No Explanation Necessary, Part 2

A continuation of last year's Santa photo. This year didn't go much better than last...!

So Much Eye Candy Your Eyeballs Are Gonna Rot!

I know it's been a while, but I hope the abundance of photos will make up for my absence! As you'll see below, I've been extra busy! First, the Christmas decorations:

Here's our mantle and stockings. My mother-in-law cross-stitched the stockings for us. Somehow, I sort of began a vintage reindeer collection this year! I didn't really realize I had accumulated several of them throughout the year, but when I put them all together, they made for the beginning of a really cute collection. So, a couple Ebay auctions later, and I had an even bigger collection, perfect for the mantle!

Here they are in detail:

I decided to make an ornament wreath this year as well! Again, over the year, I've accumulated lots of vintage ornaments, and between those and some vintage-inspired ones, I had enough to make a whole wreath. I love it! Every time I look at it, I smile because the colors are so pretty!

Here is where the wreath hangs. We just bought this piece of furniture. It's on a new wall (more about that later) that you see as you walk in the door, so it's the perfect place for seasonal displays. It's great, because I can display all my vintage Christmas decor behind glass, where the kids can't get to it!

Here are details of some of the little arrangements:

To be honest, I actually acquired probably at least half of the Christmas stuff over the past couple months. I am having the best luck finding vintage "junk-y" Christmas stuff at thrift stores lately! The trick is to find the shops that are smaller and less-frequented, I think.

So, in addition to being busy decorating for Christmas, I've also been busy decorating my new studio- that's right- new studio! If you remember from the past, my studio was above our garage, the only room upstairs in our house. It was difficult to get up there to work unless the kids were pretty occupied. Downstairs, we had a large, open living/dining room in our house that wasn't fully been used, because we don't have a dining room table. So my husband (wonderful, handy guy that he is) added a wall and knocked out an arched doorway to separate the space into two rooms, one of which has become my new studio!

It's great, because it's right off our great room, so I can keep an eye on the kids if I'm in there. The only thing that's going to change is the worktable. Currently I've got my old worktables pushed together to create a workable space, but my husband is planning on making me a new table that's all one piece (did I say how wonderful he is??).

So, here is the tour! This is the doorway he made to get into the studio. Notice the child-gate to keep the kids out!!

It's a strangely shaped room-sort of a triangle, but with a couple extra angles as well.

My husband also made the shelving for the bins at the left side of the photo below. I put all the kids' art supplies in there.

All the "bookcases" are from Ikea.

I have a huge window that looks out to our screened lanai, which is great because I can watch the kids playing.

Above the arched doorway:

Well, there you have it! My new studio! We've only just gotten it all set up, but I can tell that I will be using it much more frequently than my old one. And speaking of that, here's the first piece of art I did in there, a simple piece in Riley's book about his cute dimple:

And also, the first "craft" I did in there! These are from the Wee Wonderfuls monkey pattern- so cute! They're going to be in the boys' stockings on Christmas morning!

Okay, well, that's all I've got for now- that's enough, I'd say! It's probably the most photos I've ever posted on my blog!

It's a busy time, so I probably won't be back until after Christmas, but I hope you all have a wonderful holiday season!

Birthday, Halloween, and Other Fun Stuff

Happy November, y'all! I hope everyone's enjoying the fall days lately. It's just beautiful here in Florida-we've been taking advantage by going to the zoo and the park.

I have to keep the typing to a minimum today. I'm having serious issues with my arm lately (I have nerve problems similar to carpal tunnel), and they're aggravated by typing. But I have so many photos to share that I didn't want to put my post off any longer! So I'll just be brief and let you enjoy the eye candy!

Here's a spread for Riley's third birthday. I can't believe I have a three year old now!

And here's a photo I took of him on his big day.

Next is a spread in Noah's book. It's about his desire to be just like his big brother. If Riley does it, then it's "cool", and Noah wants to do it, too!

And here are the two guys on Halloween. Riley was Steve from Blue's Clues, and Noah was a lion. They had such a fun time! So cute!

And finally, here are my thrifted finds for the past few weeks. I've found a new thrift shop that is often a goldmine, which is why had so much to show lately!

Sorry for the brevity of my post today. Hopefully my arm will be feeling better soon, so I can write more next time! Hope you all have a great week, and if you haven't already, get out there and vote tonight!!

Argggg!

Guess where I've been? Hanging out with pirates! Or at least that's what the boys think we've been doing! Really, Jason and I just got back from a cruise that stopped in Key West, where there is pirate paraphanelia everywhere! Made for some fun souvenirs for the kids, and also made for a nice, relaxing week, which we both really needed.

Anyway, back to real life... artmaking, playing with the kids, and thrift-shopping...not a bad life, when I look at it that way! Below is my first piece in Riley's new book. I decided to try the verticle format, like I've been doing for Noah's book.

This is a piece about what a well-mannered little boy he is. He is so good about saying "Thank you", and especially about saying "Sorry!".

I'm in love with the color palette of this piece. It wasn't planned out; it just became as I was working, and I just love it! I want to live in these colors, if that makes sense! I already have a couple of them in our great room, and I'm seriously thinking about trying to incorporate the other colors somehow to achieve the same palette!

And in other Riley news, I was just thrilled the other day when he initiated this project:

A little three-dimensional train track made from stickers. It was completely led by him, with me only assisting in attaching the items. I know it doesn't look like much, but it's so much more advanced than any other art project he's done, so I'm just excited at the prospect of more of these style projects in our future! (Notice the pirate tattoo on his arm-souvenir!)

And finally, my thrifted finds since my last post. I plan to put a vintage-style decal on the highchair, and maybe rough it up a little. Don't ask me what I plan to do with it, since I have two boys who I'm sure have no interest in a pink doll's highchair, but I couldn't pass it up-too cute!

That's all for now. It was nice to hear from all of you who commiserate with me about the sentiments in the piece from my last post. Parenthood is mentally such a hard job, isn't it? Thank goodness there are so many good parts to balance out the hard ones...