Cocoa Dots

Pottery Barn's Cocoa Dots pattern was the inspiration for this sweet little 11x14 canvas. I think it turned out really cute and I love this baby's name. Thank you, Holly, for the order!
Short post today - I'm getting ready for the Autumn Street Fair. Come see me!!

Gingerbread Man

I've been working hard on several new items and old favorites for the upcoming Street Fair. There are a few different versions of the gingerbread man floating around out there. They are always popular! This one is a new size (6x12 - maybe?) and has the recipe in the background, sanding around the edges, and an antique glaze finish. Really cute - all the way down to those peppermint buttons and shimmery copper ribbon!

Donations

I always love donating to a worthy cause. There are several pageants that I always support, but every once in a while I have the opportunity to donate to other things as well. This super cute "Happy Fall" with all this leaves and a brown velvet trim was donated as a door prize to the coupon class at Boyd Christian School.

This 5x5 peace sign with the zebra ribbon was given to Cierra Fann as she is facing an illness and all the expenses that goes along with it. I know many of you donated to her fundraiser this past weekend.

"Do what you can, with what you have, where you are."
~Theodore Roosevelt

New Recipe Week

Do you ever get to that point where nothing sounds good to cook? I cook just about every week night and I was getting tired of the same old same old. I dragged out the cookbooks and we are trying something new every night this week. Exciting! Here is out menu...

Saturday - Taco Soup and Cheese Quesadillas
Sunday - Subway (our Sunday night regular!)
Monday - Meatloaf, Mashed Potatoes, Corn, and Sister Shubert Rolls
Tuesday - Pepper Steak over Rice
Wednesday - Dinner Out (TTU Class and Church)
Thursday - Melt In Your Mouth Chicken, Mixed Vegetables, and Hawaiian Bread
Friday - Off to the grocery store to do it again!

I found the recipe for Banana Split Cake while I was going through cookbooks and couldn't resist. I just ate a piece and oh my word was it good!

Fall Stuff...

We recently went on a "Family First" fall camping trip. It was just an overnight thing, but the kids really felt like serious campers. All was going great until allergies kicked in and the really late night caught up with them. We still had a good time, good food, and some good family and friends time. Lauren and Elizabeth thoroughly enjoyed the bunk beds!

I was cleaning for our upcoming open house when I snapped this picture of my front door. I just wanted to show you all how cute the smaller canvases look in a wreath. I love this 5x5 "Happy Fall" in my big fall wreath. How cute is that wreath hanger? I got it at the Autumn Street Fair (the booth next to me was trouble!) a couple of years back. It is antiqued metal and says "trick or treat".

Seriously, I'm dying! Where is this cooler weather?

Funky Owl

I love owls, but have never painted one for a canvas. I thought, "this fall is the fall for owls" and gave it a try! This funky 10x10 owl will be available at the Autumn Street Fair. I think he looks pretty great the way he is, but I did leave room for personalization if you would like a name, welcome, or a short quote or verse.

Sweet Pea

I love, love, love this "Sweet Pea" bedding from Target. The lavender and lime and those paisleys and dots - to die for! I say all of that, but when Lauren was on the way I got too overwhelmed and just ended up using Carter's bedding. Oh, well...

Here's the canvas I design to go with it. There were so many wonderful little things to choose from, but I decided just to keep it sweet and simple. This one has already shipped out to Holly in Rockvale, TN. I hope it makes the perfect gift!

Fall Scene

Okay, so here is the list of all the things Miss Monica wanted on her 8x24 canvas:

• tree with falling leaves
• leaves in the background
• scarecrow
• crow on his shoulder
• bales of hay

I'm pretty sure I got it all on there and (after much design and redesign) I am really happy with it! It is pretty different from anything I've done before. I just love all of the fall colors. I think my favorite part is the border. I like the black tick marks and then the orange on orange leaves.

Now she's ready for fall! So, where is all of this cooler weather?

The Winner Is...

1 Random Numbers* 21

The twenty first commenter is Wesley Hillis! Congratulations, Wesley! I'll be in touch. Thank you all for the wonderful comments. You really made my 1000th post special. Everyone have a great rest of the weekend!

1000th Post Giveaway!

