Pretty Paisley Welcome

This is absolutely one of my favorite designs ever. I love the colors! I really need to do one of these for my font door...maybe for fall.
I was looking at an Architectural Digest magazine at Gateway while waiting for my van and saw this beautiful chair. You know that if it is in that magazine, I would never be able to afford it! The pattern on the chair inspired this canvas. I tore that page out and took it with me. You never know where your next inspiration will come from, so keep your eyes open!

Vacation Part 2

We are still on the road. Here are a few more moments and, as promised, some pictures.

Day Six: We spent the day touring Baltimore. Our hotel is within walking distance of everything on the Inner Harbor. We spent the entire day at the aquarium. It was quite a bit like the Chattanooga Aquarium but had a much bigger salt water area. We especially enjoyed the 4-D movie and the dolphin show. The best part was eating at the Cheesecake Factory afterwards!











Day Seven: We decided to make the trek to Washington, D.C. on Sunday to avoid some traffic and it turned out to be a very nice day. We only visited the Museum of Natural History and the Museum of Air and Space. We just drove by all of the other landmarks. I figured that with two small children, that was enough! We were very impressed with the hall of mammals. It is soooo much like "A Night at the Museum"! Carter loved it!
I am amazed by the wide variety of people. I was sitting in the lobby resting, and heard four different languages around me. There are so many different types of clothing, skin colors, languages, and cultures that I fail to think about on a regular basis. It is so easy to get caught up in your little world and forget about the rest of it.

Simple Monogram

A beautiful, simple monogram in sage and chocolate. It is something nice for the Harrell family.

Vacation

Our vacation is officially underway. Here is a brief recap of events so far:

Day One:
We spent most of the first day in the car driving from home to Roanoke, Virginia. There is not a lot of "stuff" along the way, but the mountains are gorgeous. The Blue Ridge Parkway truly is a breathtaking drive. We also watched The Little Mermaid and Scooby Doo.

Day Two:
We drove from Roanoke to Charlottesville, Virginia and enjoyed the day at Montecello, Thomas Jefferson's home. They offered a children's tour that was very interesting. Lauren had a meltdown....pictures to come soon. After some time in the pool and a nice outdoor dinner, she was much better. I think she was little disappointed. She thought we were going to Tom and Jerry's house!

Day Three:
We made the short drive from Charlottesville to Williamsburg. We went to the Jamestown settlement. I went reluctantly, having already hit my historical limit, and was pleasantly surprised. I loved that everything was hands-on. It wasn't too big and was very new and clean.

Day Four:
We actually went to Williamsburg on a 100 degree day with two small children. You can see where this is going. It was too big and there was no children's tour. I think it was a bit over their heads and we ended up at the hotel pool pretty quick. On the plus side, Williamsburg has one of the best outlet malls I've ever been to...LL Bean and Columbia!

Day Five:
Today we drove from Williamsburg to Baltimore with one major stop at the Potomac Mills Mall. It is a lot like Opry Mills, only bigger. The kids got to do a Build-A-Bear for the first time. I always say no, but I figured we are on vacation! They loved it and it kept them busy in the van for the horrendous traffic jam that was the Washington D.C. by-pass. It ended up taking a lot longer to get here than we planned. All we had time to do tonight was eat dinner at the ESPN Zone and get some groceries for breakfast. There is a Whole Foods store next door, so I loitered there for a while! Tomorrow...the aquarium!

Buy Me Some Peanuts and Cracker Jacks...

To celebrate Carter's birthday, we took a bunch of buddies to see the Chattanooga Lookouts play. If you are looking for a fun, reasonably priced birthday party, this is it. Just go to the Lookouts website and click on birthday packages. We got a great deal with one easy phone call. Carter even got to throw out the first pitch! What a night to remember!

Here is the birthday boy with friends Christian Weeter, Brennan Keeton, and Samuel Parish. Anne and Will Vance are there in the background!

Brent and Madeline Keeton took Lauren to get a closer look at the mascot, Louie.



Carter and Mac Britton actually share the same birthday. Mac turned fourteen...he is getting so big!

Mike loved taking his little girl to the game. She calls "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" her song.





Emily and Davy with Tim, Dana, and Laura Grace Parish in the background. I got out from behind the camera for one shot with Mike! Now, what are we going to do for year eight???

Trayce Ashford

New customer and soon to be new mommy, Jacqueline Ashford, ordered this beautiful 12x24 canvas for baby Trayce's nursery. It is designed to match the "Mad About Plaid" bedding that can be found at JC Penney. I loved the colors of chocolate brown, cream, and pale aqua blue. I also liked the combination of stripes, dots, and plaid all on one canvas.

Madison's Stripes and Dots

Kim Nunley emailed to redeem a gift certificate her daughter won in a beauty pageant. Madison is the current Snow Princess. Congratulations!
She wanted the stripes and dots I did a while back for Graylin Womack's baby girl, Lilly. The only thing different is that she wanted the green changed to brown.
Looks great in either color! Thanks, Kim!

A New Baby

Congratulations to J.W. and Gina Holt on the new addition to their family, Jake. Paula Smith ordered this sweet little canvas to match his bedding as a gift. I know he's beautiful!

Carter is Seven!

