Autumn Street Fair

It's that time of the year again! I can't believe the Autumn Street Fair is tomorrow! This is always one of my favorite days. I get to sit and visit with so many people.

My kids always have a ball! There is not only some great shopping, but wonderful music and fun activities. We usually end up spending more that we make! Lauren will be having her own little craft section this year. She's been working hard and is so excited!

Who can forget kettle korn and great big plate of BBQ nachos! Yum!
See you there!

Jackson

Love the polka dots!

Love these colors!

These two beautiful canvases will be so cute in sweet little Jackson's nursery. His mom, Lindsey, chose some really pretty bedding in neutral tones. I she'll send me some pictures of it all together!

Two days until the Autumn Street Fair! I've been painting my little fingers to the bone. I am so hoping that all of you are making plans to come see me!

Just Precious

I am literally sitting down in the thirty minutes I have between errands and slapping this post down! Sheesh...it feels like run, run, run lately. Then I read this canvas and the message that I painted a few days ago. I do not take the time to enjoy the true preciousness of each moment.

I know it's there. I know this time is precious. I know I won't be running to youth group, baseball, and dance forever. I'm going to take a deep breath, say a little prayer, and head back out into the trenches. And try to enjoy it.

By the way, thank you Angie and Alex for this order! I loved painting something special for your kitchen!

New Holiday Monograms

So...I've had lovely but very busy weekend. I painted a ton yesterday and feel pretty good about where I am for the Street Fair. Today I went to Murfreesboro at the crack of dawn so my son could play baseball. Mike had church commitments and he went yesterday. We lost but it was a nice morning to be out and it was even nicer to have some mother/son time.

This is one of the new designs I worked and worked on! I LOVE it! I had all of these Christmas visions dancing in my head. My mom brought Lauren home and when she saw them she didn't see Christmas at all! She thought they looked great for any time of the year. Oh, well!

Craziness!

The countdown has begun...it's only one week until the Autumn Street Fair! I am using every spare minute I have (and that's not very many!) to paint things to have in the booth. There's nothing I hate more than a spare looking booth!

Today the boys are off to a baseball tournament in Murfreesboro. Lauren spent the night with her Gen and is doing girl stuff with her today. Hmmm...that leaves me all alone for a few hours. While I am extremely tempted to read a few more chapters of "The Help", take a nap, watch some trash TV, clean, or go for a walk, I am going to sit and paint. All day.

I have to! Tomorrow is my day to take Carter to baseball. This coming week at school looks crazy. I am being evaluated on Friday. All of you teachers know what that means! I'm on pins and needles! Just when I think things are slowing down a bit, something else comes along and we are busier than ever. Whew!

Reagan

What a beautiful verse!

I just love this for a little girls' room - no matter how old she is. Click here to see the original that inspired Reagan's mom.

Mrs. Harper

Jessica Harper in Texas ordered something to brighten up her classroom. She asked for greens, hot pink, and gray. What a pretty color combination!

I chose this pretty cursive font and added a little sparkle to each dark green dot. I think this one turned out so pretty! It would definitely catch your eye walking down the hallway! Thank you so much, Jessica. Enjoy and have a wonderful school year!

Getting Ready For Fall

Our house is for sale so I am keeping the fall decorating to a minimum. I do have a pretty wreath (with a canvas in it, of course!) on the front door, lots of colorful mums on the porch, and I'm in the market for some real pumpkins to sit around.

Today I cleaned out the closets. We don't have enough room in our closets for summer and winter clothes to be in there at the same time. Our closets aren't small - we just have a lot of clothes. I admit it! The out of season clothes are stored when not being used so switching them out is a big project. I'm kind of glad it works out that way because I really purge every time I switch.

I took a big bag of each of the kids' clothes to school. I know there is someone who needs them. I put Lauren's really good things on ebay or in Our Kid's Consignment Sale. Mine and Mike's clothes are going to Goodwill. We usually have a huge yard sale once a year, but with the house being for sale it is hard to keep things looking nice and get ready for one at the same time.

All of these pretty fall canvases are helping someone get ready for fall, too! Some of these have been shipped out or delivered and some are for the Street Fair. I think I could paint a pumpkin with my eyes closed!

Christmas!

Okay, so I am already getting excited about Christmas! I've got a few gifts pick out. I haven't bought any yet! I have definitely started painting for the holiday season. I've got a few new designs that will be debuting at the Street Fair. I've even already filled a few holiday gift orders for you all. See, I'm not the only one!

I LOVE putting pink with the more traditional red and green. It's strange because I've never been a huge pink fan. It looks so pretty paired with theses dots and this fancy font.

I do my kitchen area in cream and red gingham and use lots of cookies, gingerbread, and candy. This little guy would be perfect in there! That's the recipe for gingerbread in the background. The handle is made of gingerbread themed lampwork beads. So cute!

Finally, the skinny elf legs! I started out with skinny witch legs and they were so popular that I extended the idea. This is absolutely adorable hanging on the front door!

