Two More Cool Teachers

Tenara King is a brand spankin' new teacher at Hickory Creek. I am so excited for one of my former students! Tenara was also my class helper when I taught first grade at Boyd Christian School. My, they do grow up fast!
She is doing a peace, love, and learning theme and wanted a cute little something for her door. I found this font called "Peace Out" and knew it was perfect. I did forget to photograph it, so thank you, Tenara, for sending me one to post. Congratulations!

Kristie Woods is a first grade teacher at Bobby Ray. We have been working to gether for a while now. Kristie was working towards her certification when she filled in some for me while I was out with Lauren. She is such a sweet person! She wanted the black background with all of the bright colors in her name and dots. I do lots of quotes in this design, but this is the first time for a name. I really like it! I need to do one for my room! I love the way it looks with the funky beaded handle.

All of this school talk has gotten me to thinking, is summer break already halfway over?

The Pottery Place

We visited the Pottery Place in Murfreesboro for an afternoon of painting with Emily and Davy. The cute little store is located near Michael's at the Avenues for those of you who would like to visit. You get to choose your piece of pottery ranging in price and for $5.00 per person you get all of the paint colors you want and they fire it for you.
Lauren chose the tiara plate. Big surprise! She used all of the pastel colors available. Carter chose a coffee mug. I know it's hard to tell, but he did have a plan. The big black letter spell "Quality Mold", the name of his baseball team this season. Then he used the colors of all of the other teams in his league. Once he explained it to me, I got it!

I made my dad his Father's Day gift, a huge cereal bowl!

Baby Theo

Susan ordered this colorful alphabet for her new baby, Theo. I love the colors, love the canvas, and LOVE the photo of the little man. What a beautiful baby! Great job on the pendant, Tabetha.

Congratulations to the Burks family!

Obsessions

I guess it is because I have a little more time on my hands in the summer, but I am becoming obsessed with a few things. I always have a summer project. This year it is moving Carter upstairs, Lauren into Carter's old room, and {{giddy with joy!}} my studio downstairs. It is a lot of work, but I am an obsessed painting machine. The after photo of my new studio/Lauren's old room is above and the before is below.

Just getting everything ready to paint took forever. I filled in all the nail holes and cleaned the baseboards. When I started cleaning the walls here and there is when the obsession with the Magic Eraser kicked in. I've never used one of these things. They are amazing! They take of dirt that I didn't even know was there. I don't even have to paint my trim now.

Coffee is probably fueling me somewhat. I am always trying new creamer flavors (I guess that's always been a bit of an obsession), but Italian Sweet Cream is absolutely obsessive! I think I will start drinking it by the cup and adding a dash of coffee.

Finally, I am watching way too much Jon and Kate. This summer is the first time I've ever seen an episode and now I am addicted. It's like a car wreck, you know you shouldn't be watching but you can't look away. I have to say that I was not surprised by their "big announcement". I would have been more surprised if they were quitting the show to work on their marriage privately. Still, they are a captivating family and I hope it all works out for them.

Last summer it was America's Next Top Model. You cannot just watch one episode at a time and there is always a marathon on!

If I am not doing any of the above things, I am on this blasted laptop playing Mah Jong. I play it every day and I play until I win. All you have to do is match up these little Japanese tiles. Not hard, not complicated, but completely obsessive. Here is the link to my favorite...go there only if you dare!
http://www.freegames.ws/games/boardgames/mahjong/freemahjong.htm

Leslie Moulton

Congrats to our new Warren County Princess! Leslie won the pageant last month and redeemed her gift certificate for this black, white, and turquoise 11x14 canvas for her room. I wanted to do something sort of youthful and funky for her.
Doesn't everyone love polka dots? I especially like them in the L and on the ribbon.

Fall Creek Falls

Well, we've made it through another Leadership Conference at Fall Creek Falls. Mike goes to work, we go to play. For those of you in other parts of the world who read the blog, Fall Creek Falls is a state park about an hour away from our home that features a beautiful waterfall, forests, animals, a lodge, camping, pools, and all kinds of trails. This is really the only time we go there, but we always have a wonderful time and continue to look forward to our annual visit.
Our big excitement is the snake. He was on the bike trail and posed for pictures. Lauren named him "Isaac" and was ready to bring him home and love him forever. Carter is convinced it is a copperhead. I don't know...


