LaurenFaythe

Happy Valentines Day

2012-02-14T07:52:00.000-07:00

Happy Valentines Day!

Sunday

2012-02-13T08:03:00.000-07:00

This is what we did on Sunday Evening:

All that white? It's snow. Very pretty, except for the fact it was FREEZING, and I had on about 5 layers on top! Anything to watch your kids, right?

I love the shadows in that top picture. I wish I had my big camera with me. Thank goodness for the iphone!

Dining Room

2012-02-09T09:04:00.000-07:00

I joined the bandwagon. Another password I need to remember. I finally downloaded Instagram. It's not the same as my photoshop CS3, but it is instant gratification for obsessive picture-takers like me.

I'm working on my dining room now - I wanted a change from my big painting I had in there. I'm trying not to make too many unnecessary holes, so I am actually going to think about how I'm going to display my medley of food/food related paintings together.

Loving this app.....

Snow Day!!!!!

2012-02-03T13:03:00.000-07:00

There's nothing like staying home from school because of a blizzard!

View from the Slopes

2012-01-30T10:35:00.000-07:00

We had an awesome day of skiing yesterday:

Have a great Monday everyone!

Field Trip

2012-01-27T08:35:00.000-07:00

I chaperoned a field trip to the Denver Art Museum yesterday. This sculpture below was amazing. See our tiny children on the right? Each child in the sculpture represents a different race:

(Sometimes I feel like my feet get all big and swollen like that! :) )

It was by this artist:

Happy Friday everyone!

New Painting

2012-01-18T11:32:00.001-07:00

My newest listing on Esty. I've name her "Kelly" for all the pops of green. I'm a little sick of the white that is covering our grass right now. I need some green!

"Kelly" for sale in my shop. Click HERE to view

Tweaking the Entry

2012-01-09T13:47:00.001-07:00

After taking down the Christmas tree, I was really excited to decorate the entry.

You see, 8 years ago, we inherited a grandfather clock when my husband's mom passed. It's a nice clock, but it really didn't fit into our decor. Over the years, I have tried to decorate around the area to make it less formal. My husband was not that fond of the actual clock, but was holding onto memories of his mom through the clock. He decided before Christmas that it was time to give the clock to his brother. His brother has more of a formal house and the scale of the clock fits so much better there.

I found a before of the entry - this was 3 years ago. My more recent pictures somehow got corrupt on my hard drive. My walls have been painted since then, the sunflowers and the painting at the top of the stairs have not been there for a long time.

before

After:

Ahhh, I feel like I can breathe now. The entry is so much more relaxed now. I will continue to tweak this area, and move things around.

On another note, I caught this guy praying several times over the course of the Broncos game:

Faith has to start somewhere, right? And what a great role model we have in Tim Tebow for young athletes:

I'm always telling my kids that sports, in the end, is just a game, but that God uses it as a tool to make Himself known.

The verse John 3:16 is one of Tim Tebow's favorite verses.

He passed for 316 yards, and passed for 31.6 yards per completion yesterday. What are the odds?

I don't know much about football, and didn't watch much until recently. But this is cool.

Go Broncos!

It Was All a Blur

2012-01-03T10:57:00.000-07:00

I'm trying to get organized today. It's the first real day of the new year for me. So far, not a great start. I slept in, did not work out, or take a shower yet. I will use this day as a planning and organizing day. Since I'm not organized yet, this post is a random bit of what we did over Christmas break.

This is all that remains of our Christmas decor (yes, I know I need to sweep. I'm adding it to the list):

The cards usually stay up for the month of January as we have a few Happy New Year cards that trickle in.

Christmas day was spent playing out in the snow:

We watched waaaayyy too much football over the last 2 weeks.

Yesterday:

It freaks me out when she does this with her eyes:

Okay, now I'm going to get my work-out in and try to salvage what's left of this day. :) Have a great day!

2011-12-31T11:11:00.000-07:00

Here's to dreams and wishes for the new year!

Merry Christmas

2011-12-23T10:49:00.000-07:00

Merry Christmas Everyone!

My Christmas Home

2011-12-12T21:25:00.000-07:00

Welcome to my Christmas House! I shoveled the front walk, and attempted photoshopping the ugly orange electrical chord!

My Christmas tree is in the entry. This is our first real, chopped out of the forest tree:

Since I couldn't use most of my ornaments on the tree, I made some photo ornaments that can hang without making the branches sag:

My dining room chandelier:

Also in the dining room:

The library/piano room received a bit of greenery and a branch:

I added our Santa pictures in the family room:

And I tweaked the mantle since the last time I posted it:

Some greenery on the shelf:

I started a card tree today:

We open presents in the basement. I made the jester's stockings years ago:

The children decorated the tree:

Thanks for visiting my home!

I am linking with The Inspired Room's Christmas Home Tours.

Before and After-The Built In Bookcases

2011-12-02T09:05:00.002-07:00

Several weeks ago, I showed a before and after of my fireplace wall, and the moulding I painted that was on the brick. I was contemplating painting all my built-ins on this wall, but I was afraid of painting over all the wood and lowering our property value. The wood was just oak, but you know how some are about wood. :)

Well, after staring at it for too long imagining how it would look, I went ahead and painted the built-ins. Here is a picture of the built-ins in April of 2009:

Then in the Fall of 2010:

Fall of 2011:

Now, with the built-ins painted:

And because I always love a wider room shot even if it doesn't look as good as the closer view:

I am still tweaking the mantle and the shelves for Christmas. I have to say I have absolutely no regrets over painting the wood. I love the new look, and visually, it really opens up the room!

Thanks for visiting. I will post some more Christmas decor in the next few weeks, but for now, I really need to do a little Christmas shopping. See you next week!

Linking with Miss Mustard Seed & Between Naps on the Porch

Our Search for the Perfect Imperfect Tree

2011-11-30T14:22:00.000-07:00

Last Year's Tree

I have always been an advocate of the artificial tree. I always put up the tree the weekend before Thanksgiving, and I always assumed a real tree wouldn't last that long. However, this year, the thought of putting up our 17 year old tree (pictured above) did not interest me. I was tired of the decorations and tired of the tree. If it weren't the kids, I would not even have put up this "pretty mom tree". Ba humbug! (There is still an artificial one in the basement that the children decorate. )

My "real tree" friends kept telling me that a fresh cut tree will definitely last until Christmas even if we cut it around Thanksgiving. OK. So, because I was so late to the party, a few days before Thanksgiving, I had to drive up to the forest service to pick up a permit to cut a tree down for the day after Thanksgiving. Here are a few pictures of our memorable tree cutting day:

This one below loooves this hat. She wears it every where she goes. I finally had to ask her to take it off once in a while because it's getting weird.

