An Owl Birthday

Sunday was K's third birthday celebration. The weather wasn't the greatest once again so not everyone could make it to the party... the reason for a few extra photos.

Here's the owl cake I made her. Her birthdays are the only time I try to make anything real special/fun in the kitchen. Its just not my thing. But for her I'll do anything. :) (At least try.) I was pretty happy with how it turned out.

K and I made these nests together. Well she helped stir it all together anyway and tried making one but she quickly decided she would rather just be the taste tester. Hee, hee. She loved them! These were the only ones with white jelly beans, the other ones all had colorful eggs.

I had made the white branch a couple years ago and thought it would make great party decor. My mom was getting rid of this nest and wondered if I wanted it... another fun addition. Hubby made the wooden eggs for it.

In the background there was a birdcage filled with jellybeans.

She loved being the center of attention.

Everyone spoiled her with gifts! Here she's modeling a super cute owl hat from her aunt Amy and uncle Justin. Daddy took the picture... kinda funny with me taking a pic too but it was really cute of K and the hat. Here was my shot:

K's best friend Lizzy came over late afternoon for a few hours and they played with lots of the birthday gifts. They had a lot of fun jumping from one thing to another.

Kaelyn's actual birthday was on Tuesday. I had to work at corporate all day so luckily my mother spent the day with her. At first I was sad I had to be away at work but it actually worked out for the better. I was running on only an hour of sleep and if I would have been home all day I'm sure my patience would have been slim to none. (I have to admit it was kind of nice sitting in a cube and relaxing... it has just been so crazy busy around here lately!) Anyway her and grandma had lots of fun and daddy and I brought balloons and a tiara home for her. She was a happy little girl!

I can't tell you how thankful I am for this little person. She has changed my world and has taught me more than probably anyone. Children really do teach us what life is all about. Thank you God for the gift you gave me 3 yrs ago!

owl birthday invitations

Just a quick post to share the birthday invites I designed for K. I was hoping to do many more fun projects for her coming birthday party but I'm running out of time. Pretty much all I've been doing this week is working on a commissioned portrait. It's been a ton of work... good thing is its turning out pretty cool (Kaelyn even said it was beautiful and asked if she could keep it! Awe!), bad thing is I haven't even started my painting class assignment for this week that is due on Sunday and I haven't done anything for getting ready for the birthday celebrations that are at our house Sunday as well. Yikes! Ok, gotta go.

Snow Fun

{plenty of snow in our backyard}

Friday was a beautiful start to a wonderful weekend. The temp was actually above 30, Yay! It didn't last too long but it was enough time to get outdoors and have fun. The fantastic thing about kids (as most of you know) is they want you to have the same fun right along with them... and it is seriously a breath of fresh air.

{mother/daughter snow angels}

{she loves throwing snowballs at me!}

{winding up}

{throw!}

{good thing its real fluffy, ha, ha!}

Hope you had a great weekend!

Mama Magic

{Mama Magic in progress}

I am enjoying this new style! I love to draw but I love color too, so to incorporate the colorful beams to accentuate the meaning of the painting is perfect. There is a story in almost (if not all) every ordinary subject we come across. In this new series I'm focusing on that meaning... well that is where your eye is drawn any way. In "Mama Magic" the focus is on the mother bird and what is taking place in the nest. Motherhood is so magical... a true blessing. This mother put in so much work on building her nest, the home for her babies, where she will take good care of them until they are ready to take off on their own.

I added some more contrast into the drawing since these photos were taken. (My photos are kind washed out too.) I did the same to "Lit Path" so that one is now complete. Now I just have to get good prints of "Mama Magic" and "Lit Path"... that part isn't so easy. I love making the art but the steps after that, well I tend to put off. Anyone else have this problem? I'm sure I'm not the only one!


Linking up today with Studio JRU. Jennifer has redone her site/blog. It looks amazing, so check it out if you haven't already!

Have a fantastic weekend!

A Little More Craziness? Yes Please.

