes creatively speaking, and on focusing my attentions else where for the moment.

No matter what the experts tell you, the economy DOES have an impact on your sales. You have to work triply harder MORE SO than what you did a few years ago. I got an eye opener working at the holiday boutique in Upland this last December. The owner of this boutique enlightened me. He informed me that in the last 30 years of running holiday boutiques all over Southern California, the sales have dwindled down to about a third of what they used to be….and all the advertising and marketing was NOT the problem. People are just watching their money more. He has the facts to back that statement up. It’s called accounting.

But it isn’t just about the economy. You see, it’s not that I didn’t try or that I did or did not do anything I should or shouldn’t of done. Sometimes life just tells you to go another direction (part of it me knowing that living a more simple life is better for me too). I no longer feel as passionate about painting for a LIVING where marketing and being on the computer took up most of my time. Rather I feel as if I need to go back to doing it for fun, and not because I need to meet a deadline or to do a special order for someone.

When painting was JUST a hobby, sometimes I went a few months without working on any projects at all. I would work on OTHER hobbies and interests, as painting was not the only thing I was passionate about. In the last few months, I’ve been feeling a tug on my heart. I would  just paint and ignore other creative projects I liked to do as well, especially personal projects such as scrap booking my photos and being more physically active in my life. So, I am making the big switch over again so I can pursue that part of me once again!

I have enjoyed this creative  journey very much though! I have learned so much AND I have not given up the “entrepreneur” in me just yet either! I am keeping the door open for future opportunities.

I will still continue to paint and share my projects on this website and on my Facebook profile! Maybe I’ll even make jewelry, create greeting cards or make some embellishments for scrap booking. Anything. It doesn’t really matter. One of the reasons I named this business SIMPLY THE BEST CREATIONS was to be able to create anything I wanted without it just being dedicated to doing ONE type of art or craft!

I will continue to occasionally sell stuff on this website AND on my ETSY shop. I may even continue to paint ornaments for Christmas … but I will do this leisurely, and just paint when I feel like it! We shall see what life brings!

Thank you for being part of my creative journey!

Tomorrow, Part 2 of 3, my tentative painting plan (as a hobby) for 2012.

Happy New Year Everyone! I am late in saying this on my website, but better late than never! I trust you all had an awesome Christmas and holiday season. For me, I stayed home and enjoyed the company with my best friend and our two pet birds, Munchkin and Peepers. I opened presents, made brunch and dinner and hung out at home watching “A Christmas Story” and the Three Stooges! Fun times!

For New Year’s, I had friends over! We ate at a delicious and huge buffet at a restaurant right near me, and we laughed and played UNO (our favorite game), and Taboo. To bring in the new year we watched the ball fall in New York (on TV of course!), and lit off some firecrackers outside! We cheered each other with champagne or sparkling apple cider and hugged and kissed each other to bring the New Year in on a proper note.

I have some very important announcements to make in the next week in which changes my focus for this website and my Simply the Best Creations business. There will be a total of three blog posts (one blog post for three days in a row), explaining the what and why, the big changes about to take place, and my big plan on what I will be doing for 2012.

To start off the New Year, I am having a major sale on my ETSY shop which includes 10% off the original price (the price in my shop reflects the 10%), AND FREE SHIPPING on all items for the rest of January! Please use coupon code: JanSale2012 in order to get the free shipping when you go to check out in the ETSY shop. A lot of these items are seasonal (Christmas items and Halloween items), and a lot of them will never be painted again. Some designs I could do again later but I may not. If you are one of those people who like to buy gifts ahead of time to put away for next Christmas or perhaps for a birthday or other event, this sale is for you. All of my fall and Halloween items have been reduced 50% off (reflected in price). All of my every day earrings are also on sale. All items have been handmade or hand painted, and all jewelry has been made from scratch.

