Zebra Print Nursery Room Decor

As I'm sure you're aware animal prints are super popular in home decor styles as well as clothing, jewelry and more. I recently painted a really fun name sign for a customer that had the zebra print pattern on it.

Before I get ahead of myself, let me back track...

Several years ago I painted a room sign that had a border with zebra print but the design ended up being very small and wasn't very prominent on the sign at all. Take a look...

See what I mean? I like the color combination, I LOVE the quote and the details are perfect for the theme. But in looking back it just doesn't get me excited. As a matter of fact, after painting that sign the thought of painting a zebra pattern made me nervous.

So when this recent order came up I got a bit on the jittery side. But I was upfront and honest with my customer. I shared the photo with her explained how tiny the pattern ended up. She understood my point and after a few emails discussing this design we figured out a way to make the zebra print stand out. Now I can't wait for someone to order this pattern! I LOVED PAINTING IT!

This sign was created for a newborn baby and the customer wanted the little zebras on there to fill in the space. But if you don't want the zebras on there I could leave them out. In the empty space I could paint some flowers, trees, stars or just about anything will work. Or we could just leave it be with the name. Then the sign would be sure to 'grow' with your little girl. Picture it...this design without the zebras. Wouldn't it still work well for a teenager? I certainly think so!

While custom artwork can be frustrating at times I do love it! I enjoy the fact that any piece of my artwork can be tweaked to suit your needs. This 'tweaking' opens up a whole new world for satisfying your room décor needs. What may be perfect for a newborn girl could also be perfect for a tween girl as long as you're in tune with your imagination and you're up for me making a few small changes.

Fun, fun, fun! My work is almost always fun! And I am blessed!

More sharing coming soon...until then,

Artificial Christmas Trees

When I was very young...around 3 or 4 years old...I had a serious allergic reaction to our family's real Christmas tree. I have a very vague recollection of waking in the middle of the night struggling to breath. The next thing I recall I was sitting in the emergency room with my parents. I remember being very scared. Thankfully my parents got me to the hospital in time, the allergy shots quickly went into gear and I was fine.

Having this allergic reaction resulted in our family having to get an artificial tree. To this day I have never had a real tree in any of my homes. But I don't regret it. I do enjoy how a real tree can look...we have many friends who trek out every year to the tree farm and get these sweet, sometimes 'Charlie Brownish' looking trees. They look very sweet. But as for my family we have the good, old fashioned fake tree. But I truly don't mind!

My daughter and I get into the holiday decorating mode the day after Thanksgiving. My husband and our two sons go up to their friends' hunting camp for a couple of days while we stay home and set the stage for the upcoming holidays. We don't need to rely on any man's muscle to stuff the tree into our van, drag the tree home, carry it into our house and complain as they set it up. We simply go down to our basement, unpack it piece by piece and get it done on our own! Yes, we are women...here us roar!

Over the years my kids have complained about having an artificial tree exclaiming that they'd like a real one. But honestly, once we get our tree up it looks so beautiful! Here's a photo from Christmas a couple of years ago:

Ahhh! I just love looking at that picture! In my opinion it oozes the essence of this sweet and wonderful season!

Aside from the fact that I'm never in the mood to deal with a serious allergic reaction I really do love artificial Christmas trees. I've heard people complain that they can be a bit pricey when you first purchase one, but over time they definitely pay off. Plus they are beautifully shaped and the size is included on the box and, if you prepare yourself, you figure out what size will fit your home. Our friends always guess at what size they need and, over the years, they've gotten a few that we were too tall and they ended up having to cut off the tree tops. Another positive point in favor of an artifical tree is you don't have to worry about watering it. Needles don't fall all over the place as the tree dries out. And one year I recall another family we are friends with brought a few bugs in with ther tree! Yuck!

We've had prelit trees since they came out with them a few years ago. One year we pulled our tree out, put it together and plugged it in. And guess what? The lights didn't work! Now mind you, I was all snuggled up at home and wasn't about to run to the store and try to find a new tree after putting this one up. So I went down to our basement found a couple strings of old lights and put them on the tree. Voila! We were set!

In my opinion there are many more positives to having an artificial tree. They're always gorgeous, less expensive in the long run, safer from fire hazards and we don't need any men around to help us carry it home and set it up!

