Amberwood Collection

God has given me the blessing of creating decorative painting for almost 30 years. It is one of my passions, though I don't do it now as much as I used to. (Machine embroidery has sort of taken over!) But I do still love it and enjoy doing it.

Another blessing was teaching decorative painting for a number of years for our local community education program. I also taught painting, cake decorating and other crafts several summers for the kids in the "Serendipity Summer" childrens program. The kids loved it and so did I.

The name "Amberwood Collection" came about when a friend and I had a wholesale business and I was selling my decorative painting. Amber is my daughter, and this was my way of including her in it. She often helped me sand wood and base paint projects. I couldn't have done it without her. Thanks for all you did for me Amber!

Pictured below will be some of my painted items. I mostly paint designs featured in purchased books. But I also have a few "original" works too. They will be labeled below.

"Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above."
--James 1:17
God gave us a very special "Gift of Love."
He gave us His son, Jesus Christ.
I thank God for his Gift and also for my artistic abilities.

My husband made this calendar for me out of ash. I taught this class. The design at the top is from a book. I made up the design at the bottom.	A close up of the top of the calendar.
I painted this gardening angel for a very special friend (Nan). Bless her heart, she had to wait 1 1/2 yrs for it. It was her Christmas present. Hope it was worth it to her!	I love this fall angel. I taught it as a class several years ago.
I love these "Kissing Bears"!	This was from a class I took.
This sign post has a different hanger for each month. I taught classes on all of these and cut the wood for all of them.	This is one of the hangers for the sign post. We didn't like the hanger for August, so I created this one. So this one is an "original" design.
This is painted on fabric to be attached to a jumper, pillow or such.	This hangs in my Americana bedroom.
This is from a watercolor class.	Another watercolor.
This is also very special to me. Dianna Marcum came to Amarillo to teach this class. We did the painting and the little ark sitting on the shelf that matches. I was VERY lucky to win the door prize. It was the original that Dianna used in class to teach. She even signed it for me!	A close up view. This is done with pen and ink and watercolor (using acrylics). This is my VERY favorite technique.
This is my first pen and ink with acrylic watercolor. I taught a class on this.	Another pen and ink with acrylic watercolor class I taught. Notice the coordinating painting on the mat.
Another class I taught.	This piece is VERY interesting. It is a Ghost/Snowman/Santa. First, in the fall it is a ghost with accessories for Halloween. It is made from cedar fence pickets. The ghost and snowman were my original idea. I taught classes on this.
Next it is a Santa. The Santa is painted on the back side of the ghost/snowman. He is turned around and the arms moved to the opposite side and the appropriate accessories are added. This design was taken from a book. I added some accessories of my own idea.	Last, but not least, he is turned back around to the white side and the snowman accessories are added. The cap and scarf were knitted on my Bond knitting machine. The snowflakes are made of watercolor paper, painted and glitter sprinkled on them. This side is also an original design.
These trees were created as accessory pieces for the Santa/Snowman. I saw them somewhere and made my own. There is also a wooden Christmas rabbit that goes with the Santa that sits in the floor beside him.	I love crafting of any kind. These little flower pots are SO cute! It's just fabric yo-yo flowers and leaves glued to a painted Popsicle stick. Buttons are glued in for the centers and the clay pot is painted.
A friend asked me to make these for her to give as gifts when friends and family had funerals in their lives. I did the lettering on the computer. The artwork is my original design. I used acrylics for the watercolor effect.	This was a birthday gift for my friend Nan. I think the saying is appropriate for a very good friend! The technique is similar to the previous design. This is not the painted copy.
A friend asked me to paint this on the oar. She wanted to put it on the door of her guest room. This is an original design.	A closer view
Here's a little snowman "air freshener" that I made for Christmas gifts a couple of years ago. Thanks Nan for sending me a picture of yours! (I never got MINE made!)	Here's another view of the same snowman.