A frame

I found a pretty white frame for my little cat and his pumpkins.  Sometimes a frame makes such a difference! 

Happy Halloween!

Halloween is finally here and I'm prepared for lots and lots of trick-or-treaters.  I picked up a total of 13 pounds of candy from the store last night and I'm pretty sure it will all go in seconds.  Last year our street was packed with kids in their scary costumes and I'm pretty excited we get to do this with Amelia tonight.  : )

I made this little bag for Amelia to go trick-or-treating with.  The spider's web was painted in white acrylic ink and I cut the spider out of black paper.  Ps. Notice the pretty green grass? : ) 

Balance Act

Before I start a painting I sketch out the idea and composition on some scratch paper or in a sketch book, then I copy it onto watercolor paper with pencil and finally I paint it with watercolor.

I usually sketch in pencil but this time I used a black pen. 

The final result. 

Green Grass Appeal

A year after buying our home we finally saved up a little bit of cash to spend on getting grass installed in our backyard!  I'm so happy how lush everything looks. 

Before..

After!

Amelia was very helpful with yard work. 

A Blue Butterfly

It's a blue-ish kind of day

Blue Bird feathers have to be my favorite type of feather. 

Line drawing inspired by Dutch folk painting.  

This guy is part of our little rock collection.  

Checking out Mama's painting shoes. 

Pretty floral design.

I found this Lapis rock in a little shop in Silverton, CO.  Hopefully one day I can take it to a jeweler to make a necklace out of it. 

Blue Whale

Sheldon Lake State Park

Well, our little family went on our latest adventure last weekend to Sheldon Lake State Park.  It's not a very well known state park in Houston.  I actually found out about it by chance while looking for directions to San Jacinto State Park last month!  Again, it was a short drive from home.  The weather was perfect for a short walk, and as you can tell from our photo's we saw lots of wildlife.  I made sure to keep a close eye on my little Mila Bug.

Freedom!

Texas Alligator

I'm still trying to find out the name of this bird!

 Beautiful violet flowers. 

This is Bent Pine and when this tree was very small, a larger tree fell on top of it and bent it over.  The young tree survived and grew up and around the older one.  Over time,  the old tree rotted away.   I love nature. 

Texas swamp...but they call it a lake.  You decide.  : )  

Can you spot the poisonous water moccasin?  David did and was relieved he didn't step on it! 

This is a photo I took prior to leaning over the fence, which resulted in my $40 sunglasses falling into the water.  I then cried out for David to come rescue them from the evil snake and alligator invested waters.  In which he did promptly with the broken off branch he found in the woods.  Oh!  My hero!  

The phrase "Don't mess with Texas" doesn't mean a thing when you see an 8 foot alligator swim by. 

Dancing in the wind. 

Giraffe Love

Getting in a BOO mood

Halloween is just around the corner!

I carved a little pumpkin out of an eraser last night.  

Martha Stewart always has such great decorating ideas.  I did this project in less than an hour.

Pink Owl

I thought the little blue owl that I painted last month needed a little sister, so here she is!

Thread Blog

As you all know from a couple of week ago, Thread, a cute kid's consignment store in The Height's, Houston, is selling my latest watercolor paintings and they recently blogged about it!  Click here to see their display.  Excitement!

A for Audrey

My best friend's daughter is turning 4 tomorrow and we've been invited to her Birthday party!  I bought her an animal stamp set from Amazon and thought it would be fitting to carve an A stamp and make my own wrapping paper with recycled packaging paper.  Of course I will give her the stamp along with it.  :)

We Didterested

I'm a big fan of Pinterest.  It only has one itsy bitsy problem.  I spend hours upon hours behind the computer, "pinning" ideas and inspirational projects instead of actually doing them.  Recently I decided I would make it a goal to try to look back and use an idea such as cooking up a yummy recipe or a fun Halloween decoration.  With that said, early on this week my sister-in-law Liz found a fun project to do at home with Jo and Amelia.  It's so easy to do and great for a child's exploration of the senses!

Start with a pretty color paint.  

I had an old canvas laying around the house that I used and then I taped LOVE on the canvas.   Now you are ready for some painting fun with your kiddo.

I first showed her how to do it with my finger, while she observed, and she picked it up right away.   I let her use her fingers but you can give your little one a brush as well. 

This is the final result.   Make sure you wait for the paint to dry completely before you peel off the tape.  Also, my tape wasn't the best for this project.  As you can see the paint bled underneath the tape.   Look for blue painter's tape when you are at the store.  I know you can buy it at any hardware store that sells paint.  I kind of like the look though.  It's what artist's call " happy accidents".

Apple of my Eye

Monkey says OO OO

I love monkeys.  When David and I lived in Malaysia we would go on long walks in the jungle and spot them climbing and swinging from trees.  

Fall Oak Leaf

Fall is Here!

 We took the girls to their very first Pumpkin Patch at TGR Exotics where we also met up with family and friends. A fun and interesting day it was!

I love the different shades of vibrant orange and white. 

Safe in Papa's arms. 

I can't wait to make fresh pumpkin soup.  Houston just got a cold front so it's soup making season at my house!

Cousins catching a ride from Uncle DK. 

The joy of sleeping in the sun. 

Armadillo: Texas

Little Deer On a Hill

Pallette