Sneak Peek...

Hello, thought you'd enjoy a sneak peek of a project I've been working on the past couple weeks. Just a corner for now...

I'll show ya the whole shebang after the beautiful Momma-to-be picks it up this weekend!

Creative New Endeavour

It's exciting news, and you already know if we're friends... Dan and I are expecting our first child! A little girl. She'll be arriving sometime around August 11th and we are thrilled to meet this girl. The morning we found out it was a girl Dan told me he had been hoping it was a little girl for him to cuddle and spoil the rest of her life. Isn't that sweet? I surely thought he was looking forward to teaching his boy how to drum, kayak and be a dude. I'm elated to have a daughter, to teach her about the beauty God's placed inside of us, how to tame her hair, laugh with her and the clothes and decorating of course.

Right now I'm on the "clothes and decorating" part, and oh man is it fun! Here's a look at some of the inspiration for her room. It's going to be precious I tell you.

The starting point for her room, love that it's a little grown up but still sweet and girly.

The fabric for her room {sans the little green dot fabric}. My Aunt is a wonderful seamstress in Houston and she has graciously offered to sew her bedding and curtains. Can not wait to see them!

The light Dan just hung to replace the funky flourescent light the previous owners installed. {I don't get why someone would hang a nasty flourescent light just because it's their "home office".} From Overstock.com- be warned- their are almost no instructions for installation.

The current state of her room, before paint- haven't gotten a good picture yet.

Kelly-how do you like that comforter from our college dorm days? Pretty sweet huh? If only I still had the cornflower blue accessories to go with it. Don't worry it's not staying!

Will post some updates as we progress. The dresser in the closet was mine growing up back then it was an antique gold with hot pink liners inside. I kept the hot pink liners but painted the dresser and bed cream with the left over trim paint we used on the outside of our home! The crib is from Munire, we found it here in Shreveport at Ladies in Waiting. The dresser along the opposite wall is our changing table, bought it a year ago from a friends nursery. It was originally her husband's dresser from college, they had it repainted and added new pulls. Anyone have ideas for rugs or where to find a great deal?

So Pretty...

...I want to eat it!

I made this journal a while back for my friend Stephanie, isn't it gorgeous? I love it. It's the first journal I've made that was exactly what I wanted to buy. In the past I've been quick to rush through my creative process to get the order completed. And when I say "rush through" I mean, "hmmm... what do I think they would want if they could make it themselves" instead of what did they want me to make. So this journal has been the start of my waking up to what's really inside my creative self, expressing it for others to enjoy. Thought it'd be a great place to start with the blog since I'm posting again.

Covered the book with a soft blue/gray japanese silk from Hollander's and then sewed the flowers on. Aren't they fun? You can learn to make them at this website. Martha always knows...

Wouldn't these flowers be cute pinned to tank tops, cardigans, tote bags or hair clips this summer. This Thursday night I'll be getting together with some girls from my church to make a ton of these for a women's brunch. Think it will be a very sweet time with the ladies.

Have a great week friend, it's good to be back :)

I'm alive

Yes, it's true! I'm alive and still painting/drawing/making journals. I'll tell you this, I'm a perfectionistic procrastinator if anything. So, while I've been away I've been thinking about this blog and reasoning if my writing skills & content were worthy of posts or if it was time to just delete the experiment and move on. Well...I'm here! I do want to continue this project and I've determined that it will be more focused on my creativity and the inspiring people I come across. Be on the look out, more posts and artwork to follow. Thanks for checking in friends.

Jen

Five Favorites for Friday

There are so many talented artists I'm amazed and inspired by. Thought it would be fun to share 5 great pieces I'm excited about and would love to have in my home:

Whenever it's our time for a family I want this in the nursery. Find Rae Dunn here

Wish I had an event important enough to need her gorgeous writing. But she also sells custom address stamps, how lovely bill paying will become with her handwriting gracing the envelope.

