Love is in the Air

June is traditionally a bride's favorite for weddings. To get the month off to a romantic start, I thought I'd share with you some of the Custom Love Nests I've made over the past year.

Here's to all you the love birds out in the world!

The very first Love Nest was a tiny 5" x 5" - for yours truly & her true love

I love to see all of these together, representing so many sweet families!

Creating this 24" x 30" focal piece was so much fun!

The nest with feather

Sweet and simple!

Things I Want: On My Sunny Day Picnic

Sorry folks, the day is just too darn pretty to be sittin' here on the computer. I'm off on a picnic and these are a few things from my fellow Etsy sellers I'd like to pack in my basket!

Enjoy and have a great weekend!

I would invite this darling Ant Ring by LOOKAjewelry to my picnic!

Set of 6 rustic place card holders from MonkeysOnTheRoof

Little Hen salt & pepper shakers from spanishangels (sucker for s&p shakers)

A sunny set of two hand-batiked napkins from margotbianca

Keep the memories of the day alive with this gorgeous photo from opart

Make Way for a Give-Away

Goldie with his favorite Nest!

It's time to heat things up over here at the Nancy Jean Home Blog. No better way I know of, than to host a give-away!

From now until the end of June I'll be collecting names for a drawing to give this sweet set away. You'll get to choose from 1 of my 9 Backyard Birds, and 1 of my Little Nests — a duet that's sure to brighten any spot in  your home!

No purchase necessary — just leave me a comment and your name will be entered into the drawing.

Want another chance to win? Of course you do — simply visit my brand-spanking-new facebook fan page and "like" it.

What's that you say? You want another chance to win? OK, OK pop on over to my Etsy shop — ThePaintedSky and come back and tell me what was your favorite item. That's 3 chances to win, 2 darling paintings from 1 very happy painter!

Good luck!

Nesting Instincts

I've been nesting.

Getting ready for some sales events that are coming up this summer. Among them:

I'll be at Maplewoodstock — a wonderful weekend-long concert in my local town. It will be fun to show my new work to freinds and neighbors.

I'm also hoping to have a Heartsy sale event. For all who are unfamiliar it's a little like Groupon for Etsy. Now I can see you all scratching your heads "What's Groupon?" I'll leave the details of both these fine companies for you to checkout on their websites. Short story is; if they accept me I will run a day long deal through them that is well over 50% off all items! I will tell you more if it happens. (Warning: Heartsy will make you signup for an account to see the deals — but there are some awesome bargins.)

I also plan to have a Grads, Dads and Brides Sale sometime in the beginning of June — keep your eyes out for that!

Anyway, all of this has got me painting away to ensure enough paintings for all who want them. I just finished 28 Nests.

Next up, Backyard Birds!

The Nests

The fuel

I Want This Now: Chocolate Chip Cookies

Simple perfection!

My new favorite blog just happens to be run by one of my favorite people — my niece Katie.
Katie has been baking since she was old enough to hold a spoon and her commitment shows in her fabulous journal of culinary delights: Making Michael Pollan Proud.
I think these Oatmeal Pecan Chocolate Chip Cookies from Joy the Baker look like just the kind of treat I'm in the mood for today. 
Check out this recipe and her wonderful blog here!
And if like to know more about Michael Pollan's and his writings about the intersection of food and culture — check him out here. 

Meandering Through Some Favorites

I've been feeling guilty.
I belong to several very wonderful teams on Etsy, and part of your responsibility is to create treasuries featuring team members.
I think one of the hardest parts about making the treasuries is that there is just so much wonderful stuff to choose from! I was lazy today and really couldn't settle on a theme, so I just wandered through my favorites and let it go from there!
Here are a few picks from the batch:

Click here to see the whole treasury!

Sweetheart from Tastesorangey — Be still my heart!

Ball, Chains and Freedom from swakdesigns — I love the texture of this wonderful scarf!

Organisims No. 1 by Naomilayne: inspired by scientific illustrations of the past
— Reminds me of Ernst Haeckel's fantastic work!

Farming in North Carolina

Clover Hill Farm

I've been working on the farm — or farms, rather.

I have a brand new gallery that I'm super excited about: Atelier 24 Lexington, in Ashville, North Carolina. They have a fabulous space of 3500 square feet, and feature over 75 artists.  They're featuring my Modern Farmhouse series with over 20 original farm paintings for you to choose from.

If you're in the neighborhood, stop by and say "hi!"

Honey Bee Farm

 

The Space Between Dark and Light

Twilight Lake I

Here's a close-up of Twilight Lake I

I've been forever fascinated by the shifting colors of the setting sun. The warm glow the earth gives off in response to that fleeting ball of fire coming close enough to kiss the horizon.

Here are some attempts to capture that magic in paint. The first two were paintings I did on my own for my Etsy shop and the second two were commissions.

Both custom orders were for the second, darker Twilight painting — done in a larger size; 3' x 4'!

I was excited to get the chance to revisit the theme on such a large canvas and happy to say they are both finished, packed up and on their way to their new homes -- yay!

Twilight Lake II

A close-up of Mindy's Twilight

Mindy's Twilight Lake

Brian's Twilight Lake

The Backyard Birds are Back

I've been busy this past weekend painting flocks of some of my favorite backyard friends. To celebrate the arrival of Spring, I've decided to run a special on these little dears, with a savings of $20 when you buy a set of two. Fly over to my shop for more details!