Recent Customs

 I wanted to share some custom pieces that I've created recently for clients.  Some sweet friends of ours who we met in birthing class had twin boys a few months ago!  Their daughter was born about a month before T-man, and we were excited to celebrate their new additions!

These are 2x4 foot canvases, and I just love how they turned out!  My favorite part was that the names were entrusted to me before the boys were born! I was sworn to secrecy, and kept my lips sealed!

 This next mural was for a friend of a friend!  I fell in love with this nursery the moment I walked in!!! The beautiful lilac color was so calming and gorgeous!  Once again, since we were doing a monogram, I was entrusted with the name of this little one!!!  Now that she's here, I know sweet Nora must love her gorgeous room!

And, this is Winter's nursery!  Again, this was a friend of a friend, and her nursery totally fit this couple!!! I have gotten so many compliments on this adorable little tree, and the coordinating pink furniture!!! 

I had to hold on to a lot of these photos until the babies were born, but now that they're all here, I wanted to share!!!  Hope you enjoy!

Happi Tree

A few weeks ago I got to paint a mural for Melissa's little girl, Winter!  Their nursery was almost all set, and after the tree was up, they were ready to welcome her into the room!

 They chose the Dena Happi Tree bedding, which is absolutely adorable!!! To top everything off, the crib and dresser/changing table was a gorgeous shade of pink!!!

 I instantly fell in love with their style the moment that I walked in!  I think it helps that I love all things baby, but doing murals and customized canvases for families is one of my favorite things!

 I just loved how the room turned out!!!

Watch them grow!

 My nephew, Pax, turned 1 at the beginning of the month! We were so excited to go to his party and watch him scarf down his cake and play with all of his toys!

Since Kendall and I share a love for adorable little robots, I knew the perfect design for Pax's growth chart!

 I had so much fun painting it, and knew Kendall would love having it hang in his room one day.  I must say, it's probably my most favorite growth chart so far!!!

Happy Birthday, Pax!  We love you so much, and may just steal you and keep you at our house!

painting ideas

Now that you've seen a few Color n Cups painting parties in action, I'd really like your help.  I want to add more painting options to the repertoire.  I'd like some fun, fresh paintings to get people's attention.  I've been dying to do a peacock one, very similar to this one, but with slightly different colors.

I also really like the abstractness of this next one, but with the brightness in the middle.  What do you think?!

I think it'd be fun to do a fully abstracted one as well, and add a cross or two into the mix!

So, what do you think?!  I could really use your help on this.  You could even link to a picture that you think would be cool to paint in a painting class!  I hope to work on some of these here pretty soon!

What are you being inspired by on this Monday morning?!

Ruston Colors n Cups

 My sister-in-laws requested a Colors n Cup party while we were visiting for Christmas, and it was SO much fun!!!  Naturally, they chose the Fleur dis Lis. 

 For the background, they learned how to create texture and value changes using multiple colors. 

 Next, they created gorgeous shading using at least 4 different browns!!!  Once they learned where the light source was coming from, the shading came easier.  Both girls picked up the techniques so well, and created beautiful paintings!

I love how unique the they turned out!!!  Great job, girls! I had so much fun with you! :D

*If you are interested in hosting a Colors n Cups party, and live in the Indianapolis area, please email me to set up your party!  You can also read more details HERE!

Custom Canvases

 We just got back from Louisiana, but with the business of the holidays, I haven't had a chance to show you some of my custom orders!!!

The Jolliffs are dear friends of ours who are leaving for the mission field.  Elizabeth wanted something for the boy's room (they have 3!)  Sam loves camo and he and Andrew love to be outdoors.  The stripes just matched their bedding.  This is one of my favorite canvases since I haven't done many boy's rooms...except T's ;)

 We had also seen this one on Pinterest, and she had to have it!!!  I will be so sad to not see those little faces anymore!  We'll miss you, Jolliffs!

 My friend, Erica's, mom is the one who invited me to participate in the recent art show that I did.  While we were there, she ordered a custom canvas for Eva's room!  You can see her adorable little face in the lower right hand corner!  She's an absolute doll, and Erica said she loved the art!

 I also got this custom order at the same fair.  I was pretty pumped to do this one, and had a great time with all of the John Deer paraphernalia.  I actually went in to our local John Deer store, obviously looking out of place, and asking, "Do y'all have any, like, catalogs that I could have?!" in what probably sounded to them like a Valley girl accent.  Luckily, there were some sweet guys behind the counter who were more than willing to help me, but with a slight snicker under their breath :/ I should have wore my work clothes in there :) 

Enjoy!

afternoon painting

 We've been living in our house for about 4 years now.  I love my house, but I am ready for a few slight changes to keep things feeling fresh.  After I finished the place mats, I decided that the painting in the kitchen needed a bit of an update.

 The colors are pretty, but I got very inspired by Mati Rose, and wanted to try to experiment with her style. So, the cover up began.

