Bear Bryant would Approve

Yes, I think Coach Bryant would love my homage to his houndstooth legacy that is Alabama football! Wow, I have a new appreciation for the inventor of houndstooth after studying and breaking it down for this cute painting....

Can you believe this Momma to Be sewed all of her bedding and curtains herself? I'm impressed and looove the houndstooth detail around the curtains. Great job Bethany! My other favorite part of Elliott's room is the elephant shelf to the left. Where else is an elephant shelf going to fit in like that?! Thank you so much for the picture girl, his room looks wonderful!

Here's the whole shebang up close so you can see the houndstooth better....

Now I'm not necessarily an Alabama fan, but this got me excited when I finished it, Roll Tide!!

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!

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 :)

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.

A Little Sketchy

Two projects I've started today. The first sketch is bits and pieces of an idea I'm hatching for Caroline's hot pink + pink +green + brown nursery. We'll see what comes of it. And the cowboy theme is for my first nephew, Luca! Am headed to Houston tomorrow to visit my Aunts and cousins, have a great weekend!

Photoshop drives me nuts

I've been making new buttons and banners for the website and blog and have learned all kinds of new tricks today about photoshop. One tip: save your files as .png (pronounced ping) instead of .jpeg if you'd like your lettering to stay crisp with no pixeling around the edges. I thought the note to myself was funny and wanted to share, originally I was going to use my handwriting for the new banner, but my hand had other ideas.

Happy Memorial Day

It's been a busy month, wow! Mother's Day, graduations, and 6 birthdays in our family made for lots of projects. Hope you're summer has kicked off to a great start this Memorial Day weekend. Found myself repainting our kitchen {Ozark Shadows by Benjamin Moore- pictures coming soon!}, organizing our church's attic, feeling the burn in Pilates class, fellowshipping with the ladies in the toddler room Sunday morning, tubing on Cross Lake, cervesa + salsa + grilling in our backyard with friends, starbucks, starbucks, starbucks!

This is Drake's finished painting, around the edges are stripes to match the big fish. Matches the MiGi Splash nursery set, was great helping you KiAnne, thank you!

Drawing it out

Finished a painting this week and thought you might enjoy peeking into my sketch book. It's funny, I never noticed how messy or how many times I sketched over other patterns until I was finished and reopened the book.

and just starting the painting for baby Drake...
will post the finished project next week!

pink + pink + pink

Ahh...what a blissful mess....
Am currently repainting all of the painted furniture in my studio- from flat black to clean, glossy white. Can't wait to create in the finished room. Was feeling cramped and cluttered in there lately and very uninspired, ugh. Am also thinking about painting the platform rocker tucked into the mess above. Maybe white with bright pink fabric? Will post pictures after the rooms completed.

Just a couple sweet bits of pink perfection I've been whipping up. I love pink + hot pink together. My heart sings when I pull the Acra Crimson out of the paint box, it goes on so smoothly- the perfect shade of hot pink

Thank you so much Leah for asking me to make your growth chart, can't wait to see pictures from the party. Am so glad we've met!

One great project

Here they are, the sweet dolls I've been working on for the past month. Below are the bound beauties waiting to be cut out and adored. The set with blue ribbon are the color copies and the original artwork is handbound in the books. I did learn a great lesson after taking my pictures- don't procrastinate uploading them to your computer. My close up shots haven't turned out so great and I just found that out this morning. Hopefully, I can retake those before I add them to my website. Procrastination- my downfall everytime!
I really enjoyed making these, it's been a while since I've sat down and drawn a complete set and never fails to make me happy. The little details are my favorite and I thinkI feel most comfortable with a pencil in my hand. Enjoy!

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In the works

I am wrapped up in a wonderful project today. Actually it's been a few weeks in the making but today was a dessert day, I finished my final ink drawings and am ready for the printer. Below is a sneak peek...
Just a little snippet of a new paperdoll for someone's very special granddaughters! Will be posting the whole sha-bang after January 31st. It's a joy to feel energized by your projects, I love it! Have been listening to this great song, hope it calms your soul like it does mine. Have a great weekend friends.

