THAT BLUE BARN

The FIRST in the "WHERE DO COWS COME FROM?"

series...

"That Blue Barn"

30" x 30" acrylic on canvas

for more information visit

MY DRAGGYART ETSY SITE

and remember to follow both 

leslidevitopaintings.blogspot.com and

myoldcountryhouse.blogspot.com

to receive your 10% discount!!!

Thank YOU!!

Here Kitty Kitty...I Paint Cats Too!

Before I lived in the country, where there is ample room for a horse if we so desired...

I was a cat person. No, not a crazy cat person!!!  Just loved cats.

Their personalities, their snootiness, their purr and the way they talk to you when you get home...just loved them. Still do. 

But as you all know by now, Charlie my part Lab part Border Collie, part person...has turned me into not only a  "dog" person, but a "BIG Dog" person! That boy.

But I still do love my Cats. 

And I do paint them, though not as frequently as dogs..

Here is a Portrait I did as a surprise for my friend Erin (House of Turquoise),

part Wedding Gift, part "Thank you for supporting my Blog" gift. 

Here Kitty Kitty!

MY Silhouettes....

At the urging of everyone it seems....I am presently working building my etsy site. On the site, I have had a lot of interest crop up recently about my silhouettes. The Silhouettes have taken a bit fo a back seat to the Cow and farm animal and Dog Paintings...but I STILL LOVE doing the silhouettes and thought I would do an update.

 My silhouettes are hand painted on 12" x 12" 100% cotton canvas. They are not painted digital photographs, but Original Paintings. I use all Benjamin Moore Paints and can match any style and color decor. The prices are as follows:
     First  Child -     $125
 Second Child        $100
    Third  Child -    $ 90
any thereafter -     $80


if you are a leslidevitopaintings.blogspot.com AND a MYOLDCOUNTRYHOUSE.BLOGSPOT.COM (both)
blog follower you get 10% off your total order!!! (EXCLUDING SHIPPING) 
Shipping is $10/ first and $5 each silhouette thereafter. 


 Please visit @http://www.etsy.com/shop/DraggyART
Thanks for the interest!And remember to sign up to get your discount... 

Ellie aka "el diablo"

My niece, Ellie is TWO...almost 2 1/2 .She takes her role of two year old very seriously and she is not letting any of the other two year olds down in their pledge to keep their parents on their toes and remind them just exactly WHO is in charge. I adore her. 

Her parents affectionately call her "el Diablo"...el diabloina!

She is a little ray of sunshine...

I painted a portrait of Ellie for her Mom, my sister in law Maura, for Christmas.

NEVER Change "El Diablo"....Never Change.

and please...do not grow up too fast!

The DOGS of 2011

I love how Life is always full of surprises.

Yes, some surprises are not so good, but many are wonderful and life changing.

For example, 

had you told me, one year ago, that I would end the year 2011

having established a little Blog following and be doing Custom Pet Portraits for customers all over the world...I would have..

...well I would have gotten excited!

I have met the most wonderful people through my blog and perhaps the most special connection has come from sharing the love one has for a Pet.

So without further ado...let me introduce 

the Dogs of 2011

Colden

Riley

Charley

Lucy

Muffin

Charlie

Zach

Sugar

Charlie

Jersey

 

Lucy

Dash

Murphy

Oscar

Nelson (puppy)

Nelson (adult)

Lucy

                                   

Sherman

Ethan

Bubba

Nala

Maddie

Beaufort

Mack

There are a few more that I neglected to get photos of...and speaking of Photos...

One of my "goals" for 2012, is to get more consistently better at

photographing my ART.

did you notice how many Charlies and Lucys there were!

I cannot wait to meet some more Pups this year.

hey, guess what i just did. It started with a bite and ended with me finishing a whole giant Hersey bar...and you know what...

IT WAS REALLY GOOD!!!

2011 Top Ten Makeovers Part 2!!! Can you Guess Number 1?

Today we finish counting down the 

"MY OLD COUNTRY HOUSE" 

TOP TEN MAKEOVERS

TO REVIEW

the first ten were:

10. Front Hall/Entryway Changes....

9.   Dresser Transformations: Union Jack, Calypso Blue and French Provencial makeover

8.   Lighting Upgrades throughout the house!

7.    Easy as Pie Window Cornices

6.    The Dining Room Makeover

.....and now we count down 

the TOP 5 Makeovers of 2011!

