As for me and my house...

Sheep

 I love animals. Sheep are especially precious to me though.  I guess because the perfect lamb was sacrificed for me...for you...for all of us.  Jesus. I know it was Him in me that painted these because I did not know what I was doing.  When I was finished, I stepped back and it was as if I had been painting blindfolded.  I was pleasantly surprised at the result. In case you're wondering why the patterns around the edges, they were painted to match a bedroom and this was the fabric that was given to me.  I wanted to incorporate it somehow but wasn't sure if it would work.  I also used a crackle finish on it to give it an aged look.  Fun.  I really like how it turned out.  Now I wish I had a wall left in my own house to do these for me.

Family crest

What a great idea to come up with an acronym to say what your family stands for. This couple is getting married in March.  Its great to see young couples devoting their lives to Christ before they commit their lives to eachother.  Smart. This will be a great reminder for them as they embark on this journey of marriage together.  

 The crest at the top is his family crest. I think its Irish, but I cannot remember.  I wish I could say I had done extensive research and I knew what the symbols meant and everything, but I didn't and I don't.

The desires of your heart

Psalm 37:4

"Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart."

I used to think this verse meant I get what I really want if I'm good, or if I "delight" the Lord. That's not it at ALL! Its so much more than that!  I have learned that truly "delighting" in the Lord is knowing God through His Word, through worship, through fellowship; through  seeking Him and submitting to Him. When I commit my way to Him, His desires become my desires, and HIS desires are so much better for me than my own.

long and narrow

Cooper

I love this size canvas.  Its 8 x 24 and it is fun to do vertical like this or horizontal like the ones below.  Really great if you have a wall that is not very wide, but needs something.  I enjoyed doing this one for my neighbor's little boy's room.  Can you guess the theme of his room??? Not subtle, I guess, but it was fun.  Kids' rooms are great. I guess I should get busy and try to do something for my own kids' rooms.  Funny thing though, they'd rather do their own art, which is fabulous, by the way : )

Song of Solomon 7:10

I am my beloved's and His desire is for me.

Isabelle's teacher from last year is getting married and asked me to do this for her bedroom. Its a beautiful verse and reminds me that just as a husband is for one wife and one wife for her husband, we (the church) are the bride of Christ. 

\

 I did two of these actually because I was matching her bedding and couldn't decide, so I did two and let her decide.  These are actually 12 x 36.

Psalm 139: 14a

"I am fearfully and wonderfully made."

This 8 x 24 was done for a baby girl's nursery.  Please don't judge my poor photography skills. Sometimes its late and I just wanna not forget to get the picture done.  I take better pictures with my iphone, but had my regular camera with me this day.  Anyway, back to the painting...I love grey and yellow.  This is my first grey and yellow nursery canvas.  What a great color scheme.  I want to see this nursery all together and probably never will, because I don't know the people (a friend ordered this for her friend).  Oh well, maybe she'll read this and send me a picture : )

Just a few more fun canvases

Great verse! We should all wake up and say this every day. I painted this for someone else, but think I need to paint one for myself, backwards, so I can put it in my bathroom and see it in the mirror every morning.  Oh how I forget that each day is HIS...not mine. The rest of that verse says, "Let us REJOICE and be glad in it."

This canvas is for my teacher/sister, Kelly.  Her theme for her classroom is outer space, so I came up with a design that sorta looked out of this world ish and gave it to her. I can't believe after about 15 years of teaching I had never given her her own name sign (maybe 16...its a lot anyway). Sorry, Kelly. Better late than never.

Love this little 12 x 16 I did for my "little sister".  Well, she's not really my little sister, but she is like family. Our families have been friends for like 4 decades or so (no, I think longer...I mean, I AM NOT THAT OLD, but our parents knew eachother before we were born). Love this girl, and she just had her first baby girl. Can't believe it.

8 x 24 made to be hung above a door.  I do so love this verse as well...Wow, I could read that over and over and I probably need to.