This was after about an hour and a half of searching. My son is antsy and needs to torture his sister by throwing a snowball:

FINALLY, after about 2 hours. You'd think with a forest full of trees it wouldn't be that hard. A lot of these trees have one side since they grow so close to each other. I think we went around in circles. We are newbies to this; and you would've laughed in our faces at some of the trees we were considering in the beginning. Here's the tree:

Our tree this year. I ended up using about 10% of our decorations. They are mostly framed pictures I do of the kids each year. The other decorations were way too heavy.

I will post better pictures soon. I didn't bring out the tripod for this. Was our tree-cutting outing worth it? Definitely! It is an event I would love to make into tradition. And, I love our "Charlie Brown" tree. I love being able to see through to the trunk of the tree, and all the imperfections and character of a "right out of the forest tree".

CYBER MONDAY SALE

2011-11-26T12:36:00.000-07:00

"Celebration" for sale. Click HERE to view.

I have decided at the last minute to have a cyber Monday sale! Everything in the shop is 25% off. It will last until Tuesday, November 29th midnight pst. Just use coupon code CYBER25 at checkout.

The Art Nook is Coming Along

2011-11-14T11:48:00.001-07:00

The basement art nook is coming along. I have the frames up, and I just need to fill some of them.

Hopefully I can complete this project before the holidays begin!

In weekend news, we took our family to watch some of this:

It was a great game to take the family to, since our team actually won.

I thought this was cool:

I know these players were being genuine, and not doing this in a mocking spirit.

Sneak Peek-My Basement Art Nook

2011-11-09T09:58:00.000-07:00

I have been working on a family art nook. This area in our basement has been a storage area for some time. I never got around to putting anything on the walls like I intended 7 years ago when we had the basement finished. This nook has 5 walls to fill. This particular wall on the left is filled with a mixture of my children's art, my art, and meaningful photographs. I had most of the frames sitting around for years. See that office chair? It's actually quite comfortable. My husband has wanted me to give it away for years, but I intend to slipcover it. I will show you the other walls when(if) I complete it.

Whimsical

2011-11-04T10:34:00.001-06:00

We had a day off of school the other day because of snow, so I painted this abstract family portrait:

My husband thinks I should use this painting as the image for our Christmas cards. What do you think? (I know, it's a little blurry. I didn't use my tri-pod to take this picture. )

This is how crazy we soccer parents are. We did this the day after our snow day:

Blurry here too - I am not a sports photographer! I have to sit down and learn some of the features of my new camera.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Happy Weekend

2011-10-28T09:46:00.000-06:00

This was what we had on our trees 2 days ago. I had to go out and shake all the snow off the trees so the branches wouldn't break. Pretty, isn't it?

Have a great weekend!

A New Painting, and A Lamp Makeover Using Chicken Wire

2011-10-24T06:04:00.008-06:00

"Pink Garden" for sale. Click here to view.

My children are in school this week after Fall Break. It went by so quickly, yet it seemed to last forever!

Even with them being at home, I completed so many projects, including a makeover for my younger daughter's room. I will post pictures soon.

Anyhow, I have had the above painting for a while now, and I have finally listed it.

I picked up this lamp at the thrift store:

It was bright brass, but I liked the shape. So, I purchased a can of Rustoleum spray paint in Champagne Mist, and spray painted it. I took apart the lamp shade, and used the base to wrap chicken wire around it to make a new "shade". I think I like the new lamp now:

This is my daughter opening presents at her birthday party/sleepover this past weekend.

I hope you all are having a great Monday!

A Friend's Gallery Wall

2011-10-12T08:58:00.000-06:00

I went to a friend's home for a monthly coffee morning. She has 3 gorgeous, talented, and freakishly genius kids. Why not showcase them in her family room?

(Photo taken with iphone-sorry!)

Have a great Wednesday!

Fireplace Makeover

2011-10-07T09:38:00.001-06:00

My Fireplace mantle got a makeover last year. It used to look like this:

I loved the new mantle. However, the rest of that wall looked like this:

It kind of had a split personality with the dark wood moulding at top, and the distressed mantle in the middle. Risking ruining the fireplace crown moulding and built-in bookshelves, and the re-sale value of our house, I went ahead and painted that moulding on top of the brick:

My husband said it was too white compared to the mantle which was aged and distressed. I had to agree, so I went and did a little aging. And, since I can't leave well enough alone, I also went and painted the brick. I never loved it in the first place, I thought when we picked it out, there would be some more variation in the colors. On a whim, I decided to paint. I figured I went this far and there's no going back.....

I'm glad I took the risk and painted the brick and moulding. Next up, the built-in bookcases. Do I dare? I'm still pondering this one. The other end of this room is our kitchen, which is a dark cherry. I would love to paint the bookcases a dark grey, but would I completely ruin them? Would I turn into the dreaded "former homeowner" if we ever sold this house? And, while I'm questioning myself, why did I not tighten those slipcover seats before I took these photos?

If you want to see how I distressed the mantle, click here.

I'm linking with Miss Mustard Seed.

Have a Great Weekend everyone!

Weekend in Vail

2011-10-04T10:55:00.000-06:00

We spent this past weekend in the Vail Valley here in Colorado for my oldest child's soccer tournament. The colors were beautiful. I had my big camera with me. Me, with my camera that I take everywhere-FORGOT to take pictures of the scenery! I was so obsessed with the games, I completely spaced out that I should be taking pictures!

It sorta looked like this up there:

A teammate's grandfather took some awesome pictures:

I think I'm going to turn this into a 16x20 poster for her room:

The viewer can imagine what happened next.

The result from the tournament? First place!

A New Painting and Thank You Etsy Treasury

2011-09-26T10:59:00.000-06:00

"Figment of My Imagination" 12x16 inch original. Click here to view in shop.

I tried to photograph a room view of this painting with no success. The lighting in my house is difficult to work with. I think I need to set up a more permanent spot for photo shoots. Hmmm.... I have to brainstorm on this.

