Wash, Brush, Swim!!!

Here is my latest painting project that I just finished up! Three canvases for a boys' bathroom. I was asked to do these by the interior designer, but they're going to a sweet family that used to live behind us when we built our first house here in Carlsbad. Those boys are growing up! I think they're now around 10 and 7!! Anyways, they just moved into a home on the river (for those of you not native to here.....that would be the Pecos River, which runs through our town). Tami (the designer) wanted something fun for their bathroom that would say "wash", "brush", and then some funky swimtrunks to hang over their potty! The fabric I was going off of was

fab-u-loso!!

All 3 together

A little different view

Brush!! Oh so important for those teeth (and hair I guess!)

Wash....equally important for many other sorts of reasons!!

I was given free reign when it came to these. I just love Andree, the boys' mom, and knew that she would like something fun and funky.

a little close up of those wild flowers

amazing fabric....beautiful stripes and great colors

I really hope this looks fun in their bathroom! Loved painting them!

Birthright

A few weeks ago my crazy, extra large family got together for Easter at Nana and Pappy's house. I'm talking about 40-50 people there, and I think some were missing!!!! We have multiplied you could say! Anyways, my Aunt Rita (mom's twin) was telling me about an organization that she in involved in in Odessa, TX where she lives called Birthright. I googled it, and they have a website that explains their services. It sounds like a wonderful organization that was established quite some time ago to help women through an unplanned pregnancy, offering many different services free of charge. The Odessa chaper was having a silent auction fundraiser, and Rita wondered if I wanted to paint something as a donation to auction off. I said "Surely!!", and came up with this 12x12 painting. I wanted to do something fun that could be used in any situation (not just for a new baby, for example).

Okay. I took the pictures after I had wrapped it in cellophane getting it ready to ship. But, you can still see what it says. Cheetah print wrapping around edges, hot pink center, lime green dots around the circle. Beautiful scripture!

Rita asked me if I had business cards.....which I didn't. She said I should probably attach one in case people were interested in having something painted. So, that's when I was inspired to come up with a name of sorts for what I do. Couldn't think of anything really good at the time, so Sweetie Pie Paintings it is (for now!!). I put my name, number, and blog address on there, just in case!! You never know who may see my work and want to order something!!

All wrapped up with a sweet little ribbon, tied and ready to go. Aunt Rita said that the bidding went well on it and it went to a lady who really wanted it. I am thankful that I got to give a little piece of me to an organization that is such a blessing to women!

Time for a Change

I hope that there are actually people that look at this blog! I never know because people rarely leave comments or sign on as a follower. I decided to give it a fun new name, especially since I've been painting more for people who have "hired" me to paint something for them. I'm kind of in the process of making up some fun little business cards to attach to the back of my paintings, and I thought Sweetie Pie Paintings was cute. It's hard to come up with a catchy name! Anyways, just a new look for the blog for a little while. I would like to change the blog address, but that would be a big hassle. So, for now, it's staying the same. Thanks to anyone who looks at this blog! Leave some comments and let me know you're out there!

Parker

I have to start this post by saying that I am so disappointed in how these pictures turned out. The lighting just wasn't right or something. Probably user malfunction, but hey......

One of my sweet childhood friends (we go WAY back) called me the other day and asked if I'd paint something for one of her good friends that is going to have a baby soon. After talking about the painting and bedding a bit, I asked her who it was. I was ecstatic when she told me the momma-to-be's name.... She was my OB nurse in Roswell when I had Grayer. She actually admitted me that night, and stayed with me during labor and delivery until she went off call after he had been born. She was so sweet and calm, and I was so thankful to have a "good nurse" (you all know what I mean if you've had a baby!). Liz- if you ever look at this blog, it was an honor to paint something for you and sweet baby Parker. I hope you love it!

Ok.....so onto the painting

Her bedding is so darn cute for a little boy's room. It's CocaLo couture bedding, and it's the Aidan Collection. Stripes, circles, and houndstooth in shades of denim blue, dark red, cream, tan, and gold. It also has chocolate brown around the borders. So cute. Love it. This picture is off of a baby bedding site.

So the outside border is the dark chocolate brown, with the circles wrapping around the edges (I never got a good shot of the sides). Yes, there are red circles, they just didn't show up in this picture. There's a small band of houndstooth towards the bottom, which is really fun. Ashley requested a scripture on the canvas, and she wanted one of my all time faves...."you knit me together in my mother's womb....psalms 139:13. Used a different font for the name and scripure.

You can see more details in this one.....the houndstooth, stripes, shading. On the bedding, the blue stripes almost have two tones to them, and I tried to achieve that on the painting. I chopped up an old brush pretty bad (imagine how your hair stylist chops up into your hair with scissors, you know what I'm talking about??). Well, that brush got a hairCUT! It left behind some scraggly old bristles, but that was just right for dragging on the highlights without them being too thick.

I love this font....it's very cute for a litte boy

Baby Bianca

A few months ago I started working contract for Loving Schools, which is a teeny tiny school district just outside of Carlsbad. I work 2 mornings a week, for just 3 hours each morning supervising the Occupational Therapist Assistant and doing evals on the kiddos out there. In doing this, I was blessed to meet and become friends with Jessica (the COTA). Now that she's had her first baby girl, I'll be finishing out the last of the school year working 2 full school days a week to get in all of the kids on caseload!! I was happy to do a painting for her as her baby gift. She picked out some really cute bedding, which this next picture (off of some baby bedding site)doesn't really do justice! It's CocaLo bedding in Tropical Punch. Lots of colors, lots of patterns, and fun animals.

There's so much going on in the bedding that I wanted to keep it simple with dots and stripes mainly

I chose brown for the dots and font color because it's not a huge standout color in the bedding, but it is in there. I actually love the brown in the bedding. It's this really sweet curdoroy fabric in a rusty sort of a brown.

I must say that with each painting I do, fonts are getting a little easier. They are just not that simple to do, but I've gotten better.

I wrapped the dots around the edges for something a little different, and I sealed it with a glossy finish, which I happen to love! Welcome to the world, sweet Bianca!