So as the days get shorter, the nights get longer and the weather starts to get much cooler my excitement starts to rev up. Halloween is right around the corner and then Thanksgiving. Before we blink it will be that time again and I can hardly wait!

But okay...I've been focusing lately in living in the present moment! I'll try to enjoy the here and now and not get too far ahead of myself. But every once in a while I can daydream about what's ahead, right?

Well, I better get in gear as I have a busy day. I'm sure I'll have more to share soon. Until then,

Maternity and Nursing Clothes

I just celebrated my 47th birthday yesterday so the subject of maternity clothing certainly isn't front and enter in my mind. However, I've recently been blessed with the title 'Great Aunt' and I'm soon to be twice blessed with that glorious title. My nephew and his girlfriend just had a beautiful baby girl. And my niece is due any day now with her first child. I can't believe how much I love these babies already! I can hardly wait to spoil them like crazy!

Meanwhile, as my nieces progressed through their pregnancies I couldn't help but notice how cute they looked. When I was pregnant I would never have thought of wearing tight fitting clothing. I wore the flouncy oversized tops that made me look like a whale. I know...I don't like to complain because, as my husband so eloquently stated several times, "It's a temporary inconvenience for a long term gain." Yes, looking and feeling huge was only temporary and resulted in the three greatest loves of my life! But maternity fashions back in the mid-to-late 90's and earlier left a lot to be desired.

I'm sure you've seen images of the latest trend in maternity clothing on T.V., in magazines and on the internet, too. The tops, slacks and dresses are very form fitting. Not only does the mommy-to-be's belly stick out, sometimes you can see their newly displayed 'outty' belly button! But honestly none of that matters! I think these women look completely darling with their tummies sticking out. They should be proud of the miracle that is in process. Shout it out to everyone and let that growing belly be seen! Hind sight being 20/20 I wish I would have been proud to show my baby bump.

In this modern age being stylish doesn't have to cost an arm and a leg. It's easy and affordable to find stylish maternity clothing. I've discovered websites like Trendytummymaternity.com which offer a large variety of maternity tops, dresses, jeans and more and the prices aren't as high as you might expect. That's a big plus! I recall when I was pregnant that maternity clothes tended to be quite pricey. There were very few maternity stores in our area and the ones that I frequented were very expensive.

So while, I can't change for myself what took place nearly 15-20 years ago, I'm happy to support the modern trend in maternity clothing. Accentuating the beauty of a pregnant young lady is, in my opinion, placing a very positive light on a miracle in progress!

Okay...I better get moving and get to drawing portraits and painting name signs. More interesting topics and fun on the way very soon so stay tuned...until then,

Crystal Nail Files

I don't spend much time keeping my finger nails painted simply because I have paint all over my hands almost everyday. I'm sure I'd chip off or mess up any manicure in about 2 hours after I had one done.

I do however try to keep my toenails in good shape. I keep them painted, clipped and filed down to a nice length. I love to wear flip flops all summer long so having my toenails look nice is important to me. But as luck would have it I recently took a spill in our driveway and the toenail on my left big toe ripped back! UGH!! It was a mess and weeks later it still looks ugly. I've been traipsing around all summer with a band aid covering my ugly big toenail. What else could I do??

Well, the universe conspired and gave me what I needed. A friend of mine asked me to paint something for her. As her payment she got me a gift certificate for a pedicure. How perfect! I am so looking forward to getting my toes cleaned up once again.

The girl who does my pedicures is new to the salon scene having only just graduated from high school a year ago. But she does a great job none the less. I can't wait to sit down and have my feet taken care of again! I love pedicures!

I recall a few years ago I was out of town and patronized a salon that used crystal nail files. It was a gorgeous nail file adorned with Swarovski crystals. Talk about classy! It was a very high end spa and salon that I went to with my girlfriends when we turned "the big 40". We definitely spoiled ourselves that year!

I won't be able to spoil myself to another high class salon just yet, but someday I will! That's my goal! Work hard and then spoil myself to pieces!

Okay, I'd better get to work...I have a busy day ahead of me!

More fun on the way...until then,

Invitations for Birthdays

Right now I am enjoying a much needed family vacation at the beach in North Carolina. My family comes down here every year and because my kids are still in high school...well my oldest just graduated...we have to take our yearly vacations during the summer months. For some reason it always works out that our vacation week coincides with my youngest son's birthday. We've celebrated a number of his birthdays down here and sometimes I feel bad. I often think that we should pick a different week for vacation so we can throw him a nice party at home with a bunch of his friends. But other times I figure he has nothing to complain about. I'd love it if I could spend my birthdays at the ocean!

