Heigh Ho!

I am painting up a storm!

I am so happy....but my house is suffering.

I have been able to make the house look fine from first glance, but if you open my desk, Clara's door, or goodness forbid the garage door, you will discover what messes I am hiding!

I am currently working on top secret commission projects (Mother's Day, wedding season) and I won't be able to post until the recipients have them.

Meanwhile I have been getting custom print orders from my etsy shop.

Here are some of the prints I had made:

Red, Pink, Purple, and Gray Flower Watercolor Painting

I wanted to paint a really light and pink watercolor, but as it usually turns out, I couldn't avoid color.

 

I love paintings that are neutral and use minimal color, but when it comes to creating them, I just can't do it!

 

BUT, this Volland and Art Deco inspired flower watercolor isn't too bad done up in red and purples.

 

Reminds me years ago when you used to see those sweet gals from the Red Hat Society.

 

I thought that was so cool. But in my club, we will wear big hats and turquoise!

 

Here is the listing in my shop.

 

I can make print requests if needed.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Vintage Blue Dress Painting

This is painting No. 2 in my Vintage Dress Series.

My blog post about No. 1 is here.

I kept it light and dreamy, just like with the white dress. It was so much fun to paint and play with colors that would compliment (i.e., purple, green, yellow). This dress I centered and created a swirl of colors around it.

 I was inspired by a mid 1800s dress, but I ended up changing it up a little bit.

You can find the original and prints in my shop.

Vintage Blue Dress. 11″ x 14″, Acrylic on Canvas. © Heatherlee Chan 2013

"It's a Good Day!" Typewriter Watercolor

Yesterday I was thumbing through my watercolor file (full of finished and unfinished works) and found a typewriter.

It was so cute but it needed something...

I am really inspired by art deco illustrations. In my mind a light bulb went off and I knew it needed flowers!

Then I was trying to figure out what to write on the paper, and then I heard Calvin ask if it was a good day.

When he was little and throwing tantrums I told him it was up to him to decide what kind of a day he wanted to have.

He could have a good day or a bad day.

He always chooses "good" but he hasn't stopped asking almost EVERY day, "Is it a good day?"

And I will say, "Yes, it's a good day."

I plan on making prints and putting them up in the shop!

Art Print Giveaway

I just got some prints back and I thought it might be fun to do a giveaway!

They are all 8x10 except for the flowers in the vase, which is an 8x8.

Just go to the Lady Poppins FB page and tell me which one is your favorite and I will pick a random winner to send a print to.

Here are the prints:


*Update:
Brittany was the winner! She chose the Little Boy and His Sailboat painting :)

Lady Poppins is Broadening her Horizons

Okay, I took the plunge.

I created a Lady Poppins Facebook page.

So what? Big deal.

Um, for me, it's a big deal.

I love to paint. I love to craft. It's just what I do. Promoting my work feels embarrassing, as if I am showing off.

But then I realized that if I could do anything in the world it would be to create. I admire all of these people that are taking chances and putting themselves out there on blogs and whatnot.

Maybe I could do that too.

If you like me here, would you mind liking me on Facebook? I plan on doing give-aways and fun things in the near future and I would love it for you to join me.

Lady Poppins on Facebook:

facebook.com/ladypoppinsart

 

Lady Poppins Art on Etsy:

 

 

Lady Poppins Pinterest:

On a side note, I get a kick out of reading my horoscope. Some days it is so on and others it is so off. But the day I decided to take a leap, this is what it said:

I'm ready!

Vintage Dress Painting

I was itching to create something beautiful, feminine, and experimental.

I sat down and created this beauty:

 

I am in love.

 

It is 11x14" and on a stretched gallery stapled canvas done with acrylics.

 

You can buy it here.

I think I am going to create a whole series that has a similar feel to it.

Start looking forward to some vintage, abstract, shabby chic, romantic inspired paintings!

Happy Valentine's Day!

It's almost a month after Valentine's, but I wanted to share the cute decorations and crafts we did for Valentine's.

My husband had to work, so I made sure the kids and I had fun doing mushy-gushy Valentine stuff.

Mainly we just dressed up, did a Valentine treasure hunt, made hats, baked a cake, took pictures, and danced to music. When my husband came home he brought me beautiful roses and chocolate covered strawberries. Yum!


Here is our Valentine photo backdrop:

 

1. First off, I reused the kraft paper photo backdrop I made for the Glitter Party.
2. Then I strung some red and pink balloons with sewing thread and taped them to the ceiling.
3. I had vertical hanging paper heart garlands I made for last year, so those went up.
4. Next, I made a garland using medium sized pink heart doilies and book pages.
5. Lastly, I made a garland alternating large red heart doilies and the medium pink heart doilies.

Ta da!

I hung the paper backdrop behind my kitchen table because that's where I get the best light for photographing during the day. I just moved the dining set and threw Calvin's red rug down before we took pictures.