{Journey to the Grave Notecard}

We should go all out during this life shouldn't we? Live life to the fullest... as long as we are doing something we enjoy and it is good for our family. Well February should be an interesting month. Jan. 31st I start taking part in Get Your Paint On. The class is taught by the very talented Mati Rose and Lisa Congdon. Any of you taking the class? I am very excited and am hoping it will give me the push I need to get going on some new paintings. I owe a big thank you to my hubby for this b-day gift. He is such a wonderful supporter of my art.

Then the first weekend in February is Kaelyn's third birthday party! Can't believe my baby is already turning 3! She is super excited for her party and can't wait for the cake! Ha! And to think last year she was more excited about eating the cheese rather than the cake. (she had allergies to milk products and eggs but was just starting to tolerate some milk products when she turned 2)

The day after the party I go back to my corporate marketing job. The good news is I only have to go back full time a few days til I get the hang of it again and then I can work from home! Yay! I know it will be harder doing the job at home with Kaelyn and keeping up with Enduring Arts too, but it was an opportunity I couldn't pass up. For now I think it's the best decision. I did a lot of praying about it, and there's a certain peacefulness in my heart that I know it is right. I know now that I'm not stuck any where and I can still do my own art and take care of my number one priority... my daughter.

Hopefully it won't take too long to find a new structure to my days where I can find a balance to being a good mom, wife, daughter, maid, cook, artist, designer and such all at the same time. Hoping we'll have the house renovations pretty much finished up too. I just have to remind myself that God will help me along... don't stress, just enjoy this crazy, good life.

A Wonderful Friend

Another fun mail day! This time the package came from my talented friend Jodi, from Just For Fun by Jodi. I am so lucky to live close to her and we usually get together once a month to take part in a painting group. It is so fun to spend time with others who are not only friends but share the same creative passion you do. Jodi is seriously one of the sweetest people I know and probably one of the busiest too. This girl creates almost non-stop I swear! Just check out her etsy shop, she does it all... jewelry, sewing, knitting, and painting to name a few.

She gifted me not only one of her creations, but THREE! I am a very lucky girl! The red and white necklace above is so fun and I'm sure Kaelyn's going to want to wear it sometimes too. Then there's this other gorgeous necklace and bracelet set:

I absolutely LOVE the ocean and this shell is the perfect reminder of the sandy beach and the peacefulness. Such a fitting word to hang from the top of the shell. Thank you so much for spoiling me Jodi! I can't wait to wear your creations.

Celebrating...

...my birthday. Thanks to my hubby for the many wonderful surprises to make my b-day extra special. We did most of the celebrating over the weekend but he still did many nice things for me today... made me a delicious steak and the drinks above, rented a movie I had wanted to see plus lots more... he's the best! My parents took Kaelyn for a good part of the day so I worked on house projects. I know, what a way to celebrate huh, but I actually really enjoyed getting it accomplished. It's just so hard to do some projects with a two year old around. Anyway, it's one of the last house renovation projects. Yay! Hopefully it will be the last room to paint, ok, at least for awhile anyway until I decide to repaint rooms again. :) Now hubby can finish installing the sink and Kaelyn's little bathroom will be about finished. Some of you may remember it, its the half bath I had posted about a LONG time ago. I ended up redoing the walls (tried to patch cracks the first time and primed but hated it so retextured-much longer process) and hubby had to build the vanity. Everything always takes longer then expected, but the good news is it's really close to being done! I promise I'll share pictures when it is completely finished.
Hope you are all having a great week!

Busy Little Girl and a Request

Some people ask me how I get so much done while also taking care of Kaelyn. Well, it's definitely not easy but sometimes you just have to let them do their own thing and hope for the best. Kaelyn has been getting better at keeping herself occupied. She's not constantly asking me to read a book, play ball, play school or doctor with her... instead she's being more creative lately. When I was upstairs printing in my art room I thought I better run down and check on her in the kitchen. When I was coming down the stairs she was saying, "oh no, HIDE!" I was thinking, oh no, what am I going to find? She was hiding her arm as if I wouldn't notice... ha, ha!

Then she was checking out her work and told me she was just matching the dots on her shirt!

