Keep an Eye on Your Cupcakes!

 

Excited to finish this sweet little Halloween painting!

I'm SO ready for FALL & COOL weather & all the holidays that are coming up!

 

More paintings & projects are in the works so check back!

In the meantime - "Cupcakes for Halloween" is now up for grabs on EBAY.

Just click right HERE!

 

Have a "sweet-as-a-cupcake" day!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Vintage Halloween & WIP

Cute Vintage Kitties



Sweet Vintage Witch

I just LOVE the old vintage holiday images!  Hmmm...I think I just said that in one of my last posts.

Oh well, I DO love them & last week I found this adorable Trio of Cats wooden cut-out.  Their hats & bows are so cute!  Couldn't resist.

I also keep seeing more & more of the cute little witch & her black cat.  I've had the little framed picture for a few years,  recently found the candle globe at a Yankee outlet store (cheap!) & made the pillow for my Etsy Shop.

I decided to do my own interpretation of the little witch in a painting & below is my sketch.  Hopefully I can get her finished this weekend & listed in time for Halloween.

Work in Progress

HAVE A FABULOUS FALL WEEKEND!!!

Happy Halloween!

CAT-o-Lantern carved by ME!

Creative Carving by my Kids!

Busy Carving!

Shelby dressed as a gypsy!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN ALL MY BLOGGER FRIENDS!

Just sharing a few of my Halloween pictures from today.

The pumpkins are carved & lit, trick-or-treaters are coming, got a scary movie on & my bottle of Hallowine open! 

BOO & CHEERS everyone!

Feline Friday (on Saturday)!

HAPPY SATURDAY TO YOU!

I completely forgot about "Feline Friday" yesterday so I thought I'd just post a pretty picture of my diva cat Zoolou posing by our kitchen table fall centerpiece.

She's trying to look innocent after playing & chewing on the flowers!  I keep trying to tell her they're fake!

Have a great day!

I plan to spend mine painting, watching scary movies, carving pumpkins & opening up my bottle of Hallowine!  CHEERS!

Anchors Away!

FINALLY ~ a POST!

These paintings are just 1 of the many reasons I've been neglecting my blog lately.  October is my absolute favorite month of the year & there are just too many FUN fall things to do to be sitting in my studio all day!

In the last month & a half I've had trips to Maine, Colorado & Kansas City, taken care of 5 foster kittens & had 2 commissions to do so I didn't get my usual Fall & Halloween paintings done but never fear ~ this weekend I'm starting on new Thanksgiving & Christmas themed creations!

The picture above shows 2 of 4 anchor paintings I'm doing for my nephew & niece's new baby's room!  She is due in just a few weeks so I'm scrambling to get them done.  I think they're turning out really cute!  The colors match the crib bedding & I painted the outside borders to match the stitching on the trim.

Anyone doing anything FUN for Halloween this weekend?  I love to light all my candles & watch scary movies while waiting for trick-or-treaters, and of course eat half the Halloween candy!

BOO!

In LOVE with FALL!

Weston Red Barn Farm

It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown!

Weston Red Barn Farm

Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Latte!

Happy Thursday!

My lack of posting is due to a painting deadline, trip preparations (will fill you in soon), & mostly 5 rambunctious foster kittens, 1 of which fell ill & I'm having to syringe feed 4 times a day - whew!  He's better now & you can read about him in my post tomorrow for Feline Friday.

Today finally felt like a real "fall" day ~ my absolute favorite time of year ~ so I thought it would be fun to make a "Top 10" list of my FAVORITE things about this time of year!  And they ARE...

Going to the grocery store & seeing pumpkins & mums out front!

Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Lattes - yummm!

My favorite little town in northern Missouri ~ Weston!

Watching "Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown" over & over!

Pumpkin patches, corn mazes & hayrides

Scary movies ~ with popcorn & milk duds

High School football games

Halloween & the decorations!

