Keep Dreaming !!

Gosh, I have never been so proud of my husband! As you may already know, he has illustrated his first children's book! Written by his friend, Jake Brittain, this little book has a very powerful message for kids ages 2 to 12. It even comes with a cd of accompanying music recorded by Jake himself. Kids can look at the book and follow along with the lyrics of the song – in three fun versions! We keep our cd in the car and play it while we’re out running errands. We like it and our seven year old loves it, too! 

The message of the book is about how our dreams can become realities. In essence, Scott and Jake hope to give children the inspiration to begin to have dreams of their own and to nurture their dreams. Just think of what wonderful things could happen if children receive this message early in life – to remember their dreams. Isn’t that how wonderful things happen?

What dreams do you have for yourself? Your family? Have any dreams you’ve had come to fruition?

The message is strong and the music is fun to listen to, but the kicker is that for EVERY book sold, one book will be given to a child in need.  Their first donation of books will go to The Boys and Girls Club!  One for One.

To purchase the book, learn more about Scott and Jake, and find out where they will be talking about their wonderful book, go to http://www.newdreamstudio.com/.
 
And have a fabulous weekend!!!

Midwinter Dreaming

Stumbled upon this today and had to share it.

(If you can't see it, go here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Az3SHeMHC6c)

It's Yo La Tengo.

Gosh, I can't wait till Summer.

Print available in my shop.

Some Viewfinder Lovin'

A few new photos in my shop. The TtV of my vintage Misty was taken during Christmas holiday. I have a couple more of Misty and Stormy in the snow that I'm still working on. I'm having the "Custom" TtV printed large and hanging it in my kitchen. And I just love the Fairlane emblem, don't you? If you want to see more of my vintage car photos, go here.

Dashing Through the Snow

I've had this photo in my head ever since I bought this cute little '53 Ford Crestline last Summer. Luckily, I had lots of time to play in the snow over Christmas.

Available in my Etsy shop.

Happy Holidays, Y'all

Boy, have I been busy! After my big studio clean up (epic) I been spending alot of my time making Christmas gifts, decorating, shopping and planning for our annual ski trip to New Mexico (my favorite part of the holiday). This whole time I thought Christmas was falling on Saturday this year only to find out today it's next Friday (gulp!).

I just wanted to take a quick minute out to wish you a Very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

See ya next year!

Shared Happiness

Thousands of candles can be lit from a single candle,

and the life of the candle will not be shortened.

Happiness never decreases by being shared.

~Buddha

There's a new print in my shop called Shared Happiness. Happy Tuesday!

New Prints and Birthday Cards in My Shop

Three happy prints in my shop. Click the picture to go to the listing.

and.....

Three new cards in my shop.

Just click on the photo to get to the listing.

Have a lovely day!

Baby Shower Invitation

It's gonna be a BOY!!

This is a little image I created for my sister-in-law's baby shower invitation. I printed them on square Crane & Co. cards. AND I finally learned how to make rounded edges for my images using Photoshop! Click here to learn how, too!

I will be listing this as a Custom Baby Shower Invitation in my Etsy shop soon. Hmmm.... I suppose I should make one for girls, too?

Mom's Ice Cream

This is my mother, circa 1976, as she was photographed by one of the great loves in her life, Ivan White. He was a Navy pilot, artist and photographer and they were crazy about each other. After they married, we moved to Saudi Arabia for three years while he worked for Saudia Airlines.

Today would have been her 68th birthday. She passed away from a rare blood disease about 5 years ago. Since her death, for some crazy reason, I've felt closer to her than ever. Perhaps this is because I've been slowly going through her recipe box, attempting to remake some of the things she made for me and my brother and sister as we were growing up. I have some very happy memories that took place over a plate or bowl of my mother's wonderful cooking.

One of her best recipes is her Homemade Ice Cream recipe. She made this for us when we lived in Saudi Arabia (as noted on the back of the recipe card). We three kids had to hand crank that dang ice cream maker for what seemed like HOURS. We HAD hours to crank that thing because there wasn't any television on the compounds back then.

I love making this for my kiddo. He goes bananas for it, too! I can feel his grandmother around us when we dig into a big bowl of creamy yumminess. And today, I make it with an electric ice cream maker (yay). It isn't as tiring, but the wait just about kills my son!

In honor of my mother's birthday and what a fabulous cook she was, I'm sharing her recipe with you. Its really easy to make: if I can do it, anyone can do it.

If you want a little something in your vanilla ice cream, add it to the maker about half way through the mixing time. This time we added M&M's.

Enjoy!

Mom's Homemade Ice Cream (1 gallon)

1 quart milk

4 eggs

3-4 cups sugar

1 T. cornstarch

dash of salt

1 pint whipping cream

1 pint half & half

2 T. vanilla

In a large pan scald 1 qt. milk. Place in bowl 4 eggs, whip slightly. In another bowl combine 3 - 4 cups sugar, 1 T. cornstarch and salt. Add to egg mixture, slowly, stirring.

Pour scalded milk over egg mixture, slowly, stirring.

Put all back in pan and cook and stir until sticks to spoon. Let cool.

Add to cooled mixture 1 pint whipping cream, 1 pint half & half and 2 T. vanilla.

Follow the instructions for your ice cream maker and enjoy! :D

Vintage Muscle Car Tshirts for Spring!

Here they are! We finally were able to shoot our new Muscle Car tshirts today. I love these! They're soft and lightweight so they'll be a staple for me all summer (it gets HOT here in Texas). These are all available at http://www.tightropetees.etsy.com/. We are also taking wholesale orders from some boutiques around town (woo hoo!).

Just Do It!

This is a new design we've put in our Tshirt Shop on Etsy. Isn't it hilarious???

Tightrope Tees on Etsy

Well, we finally got our second Etsy shop opened. TAAADAAAAA!!! Tightrope Tees is born! We only have one design, but more are on the way.

Check out our super-cool logo that we print on the back of all of our shirts. We love our little polar bear.

Just for Fun

These are just a few of the fun little things I've cooked up lately (hee hee). I've been playing around with shrink plastic! Its so FUN to watch it shrink down in the oven. I know, I'm a little too old for that kind of "thrill", but really am easily amused. These are available in my Etsy shop. And because it so fun to do, look for more soon!

Invitation

Here's the invitation I made with my little Gocco for my brother's belated wedding reception. I used my 'canaries in love' image because he and his new bride are definitely love birds. Its just a simple little invitation for a simple occasion. I sent them out with robin's egg blue envelopes. Perhaps I should make these (and other invitation designs) available in my Etsy shop. Hmmmmm.

Slow Down, Gocco Kitty!!

I pulled out my gocco today and made some cards that I am completely unhappy with. Well, Gocco Kitty made some cards today - not me. She goes WAY too fast and is VERY messy. I'm very much a perfectionist and would NEVER make anything so crooked and with smudges too! But what could I do? I just couldn't stop her. Oh well. You'll be able to find these little diddy's in my Etsy shop next week at a very discounted price.

Bad Gocco Kitty.

Thankful for Work

I was recently asked by a neighbor to illustrate some flashcards she's making of birds native to our area. She's planning on using these to teach young children. I had so much fun doing this! The drawings were done by hand, then manipulated in Photoshop. I'm hoping she'll ask me to do more.