There are owls in the bathroom!

After looking on Modcloth I saw an amazing shower curtain as well as a matching bath rug and I really want to decorate our bathroom. The owl shower curtain gave me this great idea to put owl paintings in the bathroom.

The colors on the shower curtain are light blue, green, orange, and brown. Therefore, I'm thinking about coordinating the colors between the shower curtain and the paintings.

My painting ideas are two owls looking at each other (that would be me and Sean) and another painting of 3 owls on tree branches (for me, Sean, and Indy).  There is room for a third painting, but we'll see about that one. 

I think this will really make the bathroom look great! It needs something and I think this is it!

Sadly, this project will have to wait. I really want to get my puzzle/sponge paintings started so I can start selling them.

Paintings for sale!

That's right! I am going to start selling paintings. First I need to paint them.

Here are my ideas:
The Puzzle Piece and the Spong.

Lets talk about the Puzzle Piece
This will consist of 5 paintings all involving puzzles. They will also have similar color schemes: midnight blue/dark purple, dark red, and black (this may change however).
I've already made a couple of sketches, just because I need to get an idea of how these paintings could flow together.

I'm hoping that someone will consider putting them up in their store, but that's for another time to worry about. Right now, I just need to concentrate on painting.

I think I'm going to start painting them tonight.

I'm excited. I'm also going to post them on Facebook and see if I have any takers. We'll see though.

Another painting completed.

It feels great to have a painting completed. It seems like these ideas just come to me and I have to get them out and if I don't, the idea is just nagging at me until I do.

The painting changed a little in production, the ideas always seem to do. I'll start out doing something one way and by the time I'm done with it, it turns into another. I like that. It's nice to have that inspiration and then grow from that.

The original idea was to have a bright rainbow and to have the painting positioned horizontally. While working on the painting however, I was listening to depressing music and that changed the attitude of the painting. There was a transition from dark (on the right side) to light (on the left side). I think it was a good touch. I like the transition. It's like a journey, the same journey with each panel of color. After I finished the rainbow, I then felt there needed to be something added. The rainbow effect was nice, but the painting looked...lonely. I then added a flower. That was done in black painting and a highlight of white colored pencil.

Here is the end result:

The final step to complete this painting is the attach black or rainbow colored ribbon in between each color block about an inch apart. This is I can hang it easily. Otherwise...I'll have to make sure that it's straight and put each one on the wall individually.

I'm so excited to put this up. However, I will have to wait. It's late and I need to get to bed.

Another cake in the works!

I've noticed that once I get done with one project, I'm on to the next. Like for instance, I just finished my husbands cake and I'm already thinking about Valentine's Day!

With this cake I'm thinking about doing once large cupcake and then doing 12 regular sized cupcakes.

I want to have chocolate cupcakes with peanut butter icing (both vegan). I've had a vegan cupcake before or even made them. I thought this would be a great challenge for me.

For the decorations, I want to ice the large cupcake and then make dye some fondant pink or red (I haven't decided yet) and cut a large heart out. On the heart I want to write down the "love is kind, love is patient" quote. We originally wanted this in our wedding. I don't think it made it in the ceremony however. Then for the smaller cupcakes, I'm going to have the same concept, but I'm going to write little sayings on the fondant hearts such as "I love you", "be mine", "forever and always".

I really hope Sean likes it. After the last couple of months, I really want to make it up to him.

Now that I have this settled, I just need to plan out a romantic Valentine's Day date. I hope that he can get it off...he might not be able to, but that's no big deal. We can always celebrate on a different day, but I still want to have a really romantic date. We normally go to Jim Gold's, a local up scale restaurant, but we've been there for the past two years. Hopefully I can think of somewhere else to go. 

Sean's birthday cake, the flop...

Every year since Sean and I have been together (almost 5 years) I have made him a cake for his birthday. I do this not only because I love baking and love baking for him, but because he never got a party or cake for his birthday, which is on Christmas Eve. He always has his family's Christmas festivities on Christmas Eve and his family doesn't really put an emphasis on his birthday. It's more about the Christmas aspect.

This round, I was playing with the idea of a Skyrim cake. He loves playing that game and I thought it would be a great idea to make the logo dragon.

