Holly Jolly Christmas

Kim Davis did quite a bit of holiday shopping with me this year. I was so happy to be a part of her gift giving, including this cute 8x10 for Holly. I love hearing all about who is getting what, keeping the secret, and just knowing that my paintings are being shared. I have done several really cute, different things that I have to keep under wraps a little while longer!

While it is too late to place Christmas orders, please remember that I do have gift certificates available for purchase.

Lee Williamson

Lee Williamson ordered a 12x24 tan snowman for her home. I love the neutral colors on these snowmen. They go with just about anything!

Baby Shower

Kendice Panter ordered this 10x10 canvas made to match baby Gavin's bedding. What a wonderful, personal gift for a baby shower!

Feast Your Eyes...

...on all of these elegant names and monograms.

I am heading out on my annual Gatlinburg Christmas shopping/pre-Thanksgiving getaway and won't be posting for a few days. I decided to share several of the beautiful monograms and names that I've completed recently all at once. They are each so special with custom chosen colors and ribbon suited to their owners!

What In The World Have I Been Up To?

One day this week I snapped this picture of my left hand. What have I been up to? You'll have to wait for more pictures to see the finished product!

Twilight Tonight

I've got my tickets bought to see Twilight tonight! Opening night! I am so in love with Edward it is not even funny. If you haven't read the book series, I highly recommend them. All of the "Hobbs women" are die hard twilighters!

Have a geat weekend!

Christmas Card Preview

Making our Christmas card photo is a tradition with our family. Mike and I started this on our very first Christmas together. I love to look through them in order and see how far we've come! I am using some pictures taken during our trip to the beach over fall break for our Chirstmas cards this year. Here is a sneak peek at my little sweeties!

Girly Girls

I've had two back to back orders for "girly" names! It was kind of nice to use some colors other than red and green! Samantha Bell's mother, Robin, ordered this light and dark purple sign for her room as a Christmas gift. The colors are really very rich in person and they look great will all of the different types of ribbons. This one is also coated in glitter for a little extra sparkle.

Grace and Tonya Rains decided to use Grace's gift certificate from the Little Fairest of the Fair pageant to get an all pink polka dotted canvas. At first, I thought it might be too much pink, but it turned out beautiful. What was I thinking? Can you really have too much pink? I also used lots of different kids of ribbons and a little glitter on this one, too.
Thanks, ladies! Enjoy!

More Christmas Spirit

Elf legs for Ann Vance!

Gingerbread Men

Suzanne Prater is such a trendsetter! Back in the fall, she was the first one to order scarecrows. Now, she is the first to request large gingerbread men. Her back porch has two doors, so she always orders a matching set of canvases. I thought these two partners turned out awfully cute. I love the green background color she chose.
Yes, that is my Christmas tree already up!

Ladybug

Keri ordered a ladybug for little Avery's room. This one is designed to hang on the doorknob, but also works great on drawer pulls, bed posts, and even the wall. So cute!

The Joy of Leaves

My Wednesday afternoon art class at Chole's got slightly distracted by the beautiful leaves this week. Linda Dunlap's yard is full of huge maple ad oak trees that have produced piles and piles of colored leaves. We used the leaves for leaf printing and they turned out so pretty.

We stamped on large sheets of newsprint. For the crafters out there, these pages make beautiful scrapbook backgrounds and are also perfect for wrapping fall gifts.


Nate and Mia Grace Cantrell are natural born stampers! It must be something about those Cantrell kids...everything they tried, and believe me Nate experimented a lot, turned out gorgeous!




















At the end of the class, Carter and Saylor had to go out and play one more time. Here they are playing "mummy". I also got these adorable shots of their sweet little faces buried in the leaves.

Miss Marlee

Brandi Holden ordered this large 24x48 canvas to hang above her daughter's bed. She chose the hot pink, baby pink, and lime green stripes and dots to match her bedding. I think this one just looks fabulous! Thanks so much, Brandi, for the order and for sending me the picture!