My sweet baby Carter is seven years old today. I don't think he likes me calling him "sweet baby" anymore! It does not seem like seven years ago that he came into our lives. But then again, I can't remember life without him. I've chosen some oldies but goodies from his photo file to share in celebration of his birthday.
He was almost four years old when Lauren came along. He was very excited to become a big brother. As always with Carter, there were no fewer than a million questions.

We love our trips and Carter is definitely not immune to the travel bug! Like most kids, he loves to go to Gatlinburg. His Pa took him to Cherokee on one trip. He got to get his face painted and came home with a spear and a headdress. You know, all that good stuff that mom and dad say no to!

Carter wants to be just like his dad. He likes to work in the yard with him, but his favorite thing to do with his dad is play sports, watch sports, read sports, and just talk sports. It doesn't matter what sport! The only thing they don't have in common is khaki pants. Mike wears them every single day and Carter has to be bribed into his on Sunday mornings only.

Carter with two of his favorite things...his uncle Adam and eating. Adam does farming, fishing, hunting, and all of that manly stuff Carter loves. He thinks Adam hung the moon and stars. Carter is also known for his eating ability. There isn't really a food he doesn't like. Adam took him out for catfish the other night and he is still talking about it!

Happy Birthday!

The Holts

LeAnne Holt wanted something special to give as a gift. It needed to match a gray house with burgundy shutters. This canvas is painted gray and has a special background treatment. I hand stamped silver metallic dots all over. It looks really pretty when the light hits it. I loved it!
I also added funky flowers and pretty satin ribbon for the burgundy touch Leanne wanted. It looks perfect for summer, but could definitely be left up all year.
Enjoy!

A Day at the Pool

We were invited to spend the day at our friend Amy Crouch's beautiful new pool in Cookeville. We don't get to see Amy and Brooklyn very much, so this was a treat. Her sister, Allison Stiles, and her children are in town from Ohio, so we were very excited to see them, too. We've been friends literally forever. It was so nice to really talk and let the kids play for a long while. I can't think of a better way to pass a sunny summer day!
Check out my handsome little nephew, Ian. What a heartbreaker with those big eyes!

Lauren loves to be in the water...with her Cookie Monster swimmies, of course!

Speaking of heartbreakers, my Carter looks so grown up!


Thank you so very much, Amy!

Little Princess

Denise Skelton ordered this pretty pastel canvas to give as a first birthday gift. I love the quote she sent me. How perfect for a little girl's room. She wanted pastels and the walls are painted soft yellow, so I though the pink and powder blue would look nice against that.

This is a new font I found called, oddly enough, Jheri Curls. I thought it was kind of girly and awfully cute! I've added this close up shot to show that I've added texture around the outside edges of the canvas. This is done by adding layers of handmade
paper with a matte medium before you paint. It just adds an extra little something! This one is also lightly sprayed with a fine glitter for extra magic.

I had to share this beautiful photo of baby Maggie that Denise sent me to show the colors in her room. Just lovely!

Mrs. Ashford's Apple

Mrs. Jacqueline Ashford ordered an apple for her classroom door at West Elementary. I love bright red apples and chose a fun yellow and lime background to show it off. I also added small bright colored polka dots and red gingham ribbon. I think this would look very welcoming on any door!
Here's a sneak peek for you, Jacqueline! The rest of your order is on the way!

Riley Is Dreaming

This bedding is so cute and colorful! Angela Cargile from Rockvale, Tennessee sent me a link to a photo of the bedding and I just loved it immediately. This canvas almost painted itself! She is giving it as a new baby gift. I think that giving something handmade that matches the nursery is just about one of the best gifts to give!
Angela is a wonderful customer and I appreciate her so much. If you haven't checked out her blog, go see her sweet family soon!

Carter's Homer

Carter's picture was in the paper last week. He was pretty excited to see himself in there. He hit his very first home run! I think his daddy and I were as proud as he was. I loved that big smile!

Thank You

Mandy Byars works closely with the Inn at Harvest Farms planning weddings. She had this genius idea that I just loved from the start. She wanted two elegant black and white canvases, one that said "thank" and one that said "you".
Her idea is to have the bride hold one and the groom hold the other for a photograph. That photo can them be used as the couple's thank you cards. I wish I had thought of that when I got married!
I added my new black and pale silver striped ribbon and a little sheer shimmer ribbon. I thought maybe they could hang them near the check out area at the inn when they are not being photographed.
Thanks, Mandy! Love the idea...keep up the good work out there!

Ladylike Stripes

These very ladylike pink and chocolate stripes are going to Ashley Williams to give as a baby shower gift. So sweet, simple, and pretty all topped off with a big pink satin bow.

Bright Flowers

The pretty bright flowers are for Amanda Woodlee. She is getting married next week! I thought this would look cool and cheery all summer long on her new front door.
Congratulations!

Miss Wendy

To know Wendy Beaty is to love her! I go to church with her and her darling family and have really enjoyed getting to know them. Wendy is always in a good mood, has something nice to say, and is just fun to be around. She always says or does something to make me laugh! To top it all off, she is gorgeous!
She was my "secret sister" a while back. This was one of her gifts. It is for her to hang on her salon door. I also had Paula make her some cookies!!!