Hippie at Heart

I guess with being born in 1975 and being named after the Looking Glass song "Brandy, You're A Fine Girl", I am a big hippie at heart! I love to tie dye! I have absolute privilege of teaching the art class for Tennessee Tech's education department. Each semester one of their projects is to tie dye. It is always a blast!

I love the two scarves in the center, but looks at those two t-shirt designs! Great job, guys!

I would wear that scarf with everything! I like the idea of tie dying an apron, too. An apron is a great little tool to have stored away in your classroom. I use mine about once a week!

That baby onesie is just too cute! She plans on getting it monogrammed. What a wonderful custom gift that would make!

Teaching teachers to teach and showing them how to incorporate art into their lessons is one of the highlights of my week. Every semester has a different personality. It is always so nice to see my former students around the schools. I am so proud of them!

Fancy Snowman

You all have seen my standard snowman design. I've done the same basic one for several years. I love it and it has proved to be very popular! Every once in a while, I have to sit down and give my designs a fresh look. I've snazzed up the snowman with a few special touches!

I love the curl on the top hat, the diamonds on the hatband, and the little strip of zebra on the scarf. Emily loved the pattern in the background. It all comes together so nicely without being too busy. This snowman can be done in any color combination. It can also be personalized just for you or to make a perfect gift!

Customer Appreciation

You know those times when feel like everything is going wrong and you just want to give up? Yep. I have those times, too. I've made several mistakes on canvases lately. It's no one's fault but my own. I'm human - it happens! When it happens, it makes me so mad at myself. There's not other way to say that. As you can imagine, I've been mad at myself a lot lately! Or so it seems...
I was feeling like just hanging up the brushes. I'm out. I don't need this. I'm done. And then I got this email.

"I just wanted to tell you how gorgeous your artwork is. You do an amazing job! Don't ever stop painting...you are very talented!"

I don't know this person. She just sent it to me out of the blue. They were the perfect words at the perfect time and she needs to know that. You never know what impact your kind words will have. I am going to make a real effort to say at least one nice thing to at least one person everyday. Thank you, Ashley Bridger.

For all of you snowman lovers out there, I am ending this post with a little sneak peek at the newest snowman design. I took my old favorite and snazzed it up a bit!

Oh, yes. I forgot to mention that Ashley has a painting blog as well. Click here if you'd like to see more from this sweet lady.

Families

It seems that I've been doing a lot of family canvases lately. I paint them pretty consistently all through the year, but they do sort of come in bunches! I've blogged before about how much I enjoy painting these. I know how much my family means to me and I love helping other families celebrate.
This beautiful cream, brown, and burnt orange went home with Regina Matheney. Notice the extra "e" is missing on this one! Oops! I had to repair that and then forgot to take a picture. She was so super sweet and understanding. Thank you, Regina!

Lauran Nichols ordered this one in navy and white and had it shipped to the newlyweds all the way up in Pennsylvania. I thought that was a great idea if you know someone far away who is getting married or celebrating an anniversary.

Kristen Grayson ordered this one with a thick chocolate brown border as a gift as well. This is a newer design and has become pretty popular. I like it too!

Finally, this one went out to new customer, Darla D'Alessandro. She wanted a simple cream and black with the name and established date. I did this one on a smaller 6x9 canvas. Perfect for when you just want a little something special!

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!