5. the Kitchen Cabinets Re - Do

This makeover, which includes steps 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5  encompasses Stage 1 in what I hope to eventually be a complete kitchen Remodelof our 1967 Avocado oven Kitchen. The whole thing began last February and was finally completed in early September! It is amazing to me what simply changing the cabinet door fronts and hardware has done for the overall feel and modernization for our VERY dated kitchen.

 4.Striped Laundry Room

     Who knew that doing laundry could be fun? What began with my nursing my sick child back to health and repairing a  broken dryer belt, ended (as so often it does) with me completely transforming a VERY sad, dreary, end of the road room...into the happiest room in the house. POST HERE. and Here

3.Pink Living Room Transformation

     Once upon a time, the Dining room was yellow and was located where the Pink Living room now is and the blue playroom is where the Brown Dining room now is. In short, as the kids have grown and our daily needs have changed, I did some necessary rearranging and the end result was a Beautiful New Pink Living Room. Bit by bit, upgrade by upgrade, the favorite being my newly reupholstered chevron sofa...I have created a haven for myself, amongst the chaos which so often defines our home.

2.Phoebe's Teen room

     When I was growing up, our family moved about every 3 years. Sometimes it was fun...an adventure...but often..it was tough. New schools, new friends, new house...but it took me having kids of my own to grasp how VERY difficult it must have been for my Mom to move...and replicate her life...as a Mom...over and over again...in a new town. And I realize now that she must have found great solace and joy  as she settled into a new town with 4 kids.....in the redecorating and recreating of new bedrooms for me - her only daughter. I have such great memories of going to the fabric store...flipping through wallpaper books, picking paint colors and combing Goodwill and Antique stores for furniture to transform. Eventually I think I had a room in nearly every color...and subsequently I learned to LOVE decorating and was able to find the beauty in almost any color palate. 

     I have brought this passion, shared with my own Mom, to my relationship with my own daughter , Phoebe - also an only daughter and we LOVE redecorating her room, though, thankfully she has only had two homes and two bedrooms to decorate in her life. 

     This past Spring, while Phoebe was away on a school trip, which took place the week of her 13th Birthday, I did a complete Surprise Makeover of her bedroom. She and I had discussed colors and she gave me parameters, like "No Green",  etc.

     Thankfully... the results were everything we both dreamed it would be!!! 

 The room has held up to 6 months of her living as a full fledged teenager in it and this fall I had one of my most popular Link Party entries with an update of her room.

Have you guessed what Number 1 is?

  1. The Pink Cabinet Makeover!

This has been My Most PINNED Photo on Pinterest!
 and my MOST READ POST BY A LANDSLIDE!
Was it the Missoni?
The Pink?
What was it?
Timing...I believe...is everything!

       I am still new to blogging, and thus, the ins and outs of why things work...or why posts don't work...what brings readers to my blog, draws them in...well, is often still such a mystery to me. 

      I have done makeovers...and have written posts...incredible posts...amazing makeovers...that have fallen flat like a bad joke, or a missed punch line. 

   AND then...there is the Pink Cabinet Makeover. One day in September, with not much  going on ...save maybe  an itch for a Pink Pick Me Up...I grabbed some paint and painted the inside of a cabinet in my Living room, Spring Bloom Pink. 

     Up until that post...I had had an average of 30-50 visitors a day to my little fledgling blog...but...In one day, and for days thereafter, I got 600-800 visits and I have never looked back. My blog grew from 34 followers to 100 seemingly overnight...it was a total rush to feel like somehow I had made that magic connection. And that finally readers were seeing what I can and LOVE to do. I am HOOKED!

So there you have the 2011 TOP TEN MAKEOVERS OF MY OLD COUNTRY HOUSE!

Going thorough all of them, I am struck at how busy I have been!

    The climb is still slow and steady, my dream of 1000 followers by January 1, has been replaced by a desire to keep the 158 followers I DO have...happy!

Thank you for visiting my Blog and for all of your comments and feedback. They and you mean more to me, than I can ever communicate...but I will continue to bring you 

myself...

in this blog...

as best as one City Girl Turned Country Girl...can ever do!