fresh picked whimsy

raindrops keep fallin' on my head

two chilly, rainy, gray days in a row for us.  call me crazy, but i kinda like it.  at least for a day or two. 

Griffin took my camera in the van on our way to pick Riley up from football practice and snapped this one... he was trying so hard to get the windshield wipers "in action".  mission accomplished, G!

i bought this yellow rain coat at Sears about 10 years ago and i'm still wearing it.  but how many days a year do you really wear a raincoat?  so, it's still in great shape, and i'm gonna keep on wearing it.  its' sunshine on a rainy day.  hello, yellow!

i found this darling rainy day art on etsy in Tammy Olson's shop  {cute stuff in there!} and it made me think of my katie when she was little and loved to stomp in puddles...

Don't you love the sound of a slow, steady rain outside when you are snuggled up in a warm bed?  found these two on our bed last night...

guys, did you leave any room for me?

here's the forecast for the next week...brrr!

makes ya wanna fly off to a tropical island somewhere...

pssst!...my sweet friend Carolyn of Sweet Chaos Home is hosting a whimsy studios giveaway on her blog!  Head on over there and enter to win a $30 gift certificate in my shop!  Yay!

please slow down

she's a senior.  a SENIOR.  when did that happen?  and how can i slow it down?

every single day, our mailbox and inbox is flooded with information about colleges, universities, art schools, scholarship info, financing school info.  next week is the deadline to order her cap and gown.  yesterday she had her senior picture taken for the yearbook.  it's overwhelming.  i know it's overwhelming for her, too.  She has been taking ACTs and SATs and filling out applications for several different schools.  Last night she sent off her application to PURDUE...our alma mater.  That was exciting!  She had to write an essay for that one and i think she knocked it out of the park.  I so wish i could share it with you, but i can't.  gotta keep our competitive edge.  :)  just trust me...it was amazing!   Now, the waiting game begins...

Two weekends ago, Katie and I went downtown Indy to Herron School of Art for National Portfolio Day. 

There were 25+ different colleges and schools represented there and she was able to meet one on one with them and have them review her portfolio.  It was a very intimidating process.  To open her portfolio, lay it down on the table in front of potential admissions counselors/teachers and listen to their constructive criticism.  We had to wait in line to meet with most and so, we could hear how the reviews were going for others.  It wasn't always pretty.  She was stressed out as we waited.  But, meeting after meeting, we heard incredibly supportive and encouraging feedback..."fearless, "advanced", "multi-faceted" and "natural talent".  They had some great ideas, tips and suggestions, too.  It was a stellar day.  It was exactly what she needed to hear...to know that it's not just the people around her, the people who love her, that believe in her talent. 

I promise to share more of her work over the next year.  It's incredible to watch her spread her wings,  develop her style, and gain confidence in her work.  In the meantime, you can check out some of it on her blog, "illuminating kate"  here. 

Thank you for allowing me to be a proud mama and letting me boast about our girl. ♥ 

happy friday, friends.

xo

Reach out!

Being a freelance artist can be a little lonely sometimes.  Although it rocks that i don't have to clock in, ask permission for a vacation day, and can work in my jammies, there are some days when it would be nice to have the commeraderie of co-workers.  Don't get me wrong, i totally value the unconditional support, non-office-drama and wet kisses from my studio interns, Sunny and Kismet. 

But, in this biz, sometimes it's nice to be able to bounce an idea off of someone who can give you some constructive feedback, and will not drool on your work.  That's when i try to make time to meet up with my creative peeps.  A few weeks ago, i met up with my sweet friend, Jenny Elkins.  She's an amazing artist.  We have completely different styles, but that totally works for us.  We love to brainstorm and talk about what we are each currently working on.  No matter the conversation, whenever i see Jenny, i always come away with some fresh inspiration.  I consider Jenny to be my creative mentor.  She sort of took me under her wing, when i was just beginning to test the waters of selling my art.  She made it not so scary and encouraged me to just "jump in", feel the fear, and do it anyway.  It was such a gift.  She hosted my very first "show" a few years ago {revisit it here} in her own backyard studio and i will forever be grateful.  This was my tent at that show...

Jenny is a mixed media artist and lover of all things vintage.  I want this fun necklace from her etsy shop {found here}...

and you know how i love little houses {found here}...

Visit Jenny's etsy shop, and if you are local, stop by her booths at the Exit 76 Antique Mall in Edinburgh, Indiana.  She recently gave me this handcrafted necklace she made. 