Well, it's been a while since I've done a giveaway and I wanted to mark this milestone with something special. I am giving away this very cheerful polka dot wreath! It is a 16x16 so i fits perfectly on the front door. It is currently plain - and if you win you can keep it that way - or I will be pleased to personalize it for you. It would look adorable with a name, a monogram, or welcome across the center.

I love all the pretty ribbons at the top!

Just leave a nice comment to be entered. You can enter as many times as you like until 8:00 CST tonight. I'll randomly choose one. Best of luck to you all and thank you so much for helping me celebrate!

The Countdown Ends...

Number one...Monograms! I do so many versions of monograms, but I especially love the ones with polka dots. I feel like almost every painting I do has a dot on it somewhere! I chose these because they have small and large dots and my favorite font, Ballpark Wiener. (I've had people ask about my fonts. They all come dafont and I do freehand them.) Plus, these were a gift for my friend, Amy Crouch, when she had her twins.

Number Two...I chose these two more for who they were for than the design - even though I absolutely love this design and these colors. I tried to something a little more masculine for our pediatrician, Dr. Edward Eastham. He is so sweet to us and we just love him! The other was a thank you gift for Ron Clark. He donated a free visit to his academy and one of my teacher friends won! That was an awesome few days in Atlanta. He hung it in his office right then!

Number Three...family canvases. I can't remember exactly where the first one came from, but it was a customer, not me, who came up with this design. After that first one, they just took off. I've done newlyweds all the way up to fifty year anniversaries. I've done every color and font combination you can think of. This one is a brand new order just sent out to Oklahoma!

Number Four...teacher canvases. Maybe it is because I am a teacher, but I love doing teacher canvases. They never get old. This one was done a good while back and it is still a favorite of mine. I think it is because it's not the typical apple. I got the inspiration for this design from the Boden catalog.

Number five...jerseys. This is where it all started. The first canvas I did was a large baseball jersey for Carter's room. I wanted some sports art for his room and couldn't find what I wanted. There are more choices now, but when I saw the prices I nearly had a heart attack! Now I do baseball, basketball, football, and even cheerleading uniforms. It's a great way to remember your time as part of a team.



If you're waiting for the giveaway...it's coming right up!

Number Six

I couldn't choose just one, so the whole "skinny legs" design is number six!

It usually works best on an 8x24 or 4x12, but it did work out pretty cute on some other sizes, too.

I love the itty bitty version with the Halloween themed beads. This one looks so cute in a wreath.

The witch was so popular that I tried an elf! I love this one for Christmas!

Be sure to check back tomorrow for numbers 5 through 1...and the giveaway!

Number Seven

Customers frequently send me things to match or coordinate with. I always love having an inspiration piece or just a photo to get the feel of the room the artwork is going to be in.

This one ended up matching so well that it is hard to tell where the rug stops and the canvas starts! As soon as I saw the rug, the vision for the canvas and how to do it popped into my head. Some are easy like that, some are not...

Number Eight

I chose this 12x24 canvas as number eight because I love the colors and mixed patterns. It was the first of it's kind for me. After this one, I did so many in different colors and patterns inspired by this one.
Even though I still love it as much as I ever did, I look at it and start thinking about all of the little changes I would make. I guess that is just a sign of how your personal style changes over time.

Number Nine

Celebrate Everything! So true...so perfect for all of us who are a little slow in changing our seasonal decor! I love all of the bright colors on the black and the little polka dots around the edge. My favorite part is the beads. There is a special glass bead for each month in the handle. There's a snowman for January, a heart for February, and so on.

I always do one of these for the Autumn Street Fair. Emily and I have noticed that for the past two or three years, it has been my first sale.

Number Ten

With this post I am starting my top ten countdown leading up to my 1,000th post. Remember that post will be a giveaway!

Number Ten - these two 10x10 canvases were posted during my first month as a blogger. They are so special because they were for my new nephew, Ian, who is now almost four. As you can see, they were custom designed to match his crib bedding.

This is also when I got my very first comment! Thank you, Stephanie Edens!

The Peace Sign Collection

I've noticed that with all my fifth grade girls, peace signs are the thing. They are my inspiration for this new collection.

All of these will be available at the Autumn Street Fair on October 2. Come see me!

One post closer to 1,000!

Twins and a Giveaway!