This is what the logo he wanted on the cake:

This is how the caked ended up:

So, let's explain the method to my madness...
I wanted to make the dragon out of fondant and Sean wanted it to be grey. So I drew out the dragon on a piece of paper with all the details that it shown in the picture (minus the highlight and shadow). Next I cut out the sketch and place it on the fondant. After that I take a knife and cut into the fondant. That didn't really work out so I started tracing over the sketch. That didn't work either. My last idea was to look at the sketch and free hand it. Because of all the details, the fondant being difficult to cut, and sucky knives...I couldn't get all the details like I wanted.
When I was finished with the dragon I got the white fondant out and started to roll it out.
I worked on the cake as well. I used a 9x13" pan. The cake was pretty thin, so I decided to cut it in half and make two layers. The cake didn't turn out the way I wanted because it was really uneven. I tried to even it out by cutting off some of it...but I think that only made it worse.
The I iced the cake...that went horrible as well...I should have stuck it on the fridge or freezer to harden up...
Finally I took the white fondant, put it on the cake, took black gel and water and painted it black. I wanted it to look like it was painted with a paint brush and have some brush strokes shown.

Overall, I am definately not happy with the cake...but there is always next year to improve. I know what I need to work on and there are a ton of events for my to practice my cake skills.

A lesson learned...

This post is about an unsuccessful painting...Most of my of my paintings are done twice, because the first painting I do not like...This only applied to Indy's project though...

I tried painting the one where Peter Pan is holding Wendy as they fly through the sky with the moon in the background....It didn't turn out like I wanted and I'm not sure if I want to redo it...mostly because it was a hard to paint...

Just getting in the little spaces to do the background was a challenge and then when I was drawing it, I didn't press down hard enough or go over it a second time to make it darker, so a lot of my lines were lost when it came to paint it. Another problem was that I used color pencil to do the smaller areas in...I shouldn't have done that...I was too lazy to mix the paint or even try in a small area...Finally, I wasn't really in the mood to paint, but I did anyways because I was bored...I wasn't feel creative at all...That was my biggest mistake of tonight...

Anyways, I learned my lesson. Only paint when feeling creative and only paint when I know I'm going to put forth the effort...

The Indy Project...still going!

Just finished another painting for Indy's room; it's Peter Pan this time! I have no idea where I'm going to put it though. Maybe above his bookshelf? I think that would look nice. 

Here's the painting:

I'm really excited to get started on the final paintings. I think I have 2 left. After that I just need to get the pirate flag and then Peter Pan quotes. 

I might rearrange the first 3 paintings because I'm sure if I like where they are placed, but we'll see. 

Until next time!

A new project on the horizon...

I have a new idea for a painting and I'm really excited to get started on it, but the problem is that I have no money to get the material. Sad day. I'm going to have to wait till I get Christmas money or when I get paid, which will be January 3. Yes, I know the date of when I get paid, that's how little money I have.

The newest painting is going to consist of 7 canvases as one painting. I will be doing a sponge effect for all of them and maybe something else on top of the sponge. (That part just came to me, so we'll see.) Anyways, it is going to portray the rainbow. Each canvas will be have 2 colors and hopefully blend to the next color of the rainbow. This is what I'm thinking: red/red orange, orange/yellow orange, yellow/yellow green, green/blue green, blue/blue violet, violet/darker violet

I think that this will look pretty cool. I'm thinking about putting it in the bedroom above the bed, horizontally. Then again, I think I might sell it. I think that it would be a pretty good painting to sell and someone might like it as well.

After I have bought everything and made it, then I'll decide.

I still need to contact the coffee shop. I was told that a couple of other places in the area sell some art. I'll contact them as well. I hope it works out, but we'll see.

Hopefully I can get this artwork into action soon. I'm getting a little antsy! I do have a couple of more canvases that I need to use for Indy's room. Maybe I will get on that tonight!

Until next time!

Well hot damn...2 paintings in 1 night!

That's right! I have completed 2 paintings in 1 night! I'm on a roll!

The sister painting to the puzzle painting has been officially completed. It's nice to get that completed.
The living room looks great now! We have family photos on one wall, photographs from my Mom on another wall and finally the purple/orange faze on the third wall. It looks really nice. It feels great to have that completed!

