this is now
that was then
Another nature post. I love tiger lilies-and this is the first one to bloom! I took these photos after it rained last weekend. I love the water droplets on the petals! 
This is the same tiger lily from a different angle :)
These were the last 2 of the graduation lilies-I cut them and put them in the kitchen. 
These were the graduation lilies at their peak in the dining room!
Birds were eating out of the finch feeder for about 2 weeks before I caught who was doing it. 
Here are the Goldfinches.
I have also caught Mr and Mrs. Housefinch eating at the feeder as well.
These guys spook pretty easy in our yard, so they don't hang out long. Maybe they will hang out longer once the Zinnias start blooming. 
Elizabeth's Birthday-Sweet 16 Cookie Dough and ice cream cake from Dairy Queen. Elizabeth is a little disappointed that she won't be able to try for her license until Thursday, but when you consider that you'll be driving for the rest of your life (I tried to reassure her) one week isn't that long. Not sure if it soaked in or not. On Saturday we went shopping at the Coral Ridge Mall to buy a few of the things that she wanted for her birthday (mostly at Holister, American Eagle, Scheels, and PacSun). I was even able to squeeze in a quick trip for me at Barnes and Noble....
The party happens on Thursday night. I'm not sure just how many people she invited....or how many are coming...and I don't really want to know....
We love you Elizabeth-Happy Birthday!
Sari holding Baby, Liz when she was very tiny. (Photo Overlay: Ali Edwards Design Masks and Overlays, and Love Circles Embellishments available at DesignerDigitals.com)
Fifteen: Texting over breakfast. (Template, paper, and design by LivEdesigns, ez-pz Template 01, available at jessicasprague.com)
What can I say-this is soooo Elizabeth.... (You word art by Ali Edwards Design, available at DesignerDigitals.com)
15th birthday in Disney World 2008. Yay! (31DaysCircleNumbers, Ali Edwards Design, available at Designer Digitals.)
I remember how she wore this crown ALL day. (Remember word art, Ali Edwards Design, available at Designer Digitals.)
I LOVE this photo of Elizabeth and William feeding their baby and Bunny :) 
Sweet Baby pretty much says it all. (Photo Overlay: Ali Edwards Design Masks and Overlays, Pinked Circles-Pink, and hello baby handdrawn brushes available at DesignerDigitals.com)
After washing her hair
On the computer.
After taking a bath.
On the Phone
On the computer. 
I got off work early on Friday because I worked my butt off earlier in the week. First I helped Bryan finish cleaning his room. He really did a pretty good job. Most of what he had left just needed to be swept into a trash bag. Then we went and bought paint to FINALLY turn his pink room (over a year, I think, he's put up with it...) into a very manly shade of blue. This is me. Obviously. At the point that I took this photo I was close to completely off my rocker because of this: 
Elizabeth was home for less than 5 minutes-she popped in-"Can I put my handprint on the wall?" Put her hand in the puddle of paint and proceeded to slap it on the wall...several times. 
Elizabeth was here.
Bryan's door.
Trim finally painted and 3 coats later-Saturday night.
What I found Sunday morning. 
Big number 29-enough said.
Mom and Dad right around the time we moved into the "new" house (1981). So so much better than the four room house with no doors in Dunlap...
Happy Easter-1982
Putting up the fence is the blurb that I have on the back of this photo...but I'm not sure there is much work going on here...This is probably around 1981 as well.
Holding Paul David-I think this was when Paul was baptized at St. Vincent de Paul in Peoria.
Last night I decided to work on some paintings. My inspiration comes from Traci Bautista and her "Springtime" print on Etsy-her blog can be found here. I totally have to learn by copying first. Once the techniques are embedded in my brain, then I can draw on them to create my own stuff. Until then...I do a lot of pointing to other people's work :) Anyway-I am still loving her Creativity Unleashed class! I haven't been doing a lot of "finished" paintings lately, just a lot of backgrounds that I have been scrapbooking on, or creating journal pages for. So I had a GREAT time creating these pieces. The above piece is a 9x12 painting done on watercolor paper. The other inspiration for the painting is some new paint that I just ordered from Heidi city. It can be found here. The colors I bought are icee, betty, and cotton candy (under accessories)-of course I had to order a couple of other things as well. What I liked about the piece was the colors and the flowers. What I didn't like was that the background was a little bland.
That's where this piece comes in. I didn't like the flowers so much on this piece, but I LOVE the background and the stems. Tonight I am working on an 8x8 canvas piece that will hopefully take what I like from the above 2 paintings and merge them so that I can take the piece to work and brighten up the "Pod" as they are known at work (6 cubes=1 pod). Keep in mind that I don't often spend a lot of time in the pod. I also work in the lab a lot and do some running to different buildings as well.
This is the front cover of a journal that I created using a combination of techniques learned in Traci Bautista's class as well as a couple of techniques from her book which can be found here.
This is the back of the journal. I am totally loving the painted pages inside the journal too. In fact, my post from yesterday was written on one of the pages of the journal and scanned on my scanner. Gotta go-boy is it warm in here! Hubby just put the AC in the attic window. Back to creating soon. Happy Thursday!
