Happy Summer!

Summer has arrived with all its sights, sounds, and energy. The clarity and intensity of the birds' songs when I take my daily morning walk with my 2 dogs reminds me of the joy of nature. Each bird has a distinctive call just like every person looks different. The colors are magnificent and changing daily as the flowers, trees, and plants show their natural beauty. Each day offers a new experience to enjoy and see. I am always looking around on my morning ventures to see what treasures or inspirations appear whether they be an unusual item, beautiful rock, or a feisty squirrel whose thrill seeker antics make my dogs dance with happiness as they know a chase is about to happen. I love the sound of the leaves in a summer breeze and the silvery sheen their backsides show as they wave in the wind.

The frame shop is thriving with wonderful projects arriving daily. I am so thankful everyday for the great people I have the opportunity to work with and the constant flow of work. The economy has put a blanket of challenge upon businesses locally so I feel very fortunate to be steadily growing. This is such a great business and our joy in what we do reflects in the originality, creativity, and quality of the work we produce. We also enjoy spending time with our customers and finding just the right materials for their paintings, photos, prints, or other unusual items. Christina is my coworker and an invaluable addition to the frame shop. Her framing talent is just amazing and her smiling face will greet you when I cannot be in my frame shop.

My creative energy is running wild these days with all sorts of new ventures. I am working on new collections of artwork for the Frog Hollow Craft Galleries in Burlington, Middlebury, and Manchester. There will be original mixed media collages along with limited edition prints & cards. Please check my website as I will be adding new cards, prints, original artwork, and one of kind hand painted t-shirts. Please let me know if you are looking for certain characters in my artwork and I will try and use your ideas in some of my new designs.

Have a wonderful summer.

Coco

Happy Creative 2007

This is going to be an awesome year and the creative energy is everywhere! I am juggling painting 6 canvases, 2 mitten boxes, and just got in 10 blank dog toy boxes that are a brand new product idea to put in my gallery. My creative time these days is between 10 p.m. and 1 a.m. as the frame shop business is humming along. Being busy is the best and fuels the creative energy levels!

My focus has been on creating artwork using acrylics and collage. The materials one can use for collage are so diverse and I am constantly on the lookout for potential materials whether it be paper towels,pasta,unusual soda bottle caps,sticks,packing peanuts,string, and the list never ends. Collage and recyling go hand in hand. The hardware store is a very inspiring place to hang out---you probably never thought about at it as a treasure chest for collage materials.

Here's a little tip for everyone. I was walking the other day on the dirt roads in our neighborhood (before the ice/snow returned) and found the coolest bottle caps embedded in the road. When walking the dogs or yourself, always remember to look down occasionally as you never know what treasures you might find under your feet.

Need a creative spark exercise---take a tour through the hardware store,find an object that is an interesting shape, and create a collage with it. This was the idea I used for a special project with group of student artists. Each person was given the same white paint scraper attached to an 11 X 14 piece of matboard. The artwork created was amazing and so diversified ranging from a spaceship to a flower. Please let me know if you try this and send me an email with a picture of your creation. I will try one myself and post it so everyone can see what my imagination conjured up.

Have fun with your creativity. Talk to you soon.

Coco

2007: Create from the Heart

Create from the heart

Happy Stick Season

Greetings from Coco's,

Every leaf has blown away due to rain, wind, snow, and great winds! We fondly call this stick season and enjoy the peace and quiet before the tourism picks up for the holidays. It is amazing how every year just as the leaves reach peak foliage, a huge wind and drenching rain come and end the glorious vistas. Snow now blankets the mountain so hopefully this means it will be an incredible winter season.

The frame shop is very busy and I encourage everyone to bring in their holiday framing projects in the next few weeks so we can be sure to get them done right when you need them. Custom plaque lamination makes an affordable and unique gift---come by and I can tell show you samples of the different items you can plaque such as posters, photos, kids artwork. The turnaround time is 3 weeks.

The pet lovers gallery is full of colorful prints of dogs and cats, cookie jars, readymade frames, and cookie jars. Please stop by and check out the unique gifts.

We look forward to seeing you soon.

Coco

Happy July

Hi everyone.

The frame shop is humming along with all kinds of wonderful projects. Thank you to all the customers who have made my first 7 months of business such a success! Asian art seems to be the most popular item to be framed recently along with some amazing kids' artwork. The joy, color, and beauty of each child's art is something to be treasured forever. A wall dedicated to our kids' creativity is so special to have in one's home as it encourages the creative spirit within our children plus it shows our pride in their work.

The pet lovers gallery is featuring some wonderful new pieces of cat & dog artwork & crafts. I will start featuring different artist's pieces regularly on my blog to keep everyone up to date. To begin, I will share with you an applique wool pillow I created of my Black Lab, Nellie. The pillow size is 18" X 18" and the price is $ 125. I would be happy to create a custom pillow for you of your dog. If you have any recommendations of other breeds you would like to see me offer, please send me an email.

Have a wonderful July and keep checking in as I will update the frame shop & gallery news regularly.

Coco

Let's frame something up!

Hi everyone,

The frame shop is busy and full of unusual items to frame. Maps seem to be the most popular item at the moment. How about bringing in some family photos, special art or memento you have tucked away, or those posters you have been meaning to frame? My selection of frame mouldings is in the thousands (just ask my daughter who decided to take on the counting challenge the other day). I will get a specific number for my next blog. I would love to work with you to create a special framed item that will add sparkle to a wall. Those photos or posters could be made into custom laminate plaques that are very affordable & beautiful too. Spring is here so along with the cleaning let's brighten up those walls with some fun new framed pieces. I hope to see you soon. Please keep checking in as my blog is going to get updated regularly with all kinds of fun ideas, thoughts, and photos too. HAPPY SPRING!

Coco

Time flies when you are framing---

Hi Everyone,

It is now early April and I have been open for 5 months and the business is humming along. The customers have been wonderful and the framing projects are so much fun! Every few weeks, new moulding samples arrive and I think my selection is just about complete for the time being. The most recent arrival is by a company called Bella and if one can fall in love with moulding, I have! The patterns & colors are BEAUTIFUL! Bella will build frames using the moulding combinations you pick so come on in and see what you can put together. I also now offer a plaque lamination service that is a great alternative for wall decoration. It is a contemporary look and economical. I will be posting more information and pictures on my website very soon so you can see what it looks like. It is perfect for photos, posters, maps, newspaper clippings, and many other items. This would be a perfect gift idea for Mother's & Father's Day holidays using photos or kids artwork. There is a 2-3 week turnaround time so don't delay bringing your orders in.

Please come by and visit Coco's Frame Shop & Gallery soon. Happy Spring!

Coco