A Traditional Boy's Nursery (In A Long-Overdue Update)

Wow, it's been a while. I think I'm just beginning to come out of the fog of sleep-deprivation, stress, and complete lack of personal time that go hand in hand with becoming a new parent, moving across the Atlantic, changing careers, living out of a suitcase for five+ months, searching for and purchasing a new home, and the mounds and mounds of paperwork that accompany all of the above.

If you're reading this, it means you've stuck with me over the past year of approximately ZERO posts (or stumbled across this for the first time), and I thank you for your loyalty and interest in my little space here. I hope to make up for the lack of posts in the coming months!

Our stuff will remain in storage until we officially close on our home, which means all of my inventory and art supplies are inaccessible to me at the moment. Once we get settled in, however, I will be reopening my Etsy shop and accepting commissions for commercial and residential murals and other projects.

Since my focus over the past year has been on a certain tiny person, I don't have much new artwork to share with you at the moment. I think the last few things I painted were pieces for the nursery, so I'll share those with you. Sadly, this nursery is no more, as we have moved out of the charming Spanish house it was in...but happily, all of these items have come with us and will have a new home shortly.

This painting was inspired by vintage travel posters and illustrations from children's books from the Golden Age of Illustration (in the vein of Maxfield Parrish, N.C. Wyeth, Jessie Wilcox Smith, etc.). It's enormous - I wanted a big statement piece for over the crib. I wound up stretching the canvas myself in order to save money and find the size I wanted. You can see the scale in the photo below.

I also painted the alphabet lamp and the chalkboard-art style Scripture piece on the wall (although the design is not my own - I found it on Pinterest, although I can't seem to find it there anymore).

Here's a close up of the lamp. It originally had cherries between the checkerboard borders (painted by my Mom during a Mary Engelbreit craze), but we scraped them off to make it more suitable for a boy's nursery. I love it.

As you can see, his nursery was somewhat eclectic, which is the look I wanted. Themed nurseries are perfectly fine, but I wanted something a little more subtle than having the same fabric/pattern/picture repeated on every item in the room. I guess if you had to describe my theme here, it would be an eclectic nursery based on classic children's literature, travel, adventure, and a traditional European boy's room. I'm not sure if I accomplished that entirely, but we liked it. It was a happy little room, for a happy little person (well, happy MOST of the time, haha!). I was sad to leave it behind... But, it's nice to be back in the States, and I'm really excited about moving into the new house and making it our own. I'll be posting about our home improvement projects as we tackle them, so be sure to stay tuned for those!

Thanks for visiting.

The Adventure Begins...

Happy 2015! 

We are charting new territory over here - our first baby arrived over the Thanksgiving break, and it's been an amazing (and exhausting!) few weeks. We are totally in love though - and who wouldn't be with a face like that? 

Needless to say, my creative endeavors have been on hiatus lately. I did manage to squeeze a few projects in during the last few weeks of my pregnancy (since I was vegging on the couch most of the time), so I'll be sharing those with you in some upcoming posts. I may also throw in a couple of baby-themed posts (since that's my life these days) - we'll see. 

This set was one of my last projects before our little explorer arrived, and it's definitely one of my favorite things I've made for him. He looks SO cute in it! The patterns were really quick and easy too, which was nice. I'll include the pattern links below - you'll need to have a (free) Ravelry account and be logged in to access them.

Hat - Crochet Aviator Hat by Sarah Zimmerman (I was using up yarn in my stash, so my white yarn isn't as thick as the yarn called for in the pattern.)

Jacket - Cute as a Bunny Set by Lion Brand Yarn (I modified the jacket pattern by adding pockets and top-stitching, as well as the aviator patch.)

Both patterns are available free from Ravelry.

Another Spanish Casa

Some friends of ours recently moved back to the States from Spain, and before they left, they asked me to do a watercolor of their home for the last three years... This was the result: 

I think they were pretty happy with it. I certainly enjoyed painting it! It was a relaxing break from the craziness that our life has been lately.... 

New Hymn Collage - Come, Ye Thankful People, Come

A little out of season, but it's my latest project nonetheless:

Come, Ye Thankful People, Come

based on the hymn by Henry Alford and George J. Elvey

Come, ye thankful people, come, raise the song of harvest home;

All is safely gathered in, ere the winter storms begin.

God our Maker doth provide for our wants to be supplied;

Come to God’s own temple, come, raise the song of harvest home.

All the world is God’s own field, fruit unto His praise to yield;

Wheat and tares together sown unto joy or sorrow grown.

First the blade and then the ear, then the full corn shall appear;

Lord of harvest, grant that we wholesome grain and pure may be.

For the Lord our God shall come, and shall take His harvest home;

From His field shall in that day all offenses purge away,

Giving angels charge at last in the fire the tares to cast;

But the fruitful ears to store in His garner evermore.

Even so, Lord, quickly come, bring Thy final harvest home;

Gather Thou Thy people in, free from sorrow, free from sin,

There, forever purified, in Thy garner to abide;

Come, with all Thine angels come, raise the glorious harvest home.

*************

I will have prints and greeting cards featuring this collage available later today in my shop. 

Thanks for visiting! 

Magically Delicious...

Back in December, Josh and I celebrated our 10th wedding anniversary (say what? Have we really been married that long?). Since it was a milestone, we decided to do something special... and for us, doing something special means traveling!

We tossed around ideas and decided to spend 8 days visiting a place we'd both always wanted to see - Ireland! It was the BEST. TRIP. EVER.

Here are a few highlights from my 2,000+ photos (you're welcome for sparing you!):

Dublin Doorway

Shepherd's Pie - Yum! 

St. Patrick's Cathedral

In the Trinity College Library, Dublin

Walking to Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge

Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge

Giant's Causeway

The Dark Hedges

Glenveagh National Park

Gardens at Glenveagh National Park Castle

Glenveagh National Park Castle

Inis Mor (Aran Island) 

1. Dún Aonghasa

The Worm Hole, Inis Mor

The Seven Churches, Inis Mor

Kylemore Abbey

Ashford Castle

The Cliffs of Moher

Blarney Castle

Dingle

Beehive Hut, Dingle Peninsula

The High Kings' Concert

Dingle Peninsula 

Just in case you're wondering, no, that wasn't Middle Earth... Ireland really is this magical. We had an amazing time, and I can't think of a more wonderful way to have celebrated our first ten years together - it's certainly been an adventure. I'm looking forward to the next ten! Love you, Josh.