Also, as always, it is an honor when someone chooses one of my pieces for an Etsy Treasury. Thank you Pure Rox Jewels!

Autumn

2011-09-23T09:51:00.000-06:00

Cozy Fall.....

Anthropologie

Martha Stewart

Have a wonderful weekend!

Office Chandelier Makeover

2011-09-19T10:02:00.000-06:00

Thank you for all your prayers for my mom. Her surgery went well, and they removed her lung and all the cancer. We are so thankful!!!

During the last 2 months, I have kept very busy doing projects around the house. This was mainly to keep my mind off of what was happening with my mom.

I wrote several posts on my home office makeover. Here's another element of the makeover. My chandelier. This is the after:

Here was the before:

It felt too heavy for what I was going for in here. I didn't want to replace it because I really do like the shape, and I didn't want to spend any money I didn't need to spend. I painted it - because paint solves everything!

First, I used a tinted gray Zinzer brand primer and painted the entire thing. I then mixed a white latex paint to the same primer to lighten it. I went back and forth, adding a little more paint to primer, leaving some of the dark areas. I like using just primer as the main paint, as it leaves a nice chalky finish.

I spray painted the chandelier sleeves white, as the off white looked odd with the gray/white of the chandelier.

Then, I added the crystals that I already had from a previous project. I did purchase a string of glass beads and strung it on the chain. I also had the chain from a jewelry project. So, out of pocket, this project cost $5. I love the new look!

There will be more before and afters of this office coming soon. Can you see that the wall color is different in this last photo from the before photo?

Meaningful

2011-09-09T09:55:00.000-06:00

I painted this "Breathe" painting about 2 years ago. You can read the post here. It has become more and more meaningful. Every time I look at it, it reminds me to breathe, and pray.

If you all get a chance, please pray for my mom. The doctors say she has lung cancer - the non-smoker's kind. She is having surgery on Monday to get the lung taken out.
Thank you.

Home Office Closet - Before and In Progress

2011-09-06T10:58:00.001-06:00

I am finally posting some before and in-progress pictures of my home office closet. I have been working to reorganize and beautify this entire office. I originally had all my paintings hanging in here awaiting sales. I had more furniture than I needed, and I knew that if I could make better use of the closet, I could keep things more organized and functional.

Below is the before. What a mess! I took these photos in the middle of back to school supply shopping.

The sliding closet doors kept me from being able to get into the closet and really keep it functional. I wanted to replace these doors with bi-fold doors, but I couldn't find any that were small enough for the width of this closet. I guess builders usually go in "off-sizes" when they put in closet doors, I'm not sure why. Here is the closet with the doors removed. See what I mean about DISORGANIZED and MESSY?

After removing the doors, I went upstairs and stole my daughter's curtains. She didn't like them anyway. It worked perfectly.

I can now close the curtains and hide the mess.

I spray painted my husband's and my college filing cabinets the same color, and used a piece of heavy stone that my husband's step mom gave me a year ago. I now have a counter that I can place items on, paperwork, etc. I don't use it as a desk, as there is already a desk in this room.

I also added and extra shelf all by myself - no help from my husband! :) Up until now I was a little scared of power tools.

I still need to paint in there, but for now I love it. It is so functional!

This past weekend I also painted this room. It's getting a little makeover.

2011-08-24T05:59:00.003-06:00

I've been painting on flat canvas these days. This means the canvas is unstretched, so the painting would have to be framed. These paintings are approximately 16x20, and are very affordable. Shipping is also less because they are rolled into a tube, instead of packaged in a large box.

"In the Midst of it All" for sale. Click here to view.

Room view framed:

A Temporary Lighting Solution?

2011-08-22T09:49:00.000-06:00

As you know, I am organizing my home office. I'm showing you little glimpses at a time, as it is not even close to being finished. I have painted my big brown desk, and have cleared it of most of the things that were cluttering it up. I removed an old lamp, as I wanted something a little different.

I had these old rusted out candle holders forever, and I attached clamp lights from the hardware store. I had this set up purely for functional purposes for when I take photos of my paintings. One has a fluorescent white light and the other has an incandescent bulb. They are growing on me and my 8 year old thinks they are "cool", so I am keeping them in there for a while.

Have a great Monday everyone!

School Days

2011-08-16T10:36:00.000-06:00

The children are all back in school now. It's time for me to get back in the studio! I also have a lot of home freshening up projects I'm working on. See my first Craigslist purchase above? I love that old school desk/chair. I'm not wild about the orange oak. I'm thinking of painting or staining it....

Office Organization

2011-08-09T09:39:00.000-06:00

I'm in the middle of trying to organize my home office. What a mess! I'm working on organizing the closet right now. Here are some photos that have inspired me:

country living

This next one isn't a closet, but it is a small space. So organized and pretty!

better homes and gardens

blisstree

If I ever get done with my office, I will show you some before and afters. It will probably be a before and during though, as life always gets in the way, and I can't seem to ever complete a project! :)

Joan Mitchell

2011-08-03T09:27:00.001-06:00

I love the art of abstract expressionist painter Joan Mitchell. There is so much depth and feeling in her work.

Have a great Wednesday everyone!

Images from rivian-shareart.blogspot.com and askart.com

Conquered

2011-07-27T05:01:00.001-06:00

A couple of weekends ago, a bunch of girls and their dads climbed this mountain. Mt. Princeton - 14,197 feet. 4 hours up, 4 hours down. So proud of this 11 year old who suffered a concussion only a month and a half prior to the trip!

A Downtown Denver Loft

2011-07-13T09:08:00.001-06:00

I was perusing around this morning on the Colorado Homes and Lifestyles magazine site, and found this loft in downtown Denver that I made my heart go pitter-patter. I thought you might enjoy some of these images too.

This 2011 home of the year was designed by Beth Armijo. I love the eclectic mix of the industrial, rustic, modern and glamour (in particular - that chandelier mixed with the rustic beams in the bedroom!)

To see more of this home, and to read the article, click here.

Happy Weekend

2011-07-08T09:34:00.000-06:00

Have a great weekend everyone!

Happy 4th of July

2011-07-01T10:57:00.000-06:00

I took this picture 2 years ago in Seaside, Florida. I love this house - I wish I could see what it looks like inside! I love how the south goes all out in decorating for the 4th!

This was taken at Pickles - the fried pickle place. See the reflection of the flag in the water? (It was not photoshopped in.)