Carter got his sparky scooter and couldn't wait to try it out. I have to say that is is pretty cool. Lauren wouldn't ride anywhere near him for fear of burning.




We hiked to the bottom of the Cascades and got caught in a flash flood, literally. Can you see how hard the rain is hitting the water? We looked like drowned rats whe we got back to the lodge!
















Just a few more shots of us messing around and just having fun. The scenery really was breathtaking. It was so good to be outside enjoying the fresh air and sunshine. Warning ~ no make up, au natural!

I've nicknamed Carter "Bear Grylls". He is trying to catch a fish with that little net.

Summer Paisleys

The dark red, navy blue, and cream paisleys with a patriotic flair are for Leann Nokes' front door this summer. I like the new addition of stripes at the bottom for added interest and the three colors of sheer ribbon. Thank you, Leann, for the order! Enjoy!
11x14 ~ $30.00

Happy Birtday Tip Junkie!





One of my favorite sites, Tip Junkie, is celebrating it's second birthday with all kinds of awesome giveaways. Ten every day for a week! You can see her cute little advertisement at the bottom of this blog.
I am so excited to be participating as well as entering regularly:). My giveaway is not until Friday. Woo hoo! I know that many of you have your blogs linked up to Tip Junkie. Be sure to change it from blogspot to dot com. Go and enter now and best of luck!

Three Girls

I can't imagine! My one is more than enough sometimes! If anyone can handle it beautifully, it is my friend Amy Crouch. She already has her sweet girl, Brooklyn, and is expecting twins Cassie and Callie in August. I started out doing these monograms for the twins. As I was working, I remembered how much Carter loved getting a gift when Lauren was on her way. I did them a little smaller on a 6x9 canvas so she can hang them all together in a little nook, maybe in a bathroom or hallway.
I love my new font. It is called "Ballpark Wiener"! I thought that was funny.

Ivy's Pebbles

Beautiful dots for Carol Hobbs in the muted shades of the sea. Mmmm...wish I were there.

Mr. Winfrey

Angela Sweeton ordered a "manly" W monogram for her dad's front door as his Father's Day gift. Thank you for sending me the pciture! I have to admit that I had trouble when it came to designing a masculine canvas. Everything I do tends to be at least a little bit girly!
Mr. Winfrey just moved into a new log cabin type home. I got to thinking about that type of house, what my dad would like, and perused fonts. I came up with this sort of modern/western look in earth tones. The Winfrey name and dot border are in a deep forest green, the W in burnt orange, and the border in chocolate brown and cream. The sides of the canvas features striping in these same colors.
As it turns out, I really, really like this one. I want to turn the canvas the horizontally and do a Mansfield one. These are some of my favorite colors and work on any house any time of the year. I also like the clean simplicity of it with the hidden stripe surprise on the side and small details.

My dad doesn't look at the blog, so I can tell you that he is getting a big ceral bowl that I painted for him. Do you have your dad's gift yet?

Tiffany West

This 8x24 W monogram went to new customer Tiffany West. I've said before that meeting new people is one of my favorite parts of the job. Meeting Tiffany makes that so true. She is just the nicest person...and so patient. This one seemed like it took me forever for some reason! Thank you, Tiffany. I look forward to working with you again.

Yard Sale Preview

I'm supposed to be having a yard sale tomorrow, weather pending. I have been working room by room since school has been out. I know the odds aren't good, but I am really wanting to get my garage cleaned out and make a little vacation money. I guess there is always next Saturday!
Anyway, I have some really nice things that are hard to part with sentimental wise, but you just can't keep everything. I especially get attached to the kids' clothes for some reason. If you have a little girl who needs 4T for fall and winter, then this is your place. I wanted to preview a few items like the L monogrammed Kelly's Kids turtleneck dress in mint condition. Lauren wore it to church twice ~ four hours total! I should be ashamed of myself! Behind it is a Gymboree sweater dress with matching brown turtleneck. There are lots of Gymboree sets with matching hairbows.
Wesley and Kim ~ call me!