So sweet! Pastel pink and blue bubbles for a new set of twins.

Shew! I can't even imagine having two babies at the same time. Mine are four years apart and I still don't have it all together! Still, they sure are precious.

My exciting news is that my 1,000th post is coming up soon! 1,000 - I can't believe it! To celebrate, my 1,000th post will be a posting of my top ten past favorites and a giveaway. You'll have to check back this week to find out what and when. Good luck!

Soak All Your Cares Away...

Aaaahhhh...I hear you! There's not many things more relaxing than a nice, long bubble bath. Rachel Evans ordered this quote with red and zebra for her bathroom.
So cute!

Sisters

New customer Shilah Hatcher send me a picture of the cutest little shower curtain ever! It had a sweet little pattern and then striped divided by a row of pink pom poms. Maybe someday Lauren will have her own bathroom someday and I can get one of those!

She wanted this quote about sisters to hang in the bathroom. This is a large 20x24 canvas. I think this size will look great in a bathroom. It says,
"A sister is a little bit of childhood that can never be lost".
Love it!

All Dressed Up

These monograms have turned out to be really popular. I love the simplistic nature of the design and the basic colors. It gives them a sort of timelessness. As always, you all have started putting your own touches into my designs. I love it when that happens! It makes my artwork truly custom.
I always did this monogram in cream, khaki, and black. Never even thought about doing it in any other color. Shonda Wanamaker wanted it done in earth tones. I chose the burnt orange and hunter green combination.
Rachel Harvey ordered the "Colbert" monogram as a Christmas gift. She and Shonda both wanted curlies or swirls in the background to "dress things up a bit". I do think think they add interest and make them look a little fancier.
Keep the ideas coming! You all keep me on my toes!

For Bridget...

This is a very special canvas for one very special young lady. Bridget was the victim of a terrible horse riding accident and ending up losing one of her legs. We didn't personally know her, but we do go to church with her brother and sure do think a lot of him!
We were going to Nashville a couple of weekends ago and decided to make a visit to the Vanderbilt Children's Hospital. My children had been praying for her for weeks and I thought it would be nice to stop by and see her. Of course, we had to take a gift!

I found out that pink is her favorite color and all little girls love a little sparkle! Bridget is such a trooper. She and her mother and grandmother were so kind to us. We sat and talked and talked. They all agreed that Bridget is lucky to be alive and they will just be thankful for that.

Bridget is home now and doing well. We are still praying for her and her long road to recovery.

Heroes

One of my very favorite people, Anne Vance, wanted something special for her twin brother. He is a soldier. She sent me this wonderful little book with all kinds of quotes celebrating special things about people. This quote was under courage...

"Heroes take journeys, confront dragons, and discover the treasure of their true selves. Although at times they may feel alone in their quests, at the end their reward is a sense of community with themselves and with others".
- Carol Pearson

Ava Grace

New customer Brittney Keating ordered this adorable 11x14 canvas as a baby shower gift. She requested a personal message written on the back. I think that is so sweet!

She wanted this basic design in cream, lime green, and pink. Those colors are so pretty together! You all know the tone on tone polka dots are one of my favorite things to do. They always look so good in any color!
Thank you, Brittney. I hope little Ava and her mom love their artwork!

A Pretty and a Funny!

Here's the pretty! I love the cream, brown, and blue color combination. This is a different font and just so cute. I also had this really nice striped ribbon that matched perfectly. This is a great size, too. At 4x12, it is not as big as the usual 8x24.

Here's the funny...

TOP TEN THINGS ONLY WOMEN UNDERSTAND
10. Cats' facial expressions.
9. The need for the same style of shoes in different colors.
8. Why bean sprouts aren't just weeds.
7. Fat clothes.
6. How even though no one is going to there, cleaning your house before you go on vacation just makes you feel better.
5. The difference between beige, ecru, cream, off-white, and eggshell.
4. Cutting your hair to make it grow.
3. Eyelash curlers.
2. The inaccuracy of every bathroom scale ever made.
AND, the Number One thing only women understand:
1. OTHER WOMEN

I love all of the bright, funny women I know and wanted to make their day . WE ALL NEED A SMILE! "Be kinder than necessary, for everyone you meet is fighting some kind of battle."