I must say it was a pretty good job. 11 different colored dots on her hand plus a few more on the inside! I told her no more drawing on hands... only paper and she said "ok mom."

Here is one of the drawings she made for her great grandma who turned 88 today! Yes, she did it all by herself and she's not quite 3 yet. She wrote 'HI' then she circled it and put a balloon in front of it which is colored pink. I love the face in the bottom left corner and all the little circle doodles everywhere. I can't wait to see what this little girl will be creating in another year. Little kids art is so refreshing! Imaginative and so unique. Love it!

So anyway she continued drawing so I figured it was safe to run back to my art room and when I returned back down stairs I heard water running. At first I thought ok, she's just washing off her hands. I look in the bathroom and she looks like a drowned rat! I ask, "What are you doing?!" She says, "I'm playing water tag... with my friend." Yeah, she has imaginary friends already. Oh goodness. She was pretty soaked and there was a good amount of water on the floor which she fell in. She said, "oh it's slippery!" and went to clean it up with the towel. Have to give her credit for cleaning up the mess and she did wash off all the marker on her hands by herself.

Then on to supper. She only wanted a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Well, she even has to eat this creatively... no taking regular bites. No this girl takes finger swipes and eats it a dab at a time. I think it takes her almost an hour to eat a sandwich... not joking.

Really, you can't just take a bite and eat the bread, peanut butter and jelly all at the same time???

No matter how hard you try to have her just take a normal bite, it doesn't work. She's happy doing it her way.

And I can't help but chuckle... seriously, if it makes her so happy, go for it! Children really do teach you what life is really all about! Enjoy it! :)

On a much more serious note though, we do need to enjoy every day we have and live in the moment because we have no idea what tomorrow is going to bring. My cousin's wife's sister had a horrible stroke recently and is fighting for her life. Joanne (some of you may know her from her blog A Simple Wife) is only 38 with two young girls and a wonderful husband. Prayers are definitely needed for her and her family.

You can read more about Joanne's story HERE and there are details there if you would like to financially help the family as well.

Remember to not take life too seriously. We're only here for a short time... have fun, be you, help others, love the gift of life. ♥

You've Got Mail

Who doesn't love getting mail? No, I'm not talking about all the junk mail and bills... I mean the good stuff. If you are anything like me, the good stuff is very few compared to the not so fun mail, but maybe that's what makes it so special. I was so excited when my mail carrier brought my mail to the door a couple days ago and it was "fun" mail! The thought occurred to me, if good mail can brighten my day the way it does, I should really be sending out more "just because" packages to others to brighten there day as well. Wouldn't that be fun? A sweet surprise, totally unexpected! I must do more of that this year.

I'll share one of the sweet packages I received; it came from the talented Kelly Berkey! Yay! Her card had one of my favorite paintings of hers on the front. Isn't it beautiful?! Her faces are so dreamy... LOVE them!

And inside was a beautiful artist necklace she made me! Wow, what a treasure!

Thank you so much Kelly! I hope to share the special feeling you gave me to others this year.

To see more of Kelly's beautiful paintings and jewelry be sure to visit her etsy shop. Enjoy!

NEW Mixed Media ~ Lit Path

{"Lit Path" by me}

Playing around with another style. After participating in Kelly Berkey's Stretching to Sketch challenge and realizing how much I missed drawing I decided to try yet another style. This mixed media piece involves pastels with a focal point of acrylic paint. I don't have a photo of the entire piece yet, but to give you an idea it's done on a wooden block and I painted the sides black so it really makes the drawing/painting pop. It was definitely fun to try something new and I hope to have a couple more pieces done using this style soon.

Also thanks to the talented Kelly for the sweet blog post about my charcoal drawing gifted to her hubby. :) You can read more about it HERE.

Commissioned Painting and Design

Finally able to share a couple projects I had been working on before the holidays. I was thrilled to get a modern portrait order through etsy. The color is a bit washed out in the above photo but I wanted to show the painted sides and the depth of the wrapped canvas. It will certainly give a pop of color to a room! I thought the photo was so adorable. It's an interesting process to simplify as much as possible yet leave enough to look like the people and tell the story of the day at the same time.

the BEFORE photo:

my modern painting of the couple:

A bright royal blue was the requested color. More details about the painting can be found HERE.

