bloom

I certainly am no green thumb but I do love to plant me some flowers come spring! 

 We were about to throw away this old, heavy, metal filing cabinet when I decided it could definitely be used as a planter....

I used a layer of white spray paint then a layer of standard behr paint

decided on stripes....so easy and I just love stripes in general

filled it up with some empty plastic bottles/containers so not to have to waste potting soil

painted a little something on the front:

or you could also use an old light fixture as a planter:

got my pretty flowers from my sister and brother in-law's greenhouses...you must GO

and a few pics of the girl with her bestie this morning at Baker Park....feeding the ducks for the first time! So, so fun......

have a great weekend!!!

a week of firsts

It has been a fun week of firsts......a trip to the Inner Harbor in Baltimore for Leila to discover that fish really do swim in water......

and ships float

She kissed the tanks and squeeled "FEEESSHHH"

and the independence of being able to climb up on the sofa and "read" all on her own....

and the beauty of snow.....

and juggling really is not that easy (especially with balls that are half her size!)

Meanwhile, I am about to embark on a new painting which will incorporate the following:

 can you tell what's what?

flag banner

I certainly am no Martha Stewart....everything I make is a fly by the seat of your pants creation/concoction in my head that is inspired by some random thing.  Most of the time it works (and sometimes it doesn't.)  But I love the process...and I really love the sweet vintage style flag banners you see lately. 

Couldn't resist making one myself.  Ofcourse, I wanted mine to look a bit more rich than the ones you see in the stores.  So, off I went searching for all of my scrap materials and there I went to work on a "Merry Christmas" flag banner.  The only thing missing here is a whistle for each flag....I used most of what I could think of for this piece.  I am lucky to have a TON of miscellaneous materials lying around the house which I have collected throughout the years BUT, you can make this with anything, really.  Be creative....that's what makes yours special.  You can make a banner for any holiday, birthday, occasions...you name it.

 This cost me $0.00:

Cut out your "flags" and letters using heavy duty paper...

Next, cut out newspaper "flags" a smidge smaller than your paper flags and glue to your original flags.

I then used a polycrylic finish to give it a sturdy surface...

I have a habit of saving wrapping paper, boxes, tissue...you name it.  I happen to have a load of pink tissue paper at my finger tips.  I used some scraps for each flag and created a round "flower" if you will for the base of the letter.

I love Martha's craft supplies in general...however not so much her glue.  It is designed as a throw back to our kindergarten years when you pulled out a brush with the cap (remember that??) 

Quite messy....but I used it anyway.

Used a hot glue gun for the letters and to glue on the tissue paper a bit more

Happened to have these fun little stones and glued one to the bottom of each flag to give character

Using Martha's glue and glitter...I went to town with gold and silver....

Wanted my banner to have more depth and richness so I hot glued wraphia ribbon to the back of each flag...draping down from behind which gives whimsy.

In process...

Punch holed two holes in each flag and chose a lovely satin cream wribbon to weave through the banner to add character...

I also sprayed some acrylic coating on each flag just to secure the glitter

 done 

 It's a smidge on the pink side for my taste so I might give it a quick silver/gold spray paint...BUT, it will be lovely with all of our vintage Christmas decor I will put out soon.......how I do love CHRISTMAS :)

history in the house

Maybe it is because my husband is reading The True Life of Mary Stuart, Queen of Scots and I am almost done with the 800 page 17th century romance novel, Forever Amber, that has inspired me to recently feel the urge to:

A) Shine my silver (who voluntarily does this today? Ugh...not sure what is wrong with me):

And B):

Begin painting a piece depicting what I think the rebellious and daring Amber St. Clare may have looked like after she recovered from the plague.  I am a firm believer that artists are inspired by their subconscious and I often times will be mid-way through a painting and figure out where it came from.

Lately I have had an obsession with combining funky shapes, colors, patterns and modern elements with traditional subjects. 

Amber enjoying the sweet scent of roses in contrast to what will be a modern, graphic backdrop of colors and forms.  When I took a Summer en plein air painting course at The Torpedo Factory years ago my instructor emphasized just throwing color on the canvas and going from there.  So, I'm just throwing color on right now...we'll see what happens to Amber as I work.

20" x 20"...acrylic on cotton and I am sure I will use pencil, crayon and a hodge podge of other things

dansez...riez...buvez...chantez...aimez

12" x 16" acrylic, gold drawing ink and pencil on canvas with polycrylic finish.  Edges painted rose.

Dance, laugh, drink, sing, love

a bit of kitsch

I have never been a needle point kind of gal and when it comes to Leila I'm not much of a fan for anything "princessy."  However...exceptions can be made.  Although long, it is a gorgeous 5 hour drive to my parent's house through the Shenandoah Valley...Bath County, Va and more.  If you take the time to stop, you can stumble upon some really fabulous places in the towns you pass.  Karen's Emporium in Churchville, VA is just one of them.  So Mom and Pop she has no website and greets you with a warm "Hey, how you doin'?" in her thick Southern accent every time.

I had passed her store time and time again.  Finally, Leila and I stopped...just the two of us.  I needed to nurse her, change her diaper, etc...she was only a few months old.  Karen welcomed us with open arms and let us do everything we needed to while we talked and I learned more about her.  She and her husband live in an old church they are renovating and her husband makes signs for her store

 (read more about this below.) 

During that visit I found this needle point piece that I had to get...every home should have one piece that has a little kitsch.  As we left, she gave Leila a little stuffed duck and told us to come back.

Got rid of the 1970's look and painted the frame a taupe:

The next time we stopped at Karen's her husband was there.  He is an incredible artist who free hands custom signs for personal and commercial purposes.  Probably most well known for creating all of the signs as you enter the town of Princeton, NJ...he is also old school...no website : (

As we left, he insisted we have this sign for Leila which he made:

I am working on my own kitschy painting at the moment.  I had an urge to paint roses and some funky happiness...and this is what happened.  Will post photo when done.