Colorful leaves & cool, crisp air

Outdoor fire pit on a chilly evening w/ a glass of wine

So what are YOUR favorites of FALL?  Would LOVE to hear them! :)

New Cards & Print now in the Shop!

Frida's Funky Braids~Art Print

Halloween Note Cards

All Packaged up Cute!

Happy Saturday!  Hope everyone's having a great day!  I've been spending mine getting a few new things listed in my Etsy Shop!  Hope you like them!

My son & I are going to the "Kansas" concert tonight!  Our Wichita State University Symphony is playing with them & it should be awesome! 

CARRY ON MY WAYWARD SON!

Little Skelly Painting

Spook & Skelly

I finished up this  little Halloween/Day of the Dead painting today.
I'm really LOVING skulls right now!  They are SO much fun to paint!  The decoration possibilities are endless!
"Spook & Skelly" is available on EBAY right now just waiting to scare up your house!

Foster Kitty Pics!

Squeak (Squeaky)

Sweet little Gina

Zapp (Zappy)

Rich (Richie)

Here are my new babies! They are the sweetest things!  Please note that I'm not responsible for the odd names (heehee).  The folks at the Humane Society have to come up with hundreds of them every week & I'm sure they run out of creative, unique ones & sometimes just have to go with whatever comes to mind at the moment.  3 of these guys are named after "sounds" ~ Squeak, Zapp & Kapow.  I know...strange.  The 2 gray & white cuties are Rich & Gina, probably a couple somebody knows.  Anyway, it doesn't matter.  They are healthy, playful, cuddly & so EASY to take care of after having my 4 sick ones last month! Kapow is missing from the pictures ~ he's all black & I couldn't get a good photo of him.  I'm working on it though.

I have a cute new HALLOWEEN painting done I'll scan & post later tonight! 

Hope you're having a GREAT Labor Day!!!

FRIDA Day of the Dead Painting

Frightfully Fun Frida!


Just wanted to post my new FRIDA painting I finished last night!  She's all ready to celebrate Day of the Dead!
I love how she turned out ~ not too scary & not too sweet!
She is now listed on  EBAY!  BOO!

Sketch for a New Frida Painting!

Well ~ SCHOOL has started & that means the craziness has begun!  It also means less time for blogging so that's my excuse this week for the lack of posts.  Not to dwell on that though...

 I managed to get a rough sketch done today of a new FRIDA painting I want to do for Halloween!  I can't wait to get this on canvas & color it up all spooky looking!  Unfortunately it'll probably have to wait until Sunday but for a good (and FUN) reason!  It's our ANNUAL GIRL'S WEEKEND & I'll be busy having an awesome time with my mom, sissies & niece! We have a theme every year & this year it's FRIGHT NIGHT!  Lots of scary stuff will be goin' on!  Can't wait!

On the FOSTER front ~ I'm so happy to report that Chia, one of my former fosters, was adopted last week! YAY!  I took Clarence & Muffin back last week since they were healthy again & tomorrow I take back Erma & Wally.  I had to keep them a little longer since they weren't quite well but now they're good as new. I'm sure going to miss those sweethearts!

Hope you're having a great week & now I'm going to go catch up on all YOUR lovely blogs!

Feline Friday - Playing Nurse Maid

Muffin ~ the healthiest of the bunch

Wally~still not feeling up to snuff

Clarence~the tiniest

Erma~finally eating again & feeling a little better

Oh the joys of fostering!

I'm behind on painting, blogging, housework & pretty much everything else since my 4-legged furballs moved in!  This past week has been a roller coaster ride with my 4 foster babies.  When one gets better, another gets worse, when one starts eating again, another stops & so on & so on.  I've been running back & forth to the shelter clinic with 1, 2 or 3 kitties for sub-q fluids, sitting in steamy bathrooms with them, syringe feeding when they won't eat & giving meds & nosedrops. This is the first time I've had really sick babies & it is NO fun at all!  I feel so bad for them.  It's just so hard to see them stuffed up & feeling so miserable.  I'm used to romping & playing & snarfing food & kitty scratches.  Now I'm thrilled just to see them eating!

