Fall Happenings!

Hi there!  Just updating you all on all of the upcoming fall happenings for Dream Custom Artwork.

• The shop will not be taking orders from October 1 - October 26.  If you need something for Halloween, please order it before October 1st.  Christmas orders will be taken after October 26.

 

• There's a fall sale starting today and lasting until October 1.  You got the whole month of September to place orders at a discount!!  Order on etsy and enter the code FALLSALE for 15% off of your entire order.  

 

• I will not be a Autumn Street Fair in McMinnville.  I will be at PumpkinFest in downtown Franklin on Saturday, October 26.  Come see me and enjoy this fabulous craft show! 

 

Thank you all so much for your orders!  I love painting for each of you and appreciate your business!

Happy Fall,

Brandie

Click here to go right to the etsy shop!

Adorable Aliens

I've done moons, stars, planets, rockets, and planes.  I've never painted aliens before - much less polka dot and chevron ones!  I can now mark that off the list!  I don't know what the bedding and such that goes with this set of three 8x10's looks like, but I can just picture the cutest space themed room.

Kristin Green sent me some alien photos for inspiration and I took it from there.  I think these will look great hanging together on little Ridge's wall.  Thank you so much and congrats on the new baby!

Tutorial: Easy Teacher Gift

Lauren's third grade teacher has taken a new job as a speech pathologist.  She had gotten pretty attached to her already and was devastated.  Making a "good-bye" gift for her and "welcome" gift for the new teacher seemed to make her feel better.

We started by painting an 11x14 canvas white and letting it completely dry.  Next, we taped a box in the center with regular masking tape.

I painted Lauren's hand in the shades of blue that she chose and pressed them around the canvas.

Here my little Martha Stewart!

When the paint dried, we just peeled off the tape to reveal a nice, clean shape in the center.  I painted the name in the center and added coordinating ribbon.  She made the one for the new teacher using the same technique with some flower and butterfly stamps that I had.

We sealed it with some spray clear polyurethane.  I let her write a message, the year, and sign her name with a sharpie on the back.  It turned out really cute and will hopefully be a sweet keepsake for Mrs. Eldridge!

Bugs and Bees

Oh, these two are just too cute!  I just happened to have a ladybug and a bee canvas ordered around the same time.  They shipped out to two completely different parts of the United States!  Here's the 11x14 red, black, and white lady bug themed canvas for Ms. Immel.  

The 11x14 bee themed canvas features larger polka dots, but the rest of the design is basically the same.  This bee canvas for Mrs. Geis is adorable, and you can see how it could work for just about and cute little animal.  

Order your teacher canvas for Christmas now!  Purchase through the etsy shop and enter the code SCHOOL for special savings!

The Cabbage Patch

Lauren got a Cabbage Patch Kid for her birthday back in February.  She loves dolls and has a Bitty Baby that has always been a favorite.  She has gotten really attached to Belle Erica, her Asian Cabbage Patch Baby.  Over the summer I was looking for safe website for her to play games on, and we came across the Cabbage Patch site.  

It did have some cute stuff to do, but she was fascinated with the Babyland General Hospital in Cleveland, Georgia.  We promised to take her over the summer and just got too busy.  We had a Marriot coupon for a free night that expired soon, so we decided to take off on the four hour drive after school last Friday.

Babyland General is no where near an interstate.  You exit just past Chattanooga and the rest of the way is winding little backroads.  Cleveland is a very small town.  We ate lunch at the little pharmacy/diner on the town square.  However, everyone was very nice and the actual hospital is a neat place.  If you love Cabbage Patch dolls, then this is the place to go!

Lauren had to sign "official" adoption papers and take a pledge to be a good mommy.  

Here she is in the patch.  She chose the baby right beside her with blond hair, green eyes, and the pink striped pajamas.  It was neat to walk through the patch and choose the perfect baby!

The "doctor" tells the story of the cabbage patch and how the babies grow and wait to be adopted.  It was fantasy and fun...you definitely had to use your imagination!

 

She was so happy to bring little Mary Jane home!  Carter decided that this trip was not for him and stayed home with the grandparents.  It was really nice to have some special daughter time, and I think she enjoyed being the only child for a little while!

Fall Is In The Air!

Fall is my absolute favorite season!  Can you believe that it is already almost here?  I always do a few craft shows (more details coming soon!) and have been busy painting for them.  I've done an 11x14 pumpkin on light blue with navy accents.  Just a little change from the typical brown and black!

I've got this cute 8x24 in orange and black dots and chevron.  I know it's kind of hard to tell, but there are purple accents.  The name or saying goes at the bottom.

I love the green and burnt orange for this smaller 8x10.  It also has the prettiest burlap mesh ribbon.

 

I included two shots of this gorgeous and very detailed 12x24.  This one is all of my favorite fall colors in dots and stripes.  It also features this shape off to one side that's perfect for a monogram.  I had imagined this sitting on a mantle with lots of pumpkins and greenery!

Finally, I've also got two 8x10's in orange dots and purple chevron.  These two both have orange ribbon on top for hanging.  One says "Happy Fall" and the other "Happy Halloween".  Both of these are perfect for the front door, the classroom, or in a wreath.

I'm looking forward to coming up with lots more fall designs.  I'm also excited about the cooler weather, pumpkins, fall break trips, and school basketball!  Yay, fall!

Lots Of Bathroom Dots!

I do tons and tons of these sets of four 5x5's for the bathroom.  It's amazing because all of them are a little different.  This set is pale pink with pink, white, and aqua dots.  Fit for a princess!

I really like that the words are in cursive instead of the usual print.  That little touch makes them look so much girlier!

This set is bright, bright, bright!  All of the colors together are so cheerful.  I didn't get to see the bathroom that they went in, but I can picture it in my mind!

