Mother's Day

If you would have told me when I worked full time that I would have more to do and less time to do it in being a stay at home mom I don't think I would have believed you. Not that I thought moms did nothing, I knew it would be hard work, it just didn't seem that hard- more kind of like vacation hard. I know all the moms are laughing right now. I'm laughing at me right now.

As an example I had my blogerversary last week and forgot about it. That would be such a big deal except I picked a date I thought there was no way I could forget it, Cinco de Mayo. Not that we celebrate the holiday other than sipping some coronas maybe, but it's the birthday we gave ALL our animals. That makes it seem like we have a zoo here and although it does feel that way most of the time it's really a normalish number. One dog and two cats, but the point is I figured I would remember that day because of the birthdays. Well I remembered the birthdays but forgot the anniversary. Not really a big deal again because no one reads this but really, how forgetful am I going to get.

Anyway I have been busy with lots of projects and cleaning- which isn't so exciting but sooo necessary. The only things I have been posting lately are my paintings. While I am beyond grateful to have commissions coming in I am feeling overwhelmed because I have to eek the time for these out of my already pretty full day. Here is my latest, it is going to be someones Mothers day present, I hope they like it!

My first Harley!

No, I didn't go out and buy a bike. It's my first painting of a Harley. I was alittle nervous when I got this commission because I don't really know anything about bikes or cars- in fact when I need a new one I just send my husband and tell him to pick! I'm very pleased with how it turned out though and so is the bikes owner, which is what really matters.

What I've learned from pinterest

This is my photo from the mason jar soap dispenser I made here.

I still love it just as much, the lid has gotten a little rusty so I would make sure to paint the lid HEAVILY. Other than that it worked as expected. I have also made a cornstarch filled mason jar using the pour spout from an old salt container. This works Okay, I still have to unscrew the lid for some things and it is better than the box I used to use that somehow made a huge mess EVERY time I opened it.

The fake febreeze however isn't working as well. It seems to be fine when I can actually get it to spray- it could just be the spray bottle I used but I think the baking soda is not fully dissolved and little pieces are clogging up the tube. Reconstituting your broken make up using rubbing alcohol also has mixed results. It did form a pancake again but has since cracked apart, I think maybe I used too much alcohol?

I have also made homemade laundry soap and this seems to work very well. There is a little bit of money layout in the beginning because of the large sizes of washing soda and borax but it has been lasting for a long time. Next time I make a batch I'll just need to purchase a bar of soap- I used fels naptha.

Overall I'm very pleased that I was able to make and use all these things that I had pinned. I just realized that all of these are from my thrifty board- I guess that says something about me! Pinterest has been helpful to me in another way too, it finally got me to get rid of all the old decorating magazines that I've been hoarding for years ( I'm donating them to my daughters school). That makes me Happy.

New Portraits

I've been busy working on a couple new commissions, they might be from my sister but I can still call them commissions if I get paid. Right?



My sisters two babies, Tay and Bella. I'm not sure which one she loves most sometimes, after all her human daughter is almost a teenager. Enough said.

Jumping on the Ombre bandwagon

I decided to dye my hair red. How's that for completely off topic? Actually it does have something to do with my sweater, honest. I have been a blond, brunette and a sort of redhead all before and I knew that when I changed my hair color there would be certain items of clothing that just wouldn't look right anymore so I decided to weed out my closet. None of my pinks or reds look right but blues and purple work great!

I came across this sweater that I think I've had for maybe 15 years? I NEVER wore it- because it was white. If you knew me I wouldn't have to explain any further. I'm messy, and clumsy, and pretty absentminded, like leaning into a painting that's still wet and getting it all over my shirt, not that I just did this YESTERDAY or anything!

Anyway I'm pretty happy with this although the top portion was supposed to stay white and it bled when I washed it. I think it should get more wear this way and then I won't have to feel guilty about it taking up drawer space.

It doesn't have to be perfect

The weather here , like many other places, was beautiful. Warm and sunny, and completely fooling us that it was only barely spring. We found ourselves going to parks and working outside more. Then reality crashed down and it has been getting colder and colder - only 38 today! I knew better but still got fooled, that mother nature is such a sneaky ________!

I've also been working on setting up a portrait website- hence the title of this post. I researched and designed a website and business cards while working on a four piece commission that was turning out to be more time consuming than I had originally guessed. In the end I got them all done. Am I completely happy about everything? No. In fact my sister said to me " you didn't put on the website what it is you do" Oops! Kind of a big mistake! Anyway it is up and running and I can always tweak it as I go right?

I've been putting off posting until I had something to show but I realizes that something is better than nothing, and I have something.

Happy Birhtday Kelsey!

 So exactly one week separates the birthdays of my babies. My family is no stranger to clusters of birthdays together, in fact I have four birthdays alone on September first! Right now it isn't really a problem because they enjoy sharing their party, but I can foresee a day in the future where I will not get off so easy.

Since we had already did the party thing  and the weather was spectacular ( many of my flowers are coming up) we spent most of the day at a park. She is definitely her Daddy's daughter and loves the slides and swinging high. She really has no fear, which scares the crap out of me! A great time was had by all, and for now I'll be grateful that spending the day at a park is the most fun we can have.



Happy Birthday Maddy!

