Shellie Warren Art

Too Much Christmas Fun

2011-12-28T20:04:00.000-08:00

All she wanted for Christmas was a Giant teddy bear!

We also added Fancy the Fish (a beta) to our family pets

It's really interesting to research this fish, they are alot cooler then I thought!

3 calling birds...( baby hand-fed cockatiels) My favorite bird.

and a leopard tortoise that grows to the size of a football

We will be busy learning responsibility this year. Hope everyone had a joyful Christmas!

Happy Holidays!!!

2011-12-11T20:41:00.000-08:00

There's only one tree going up this year in our house and this is it! Feels good to have this project done and out of the way.

Building a Tree House

2011-07-29T13:34:00.000-07:00

Another fun Summer project added to the list...This is Jury's treehouse that a good friend is helping us build. Isn't it cute? I think I am more excited then the kids for it.

Jury is already getting his "No girls allowed" sign made. I'm not quite sure how well that one is going to go over with the girls, they already want to move their stuff in. Hmm....

Learning How to ScreenPrint

2011-07-20T16:16:00.000-07:00

Here are some screenprints I have been working on this Summer at the University....Time Consuming pretty much sums it up!

3 color screenprint

5 color screenprint

Next project will be a 7-8 color...

Very interesting process that these go through before they turn into the final image. I will share more pics in a few days/weeks. ;)

Happy 4th!

2011-07-04T22:00:00.000-07:00

A Summer Full of Color!

2011-06-13T19:03:00.000-07:00

I'm so excited that I get to blog first about the Summer of Awesomeness! After all, that's exactly what Summer is, isn't it? Hanging out in flip-flops, bbq's with friends, swimming, hiking, and just being outdoorsy and taking lazy day afternoon naps. Everything seems like a brand new start and I'm so ready for some warm weather.

One of my favorite parts of Summer is watching the different plants in my yard start to bloom. Here is my first poppy of the year, isn't it beautiful? Martha Stewart's last issue was on decorating with them and she had some fabulous ideas so if you haven't checked it out already then do, it's worth it.

This Summer I thought I would make it all about COLOR! It's so energizing when color is added into life. Here are some super easy things that I am doing around the house and you can too in order to brighten things up!

Starting with flowers, Choose bright reds, oranges and yellow or even pink ones and put them in a contrasting pot. For this one I chose a cobalt blue pot with red and yellow flowers making it all about the primary colors. Delicious!

This one is a little bit more subtle but just as beautiful!

and you never can go wrong putting a flower in its

complimentary colored pot. Complimentary meaning its opposite color on the color wheel. So blue is opposite of orange, red is opposite of green and yellow is opposite of purple. This will always result in both colors looking their best when next to each other.

Another fun way of adding color to your yard is to re-paint your yard furniture. I just finished painting everything I have in the color scheme of turquoise and red. Two of my favorite colors and perfect for my Alice in Wonderland picnics and outdoor adventures. No more tan, boring, blendid in stuff for me!

Before throwing anything out I always ask myself...

Can it be re-painted a different color and used?

Can I use if for storage or a planter?

It's amazing what a difference paint can make and the money it saves.

I love my newly colored pieces.

I was also looking at trellises yesterday and couldn't find one that wasn't ugly, inexpensive or small and flimsy. Luckily I found this old gate hiding in storage and am making it my new trellis. I can't wait to plant something and watch it climb away. I'm thinking trumpet vine....

Here is something that I think would be fun to make. I saw it in a gardening magazine and it just has a straight piece of rebar going through the middle of it. What a conversation piece huh?

Or how about this one? It's an old frame on an easel with plants bursting out of it making it quite the masterpiece.

and here is my favorite addition to the yard........I now have FIREFLIES in my tree!

ok not real ones, but they're as close as I will ever get here in Utah!

Aren't they magical?

It's just a single spot light that you stake into the ground and it shines lots of little lights up into the tree. Same kind that Disney uses I read. I think it's going to be so much fun for the upcoming Summer nights and I hope my neighbors are super jealous of my sparkling firefly lit tree. If you want one for your yard go to www.blisslighting.com

Ok some Summer Ideas or suggestions.......

