Easy To Make Party Favor Magnets

As little gifts for people attending this year's Holiday Open Studio, my friend, Nancy Louie, suggested I make fridge magnets. I had never done this before but thought I'd give it a try with some of my snowman images from iStock.

Here's what one of the art layouts looked like. This was printed on magnetic sheets I got from Staples. The thick plastic material was fed it into the ink jet printer and to my surprise, it worked just as good as paper.  Bobbie had the tedious job of cutting four sheets of magnets apart with an X-acto knife. She said she didn't mind doing it though. She always loved getting away from her reception desk and thoroughly enjoyed working in the shop at our old sign company. Especially when she got to cut sandblast masking with her X-acto!

I put the magnets on the fridge at the party and let people pick some to take home.

I also had the idea of cutting up some of my failed watercolors and making them into bookmarks.

It was Bobbie's idea to dress them up a little with yarn and string.

There is still a variety to offer those who read physical books.

I thought other watercolorists may want to try this too. It's just a way of recycling and sharing. If any of you readers would like a couple of bookmarks and/or magnets, Email me at sandy @sandysandy.com with your mailing address. I'd be happy to share these little token gifts with my friends while the supply lasts.

Here's a photo of some of the food at the party. Bobbie did such a nice job with everything, I sure was lucky to have her. I think she may have missed her calling as a caterer, although her varied skills and unending assistance was truly appreciated.

The Yuletide Season Continues

In preparation for my Open Studio last weekend, my friend, Bobbie Zurbach came everyday and helped me. No, I should say, directed all the preparations and decorating. Living out in the middle of the pines, I normally don't get this involved with it.  I do have a lot of Christmas stuff though. Bobbie was full of great ideas of what we could do with this and that, so I listened, collaborated and mostly just let her do her thing.

The front porch, lights, tree, packages and garland was practically an all day project. It's funny how decorating always turns into a bigger job than you anticipated, especially when working with lights.

After some heavy rain last week, the temperatures have dropped and it's expected to stay colder now. I don't mind the chilly weather and know I should be careful what I wish for, but I'd still like to see a little snow for Christmas.

The back studio porch took almost as much time to decorate as the front one did. Thanks again to Bobbie for making the outside feel as welcoming, cheerful and festive as the inside. 

This natural balsam snowman wreath was given to us by my good friend and collector, Dorrie Heil last Saturday. The snowmen decorations by the studio are all from previous years' wreaths. 

This one hangs inside my back screened porch, our main doorway, off of my kitchen entrance.  It stays cool and protected there, so I can keep it up and enjoy the vibrant color and refreshing fragrance until spring! Thank you again, Dorrie, for such a beautiful and heartfelt gift.

I hope you are all making headway with your holiday preparations, taking some time for yourself and most of all, enjoying this Yuletide season!

More Bald Eagles!

Yesterday was in the 60's here and a good day to get caught up on some outside work. As I was doing the paddocks, I spotted a bald eagle flying overhead. I followed it's flight for a while. It sailed so effortlessly, in and out of the clouds,  always circling my field of vision. I knew it was there to catch my attention, to guide me and offer reassurance that I'm on the right path. Pretty soon the magnificent animal was joined by another. So it happened to me again, just as it had on several other occasions recently. Eagles are rare here, as they are in the other locations where I have seen their glistening heads and identifiable tails gliding through my skies this fall.

Original Eagle Watercolors 8" x 10"
$95. ea. double matted w/ backing
Email me for selection at:
sandy@sandysandy.com

"The eagle symbolizes the warrior being well prepared to seize and make excellent use of opportunity. They represent a connection to the Great Spirit and in many ancient cultures have been personifications of visionary strength and messengers of divine power. Their aerial displays are dramatic and awe inspiring. These birds can soar higher than any other living creature and with binocular vision can observe life in its entirety. Hawks, falcons and eagles often show up when it is time to connect to creativity, spirituality and tune into your life's calling. It symbolizes dramatic new occurrences. When hawk or eagle chooses to guide you, it may become a life long mentor, often appearing to you when a divine spark is most needed to inspire your courage, stamina and creative fire."

~ Excerpt from my Animal Spirits book.

Here is a shot I took of one of two I saw up in Lancaster County, PA last month.


I probably won't be posting again this week because I am getting ready for my client appreciation Open Studio Party and Art Show! 

Out with the fall and in with The Holidays!! YAY!!! I'll be posting more snowman paintings soon. Check out all my snowmen available for download through iStock here!

And let me be one of the very first to Wish You A Happy Holiday Season!

