acrylic on canvas

Newest painting. 
This was the first time i changed the orientation after the piece was finished.  I painted it with her laying down on her belly, then decided to stand her up once completed.  This is also the biggest canvas I've ever painted

Princess Party Invitations

My first born is turning 4!  She has been planning her party for at least 9 months now and it is finally time!  I can't believe it's been 4 years already.  I've been told time and time again to cherish my kids because they grow so fast.  That advice is not to be taken lightly.  There was no way i could have prepared myself for the highly charged sparkly experience that is raising a princess.
She is one of the most amazing children i have ever had the pleasure of knowing.  Often times i look at her and i can't believe she is mine and that I made her with my body.  I'm so deeply proud of her everyday and also proud of myself.   I've raised her to be this imaginative, articulate, highly emotional taller then average diva.  She has this huge personality that is incredibly fiesty and outspoken balanced with a strong sense of compassion and thoughtfulness.  She asks approximately 1.3 million questions a day and changes her clothes no less then 3-4 times on any given day.  You will usually find her wearing some combination of sparkly princess dress, tiara, jewelry and plastic high heels.  She also drives an Escalade power wheels, rocks Gucci rain boots and orders herself cranberry and clubsoda no ice when we go out to dinner. 
  It was only appropriate that we hold her 4th birthday celebration at Sweet & Sassy .  Princess Layla and all her princess friends will be dressed up in beautiful gowns, have their hair put up in a fairytale up-do and have sparkly makeup and nail polish applied.  There will be dancing and a crowning ceremony where they all will receive tiaras and princess certificates.  Then I get to feed everyone! (I'll blog about the food later)

I made these invitations using Coordinations paper that was pink on one side and black on the other.  I used the "girls makeup party" cricut cartridge and applied the embossing to the front of the purses with my cuttlebug.  I then inked the embossed paper which gave the purse more texture and dimension.  Before adding the black "handle" i painted on a little crystal stickles glitter glue so it would be sparkly behind the letters.  I finished it with a big sparkly 20 mm faceted acrylic jewel because we love bling!  The inside of the invitation was designed in illustrator.  (See mom, i'm using my college education) 

Here are some pictures

Photography

I've always loved taking pictures. My father was a photographer by trade and was very talented. This year I would like to take a lot more pictures and learn how to use my fancy camera better.
Here are some of my favorites

Nudefigure1

I've always been an admirer of the female form. What an awesome idea God had when he made women so curvy and soft and beautiful. I like men's bodies too, don't get me wrong, but they are not as much fun to paint. So this is the first in a series of as many nudes as i want to paint until i get bored. More headless nudes to come! Headless nudes are kind of a decadent subject for me, it's like licking off all the frosting without eating the cake. Faces and hands (and feet) are the hardest to paint, bodies are fun!

Picked the brush back up

So i've tried painting in the past. I both love and hate it. I hate it because i'm super impatient and i want to see the finished product too soon so i rush myself and i obsess. I love it because its a beautiful thing to be able to take tubes of paint and blank canvas and create something completely organic and new. I love to follow a contour and mix colors to make new hues and shading, i really like shading. Painting people is definitely the hardest for me, so of course that what i've been doing. It's hard but rewarding. I've always wanted to paint my first daughter and although i don't love the finished product, i like it, and sometimes that is enough to keep trying.

Something amazing happened in my kitchen tonight

Yesterday while at the market I saw a beautiful Australian Bone in leg of lamb at a really good price and couldn't help myself. You see i have a weakness for lamb. Lamb is definitely my protein of choice and nothing is better then a rustic roasted leg of lamb. Since i am still trying to loose the baby weight I trimmed off ALL the fat and I smothered both sides in Dijon mustard and salt, pepper and roasted garlic powder. Then i took a large onion and sliced it thickly and lined the bottom of my roasting pan with it and topped it with my seasoned leg of lamb. I preheated my oven to 450 degrees and roasted it for 10 minutes before dropping the temp to 350 and roasting 15 minutes per pound. After letting the meat rest I moved it to a platter and here is where there magic happened. I took all of those onions now infused with lamb juices and mustard and all of the drippings in the pan and i combined it all with a sliver of butter in the vitamix. This was the tastiest sauce i have ever had, it was mellow and oniony and gamey and delicious! My 4 year old ate 4 servings of meat! I will make this onion jus again and again!

Tumbler

Altered tumbler for my personal trainer