How about finally taking that new class you've always been curious about?

Here I am doing flying trapeze school recently...For real, it's really me! ;) I'ts never too late to learn something new!

Or how about learning or improving on a new skill?

My next adventure is going to include some of these:

and some of these

I am a self taught sewer and only know how to sew pillows and curtains, so some sort of fashion design class is very appealing to me right now.

Speaking of design

I am drooling over the lastest trend of colored denim pants. Especially the red and blue ones! I love them all, how do you choose?

Maybe I will try a few colors....just to see ;)

Thanks for stopping in, It truly has been forever since I have consistently posted anything and It has taken me hours just to do this much, I had to lock myself up in the room and hide from the kids! lol

but I am hoping to find more time to post more.

I hope your Summer is going to be full of awesomess and If you want more ideas or suggestions or want to participate in the S.O. A. then visit www.rhinestonearmadillo.typepad.com

Happy summer days and nights! ;)

Let the S.O.A. begin!!!!

2011-06-09T20:56:00.000-07:00

HERE ARE THE RULES:

1. Let Laura know if you want to participate through comments or her e-mail address---laurairrgang@yahoo.com

2. She will assign you a date. You do ONE blog post on one day, sometime during the week you have been assigned.....3rd week in June, 2nd week in July, etc. Let's do this through August. If she gets more than one person per week, she will do multiple posts per week.

3. Come up with your contribution in whatever way you see fit. You can do a post on your own blog, and she will link to you, and also cut and paste it into her blog. If you don't have a blog, just e-mail her any text and images you want to share.

www.rhinestonearmadillo.typepad.com

Can't wait to share some of my S.O.A ideas, I got assigned to do the first blog post so be looking for it starting this Sunday!

and the Casting Process begins......

2011-05-10T11:56:00.000-07:00

This is only 8 hours of work .. 2 more full days to go. It is amazing the work that goes into making a cast for a sculpture. oooh! but it was sooooo much fun!!!!

Progress on Sculpture

2011-05-02T08:02:00.000-07:00

Making progress....will be learning how to cast her this Saturday. Cant wait!

2011-04-17T21:58:00.000-07:00

Sculpting, My New Found Love

2011-02-20T22:24:00.000-08:00

Here is the beginning of my very first sculpture. I am having so much fun learning how to do it and its becoming very addicting fast. I will definitely be doing more. This one is being done with oil clay and if it turns out I will be able to cast it into something harder and unbreakable.

I only have been able to work on it 3 hours a week with a live model. It's quite challenging to capture what is in front of you and mold it. There are so many new things I am learning about the figure.

I even have a little sculptor in the family. Jury has begged me for quite awhile to teach him how so tonight we started on his project. I think he really likes it!

Jury has always been the one drawing and painting and finding things in the garage to make 3D sculptures out of. I'm happy that he has found something he enjoys so much. He says he needs to learn sculpting

because he wants to be a plastic surgeon. I think this is a great place to start.

and the girls were content eating Mcdonalds tonight. I never let them eat there and so they were so happy when I caved in!

2011-02-18T20:05:00.001-08:00

Word for the year

2011-01-09T12:16:00.000-08:00

I decided that my motivational word for the year will be the word Open.

Open to new ideas, accepting new perspectives and trying to see things in a different way.

It's not always easy to let go of the control you have in your life and give yourself permission to live and make mistakes or to change. So this year I am giving myself permission to do so.

No more black and white and I will strive to appreciate the gray!

What is your motivational word for the year?

Happy New Year!!!

2011-01-03T16:29:00.001-08:00

"Today's Project"

2010-12-27T18:38:00.000-08:00

Working on a wall of frames.....

In the studio

The Beginning....

closer to the end...

Merry Christmas!

2010-12-24T09:21:00.000-08:00

Happy Thanksgiving!