The King Of Rock 'N Roll

It was in the sixties here today in Southern NJ. It was a nice break from some pretty cold weather we've been having lately. I celebrated by posting three new paintings to my "Secret Life Of Snowmen" album on Facebook. I now have twenty snowman paintings posted with appropriate quotes to go with each one. If you are my friend on Facebook, you can view all eight of my albums on my profile page. If you are not on Facebook yet, by all means join. I would love to have you join me as a friend in my Facebook world! I have been a member since November first and I am really enjoying all the features, networking, links and friends I have found there. I also have a fan page on Facebook with two albums of available paintings which anyone can view. I invite you to become a fan, leave me a message and post your own fan photo to my page! I really would appreciate it! The more the merrier!

Here's one of the new snowman paintings that I added today!


The King of Snowmen is still rockin! "There have been a lotta tough guys. There have been pretenders. And there have been contenders. But there is only one king." ~ Bruce Springsteen

"It was like he came along and whispered some dream in everybody's ear, and somehow we all dreamed it. " ~ Bruce Springsteen

Original Watercolor AVAILABLE for Sale ~ 8" x 10" ~ dbl. matted and framed ~ $149.00

Chairville School Art Show

Tomorrow, February 4th, is the Chairville School Art Show. I normally don't enter group art shows, because for me it is just more effort than it's worth. This show is different though. Original artwork is hung at the school for two weeks. During that time, the kids get to look at all the work and copy it or create something inspired by one of the pieces. Tomorrow there is a reception for the artists, kids, parents and general public. The children's art is hung next to the art they copied. It is so much fun to see what the kids come up with and to see which pieces were the most popular. The kids really make the artists feel like celebrities! I will be doing ongoing demonstrations of my pencil and watercolor technique from 6:30 - 8:00 pm. The show is free and open to the public, so if you are local, come on down! The address is: 36 Chairville Rd., Medford, NJ 08055 and the phone number is: 609.654.9610. Hope to see you there!

A Friend's Suggestion

On Facebook, I have an album of my whimsical snowman paintings. My photographer friend, Sally Vennel, from Colorado, wrote; "Loved seeing all of your snowmen - but you need to have one with our foxes. - Snowy is asleep in the snow on the deck chair at the moment, since I shoveled away his home made nest." Sally often sends me photos to use as reference, so this is one that I have permission from her to use of "Snowy" in his snow nest.


With the power of suggestion and a great shot to use as reference, I came up with this new snowman painting today. What do you think of it? I hope it brings you a smile!

The Secret Life of Snowmen :-)

Yikes, only twelve days 'til Christmas!

Feed The Birds

Winter has come to the North East. It's a blustery 28 degrees outside. We had to hook up the horses' water trough heater this morning and give the birds fresh water because the birdbath was frozen solid. I' just finished another snowperson this morning while listening to my holiday tunes. I call this one "Feed the Birds". It's a whimsical painting with an important message! Please don't forget about our wild friends now that the weather's turned colder. They need us now more than ever.

Football Fun

We had snow flurries this morning. It didn't stick, but it was pretty while it lasted. I counted ten turkeys outside my studio window in the yard. The snow seems to bring them around. I put on Christmas CDs and really had fun painting my holiday feel-good art. Here's one of the ones I finished today. Yeah, go team!

Snowboarding Snowman

I decided it was time to paint something whimsical today. Happy paintings really do lift my spirits! So with snow flakes floating in the air, I started a new series of snowmen to keep me entertained. I've got some new and exciting sports related themes a cookin'!


This original watercolor "On The Slopes" was done earlier in the year and is available along with others from my snowman series, from the Rijks Gallery in Crested Butte, Colorado.

Quotations On Snowboarding by Dave Barry:

"Skiers view snowboarders as a menace; snowboarders view skiers as Elmer Fudd."

"I now realize that the small hills you see on ski slopes are formed around the bodies of forty-seven-year-olds who tried to learn snowboarding."

"Snowboarding is an activity that is very popular with people who do not feel that regular skiing is lethal enough."

That Winning Attitude!

I was watching the Winter Olympics on TV the other night and the snowboarding competition was on. Half way through, it started snowing horizontally and the contestants that participated later in the event definitely had a disadvantage. Visibility was minimized as the surface snow became super slippery. The young athletes began slipping, sliding and falling. What really struck me was the way these kids reacted to their twist of fate. Each one in turn, cranked it up a notch, exhibiting that winning attitude that champions are made of.

Although A Place To Bark came in 5th place today and did not receive the $50,000. grant, they did come out winners! Thank you to all my friends who took the time to make a difference today! Find out all the details from the woman who unselfishly promoted this challenge and really helped make it happen. Claudine Hellmuth

If you missed the deadline and still want to donate, use the donate link below. It will still go to A Place To Bark, it just won't go toward the grant.