 I did leave some of the pieces of the original painting show through, but I also masked those pieces.

 It was nice to have my easel out and paint again.  I just LOVE to paint!!!  I've been playing around with abstract after my class I took last spring, and really hadn't done it in a while.  I think I was just in the zone because it all just kind of flowed!!! ...did I mention that I did all of this during T's nap time?!

 And, ta da!  The finished product!!!

 It goes really well with the orange piece bellow, and it's a nice compliment to the kitchen!!! 

Ahhh, to paint again!  :)

Flowers and Football

 Quite a combo, right?!  Not if you live with Ava and Landon!!!  My friend, Katie, from high school is an extremely talented photographer, and a wonderful mother to 2, almost 3, of the most adorable kids ever!!!

Ava is going to be sharing her room with her new little sister, Haddie, in just a few weeks now!  To help consolidate, her dad build her this awesome bed with storage underneath!

 I painted flowers in the room to match the bedding, and put the girl's names on the wall above their beds.

 Ava loved all of her flowers, and now she has a colorful space to play with her Barbies and Littlest Petshops!

 We didn't want Landon to be left out, so I made over his room, too!  First of all, let me tell you that Landon has my dream room.  He lives in the basement (which is a rough term since it's a finished space, and very nice).  It's away from the rest of the family, and feels very "Box Car Children-ish," which Landon has just started reading. 

Landon loved the ideas of turning the cut outs on his walls into "lockers," and his parents came up with the score board idea for his book cabinet.

 We continued with the sports theme above his bead.

 This is my favorite mural so far!  I think it was the lockers and score board, but the over all look was so much fun!!!

 I really liked painting at their house.  They were gone most of the time, but while we were there, we jammed out to some Tim McGraw and Justin Beiber.  The best part was when both kids were standing on either side of me on the bed and belting out "Baby!"  It was priceless, and I wanted to take them both home with me after that.

Thanks Landon and Ava for letting me adorn your walls!  I had a blast with you guys!

weekend happenings

Thank you for everyone who entered the giveaway!!! Click here to see the winner!!!!
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This weekend we started the first of what will be MANY birthday celebrations for T and his friends!!!  Lukey celebrated his 1st birthday on Saturday,  and we had a great time watching him enjoy his friends, presents, and cake! :)

Tucker wanted to give his something really special, so he made this growth chart!!!...I may have helped a bit ;)

 Luke's Dad, Adam, coaches football, and was thrilled with this gift!

 I've also been working on some projects for Courtney over at Klassical Keys!!! We met at my booth, and have become fast friends!!!  I'll give you more details in a while, but it was nice to work on some  mixed media again!!!!

Fisher's Freedom Festival!!!

I can't fully describe to you how amazing this whole experience has been!!!  Like I've said before, I have always wanted to do an art's fair.  After experiencing my first one, I'm hooked!!!

So, wonder where I've been the last few weeks?!  Doing all of this!!!:

As soon as we got home from vacation, I went straight to work on finishing up a few final projects, and tying up loose ends.  I'm usually a procrastinator, then get super stressed out at the last minute, and end up in a hot mess of melt down.  Not this time!!!  I was easy and breezy :)

My ultimate plan unfolded as seen in my mind, and Big A helped me set up my booth mock up in the garage the morning of set up.  I actually made my first sale to a neighbor while it was up!

 That evening, with plans in hand, Big A, mom, dad and I headed to the park and got everything ready to go in nearly no time at all!!!

 And, ta-da!!! The finished booth!!!  Since the space next to me was empty, we eventually opened the left wall out to make the whole thing more open.  It was much nicer :)  I had a perfect booth space in the shade, facing north, so we never had any direct sunlight.  The weather was perfect!

 My whole family was there to support me!!!  The girls came up with their guys, and I loved getting to love on the boys!  Thanks for coming up to be there for me!  You guys rock! :D  LOVE you!

 My parents were an amazing help and encouragement through this whole journey!  Mom came all week to take care of T-man while Big A and I got ready for the weekend.  They were both there for practically the whole weekend with us, and Dad shared his muscles and his sweet tea at the booth.  I am so blessed to have family who just wants to be a part of my life!!!

 And, these guys :D  My adorable matching men!!!  Andy has always adored my passion, and as my "business manager" and partner ;)  helped me with all parts of this project!!!  T did amazing all weekend!  He follows in my footsteps as a people-watcher, so he was in his element :)

 And, of course, was thrilled to have his homies here, but I think they'll need a more extended play date in the near future :)

 I was thrilled at my over all success at the fair.  My favorite part is getting to know new people and learning about them!!! I love sharing the background of my artwork and knowing where it's new home is!  My peacock feather stuff sold like hot cakes!!! I think I only have one left!!!

 And, the aprons were a huge hit, too!!!

To see pictures from the whole weekend, click here!