2010-11-24T11:12:00.000-08:00

Sharing some of the Most Wonderful Christmas displays from NYC this year... Enjoy!

More Studio Pictures.........

2010-10-17T17:27:00.000-07:00

New Studio Coming Along....

2010-10-09T22:19:00.000-07:00

and I am LOVING all the silver! It has proved to be such a diverse color that energetically reflects every color it sees and compliments things very well. I'm interested to see if my painting style changes because of it.

Finally got to put up my custom made easel, it only took 2 hours to figure out how to build it. Who knew a doctor could put it together too!

Now I'm thinking furniture.....Zebra Rug, Contemporary couch maybe wrapped in plastic.

and definitely a place to take afternoon naps on!

Biggest problem: figuring out what NOT to put in.

Moving Day

2010-10-06T12:16:00.000-07:00

Packing up and getting ready to move into my new studio.... It is getting its last coat of paint put on right this minute. Yay!

Had to clean off my 8.5 ft. palette that is coming with me.

Took me forever! I need to learn to clean as I go because

dried oil paint does not cooperate well. Neither do hard brushes.

Old Paint???? they say you should throw them out....but I just can't.

I will have to find someway to use them. Maybe a cool sculpture, or abstract painting?

My husband is so happy just thinking of all the new space he will have in the garage once my stuff is out of there! Wonder what he plans to do with it.

Isn't it amazing how much we can accumulate? I kind of get attached to my Art stuff even though it might not be usable anymore.

Sometimes I think I need an Intervention.

Doug Braithwaite Painting Workshop 2010

2010-10-04T11:24:00.000-07:00

Ok, for all you that commented on my last post of what I was doing behind that building.....(haha)...YOu were all wrong :) I Just returned from a fantastic week long, plein-air painting trip with Artist Doug Braithwaite in Helper, Utah.

Here is the studio that was available to stay in down there, and that we also worked out of. It was a HUGE space, the whole upstairs had a ton of bedrooms, bathrooms and kitchen/living space. Perfect place to work in and relax! Seriously.....Does it get any better??!!!

Did I forget to mention its located right on Main Street....

Main street was my favorite place to paint, I loved the old feeling of it, the old signs, buildings and especially the unique people walking by and stopping to talk. It felt like I was in the movies.

We spent all day painting in different locations around town and outside of town.

This is my plein air painting set up...I brought down the Easy L easel, loved it...its

lightweight, easy to set up and I will never go back to my old heavy one again. In fact I'm seriously considering burning it, no Artist should be weighed down with that thing!

This was up in the mountains and Im painting rocks if you can't tell... Obviously not my favorite subject in the world to paint..It provoked quite the challenge.

However, we did find a cool parking lot in one of the towns across from this great little house. I found this alot more interesting to paint.

We spent the majority of our time working on Value studies, how light and dark the subject was. Washing things in, and getting the drawing and composition right before we even picked up color. I liked this method alot, it helped me feel more in control of the painting and slowed me down. Which is a good thing.

Some of my painting friends, Lynn and Steve watching Doug do a demo behind the studio. (See....No nude male models that can't find their way home. haha.)

Doug painting

I was pretty impressed with Helper, Utah. I'm not much of a small town loving girl, but I fell in love with it here. I also felt like I had some major breakthroughs this week with my painting and gained some great tools to use in the future. Doug has a way of teaching that is understandable, and he simplifies things down so that you get it. Now its all about applying it!

To check out some of Doug's work that inspires me so much check out his blog at

http://dougbraithwaite.blogspot.com/2010/08/wet-paint-and-separation-anxiety_24.html

He offers workshops throughout the year, and I definitely plan on attending again next year.

This has probably been one of the BEST workshops I have taken.

On another happy note....my studio should be finished today from being painted! YAY! I cannot wait to start moving in!

Weekend with The Masters 2010

2010-09-28T20:43:00.000-07:00

I am so inpired and ready to work afer spending the weeked in Laguna Beach with some of the finest Master painters around! It was beyond words, but I will try my best to verbalize my experience.