Muffin, the long-legged gray girl is my only healthy one.  She's still sneezing a little but other than that she eats like a pig & plays nonstop! She's really been enjoying trying out all the different foods I've been offering the other 3 trying to get them to eat. She's getting the "Kitty Buffet" 3 times a day - ha!

Hopefully my 3 sickos will be on the rebound soon.  It's been a week & a half & I think they've gone through the worst of it.  Next time around if I'm bringing home sick kitties I think I'll just take 2.  Having 4 sick ones at a time is almost more than I can handle.  They are such sweethearts though! Even after I've stuck 3 syringes in their mouth they come right over & curl up on my lap!

I'm still working on my commissioned painting (between kitten care shifts) & then I can't wait to get started on some Fall & Halloween creations!  My FAVORITE time of year is almost here!

HAPPY WEEKEND!!!

Witchy Woman

Witchy Woman

I've had a touch of the flu (or something) the past few days but somehow still managed to finish another Halloween painting. I like her cute witch outfit & I'm happy I gave her a Siamese to hold instead of the black kitty I'd planned on. The colors just fit. I have to laugh at my "Witchy Woman" title for this painting. In grade school, it was around Halloween time & one of our assignments in art class was to draw a picture while listening to the Eagles "Witchy Woman" song playing over & over & over - ha! I remember drawing a witch with raven black hair, ruby red lips, sparks flying off her fingertips & little moons in her eyes! I think I was in 5th or 6th grade & can still picture that drawing! I just loved art classes in school, especially during the holidays. The kids all called me Leonardo - ha. If only I could paint like HIM!!!

Check out Witchy Woman on Ebay HERE!

My daughter Kayla is having friends over this evening for scary movie night! I think I'm as excited as she is! We really wanted to do it out back on the deck & patio with the outside tv, the fire pit roaring, snacks & spooky lights hung up but who knew it would be 35 degrees & windy??? Brrrr ~ too cold. Instead, we cleaned up the basement family room, set out some metal pumpkin tea light holders & filled the table with snacks ~ popcorn, pumpkin cookies, candy corn & peanuts, cheese puffs & fun size candy bars. Yummm! I wanted to make caramel apples but just didn't have the energy. Well, the house is filling up with giggling girls (& a few boys) so the party's on.

Happy Saturday! Happy Fall!

New Halloween Painting

Wanted to share my latest painting with you ~ a cute little jack-o-lantern & curious kitty. It sure is feeling like fall around here! Today was cool & cloudy & later this evening it turned even colder & rainy with really creepy looking clouds. A perfect day to paint but I did other housework instead-yuck. We drove to a small town north of us to watch our niece play volleyball tonight & on the way home saw lots of lightning! Very Halloweenish! Jack-O-Lantern Friend is up for auction on EBAY right now. Take a peek!

Have a ghoulish evening! BoooOOOOOoooOOOooo!

Decor & Dish Duty!

My prim baker's rack
Brick shelf in our kitchen

Little antique table in our living room

Fireplace mantle in our kitchen

Thought I would share a few pictures of my fall/Halloween decorations with you. I love to make up little vignettes on my black bakers rack & various other tables & shelves. And I LOVE fall candle fragrances & stocked up on all my favs ~ mulled cider, pumpkin pie, streudel & spice, caramel vanilla custard ~ mmmmmmm! During the holidays I have a million candles going - ha. Now I just need to make a trip to the pumpkin patch & grab some pumpkins, gourds & a straw bale or 2 to do up the front yard! YAY for the first day of FALL! It was a perfect cool, brisk, sprinkly day!

