Thursday, October 8, 2015

Cosmos in Watercolor

Pencil and Watercolor on Paper

Inspired by the cosmos flowers in my garden.

Monday, October 5, 2015

Pumpkin Drawing

I was inspired to draw the pumpkin I chose at the pumpkin patch on Saturday.

Orange Pumpkin Drawing
Ink & Colored Pencil on Bristol Board

Thursday, October 1, 2015

Felt Tooth Fairy Pouch

Happy Embroidered Tooth Pouch
Gracie has a loose tooth!

I found a pattern for a cute drawstring pouch on The Purl Bee and used it to make this one for her. I added the embroidered face.

We're ready for The Tooth Fairy, and in a few weeks she'll make her first visit!

Tuesday, April 21, 2015

Earth Day Tree Cookies

Decorated Earth Day Tree Cookie
I've had this cookie cutter for a long time, and I love the shape. I thought Earth Day was the perfect opportunity to use it!

Decorated Tree Cookie with Heart on Trunk
I created different variations on the simple theme.

Decorated Cookie says "hug a tree"
And played with the text.

Three Decorated Tree Cookies with Hearts
Happy Earth Day!
Be kind to our planet. It's the only one we have!

See these and more trees over at The Ginger Cookie.

Saturday, April 11, 2015

A Strawberry Birthday Party

Birthday Girl in Cowgirl Dress
My Sweet Gracie turned 5 this month! We celebrated with a Strawberry Party at the park.

Strawberry Beanbag Top
I used the beanbags I originally made for Gracie's Ladybug Birthday Party when she was 2.

Strawberry Beanbags
The kids put the "strawberries" in a bucket during a relay game.

Strawberry Bingo Card
I also made a strawberry bingo game.

Strawberry Bingo Game
We used dried "fiori" pasta for markers.

Strawberry Piñata
Here's the strawberry piñata I created using paper mache and a balloon covered with tissue paper. This post was very helpful for ideas to create the piñata, and this post was useful for figuring out how to create the trap door and the pull string feature.

 Strawberry Goody Bags
I used a strawberry drawn by Gracie to create the artwork for these personalized goody bags for the piñata prizes. I printed them on large sticker paper and cut them out with my favorite paper cutting scissors.

Strawberry Cupcakes
We baked cupcakes, strawberry and vanilla with a simple buttercream icing, decorated with sprinkles by Gracie!

Birthday Poster Card
Our guests were invited to add artwork and sign Gracie's birthday poster card.

Strawberry Cookies
The Strawberry Cookies are for favors. You can see more about these cookies in this post and over at The Ginger Cookie.

Strawberry Cookie Party Favors
The cookies are individually wrapped in clear bags from Karen's Cookies, ready for our guests to take home.

And finally, I made thank you notes for Gracie to send. I printed them on Avery postcards, and they fit perfectly into invitation size envelopes

It was a great party!

Happy Birthday, Gracie!

Sunday, April 5, 2015

Felt Easter Toys

Felt Bunny Finger Puppets on Nina's Show & Tell
I love to work with felt! For these projects I used a wool felt blend from Wool Felt Central on Prairie Point Junction.

Felt Bunny Finger Puppets on Nina's Show & Tell
I found the pattern for these cute bunny finger puppets on The Purl Bee. The pattern template is available as a free download.

Felt Egg & Chick Toy on Nina's Show & Tell
This reversible toy is an egg on one side...

Felt Egg & Chick Toy on Nina's Show & Tell
And a chick on the other! It's an Abby Glassenberg Design pattern, available here.

Felt Easter Toys on Nina's Show & Tell
I made the felt eggs in the basket a few years ago, using this pattern from Lola Nova.

Happy Easter!

Saturday, March 21, 2015

Egg + Flower = Strawberry (Cookie)

Red Strawberry Cookie by Nina's Show & Tell

Gracie's birthday is coming up and she's having a Strawberry Party. Of course we will need cookies for favors.

Pieced Strawberry Cookie by Nina's Show & Tell
I used an egg and a flower cookie cutter to create the shape I had in mind.

The flower is from a set of fondant cutters, and it was perfect for this! Notice that I used the complete flower and cut out part of the egg. The seam between the pieces is much more stable this way, especially when the cookie is iced with royal icing, which acts as a great stabilizer once it's dry.

Red Strawberry Cookies by Nina's Show & Tell
The cookies are baked, decorated, individually bagged and in the freezer, awaiting the special day.

Thursday, March 19, 2015

Sculpture at MFAH

We like to visit the Cullen Sculpture Garden at MFAH. This sculpture is Untitled by Joel Shapiro, although we call it Running Man.

This piece is Area Code by Jim Love.




Saturday, February 14, 2015

Valentine's Day Puzzle & Tic-Tac-Toe

Felt Tic-Tac-Toe Game in a pouch I made for Gracie this year for Valentine's Day.

Love Always Wins!

Last year's gift was these puzzle cubes, painted with acrylic craft paints in six colors.