Have a great 4th of July weekend everyone!

Lazy Days

2011-06-29T06:04:00.002-06:00

I love this color combination. Good job girls!

A Sunday Afternoon

2011-06-27T06:04:00.002-06:00

Instead of doing some work around the house yesterday, I played around with some of my images. My children discovered the nest above in our aspen tree. I wonder if any birds will come back to it?

My children also discovered this pretty butterfly on the side of the house. They ran in to tell me to bring my camera; they knew I would love to get a picture of this beauty.

Did you all have a great weekend?

Where I've Been

2011-06-20T07:00:00.005-06:00

My family and I went on a little vacation halfway around the world the last 2 weeks. My husband had never been to South Korea, so we packed 10 days worth of clothing and went with my parents. I have a million photos, but not wanting to bore you, here are just a few of them.

Jeju Island (Korea's Hawaii) was spectacular!

We visited a ton of museums and toured many places, including a green tea farm.

Our children only had a few moments on the beach.

Then, of course, our kids had some fun on the ipad:

I have some serious bags under my eyes from this trip:). I'm wondering when my body will get back to normal so I can sleep more than 2 hours a night?

Living in Color

2011-05-27T09:58:00.000-06:00

Hello all - just checking in. I haven't disappeared! Many of you know how the month of May is! CRAZY!

I've been working on paint studies. Going back to my roots of color-filled paintings on canvases at least 16x20 inches. These are some I have been working on - they are on flat canvases which would need to be framed. I will list them in a few weeks, after I get back from a trip.

I hope you all have a great Memorial Day weekend!

Lollies

2011-05-18T09:25:00.000-06:00

"Lollies" for sale. Click here to view.

I've named this painting "Lollies". This field of flowers look like a bunch of lollipops in shades of pinks, purples, blues, oranges, greens, and yellows. I think I may have covered all the colors here in this painting!

A Bit of Summer

2011-05-16T08:09:00.000-06:00

"Summer Garden" for sale. Click here to view.

We've had a lot of rain lately, which is great for my garden! It's not so great for all the outdoor kid activities that are planned in these last couple of weeks of May. I have a couple of sick kids at home right now - probably a result of too much soccer in the freezing cold.

The above painting makes me happy, and it makes me look forward to warmer days. We just have to ~~survive~~ get through this month! Have a great Monday everyone!

2011-05-06T09:43:00.000-06:00

"Growing Up" for sale. Click here to view.

I loved painting this. There was no real plan for this painting, the colors and shapes just emerged. There is such a freedom in just letting it happen.

This painting looks great on its own, or framed. I love the mix of the traditional frame and the abstract painting.

Have a great weekend everyone! You guys are fantastic!

After the Rain

2011-04-29T09:09:00.001-06:00

"After the Rain" for sale. Click here to view.

A beautiful spring day. Can you smell the rain? I think we have snow coming tomorrow! I'm bundling up for the soccer games tomorrow - have a great weekend!!

Bumblebees

2011-04-26T09:17:00.000-06:00

"Humble Bumble" for sale. Click here to view.

I just learned, that when stored properly, honey is the only food in the world that will never spoil. I wonder if anyone's tested it out?

"Bees Flight" for sale. Click here to view.

Happy Easter

2011-04-22T09:18:00.001-06:00

Have a great Easter Weekend Everyone!

A Bright Morning

2011-04-18T08:37:00.000-06:00

"Golden In Between" for sale. Click here to view.

The sun is shining, the birds are singing....I can't help but be in a great mood! Happy Monday everyone!!

English Garden

2011-04-15T08:43:00.000-06:00

"English Garden" for sale. Click here to view.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Abstract Art -Like Looking At Clouds

2011-04-14T10:31:00.000-06:00

"Spring"for sale. Click here to view.

I have been painting a LOT lately. These paintings have included landscapes, florals, and abstracts. Abstracts have not been typically my style of painting. I would say my typical style is more transitional. For me, abstracts make me use a different part of the brain. The emotional part.

Looking at an abstract makes me think of when I was a child, laying in the grass in the summer looking at clouds. Remember that? When I see my small abstract above, I see happy. Spring, like flowers, easter eggs, a few raindrops, a little globe, I see a cyprus tree....what do you see? It's a different painting every time.

I love it that you can turn it on its side, and there is a whole different scene.

I have always feared painting abstracts. I was scared that others would think my children painted them. Silly, I know, because as an artist one has to follow their heart, not follow popular demand, otherwise paintings will end up stale.

I will still paint my landscapes, still lifes, and florals, but you will start to see some more abstracts in the mix. I may never sell one, but I can't not follow my heart. These motivate and energize me.

Thanks for listening. Big hugs to all of you out there that read this blog!

2011-04-08T09:29:00.000-06:00

"In The Mist" for sale on Etsy. Click HERE to view.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Thank You Etsy Treasuries

2011-04-07T09:00:00.000-06:00

It's always an honor when my work is featured in an Etsy treasury.

Thank you SimplySuzie for this treasury:

Thanks to Lo-fi Photography for this one:

To Black Heart Revolution for this:

And to Blue Grasshopper:

Happy Weekend!

2011-04-01T08:42:00.000-06:00

Have a great weekend everyone!

The Powder Room Mini-Makeover

2011-03-30T13:53:00.000-06:00

Hello Everyone! A while back I gave you a glimpse of what I have been up to with an art project in my powder room. Here is what the powder room looks like today:

The powder room was boring! When anyone went in there to do their business, all they saw was a blank grey wall with a nail in it. I decided to give people something to look at.

I had a 20x30 inch poster print made of my photographic work and mounted it on mdf. It looked like it was missing something, so I took an old frame and framed around the mounted print. This is the first thing one sees when entering the room.

The wall opposite the toilet was the one where I wanted some drama. I took a bunch of old, gaudy frames and spray painted them white, and distressed them. I then framed my beach photography and my painted chandelier studies and randomly mounted them on the wall. (Randomly meaning I did not want to measure - how tedious would that have been?!)

This room is tiny, so getting a good photo was nearly impossible, especially without using a flash. I had a tripod, and an extra lamp in the that I held. I took many pictures.....

I took this one laying down on the floor. Ewww, I'm wondering how clean this power room floor is.....

I'm planning on filling up the entire wall. I have a lot of gaudy frames to spray. As you can see, I have spaces that have yet to be filled.