So every year I promise him that one of these summers he'll be able to have a big birthday bash at home. (I really hope I can keep that promise!)

This summer we waited until the last minute to make our vacation plans which gave me some time to at least consider a party at home for him. I came across a website that sold a large variety of party invitations and fortunately they offer beautiful invitations for birthdays. Being that I do a large volume of printing on my own home computer I could easily print some of my own. But heck...it seems so much more fun to buy them!

They offer so many different types of invitations at Invitation Box that I was a bit overwhelmed when making my decision. After my initial searching I narrowed it down and considered my son and how he likes to spend his time. He plays a variety of sports with baseball being his favorite so I searched for a sports theme invitation. He's turning 14 and since some of the styles were for much younger boys I decided to also look into the adult themed invitations, too. Luckily I found a nice variety that suited my son's tastes.

Meanwhile, as I continued on through the website I remembered that next year my husband will be celebrating his 50th birthday. Hmmmm...I definitely have to keep this website in mind! I've never had a big bash for him and I know I could find something that would work for him.

So even though we had to celebrate my son's big day down here at the beach and we didn't have a party at home I'll definitely keep InvitationBox.com invitations for birthdays in mind for my husband's up coming big day.

Okay...I'm off to relax a bit more at the beach! I'll have more interesting things to share with you soon...until then,

Eyeglasses...it's time for me...

I think the time has finally arrived. I'm in my mid 40's and I've noticed over the past several months that when I'm painting small details on my artwork or reading small print the area between my eyes and the ends of my arms is getting much wider! I have to get on the ball and make an appointment with the eye doctor before things get worse.

But, I'll be honest with you, I'm a bit excited. I LOVE to shop and there are so many stylish eyeglasses these days and, while they are a necessity, eyeglasses have also become quite a fashion accessory.

My husband has been wearing eyeglasses for many years and at least a year ago he was on the search for affordable eyeglasses. Since he is 'forever frugal' he got a bit excited when he discovered that nowadays you can buy eyeglasses at very reasonable prices.

Knowing that my husband was able to find reasonably priced eyeglasses I recently began looking around and found Zenni Optical. Zenni Optical is a prescription eye wear company offering a wide range of high quality affordable eyeglass products that are durable, safe and comfortable. Plus Zenni only sells their own brand of manufactured frames directly from their own factories. This creates such a savings for you. I'm sure you understand that when there is a middleman involved the end result is a higher priced product for you, the final customer. With Zenni this extra cost is null and void. Cool!!

Zenni Optical offers $6.95 prescription eyeglasses and all glasses include an anti-scratch coating, full UV protection and thin and light single vision lenses. Plus you get a a free protective case with each pair and a microfiber cleaning cloth. Shipping for an entire order is only $4.95! Wow! I was impressed!

Zenni Optical also has a super cool tool on their site where you can try on a variety of glasses-- virtually. You simply upload your own face image to the Zenni Frame Fit system. Or if you don't have an image of yourself to upload then you can use one of the many face images they have. Just be honest with yourself and make sure you use the stock image that matches your face structure! Yes, I'd like to upload the face that looks like Angelina Jolie and think that I look like her, but let's be 'real'. It would be my round chubby cheeks that would have to carry the style around with me so I wouldn't live in denial! At least for a few minutes anyways.

And Zenni has very detailed step-by-step instructions on how to place your order on their 'How To order' page. And, most importantly, remember that you will need an up-to-date prescription from an optometrist or ophthalmologist to complete your order.

Or if you are just buying frames for wearing and don't need a prescription you can do that, too. Just the other day at my son's basketball game a group of teenage girls was passing around a pair of cute eyeglasses that were not prescription. They liked them because it made them look smart as well as adorable!

For me...well...if the eyeglasses I end up buying make me look adorable and smart that would be the icing on the cake. What I truly need is a pair of eyeglasses to help correct my vision! But I won't complain. I'm 46 years old and just now have to get eyeglasses. I've lasted pretty long without eyeglasses so I must have a pretty good set of peepers!

Okay...I'm on the way to starting my day. More sharing to come...until then,