Monkey See, Monkey Do!

These are my latest bride and groom creations. I have a friend that loves anything with a monkey on it so to honor her 30th anniversary I designed and painted this cute set of a monkey bride and groom. I love a good challenge! She was pretty happy with these. I have another couple that loves frogs so naturally they got a set of a frog bride and groom. Of course, I have the gingerbread bride and groom and I have also painted a snowman bride and groom but don't have them put together yet with their veil and hat but that will be forthcoming. Am thinking about painting a santa groom and a Mrs. santa bride...stay tuned!

GIVEAWAY IN MARCH

CHRISTMAS IN MARCH

As I mostly only paint Christmas items, it is only natural that I have Christmas items to give away so more than likely each of my giveaways will be Christmas oriented. I might surprise ya and throw in a Halloween or fall item. Depends on my mood. LOL This first giveaway is a handpainted CD ornament with my fave thing to paint, Santa Claus. I just love crescent moon santas and this is my first that I am offering. Come on out and play!

The rules for this giveaway are simple:

1. Must be a follower of my blog; new followers are welcome to participate.

2. Go to my Facebook page and “like” or “share” at:

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Cyndimacs-NICK-Knacks/235308336497837?fref=ts

I will be drawing the name of the winner and notifying them on March 31st and the package will go out shortly thereafter.

Easter Craftiness

Although anymore I don't paint much else than Christmas things, here are a few Easter things I painted in the past. I used to participate in craft swaps with some of my online painting friends years ago and most of these were parts of those swaps...what fun that was! I do love painting on gourds and I have quite a few that are laying there waiting on me to get to them. Hopefully some time this year I will get to those...stay tuned!

My Facebook Page

I had totally forgotten to post on here that I now have a Facebook page. If you want to keep up to date on all that I'm painting I would love for you to "like" my page and follow along with me. I am planning on some new things this year, one of which are a few giveaways. I have been studying trying to figure out how to make it in this computer generated world. I just don't want to give up on my dream of making a living doing what I truly love and that is painting. Only way that I'm gonna be able to do that is to get the word out there. Thank you for coming by and viewing my page! Here is the link to my Facebook page:

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Cyndimacs-NICK-Knacks/235308336497837?ref=ts&fref=ts#!/pages/Cyndimacs-NICK-Knacks/235308336497837

More Spoon Ornaments

Been busy designing more new spoon ornaments. I have an entire collection of breast cancer ornaments made out of lightbulbs but never made a spoon ornament to add...this is my first attempt. Enjoy!

Trouble Cookies

Trouble cookies you ask? I named these cookies that because you just cannot eat just one and by doing that it keeps me in trouble losing weight. These are so addictive and I don't have that big of a sweet tooth! These almost taste like a piece of cake. I also have a trouble cookie jar (the one in this photo). Ever Since I bought it I think that it must stay full at all times and I don't mean with store bought cookies...they don't begin to compare to homemade cookies agree? Well, here is the cookie recipe I have found to be so addictive...I only came across it when I got to digging in my pantry and found an entire package of Nestle Premier White Morsels and this recipe was on the back of the package..the beauty of this recipe too is that you should have the rest of the ingredients lying around in your kitchen. Enjoy!

WHITE CHIP CHOCOLATE COOKIES A/K/A TROUBLE COOKIES

2-1/4 c. all purpose flour
2/3 c. baking cocoa
1 t. baking soda
1/4 t. salt
1 c. (2 sticks) butter or margarine, softened
3/4 c. sugar
2/3 c. packed brown sugar
1 t. vanilla extract
2 large eggs
2 c. Nestle Toll House Premier White Morsels

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt in small bowl. Beat butter, sugar, brown sugar and vanilla in large mixer bowl until creamy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir in morsels. Drop by well rounded teaspoon onto ungreased baking sheets. Bake 9-11 minutes (took mine 15 mins.) or until centers are set. Cool on baking sheets for two minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely. Made about 45 cookies.

Painted Brick Walls

While looking through Pinterest (yeah, I'm addicted!) I came across a lady that had painted her concrete sidewalk to look like bricks. Many years ago at our old house I painted the bar section walls of our basement to look like bricks. Talk about labor intensive and a labor of love! I am sure there would have been an easier way to do this but I can be quite a perfectionist when it comes to painting so I painted the walls with the red first and then I took a yardstick and drew the lines onto the wall and painted each brick with one of my small painting brushes. After I got the bricks done I took an old stencil brush and stippled (which means to pounce) white and gray where the mortar would be. It wasn't too much fun climbing onto the bar and getting under and over the TV stand and that part of the bar but I managed. Enjoy!