First day I attended a painting demo by one of my favorite painters ~ Richard Schmid. In fact he was part of the reason that I decided to go down in the first place. His demo = Amazing. He has 2 new books out now, a Beautiful landscape one

and one thats called Alla Prima, Everything I know about painting (pictured above) I purchased the Alla Prima book and it is like candy. I read the first 35 pages quickly and its FULL of some of the BEST information out there!!!!!

He goes over every question a painter could ever have with some great advice about talent and passion.

The one thing that made me an emotional wreck was when they showed a picture of him as a young kid out in the snow packing his plein air painting supplies, I loved seeing his PASSION at such a young age then to see where he is at today...so powerful.

I then finished the night with a lecture on "Deconstructing Drawing and Painting" from Daniel Graves/ who is an excellent Artist and Founder of the Florence Academy in Italy. We learned how important it is to go from BIG shapes to SMALL shapes and how the BIG view is very important.....and how I sooo wish I was sitting on this floor right now, soaking everything in...In Florence....

Here is a painting of his that he did using a limited color palette. I think he told us that he only used black, white, a red and yellow. Can you believe how many colors he found with only those?

Second Day.....Visited Artists Rob Liberace's Workshop on "Exploring Anatomy through Ecorche Drawing"

Learned alot, we had a live nude male model so I am unable to show pictures of my drawings due to the graphic nature...haha However this is one of the drawings Rob Liberace did in class.

Third Day.... went to a portrait painting workshop with Carolyn Anderson.

This was her demo below

We focused on LINE, SHAPE,VALUE and COLOR

Lots of information in this class...Filled up almost a whole notebook during entire workshop so I will have to share my notes in individual posts because there are so many of them.

Day four....half day I spent with Artist Marcia Burtt learning about Meaning and Composition

She is an acrylic painter and rocks at composition! These are her works below.

She taught us how to think about what it is we are painting. Why were we drawn to it? What are we responding to? and how to try and capture the feeling, mood or idea.

On Friday and Sunday I spent my lunch hours in an Art Marketing class by Eric Rhoades

It was filled with some of the BEST information out there. Lectures were short and I left wanting so much more! Hopefully I will be able to track him down if he offers a workshop in the future.

Also went home with a bag full of free stuff.....like sketchbooks, paints, few brushes, pencils and American Artist magazines and then some books, cds and brushes I picked up while there. I will be busy indulging in these!

I feel so lucky to have been able to go paint with the Masters and to learn some of their approaches on how to paint. I think there is alot of information out there on Art and it can be quite overwhelming and tiring at times to sort through.

I am going through a huge learning phase right now and trying to gather and pick and choose what works for me, learning what is my style and how I get there. I've come to realize that there are so many ways to get from point A to B.

Hmmm....wonder what I am doing behind this building??? I will have to tell you later....

Any guesses?

Weekend with the Masters

2010-09-25T21:10:00.000-07:00

Spent the weekend in Laguna Beach,CA drawing and painting with some of the best Master painters around. I Can't wait to share my thoughts and experiences with you! I have been totally inspired and have learned so much. Will post soon!

Studio Painting

2010-09-07T19:48:00.000-07:00

25 CATS NAMED SAM ?

2010-08-24T05:29:00.000-07:00

Alot of you probably didn't know this but Andy Warhol lived with his mother and alot of Cats! 8,17,25? Nobody can agree on a certain number but all of his friends remember alot of them being around. Andy had produced a few line drawings of cats that he wanted to turn into a book and was looking for a catchy title. Thus the name ~25 Cats Named Sam and One Blue Pussy by Andy Warhol. (Although there are only 18 Sams in the whole book.)

The calligraphy inscribing the names of all the cats was done by Julia Warhola, Andy Warhol's mother. The book was one of the first of Warhols books to be bound and it is one of the most brightly colored of all his printed works. It was limited to 190 numbered copies, however he was not very attentive to numbers as he gave several copies of low numbered editions to people he wanted to impress. Each original was hand colored by Warhol.

sooo.....HOw are These for Studio Cats???? Adorable?! in sort of a creepy cool way I think.