This cute font and all of those satin ribbon are the perfect compliment to the canvases.  So cute!

I've Got A Winner!

I used the Random Number Generator and my winner is

Heather Shehane!!!

Congrats, Heather!  I'll be in touch with more details.

Teacher #5 - Holly Ressel/Giveaway Day!

Holly Ressel is a brand teacher here in the Warren County School system.  She's such a sweetie and I'm so happy for her!  She sent me a pic of the fabric she is using in her classroom.  Isn't that adorable?  I love the colors.

I took that pale pink, hot pink, olive green, and gray to come up with this design for her.  The hot pink owl in the corner and the olive green border look great with the pink and white dots and gray lettering. 

My favorite thing on the fabric was actually the tree.  I made sure to include that on her canvas!  Those little leaves and flowers were a great way to get in a little more color.

Thank you, Holly, and good luck!!

Now, on to the big giveaway!  There are a few ways to enter and I hope you take advantage of them all!

• Leave a nice comment on this post - 1 entry (please only comment once!)

• Become a follower of the blog - 1 entry (you may leave a second comment letting me know that you became a follower or were already a follower!)

• Share the contest post link on facebook - 1 entry (just click on the post title, copy and past that address in your facebook status bar, and the computer does the rest!  Please leave me a comment to let me know that you did this!)

I'll post the winner after 9:00 CST tonight.

Teacher #4 - Kristen Kell

 

Kristen Kell is a good friend of mine...from waayyy back in the JA days!  I didn't even know she was teaching until she contacted me about this order.  I'm so happy for her!  She requested polka dots and black and hot pink.  She also mentioned that she likes the black and hot pink 31 design.

I started with the polka dots in the background in a metallic silver.  They really are metallic - not glittery!  They are so pretty but it was hard to capture that sheen in a picture.

I used the 31 pattern as inspiration to do the black and white border.  Finally, I added a  little hot pink border and the matching ribbon.  Since her name is really short, I wrote it a bit larger than usual and tilted it to the side.  I love it!!!

Thank you so much, Kristen!

Teacher #3 - Michelle Hill

Michelle Hill teaches the teen living class at Warren County Middle School.  She wanted something to cover a specific place in her classroom.  I ordered a 12x12 canvas just for her!

She also sent me this fabric sample to use as inspiration.  I took the colors and design and used it across the bottom of the canvas.  I used the dottie font just because I thought it was cute!  I think it is a perfect match!!

Teacher #2 - Mrs. Hall

I don't know Mrs. Hall's first name!  This one was ordered as a start of the school year gift by one of my very best customers, Kayla Young.  She chose the size and requested ribbon and an owl.  I took it from there!  Mrs. Hall is a kindergarten teacher so I kept the font in an easy-to-read font and the design sweet but simple.  I love the added bling and think it turned out soooo cute!

Thank you, Kayla!!

Teacher #1 - Michelle Lewis

Okay, so my first teacher is not technically a teacher.  She's a principal!  Mrs. Michelle is the brand new principal at West Elementary.  She wanted two canvases for each of her office doors.  She also wanted them to coordinate but be different.

She also mentioned that she likes dots and chevron.  I took that information, along with her color choices, and came up with these two designs.  The cream, red, and chocolate brown look really pretty together.  I think they'll definitely be noticed!

To make them even more different, I turned one vertically and the other horizontally and used different fonts.  Thank you so much, Michelle!  Good luck in your first year as principal!

Back To School With Boho Birds!

I've worked really hard on my classroom this summer and am proud to show off the results!  I don't know about you other teachers, but I can't sit in a messy room and plan.  I have to have all the room stuff done before I can start on the paperwork! 

I have my lights off or partially off a lot of the time when teaching.  I decided to add some white lights and a bit of coordinating fabric around my board.  I love how it turned out!

I found these two sayings on pinterest and decided to make my own to match my theme.  I am using the Boho Birds collection from Carson Dellosa.  It's new this year and there are TONS of cute pieces.  I usually purchase mine straight from the company or the School Box.

I like the big chunky letters that coordinate.  This year they also offered these stickers that you can customize.  I used those on my bins and a few other places, too.   My students turn in their finished work in those bins based on their homeroom teacher.  This saves me so much time!

I use the big bulletin board for school news and all that stuff that has to be posted like mission statement, evacuation plan, and grading scale.  The smaller whiteboard is for long and short term assignments.  There are two clipboards on the wall for extra copies of assignments for anyone who was absent.

Here's front of my room and my calendar and birthday board.  I like the tree in the corner.  I did owls last year and it was already up there from another set.  I just changed it our with some cute bird and birdhouse accents - good to go!  I ordered my gorgeous red chevron curtains from this etsy shop.

My desk has my favorite family photos on the front.  I also have a little board with some really important things (for me!) on there.  Just like my lights around the board, I love having a lamp on my desk!

My favorite bulletin board from last year got a little Boho Bird update and moved to a different area of the room.  I loved the words so much that I needed them up for another year.  Kids need to hear this stuff!

I fixed up this little arrangement beside my closet door.  I'll have a photo shoot on the first day of school and add all of their pictures.  They always LOVE this!  My back wall is all storage and computers.

Even the hallway is Boho Birds!  I really wanted my little area to look bright and cheery - even with the door closed.  I ordered my porcupine teacher name from an etsy shop that is no longer open and the vinyl lettering from this one.  They are so unique and I've gotten tons of compliments from the other teachers!

I left a space in the center of my hallway board for a class picture from our first day photo shoot.  All the kids' names got a great big first letter on the Boho Birds name tags.

Here's what it looks like when you first walk through the door.  Bring it on, 5th and 6th grade science!  I'm ready for you!