By the way, my favorite white spray paint is actually a primer. It's by Kilz, and it is such a pretty, chalky white.

Evelyn and Spring Break

2011-03-28T08:13:00.000-06:00

"Evelyn" for sale. Click HERE to view.

Hi everyone! I took a little Spring break with our family last week. The week started off on Saturday with a soccer game, a piano recital, a basketball game, a basketball team celebration, another soccer game, and then in the evening we drove up to the mountains to meet some friends! Whew! We stayed in the mountains for a few days and did some skiing/snowboarding. The rest of the week was spent doing little things here and there, and now we are back here on Monday. Time flies.

My youngest was on top of the world at the beginning of Spring break.

The fort (as it was getting torn down by the mound of stuffed animals on top) was where the kids slept. Maybe that's why my youngest was complaining of a stiff neck at the end of the week...?

I'm anxious to get back to the studio this week. I have so many paintings stuck inside my head that are waiting to get out!

Happy St. Patrick's Day

2011-03-17T10:00:00.001-06:00

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

"Fresh Spring" for sale. Click here to view.

Also, thank you Blushing Mermaid for this Etsy treasury:

Sneak Peek

2011-03-16T12:10:00.000-06:00

Here's a peek on what I've been up to:

I've combined these and put them in a room for a mini-makeover. Photos to come soon!

2011-03-14T09:24:00.000-06:00

My thoughts and prayers are with you Japan.

Blogger Not Showing Blogroll Thumbnail?

2011-03-07T08:38:00.002-07:00

Hello Everyone! I hope you all had a great weekend! Ours was filled with sports again! We live a life of

"Ground Hog Day" (the movie). Everyday we wake up doing the same thing. :)

I am going on little sleep-the decaf coffee I had last night was NOT decaf. So, I'll make this post short.

I know my last 2 posts were a little strange, but I know there are others out there with the same problem I was having with my thumbnail not showing up on other blogger's blogroll. I spent waaaay too much time on it, but I found the solution.

Without going into rambling detail about things I have no clue on, I will just point you to a link that can help: Click Here.

Or, basically, upload your photo in HTML instead of Compose mode.

I hope this helps anyone else out there who was wondering why their thumbnail was not showing up.

Cherries in a Bowl

2011-03-04T10:01:00.001-07:00

Testing. I'm sorry for the inconvenience, but I'm testing a few things here.

I'm having problems with my thumbnails showing up, so I have uploaded this image to a different photosharing program. This picture is in my previous post if you want to read about it. Thanks!

Oh, in case you are interested, the above painting is for sale HERE.

Cherries in a Bowl

2011-03-04T08:35:00.005-07:00

"Solo Act" 9x12 inch original for sale. Click Here to view.

Cherries - Yum! My husband and I dealt with food poisoning this past week. (I probably shouldn't try to sell a food painting by telling you all that! :))Anyhow, we're over it now, and all I want is some fresh fruit.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Yellow Orchid

2011-03-01T07:44:00.000-07:00

"Yellow Orchid" for sale. Click here to view.

Yellow is on my mind; it makes me happy. Here's another orchid - this time in yellow.

The Lemonade Experiment

2011-02-25T07:53:00.000-07:00

"The Lemonade Experiment" for sale. Click here to view.

During the summer, we try to make freshly squeezed lemonade. There's nothing like the real thing, with water, lemons, and sugar. It takes a bit of experimenting to get the right concoction for our tastes. My son and I like ours bitter, my husband and my daughters like it sweet.

Someone else was thinking lemons too. Thanks to By the Book Paper for including my painting in her treasury! Look at all that yummy yellow!

My Avatar

2011-02-22T13:33:00.003-07:00

This painting has been shipped off to the beach - to one of my favorite places - Florida's panhandle. The client liked my avatar (profile picture of the chandelier). The original is not for sale, but I offered to paint one similar to it. This chandelier will fit in perfectly in her beach house. It makes me so happy when people like my work!:)

Is it Spring yet?

2011-02-16T08:26:00.000-07:00

"Veiled" for sale. Click here to view.

I named this one Veiled; the petals are a bit more delicate, and some look like they are wearing a veil. All this flower painting is making me want to keep this nice Spring-like weather we have been having. I really should know better than to wish something like that! Have a great Wednesday everyone!

Happy Valentines

2011-02-12T13:27:00.000-07:00

Happy Valentines Weekend!

Dreaming

2011-02-09T11:40:00.000-07:00

I would rather be looking at this right now. Where would you rather be today?

Model Home Teen Room

2011-02-04T09:33:00.000-07:00

I know I'm going about this totally backwards, but I thought you might like these images of a teen's room from that same model home I featured this past week.

This room is tucked away off the artist's studio I showed you last week:

It's not a huge space, but it is off by itself on the 2nd floor. The rest of the bedrooms are on the main level. It even has a little balcony.

I thought this photo wall was a cute idea. The "frames" are wallpapered on individually, and the photos are probably on there with tape. That way, they can be interchanged. The large mirror really opens up the small space.

I hope you have a great weekend everyone!

Model Home Kitchen

2011-02-02T10:32:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone! Our kids have had a couple of days off this week because of the cold. I remember going to school when I was their age in colder weather than this! Of course, whenever the kids have any sort of day off where we are stuck at home, they have to bake. They make a huge mess. It makes me want a bigger, more organized, kitchen. Here's one example from the same model home I showed you last week.

Here's the kitchen. Please remember this was taken with a flash - (the pre-aperture knowledge days).The eating nook is on the other side of the island;

You can see the nook a little better on the right side in this picture:

The sink is a fun shape:

The desk area sits in a little nook:

The butler's pantry on the way to the dining area:

The girls made these "bake sale pie" cupcakes. See the mess in the kitchen? :)

Weekend Tidbits

2011-01-31T09:18:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone! I hope you had a great weekend. We had a nice, warm, sunny one. The calm before the storm. It is cold and icky out right now!

This little gal completed a 3 1/2 year music program this Saturday. Yippee! This is a program where the parent has to sit in the group lesson for the hour and help teach their child. There is a lot of dancing and floor sitting involved. My feet fall asleep when I sit on the floor. And dancing....

As a gift for our teacher, I painted this. She loves to garden, and well, you get the picture with the watering can and the music coming out of the flowers.

To think my youngest started this program when she was 4 years old. Now, on to privates - no more sitting on the floor!