One of my girlfriends bought them and showed them to me and I had to go get me a pair for my studio.

Have to have cats lurking around right?

and of course in our real household we adopted this little cat a few weeks ago from the animal shelter. It was only a month old and had already killed 2 mice! Quite impressive, it made the other cat feel bad I think because its performance and social skills have improved! It's name was Scott, but I think the kids have already renamed it twice!

Ok, Im off to accomplish more important things in life today...like registering and showing up for school, getting kids off to school and organizing and decluttering. Let the busy Fall schedule begin! Happy Cat thoughts!

Silver

2010-08-09T20:56:00.000-07:00

Before........

After.....

Getting things studio ready! :o)

Sunday Treats!!!

2010-08-08T12:37:00.000-07:00

Ovanes Berberian Workshop 2010

2010-06-28T21:46:00.000-07:00

Just getting back from the workshop of a lifetime taken from the great Ovanes Berberian who is one of the top colorists in the United States. It was such a delightful experience to get to travel to Rigby Idaho. Yes I said Rigby. ;) After days of packing and shopping for an extensive supply list that was needed for this trip I packed up the truck with my paints and grabbed my easel and off I went! 3 1/2 hours later I had arrived.

Here is the driveway going up to his property.....just remembering being anxious about what was to be in store for the week as this was my first workshop ever.

After parking, this was all I saw when I first walked in.....a wall full of....... well stuff that looked like the inside of my parents garage, except outdoors on shelving. I guess this is where he keeps all of his still life set ups.

Everyone was busily setting up their tents to paint the beautiful still lifes that had been arranged for us. So many still lifes set up that we got to skip around a bit throughout the day in order to try and capture the sunlight. I made sure to take lots of pictures of all of them, but posting them would of taken forever, so if you want to see more you wil have to come visit.

There were painters from all over, North Carolina, New Hampshire, San Francisco, Oregon, Seattle, Brazil and even a few Art Teachers. I had fun getting to know them all. Check out Ovanes's house/studio in the background, it screams Artist!

Here are a few peeks at the still life set ups:

and this one must of been for the guys because you would of never found my umbrella setting up for this one! Ick!

We were told that this was a good way to organize our palette, and so I spent many hours mixing my oils to the right consistency and a few Art store trips later to buy this much paint that I hadn't planned for.

During the week we were on our own alot, workshop hours were 9-4 pm and we could come early or stay late. We would usually see Ovanes around 4-5 as he would come out and critique for about an hour or so and do a little bit of painting on some students canvas for a demo. Ovanes also did 2 demos during the week on Tues & Thurs. in his studio from 9-1:30 am! He must be a night owl. We were all so in awe at his paintings that we didn't have a hard time at all staying awake.

Ok, so don't laugh, here is one of my set ups....remember this is my first workshop and first time painting still lifes outdoors! We were told to do washes and stay in the abstract phase as long as possible. We really weren't supposed to resort to how we were used to painting and to try what he had recommended. That's actually quite hard to do!

and here is one of my 2nd ones I worked on throughout the week. I had originally brought small canvases to work on and on the first day he saw how my paintings were suffering by trying to be squeezed in and said you need to paint bigger, you have alot of energy, go get you some bigger canvases. So I found some board and gessoed it. Boy was he right, it WAS cramping my style!

At the end of the week I found this workshop very insightful, I will never paint the same again, mix my oils the same and I have learned alot from Ovanes and other students. It was exhausting work but so worth it, especially since I heard this might be Ovanes's last year teaching.

My friend, Tonya from Brazil got to take 2 paintings home that were painted on by Ovanes during his demo's outside. I told her I would ship them to her so they had time to dry but she didn't go for that. lol She must know how much they are worth!

The drive home was beautiful, I never looked at Idaho as that but for some reason this trip changed my mind. I saw so many new colors in the sky on the way home and amazing landscapes were all over the place!