Here is the LINK to my ETSY shop:

http://www.etsy.com/shop/ALihlBestCreations?ref=si_shop

Please remember to put in coupon code JanSale2012 to get FREE SHIPPING!

Have a blessed year Everyone! Until next time…..

Simply the Best Creations at "Christmas On Euclid" in Dec- 2011 Craft Fair!

Check out my ETSY Shop here by clicking on the link below (to receive FREE SHIPPING)!

http://www.etsy.com/shop/ALihlBestCreations?ref=si_shop

Christmas By Moonlight Gold Square Candle Holder

It’s time to celebrate the holidays! Christmas is just around the corner!

As a Thank You, I’d like to offer you a 15% discount on ALL items in my ETSY shop from today till December 2nd, 2011:

http://www.etsy.com/shop/ALihlBestCreations?page=2

To get your 15% discount, you need to enter coupon code: HOLIDAY2011 at the checkout. You will not receive it otherwise!

Thank you for your patronage!

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!!

Christmas By Moonlight Gold Square Candle Holder

Large glass ball Christmas tree ornament (3.26 inches): Painted completely blue first and then completed with a Superman emblem. Topped with a yellow satin ribbon ready to hang on a Christmas tree or an ornament hanger. Can hang this ornament all year round if you want. Comes with a hand painted red gift/storage box and a fancy gold and red metallic ribbon. Ready to give as a gift! No wrapping required!

The box is “crush proof” which means it is triple thick cardboard and can be stored in a closet protecting the ornament from getting crushed (within reason of course).

Hand Painted Superman Christmas Tree Ornament with Gift Box and Ribbon

Close Up Picture of the Superman Christmas Tree Ornament

Buy now for $24.95! FREE SHIPPING!

  This Superman Ornament Gift Set is sold out as of December 16th, 2011!

 

Large Ball (3.26 inch glass ornament) painted completely black first and then completed with the Batman logo. A matching yellow satin ribbon tops the ornament ready to hang off your Christmas tree or ornament hanger. You can display this ornament all year round if you’d like. Comes with a matching hand painted black box with a Batman logo. This gift/storage box is “crush proof” (triple thick cardboard), great for storing ornament in the closet as it won’t get crushed. No wrapping required on this ready made gift! This makes the perfect gift for any Batman lover!

Batman Christmas Tree Ornament with Matching Batman Gift Box

A close up of the Batman Ornament:

A Close Up Picture of the Batman Christmas Tree Ornament

Buy now for $24.95! FREE SHIPPING!

  This Batman Gift Set is now SOLD OUT as of December 10th, 2011!

 

Gosh! I can’t believe Halloween has come and gone already! It’s now time for me to completely focus on Christmas (which actually I have been doing already). Time is just FLYING by!

I’d like for my Halloween earrings to find a home, to make room for the Christmas holidays coming up, so I am offering a 50% discount on most of my Halloween Earrings and a couple of other items on my ETSY shop! There’s only one pair of earrings each available, so get it now if you are interested (each set of earrings also come with a black velvet pouch-perfect for gift giving!). Below are pictures of the earrings for sale and a link to each item is posted underneath the picture–the link will take you directly to my ETSY shop where you can ADD TO CART if you are interested in purchasing that item. Thank you for stopping by!

Jack O Lantern Earrings (they come with a black velvet jewelry pouch too).

Originally $15! Now $7.50!

http://www.etsy.com/listing/82974228/jack-o-lantern-halloween-earrings-hand

Hand Painted Blood Halloween Earrings

Originally $12, now $6.00!

http://www.etsy.com/listing/82876012/bloody-halloween-earrings-hand-painted

Hand Painted Large Round Spider Web Earrings

Originally $18, now $9.00!

http://www.etsy.com/listing/80740088/hand-painted-spider-web-earrings

Dark Candy Corn Earrings

Originally $15, now $7.50!

http://www.etsy.com/listing/82360303/hand-painted-candy-corn-earrings-black?ref=v1_other_1