Fabulous Fall Web Site Drawing

Anyone placing an order of $25.00 or more will be included in a drawing for a:

$25.00 Gift Certificate
or
$10.00 Gift Certificate

We will be drawing for 2 each of these certificates, so you have 4 chances of winning!

Winners will be announced on the web site and contacted by e-mail or phone.

September came and went in a rush and October is almost half gone. We kicked off the month with our last 2011 seminar here in Williamsburg. After that seminar, we traveled a bit in Pennsylvania and then headed to Long Island for a wonderful seminar with the DAWN chapter. This weekend, we are headed North again for a seminar with the Buffalo Snowbirds chapter. Then we will head home for a couple of weeks before heading to Kentucky to paint with the Kentucky Decorative Artists. In between all this travel I have been working on submissions for the 2012 HOOT show and new designs for the 2012 Williamsburg seminar program.

I am so excited that DecoArt has made it possible for us to offer a writer set for the stucco.  This is great news for all of you who have been waiting for the availability of the product in order to complete your Holiday Dimensions projects. Check out the tips and more page for detailed instructions on use and care of the writer set. I love working with the stucco in this manner and have a lot of new ideas for using it. We also now have the Paper Effects Golden Gold writer on the web site, so everything for the project is readily available to our customers.

I hope each of you are enjoying some nice October weather and feasting on a gorgeous bounty of autumn color. This is certainly one of my favorite times of the year, and I never fail to be inspired to paint by nature’s autumn display.

We are very pleased to announce that the 2012 Williamsburg seminar hotel contracts have been finalized and our dates secured. The dates are:

March 15-18, 2012 with the optional watercolor day on March 14.

September 27-30, 2012 with the optional watercolor day on September 26.

The new location is the Clarion Hotel – Historic District. It is in an excellent location, directly behind Colonial Williamsburg. There is a restaurant on site for those who wish to eat in the hotel and an indoor pool. We will have our normal morning coffee and breakfast breads as well as afternoon cookies in the room. Student room rates have been secured at $60.00, and we have negotiated that to include a full hot breakfast for 2 people. Please go to our web site for more details on room reservations.  The 2012 seminar brochure is not available for download, but will be available next week. You are able to register for the seminar from the web site at this time.

The hotel rescued us for the September 2011 seminar when hurricane Irene damaged the previous hotel and it was closed due to structural damage. The students felt that the hotel personnel were courteous and the rooms were comfortable. The meeting room we have secured for next year is well lit, large and very nice. The reserved rooms are located on the same level around the meeting room.

Folks have already started registering without even knowing the dates, so get your registration in early to secure your seat.

The image above is Christmas Wishes Santa that was painted during this year’s September seminar. He was painted on a new signature wood piece and the students had a lot of fun working on this project.

This smiling face will be greeting you for our 30th year at the HOOT Convention next week.

Visit Brenda Stewart by Design at Booth 305-307 to visit with Robert, Bev and Brenda and check out all the new items & show specials.

Summer has arrived with a bang. We have had record breaking temperatures for June. This week is a bit more moderate, but still hot and humid. We are escaping to Norther England today and will be happy to have a bit of a respite from the unusually hot summer. While there, I am hoping to photograph loads of gorgeous flowers to inspire my next round of projects.

Brenda’s Original Paintings Category is now active

For the first time since the launch of our new web site, Brenda is retiring more paintings and has put some pieces for sale. Visit Brenda’s Original Paintings category today and check out these pieces. Don’t miss out on the opportunity to own one of Brenda’s beautiful paintings.

Web Site Summer Surprise Sales – June 14 – 28

Ornament Special – Purchase any 4 porcelain ornaments and receive a free boot or scroll ornament. Please do not put the free ornament in the order, but do notate which one you would prefer in the comments section of the shopping cart. The free ornament is yuor choice while supplies last.

Wood Surface Special – All in stock wood surfaces are discounted 15%. The discount will be calculated at check out. This does not apply to special order pieces.

New E-packet releases – Southern Jewel and Santa in the Round

Wow….registration for the special event at HOOT is really going well! We have limited seating, and there are only a few spaces left, so if you want this one, sign up soon!

There are seats left in this class too. The photo in the class book was really small and difficult to see. Join in for a fun class and an excellent introduction to faces and also to painting on porcelain.

