busy bee...

I did both of these today. my current favorite thing to do is use vintage material for my backgrounds. I covered this canvas with my new handy-dandy upholstery stapler (which is awesome! why didn't i buy one sooner?). Then i just painted on top...

this one makes me think of mom...

these are a few of my favorite things...

my friends, Rachelle and David, asked me to paint something for their new baby's room. i was excited because a lot of my paintings end up being child-like and whimsical. They already have the painting now, but I thought i would share it with you...

that's their dog, Jake :-)

my go-to subject...

Trees. I love them. I like to paint them. And i've painted a few! This is a canvas i covered with material then painted...

an *actual* before and after...

A couple of days ago, Ricci mentioned that she was tired of one of her wall-hangings. She asked me if she should get rid of it and i said to let me 'play with it' first. :-) So today, i asked her about colors, showed her some material, then i headed up to my room for a few hours. Here's what happened...

before

after

before and after... well, just after...

So, i've started following this great blog called, Design *Sponge. If you're curious: http://www.designspongeonline.com/ I love it! Every time i check it out, i get inspired! I especially like the 'before & afters'. The last few times i've gone to Goodwill or the Sally Army, i've been looking for a "b&a" project of my own. Nothing too big, but something fun. So yesterday, Ricci and i went to Goodwill and i found a cheesy little picture in a plain-jane wood frame. UNFORTUNATELY, i forgot to take a 'before' picture... but here's the end product...

Cupcake decorating party #2...

A few of the gals couldn't make it to Wednesday night (see post below) and we had a TON of candy left over, so we had another par-tay...

this one i made specifically to eat...

Ricci and Sarah working hard... or hardly working...

it says Lunch, but it's hard to read from this angle...

Olivia was very intense... :-)

(little) Olivia has blue lips!

this was Silas's cupcake. Now, here's a smart boy. He came in and just wanted to eat the candy but we told him that he were for the cupcakes (after he already had a few pieces). We asked him if he wanted to make a cupcake and he said yes. So he grabbed a mini cupcake, decorated it and left the room. Came back a few minutes later, with the same cupcake, minus the candy and asked to put more candy on. We laughed but let him do it. He came back, 2 more times!

Cupcake decorating party #1...

I had a few of my friends asked me to teach them how to do a little cake decorating, so we got together last Wednesday. It ended up being a going-away party too for our friend, Cindy. Here's some pics of the tasty treats we made...

i got this idea from this great book called, Hello, Cupcake...

Oreo sunflowers, yummy!

Olivia and her "fish bowl" cupcake...

yeah, it's made with a mini oreo...

bird's nest...

this is Cindy, and it was her going away party...

it's like Willy Wonka's factory...

Brenda was quite proud of her easter basket cupcake...

Ricci and Jeremy - if he was a cupcake...

candle light, wine, oreos, airheads, cupcakes - so romantic...