Christmas orders!

I'm bummed I never got a picture of this one totally finished! When it was finished it had "Gilmores' Getaway" with a verse going down the road. It is an 11 x 14 on canvas (acrylic) and was done for my parents' friends who have a cabin. The next few posts are for their 3 other good friends who all exchanged Christmas presents; my mom came up with all the cute titles. She's so creative. Guess we were a good team on this one (on the next four, I should say)

11 x 14 canvas; for their cabin in North Carolina. This was supposed to look like the view from their window at their cabin.

11 x 14 on canvas; Parkers Putting Place; For my mom and dad's friend's condo on the golf course.


11 x 14 canvas; for my parents' friends' lakehouse. It says Rushings' Retreat. My mom did a really good creative job of coming up with the titles for each of their friends' places.

11 x 14 watercolor of an old farm house done for a friends' family member; taken from two old photos

oops, should have cropped the picture better, but you can see the original photo and the painting next to it. This is an 11 x 14 watercolor. I changed the background (obviously).

11 x 14 watercolor

ornaments

I have done tons of these little ornaments over the past few weeks. Here are a few of them. The pictures didn't turn out that well, but it was the best I could do a half hour from midnight. Anyway, the teachers' ornaments have dots on them with the names of the children in their class; they also have the name of the school/grade and year on them.

beach buddies

11 x 14 watercolor

"Sam"

11 x 14 canvas sale

The next four pictures are 11 x 14 and are on sale right now for only $20. I can add a name and a verse on the elephant (below) and the sports' theme (navy blue); i can also add a name on the train picture. These are regularly $35. let me know as soon as possible because this price is ONLY for these that are already done.

8 x 10 Canvas sale

The following 8 canvases are for sale for only $15!!!! They are first come first serve, so let me know a.s.a.p. if you'd like one. There is room to personalize on the elephant (second picture, last one) only. These are regularly $25 (custom made), but since these are already done they're only $15. Great gifts!

some of my favorite landscapes

A few more

This first one is one of my favorites, but its over 10 years old. It lives with my parents in Mississippi and its called "The Grass is Greener". My nephew thinks its him (when he was younger), but its not...he could be any little boy. This was done a while ago too. I did this in college (maybe grad school) as a figure study. It was done on the spot, no pictures to study, just two very good little boys who were as still as they could be for two hours (bless their hearts) Not my typical style; we were studying a particular artist (can't remember who) and trying to use elements of their style.

Same two little boys...but a different style. Here I used the high contrast style where all the highlights are white (the white of the paper). I do love contrast and how the shadows define the shapes.

This was done a few years ago. i found some old photos of my husband (the little boy) and his mommy. The photo was in bad shape, but I loved it so I did this for her as a gift.

Older portraits

portraits from the past

Here are a few paintings I have done in the past. None are recent, but I thought I'd put them on here.

simple and sweet

Katie's house

I love homes with character...wish mine had more...not that i'm ungrateful for my home. This home is so cute. I think built in the early 1900's..can't remember exactly. Anyway...blah, blah...here's my interpretation of it.

sweet sisters

Just got done with this watercolor today.

All glory is HIS

I know that most people don't read the text on my blog; they probably just look at the pictures (which is what I do most of the time, so don't feel bad); but if you're reading this then great! But, maybe I'm writing it more for me...just as a reminder of who is in control of my life...my time, my abilities, my family, everything. It certainly is not me and for that I am so thankful.

My sweet husband (who works for state Farm...now do you get why I am attaching these pictures?) asked me to help him with a project he's doing at work. He's doing a "pep rally" employee appreciation luncheon tomorrow. Anyway, he told me a while ago, but at the last minute (today) he basically reminded me..."oh yeah, can you help me make 3 giant signs...no big deal, right?" I wanted to be the awesome wife (that I"m not) and be like, "of course, honey, I'm super-woman and I can do it all!" But, inside I was like, "who does he think I am? I have a million things that I need to do...why does he do this to me at the last minute?" I stressed trying to get to it all day long. The girls were all up in my business trying to paint while just making a mess and making it 10 times harder than it already was. I was not a good, patient mom today...wow, I was not. I got one sign painted, called Mike and said I was out of paint and was just not going to get to it until he got home. He was so understanding and was so appreciative of the one I had done. That automatically turned off any of my bitterness toward him right there. He came home early and said I could go get the paint and stuff I needed and he would watch the girls and make dinner (that is huge...he does not make dinner!!!) So, I took off as fast as I could. I went to the store, bought the paint (and other walmart stuff...yes, I killed two birds with one stone...love that!) and got home. He and the girls had made pancakes and eggs. They did it together which just totally warmed my heart knowing how little attention I had given the girls all day. After dinner I went out to the garage and busted out those signs with the kind of speed that could only come from a God who loves me and just wants me to put my trust in Him. Mike came out to help me after he put the girls to bed and we just spent time together talking and painting. He was worried he'd have to work on these things until midnight, but we got done by 9:ish and he was so so appreciative. His words of affirmation made me feel loved (its my love language) and my willingness to help him made him feel loved too. God knew just how to work it. He knows all things...all the plans for our future (Jeremiah 29:11). Anyway, i just had to say, all things are for HIS glory. Even when the day doesn't seem to be going right, God knows what's going on and will be glorified. I want to give him glory. I want it on record that all or any ability I may have is not me...it is HIM working in me. I love my LORD Jesus.

The pictures attached may seem simple, but they were huge! Lots more work than you'd think.

Beautiful Mary Peyton

Here's the latest watercolor portrait. Its 22 x 30. I especially love the colors in the dress though my daughter scolded me because she said it was supposed to be white (I think in the original picture its actually pink)...she's four though. I told her "well, I'm the artist and I see colors." She didn't understand, but she will someday.

most recent name canvases

cute custom ornaments

I made these little ornaments for the girls' classmates last year and have made several for people already this year. If you'd like to have one made, just let me know gender/hair color and style (not too specific of course, just say long or short or ponytails etc.) and what colors you'd like. You can't tell from the picture, but the names and year are on the back of the clear glass ornament. If you want something else (like little boy holding his blankie and teddy bear) I can do something simple for you. I will also put other examples of ones I have done later. These are $8; if you want me to add another person one, just add $1 per person (a family of four would be $11). I'm going to make one for Isabelle's and Cassidy's teachers that will have the teacher with all 12 kids holding hands. I'll probably use a larger ornament though I did it last year and it turned out very cute. I'll post that later.

Frame sale

I've made several of these little wooden frames for the craft fair this past weekend. They were a big hit and they look really cute personalized as well. These are some that I have leftover if anyone is interested. I do have a few more designs as well, which I will post later. They're great little gifts. They are $8 (personalized free).

cute little baby gifts