Anyways, here is my painting:

I don't think this one is good as the first puzzle painting, but maybe it's because it's an original. I still like it though.

No news on the selling of paintings, mostly because it's only been a few hours since I posted...I will have to email the coffee shop sometime though.

Alright, I think that it's time for me to take some time off from painting, at least for a day.

When I get back to it my next project is completing Indy's room. I still have 3 more paintings, a pirate flag, and some Peter Pan quotes to put up in his room. Then that will finally be over.

I'm so excited! I love this! I wish I could quit everything and just be an artist! That would be amazing!

Anyways, I'm off. It's late and I'm tired!
Until next time!

Project on a whim...

So I decided after talking to my cousin about painting her walls and making art projects, I decided that it was time for me to do another project...the sponge painting!

It was really fast and super colorful! I used all neon colors: orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple.

This one is going in the bedroom with the crayon project.

Here is the painting:

I'm thinking about selling some art. I think a local coffee shop sells paintings. That would be really cool if I could sell some work, I need the extra cash. My assistantship doesn't pay that well, even thought I got a raise.

Ok, so now, I am off to my next project. This one is the sister puzzle piece. It will replace the crayon one so that one can be moved to the bedroom.

Hope my hubby likes it! :)

A new project in the works.

My cousin has seen my paintings on Facebook and now she wants me to paint her some stuff and possibly her house. She's taking some wall paper and she wants an "artsy" painting on her wall. We'll see if this pans out, but I really hope it does! I think it would be great work for me. It might take forever and a day to do, but still, I really want to do this!

I was thinking about giving her ideas for the wall if she didn't have any already. I would really like to do a wet blend of two colors. I first did this when I was on the paint crew for "The Tempest". You could see the whole stage! I think we used 4 different blues and a greeen and then we took water to it to make it look like waves. It looked really cool!

I also thought about a sponge or feather effect on the walls. We could do the base color in dark and then a lighter color in the sponge/feather. I think that would be more her style than the wet blend look. I think that might be too wild for her. She does have a wild side, but she shows off her classy side more.

There is also the paintings she wants me to do. I don't even know where to begin for that!

I need to ask her what she wants I guess, I'm hoping for something abstract, I'm really good with those. Mostly because it's abstract. You can't really go wrong with abstract.

Well, I'm off to look at some inspiration! :)

My latest project.

This project was inspired by a cohort of mine. I was browsing through her pictures on Facebook and I saw a really creative project. I liked it so much that I thought I would try the same thing. I made a couple of changes because I wanted it to fit my theme and I added some paint. 

Anyways, here is my latest project:

The boarder I did a wet blend of purple and orange and for the rectangles in the middle I took paint swatches from Wal-mart. After the paint was applied I sprayed some water on it and then dabbed the extra water off with a towel so it gave it a pretty cool effect.  

I put this painting above my curtains in the middle of of the crayon and puzzle project.

Cutting out the swatches and painting took about an hour and a half to make. It was a pretty cheap project, about $12 (that's how much the frame was).

I think think after this I need to do one more painting for the living room. I'm thinking about taking down the crayon one and putting it in our bed room. The color scheme is better in there. Plus, the rainbow really clashes with the purple and orange theme we have going on.

Maybe I'll try my hand at splatter paint. I'm not sure though...We'll see what happens.

The Puzzle Project complete!!!

It felt like it took me forever, but the puzzle project is finally done!

Here is the end product:

I can't wait to start the next project! More to come on that idea when I do some more research!

Another painting done for Indy's room!

Ahh, yet another painting done for Indy's room! I'm so excited! I really hope that it all comes together. 

Here is what I painted:

This is the first of the Peter Pan paintings. I decided that I wanted the feel of a coloring book, but I wanted to use paint. The idea that I came up with was water color for the base and color pencil for the shading/outlining. As far as the background, I just wanted a base color for it. I wasn't really looking for a solid color so I chose to do a wash. I thought this would fit bet with the "coloring book" theme.

After finals are over I think I will be able to finish all of them. My goal is to have Indy's room completed by the time I return to school in January. That should give me about 2 weeks to get them done! 

I still need to order the pirate flag and get the wall stickers to put up Peter Pan quotes. That may have to be done after January, when I get paid again.

