Butterflies & Flowers

Here are some new pieces that I’ve done recently. The pansy stool is for brand new baby Audrey who now has a stool that matches her big sister Emma’s. Leah’s painting is done on an 8×8 gallery canvas. She loves butterflies and the colours requested were pinks and mauves. I hope it makes you smile Leah!

Curb Appeal

Well, my hubby’s been working on a flagstone path at the front of our house for a while now. It’s coming along… we’ve put the gravel down and next weekend we’re getting the flagstone delivered so keep your fingers crossed. It’s our first “landscaping” project and we hope it turns out okay. We live in an older neighbourhood so I wanted the path to look a little rustic – like it just happened to be there. Then I want to paint our porch, and get a new address number and a new mailbox, and maybe a nice chair on the porch to make it look a little more “homey” with a nice comfy cushion and a welcome wreath on the door, and maybe one of those garden gnomes with the red hats to greet you.  We’ll have Christmas lights all year around and a doorbell that plays the theme from Silver Spoons . A welcome mat  with huge sunflowers on it and a fake porcupine that you rub your boots on to take off the mud before you enter the house and…. too much? Okay I got carried away there for a little bit. This creating curb appeal can get out of hand. Stay tuned for the magnificent flagstone path in the upcoming weeks.

Fun in the Tub!

Here’s Hannah (7) in the tub doing her “Mrs.Washington” hairdo. I’ve no idea why she calls it “Mrs. Washington” it’s not like she knows George Washington or even the history behind those white wigs. Turns out you can only accomplish this style in the tub. I actually read in Glow Magazine today that this style is coming back. Who knew?

RIP Baby Robin…

T’was once a Mommy robin who was living happily in a tree with her 3 newborn babies until a mean man came with his trimmers and unknowingly cut down the branch where she had so lovingly placed her nest. At first, he thought it was an empty nest so he brought it to show his 2 little daughters who squealed at delight at the nest “treasure”. The man went back to his trimming and heard gasping “tweets” from the ground and discovered it wasn’t an old nest at all but a nest that belonged to 3 baby robins but, alas, one was no more as he saw guts and blood coming out of its abdominals.(He’s actually not even sure whether or not he stepped on it to cause its demise) Soon his daughters sounds of delight turned into “awwwws!” and “Daaaadddy, why’d you do that?” while his wife  had to put on gardening gloves and scoop the 2 remaining babies back into their nest and then climb a ladder and set the nest in place so that it wouldn’t topple over at the slightest gust of wind. The mommy is now caring for her 2 babies but we’re sure she is wondering where her 3rd baby went. It makes us cry that the baby is now in a shallow grave at the back of our yard. This was our weekend. The mean man, who is my hubby, insists it was an accident – that he was just trying to clear away the branches from our satellite which I’ve been nagging him to do because we can’t get all our channels..but I don’t think so – i think he’s just mean.

I’ve added a mixed media painting that I a did to pay homage to this event. Hope you like it!

Bean Bag Chair

Oh to be cocooned by a comfy bean bag chair. This is where my son fell asleep the other day. I have to say I was completely jealous that I’m too big for this seemingly timeless yet tacky piece of furniture. As he lay there with his sidekicks “Wankie” and “Puppy” whom he’s never without, he looked peaceful and dreamy.

Up, Up and Away…

Here’s a painting that I did on a 12×12 gallery style canvas. It’s called Up, Up and Away. I wanted to do something fun with cute characters so here are Pogo(bunny), Jude(monkey), and Saskia (mouse). Pogo wanted to take a trip around the world in the hot air balloon that took her over 1700 hours to sew. Jude wasn’t entirely sure that the balloon would actually make it off the ground since it was Pogo’s first sewing project -  so imagine his surprise when his feet lifted off the gound! The only thing to grab on to was Saskia and it was highly unlikely that a mouse would be able to anchor down a balloon, a bunny and a monkey. So the three friends are now travelling the world together. They’ve already been to Figi and Paris. Pogo is now an expert at hot air ballooning. Jude has gotten very good at navigating the skies and Saskia has overcome her fear of heights.

Fun Crafts For Kids!

Okay – I have to say – my children and I looove crafts! This week we decided to conquer a little bit of boredom with some crafts – all from Michael’s. I think it’s tougher to find crafts for boys, let alone a 2-year old boy -  but this week we found a good one . Presenting the Wooden  Crocodile! This crocodile is really cute. It’s a good size for them to play with after (about 8″ long) and when you hold its tail it’s body sort of wriggles. Natey loved doing this and he worked on it for a good half hour which is a long time in craft minutes. Now he runs at me with it and says, “I’m gonna eat you mama!”

My daughter Jessie (4) chose a Princess Puppet Theatre. It’s not completed yet but she loves to put on puppet shows already. If there’s a Prince and Princess involved Jessie is all over it. We have a squirrel that often breaks into our house through our broken screen at the backdoor and Jessie decided his name will be Prince Eric. So now when we see the squirrel we say, “There goes Prince Eric!”

Hannah’s (7) craft was a bit more difficult to choose. She gets very indecisive when she has a decision to make so she was driving me bonkers at the store. She finally decided on this pencil holder and it turned out really great! Most of their crafts usually make their way to the garbage, but i’d say these 3 crafts were keepers and they were all under $4.00 each!

Always kiss me goodnight…

This is an 8×8 gallery style painting I did for a Parentsource Annual Picnic. They put it in a giveaway basket with some other cool products for moms. I love pandas and the colours were chosen to suit a boy or a girl. The phrase, “always kiss me goodnight” is a favourite of mine. I hope whoever won it enjoys it!

Alphabet Stool for Lincoln

Well, as promised, the Animal Alphabet stool for baby Lincoln. Hope you have fun learning your letters with these wild beasts of the jungle, ocean, subtropical areas, outback etc…

Summer days make me lazy…

Summer is here and I have to admit I’ve been letting things around the house go – mainly laundry. It’s getting so bad that when my hubby found a clean underwear for my 4 year old hidden in her drawer she said, “Daddy – your MAGICAL!” I guess along with getting a little lazy I’m also getting a little grumpy? Taking 3 kids on all errands can make you that way. I was called the “meanie stepmother from Cinderella” today by my daughter, Jessie – I guess when you’re 4 that’s all that comes to mind. Maybe in the next couple of days I can pull my act together. Get my laundry done, wake up and be a ray of sunshine, have all sorts of “boredem busters” lined up so my kids are occupied… i wish…