The little one let me take some pictures of her this weekend. She loves getting her picture taken, and I love taking pictures. I did some photoshop magic and used some textures from the Florabella Collection.

She got bored after a while and started picking at her tutu. I hope her willingness to let me capture her on camera doesn't go away like it did for her siblings!

Speaking of siblings, this little man had a great game. Amazing to me that just a couple years ago before his heart surgery, he was so uncoordinated and did not want to do any sort of sports at all. It brings tears to our eyes when we think that he was just so dizzy from all that heart medicine.

He also played some soccer with our oldest - the one with the passion for the sport.

That's it for the weekend - I'm always wondering where it all went. I hope you have a great Monday!

A Model Home Art Studio Tour

2011-01-28T09:41:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone! I was going through some pictures, and I thought I'd post an art studio in a nearby model home. These were taken a couple years ago. Please excuse the photography - I probably took them with a flash - I know - a big no no, but this was before I learned how to take interior photos without a flash.

The studio is in a loft area above the kitchen. This is what you see when you go up the stairs.

On the opposite side is this. I had to show you all the ceiling and the fun lights.

A place for canvases and other supplies. You can see the family room from here. If this were my studio, I would probably install some glass so I could still get the light, but not the noise.

I love the big sink to wash all the paint off with:

I hope you all have a great weekend everyone!

Courage Cupcake

2011-01-26T06:57:00.005-07:00

"The Courage Cupcake" for sale. Click HERE to view.

Poppies in Pink

2011-01-24T08:30:00.000-07:00

Here's another poppy painting:

"Poppies in Pink" for sale. Click HERE to view.

Have a great Monday everyone!

Poppies

2011-01-21T10:13:00.000-07:00

"Whispering" for sale. Click HERE to view.

It must be the fact it's Winter, and I am so needing the warm sun right now, but I've been painting a lot of poppies again lately. This one is finally varnished and ready to go! If you look at the listing on Etsy, you will see 2 versions. One is lighter, and one is darker. They are the same painting. The reason for that is that my PC and my MAC each show such different versions of the same painting. The color variations from monitor to monitor make it difficult to accurately portray my paintings on line.

Anyhow, I hope you all have a great weekend!

Mini Donuts in the Dining Room

2011-01-19T06:33:00.003-07:00

"Mini Donuts in the Dining Room" for sale. Click here to view.

Sometimes it's nice to eat a donut (or two) in the dining room! It feels a little fancy!

Cupcake Anyone?

2011-01-14T08:17:00.004-07:00

"Tiramisu Cupcake" for sale. Click here to view.

I love tiramisu. It's by go-to dessert when we have guests. Next time, I will try to make a tiramisu cupcake. Espresso infused cake with a marscapone frosting. Chocolate shavings and raspberries. Yum.

Have a wonderful weekend everyone!

Snow Day

2011-01-11T06:46:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, our school district had a snow day - we were all excited about it! My eldest decided to make chocolate chip cookies from scratch. There goes my New Year's resolution! My latest poppy painting makes a great backdrop - a little contradictory for the kind of day we had. The painting will be for sale after it is varnished.
Backing up to Saturday, we went skiing, while the 2 older ones took snowboard lessons. My oldest is in the pink ski helmet. The pic was taken with my i phone.
So getting back to yesterday afternoon, the kids spent some time outside in the snow. (I forgot to lower the exposure compensation when I took this. )See that big snowball that my younger one has in her arm? This is what happens when someone decides to throw the snowball. Some snow wrestling:
I love the 4 day weeks!

Red Velvet Bundt Cake at Bookclub

2011-01-07T09:10:00.003-07:00

"Red Velvet Bundt Cake at Bookclub" for sale. Click here to view.

I am in a book club. It's been about 12 years or so. It's not a highly intellectual one. In fact, sometimes we don't even read the book. Some of the books we've read are easy reading "by the pool" books, others are so good we will go back through parts of the book over and over again to figure it out, and some are so dull, we can't even finish it. The book discussion will last from 5 minutes - "did you read the book? did you like it... so what's new with life?" to a full on " i did some research on that time era the book was referring to..."(this is not usually the case)

Really, the whole point for the club is just an excuse to get out of the house, get together....and have dessert. A couple of months ago, the hostess purchased a red velvet bundt cake at the bundt cake shop. There are a couple of bundt cake shops in town; I guess with the altitude here, real cakes are hard to bake. The cake was as yummy as it was pretty. So anyhow, a long story of how this painting came to be. I was inspired by that red velvet bundt cake at book club - thus the title of this painting!

Have a great weekend everyone!

A Fresh Start

2011-01-03T11:25:00.003-07:00

Whew! I just took everything off my Christmas trees. My family is still off today, and life will resume as we knew it tomorrow. It's been a great 2 weeks, despite waking up with Fibromyalgia aches for most of it. Diet and lack of sleep always triggers these aches. With the holidays being over, now, like most of you, I am ready for a fresh start. Organization, healthy eating, exercise, my spiritual walk, being a great mother, wife, enriching my brain, and finding purpose are some of the items on my resolutions list. I haven't touched my paint brush in 3 weeks, and I ache to get back to the studio. We'll see what kind of creativity 2011 will bring!

Christmas Festivities

2010-12-21T20:01:00.002-07:00

Hello Everyone! We have a dinner every Christmas with some close friends. This year our friends Katy and Tim hosted. I had to take a picture of their pretty table. I didn't take the picture with a flash, (the flash makes everything look garish to me!) hence the yellow looking walls. Here's Katy below:
They are such a fun couple - we always have lots of laughs.

Instead of seeing Santa this year, we took a picture by the side of his cabin. None of us had the patience to wait in line:
I think I'm pretty much ready for Christmas. The baking and cards have all gone out. I just need to wrap gifts and clean the house for Christmas brunch with family here at our house. Are you all ready?

Holiday Parties

2010-12-10T09:00:00.003-07:00

We're going to my husband's company party this weekend. So, of course the first thing I think of when I heard of the event was, what to wear? It's cocktail attire. Instead of buying a new dress, I'm going to wear something out of the closet. Something simple and black. The problem is I've gained 5 pounds since I wore the dresses I have and everything is a bit tight. :( On a 5 ft frame, every pound counts! Maybe if I accessorized with a pretty purse, it will be a nice distration from my mid-section?

