Mermaid Wall Plaque Art From Christmas Mouse

Every since I was a little girl, I have always loved mermaids. I actually read the very sad ending Little Mermaid story from Hans Christian Andersen long before I ever saw the Walt Disney very happy ending animated movie.

 

I think of mermaids as beautiful strong magical free spirited mysterious women who live on both land and sea. The ocean is such a magnificent powerful full of life place, I think it would be incredible to call that huge body of water home.

 

Whenever I am at the beach, I always look for any mermaid anything I can find. I happened upon this mermaid wall plaque at the Christmas Mouse in Myrtle Beach, SC.

 

 The first time I saw this piece on the wall of a staircase in the store, I did not have enough money to get it. So I went home, saved up my money and purchased the mermaid then next time I went back to the beach. You wouldn't believe how excited I was that it was still there on that return trip. The store does not have a lot in backstock for certain items.

 

I am sure you noticed, my mermaid is sitting in a crystal vase I got from Marshalls years ago. For some reason, I do not want to put her up on a wall yet. Hopefully I can find some sort of stand to sit her in.

 

The sea shell fan and her hands are very well done. It can be really hit or miss with mermaid art. There is the tacky, overly sexy, bad design and the good. I am very very picky when it comes to the pieces I add to my collection.

An overhead view of the mermaid plaque sitting down into the vase. Those are some really big shells on her boobies right? LOL!

I was drawn to this piece because it is very well made. The overall composition, the design of her beautiful face and the artistry. I have seen a lot of very bad mermaid art - we are talkin' scary bad art and poor quality. I will be doing a post on a piece of ulgy mermaid art I did buy - I just could resist.

This close up of her hands holding the shell is so well done. As an artist, I know personally, hands are very hard to draw let alone sculpt. For the price I am very happy with the quality of this piece.

Love this very affordable price. There are other stores that have amazing mermaid art but the price point is extremely out of my small budget range. This company Midwest CBK is apparently for retailers only. So your best bet to purchase this or something similar is at the Christmas Mouse or on Amazon.

The design of the facial features of my mermaids is very important to me. I love her serene graceful pose.

I really wonder if the scales and the tail were carved by hand or if this is a mold. It looks like it was carved to me. The material it is made of seems to be more of a kind of resin not a plaster.

I was so glad the "distressing" is very minimal. My other mermaid statue had too much rough distressing for my taste and I am trying to figure out how to paint over some of the gouges in the surface.

The facial expression reminds me of Madonna art.  Eyes gazing off to into the distance calm and meditative.

Here is a full view of the whole piece. It was actually very hard to photograph these plaque for some odd reason. I really do prefer this plaque to stand rather than hanging on a wall.  I probably want to enjoy observing the piece close up than on a wall in the distance.

The plaque measures about 13 inches tall and at it's widest point (the tail) it is about 3inches.

I was really lucky to find her but now I am on the search for black mermaid art. There seems to be a huge void in the market for them. I am writing a mermaid novel and one of my dreams is to have a whole line of multi cultural mermaids in all colors and shapes to represent the beautiful diverse women of the world.

Thankful Lessons And Hard Work

Hello Everyone!

I have missed you all so much! This blog is a little different than my usual blogs. I am updating you all on what has been going on. Life is amazing and very busy.

Computer problems. Car problems. Finding a full time job problems.  ALL of this things has been taken care of. I am truly blessed. God provided.

So much as happened to make my life a LOT better than it was a year ago and definitely better than it was two years ago. For a long time I was struggling with a long term job search, I finally got a full time job in an office.

It was a long difficult stressful process but I learned a lot about being persistent and believing in myself. In order to get back into an office environment, I had to work in retail for a while which was something I thought I would never have to do again after having so many years of office experience.

Today I am in a place in my life where I have never been so thankful and blessed. Never giving up and a lot of hard work was the key to bring me through the tough dark times. I was also forced to learn to be patient. You have to sometimes go through the process to discover new things about your life.

The best thing about my long  job search is that I started my blog Thomasina's Words. Lately my work schedule is really busy and long hours, I realized just how much I missed blogging regularly. Learning how to use my time wisely and being productive as possible was a huge lesson I learned when I was searching for employment. I am determined to fit in blogging more often into my schedule.

I will be doing another blog post on the hard learned lessons of being in a long term job search.

Being an artist and a writer helped me cope with the stress being out of work. I had an outlet to vent my feelings in my journal, write a blog post or create an art piece. I would not be the artist and writer I am today if I had not had the time during my unemployment to focus on this important part of my life.

More blogs to come :)

Thank you for reading!

Thomasina

Mermaid Standing In The Bright Sunlight

 

These pictures are a much better view of the Mermaid statue I got a little while back from The Christmas Tree Shops in this post.

 

 

 

 

She is a beauty. I think she has a very serene peaceful smile.