Abagail Halpin, this woman inspires me to keep drawing, I love her images!

Will be tracking the days in 2010 with this beauty. It gets better, they provide templates to turn the pages into gift boxes and file folders once the month is ended.
Belle and Boo artist, Mandy Sutcliffe, beautifully sweet and simple

Yes, we're officially ready for the commencement of Fall at the Anderson's. After Dan and I both had a bummer of a day {I swear a week of rain must be contributing to the glum} We decided to cleeeeann the house and put out the fall decor. Well, I decided the decor was in order, Dan needed the clean to feel whole again. You know how you get that crampy, crabby feeling when things start to pile up around you? So do we! So here is our fabulously clean and freshly bedecked home. The stoic Mr. Hooters {my granny made him back in the 70's} making his annual appearance

The mirror is a recent IKEA purchase, I'm trying phase out my "flea market" stage to more clean lines and modern. It may take a while people.

Now all that's needed is the return of Sea Salt Caramel Hot Cocoa at Starbucks, The Office {starts tonight!} and a slight dip below 80 degrees so I can sport my new scarf.

can you see the little threads of silver woven into the scarf, mmmm....nice

And to get you pumped about the return of my favorite tv couple...

What I did this summer...

It was a summer of memorable moments for sure. Of course, it passed too quickly like everyone else. This past spring I took a gardening class through our church, we were lucky to have two happy master gardeners in our congregation sharing their knowledge. Inspired by our new mentors and the high price of bell peppers this summer, my friend Julie and I shared two boxed plots of veggies!

My backyard is mostly shade except for the very middle, Julie kindly offered a corner of her yard for our first experiment with gardening, I think we did well for a first go.

Check out our cukes
and this ginormous Zucchini {however, it was our one and only for the summer} I picked it on my way out of town the 4th of July and gave it to my friend, Tara, in Birmingham. Hope it was good girl!
We enjoyed fresh cucumbers, tomatoes, squash and jalapenos through the first part of July. An accidental lack of watering when Julie and I left town at the same time did us in. Oh well, there's always next year! And I've heard Fall gardens are fun.

Dan and I traveled through 10 states to visit his family in PA.

We got a pic of each Welcome Sign except PA, it was too dark when we rolled into town. The Sheetz pic is our homage to PA. {Next time you find yourself in Pennsylvania please enjoy the best gas station in the world, Sheetz.} Wow, it was heaven eating our meals outdoors, surrounded by Pennsylvania farm land. Dan's mom has an amazing talent for making a home welcoming.

Her flowerbeds overflow with color and joy, the cooking and clean up are not the least bit boring with everyone talking in the kitchen. We spent an afternoon riding bikes along the Ohio river under a verdant canopy watching rafters paddle by. {I know I'm laying it on thick, seriously it was the best 2 days of my summer}

My college roommate, Kelly drove up from DC with her husband Michael and my Godson, Luke. Every little boy needs to spend a day at the farm.

Have you ever ran up and down the hill to touch the apple tree 30 times with a 2 year old?! It's the best! The reason summers, hills, tall grass, bird houses, wild daisies and apple trees were invented.

Was wonderful spending the afternoon with ya'll Kelly. Love ya'll so much.

A few projects I've been working on...

Does the bird look familiar? He was inspired from this sketch.

For my sweet, chubby cheeked nephew. Currently, it's lost in the mail, a complete bummer after all the time and love put into this painting. Won't forget the tracking number next time!

I've come up with a couple ideas I'd like to introduce to my paintings and journals, think it'll be a big hit. Can't wait to make the first sample. I've been struggling with time management lately, so I'm trying hard to set aside time just for being crafty. Often it gets pushed to the side and I'm scrambling to finish projects. No fun.

Good luck everyone getting back into their school time schedules. Cheers to the return of football, sweaters and cocoa around the fire! Am more than a little pumped about Fall this year.