Spring Watercolor Collection

Here is the new Spring Line for my shop!

It's all about flowers, feminine colors, motherhood and friendship.

 

I love how all of the colors really go well together. There's a lot of blue, turquoise, pink, purple, and green, and dashes of yellow. Even some of Pantone's Radiant Orchid! This sofa is so adorable. I wish I could have this in turquoise for my house! It is the Charlotte Sofa from Urban Outfitters.

 This blue pattern makes me so happy! I really wanted to do a loose pattern painting. Of course I had to add a collection of flowers to the bottom ;)

This watercolor painting is made up of dahlias. Oh, I love the patterns and variations of dahlias. They can be perfectly round with intricate pattern, they can get loose but still keep the design, or they can just go wild and let loose.

I am in looooove with the flowers on this peony painting! It is matched up with another Urban Outfitter piece--the Plum & Bow Callin Daybed.

 I just love Louisa May Alcott. This quote really touches me because sometimes things DO happen in storybook fashion. I have realized that when I try to make up stories for my kids. I will tell them a real story, but when I tell it, oh, how beautiful life sounds. God is so good.

 The Spring Reader. So many people love The Reader in fall colors. I knew I had to do a fresh Spring version.

Friends... Oh how dear the true ones are. No matter how stormy life can get, when you are together there is always sunshine and fun to be had.

The Mother and Child. My babies are all grown up (ha ha...not really! 3 & 6 but definitely not babies). I miss these tender moments of motherhood.

Sisters. Need I say more? But honestly, this could be sisters or friends. There is something so special about the comfort and closeness with female companionship.

I have another painting I just did that fits in perfectly with this line, but I think it deserves its own post. It's that special to me. Overall, I am really excited about these new paintings. The ones I have done prior had more reds and these have a light pink tone to them. But alas, us females always like to change things up!

Favorite Spots in My Home

I went around with a camera today to find some favorite spaces and objects in my home.

I learned a lot.

Like the fact that there is this one green wall that I cannot stand. It is in my favorite room, and I couldn't even bear the thought of taking a picture of it because it bothered me so much.

But, I really loved the neutrality of the rest of my pretty living room.

This is a very long front room with an office behind the French doors. Currently it is being used as a bedroom.

This is the main bathroom. We call it The Bird Bathroom because there are birds on the shower curtain. It is also a long bathroom.

My workspace in the garage:

And that is all I have for now. I will add more as I clean the house, ha ha, just kidding (no, I'm not).

A Little Boy's Room

If you'd like to know what a 5 year old's room looks like pre-Kindergarten, this is the place to be.

I have sheltered my sweet little boy and tried my hardest to keep grown up boy stuff far, far away.

It wasn't until he turned 5 in January that he started to ask for toys other than Thomas the Train, Lightening McQueen, or Wall-E.

He asked for Star Wars and Angry Birds.

So Star Wars and Angry Birds are what the grandparents gave him. Inside the boxes are his toys, and his room has yet to be updated. He has asked me numerous times to make him a space painting and a Laser Boy portrait (a character he made up himself; it is him geared with a light saber, cape, and mask).

My favorite part of his room: his turquoise dresser (that I found on the curb with a FREE sign. I just spray painted it turquoise and it is one of my favorite furniture pieces in our house), books, painting, and globe.

 This room is supposed to be an office, so it has French doors, high ceilings, and no closet. The no closet issue we can deal with because he is a boy and doesn't have too many items that need to be hung up.

He has the cutest window seat. I took padding and cut it to fit and threw a full sized quilt folded in half on top. Sometimes he likes to sleep there instead of his bed. What's really cute about it is that sometimes Clara will come in here and they will have sleepovers.

Above his window seat there is a dragon and the DIY solar system mobile I made.

And on the left he asked if he could have his watercolor painting framed.

Above his bed is a priceless painting my mom made of him. "It's a good day" is something he always says. She is such a talented artist! If you want to see more of her work you can check out her blog.

Here are two Target bookcases filled with books, boxes, and toys. The bottom two blue boxes contain all of the Thomas the Train sets that I can't bear to donate. Thankfully Clara loves them, so Calvin and Clara will play together. The little nook at the right is where a closet should go if we ever decide to build one.

On top of the bookcases I have his bigger toys. The ceiling is really high. If my husband ever got in the mood to build some shelves there would be some awesome storage space here. My friend has the same house and they actually use this room as an office and playroom and their shelving is IMPRESSIVE. I am jealous. One of the perks of living in a tract home is seeing how your neighbors and friends decorate their house when it is the same floor plan. Isn't it amazing to see all the different things you can do?