Little holiday cheer...

The holidays rush one upon the other don't they? No kidding! This has been the best fall weather I can remember in Shreveport. I love the colorful trees and the cold, foggy mornings. The girls I work with think it's funny I love driving to work in the fog- maybe it's the quietness, a little bit moody - a little bit magic. Some of the fields I drive past look like moments from a M. Night Shyamalan movie, I love it! Now that Halloween's over we're turning the page to Thanksgiving and hints of eggnog. This year I decided to make my own Christmas tags {the little pink ones with red writing will grace our thoughtful packages} The other scalloped cuties were Goody Bag Bootie for our women's retreat last weekend. Was fun making a practical and fun gift for all the ladies, Julie added handmade ribbon bookmarks and Stephanie got her craft on making sweet "from the Kitchen of" labels for everyone. So proud of my creative friends! Everyone enjoyed useful gifts and it was fun relaxing with the ladies out at Camp Harris. Have had a couple new ideas for my paper dolls and the blog. Will post new bit and pieces soon...

Little bit o sunshine

Now, there are no babies on the horizon for Dan and I but if we have a little girl one day- I want this wardrobe. Oh it's so beautiful, like confection. Martha Stewart always knows how to set a happy stage. From what I've learned, the wardrobe will only look like this before the sweet one arrives. But it's nice to have an ideal. Have been looking into the price of clothing and baby necessities lately and was surprised how expensive little things cost! I know, I know this shouldn't be a shocker but what the heck? So I'm determined to have a cute, fashionable family at a great price. $8 for a bow? Or $30 to take a hair bow class? Or... search the internet and find a free step by step lesson! I made two bows out of white organza ribbon and attached them to Riley's pink growth chart in my shop. Check out the link, hope your bows are super fabulous!

a little sketching

keeping careful watch of the squirrels behind our neighbors magnolia

Lucy is our neighbors cat who has also claimed our yard as part of her territory. When we first moved in I think we were both a little leery of each other but now we have an understanding. She hunts and keeps watch of the yard and we get to be entertained by her. She's a sweet little cat and knows the best neighbors keep a little space. Her and I had a moment this past spring... I was in my studio painting with the windows open and pounce she landed on my window sill outside! Scared the heck out of me, but we shared a mutual respect for each other that afternoon. She likes to sit in my window while I'm creating and I enjoy the company.

pencil sketch from a picture, practicing my expressions. This is my Conde sketchbook Kelly, thank you! I use it all the time!

Focus

I'm a list maker. It's my way of staying focused because there are a million different directions I'll let my day bounce if I don't remember my goal. Marta over at m.writes always shares her very inspiring lists. A couple days ago she found a list of things she wanted to remember when she becomes a mom, fitting since she'll be one very soon. Congratulations Marta and good luck! I love her idea of making the reminders way before life gets hectic and you get in the middle of it and forget you had these great intentions to be more creative/ loving/ thoughtful/fun. Instead of my To Do list for today what is my To Do list as a mother? Wife? Adventuress? I'll be jotting down my lists and sharing sometime. I hope you will too. Let's take all that clutter, shake it out and decide what's worth keeping and doing.

The picture above is from the paper adventure project Elise is hosting. Each week she presents a thought and you create a page based on it. This page was "balance". Like you, I struggle with balancing my time, it just slips out of my hand! This little note was pasted to the page because I had {proudly} just completed everything on the list. Only took two months....

Finished Projects

I looove this journal...

My friend Casie asked me to make this for her to write down all the funny things her daughter says. Her little girl is three and is turning out to be just as funny as her mom and dad. It turned out as spunky, bright and fun as the ladies I made it for!

This painting is for Kara's nursery and it was stunning last night when we hung it on her LIME green walls! So fun!