I hope his room turns out great! I'm sure it will! 

Now off to study for more finals!

The Puzzle Painting!

This project literally came to me in a dream! Originally to looked like bunch of puzzle pieces all connected, sort of looking like a checker board, and they it faded from dark purple to lavender to then light orange to burnt orange. Since then, I have thought of different ways to paint it.

I have thought about like a checker board, alternating purple and orange. I think I am going to stick with the original idea though. I think that will look great. 

Here is an idea of what it looks like with out the paint on it: 

So far, this has taken me about a half hour to do. I hope to finish drawing the pieces on it  tomorrow and then maybe the next day I will start painting. 

My plan I think is to do a water color for the base, then shade it in with colored pencil, go over it with a white colored pencil to blend, and finally oil crayons. I did that for a project in college and it turned out great! Hopefully that technique will work for this project!

Off I go! Wish me luck! :)

Melted Crayon Project Complete!

That's right! The melted crayon project is complete! I wanted to make this out on the porch, but in Illinois, it's just too cold for that! Instead, I made it in our home office.

I put down some towels down to keep the crayon from spreading everywhere, that's one thing that I learned, I should have put my hair dryer on low to keep the wax from spraying off.

 Otherwise though, it only too me about 10 to melt everything and another 10 to figure out where I wanted the melted crayon to go.

Here is my finished product:

I think I'm going to make another. This is going to go in the living room and the other one is going to go in our bedroom! :D

The First Painting!

Here it is! This is the first painting that I did for Indy's room.

I know it's not perfect, but imagine as I do more paintings they will get better.

Tonight my plan is to paint a pirate flag (or pirate hat), or I might get one for Indy's room (the flag that is). I think it would look better and give a different feel to the room if we have an actual flag in there instead of a painting.

I almost can't wait to get back to school because then I'll have access to a printer and I can start working on the rest of the paintings!

The Indy Project!

This by far is my favorite project yet! I may even start it tonight (after I go to the gym that is). 

Indy is my 2 yr old son. He is so energetic and is smart (at least I think so)! 

Anyways, his baby room is Pooh Bear theme and now that he is getting older, my husband and I wanted a more grown up room for him. What a better time to do this then when we are moving!

Now, we don't have a lot of money, so it's going to be make shift, but we (or rather I, Sean doesn't really care, as long as it looks boy appropriate) want green curtains (too match Peter Pan's clothes) and then I'm going to paint some pictures of Peter Pan and his friends. I got the pictures from coloring books.

Here are some of the designs:

My plan is to paint these on an 8x10 canvas. I'm going to attempted a mixed media affect of water color and colored pencil. I did this for some renderings in my undergrad and the professor really liked it. I'm not sure if it will translate because when I was rendering, I used water color paper, this as I said before, will be on canvas, that are bought at Walmart. 

I'm also going to spell Indy's name out in wooden letters (also found at Walmart). I think I will hang that over his bed. The letters are going to have black outlining, to give the look of coloring books and then the letters will be light blue with sage dots.

I want to do a light blue and sage green for the other all color of the room (even though we can't paint.)

I'm kind of stuck on what else do to though. I want to get the bedding colors to match as well (I can't find Peter Pan sheets for a good price OR for boys either). 

A brillent idea just popped into my head, I'm going to put up Peter Pan quotes on his walls with the sticker letters (the ones that are safe for walls of course). I think that would be a nice touch!

Hopefully everything will translate and Indy will LOVE it!

Yet Another Project!

Christmas is soon approaching and we are having it at our house this year. I know it 's too early to think about (it's not even Thanksgiving yet) but I'm really excited to have Christmas at the new house and to show my baking skills. Sean will also be participating in his cooking skills as well!

I think for Christmas I'm going to make a Christmas cake! 

I'm not sure if I'm going make a cake in the shape of a present or just make a Christmas tree.

If it turns out to be a present, I want the fondant to be red with a green bow on it. I think I'll make it into a square with two layers. I'm not sure what the cake flavor will be yet...I'm thinking probably spice cake? That sounds really good!

If it's a Christmas tree I'm going to just make the pan in a 9X13 pan and put out a tree shape. I'll cover it in green fondant, roll out different colored ball ornaments and put garland on it with  some colored icing.

