One Friday in February

One February morning, friends got together to celebrate a couple of birthdays.

Hostess finds a forgotten tablecloth,

and then falls in love with Monarch butterflies, bright puffs of carnations and Gerbera daisies all over again:

The fun, food & flowers just explode on my dining table.

One birthday girl has a sweet tooth for studio chocolates and sugar cookies, so I share the dessert circus in a box with all my treasured guests:

Beautiful Day.

Have a perfect weekend everyone!

June's Red Letter Day in July

The day was so beautiful. I know it was over 6 months ago, but in February, you really need something to remind you of warmer days and happy moments with people you love. I can't really even articulate the feelings I felt on this day, but I can share June's pictures. I made her baptism attire from head to toe and loved every minute of the construction. She is so beautiful all dressed in white.

She was so happy on this day. And so was I.

January: Chaos to Clean

Don't you love January? A time to really get organized for the year. That is how I look at the first few weeks of the the month. I did this throughout my whole house. Bad iPhone pictures, but you get the point. It feels so good, and I feel so creative when it's all in order. I think my mind is freed up of all the chores that need to be done. Too bad it doesn't happen monthly around here.

I Heart Valentines Day

May your day be filled with candy, sugar cookies and love! Happy St. Valentines Day.

(Sorry these pictures aren't better quality. I guess the day was too dreary outside to get the best lighting.)

My candy jars this month:

One from my first series of paper mache figures, "People with Heart", and a tribute to one of my all time favorite movies, "The Princess Bride":

An original painting Valentine I gave Matt last year by artist Barb Young 201o Valentines Art Market

My three daughters sharing the love, a 2010 commission to Ann Gardner.

Some of my work from 2005 (Queen of Hearts shadowbox), 2010 (Queen of Hearts paper mache doll) and 2011 (velvet candy box)

June

My dad came for June's baptism in July. He had two hours before he needed to leave for the airport. He decided to sketch June. Wish any two hours in my day were quite this productive.

The Christmas Ornament Exchange Extraordinaire

Only problem is, I forgot to take pictures of what I gave. Isn't the packaging fun though?

I Heart Holiday Art Market

My birdies all dolled up with no place to go.

The glitterfest begins.

This little bird found a home

The Holiday chaos at Art Market of Utah

A Prosperity Tree

Oh my, the confectioneries available at Art Market are festive. I made these ensembles of English toffee, fudge and caramel covered marshmallows nesting in lime green lucite trays.

Individual hot chocolate packets, mocktail recipe cards and cranberry muffin mixes

Little wood veneer boxes of English toffee

Much, much more was available, come join us next year and see! The spring show of Art Market is scheduled for April 29-30, 2011 at the Sugarhouse Garden Center located at 1602 E. 2100 S., SLC, Utah. Check the Art Market website for retail hours.

Visions of Christmas Past 2010

The unfinished "mantel" (a next year project)

The Leaning Tower of Christmas

And you wonder why the tree is leaning....Here is the aftermath.

I sort and wrap and box the tree ornaments for a couple days.

ars full of brightly colored baubles.

My grandmother's china cabinet filled with treasures, she would have been proud of my selection.

My Santas

Alas, my porch was my most favorite this year, and I didn't get one picture of it.

Next year...

Warren and Our Little Porch

I know our little front porch project wasn't that monumental of a job for Warren Lloyd of Lloyd Architects, because he does incredible work if you're in need of an architect for a large scale project. He assured us it didn't matter how big or small the details involved, he loves a project. I do know better though. He suggested when we built our home, to not incorporate rock to the structure and to keep it to the simple beauty of plain shingles. I'm so glad we ditched the rock idea. But we have had little twigs (with sage green overspray from our house painting project) as our columns since we moved in. I've had his rendering of what he thought the front porch should look like for about 5 or maybe 6 years. I am so glad I waited to find the right guy to construct it. I love the design Warren created. He studied architecture while living in Japan, and you can certainly see the influence even in this small application. We feel honored to know him, and are especially happy that the porch is done. Now if we can just get the courtyard and landscape installed... I really do love the little progress we are making around here. Slow, but none the less, progress.

Happy Birthday

I love this client "x". She always gives me fun assignments that I would say "no" to usually, but it happened to be around the time of my Dad's 70th Birthday. His birthday was, of course, themed with art pallettes and bright colors. So I figured, if I took the time to make one for my dear client's friend, then I would definitely carve out time to make one for dear Dad. It was a nice deadline. Didn't Stephenie's turn out fun? Dad's did too.

Backing Up...November Soup Night with Family

I was feeling fiscally responsible this month, so pears from the fridge, branches from the ground, and old gourds from a few years ago did the trick. I filled the muslin bags stamped with "blessings" on the front with pistachios and we had a delightful dinner of soup, salad and yummy rolls. It really was a cozy evening to kick off the season. It even snowed several inches that night.

Valentines Art Market of Utah

Art Market is over, I'm sad if you missed it. I have a few things left from these pictures. I have a dozen heart keepsake boxes available. I don't think buyers knew what to put in these exquisitely crafted treasure boxes. Cookies, candy & chocolates, jewelry, and a whole bunch of other trinkets would fit beautifully. Of course I have 3 of them resting on easels throughout my house. Contact me if you need one for your special Valentine on Monday. Share the love this February!

M.I.A. since November? Really?

I went over the river and through the woods at the Thanksgiving rush, hitched a ride on Santa's Sleigh, then the transferred to the winter clean-out truck, and finally finished with the Cupid cab rush. I think I'll post a few pictures over the next few days to show what I've been up to the last few months. All things creative and fun - that's for sure. Is it too late to post proof of Christmas ?