Then I had a little freelance project to design an online store front banner. Pretty small to see here but it gives you an idea any way.

Projects like these always keep my job interesting, and I am very thankful for them.

Right now I've been working on a new mini series... kind of similar to my thought provokers found here, here and here... only there is a bit more detail and I'm incorporating pencil drawings into it. So many ideas running through my head! Oh what will be made in 2011?! :)

New Year... New Art

2011 is off to a good start for getting new artwork created. Yay! I had a few special design requests via my etsy shop towards the end of 2010, but with the hectic holidays fast approaching, getting ready for the craft fair and working on some other jobs I just didn't have enough time to get them done earlier. Due to the snow storm during part of last week, I had some nice time to really work on these new pieces:

{Guardian Angel prayer in khaki tan}

I love the feeling that I'm serving God by creating religious based art. It warms my heart knowing that many of my prayers are going to be hung in children's nurseries/bedrooms and they will be able to say them every night and know that God loves them. I'm a pretty quiet person so sharing God through art is perfect for me. I want to do my best to serve Him and I feel this is one way I can.

{I Prayed for this Child}

I really love this bible verse. Parents who have a difficult time having a child(ren) can really appreciate this verse. Whether they have to wait an extended period of time to have a baby or they end up adopting there is nothing better than in the end when their lives are lit up by a child. Children have to be one of God's biggest blessings.

{Teacher Typography Art Print}

These new pieces hold lots of meaning. All of the text is specially distressed to give a vintage/worn feel. These sayings have been around for a very long time and they will always be around so I wanted to design them in a modern way yet still give an old feel... because they are old. Old, but very good.

Everyone has there own preference of color so there are a few different options in my shop. More will be added soon for the Guardian Angel prayer but if someone wants a particular color that is not listed just let me know and I'd be happy to make it.

an end to 2010

2010 is soon to be over. It has been a bit of a blur but I do look forward to 2011. When I look back to a year ago I had some really great expectations for 2010. Although it has been a great year I am changing my mind set a little and just hoping to enjoy the journey that 2011 brings and I look forward to seeing what God has in store for our family.

Kaelyn has thoroughly enjoyed the Christmas decorations this year and will be pretty sad to see the Christmas tree leave the living room. (Yes we keep them up the entire month of December... at least... more time to enjoy the magical sparkle.)

We don't have any real exciting plans for celebrating the New Year. The lovely SD weather has supplied us with plenty of snow and travel is not advised so we're a little limited on what we can do. It is okay though, hubby's been working around the house and I've been working on some design requests. Hopefully shortly we'll have some nice family time. :)


I know Kaelyn is always up for a good time. Whether it's singing, playing or dancing... she's ready to rock it! Ha, ha!

Happy 2011!

DIY Project Before the Holidays

Hello friends! I hope you all had a wonderful holiday break. I have tons... ok several things to share with you. First off I'll show you another DIY project. Everything I look at I see possibilities... which is nice for the pocket book and probably the environment too... things don't simply get trashed. So first off is this buffet/dresser which a cousin didn't want anymore and I'm always on the search for more storage. This was a perfect addition to our kitchen.

Before: painted brown... not so pretty.

Then I've always wanted a nice way to show Christmas photos so I figured I'd make my own photo board. This frame was really nice but not quite my style. The cheaply framed cork board was going to be trashed at hubby's work so he brought it home for me. :)

So here is what I did with some primer and white paint:

Don't these items look much happier?! White gives a nice clean, fresh feeling and it goes with everything else. If it was colored I'd most likely get sick of it pretty quick. And the total cost was $5! That's right. We had the paint already from other house projects. The frame was found at a garage sale and everything else was free! I was going to change out the knobs but they actually looked good with the black and white stove and the counters in the kitchen are charcoal. I'm definitely getting lots of enjoyment out of this thrifty makeover. Hope you enjoyed seeing it.

Wishing You...

Merry Christmas!

Photos by Dolby Photography. Christmas card design by me.