"Choices" for sale on Etsy. Click here to view.

Have a great and safe weekend everyone!

Semi-homemade Donuts

2010-12-03T09:24:00.007-07:00

"Donuts on a Saturday Morning" in my shop. Click here to view

A few Saturdays ago, my husband, who loves breakfast and grew up with a mom who actually prepared breakfast every single day, decided to prepare a smorgasbord of breakfast items. I don't know what got into him. Really. There was soooo much food! His spread included biscuits and gravy, sausage, scrambled eggs, and donuts. He enlisted the help of these two:

My son did not help, but wanted to be in the picture:

The donuts were semi-homemade, made from a Paula Deen recipe using refrigerated biscuits. They were fried in peanut oil, which smelled the house and made me sick the whole day. The kids had fun, and memories were made.

Have a great weekend everyone! (I don't think donuts are on the menu this weekend. Not homemade anyway! )

A Wintery Mantle

2010-12-01T10:24:00.005-07:00

This year, I decided to go for a more Wintery scene for the fireplace mantel. I painted a mountain aspen scene, with lots of texture. I pulled some of the chartreuse and blue colors from the painting and purchased some velvet chartreuse colored pillows ($10 each at Cost Plus), and used some silvery-blue pillows that I already had.

To go with the Winter theme, I used some leftover crystals from the chandelier project on some branches I cut from our trees. Here’s our mantle last year:

It’s a completely different look this year. It’s a nice change from my traditional red that I’ve always used. Here’s a closer up of the mantle this year:

I’ll probably teak it some more as the month goes by. For now, I like the more simple look. By the way, I’ve linked this post up to Layla’s mantle party. Click here for some more holiday mantles!

HUGE SALE

2010-11-30T13:12:00.002-07:00

"Lighthouse" on sale in my shop. Click here to view.

I am clearing out some of my older original paintings. I hate to part with them, but I need the space! I will start listing them one by one, at deeply discounted prices. The one above is a 24x30 inch. The colors are cobalt, greens, and oranges.

BlueGreen Butterfly

2010-11-29T08:02:00.003-07:00

"BlueGreen Butterfly" for sale. Click here to view.

Hello everyone! I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving! We always celebrate 2 Thanksgivings, as both my husband's and my families live in town. I got on the scale this morning, and it was not pretty. 2 Thanksgivings means double the turkey - which I don't eat much of, but, a whole lot of pies and yam casserole. Plus, we went to a B'nai Mitzvah for a set of twins, so we ate more yummy food there. Anyhow, all this randomness about food has nothing to do with my butterfly painting that I recently put in the shop. The painting is very textural. I don't sell it, I may put the whole series on my dining room wall. I can envision it - 3 rows of 3 or 4 of the colorful butterflies....

Cupcakes for Two Peanuts and a Tween

2010-11-23T06:47:00.003-07:00

My youngest (pictured below middle) had a friend(below right) over the other day. My oldest (left) and the two peanuts decided to decorate cupcakes. My youngest, an aspiring chef, has been BEGGING for a cupcake painting. So, in the style of one of my favorite painters, Wayne Thiebaud, I painted one as a Christmas present.
I had so much fun with it, I painted another one for her friend as a birthday gift. Her friend's cupcake painting below:

I didn't want to stop. I was having fun with all the whimsy. I thought it wasn't fair for my youngest to get a cupcake painting, and not give one to my older daughter. So I painted this one below: (shhhh, these are all Christmas presents!)

I haven't told you all about all the cupcakes I had to decorate for my older daughter's birthday party. She had a sleepover. Here are the cupcakes:

I'm not a baker, but my kids love to do it. So I help them. I got instructions for the above cupcakes in this book:
To be honest, I like to look at cupcakes more than eat them. Too much buttercream frosting for me. (I like whipped cream on my cakes more.) I may paint some more cupcakes. It was way too fun, and they put a smile on my face!

Weekend Plans

2010-11-19T10:10:00.004-07:00

My husband cleaned up the yard and trimmed up some trees a few weeks ago. He left some branches out for me, because he knows I LOVE using branches. See the crabapple branches out above? Perfect for the Christmas decor. I laid out a scarf that I'm using as a runner to catch any falling crabapples. (Need to iron scarf) I've learned that if I leave them alone and don't move them, they will dry right there on the branches.

My youngest has been asking me all month the put up the Christmas tree. This is finally the weekend. She is so excited. We have an artificial tree, because I start holiday decorating so early. Why bother with all the work if we can't enjoy it for a while? Plus, my first job out of college was working for a major insurance company as a claims adjuster. I'm not good at remembering to water my plants, so watering a big ole real tree...it would probably end up all dried out by mid-December, start a fire....

Have any of you all started your holiday decorating? I can't wait for all the blogger holiday links to start, so I can peek into all of your pretty homes!

Carillon Beachside

2010-11-17T09:15:00.000-07:00

Some of you know that my family and I vacationed the last two summers in Florida's panhandle. The town is called Carillon, and one of the posts I wrote was on the beach house once owned by designer Suzanne Kasler, and how my friend was able to rent the beautiful home for a week.

Anyhow, a few months ago, I received an email from a woman who's husband developed Carillon. She somehow found me through that post I wrote, and wanted to know if I had any paintings that were inspired from that town. Since this was right after our vacation, I had a ton of paintings in my head. The one I sold her was this:

It is a whimsical scene of the town as viewed from the sea. I spent a few hours on a paddle board (basically a surf board that you stand on while paddling with an oar) in the ocean on one of the days, and I was able to see the cute homes from a different vantage point. I knew I had to paint it, but with a bit of whimsy.

My client gave the painting to her husband as a gift, as his heart is still there. I hope when he sees the painting, he knows he helped make some beautiful memories for many families. How amazing is it that one can randomly meet people like this while blogging?!

Turquoise Peacock

2010-11-12T13:45:00.003-07:00

"Turquoise Peacock" for sale. Click here to view.

I just got out my Christmas bins. I'm planning on sorting and weeding all the junk I've accumulated over the years. I'm glad I made it out of the storage room alive - if you saw all the stuff in there piled 9 ft high, I'm sure you would call the fire department. It is a fire hazard and a danger to all who enter!

Anyhow, I'm thinking turquoise and chartreuse for Christmas colors this year. I can't wait! The peacock above sure looks different on the blog than it does in Etsy. The colors more closely match the blog than in Etsy. More of the rich jewel tones of turquoise, greens, and fuchsia. I had to look up the spelling turquoise and fuchsia. How sad is that?

