knowing when to stop

do you ever reach a point in a painting, drawing or creative project where you just have to stop working on it for fear of reaching the point of no return and ruining it completely?   i've reached that point with this painting, hopefully i'm not too late.    something still doesn't feel right with it and i'm not sure what, but i know if i keep adding things to it that i'll just ruin it.   sometimes when i think a painting is done, but i'm not quite sure,  i'll put it in a spot where i have to walk past it at different angles throughout the day until i can figure out what it does or doesn't need.   i'm going to give that a try tomorrow, and if i'm still not sure, i'm going to put it away for a few weeks and pull it back out and see how i feel about it.  sometimes a little time and space is all that is needed to give a fresh perspective on things. 

our birthday boy

fischer turned 6 today!  i can't believe it has already been  6 years since our sweet little boy  came into our lives and changed it forever.  today was fischer's day from the moment he woke up.    grandma took him out to lunch to the restaurant of his choice and to the book store.  for supper he wanted chicken and dumplings which is his absolute favorite.
i wanted to make cupcakes and put dinosaur sprinkles on them, but he wanted a cake with either a t-rex on it or a velicoraptor, i went with the t-rex.  it wasn't  the greatest looking t-rex, but fischer liked it, especially when he added some dinosaur sprinkles to it.  i think it's  kind of hard having a birthday so close to Christmas, but it didn't seem to bother him at all, especially knowing that in a few weeks we will be having his birthday party with his friends.  (he wants  a dinosaur party)
all day there was such sweetness and joy on his little face, along with a  sparkle in his eyes!  i have so much to be thankful for.

flying with friends

i hope everyone had an enjoyable Christmas.  we've been laying low around here after all of the hustle and bustle of the holidays.  i finished this painting right before all the family descended upon us and our household was turned upside down in festivities.   i do all of my  painting on our kitchen table so all of my art supplies were put away for the last week, but they are back in their familiar places, the counter top, table, and the floor.  i really need to figure something else out, but the kitchen is the coziest room in the house, it gets good light and i can do some quick painting or drawing while i'm waiting for things to cook!  the kitchen gets kind of messy when i'm in the middle of a project and it gets to be a bit of a drag to have to clean up before each meal and when i go to bed, but maybe that's  a good thing!

around here

yesterday i woke up to the most beautiful winter sky.  the sun was just coming up and the sky was glowing pink,  everything appeared so still and cold, and indeed it was, the thermometer read -10!  these last few days have seen a lot of indoor activity, mostly of the Christmas kind. 
everyday this week amelia has been asking,  "mama are you going to paint?"  she has been enjoying her watercolors and has figured out how to use them and not make the colors all muddy. 




it always amazes me at  how much they are always watching and learning from us.  i guess i put my paint brush in my mouth sometimes, especially if i'm doing a collage, because amelia will put her brush in her mouth when she is painting and then say, "you do like this mommy?"  and i say "yes honey, i do like that!"



i made the most wonderfully delicious  peppermint bark yesterday, which the recipe came  from Amanda Blake Soule of  Soule Mama.  it's three layers of chocolate with crushed peppermint in between.   i started with just one batch in the morning and it turned out so beautiful and yummy that i went back to the store for more chocolate and did two more batches in the afternoon.  this stuff is soo good, it just melts in your mouth  and is going to make fabulous gifts for neighbors and friends.  my family has already eaten up all the little nibblets and are hoping for more.  it just looks so pretty in their little jars!



i finally got my Christmas cards out today!  yeah!  in between all this Christmas activity i've still been able to sneak a little painting time in here and there.  hopefully i'll be able to finish this one tomorrow.

running behind

hopefully i can get my Christmas cards out in the mail tomorrow, i decided to go with the reindeer painting for the print.  i'm not totally happy with how they look, but since time is short, this is what i'm sending out.  it's not unusual for me to be running behind on getting my cards out,  at least  everyone always seems to get their card before the holidays, even the year my husband tried to send them with out stamps on them!    i wish i could use the excuse that i'm always behind because they are handmade, but i'm just a procrastinator and time moves much to fast for me these days.
every Christmas since Amelia was born, the holiday photo has been in front of the Christmas tree. i wanted to try something else this year, but guess what, i ran out of time, so here they are in front of the tree.  maybe it will become the traditional holiday photo spot as they grow through the years.

a little fairy goodness

 
here's a sweet little fairy that i finished up today.  i'm really happy with the results.  i've noticed that a lot of my paintings have turquoise in them, so i tried to use a different color palette.  the little butterflies in her hair were a complete accident.  i used painted coffee filters for her hair and after it dried,  some of the darker pieces formed a little butterfly on the left side in the most perfect spot, so i then repeated it for the right side.  don't you just love it when accidents like that happen?

have a wonderful weekend!  i know ours is going to be a snowy one! 

chickadee

chicka-dee-dee-dee, chicka-dee-dee-dee,  i love these little birds and their sweet little song.  they are one of the few birds that stick it out here in Wisconsin for the winter.  what brave little guys.    i'm thinking Santa will be bringing some yummy bird seed to fit in  this stocking.

a butterfly for christmas

i started this painting back in august or september.  i can't even remember what the original painting started as or what i was trying to do, i remember not liking where it was going so i  just kept adding more paint and eventually i got so frustrated with it that it went into a corner for a few months.   occasionally it would catch my eye but i would quickly look away with a little "hmmmph".  about a month ago  it caught my eye again and this time i felt the urge to add a few quick touches  to it, but then it when right back to its corner.   i did this several times over the past month and now i reached a point where i can say that it is finished, and i think i actually like the end results.
this painting is going to a friend of mine for her Christmas present.  she had come over and seen it hiding in its little corner awhile back and said she really liked it and my immediate response was " you can have it".  i think i told her it would be her Christmas present, if not, she knows now!