I have a weakness for all of those gorgeous smocked dresses. I will be heartbroken when Lauren doesn't want to wear them anymore. I did keep several of them, but I do have these three to part with. All are in perfect condition!

I have lots of Kelly's Kids. Their chocolate and light blue line was a favorite. This is the jumper, long sleeve tee, leggings, and polka dotted dress (XS 3-4). Below is Lauren's favorite from last season, a rainbow striped dress with coordinated flowered tights and custom made to match hairbows (XS 3-4).

Carter has outgrown his bike, the Painkiller! He wants a scooter t hat makes sparks with the brake for his upcoming birthday. He is such a boy! He has also outgrown a lot of his toys. I have everything from Star Wars to Indiana Jones to Pirates of the Caribbean. Oh yes, TONS of books. We really attacked our overstuffed bookcase.

We also have every Little People product ever made. Many of these were Carter's and got passed down to Lauren. Now she has outgrown them, too. The whole set would be great for a preschool or daycare.

I have also cleaned out my closet, especially shoes! I wear a size nine. There are also lots of household items including that beautiful fall wreath behing some of thse dresses. My mom, dad, and Emily have also brought over several loads of stuff.

Geez, it feels good to get things cleaned out and have some open space!

Suzanne's Frogs

Suzanne Prater wanted something perfect for all summer. Her sunroom is decorated in frogs. She wanted two canvases, one for each of her back doors, done in frogs to go with that theme. She designed the top one to match a flag that she has. She also had the idea for a frog family for the bottom one. I love the new lime green ribbon I found. I also like the brown on brown polka dots for the background. I don't know, Suzanne, I think these may be perfect all year round!

Fancy H

This 10x10 fancy H monogram features an inside line in dark red to match the front door. Custom ordered by Regina to give as a gift to her parents.


Happy 22nd Birthday, Em!

Forever Newlyweds

Whether you've been married for 48 years or 48 hours, I hope you never lose that newlywed feeling. Congratulations.

Summer Dots

Monica Schoeneck in Kentucky sent me this photo of her new flag. She wanted a canvas for her front door to match. Here is the finished canvas on my font door. Let me tell you, if this was an M, it would still be on my front door! I love this flag! Too cute!

Busy Yet Relaxed

Whew! I have been a busy little bee this first week of break. Somehow with all of this activity, I still feel rested. We have two ballgame schedules, and with Mike coaching Carter and me coaching Lauren, we have to be at every game and practice.
Carter loved his first week of YSI so much that he begged to go the second week, too. Luckily there was space. Lauren and I have been tearing into the house while the boys are out to get ready for our upcoming yard sale. We completely cleaned out her room. I mean completely. There was nothing left but the bed and dresser.
After scrubbing the baseboards, walls, and a good vacuuming, we only put back the things she really loves and plays with frequently. Everything else was trash, storage, or yard sale. We did a few little things to make it more of a "big girl room", which is bittersweet. We painted this school desk for her to play with. She loves to write and this is sort of a special place for her to do that and keep her papers. She chose all of the colors and where to put the dots. It also had to be sprayed with glitter, of course! She also wanted a reading lamp by her bed. I had this antique from my grandmother in storage. I dug it out, gave it a good cleaning, and it worked perfectly. Check out that princess phone!


I went by the Frame Peddler and picked up my order from their April sale. I was so happy to get my beach picture back! It looks fantastic! I finally took down all of my spring and Easter (yes, spring and Easter, please don't judge me!) stuff from the mantle and hopefully made it look more like summer.












Finally, we did spend some time at the pool. I love the sun and swimming. I always feel so healthy filling up my lungs and stretching out under the water. We all look so cute with some pink on our cheeks!

Princess Lilla

For a sweet new little princess. I've only seen pictures, but she is beautiful. This is a 16x20 in pastel pink with a light coating of sparkle designed especially for her nursery.