Stay Awake!

Just back from a FANTASTIC trip to Los Angeles, California. I spent some time alone wandering around Beverly Hills and some time with friends reminiscing and laughing. It was the perfect holiday. When I got on the plane, I thought it was over. Oh was I wrong! These are just a few photos I took from the window during the flight. Go to my Flickr site to see more. I'm so happy I stayed awake for this. Stay Awake!

Pay Attention

Every day I walk with my son to school and every day I see something new and beautiful. Today it was these tiny little orbs in the field we walk through. Mistaken for some sort of half eaten jawbreakers at first, then maybe some weird fertilizer put out by the school district, these tiny little things turned out to be a fungus. Mushrooms! I captured a few photos in the morning, but when we were back after school they were gone. These tiny mushrooms remind me of how quickly things change and to pay attention, to take time to see. We walk through that field every day and today was the first time we noticed these. I wonder what we'll see tomorrow.

We've Been Very Busy Painting Together

I love working with my husband. First of all, he's cute. Secondly, he's very talented. Thirdly, he's SO funny!

Over the past two weeks we have been completely repainting my brother's new house. Its been so much fun working together like we used to. And my brother was blasting 70's tunes all day, which made the days go by quickly. But we're finished now. This is just a sampling of our work.

You can see our decorative painting portfolio here. Most, if not all, of the work you see there was done by my very talented husband, Scott Dykema.

New Photo Cards

This morning an idea struck me as I was doing the laundry (a good time for ideas) and I just had to see it's fruition. So I spent the morning making some of my Through the Viewfinder prints into 4 1/2 x 5 1/2 Cards. I like how they look like there's an opening in the card that takes you to another time and place. Well, at least that's how I see it.

I printed these cards, as I do all my non-gocco printed cards, on Crane Museo Artist Cards. They're much higher quality than ordinary card stock. And my printer ink LOVES them. There's a slight texture to the cards, but not enough to look like watercolor paper or those Strathmore papers you see in the craft stores. They come in a couple different sizes - even a square size. But if you use the square card, be aware that the post office charges extra postage for this. Click here to find out more about Crane Museo Artist Cards.

All of these cards are available in my Etsy shop!

The Wedding Reception

The reception for my brother and his new bride was wonderful. I managed to finish the cake toppers and get them painted by the time the cake was delivered. Isn't that cake cute??? It was made by Creme de la Creme in Fort Worth, TX, who also made my sister-in-law's wedding cake. Deeeelish!


The grooms cake was made and decorated by my son (with some help from Daddy). He saw Mommy making the birds out of Sculpey for the wedding cake and decided he'd make some cake toppers too! There are four ducks swimming in a lake, with a "guy" and a horse looking on. I think Herb really liked it. Beautiful!

The paper Calla Lillies were the favors the guests took home. I made these flowers from beautiful hand made seeded paper from RecycledIdeas.etsy.com. Holly, from RecycledIdeas, went out of her way to make this gorgeous paper and get it to me quickly so I could finish all of these in time, and I really appreciate that.

I got the idea for these flowers from a great book I got from the library called Fast, Fun & Easy Fabric Flowers by Karen Flamme. The book includes detailed instructions on how to make lots of different flowers from fabric, though I decided to make these from paper. The flowers can be enjoyed as they are, or the paper can be removed and easily germinated to grow wildflowers. Holly sent me easy to understand directions which I included with each flower. Fun!

Joy Through the Viewfinder

I'm having so much fun with my new Vintage Through the Viewfinder series. Oh, thank heaven for my camera!

These are all available in my Etsy shop now. More coming soon.

Fun with Cars

Today, my sweet husband urged me to take out my camera for the specific purpose to take some pictures for FUN. Hmmmm. I've been so busy lately I've not even considered that idea myself. Sounded good. So I did.

I ended up at a car lot full of vintage cars. It began to rain, so I had to stop. But I'll be back, for sure. See more shots on my Flickr. Some of these will be listed in my Etsy shop as prints soon, too.

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.

Lotus on a Caddo Lake Honeymoon

I just have to share these beautiful photos my brother and his new bride took on their honeymoon at Caddo Lake State Park in East Texas this past weekend. Aren't they amazing?

Congratulations, Herb and Katrina. I'm so happy for you two I could just burst.

My Summer Vacation......

I just wanted to share some photos from my recent visit to the Birch Aquarium in LaJolla, California. Most of my photos were blurry (I need to learn a little more about my camera before I do this again). But I just loved all the colors. If you'd like to see a little more, visit my Flickr.

More about my holiday in the days ahead. Needless to say, after a week in California, I'm feeling relaxed and inspired. There's nothing better for the soul than a trip to the ocean.