Family Trees and my watercolor pallet

Lately I have been pretty obsessed with family trees and all forms of genealogy.  I have been thinking about family and ancestors for a while now, and even made some paintings about it this last year, as you can see here and here.

This last week I have been making these smaller genealogy charts for a church activity and I'm super excited for them!  I think I'm going to put some of the blank designs on my etsy shop too, but I'm not sure. Would you like to see them on my shop for you to buy and fill out your own family tree?

 (sorry for the crazy angle. google is not letting me change the photo orientation today)

Here is my crazy watercolor pallet. When I first started painting (I was eight years old), I saw my teacher's pallet and thought to myself, "My painting pallet will NEVER be that messy!" Now I think of it as a rite of passage and an effect of creativity. And, it's a lot like friendship bread, where the colors are never really gone before the next one is mixed, and the most beautiful colors always come out of those mixed spots.

These two family trees are personal ones that I've made for my family this last year. Aren't they great!

Chip-Carved Spritz Cookies

My dad is a wonderful wood carver (I posted some of his works here, here, here, here, and here).  While he could defnitely make money selling his carvings, he does it only as a hobby.  He always makes the most gorgeous things.


Several years ago, he gave me this hand-carved cookie press, created with the "chip carving" process. It is my absolute favorite kind of wood carving he does and I just love the intricate designs.

The cookie press works the best for Spritz (Butter) Cookies, because they don't blow up and lose the designs when they're cooked. Aren't they gorgeous??

 

My view

I love the mountains out my window. While I'm not making it out much because of my new baby, it is a beautiful view. I love looking at the changes. If I had more discipline, I'd take a picture everyday and make one of those cool GIFs, but right now, I just take a picture when something is new/different with the mt.

This weekend I dropped off one of my paintings at the Church History Museum for the final round of judging for the Annual Art Exhibit. I'm crossing my fingers!

I'm working really hard on creating my new website. Hopefully it will be up and running soon, along with a new version of my invitation website. For now, I have added some new invitation designs to my shop, including this watercolor invite and this gold glitter invite.  And, in case you're looking, I discounted all my prices!!  Right now, all of my invitations are only $19, and each additional design is only $10 each! Amazing! I know!  Well, get it while it's hot! I'm not sure how long these prices will last!

Solo Exhibition

I had the opportunity to have a solo exhibit at Cranky Chuckie's, a local restaurant.  While my art has been taken down, and another fabulous artist has his art up now, I was able to take some pictures before it came down.

Watercolors

I started painting when I was about eight years old. My parents set up a private class for me and that's when I first got my very own set of watercolor paints and brushes.  I painted with watercolors almost exclusively until I was accepted into the Drawing and Painting Program at BYU. I know, crazy, right. Watercolor?? Well, I love it and I think it's so beautiful.

Last week I finished the very last of the watercolor tubes that my parents bought for me when I first started.  Watercolors practically last forever if you use them correctly, and these babies lasted me for 16 years!  They will be missed.  I had some great times with you :)

Here I am painting with the new baby.

I have been painting a lot of these lately:

And here are some watercolor paintings that I have for sale on my shop:  P.S. If you become a fan on Facebook, you can get a code to get free shipping for all of the paintings on my shop.  Happy 2012!

Handmade Christmas

I love making gifts for the holidays.  I love making things, saving money, and giving gifts, so handmade Christmases are perfect for me!  Here are some of the things (that I have not already posted about) that I have made for Christmas. I tried to include a link to the best page so you can do them yourself if you'd like.

 My version of "the backrub shirt" as seen here. -To daddy, but for my little boys :)

Family nest ornaments, inspired by this.

Handpainted glasses/bowls. I used the same technique described here.

And, my own personal paintings.

Little Hands

I love my babies' hands. They are so adorable and I love their little fingers.  For every one of my baby's first Christmases, I make a handprint ornament for them.  I also make one for my parents so they can have one as a lovely keepsake.

I have made these with salt dough, but they crack really easily the older they get. I bought some foam clay a few years ago, but due to some really dumb decisions, I accidentally made super sticky ornaments that never dried.  This year I re-did the ornaments I made a few years ago, and made some new ones for my little baby.  I bought some air-drying porcelain-like clay and it worked like a charm!