Art!

Hello Friends!  I hope you are having a wonderful Friday!

Today I am featuring some artwork!  I'm currently working on a watercolor portrait of my daughter Isabella.  So I thought I would share it with you all, and let you in on the process!  

Below is an update of where I currently sit with this painting.  You can find my step by step process here.

Happy Friday and have a GREAT weekend!

Happy Valentines Day

Happy Valentines Day everyone!  I finished Isabella's Valentines just in time!  So I thought I would post them for you to see!  

This is my nine year old little girl, Isabella!  We had so much fun doing her Winter Shoot!  And she just had to have one of her very best friends in the pictures with her.. This is our little Boston Terrier, Sadie!  My two girls just {LOVE} our cute little Boston!

 

LOVE this girl!

 

 

You can catch the full post on how I made these and all of my fun editing ideas here.

I hope you all have a wonderful, SPECIAL Valentines Day!

 

Butterflies and an Office Makeover

Good Morning!  I hope you're all having a wonderful start to your day!  I personally have been so excited to put this post together!  

So my two girls are at the age {7 & 9} where sharing a room just isn't cool anymore.. :?  So!  That said.. my nine year old daughter, Isabella, has moved into our office and claimed the guest bed!  I currently have Pottery Barn's Karala Palampore Duvet on the guest bed, but I feel it's a little too grown up for her.  She needs something lighter.. airier.. {is that even a word?}, something that would work for a nine year old girl and my office.  So I started my hunt and it didn't take long {since I visit Pottery Barn once a month, okay, twice a month!}.  I saw the new Butterfly printed duvet and {HUGE GASP} I fell in love!  And so did she!  YEAH!  Her favorite color is blue, so we will lay on a nice coat of blue on the wall behind her bed.  The other three walls are just a creamy color to keep things bright in there.  I may just use the same gorgeous blue that is painted in the hall bathroom.

I put together my idea board and am slowly gathering what we need.  I already have the duvet purchased and washed and ready.. So just a few more days or maybe a week and I'll get everything else. 

I posted last week on my built in desk which you can find here.  Unfortunately the desk is just soaking up the lacquer, so here we are three days later still laying on coats.  And gosh is it ever stinky!  But I think tonight is the last coat and then I can start putting that room together!  The whole room is under sheets right now.  

Below is a floor plan of the room.  It really isn't very big and not much to work with as far as space goes... but I think it will be beautiful and fresh by the time we're done with it!  I just love the idea of using a mason jar sconce for her lamp, but may have to just go with a table lamp for now.  I plan to spell her name down the side of the wall with the gold lettering.  Now we'll just have to see if it looks as good on the wall as it does in my mind! :)

 I'm SO excited!  I'm also repainting the old wood antique bed in there which I haven't pictured yet, so if you have any great colors and ideas for that, I'd love to hear them!  Have a great day!

 

DIY Valentines!!

 Hello Friends!  It's February and

So that means the time has come to make your Valentines!

 I was over at Kelly's blog The Lily Pad Cottage, and she had a post on making school valentines with pictures of your little one!  You can find her post here  I found this to be the neatest and cutest idea!  So I dressed my little one {Olivia} up and took her out for a winter photo shoot..  She picked her dress and necklace.. This was my necklace that I wore on my wedding day <3  So these pictures are EXTRA special!  I then dressed up the pictures with cute little love phrases, hearts and butterflies.  All of which I created at PicMonkey.

I am SO in love with that website!  It's free and there are so many amazing things you can do and add to dress up your pictures!  You can also upgrade for like 4 bucks a month to have more options.  But the free version suits my needs for now. 

 
Have I told you how much I LOVE this little girl of mine?  She is so fun to take pictures of.  Always ready for a pose! Haha.. And she has ALWAYS been that way.  Very girly girl.

 I found these cute little baggies at Walmart for less than 2 bucks for 20 bags.  So cute and perfect for what I was making!  Next you just fill the bags with a small candy {I chose Hershey's Kisses} yum!  

 I did the assembly a little different than Kelly did.. But you could really do it both ways.  Her pictures were folded over the little baggies.  But I forgot to stand back far enough to be able to fold over the top of the photo.  So I just stapled mine to the bags as full size photos.  It still got the job done ;)  Now all you have to do is write the class names on there and you have yourself some adorable little DIY Valentines!  Thanks for the post Kelly!

Now I just have to do my other daughter {Isabella}!  She isn't as girly as Olivia, but she saw these and loved them!  So we have more to do!  I hope this has inspired you the way it inspired me!  I would love to see what you come up with or hear about your neat Valentine making traditions!  Have a great week!

Built In Desk with Wood Top

Happy Sunday!  Are any of you totally feeling Spring Fever??  I AM and have been since the 1st of January! :)  I know.. I'm a bit crazy that way!  I have started numerous projects around the house and have yet to actually finish one.. I am known for this... But I have every intention of getting them done this time! ;)  

Here is one that I am working on right now.

My hubby built this desk for me.. Isn't he sweet?  Well, after having this built in desk for over a year now.. I'm finally finishing it!  It's just been a raw wood desk {left to soak in markers, and paint, and coffee :-/} and I'm finishing the top with my homemade Earl Grey Tea Stain!  I will do a post on how to make that soon :)

 

Here I have shown you the process of each step and the effect it has on the wood.  Now let me say this.. I had originally planned to paint this wood top with a high gloss white paint when we had first put it in.  This desk acts as both my office space and my painting studio space.  So I was after something that would clean up nice!  But lately I've found myself leaning towards these grey woods and barn wood like finishes.. So I changed my mind and here we are.  