Remember that I will start taking orders again on October 1st. Make you lists and check them twice and be ready! Thanks so much!!

Rustic Wedding

One of my really good customers, Jennifer Trevino, ordered a "rustic", "ranchy" wedding gift. It's kind of hard to tell in the pictures but it has been distressed. I love this one!

You can see the distressing a little better here. I kept the colors neutral to go with any season and any decor. This is just so cute and makes a wonderful gift! I hope the new couple loves it.
Thank you so much, Jennifer!

Good Manners

Good manners are following the house rules even if they are not your own usual way of doing things. A cute sign is a wonderful way to make your special house rules known.

These seasonal "front door" signs shipped out this week. I thought this was a great idea!

I do so many of these "bare feet" signs! I guess there are a lot of you who prefer no shoes in the house.

Whatever your rules are, why not make them known with a polite (but oh, so cute!) sign?

Verses

I did this design with this verse for the first time a long time ago. Since then, it seems that I've done it over and over again in every possible color combination! The words are so beautiful that I love it more every time I paint them.

These two have already shipped out. I think they are just the perfect wedding or anniversary gift!

Boo To You!

I've been doing lots and lots of Halloween dots!

All of these have been shipped out. I hope they all find a happy home for this Halloween holiday! Thanks to you all!

More Teachers!

I finished this big batch of teacher canvases and thought I was done for a while, but the school orders keep rolling in. It's a good thing! No, it's a great thing! Thank you all so much! Since I am a teacher, I have a warm, happy feeling every time I get the opportunity to brighten up a classroom.
This sweet little hot pink and zebra print canvas would really match my classroom! Cute and perfect for those small spaces!

The classic red apple will always be popular. This one is adorable with the rainbow dots and gingham ribbon.

I rarely get the time to paint canvases as gifts. I made the time for a special principal friend all the way over in Japan. He has already emailed me that he immediately hung it outside his office and loves it. Woo hoo!

Amanda Lance at WCMS sent me a picture of her brightly colored door and wanted something made to match. Since the door was already so colorful, I left the background white and added the flowers and some rhinestones.

Finally, some rainbow dots with some super cute black lettering and ribbon. I think this might be my favorite design, but I keep changing my mind! Maybe that's why i don't have one in my room yet!

Thank you so much, teachers! Have a fabulous school year!

A New Look and a Project

I'm loving fall and this cooler weather and even the rain! I asked Jennisa at Once Upon a Blog to give my header a little fall makeover. I just love what she did! Today I am giving a tutorial on how to make wooden chalkboards - since it is my day off and all!

I have painted several of these for the Street Fair and have just had a ball with all of the possibilities. The larger ones with diamonds are planned for kitchens. How cute would it be to post your menu for the night in chalk? The smaller ones are designed for girls' bedroom doors. I love the idea of your little one getting write her "status" for all to see. She could put "studying" or "cleaning my room" or "no boys allowed"! Lauren is hoping that there will be one that doesn't sell!

1. I stumbled across these thin, flat sheets of wood in the Wal-Mart craft department. They are so cheap that I'm not even going tell you how much! I bought several of the small ones and two of the large ones. The large ones even have nice beveled edges. Lightly sand them and clean off all of the dust. Then paint them with two coats of white paint. This gives you a nice smooth painting surface.





2. Mark off your chalkboard space with a pencil and ruler. Choose the color for the edges around the chalkboard and apply two coats. Be sure to go around the sides as well!





3. Add any background details, like the diamonds on these.





4. The actual chalkboard paint is also available at Wal-Mart and most other craft stores. I even saw dry erase board paint at Lowe's. I'm going to have to check that out! Just follow the direction on the bottle. I did three coats.





5. Once that is good and dry, it's time for the fun part - details! Now you can do any lettering, ribbon, rhinestones, etc. that will make your chalkboard your own!





What takes the longest on these is the drying time between each coat. Be patient! I am so excited to be presenting all of these at the Autumn Street Fair on October 1. After that, I am hoping to get some more ready to go for your Christmas shopping!





Enjoy you day off, too!

Pumpkins!

My orange bottle of paint has taken a serious hit in the past couple of weeks! Not only have I been painting pumpkins for the Street Fair, but also as gifts and to fill orders. I've got lots of pumpkins saved up to show you this fall.

All of these are 8x10's and cost $25.00. I did the top two for some sweet couples from our church who are getting married. Now they have something personalized for the front door of their new homes. I love the polka dotted ribbon!

This one I did just have as stock - but I have to admit that it stayed on my front door after I took the picture! I'm set until December 1!

Tis the Season...

...well, almost! It is time for me to start getting ready for the season anyway. I am working on things for my Autumn Street Fair booth and have had a few holiday orders. This one went out to new customer, Lianna. I thought it turned out so pretty! How cute does that look on my front door?

One of these went out to my regular customer, Michaela. She's getting a jump on her Christmas wish list! The other one (along with lots and lots more!) will be available at the Street Fair on October 1.

Thanks so much, ladies, for helping me get in the mood for winter!