Bloomin' Cactus!

Well, it's mid-August and still awfully hot here in Southern Arizona. Amazingly though, just this past Saturday, I noticed that despite the high heat some cactus around the house have started to bloom! I was thrilled to see such beauty in the middle of the hottest and driest season.....rather late bloomers I must say!

The colors on this small barrel cactus are really dramatic~

I love the flower-within-a-flower on this tall flowering cactus~

I just planted these cactus in April 2009, so to see them doing so well is inspiring. I must not be too bad at gardening :)

Also on Saturday, I went to a local art fair hosted by the Central Arizona College. I brought along some of my favorite ceramic pieces to show. Unexpectedly, a local store-owner in town commissioned me to make several sets of cactus salt and pepper shakers and a couple of large saguaro cactus for them. So it turned out to be a wonderful bloomin' cactus kind of day!

Custom order for Cactus Salt & Pepper Shakers will include
"Casa Grande Arizona" painted on the front of each piece.

Paint Your Own Ceramics Now Available!

Earlier this year, I offered paint-your-own Easter Baskets at some local shows because I thought it would be great for kids (and adults) to get together to create their own unique ceramic bunnies and Easter eggs. The kits included the ceramic pieces in bisque - ceramics that have been fired in the kiln already and ready for glaze/paint to be applied. Plus I included the paints and a brush. Several people bought these kits for their children and grandchildren - I was thrilled knowing that I may be helping to create the next great artist.. hehe :o)

I have lots of fun painting our ceramic figurines and other items at darkhorsestore.etsy.com, but there is a whole new generation of DIY-ers (do-it-yourself) out there. Plus I love to see others create their own works of art. So, I decided to start offering bisque and whole DIY kits at DarkHorseStore.Etsy.com

Here are a few of the ceramic pieces that you can paint yourself using the kit which includes the ceramic dolphin, snake, steer skull, gecko, etc. plus the paint and 2 good brushes. I think this makes for a great family activity and also good for birthday party activities.

Paint Your Own Dolphin

Paint Your Own Snake

Paint Your Own Dinosaur

Paint Your Own Coyote

Paint Your Own Steer Skull

I plan to keep adding kits so that every piece that I have available as a finished piece can also be a DIY piece. I would LOVE to see what masterpices you can make! ~~♥~~