Enough rambling - have a great weekend everyone!

5 Min later - I fixed the color problem in Etsy. For those who are interested, I viewed the image in "monitor RGB" for Etsy in the proof setup view in Photoshop. Trial and error.....

Poppy Field

2010-11-10T16:00:00.000-07:00

"Poppy Field" for sale on Etsy. Click here to view.

I love the red set against the greens. Here is another one of my fields for sale. Thanks for looking!

Thank You - an Etsy Treasury

2010-11-09T15:15:00.002-07:00

Thank you to Danielle Jewelry for including my Chandelier in Grey original painting in her "Chandeliers and Lace" treasury! Click here to view the painting. Click here to view the treasury.

Restocked

2010-11-08T06:00:00.001-07:00

"Purple Field" on sale. Click here to view.

Hello everyone! I've restocked my shop and will continue to stock new artwork throughout the next few weeks. By the way, the art show/boutique was a bit of a disappointment for many vendors, myself included. Well, time to pick myself back up and figure out other ways to get my work out there.

Speaking of time, I forgot to set my clock back Saturday night. The one day out of the year when I allow myself to sleep an extra hour, I was up getting in my work out at 6 am before church, when I realized that it was actually 5 am. And to think I thought I had slept in. I usually set my alarm at 5:20, but I "snoozed" a couple times. I like getting up early. My friends think I'm crazy. I'm going to have to wait till next year to get that extra hour. Bummer.

I love my big clock above. It's 4 feet in diameter. Did I set that hour back? I better go look.

I've been painting a lot of fields lately. With lots of texture. I will be listing them soon. The one above is called "Purple Field". Very original, I know.

Thanks for visiting, have a great Monday everyone!

Preparation

2010-11-03T06:00:00.000-06:00

Hello everyone! Sorry for my absence - I am preparing for an art show/boutique this weekend. I will be taking everything out of my Etsy shop tonight, and I will re-list by Monday. Any of you locals who are interested in coming down, I will be at Cherry Hills Community Church (3900 Grace Blvd. Highlands Ranch) on November 5th and 6th.
I know I'm a little behind, but I thought I'd post pictures of our little gang on Halloween night. These pics are post trick or treating. My oldest was a talking mime - an easy costume to put together. My son was an ipad. It was actually an easy costume to make. Here's the back:

See my oldest checking out her loot above? She's busy analyzing. I let them keep 15 pieces each, and we are donating the rest.

My youngest was an owl. The colorful kind, because that is just her personality. This was a little more time consuming than the ipad, but it wasn't too bad. I found the cute hat at Claires. Here are her feathers:

Anyhow, as I mentioned, I will re-stock my shop by Monday, and I will have more art in there as well. Thanks for all your support!

Happy Halloween

2010-10-29T08:47:00.003-06:00

I enjoy making costumes for the children. I like creativity, and the fact that no one else will be the same exact thing as them. Above are our costumes from 2 years ago. My husband and I were monsters, my oldest was a werewolf, my son was a frankenstein pizza guy, and my youngest was a princess riding a unicorn (I didn't make this one). I just finished up my children's costumes this year in time for their class parties. I hope people can tell what they are! Happy Halloween everyone!

Dining Buffet Before and After

2010-10-25T08:17:00.008-06:00

Hi Everyone! I am back from Fall Break - we didn't go anywhere, but it was a packed week. Sleepovers, projects, kids activities.....

Anyhow, I realized I have a few projects I did over the summer that I didn't get around to posting. One project I had been meaning to do for years is painting our dining buffet, if you can call it that. It is actually an old dresser that my husband and I purchased when we were first married 16 years ago. Below is the after:

Here's the before - it was functional, and I hate to throw away good furniture....

I never intended to paint it this blue color. I was going for grey, but I had a quart of blue I was sampling out several years ago. I am glad I went with it; it goes nicely with my painting. Plus, I was able to get rid of one more can of paint that is taking up space in our basement!

I was able to recycle the handles by spray painting them. I made sure to prime first. I painted them black. It gives it a nice balance of the traditional shape with the modern color. I accessorized with silver inherited from my husband's mother. There again, I like the shiny of the tarnished silver, mixed with the distressed buffet, with the modern/traditional handles.

As I write this, the wind is BLOWING hard outside. Today is trash day, and there is trash all over the street! I am so glad I got some of these painting projects done this summer. It may be a long Winter.....

Fall Break

2010-10-20T09:14:00.003-06:00

Hello everyone! I'm sorry for the lack of postings - I am enjoying Fall Break with my children. I hope everyone has had a great week - I'm trying to start and finish a costume for my youngest. She is going to be an owl for Halloween. I'll post pictures if it turns out. :)

Happy Friday

2010-10-15T09:20:00.003-06:00

Feelings of Fall:

Above are images from taken in Vail a few weeks ago. Below is a sitting area off the dining area in a nearby model home.

I'm loving the cozy feeling of Fall! Have a great weekend everyone!

Andante

2010-10-11T09:06:00.003-06:00

Andante - a musical term meaning "moderately slow tempo". Something I'm constantly trying to achieve. Everyone always tells me life goes faster the older one's children get. How true that is! I want some "andante" in my life - not so slow that we are bored, but slow enough so we can enjoy it.

Happy Friday

2010-10-08T09:11:00.003-06:00

"Sincerely" Fine Art Photograph on sale on Etsy. Click here to view.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Music Lessons

2010-10-06T08:54:00.003-06:00

"Music Lessons" -print for sale on etsy. Click here to view.

My children all take piano lessons. My son loves it - he is fantastic - he is the musician in the family. My oldest daughter, although a good player, does not play with the passion my son has. She would rather be out on the soccer field. My youngest likes it, but lacks the discipline to practice. Music lessons, although tortuous for some, has been found to be beneficial for young kids' brains. That's what I keep coming back to anyways, when my daughter keeps wanting to quit. Though, after 10 years of lessons, and many more years of playing the piano for my church, I'm not sure I've been "thankful" for those lessons like my mom kept telling me I would be when I grew up. :)

Anyhow, I really like the combination of the above collage of my vintage music, the pears, and scribbles from my old piano teacher. I'm not sure why I combine fruit and music, but it makes sense to me.