fresh picked whimsy

Secret pumpkins

It's a little fun tradition between myself and three of my friends.  I paint pumpkins and deliver them on their doorsteps "on the down low".  This year i made them for my mom and sister, too. {wish so badly i could've put one on my other sister's porch.  Alas, a 9 hour drive for a secret pumpkin delivery seems a bit extreme :( } 

We live in a town with TONS of roundabouts.  Roundabouts and not secured pumpkins = a big fat mess!  Secure your pumpkins!!!!

One of these friends is a HUGE lover of the color pink...

You can make these, too.  It's simple acrylic paint.  i didn't even mask out the stripes...i think they are cuter with wonky-ish stripes.  if you can't draw the black shape, a simple circle or oval would be equally cute.  i hand lettered the monograms and "boo!", but you could easily stencil them on.  Top it off with a gingham ribbon and a little tag.  Done! 

*keep in mind...These painted pumpkins don't like to get wet or frozen.  You'll want to keep them indoors or on a covered porch.  I bring mine in and out according to the weather.

this was last year's secret pumpkin delivery...

Give it a try! It's easier than you think!

You had me at "barn sale"

Indy area peeps....you have to get out to the Resyled Barn Sale!!!!

My sister Susan surprised me with tickets to the preview night last night and it was AMAZING! It was a beautiful autumn night with white twinkle lights everywhere and we were surrounded by so much creative goodness! 

{junkey monkey's gorgeous booth}

Our mom was originally supposed to go with us, but has just recently had hip replacement surgery and our other sister Kim would have wanted to be with us but she lives in Georgia!  So...because we wanted them to feel like they were with us, we got a little creative...and brought them with us in our own way!

People kept asking us about them and laughed when they saw us taking pictures with them.  We even scored two extra drink tickets just because the lady at the gate loved that we brought them with us...in spirit!  Love!  Thanks, Mom & Kim!

A couple of my friends had booths here and i couldn't wait to see them!  This is Jill Broadhacker of Jilly Jack Designs.  She has a letterpress lab and art studio.  Her work is fabulous!

i bought this print of hers for Susan's birthday...

i was also excited to see my friend, Lindsay Clark of Seven Lemons.  Her paintings and illustrations are so fun!  I bought this one for my own collection...

There was live music at the farm...performing on a haywagon.  Don't you love it!?

and the Flying Cupcake food truck, which is just too damn cute...

There were not one, but two mobile boutiques!  This one, which was made from a vintage school bus...

and this one, Bizzy's Boutique, which was originally a bookmobile!  Oh my gosh, how i loved bookmobile day in elementary school...

Tuns out, this beauty is owned by Amy of Bizzy Buckets...someone who i had been in a holiday pop up shop with a couple of years ago.  Amy saw me in the truck and said "hey, you look really familiar!"  I immediately remembered her. 

 She and her husband completely and adorably renovated this bookmobile and turned it into a mobile artisan market.  It's genius and i wish it were mine!  So so clever!  Amy asked me to get in touch with her about putting some of my art in the Bizzy Mobile Boutique.  I will definitely follow up.  I am so inspired by creative people!

The sale continues today and tomorrow and it's out in Westfield among some really beautiful farmland.  Get out there and support small business owners, friends!  I did buy a pretty fabulous new industrial work table desk for the studio, but let the gal who sold it to me keep it until Saturday because it was a major part of her display.  I'll share it with you when i get it all set up!  I'm so excited about it!!!

Thanks, Susan for such a fun night.  Love you!

ever grateful, ever true!

Last week was Purdue's Homecoming, Alumni Day, Family Day and AGD Dad's Day...all rolled up in one!  And, we had it all covered!

{i painted those pumpkins and surprised our favorite Boilermaker with them!}

We headed up to celebrate with Katie for the day.  I hadn't been to a Purdue football game in years.  It was so much fun.  We soaked it all up and loved every minute of it...except for the part where we lost...BIG TIME.

We walked around campus for a bit and got some great pics.  (forget you saw these if you're on our Christmas card list) :)

I adore this picture of our babies in front of the clock tower...

that one in the middle is in the college application process now.  He's hoping to join his big sis and become an official Boilermaker next year.  {prayers and wishes gratefully accepted, thank you!}

It was a really hot day and we totally crashed in the Union for an hour before dinner. 

 Mark seriously fell fast asleep.  Katie instagrammed him.  It was pretty funny!

We LOVE going back home to Purdue every chance we get.  Fortunately for us, that's quite often...thanks to our girl!

Had a blast, Purdue!  Same time next year!