 

I can't tell you how much i love it.  It's funky, edgey and every time i wear it (or my daughter wears it to school), we get so many compliments!!!  I call it my badass necklace because of the little yellow gun.  Me...badass=funny!  LOVE it, Jenny!  Thank you!  You can read Jenny's blog here and i encourage you to follow her on facebook.  Good stuff!

If you are a creative, reach out to other creatives in your area.  Maybe you have what it takes to mentor someone or maybe you're looking for a mentor.  The point is, it's not a competition.  Your work is uniquely yours and i think you will find that most creative types enjoy and thrive on being in the company of others.  Just go for it and find your Jenny! ♥

awww, nuts!

today's a gorgeous autumn day in Indiana!  I finally got my Halloween decorations up and bought this gorgeous mum plant from Costco.  I scored the crate that it's in, at a local antique mall for $4. 

 
It's that time of year again...time to wear a hard hat when you're in our front yard!  Our black walnut trees drop their walnuts to the ground every year at this time and this year, we have had a major bumper crop!

 
Don't even think about parking in our driveway...unless you like a dimpled car! 

The squirrels LOVE it!  Sometimes they climb up on those limbs and do a little dance and just watch them come falling down.  Then, they wait for me to back the van out of the garage and crush the hard outer shells with my tires.  They scurry all over the driveway picking up their winter harvest! 

 
 
 
at least until the Nut Wizard makes an appearance and cleans them all up!  Yes, i've blogged about it before.  But, when you live in a wooded neighborhood, this little invention is worthy of an annual blog mention. 

 

you just roll this cage over the walnuts and they get trapped in between the metal slats.  Then you just slide it over this metal loop in the bucket and voila!...you've got a bucket of walnuts. 

 
Actually, we have a dumpster full, every week!  Happy Friday, friends!

sew much fun

 
My mom and i worked on a fun project together last week.  A baby shower was being thrown for a sweet friend of ours, Joy.  Joy is a wonderful artist and has been creating her own lovely cut paper art to hang in the owl themed nursery.  So, mom and i decided to sew her a family of owls for baby's gift.  We went to Goodwill and bought some soft, pre-loved children's clothes made of sweet, lovely fabric that we would upcycle into the owls.  I free handed patterns for the owls in 5 different sizes {this is baby #3 for them} and cut them out.  We used felt for the eyes and beak. I didn't measure anything because we wanted them to be a little wonky and imperfect. 

 

 
Then...mom worked her magic on that sewing machine of hers.  She's a rock star with it.  She used to make some of our clothes when we were little, has sewn countless Halloween costumes for us and  grandkids, and curtains for all of our houses. 

 
As is typical whenever working on a sewing project with her, I lamented about why she never taught me to sew and she lamented about how she begged my sisters and I to let her teach us to sew.  Ugh.  She was right.  Mom's always right.  We had a lot of laughs while we she worked on the owls.

 
Sidenote...I snapped this photo of my favorite picture hanging in Mom's sewing room. 

 
That's me on the left, my beautiful mom and my big sister, Kim.  She probably made all our dresses in that pic. ♥

As you can see in the photo at the top of this post, Joy loved her owls and i'm happy to report that she delivered baby yesterday...a GiRL, named Delaney Rose!  xo 

furry blessings

 
Yesterday was the annual blessing of the pets at our church.  We took Sunny and Kismet, because they could definitely use a little extra blessing.  Couldn't we all?  We met my mom there and her two pups...Rosie and Tidbit, too. 

It turned out to be an all-canine crowd.  Kismet barked along as we sang a hymn and Sunny was a bit overwhelmed.

 
But, amazingly, as Father walked around blessing them each with holy water, they were totally attentive and calm.  It was very sweet. 

 
I think our old gal, Kismet needed this blessing most of all.  She's not been feeling like herself lately and is scheduled to see the vet this week.  Sweet girl is 13 years old. 

 
One of her very favorite things to do has always been riding in the car with her head out the window.  She doesn't have the strength these days to keep her head out the window, so she really loved it when Katie held her in her lap for this afternoon treat on our way home from church. 

 

 ♥

*Giveaway alert!  Head over to the Crafty Scrappy Happy blog to enter to win a print of your choice from my etsy shop.  And...while you're there, you can grab the coupon code for 25% off your purchase in my shop.  The giveaway and the coupon code are on now through Friday, Oct. 7th!