It doesn't sound too bad, but this means that I'll be making a cake for Christmas AND for Sean's birthday...which is on Christmas Eve.

It's going to be a busy Christmas, but I'm ready!

My first project (My inspiration)

A cake, a simple delicious desert. Yet, it is so much more. I have always loved to make cake. I make my own cakes for my family. Every year I make a cake for my husband and son for their birthday. As much as I try, I never succeed in making in fantastic. Usually, I stick with a 9" round, maybe put two layers and put some icing on it and decorate with food coloring and food dye gel. 

This time was different. 

My friend asked me to help with our mutual friends Bachelorette/Bridal Party/Shower. My main job was the cake for the shower. Knowing that a lot of people were going to see this cake, I wanted it to be FANTASTIC! That doesn't really happen in my annual cake baking...mostly because I know my husband and son won't care what it looks like; as long as it tastes great, they are happy!

Anyways, here is the cake:

Now, I know it doesn't look AMAZING, but for my first time working with fondant, I think I did a pretty good job. Yes, I know the topper is missing. I swear I put it on when I got the shower.

I wish I could have made the purple a little darker though. I used purple dry from a jar (not the food dye you get in a box) and of course white fondant. I tried adding black, which, I know from my theatre background this was not a good idea, I don't even know why I tried that. 

Anyways, for not really using a straight edge, I thought the bands turned out pretty well too. Next time I do this I'll get a straight edge.

After making this cake, it really got my creative juices flowing again. I had so much fun working on the cake, even though it took 5 hours to make! (It was my first cake, most of it was baking time! Give me a break! haha) It so was worth the pain in my hands the next morning from rolling the fondant. 

I'm super excited to start my new project:

(This OBVIOUSLY isn't mine...the credit goes to Google images) 

Color is a big thing for me. It's so pretty and it stands out, which is something that I love to do, even though I'm a little hesitant about. Plus, this project seems SUPER easy. I'm all about easy when I'm starting something new. 

I really want to start this project right now, but I also want to wait till we move into the new house. My reasoning is because I don't want to bring something new to the new house. I want a fresh start and to me, if I bring in something I created in the apartment, it's going to follow us to the new place. I'm afraid that it will bring up bad memories that my husband and I are trying to work on and forget (I like forgetting, he's the one that wants to work on things. Which is great, because he forces me to grow, to be a better person, like my husband.)


I'm so excited to get all my projects started. 


I really think that if I keep myself busy, that I will be able to keep up on my work. I'm procrastinating like crazy in grad school and because of it, my grades are suffering and my profs hate me. I think it's because I'm so busy with school work, that when I get home, I don't want to think it anymore.


Well, anyways, the cake was my first official project and the melted crayon is my next! My plan is to put it up in our bedroom! :D I can't wait!!! We move in on Nov. 25 and then hopefully soon after that I will be able to start my next project! 

A new start!

I am VERY excited to start this blog! I think it's going to be extremely helpful to start over with my husband Sean and our amazing little boy, Indy. 

This is part of the new start and as a new start, I want to tap into my creative side again!

As an undergrad, I majored in Theatre Arts with an emphasis in technical design. I was involved in every show from my freshmen year to my senior year (not the last semester though, I became burnt out). I have participated in about 30 shows and even worked on a movie. My main focus was props. I loved managing and making them. I was even the Prop Master for a whole year!  

I would go to school in the morning, work in the afternoon, and then off to rehearsal in the evenings. Yes, for those theatre majors out there, that's not really a big deal, we know how to handle it, but for those not as busy...it might sounds CRAZY! 

I had a baby and got married my sophomore year of college and still did all that I mentioned above. Sometimes my boss had me working 36 hours a week.

Now that I am in the grad program, I do not have an creative outlet anymore. I'm not as busy and because of this, I am not working as hard. This is because I have time. I can do whatever I want when I get home. All I have to worry about is spending time with my baby boy! 

So here I am. This is to help motivate me to be more creative, to take on projects! 

My first one? Melted crayons on canvas! I am very excited about this not only because it involves color (which I love) but also because I will be putting it up in our new house. (Another something for a new beginning).

So here I go! (Now I just have to get the supplies!)