 Happy Birthday to my baby girl.  I don't know how six years went by so very fast.  Every year I try to make something for my daughters birthdays and this year it was the doggy bag, we used it to hold her presents. Her little sister has a kitty one just like it, but shh don't tell, her birthday is a week after Maddy's.

Here is the birthday girl mid-party, I just love the little space where her teeth are playing catch-up.  Her top front tooth is loose right now and I can't wait for that jack-o-lantern smile!

After we ate I realized that we hadn't taken a picture of her Rapunzel cake so I had my husband grab a quick shot, hence all the half eaten food in the background. Although the cake looks kind of sad it did take me a while to make and I wanted a picture of it before we cut into it. At least it tasted good!



Sewing for me

So I showed this in progress a little while ago and finally have it finished. Although I haven't posted about much about them almost all of my sewing projects go to other people. Gifts for family, hemming pants for my mom and my daughters or fixing ripped pockets or pants for the husband. I truely enjoy being able to do all these things and only wish that I had known how to sew much earlier - to think of all the clothes we threw away because they were torn! I've sewn a few purses for myself (and a few diaper bags) but this is the first non-needed totally just for fun project that I have whipped up just for me! One of the best things is that all the pieces are scraps left over from other projects so everytime I look at it I remember the chairs I recovered for my sisters wedding present, the insulated wine carrier I made for another sister, a toy dog for my daughter, it's like a trip down memory lane. That makes me happy.

Snow Day!

We live in Michigan and we usually get a ton of snow, getting 18" overnight wouldn't be all that unusual. This year however the ground has mostly been bare. We didn't even have snow for christmas - which was a total bummer. Keeping all this in mind when I picked my oldest up from kindergarten ( which we WALKED to in forty degree weather) and heard everyone talking about how we were supposed to get all kinds of snow and school would be cancelled it seemed kind of unbelievable. However that is exactly what happened and my husband finally got to make good on his promise to make a snowman*, I love the baseball bat arms and that is a shovel being used for a hat - rock what you got!

*Although it snowed pretty much all day it was still unseasonably warm and the snowman fell over just a few hours after they made it.

More paintings

My Girls

So I thought that I would show you some more of the stylized portraits that I did at Christmas time. This was what my husband got for his present( because he just returns anything else.) They are 16x20 in size and done in blacks and grays. I love them but can't for the life of me figure out where to put them. We have paintings hung just about everywhere so I probably just have to take something down, or move, that would work too.

Pinterest, also known as the giant time suck.

I like to put hand soap at every sink in the house, with three pets and two children I wash my hands alot. The soap holder by my kitchen sink was just a generic one from the grocery store and was kind of ugly and gave me a low level hum of dissatisfaction every time I used it, which was alot, did I mention three pets and two kids!

while spending  hours time on Pinterest I came across these cute Mason jars soap holders and thought I have Mason jars! The ones they showed were usually zinc and had a lovely patina to them, mine didn't so I just spray painted it a color I like and used the pump from my ugly one. Since I had everything on hand the whole project cost me nothing and makes me Happy every time I go to the sink. Win/win!

Finally being a hoarder pays off!

I've been working on a project for me, It is something that I've wanted to do for the longest time but it took seeing one on Pinterest to give me the kick in the pants that I needed.

Now I just need to finish it!

Happy Valentines Day

 So this is what I made for my daughters teacher and helpers for valentines day. The portraits of the girls are what I made for my husband, who is notoriously difficult to shop for. I took shrinky dink plastic (not the printable kind which I would highly recommend since they took FOREVER to dry) and ran them through my printer. Then I went to the dollar store and picked up these bottles of hand sanitizers with clips.

 I shrunk the hearts and attached them to the bottles, they say

"May your day be filled with cuties, not cooties"

I can imagine this is a product teachers go through by the gallon, and these can hook onto a purse to be easily accessible.

For my husband I just hooked them onto a key chain, I think he will probably hang this somewhere in his car rather than actually using it as a key chain but that's OK, I don't know how sturdy they would end up being.

Happy Birthday to me!

So I just celebrated my 37th birthday.I know everyone says that they don't feel (enter whatever age here) but I really don't. Of course I'm also at the age where when someone asks me how old I am I really have to stop and think about it, maybe that means I really do feel my age? Regardless I had a wonderful day with my husband surprising me by giving me most of the day to myself, which for a SAHM is the best gift of all. I love my kids more than anything but it makes it alot easier to love them when I'm able to have two thoughts to myself to rub together!

Friday the 13th

So today is Friday the 13th, supposedly an unlucky day, but whenever it falls in January it makes me think of my childhood best friend Kim. So where ever you are Happy Birthday. I wonder if you can still burp the alphabet?

This is a picture from last year but I'd say that it accurately represents what my house looks like every year after Christmas. I think it was even worse this year. Except for the two trees right next to eachother, that's another story , One that has to do with a sister who doesn't have kids thinking that it would be okay to put a real tree in a 5 yr olds room. I probably didn't need to say that she doesn't have kids, that part was obvious when I said she thought it would be okay to put a live tree in a FIVE YEAR OLDS ROOM!

Anyway that was all off topic, what I really meant was like everyone else I have been decluttering and cleaning around the house. I think I may have traumatized my youngest when she saw a baby foot sticking out of a box so now I have to actually get all these boxes to goodwill so that they don't start emptying back out into my house. How about everyone else? Does everyone with little girls find naked baby dolls everywhere, I packed up six and it didn't put a dent in the pile!