Introducing...SnappyBibs...fellow AREtsian...

and the maker of my fabulous secret santa gift! Check out her Etsy shop - she does great embroidery! Thanks!

The Finished Ornaments...

from our family get together the other night...mom will pass out that I have actually posted 4 times in one day - BUT, I wanted to share everything before I forgot!

I finished these up last night - I wanted to show you what the others painted, but sent them home with the kids for their tree without taking a photo!

Grab some clear glass ornaments, brushes, air bake enamel paint and some glitter glue and create away!

Remember, handmade is always better...

Want Snow...Got Ice...

...at least a great excuse to hole up at home...on a peaceful day...no noise on the street going one way or the other...so serene and breathtaking...I just love this time of year and I hope we receive snow for Christmas...wishful thinking?

A Family Get-Together...

for a great pot of Rick's Santa Fe Soup (Aunt Betsy originally gave us the fantastic recipe!) and to paint Christmas ornaments! It was quite fun and definitely entertaining!

Mom's are, of course, perfect - like the work she does in her birdnestontheground studio!

Lindsay (Ty's girlfriend) was so cute, just putting paint and glitter on the ornaments ninety to nothing, not worrying about a thing!

Then there was Ty - I'm not sure if he thought he was too cool to paint one, but he did - only one but at least he contributed and actually enjoyed - I think!

And last but not least, Dad - impatient as all get out and paint going everywhere except where he wanted it! It was absolutely hysterical! I don't think he'll take up painting on a regular basis any time soon, but he's sure to appease me from time to time!

Get together with your family for a night of food and a craft or game...we don't do this nearly enough...we made more memories and hope you will too...

Custom Paintings...

done to coincide with my friend Nancy's birthday! Her sweet hubby Rob called me one day, asking if I would do some paintings for their newly decorated living room...I was flattered! I snuck over to the house to look at where they would be hanging and to decide on colors...they had some beautiful patchwork pillows on the sofa that were our inspiration, an idea from Rob himself...turned out great and she loved them, thank the Lord! It was a blessing to get to do...

Special Thanks...

to aspasia for including my painting "blue maze" in her treasury! If you don't know what a treasury at Etsy is, it is a selection of themed products, picked by fellow etsians! It's a great way to look at all of the amazing handmade work from fabulous artisans...thanks again aspasia!!!

My AREtsy Secret Santa Recipient...

is Briana from nest!!!

AREtsy is a group of artists who all live in the state of Arkansas and sell our handmade, handcrafted items on Etsy. We work together to get the word out on the street about the best site on the web...ETSY!

Erin at idyllhands, our fearless, tireless and motivational leader, put together a secret santa gift exchange in our group and she drew nest for me...I wanted to share with you the painting I did for her...keep in mind, we've never met in person, I only know her through our common thread on the internet, so it was a challenge to come up with something she would love...

I looked through her flickr and blog sites to get some ideas and saw pictures of a beautiful family, with a fabulous remodeled home that appeared to be simply modern, divine and truly a nest made of love! She picked the perfect name for her Etsy shop! The nest is a family run business, making wonderful handmade soaps from natural products and also original artwork.

I am blessed to be a part of this fabulous team and I hope you will take time to look through their wonderful work through our team page or blog!