HAIL PURDUE! 

 

movie love

I've got two brand new prints to share with you today that are inspired by two of my very favorite movies.  The number one movie OF ALL TIME for me is...

i keep this little framed picture of the Bedford Falls welcome sign in the front hall of our home. 

 

and that was the inspiration behind this print...

{Our Bedford Falls in the shop here}

The second print that's new in the shop today is inspired by another favorite movie of mine...

i love ALL things Jane Austen...don't you?

{Our Pemberley print in the shop here}

If for some unthinkable reason you have not seen these two movies, you need to drop everything.  Get in your jammies, pile on the couch with a big comfy blanket and watch...now!

(Really...i can't think of a single reason why you wouldn't have seen them)

I'll be sharing lots of new things from whimsy studios in the coming weeks. I'm so excited to show you!  xo

 

senior week

We just wrapped up Senior Week for football. A senior.  Wow.

We had all kinds of fun surprises for the guys every day of the week.  It was a lot of fun planning and making it happen...starting with last Sunday night when we (all of the senior's parents) decorated their lockers in the locker room. 

Handmade penants for our guys..

I hung this in his locker...Mark & Riley as Senior Greyhounds...27 years apart...

I also made a special candy story for Riley's locker.  I did something similar to this for Mark when we were in high school and he was on the team. 

For the past few weeks i'd been buying different kinds of candy that i thought would work well with a football story.  Then, i just put it all together like this...

It was a hit the next day when he found it in his locker.  i had a lot of fun making it!

Each week 5 seniors give a speech to the entire team about their football experience and what being a greyhound means to them.  This week was Riley's turn...so proud of him!

There were treats or dinners every night after practice. 

And, surprises like pictures of their moms (and some dads) wearing their helmets (a senior week tradition!). 

The week culminated with the big Friday night game against one of our biggest rivals.  We lined up for pictures with our seniors and introductions in front of the stands.  The boys gave their moms roses...

It was a rough game, but ended with a WIN for our greyhounds!

and celebrations with Riley's "brothers"...

and Katelyn & Griffin...

and PawPaw...

So proud of our senior and all the boys.  I cannot believe how fast it's going by!

Next week will be our last home game of the regular season and it's being televised on ESPNU!  These are exciting times!

Memories in the making here...

GO HOUNDS!!!

DIY Painted Leaf Autumn Wreath

You can totally do this. 

I'm not so great at tutorials.  But, i'm going to do my best to show you how to make this very easy wreath. 

Start with a basic 14 inch straw wreath form.  I even left the plastic wrap on it to make it less messy.

I bought this great burlap ribbon at Hobby Lobby.

  It was $4.99 and i got it for 50% off.  I simply wrapped it around the wreath form, slightly overlapping and was careful not to leave any gaps.  I secured it with floral pins, but you could hot glue it or use opened paper clips, too.

For the leaves...don't be intimidated.  It's easy and super fun to do.

You will need one double newspaper page.  It's best to use pages that are mostly text, as opposed to photos or ads, but a few pics are ok.

I used these paints...

Using whatever paintbrush(es) you have on hand, squirt some of each of the colors on the page and using big strokes, paint them on the newspaper.  You will want to mix a little together and swirl them.  Just have fun with it. 

Be careful not to over-mix them as the color will begin to get muddy and brown.  You want your colors to be vibrant! Simply mix a couple colors here and there and then let them mostly dry before adding more colors next to them.  This paint dries pretty quickly.  Just keep doing it in small batches on the paper until your whole paper is covered.  Try not to leave any newsprint showing.  You will be cutting your leaves out of this paper, so use nature as your color inspiration.  It's ok to see the newsprint through the paint like you see in my picture above.

I hand drew my leaf shapes, but you can use actual leaves as your templates for shapes, or surf pinterest for leaf shape stencils.  There's a ton of them on there for free downloads. 

You will trace the leaf shapes onto the back of your dry, painted newpaper and then cut them out. 

I attached my leaves using straight pins, but again, you could hot glue them if you like.

and finish it off with a coordinating ribbon of your choice!  I am ga-ga for all things black and white striped!  It works well on my front door, me thinks.

I hope you will give it a try!  Happy October!

 Those are the same leaves that i used in my new autumn print...!

And, we have a giveaway winner to announce, don't we?!  The big winner is...

Becky Kerr!

"Fall is my favorite season. I live in Florida where we don't really have a
Fall so my solution is to bake pumpkin bread, make homemade applesauce and
decorate for Fall. Your print would be a great addition."  Posted by: Becky Kerr

Congrats, Becky!