Little Lady

Victoria Woods, our reigning Fairest of the Fair, redeemed her gift certificate for a black and white polka dot canvas for her room. She wanted the lettering in a light teal color to match her pageant dress from that night. I was so happy to hear that sweet Miss Victoria had won. I remember her being little bitty when I was teaching at Boyd years ago. She was just as beautiful then as she is now. I know she will represent Warren County like the lady she is. Congratulations!

Cat Nap

Our new baby, Cinco, can sleep anywhere anytime. Lauren likes to tuck him in while he is napping and it doesn't bother him a bit. Don't we all wish we slept that sound?
I did have a very restful Saturday today. I went to the Ladies' Retreat at the Cottage. I didn't go spend the night last night, even though I am kind of wishing I had after hearing all of the fun Bunco stories! I also heard that Katelyn Parish did a fantastic lesson.
This morning started with a delicious breakfast that I am sure Trina Farriss had something to do with! McKenna Rhea brought the first lesson of the day about perfection. We had to write down our most perfect quality and then our worst quality. Talk about thought provoking! Then, we tied the two cards together and thought about ways to use our best quality to improve our worst quality. There were lots of laughs and tears as we went around the room and discussed.
Kelly Dyer did the next lesson about signs of life. She talked about all of the signs she wears everyday and the difficulty of juggling all of the jobs you must juggle as a busy woman of today. Sometimes I feel like I am the only on with a messy house, crazy kids, and even crazier schedule. It was nice to be reminded that I am not alone. Not only are most other women going through the same things, but God is always there.
Tammy Young and Sonya Cantrell provided lunch of homemade soup and pimento cheese sandwiches. I don't know who brought that cake, but yum! The wonderful Kaye Ramsey finished out the day with a lesson on church signs. She is a hoot! Not only was her message uplifting and inspirational, but laughter was the best way to end the day.
Anne Vance and Sonya headed the whole thing up and did such a good job. Everything was so organized! Diane Morton and the Cottage was clean, beautiful, and very accommodating for our group.
I don't know why I named my little business "Dream Custom Artwork". I came away with a quote from today that really touched my heart and expresses how I feel about my life. I think I may have found my new slogan...

"God's dreams for you are so much bigger than any dream of your own."


Have a good weekend. Hug your sisters.

Mylie Cantrell

Mylie Cantrell is a new baby girl who is very sick. This canvas is going to the intensive care unit in Nashville. Please keep sweet little Mylie, mom Danessa, grandmother Frances, and the rest of her family in your thoughts and prayers.

Just a Reminder...

Christmas orders need to be placed by Saturday, November 8, to insure holiday delivery. Make your lists and check them twice! Thanks!

Bone Appetit

My good friend Tiffany Keeton has started a small business of her own. She had the very creative and original idea to bake gourmet doggie treats. She is going to a little dog lover's convention called "Bark-a-Roo" and wanted a sign for her booth. She has stickers and ribbons for her bags all in black, white, and silver. I hope this sign helps her get all of the attention she deserves! Good luck, Tiffany!

Storybook Lettering

Mitzi Ramsey wanted something pretty for her door at school. She also wanted one to match for the teacher she works with. She likes aqua and wanted something "different". I searched for unusual fonts that I haven't used before. When I saw this one, I knew it was just right. It reminds me of the lettering in an old storybook or fairytale. I think it is just beautiful with all of those intricate curls and vines.

Dream Come True...

No, it is not our anniversary or anything like that. Tim has been preaching a series about appreciating your spouse, and well, mine has given me a lot to appreciate this weekend. I have been sick with a stomach virus since Friday. Mike brought home Pepto and ginger ale. He took the kids trick-or-treating and out to eat Friday night by himself without me asking. He volunteered for this big job to give me some "quiet time" as he put it.

I spent the entire day in Nashville on Saturday and left a house cleaning list for him thinking that some of it might get done. He got all of it done, gave Lauren a bath, and made it to dinner on time. Sunday I slept from church to church to recover and he kept things quiet so not to wake me. On top of all of this, he told me I was beautiful when I woke up. I assure you that I was not!

I am adding my husband to my thankful list. Without him I would not be able to hold it all together and would not have nearly as much fun!