I added another day on to my volunteering schedule at the Humane Society & today I had dish duty. I was excited to use the new high-tech dishwasher that comes on automatically when you close the door & has a short 4 minute cycle. I have to say I was a little disappointed with it though. It was no bigger than the one in my kitchen! One of the staff members told me it's really only good for the small kitty bowls & some of the little toys. You can't fit many of the big stainless steel litter pans or dog bowls in at a time so it's just as well to wash them by hand ~ which is what I did-about 75 of them! I was impressed with the humongo double sink & counter area but still... I was picturing a gigantic dishwasher I could put a hundred bowls in at a time! Oh well, it wasn't bad & I enjoyed it. After washing dishes in the tiny sink at their old building where you laid them on racks over an old bathtub to dry, this was wonderful! It was also nice hearing the staff members thank me over & over for doing the job! If no volunteers are there they have to do it & sometimes that means working overtime. If I can save the shelter some overtime pay that's great! Note to self: Bring my own rubber gloves & wear an apron! I managed to splatter bleach on my shirt!

After the dishes were done I headed to the laundry room. Now that's amazing! There are 2 giant washers & 2 giant dryers. I think you could fit 5 people in them - ha! Wish I had one!

Won't have much painting time this week. Getting ready for our annual Girl's Weekend at my sissy's house in Oklahoma City! Leaving Thursday & get back Sunday. Can't wait!

Twin Witches

Can you tell I LOVE Halloween??? I'm just full of ideas & staying up waaay too late at night painting away! I can't seem to paint fast enough to get all the projects done that I want to, but that's not the point anyway is it? Painting should be relaxing & calming which it usually is. It's just hard when I'm working on one painting & thinking about the next one! I'm also WAY too particular with my lines & edges & spend extra time getting all the details just right. I've tried before to loosen up my strokes & give my paintings a freer, more casual feeling but my hand just keeps going back to its old tricks. I've decided that is just MY style so why fight it? I love the look of rough edges, dry brush strokes & shading but I'm just better with my clean edges & flat color so I'm sticking with that (for now) & maybe incorporate in some of those other qualities here & there.

Anyway ~ "Twin Witches" is up for grabs on EBAY right here! BOO!!!

Halloween Princess

Halloween Princess
Silly Squirrel!

I finished this little Halloween painting last night. I love doing Fall & Halloween themed paintings! Halloween Princess (Wendy & her cat Sookie) is up for auction on EBAY for you to check out!

A little while ago I saw this cute squirrel scurrying along our fence with this huge hedge apple in his mouth. It was hilarious watching him carry this big ball that was half as big as he was - ha! He stopped & began chowing down on it so I snuck out on the deck & snapped a picture. It's kind of blurry because I couldn't get too close but it's still cute. He gnawed & gnawed at the thing dropping all the outside part off. Apparently the inside is tastier! Must be fattening up for winter!

I got all my Fall & Halloween decorations out & up last Sunday while watching the Chiefs game (Darn~they almost won it)! I'll post some of my little vignettes when I get a chance. Happy Tuesday!

Trick or Treat!

Just finished this last night! I love the bright colors. Fall is in the air ~ my FAVORITE time of year!!! I'm really feeling inspired to get all my fall decorations out, especially after visiting my favorite prim/antique store today during their fall open house. I haven't seen any pumpkins at the stores yet but when I do I'm grabbin' me some!

"Trick or Treat" is up for auction on ebay right HERE!

Happy Saturday! xoxo

Spooky New Frida Painting!

Frida's Fall Holidays

Happy Tuesday all! And HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my twins Kayla & Cole who turned 15 today! It seems like just yesterday I was taking them to kindergarten & now they're in high school! Where does the time go??? They had a fun joint get-together with friends at the ice rink to play Broomball last Saturday & tonight we'll go eat, do presents & of course pig out on cake & ice cream. Yummm! I guess we have to fit homework in there somewhere too - ugh.

Just finished my first Fall themed painting & here she is! I seem to be on a Frida kick here lately. She is just so interesting & fun to paint! She's posing here with her cat, Spook & the jack-o-lantern they just finished carving. Frida's from Mexico where they celebrate "Day of the Dead" but she did live in the United States for several years & I'm sure she just loved Halloween! I like to think she did anyway. Frida's Fall Holidays is up for grabs on ebay right now! Check her out!