On the side of his bookcase I let him tape up odds and ends. To hang his little painting of my mom's bird Cocoa in the desert we used one of those mounting tape hooks. You can buy a pack of them at the Dollar Tree.

 Here you can see that nook that could be a closet. That's where I have stuff tucked away. The painting of the boy and the moon I have as a print in my etsy shop. On the right is his calendar and alphabet chart and above is another awesome painting done by my mom of Thomas the Train and Lightening McQueen.

And that concludes the (clean) room tour of a 5 year old boy. Give it a year and I'm sure it is going to look a lot different!

Another Book Page Wreath

I just love these...

I saw a wonderful tip on Pinterest for hanging wreaths: use a 3M mountable hook.

OR, in my case, grab a pack of the cheaper version at the Dollar Tree (I think there are 9 mini hooks). I placed mine on TOP of the hutch instead of behind the doors because I wanted it centered.

I am going to be having a Glitter Party within the next month, so you can look forward to some fun party decor pictures and DIYs!

Colorful Desert Painting

My dear friend is moving to Arizona...

While I am so happy for her and her sweet little family, I am so sad to be 5 and a half hours away from her. We met in college thanks to her cousin and my dear friend Jamie. We've been there for each other as we've gotten married, had kids, made homes, and lost dear ones.

I told her that when she moved I would paint her a painting for her new house. I was shocked when she told me she wanted a desert painting. I imagined a boring, desolate desert and knew that there was no way I could paint that. My desert would have color, plants, be original, and idealistic.

And of course, after I was finished I wished I could keep it!

It's name is "Jackie's Desert" and it was painted in acrylic.

Till the next time we Skype, dear Jackie!!

January Hutch Decor

I just can't get over my adorable book page wreath. I really need to make more.

Here are my snazzy decorations for my hutch this January.

I was pleased to find big bags of oranges, pears, apples, and other produce at Big Lots this week. Only 98 cents for a whole bag of each fruit. Win!

Once again, here is the fabulous tutorial on how to make it.

Happy Halloween Wall

Here's my turquoise wall decorated for the Halloween Baby Party:

I made the garland out of scrapbook paper and dental floss.

I painted my pumpkin on the back of kraft wrapping paper using acrylic paints!

Clouds for Baby's First Birthday

I love having a turquoise wall in my kitchen.

I mean, look at how much fun it is to decorate!

For Clara's first birthday:

I made the clouds out of wrapping paper and just turned it so the pattern faced the other way. Then I crumpled them because it's so flimsy it needed the texture.

Instead of taping it up, I used that sticky gum stuff that you put up posters with.

The garland is made out of scrapbook paper and strung together using dental floss (it's the best for garlands and hanging things because it is strong and is so thin--oh, and it smells minty).

The Desk all Painted Up

My mom sent over this desk/dresser since she was making room for a new piece of furniture.

It started off as a yellowy wood color, but after sanding it and painting it with Antique White it looks entirely different! I wanted to change the hardware, but the handles are too odd of a size to buy replacements at Lowe's.

Before:

After:

And in our bedroom:

 

And SURPRISE!

I painted it the same blue as our wall inside. I used mod podge as a glaze to protect the paint since my laptop will be residing in here. I'm sure that something like polyurthane would be a better choice, but I just used what I had on hand.

The Laziest Nightstand Makeover

Scene:
Garage Sale

Cast:
Me
Baby Clara
Old lady

(On my way to my mom's, I see a garage sale sign. Follow arrow. Stop at sale. Decide if it's worth taking the baby out of the carseat. Decision: go for it!)

Me: This is nice (looking at nightstand or whatever it is supposed to be)
Old Lady: Yes, it is. I think she wants ten dollars.
Me: Hmmmm.
        Okay, I want it.


Decisions, decisions.

What color should I paint it? I intend for it to be baby Clara's, and after finding knobs at Ross on clearance, I was thinking green. BUT I only want to spray paint because I am ridiculously lazy. None of the colors worked, so I bought two cans of Valspar White gloss spray paint but only used maybe one and a half at the most.

I modge podged K & Comapny scrapbook papers on the inside and then on the back where I didn't want to waste paint.

Voila!!!

She isn't perfect, because once again I am too lazy to sand or prime. Yup, let's call it shabby chic with out the work.

Tools: spray paint, screwdriver, modge podge, scrapbook paper



The back of it. I modge podged scrapbook paper because I didn't want to waste my paint.

The inside is so cute! I can just imagine my little girl using it as a doll house if she wanted to.



Pretty green knobs from Ross