 

 
Next up, a Valentine Hat.

Just a strip of sturdy paper to staple the width of their head. I let them glue sequins on a heart, glued that to cut out book page, and layered it on top of a heart doily.

We had our own little dance party.

 
And then I attempted to get some cute pictures.

I loved how Calvin was holding the heart high up and Clara was blowing kisses...

 

and then Calvin's heart broke.

Then we ate some cake. I made it from a boxed cake mix and then frosted it with my favorite frosting. You mix a cup of milk with a small package of instant pudding (whatever flavor you wish) and mix. Then fold in a bucket of cool whip and when it is all mixed you can frost the cake. For our Valentine cake I did white cake mix and banana flavored pudding. My stepson said it tasted like Laffy Taffy. It was delicious.

I took old Valentine sticks from past V-day bouquets and glued them on to popsicle sticks. Then sprinkled some sprinkles.

Happy Valentine's Day! I hope there were as many sequins on your floor as there were on mine!

Umbrella Collection Painting

This painting was made to go with a painting of Spring coats I would love to own...or that I would imagine Zooey Deschanel would wear in New Girl or that Doris Day would sport in her movies.

I just sold it, so I am thinking of getting prints. I am still new to this, so I am learning. But the umbrellas are still available :)

Here are the umbrellas:

And then here are the Zooey coats, or as I would like to call them---the Doris Day coats. 

Pastel Cameo Collection Painting

I just added this watercolor to my Etsy shop. 

It was fun to paint a collection of cameos that I would love to own! 

We Love Lady (and the Tramp)

My daughter is in love with her little Lady.

She has two requirements when we leave the house or go to sleep: her Lady and blanket.

I found Lady at....a garage sale. She was 50 cents and brand new.

Clara fell in love with her immediately and thus watched Lady and the Tramp too many times to count.

1. Clara pushing Lady in her baby stroller
2. Going to the library. Blankie, pearls, & Lady in tow.
3. The Halloween costume I bought her....that she hated.
4. Calvin offering to try it on in an effort to show Clara that Lady had not been skinned. FAIL. It is still hanging in her closet with the tags on it.


As her 2nd birthday approached I wanted to paint her a picture and it wasn't hard to decide on. I took the old book cover of Lady and the Tramp and painted it in some different colors and in a different setting.

And while she still totes her Lady everywhere and she is basically one large germ, she is now in love with Snow White.

Don't worry, Lady:

You're the sweetest and most cuddly dog ever. And you're not real, so I love you even more!

Glitter Party

I am 27 and I have always been a girly girl. Not all princess and designer handbag girly, but the kind of girly that made me fall in love with the sequin trend for this winter. Every time I saw a pair of sequin shoes, a dress, or accessories I would just stand and stare at it, wishing I had a reason to buy it.

One day I said screw it and bought the most glittery dress you've ever seen.

Then I bought the most glittery SHOES you've ever seen.

And I decided I must throw a party.

I started a Pinterest board with all the most beautiful inspiration and set up a Facebook Event telling all my girlfriends to watch for clearanced sequin items.

I was delighted to find out that everyone was just as excited as me!

I will take you on a tour of my decor (sadly taken the day after because I was in too much of a rush to take pictures before....and I am missing one piece of decor that was quite lovely, but my friend insisted she was taking it with her that night).

Glitter Party Decorations

Glitter Party Decorations

Kraft tablecloth and glitter branches for a centerpiece

 We had a nacho bar for the party, so I bought packs of tins for us to broil them in. They came with the shiny tops so you could use it for leftovers. I threw them on the table and voila!!

Chalkboard Greeting

Glitter Leaf Wreath made from wrapping paper, tissue paper, and gold leaves

Book page chandelier made from a hula hoop at the Dollar Tree

 This one took a couple hours to make and I'm still not sure how I feel about it. I think I expected it to be breathtaking and it didn't live up to my imagination. To add extra sparkle I mixed mod podge with glitter and painted it on the bottom pages. I then glued sequins on top.

Glitter Banner

 I made the "Glitter" banner using craft paper, mod podge and glitter mixture, and sewing thread. I hung up branches in various places and tied sparkly leaves from the Christmas clearance at Michael's. Everyone loved those little displays. I love it so much I think I'm going to keep it up.

Kraft Paper Photo Backdrop

I made this photo backdrop using 3 rolls of kraft paper from the Dollar Tree....so it only cost me $3. I made the top have a seam so I could hang it on the curtain rod in my living room. It held up well and looked pretty in the pictures. I took pictures of the process, so I will have to make a tutorial later.

This was honestly the BEST girl party ever.

All of us late twenty year old girls had a blast! We danced to a Brittney Pandora station, drank wine and mixed drinks, played games (even Truth or Dare!), and took almost a hundred silly photos in front of the photo backdrop.

I think every girl should have a Glitter Party, no matter how old you are!