Just a few facts:

I did read some reviews about this workshop before I went and found some negative comments about it, but from my experience none of it was true for me. I found Ovanes very open to answering questions and helping when you asked. He also shared alot of his studio setup ideas and painting materials which he didn't have to do. I ended up buying 2 of his demo dvd's to watch, a still life and a landscape and can't wait to watch them. His demos are amazing! I wish I could say I came back refreshed but overall it was alot of work and alot of information to take in! It might take a year or so before it all sinks in.

Idaho Getaway at the Blue Heron Inn

2010-06-26T20:21:00.000-07:00

I just got back from a 5 day beautiful stay in Rigby, Idaho at the Blue Heron Inn. What a wonderful and pleasant treasure it was to stay at. I went down to attend a plein air painting workshop and this was one of the closest places to my painting location. I was very happy with the accomodations and the owners( Dave and Claudia Klingler) made me feel right at home. Their property sits right in front of the Snake River and is just Spectacular!

This was my first bed and breakfast stay so it was such a treat to wake up every morning and have breakfast made for me in their beautiful kitchen. It was a gourmet breakfast every morning. The owner, Claudia is coming out with her own cook book soon and I can't wait for a copy.

Even got to enjoy eating breakfast right by the birds

This was the room I stayed in

and the view out one of my windows

I couldn't help but take pictures of all the beautiful quilts lying around all done by Claudia herself. What a talent to be able to do this! These were so well done and this one she even used iridescent thread on.

Also little embellishments of bees and bugs and little beads. This one is worth enlarging.

She did this quilt after one of William Morris' who was the founder of the Arts and Crafts movement if I remember correctly.

This one took home an award at an Idaho Falls show

and this one she took those dish towels that have the days of the week on them and sewed them into a quilt titled" No time for housework and quilting too, that's why housework makes me blue."

She then added the duties that women are so busily tied up with every day around the edges. Like cooking, sewing, baking, mothering, shopping, exercising, scrubbing, gardening, banking. etc.

Such a diverse style, this one seems more modern to me

and this one very traditional

Loved this one, it looks like a Mary Engelbreit with all its fun bright colors.

Very cozy and I had a hard time packing to come home.

They even give discounts to the Artists that are taking the workshop if you stay at their B&B

More to come tomorrow on the workshop, It was well worth the trip and I came home with alot of informatiom, insight and inspiration!!! Can't wait to share!!!!

If you would like to see more information about this place go check out

http://www.idahoblueheron.com/

Guess Where I have been ????

2010-06-26T13:57:00.000-07:00

Deceased Brushes ?

2010-05-24T19:56:00.000-07:00

Well one good thing about Spring cleaning is that you find things you forgot you had. Like hardened paint brushes that you painfully discover have spent the whole winter outside in the snow and you don't have the heart to throw them away because they were too expensive but you don't know how in the heck you are ever going to revive them. I must of had around 50 or more. I am so bad at cleaning them after use.

Well luckily I remember asking a teacher at school what she does and she told me about this product called Citristrip! So...I soaked my brushes in it for 10 minutes.....ok some took all night but I ended up saving every single one of them! It's truly miraculous!

Look at all these brushese I have back now, just like new and ready to be used. I am so happy to have finally found a product that works. I bought it at Loews and I think Home Depot carries it also.

So don't throw out your hardened brushes there is hope after all and look at all the money you will save!

Brushes are expensive and I cringe everytime I have to purchase them. I would much rather be spending my money on other things.

P.S. Be sure and scroll down and check out the new additions to the Akward Art Show. ;)

Today's Creation

2010-03-28T17:05:00.000-07:00

Here is what I have been working on all day. My mind is ready to explode and is going on strike for a few hours, or maybe the rest of the night ;) Enjoy!

22x36 All paper

Click on picture to enlarge

Could Martha Stewart Do This???

2010-03-19T21:49:00.000-07:00

Here is the bottom half of my project. It is a lady in a Spring dress and here is her skirt. It only took alot of paper, scissorwork and free flowing creativity.