 

 

 

Nice details with the shells entwined in her long hair.



 

This is a back view of the pieces. Honestly I am really not a fan of the "distressed" chipped away look. I wish it was a solid white finish.

 

 

 

 

Side view. She is about a bit over a foot tall.

 

 

 

Closeup of her tail scales. In my previous post, you can see the iridescent effect on the inside of the clam shell better in those pictures.

 

 

Back view of the clam shell on a coral reef. Tiny clam shells and even a pretty pearl in front of the base.

 

 

Close up of the base.

 

 

 

I got really lucky to walk into The Christmas Tree Shops store and find this gorgeous mermaid. None of the mermaid pieces they had displayed since have been remotely as nice as this one.

 

It was so exciting to add this to my tiny mermaid collection. Usually I never see mermaid things when I am shopping so this was a great find.

 

Thank you for reading!

 

Thomasina

 

 

Sketchpad and Sketchbook for Only $1.99 Review

Every once in a while you are in the right place at the right time for an unbelievable

amazing deal at Michaels Arts and Crafts store.

This sketchpad and hard back bound sketchbook was only $1.99! Woo Hoo!

The regular price was $7.99 and even that is not bad for good quality paper art supples. Every artist knows how expensive good quality art supplies can be.

No joke this was a great value. LOL! I was browsing the clearance section (every store I visit, I always walk to the back to look at the markdowns first) and I saw stacks of these sketchpads on the shelf. They did not have a price tag. I walked over to the price scanner and the price on the screen said $1.99.

You know what happen next. I load up a hand basket and headed to the checkout  lane. 

I was content with being lucky enough to stock up on inexpensive art supplies but I was even more thrilled that the sketchpads are a good weight paper (65lb) and a very pale beige.

This is the embossed logo on the back of the sketch book. 

The front of the sketchpad. The paper is very smooth. I drew on it with pencil and was happy with the results.

Hopefully you will be able to find this item on clearance at your local store. I have walked around in Michaels several times many days and come up empty handed finding a good sale on something I needed.

Always look at the clearance shelf, you never know what you will find.

Tell me about a bargin you found at Michaels.

Thank you for reading!

Thomasina

Necklace Of The Day Rue21 Charm Necklace

I love a bargain especially when I shop for costume  jewelry. Rue 21 has weekly markdowns on their clothes and accessories.  

Today's necklace is a double chain multimedia  charm necklace. I got this fun piece for only $2.00. 

A close up picture of the heart and turquiose bead. 

This necklace reminds me of  the charm bracelets that I make from odds and ends of  I take apart or broken pieces of    

jewelry. 

I can imagine each individual charm as having a story or meaning.

Have fun with your accessories. Take them apart and create your own unique piece.

Another post about a necklace is here.

Thank you for reading my post!

Thomasina

Mermaid Standing Statue

A new mermaid statue added to my mermaid collection from the Christmas Tree Shop.  I was completely surprised to see a mermaid anything in a local store.  Usually, I only see mermaid figurines when I go to the beach.

She is a little over a foot high tall. I am so excited to find a mermaid I really like. This mermaid has a beautiful face and the statue has a lot of detail. i think it is made from a kind o resin not a ceramic material. 

The only thing i really did not like is the "distressing" of the surface of the piece. if the paint was smooth, it would be perfect. But thankfully, there is only a few places where the paint is chipped off.

The tail is so beautiful.    I am really picky about the design of my mermaid's facial features and the tails. i do prefer the  mermaid tails to have a fuller wider tail fins.

The only color on the figure is this green and pink on  the clam shell.

A view of the back of the mermaid.

Love the intricate detail of the base: tiny sea shells and pearls






I got another wonderful surprise when I got to the register and it was half off. My price was $8.99! Awesome! The prices for this type of statue in Myrtle Beach is 2 or 3 times more than the regular price of this item.


Thank you for reading!

Thomasina

The Beach Fixes Everything

Hello Everyone!

Spring is almost here and I am so happy. It was a very long and cold winter. Warm temps and the  bright sunshine are a very welcome change.

I saw these signs in Marshall's the other day. "The Beach Fixes Everything" is the story of my life. I have always felt relaxed, calm, zen, creative, and focused when I am at the beach. 

There is something soothing and awe inspiring about looking out across that endless span of water.

A plan for a roadtrip to the beach is in the works. I cannot wait.

When I saw these cute beach themed signs, I thought they would look great in my home office but I know I can definitely made them myself. 

A very easy DIY: 

a piece of wood or thick paper, draw with a light pencil the lettering, two paint colors or markers and presto you have this sign for free or a lot less than the $7 to $10 dollars they were priced at.

Thank you for reading my blogpost.

Thomasina

Sharing Something Bright and Colorful

I saw this on the wall in a restaurant I go to once in a while. The nice lady who works there said it is for Chinese New Year.

