Wedding Totes

I have had the idea for a wedding line of totes in my brain for over a year now. So last summer when my cousin called to tell me she was engaged I was thrilled. For her of course! But also because I finally had someone to make the tote line for. 

Then a few months later Athena called to say she was engaged! Wonderful!! More colors I can work with. 

Two of my favorite people in the world are pledging their love to the most important person in their lives. I am beyond happy and I can't think of any better way to congratulate them, than with something I created specifically for them using the colors they chose for their special day.

I had so much fun making all of these pieces. They turned out remarkably close to the images I had floating around in my head. I was lucky enough to be in Jessalyn's wedding this summer, so I used my bride's maid dress to match the colors (almost perfectly). For Athena's I only had a description to work from, but I think the bride-to-be was pleased with the end result.

So brides-to-be contact me for your own personalized totes! These would also make great gifts for the bridal party!   

Happy Birthday Momma!

One of my favorite parts about being an artist is the random places I draw inspiration from. And the way that inspiration evolves until a final piece is created. 

Around valentine's this year we brought out a Lolita hand-painted wine glass at Hallmark. It was a tree with two love birds sitting in it.  I loved the idea, but wasn't thrilled about the painting as a whole. The image I had in my head started out as a stand alone tree sculpture with some hearts mixed throughout the leaves. After a couple months of trying to figure out the intricacies of creating such a tree (I have never really dabbled in sculpture at all) my idea morphed a bit. 

I knew from the beginning that this would be a gift for my mom, but I was not sure which occasion it would be finished for. My new idea was still a sculpture, but a wall hanging instead of stand alone. Fimo would be the medium of choice. I collected the colors I thought would be best for my liking, but also mom's décor. I sat down one night and just started sculpting. The end product was better than I could have hoped. The wood grain turned out beautifully and the glitter in the leaves was subtle yet eye-catching.

The only bad part...fimo is hard clay, my hands ached for about a week afterwards. It was however, incredibly worth it!

Thai Spice

I am in love with this restaurant!  I have wanted to try Thai food for years, but Ryan just recently decided that he wanted to as well.  So off we went...to Thai Spice.  Everything about this place is just wonderful!

The silverware is gold and looks like bamoo.

The waitress was amazingly nice and the cutest little thing.
The sugar holder looks like a little bike.

The glasses are real glasses and not cheap plastic-y things made to look like glass.  The ones that your mind tells you are glass, so you lift them like glass and then spill water all over because they are *not* glass.  Not like that at all =)

All of these things made me fall in love before we even ordered our food.  But the food...
Why didn't we try Thai food sooner?  It is amazing!!

Fried tofu and steamed dumplings.

Trio Chicken.  Ryan and I were both feeling brave so we ordered our entrees hot.  Turns out we could have been a bit more brave so, next time we will order Thai-hot.  And there was so much chicken!  In both of our dishes.  We did have to laugh at the people around us who ordered their dishes mild.  Really?  Why go to a Thai restaurant if you didn't want spicy food.

And as they say...you save the best for last.  Dessert was exotic and delightful!!

The top one is purple (coconut flavored) ice cream with fried bananas.  This was my choice.  it was simply wonderful!
The second, Ryan's choice, sticky rice with mango and coconut milk.  Ryan described his as the best thing he has ever tasted.  It almost tasted like warm oat meal, but the cool mango and cocnut milk made it delightful!

This was definitely worth the trip, and is possibly my new favorite restaurant!!!

for my momma =)

I have been waiting forever to put this piece up.  I have had it finished since January, but I had to keep it hidden until I could give it to my momma for Mother's Day.  Keeping it physically hidden was easy, but I really had to fight the temptation to post it online somewhere.
So finally...here is what is so far the piece of the year for me.  It turned out better than I had even planned and I am so thrilled with it.  I am thinking about listing it as a custom print in my etsy shop.  You will be able to tell me what name or word you want and pick from a decently long list of color choices.  It is just a thought at the moment.  We will see if it develops any further.