Birthdays...

I love planning a birthday party for my girls... My youngest(Meg), who will be turning 9, has decided to have an art birthday party...I did give her a choice!!! But she hasn't had one yet and is quite excited. Time got away from me and I realized the other day that her birthday was in 2 weeks and I hadn't gotten her invites together...At first I was going to download a printable invite from Etsy and Meg and I looked for just the right one, but just before I hit the "add to cart" button... I realized that that was the easy way out. So I brainstormed a few minutes and this is what I came up with.

 I cut these palette shapes out of one of my work aprons! The paint was already on it, wahoo!!

 Well I did have to add some "extra" paint:)

The invite was printed from my computer using a fun font. I then punched holes in both and added some bakers twine(one of my favorite things)& put them in a clear cellophane sleeve with a resealable flap.

What do you think? Didn't cost a dime...

Valentine Open House

Spreading love...

http://www.etsy.com/shop/nursejeanneg
I thought this would be perfect to welcome my guests, this is such a cute shop, check her out.

Preparing for an open house can be a bit nerve wracking...especially when having it in your own home.  The house needs to be cleaned, presentation spot on, food made, drinks out, music on and your dog taken care of( Vegas's groomer was closed on Tuesday so he was causing a bit of trouble, but not too much) Last minute, I started to get nervous that I wouldn't have enough stuff to sell so I sent out a few emails to other entrepreneurs to see if they would like to be apart of my open house..luckily they all said yes and it was a big hit! I had a ton of fun socializing with these girls and they each brought amazing products! Please check out each one of their Facebook pages and ETSY sites.
http://www.facebook.com/mysweetswirls?fref=ts, http://www.facebook.com/risingdawnboutique?
http://www.facebook.com/KimLivingoodPortraits?group_id=0

Here are some pictures from my day...

of course check out my facebook page! Sunshine Girl Designs

http://www.etsy.com/shop/RisingDawnBoutique

http://www.mysweetswirls.com

 https://www.facebook.com/KimLivingoodPortraits

http://www.etsy.com/shop/mysweetswirls

Hope you liked the pictures...
xoxo,
Melanie

Word of 2013- BALANCE

I'm participating in a blog hop that is all about the one word that will carry us through the year of 2013!
Wow! How in the world do you pick that word? I just go by my intuition and let it just come to me. This word was loud and clear and no other word will do! Its BALANCE.


Last year got a bit out of control due to my imbalance. Everything kind of fell apart because all I focused on was my art business. This year I am off to a great start and plan to be conscious
of how I spend my time. Weekends will not be consumed with art but rather family, friends and other hobbies. I'm taking in more movies with my girls, shopping on a whim and having dates with the husband.  AND I am only 13 days into the new year:)

Balance-
balance |ˈbaləns| noun1 an even distribution of weight enabling someone or something to remain upright and steady:2 a condition in which different elements are equal or in the correct proportions:3 an apparatus for weighing, esp. one with a central pivot, beam, and a pair of scales.4 a counteracting weight or force.5 a predominating weight or amount; the majority:6 a figure representing the difference between credits and debits in an account; the amount of money held in an account:verb1 keep or put (something) in a steady position so that it does not fall:2 offset or compare the value of (one thing) with another:3 compare debits and credits in (an account), typically to ensure that they are equal:balancer noun

Take a look at other amazing people's words of the year here http://fly-tribe.blogspot.com/2013/01/word-hop-2013.htmle.

Penguin art class!

              Penguins, Penguins, Penguins...

What a fun project!  My first class was with 3rd-7th grade and I decided upon a collaged penguin and fun background. The class was 3 hours long which needed to be a 1/2 hour longer to finish up the details... But I truly was amazed at how good these penguins turned out, especially this being their first attempt at collage art! Take a look...

cutting out magazines for collage

working on backgrounds

getting outlines done for penguin

starting the collage!

so talented!!!

Don't you just love them all??

Kindergarten-2nd grade

These penguins are so cute! I had them use paper elements to add fun scarves and ear muffs. I didn't get a chance to take as many pictures as the first group, because at this age they need a lot more of my help:)

I told them to have fun with the penguins...that they could make them purple penguins or whatever color they desired BUT they all chose black and white:)

such creativity!

I

love the ear muffs!

these 2 are sisters..love the hats they made for their penguins.

All you need is love! New work...

I haven't painted an original piece of artwork it seems in months!  I know I painted tons of little 3 x 3 canvases for the ornaments I sold BUT they are so small and you can only fit so much on them.  I started back with an 8 x 10 and had a lot of fun just listening to music and painting. I'm gearing up for Valentine's day with sweet paintings to give to a daughter, friend, mom, etc... I am also bringing back my original paintings on blocks of wood...Hope your enjoying your day, it's spurting snow here in Tennessee. Click here http://www.etsy.com/shop/sunshinegirldesignse to purchase this sweet painting.

Let's make a snowman outta yarn!!

Look what fun these are! My extended family came into town and I wanted to start a new tradition! These were more fun than I thought they would be, or rather let me rephrase..I KNEW it would be fun but didn't know if the kids would really get into it...Well let's just say we spent at least 4 hours on these snowman if not longer!  A great cold winters day project!

Which one do you think is mine?

you can paint the block of wood in chalkboard paint and then you can change the words!!

Joe Jumper from the Clay Pot hosts a project snowman every year, check out his page

http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Clay-Pot/

Supplies you will need!

• styrofoam balls are kinda expensive if you need a lot SO instead I used aluminum foil! Just shape it into a ball shape, the yarn will hide the imperfections
• yarn in any color
• bag of pom poms
• bag of buttons
• bag of pipe cleaners
• blocks of wood or anything you can come up with as a platform
• hot glue gun and plenty of glue-sticks
• ribbon
• glitter, paper,and jingle bells add whimsy but not necessary!
• twigs from the yard
• cotton balls for the snow effect:)

Art classes available during the long holiday break:)

 I'm hosting another fun art class! 

 Jan 3- 3rd-7th grade

 Jan 4- K-2nd grade 

 16 x 20 canvases 

 Place- Bachman Center

 Times- 1pm-4pm 

 Snack and drinks provided 

 Cost- $40 

 What better way to spend a cold winters day?? 

grade

k-2nd 3rd-7th Option 3