The top half is almost done then I can reveal it to you in its fullest. I hope you will get a kick out of it, I already had my mother laughing. I had so much fun doing this and even without a crew like Martha, that lucky lady. Now I can only hope it stays in one piece before its due date. I noticed some curious kids checking it out earlier, better go check to make sure that door is locked.

Next Project

2010-03-04T19:13:00.000-08:00

My next project is to make a paper drawing installation. Can you only imagine?

This is how I feel right now

I have a few ideas rolling around in my head and I have 3 weeks and a pair of scissors. What will I find to cut up and create?

An Adventurous Quick & Cold Photo Shoot !

2010-02-01T21:05:00.000-08:00

So tonight I grabbed my husband and forced him back into the truck after his hard days work to go out on a quick photo shoot with me.

I had driven past this farm for years on my way home and had heard that all these animals had been rescued and cared for by one lady. I decided to stop in tonight and happened to catch her son and he graciously let me in to take pictures! WHoo hoo! Thank you! Thank you!

I laughed the whole time because they were all so curious and just stared at me as they followed me around in a group. Have you ever seen such a thing?

One of the main reasons I went is because I knew they had a Llama.

Well meet Harmony the llama. She/He walked right up to me and stuck its nose right to my cheek and blew out air. Haha. The owner said that is how it greets people. Well now that I know.... I will have to blow back! and yes this chicken was there but I totally photoshopped it onto the llamas back...A little trick I just learned.

I even got Poo face and Casin the Alpacas to come out for their photo shoot. I just want to hug their cute furry bodies.

and yes I even stepped in Horse feces (thank you Lisa for my new expanded vocabulary :) and goat,chicken,goose,dog,llama feces as well.... forever ruining my new running shoes, but It was all in the name of ART!!! I must Create under any circumstance!!!

The Best Gift in the WORLD that was Ever Given to me.

2009-12-27T14:49:00.000-08:00

Exactly 5 years ago my husband and I got a phone call from his dad saying there was a little baby girl that had been born on Christmas day from their side of the family that was being adopted out. I instantly knew that this baby had to come be with our family. I pleaded...(ok and pouted) with my husband for days to please call and see if we could take this baby. I felt heart broke because there was another family lined up to take her but I just know in my heart that she needed to be with us. We got a call three days after she was born at night and was told that we could have her. I can't even explain the feeling I had. Tremendous gratitude, feelings of being so blessed, and ecstatic to have a little girl join our family.

Here are some pictures of her in the hospital with her mother and older sister.

Steve and I drove up to Idaho in a snow storm the minute we got the call and spent the night in a hotel. Stevi's older sister spent the night with us and we both stayed up ALL night playing and loving baby Stevi.

My deepest appreciation and admiration goes out to her mother with whom we stay in contact with. I know this had to be one of the most difficult decisions in her life to do this and I know that it came out of her with so much love for little Stevi. Stevi will always be hers but I am so honored that she has given me the opportunity to raise her. There is nothing I could ever do to repay her in my whole lifetime. I will always be in eternal debt for her giving me this special gift....(.I am bawling my whole way through this entire post! )

Three months later I got pregnant with another little girl that I just know was sent from Heaven to be best friends with Stevi and they love each other so much. They are 11 months apart. Double trouble!

and here was my Christmas gift from Stevi this year...a cute little picture of her that she drew

Stevi has turned out to be such a sweet kind little girl. She is a helper, a go-getter like her older sister Amanda. Spunky, fun and very social. She loves playing with her older brothers and playing dress up with her sister Caprese. She is also fluent in Spanish! I don't know what life would of ever been like without her. I love her so much. She makes our family complete. Happy 5th Birthday dear sweet daughter who I love more then life!!!!

and Thank you to her birth mother who I will always love for changing and blessing my life. :)

Hurry Christmas...Hurry Fast!

2009-12-22T16:17:00.000-08:00

Can Christmas just come tonight? Please????? I have a whole house full of hyper kids. It was clean...I promise! My 4 year old decided she needed a short haircut like Mommy's and so snuck in the bathroom and started cutting away. Time to find some major activities. Grandma?

