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!)