That said, if I had planned on leaving the wood exposed, I would have chosen a raw pine instead.  This is a poplar wood.. {a.k.a.- not that pretty when stained..}  But I'm going to choose to look beyond and just go with it! Haha.. This desk has a long way to go, but I'm on a mission!  So stay tuned, and your comments are always welcome!

Are you working on any cool Spring Fever related projects?  I would LOVE to hear about them!

Happy Sunday Friends!

Creamy Tomato Bisque with Grilled Feta on Dark Rye

....Ingredients...................

CREAMY TOMATO BISQUE
 
2 lbs Ripe Tomatoes (seeded & peeled)
2 cans Tomato Sauce 
2 tbsp Tomato Paste
1 cup Chicken Broth
1/2 sweet Onion, Chopped
6 Garlic Cloves
3 leaves of Fresh Basil, chopped
2 tbsp Olive Oil
3 tbsp White Sugar
3/4 pint of Heavy Whipping Cream
1/4 tsp Ground Nutmeg
2 tbsp Flour
2 tbsp Butter
Salt/pepper 

Toasted Feta and Mozzarella on Dark Rye

8 slices Dark Rye bread (Serves 4)
 Mozzarella Cheese (Enough to generously top the bread)
8 1/4 inch slices of tomato/basil Feta cheese

8 Thinly sliced pieces of Italian Dry Salami
Butter

..................................

 

Hello friends!  Are you feeling like a warm delicious creamy comfort food in the middle of this ever so cold winter!?  If you are, try this recipe!  It's sure to warm you right up!

First, run the tomatoes through a food mill to remove the seeds and skins, (if you don't have one, just cut and spoon the seeds out) and place in a large pot over medium heat. Stir in the chicken broth, sugar, salt, pepper, fresh basil, garlic cloves, onion, tomato paste, and tomato sauce.  Bring to a boil, then reduce heat, and simmer 1 hour. (You can slow cook it all day if you'd like!)

When the mixture has cooked and simmered for an hour, remove from heat and pour it into a blender.  Be sure that the lid is closed tightly to keep from getting burned.  Simply puree the mixture until its super smooth and saucy!  Return to the original pot.

Next, in a small saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter. Whisk in the flour to form a roux.  Next whisk in the whipping cream, and nutmeg.  Be sure you are stirring constantly until thickened and mixed well.  Now you can pour your creamy mixture into the Tomato sauce.  Give it some good stirring until it's completely mixed and a beautiful creamy orange!  Now, set aside on low heat while you make the rest!

Now for the sandwiches!  The DeLiCiOuS sandwiches!  All you do is butter your bread on one side, and toast it in a pan on medium heat.  While it's toasting, layer your Mozzarella and Feta on top.  Then place two slices of the Salami on top of the cheese.  Sprinkle the salami with a little more Mozzarella.  This is so the other piece of bread will stick to the sandwich.  Flip the sandwich and brown.  

Okay, now you can serve up the Bisque and garnish each bowl with a pinch of fresh Basil.  Grab the sandwiches and serve with a hearty salad! 

My family really enjoyed this meal!  I hope you do too!  I would LOVE to hear what you think!  Have a wonderful day! 

Linking up to My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia

 

Hall Bathroom Remodel

 Let the fun begin!!  

I thought it would be fun to show you the process of how remodeling goes down in our home :)  Don't worry, the paint came right off my nose.. ;)  It is always great to have help from the hubby.  Especially when the up high painting needs to be done!

   

I used this gorgeous Blue in the bathroom.  Its not too bright and just happens to be quite perfect in there.  These pictures really don't do it justice.  

We already had this Rustic Alder vanity cabinet, just laying around. :)  We have several cabinets, we own a small cabinet company.  I'll tell more about that another time.  

The cabinet was topped it off with this gorgeous creamy grey slab of granite.  The gold mirror brings out the gold specs in the stone.  I am just IN LOVE!

There are still a few details to finish up in here.. such as the tile back splash, trim, cabinet hardware, and a new bathroom door! 

Have a wonderful day!

 

My First Post...

For my first post, I decided to do a collage display on the things I've been working on.  After Christmas was over, I went full throttle with my Spring cleaning, decor, and organizing my clutter!  We (my hubby and I) made a long list of our weekend projects.  That weekend we tackled THREE!  Okay fine, two and a half.  I'm still working on my two side tables from the picture above.  

The Tables:  I started with one table.  I stripped it and sanded it with the palm sander!  Now that part was fun!  I am trying an Earl Grey Tea stain that I found on another fellow bloggers site, The Frugal Farmhouse.  The blog has been deleted unfortunately.. So all I could see what what I was mixing together.. Not the process... hmm.. Well, to tell you the truth, this has been interesting. I have been messing with it for two days now and it's still not what I'm after!  Hopefully I'll figure out what my next move it.  Stay tuned for an update on that later this week :)

I hope you are all having a wonderful start to your week!  Happy Martin Luther King Day!!