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Finally listing in the shop a print of this piece that I had originally made for the Fresh Produce contest. Think dorm room, play room, teens room, beach house, lake house, kitchen, etc...
Hubby is picking up pizza & beer for dinner and we have big house-painting plans for the weekend...I hope you have fun weekend plans and that the sun is shining wherever you are, too! TGIF, friends!
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All things nautical today...this little illustration came to me in my sleep last night! Seriously! I doodled it out in my sketchpad this morning and then played around with the wacom. It's late and I should be in bed. R has a big doc appointment in the morning...poor guy has been such a trooper about being in that awful back brace all summer. He is absolutely counting on the doc telling him that he can ease out of it tomorrow. I pray he is right. We will get results of a scan tomorrow and find out the next step. We are staying positive and completely giving it up to God. He is captain of this ship.
The latest new print in my shop is this one from an Illustration Friday piece I made last year. I hadn't made any prints of it until now...it's one of my favorites. I hope you enjoy it.
P.S. Lots of new blogs added to my yummy blogs list over there to your left. There is so much amazing talent out there. Steal away a little time, won't you, and allow yourself to get lost in the blogiverse for a while. It's dreamy.
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Believe it or not...we start school two weeks from yesterday! I swear, it gets earlier and earlier every year for us...it's just not fair...there's so much more summer left! We are very envious of the schools around the country that don't go back until after Labor Day...the way it should be. Here is the latest little wooden village {"Back to School" themed} completed for my fabulous client and friend, Dee...it's on it's way to you today!
And...as promised, a new print available in the shop today...she was originally painted for the Fresh Produce t-shirt art contest. I love her. The original painting is being hung in my bathroom. Every girl should embrace her inner mermaid, don't you think?
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I have always loved this quote...i first stumbled upon it when I was pregnant with G and it took my breath away. It's how I feel about my 3 babies and of course, their daddy. I think this print of my original acrylic painting would be so sweet in a nursery. It's available now in the shop!
*when G was little, while pretending to be a magician, he would say "open sesameat!" instead of 'sesame'...that gem made it into his baby book and we still say it sometimes with a chuckle.
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Creative life ebbs and flows...I am definitely flowing here...in the middle of a creative explosion right now. So many ideas that I can't go to sleep at night...and can't wait to get into the studio in the morning. LOVE it! So...this week i will be premiering a new piece every day...starting with this one, which I just listed in my shop in 4 different dreamy color combos...
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that's why I've got some new goodies coming to my Etsy shop! Stay tuned, friends...
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I love my minivan. Don't get me wrong. The Honda Odyssey is a sweet ride. I really do love it and am so thankful to have it.
But, I spied this pick up truck in the parking lot at the high school and it got me thinking.
I know, crazy right?! It's just sometimes, I wish my ride was a little more 'me'...instead of like every other mom in America. I know that for practical purposes...i have to have a minivan. I've got 3 kids and we road trip and shlep a lot of friends and cousins and well, stuff. But, as I was sitting in the high school parking lot waiting to pick up one of my kids, this pick up truck kept calling to me.
It's not fancy...the truck itself is not really anything special...except that the owner has made it their own. I don't know what the donut logo is about...no clue...but it's cool. I even love the multi toned paint job which really just looks like they sanded down the blue paint to the metal.
I've always daydreamed about having a brick and mortar store (for my art & junking rehabbed furniture) and thought it would be so cool to have an old yellow pick up with store logo on it. Here are some other really cool vehicles that I've spied in my travels that i would love to make my own...
This was parked outside of a store called the "happy Shak" in Alabama...so fun...
This jeep-like vehicle was really a Toyota. I found it in the parking lot at our resort on vacay. The kids thought it was so cool that the steering wheel was on the right side (or the wrong side as they see it).
I found this in the pile of matchbox cars that the boys were playing with...how cool is this?
Finally, the most awesome one that I drool over every time we pass it. It's been parked for a few years in a lot just a few miles from our house. Nobody does anything with it...so sad....such a waste. I think it would be so cool to paint it a high gloss red with big white polka dots and turn it into a mobile art store...traveling from show to show...town to town.
you never know...maybe someday...
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It is always nice to come home...sleep in your own bed and get back to life with a well rested perspective. We have been going down to GS for about 10 years now and look forward to that week away all year long. It's an easy trip...just 12 hours due south from home. Yet, it's far enough away to really feel like we're in another world. Aside from the obvious scenery differences between the Midwest and the Gulf Coast, you would never run into these locals in my neck of the woods...
A 13 year old boy caught this black tip shark while fishing on our beach...where there are baby sharks, there are mamas, too. That was the day nobody was allowed to go in deeper than their knees....an order proclaimed from this mama.
There is a national wildlife refuge a few miles from our resort and we always drive through near the swampy area to see if we can't spy a gator or two (from the safety of our van, of course). We have seen them in years past, but everything seemed very overgrown this year and no gators were sighted this time around. Here's the sign that greets you as you enter the refuge...
Some of the locals made an appearance on our dinner table...
Also making an appearance on our trip, but proving to be camera shy, were dolphins swimming along our shore, pelicans flying over our heads and a sting ray or two swimming across Mark's toes on our last day. Yeah, that was enough to keep me out of the water...for sure.
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Hi y'all! That's how we speak down in the deep south! :-D Greetings from Gulf Shores, Alabama! We are staying down here in my parent's lovely vacation condo...this is the view from our balcony:
Here's the view from my beach chair!:
This is where I'm blogging from right now...a cute little wi-fi hotspot cafe overlooking the beach...
I really do wish you all could be relaxing down here like I am, so I thought I would share with you my vacation playlist. I put this cd together a few years ago before our vacation (before I even had an ipod, which makes everything easier) and we add to it each year.
So, grab these tunes from itunes, go get your flip flops on, mix yourself up a margarita and lay back on your deck with the one you love. Here are a few of our favorite picks to put you in a vacation state of mind...
Enjoy and I will check in with you later this week! Y'all come back now, ya hear?!
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well, maybe not, but I will try to bring the beach to you this week. We are leaving in the morning for a week of fun and sun in Gulf Shores, Alabama.
We've been looking forward to this for months and had a countdown on the kitchen chalkboard.
We will be driving 12 hours to get there, which is a long trip. But, we actually enjoy it...got a few previously viewed movies from blockbuster, loads of munchies...
and the goody bags that my kids look forward to every time we take this road trip...
I fill it with stuff from the dollar store, mad libs, cards, snacks and games. It's a tradition that we started years ago, but continue because it keeps us all sane.
We wish we could bring Kismet with us...but no pets are allowed at the resort. G spent some quality time with her today...
I'm bringing my camera and my sketchbook and even my laptop...with the hopes of checking in here once or twice. I also got a bunch of fun magazines and bought a copy of Kelly Rae's Taking Flight...Inspiration and Techniques to Give Your Creative Spirit Wings. I can't wait to read it.
p.s. if any creepy peeps are reading this entry...don't get any ideas about my house while we're away...we have a house sitter and all of our awesome neighbors keeping an eye on things.
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