my new little DIY project

for all of you crafty gals out there, you understand the need to work with mixed media, wear your covered-in-paint overalls, browse the aisles of hobby lobby in search of the supplies for your next masterpiece. i have been creating art my whole life and it is a passion of mine. i usually specialize in painting canvas and furniture, as well as faux finishing walls, but i also love to do design and i've recently gotten into calligraphy. i'm thinking about starting up my own etsy site, but haven't made a decision yet...we'll see what the future holds. anyway, something i've gotten into recently is making paper flowers. i had the idea to make them for a project i'm doing for the wedding and it has become very addicting!! it takes almost an hour to make each flower because it's a very intricate process. you have to cut each petal out separately and then attach each individual petal to the stem. it is very tedious, but i'm happy with the results so far:

i'm painting again!

some of you may not know this, but once upon a time i used to paint signs/furniture/anything i could get my hands on really and i loved it. in fact, in college, i worked here for 3.5 years. i don't know what happened, i guess life happened, but i haven't picked up a paint brush in two years.

until last night. lexi "commissioned" me to make a sign for kira & sauer's wedding (more specifically kira's dressing room) this upcoming weekend and for some reason i agreed to do it. ha. i'm putting the finishing touches on it as we speak, so i'll show you a sneak peak:



i'm pretty pleased with the way the damask detailing came out, but i'm out of practice with my lettering. but i am happy to say that i use no markings, stencils, or rough drafts...i do all my stuff free hand. it's not me, the trick is the brush. you gotta use a really fine tipped brush. (i recommend a 20/0 multi-media liner.)

i think i will start painting on a regular basis. i'm havin' a lot of fun out here on my back porch. you should see me right now...covered in paint, bandana on my head, "airstream song" blaring...my neighbors think i'm crazy. they're probably right.

CONGRATULATIONS TO KIRA & SAUER who are getting married in miami this saturday!!!!! doesn't she look so happy? so pretty.