On our way home from Kansas and the 39th SDP conference. It was wonderful to see old friends and brainstorm great ideas for next year’s 40th celebration. We stayed over a few days for a visit with our kids in Overland Park. Storms have been all around us throughout our time in Kansas, but luckily, all have missed us. For this, we are very grateful! Watch the web site in the coming weeks for more news and views from the conference.

Southern Jewel is being introduced at the 2011 SDP Wichita conference. Southern Jewel is a rendering of one large magnolia bloom and it is painted on a beautiful 8”X 8” box panel with cut outs down one side. There is an insert panel for each piece. We will be offering a special combo price at the conference for the packet and surface.

If you are attending the show, be sure and stop by the booth (# 211, #213, #215) to see some wonderful new projects and surfaces. I will be demonstrating with a projection system on a continuing schedule throughout the show.

For those of you who are not attending the Wichita Conference, we are offering the Southern Jewel conference special to you for the same dates as the show. The special will run only for the 4 conference days (Wednesday, May 18 through Saturday, May 21) , so don’t miss out. The packet and surface combo price is $23.00, that is a $5.00 savings if purchased separately.  Your shipment will be delayed until early June, as we make our way back to Virginia.  These beautiful new cut out box panel surfaces are sure to be a hit, so get your name high on the order list!

HAPPY EASTER! This week is the last of our April Spring into Savings promotions. Our brushes are discounted at an extra 10%, which means they are being offered at 40% off the regular retail price. Take advantage of the extra discount and stock up on all your brush needs.
Our new e-packet for the week is HAPPY CHRISTMAS. As you know, it is never too early to get a head start on Christmas painting for friends, family, and if you are a teacher, for fall classes. This packet includes the patterns and instructions for the lovely box and also a coordinated ornament. There is an 8 X 10 photo and two color worksheets included with the packet. The beautiful signature box and ornament are also available.

Easter is a time of hope and new beginnings. Jackie, Robert, and I hope that all of you will have a joyful celebration of the risen Christ.

Jackie is on a roll….she has another e-packet loaded and ready for your purchase. Little Blue Jug is done on a four tube flower holder, but can also be adapted to the smaller two tube flower holder and many other wood or porcelain surfaces. The blues and violets in this painting are some of my favorite spring and summer hues. The packet is instructed in DecoArt Americana acrylics, has 6 color photos and a color mixture sheet. You can view most of the photos on the web site.

This week’s web site promotion is a 15% discount on all porcelain surfaces. It is the perfect time to stock up on porcelain surfaces for personal painting or for your classes. It is also a great time to get a head start on Christmas painting with some of our beautiful porcelain ornaments.

Just a quick reminder that a new Web site promotion begins today. For the week of April 8 – 14 there is 15% off all wood items. The perfect time to get the small coffered box for Just Ducky. Many of you ordered this fun new spring packet last week.

Jackie has also uploaded another packet into the E-packet category….the Lemons and Blueberries shown above. The kick off for the e-packets last week was quite successful. Except for one minor glitch on the first day, everyone seems to have been able to download their packets without any difficulty. We will be adding e-packets steadily over time, so keep a close check on this category. It is certainly a benefit to be able to save shipping costs!

In the mood to paint up some Easter fun? Just Ducky is now available as an E-packet and a traditional format packet on the web site. While there, review other new items, newly launched E-Packets, and the April Spring into Savings promotions. Also enjoy the new spring slide show feature on the home page.

For those of you who are DecoArt helping artists, watch for a companion project to  Just Ducky.  Hippity Hoppity will be coming to you soon.

Tips for printing your E-packets

The major benefits of purchasing e-packets are the savings of postage and time, and they can be delivered almost instantly. Wonderful if you are overseas or have to worry about customs. However, the end result will only be as good as the attention you put into printing it out.  While regular, inexpensive copy paper is good enough for emails, recipes and other text content, good images require a little bit more.

Purchase a good quality premium or Bright White paper for the brand of printer you have. [e.g. HP- HP Premium paper, Canon – Canon Paper] Matching the paper to your printer brand usually produces better results. It doesn’t have to be photo paper. Make sure you have enough ink in your cartridge before you start.  Learn how to print only the pages you want. Don’t just automatically hit print. Take a moment to look through each page on a print preview and decide if you need them all, then make your selection.

Printed pages are not usually waterproof so a little extra care is required here also. Use plastic sheet protectors. If your monitor is in your studio you may not need to print it out at all. Copyright applies to e-packets as much as printed works, so please respect the artist and don’t be tempted to share your e-packet.