The beautiful bright happy colors and sparkling glitter caught my eye. Looking at this made me happy and changed a blah day into a better day.

Bright bold colors give me energy and inspiration. 

I love it when I find inspiration in the most unlikely places. 

This reminds me to look for good things and positive inspiration everywhere I go. 

Btw can someone translate the characters for me?

Thanks for reading my post!

Thomasina

Walmart 50 cent Clearance Haul

Get ready to be scrolling for a while because I got quite a few things from two Walmart clearance shopping carts. I walk into the store and right near the front door were two shopping carts with a sign on them that said "50 cent" . I drove right in and found a lot of cool items.

Settle down and grab a cup of tea or hot chocolate and enjoy :)

Let me explain.... No way am I a fan of this boy band. I did at one point think Harry was a cutie. I'm over that now. But I could not turn down a journal and a cool rhinestone pen for only 50 cents. I will buy a journal with a cover that I don't like because I can just cover it up with a picture of what I do like. It is my own custom cover.

Sidenote: This journal set was regular priced at $9.99 - not worth it because I just barely opened it and the pages separated from the spine. Poor quality glue holding the pages to the spine. The pen writes in black very smoothly so that is a plus.

For use on my journal covers, journal pages, greeting cards or an art piece. This is so me. I feel like I am in the right place at the right time when I find things that relate to who I am as an artist.

When I picked this up out of the pile of clearance stuff, I thought what will I use this for? I use it to draw circles (a mermaid in a water globe). This actually makes drawing quick circles really easy.

These stickers make me happy just like a little kid. When I reach a goal or need encouragement, I will pop one of these stickers on a journal entry or a note and it makes me smile and work harder to reach my goals.

Silver sequins. Can't beat the 50 cents price for this amount of product.

A kit to attack bling and athletic theme stickers to a T shirt. I will probably use this to play around with on a shirt to wear around the house. Good deal for 50 cents.

Of course this is the BEST find of the entire haul. Digging deep down in the shopping cart that had all the 50 cent clearance items piled in, I found a beautiful poseable mermaid sticker. Whenever I find a mermaid and I wasn't looking for a mermaid, I always view this as a sign to keep working on my mermaid novel. She is adorable with the water bubbles and the shell.

Back view of the mermaid sticker.

These beautiful gold letters were not 50 cents, they were 9 cents! It is because they are from Christmas. Excellent!

Back view of the gold sticker package.

Wands anyone?

Not a Harry Potter wand but it is a girly cute wand. I taped this to a pen. Maybe I will tape it to my wall for decoration or to a bulletin board.

I almost cheered when I saw these cool beach stickers. This was the first time I ever saw such authentic looking sand stickers. Being a beach girl this was right up my alley. Can't wait to use these.

Glittery stickers are fun. These adhered to the page very well.

Puffy stickers for 50 cents is a really good deal. The princess them is really sweet. I will use these on the outside of my journals or on greeting cards.

I'm not really into these characters not being a fan of horror movies or cartoons. Big fan of Buffy and Angel though. I thought I would give these a try because they were kinda cute and 50 cents.

 

Usually the little notepads like this are useless in a real write notes or reminders on but these are actually really nice fainted pictures of the Disney Princess. Ariel is here so that made me happy. Mermaids represent!

What these are for exactly, I really don't understand. Pockets for pages inside your binder or notebook on the paper itself. What is this good for? I am just going to use this as decoration in my journals. I like the graphic. It reminds of the 70s graphic designs.

While not my favorite actor for the role of Superman - Henry Cavill was perfect in The Tudors. Tom Welling was perfect as Clark Kent on Smallville and Brandon Routh was a great Superman in a terrible Superman movie.

These are really cool stickers and they don't look like the actor for Man of Steel so that was a plus too. LOL!

I was excited to find two of these findings. Simple task to design a quick DIY for a new pair of earrings. Just attach pieces of jewelry from my jewelry parts stash and french hooks.

Here's a great bargin: a sequined applique for only 50 cents. I was very happy to find this bargain.

I see how this can be used for decoration on a shirt but I think I will use it to decorate the front of a pair of denim shorts or the back pockets of a part of jeans.

A cool single sheet of paper featuring a colorful picture of a galaxy. I see this as a wall art or cover for a journal.

At first, I did not know what these were then I saw the string. This a type of hanging decoration for parties. I might hang one of these in my office and use the rest as covers for journals. I will recover a journal if I don't like the cover with anything: tearout from a magazine, a picture or any graphics I find. Repurpose and Reuse!

Favor boxes and a table decoration  - all for 50 cents. I might display the table decoration on a table just for fun and I could use the boxes for gift boxes or tear them apart for use as covers for journal books.

Thank you so much for reading my blogpost!

Thomasina

If you have questions, please contact me at thomasinawords@gmail.com or comment below.