My friend asked me to do this for her son who was going away to college.  She always says "No worries" to him, so this was like a piece of her she was sending with him.  She's such a good mom and this was her first to "send off".  She has 5 more to go. Good thing, though, her youngest is just starting kindergarten this year, so at least she has a few more years ...though they're going really fast : (

Just a few things I was doing this summer

I spent most of my summer preparing the bags for the preschool where my daughters both "graduated" from recently. I love that place and wanted to leave a part of "us" with them, so I handpainted each and every one of these little tote bags. I took some of the pictures with my phone (most of them, really) and I haven't figured out how to get them from my phone onto this blog, but I'm sure its really easy.  So, here are just a few of the classes that I took pictures (with my camera camera). I think I painted 166 bags. I felt like this was quite an accomplishment. I knew it had to be the Lord, because I seriously cannot work that efficiently with two little girls by my side all summer. Yup, that was so not me.  Thank you, Lord.  You are good. You are faithful.  These were really fun to do too.  My job is so great.

little boys

class goodies

Each year for preschool, we, the parents are asked to send in 12 little goodies for the kids' end of the year summer survival bucket.  I decided to do something a little different this year since it was our last year at the preschool.  I got 12 wooden frames and painted the boys brown with green circles to match the palm tree (already made) and I painted the girls' frames yellow and red to match the flip flops.  Then put a picture of the class in them.  Sweet little keepsake.  There is a verse at the bottom (Proverbs 17:17, "Friends love at all times") and their names on the top.  I taped a note to the back wishing everyone a fun summer and a great year in kindergarten...bittersweet.

college decoration

Its kinda hard to tell what this will look like "finished" because Kayla herself will have to finish it by putting three pictures in the clear picture frames.  The background is turquoise and cream and a little lime green to match her bedding for her college room.  The verse says "Grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord."

invitation

It looks kinda wrinkled because it is actually a wedding invitation that has a crease down the middle. Once its framed I'm sure it will be flattened out.  Had to get a quick shot of this though before I sent it off in a hurry.  Had to get it to the lady who ordered it before their rehearsal dinner.  

Director's gifts; 31

Have you ever heard of "31 gifts"? Its a company that sells purses and all types of bags and lots of really cute other things.  They have great choices of fabrics and colors and their stuff holds up really well.  The company is named for the passage in Proverbs 31 that speaks of the godly woman. Love that passage.  Anyway, the company has been very successful and one of their directors (don't know the exact title position, but she has at least 6 directors under her leadership) asked me to paint a canvas with each of her directors' team logos.  I did not necessarily design the logo, just sorta embellished them...some more than others.  It was a fun project that I did in 5 days!  What's your favorite?  I like Delightful Hearts, but probably more because of the scripture than the art.  

Brown and pink nursery

I painted this the other day to match a baby's nursery bedding.  This baby is going to be the first girl but the fourth child in this family, so I also painted a little door hanger that matched that says "No Boys Allowed". The verse if from Song of Songs 2:4, "Show me your face, let me hear your sweet voice.  For your voice is sweet and your face is lovely."  

winter house on the lake

I did this painting last year, but as I was looking for it on my blog the other day I couldn't find it, so I decided to put it on again.  This is a watercolor from a photo in soft cool colors. 

Rembrandt inspired

I wish I could take credit for the "Rembrandt" look of this painting, but the truth is, it was the work of the photographer. I painted this from a picture. When I was first given the picture I wasn't sure I would be able to replicate it, because it looked more like an "oil" type painting than a watercolor, but I was amazed that it was just as pretty in watercolor...I think.

vintage inspired look

I love the vintage look and just recently I was asked to do a canvas for a vintage nursery. Oh, I love this look.

photo canvas

This could say "friends" or "brothers" or whatever you want it to say at the top; then just slip in your photo in the clear photo frame.

Teacher Appreciation

I've done lots of these canvases this year and there's still time to do more.  I adore the girls' teachers this year and appreciate them more than they will ever know. Good teachers are truly a treasure.  Thank you, teachers.