Giving is SO Much Better than Receiving!!!

2009-12-19T17:53:00.000-08:00

What a wonderful day!!!Today we got to deliver all the presents that we have been collecting for the Bright Eyes Foundation Christmas project to the families. We had such a fun day playing Santa ! We had alot of volunteers and even brought along the kids for this sweet experience. Special thanks to the Cox family for all of your help with driving and packing bags and bags of toys in!

It was so fun for everyone to go in and place the presents under the tree.

Even funner because the parents were not expecting so much! I guess that's my problem because I always think too big, according to my mother. :)

Even little Caprese was happy to pitch in! Even though she had a hard time not eating all their Christmas candy!

It was a joyful moment to watch the eyes of both the recipients and the givers

and to know it's a life changing moment for everyone.

So many families that could use an extra hand this year

and we were so humbled and grateful to be able to provide some Christmas for them. All of these kids were so excited and hyper after seeing a tree full of presents and were searching for their names as fast as we were putting them down.

I felt that we found the perfect families to donate towards this year and they were so appreciative.

We did have some extra donations that we could not use after we filled our lists and so we donated them to The Toy drive for Hispanic Families in Need. Caprese saw this big pile of shoes when we walked in and immediately took off her purple polka- dotted boots and threw them in the pile. What a giver!

They had several rooms full of toys that were organized by age groups

and today they were letting families come in to pick out a toy, a pair of shoes and a coat.

It's so nice to see what everyone is doing to help out each other in these times of need. I am so thankful for my friends, my health and my husband and family for their support. Looking forward to making this a bigger event next year and brightening the eyes of more people!

Wrapping it Up!

2009-12-17T23:09:00.000-08:00

We are filling Christmas lists for 33 kids this year through our Bright Eyes Foundation. Last night we had a wrapping party and I am so thankful for those who showed up to volunteer their time to help wrap presents. We have a big list to fill! The Hansen family from Farmington came up to help and share with their kids this life changing experience.

and Dash Cox who is an author and motivational speaker also volunteered his time.

along with Angie Bradshaw. Thanks guys!

We are still in great need of donations for teenage boys. Deadline would be friday.(today) We want to get these delivered to the families this weekend. You can drop things off at my home or at Just a Bed of Roses in Farmington. We are so thankful for all the donations that have come in so far.

I got to call each family tonight and let them know we were coming and they all were so happy and grateful. That's the part that fills my heart and makes all the work worth it. I can't wait to deliver them. There will be some really excited and hyper kids! Whoo hoo! That's what Christmas is all about right?

So all in a week

I have conquered Santa visits, school programs, dental appointments for the kids, and filled these lists along with my own families. My husband thought it was funny when he snuck into my bedroom and snapped this picture of me, the kids and the cat crashing at 6pm the other night....I guess you can call it true Christmas exhaustion!!!

Hope all of your lists are getting filled this week. There are alot of kids that are in need of presents this year and donations are at their lowest. There are several places that could use your extra presents so go drop them off! If you would like more information about our foundation to see what we are all about then go to http://www.brighteyesfoundation.com/ We are a nonprofit approved 301(c) meaning tax write offs for you! :)

Dear Mom.....

2009-12-01T19:57:00.000-08:00

dear mom

I have loved you for as long as I can remember you are my favorite mom in the whole wide world but for Christmas would you get me a new program that's named Terrapain logo and I love you very much dad to he is a awesome dad for his age and is very nice I love my parents really much your radiant delights

love, Jury very much p.s. when can me and sebastian have another play date no maybes just yes or no.

This letter was written by my 7 year old son last night and delivered to me :)

Christmas Lights

2009-11-28T20:17:00.000-08:00

My brother Jeff came up to my house today and put lights on the 24 trees going up the road to my house. Don't they look great? We enjoy looking at them every year and they make me so happy. I love the reflection each one of them gives off. Thanks Jeff, you are going to definitely be put on my Nice list this year!!