Sweet, sweet music

My son Jakob came home from school a few weeks ago sooo excited...he wanted to join the school band, an opportunity available to fourth graders and older...."Ok" I said....."What instrument do you want to play?" A fairly innocent question, i thought.....His answer: the trombone. "OH, the trombone...ok. Are you sure?" His reply: Yup! with much excitement! Well, that night was a Friday night and we couldn't leave the house until the band teacher called, which she did a few hours later...and long story short, my little man is now playing (learning to) a big instrument...he's supposed to practice three times a week, 10 minute intervals.....So, as I write this post, i am serenaded by the loud.....hmmmm....how can i describe them???.....the loud....."sounds" of the trombone....I am proud to have a budding musician around the house....I'm sure i will get used to, i mean....I surely love that sweet, sweet sound.

Boo-tiful October...

Ahhh...the crisp October air...loooove it! Inspired by one of my favorite times of the year and one of my favorite holidays...I made this little Halloween Princess by recycling the packaging from some sugar cubes...yup, plain ol' sugar cubes....could use any type of box with a window on the lid or you could even cut out a window yourself! I gave her a pointy Halloween hat with a star on top and some funky black fur on the bottom. The pumpkin moon is a bottle cap that i filled with a little drawing of a jack o'lantern....think she is boo-tiful if i do say so myself...hope she inspires you to cast a few spells of your own!

Call me THE GODMOTHER...

Yes, I am the proud godmomma of little baby Asa Matteo...or as my Italian cousin calls me "grandma"....I keep telling him there's a BIG difference between GRANDmother and GODmother, but he doesn't seem to get it....i'll blame that one on the language barrier...but back to my bragging about little baby Ace....isn't he just adorable....just love the wee ones....that new baby smell, the little coos and ahhhs, the tiny fingers and toes, long eyelashes, unconditional love...AND i can give him back to his proud papa and mama...my cousin and wife...at the end of the day. Congrats to Diego and Katie and the birth and christening of their beautiful bundle of joy.

When life gives you bananas....

Make Banana Caramel Cupcakes....mmmmmmm....these turned out sooo yummy....used a sour cream cake recipe and added some allspice and a mashed banana to the recipe. Then, when the little cakes were done and cooled, i cut them in have and spread a layer of caramel ice cream topping and some banana slices...for the icing i whipped some fresh cream with a few spoons of the caramel added....mmmmmmmmm....then i shaved some dark chocolate on top....diet? What diet? These were sooo delish and pretty....had to share!

Wine-Oh!....

The place you have left forever is always there for you to see whenever you shut your eyes. ~ Ian Mydral

My inspiration for this funky little piece of collage art was a wine label...it was just too bea-U-tiful to throw away, so i painstakingly removed the label and decided to create a little bit of art around it...the quote fit so well with the label since the lovely lady had her eyes shut.

I added a funky hat cut from a vintage handwritten envelope and stapled a piece of ribbon to the top....I also added some painted blue circles and some hand-stamped images. Makes you wonder what she is thinking.... dreaming of? who?....hmmmmmmmmm....

Surprise!

Yes, this weekend was full of surprises! My best girlfriends surprised me with a 36th birthday par-tay at a little French place in the city....a little place that served only crepes.....yummmmmmmmmy. Friends and family truly touched my heart this weekend and I feel so special and soooo blessed to be surrounded by such wonderful people...so thanks to all my girlfriends, my sister and my momma for makin my special day extra-special...did I mention I've NEVER had a surprise party....I'm still tickled pink...say hello to my little birthday angel....party girl, whatever you want to call her....isn't she cute!

Back in the Saddle...Again

Ever heard of the 3 wells?...My son Jake asked me this today, so I took the bait...."3 wells?"...

Well, well, well....

I thought that a befitting start to this post, since it has been soooo long since i last wrote...and sooo much in my life has changed...fortunately my love for art and creating art has remained constant.....So, to celebrate my return to blogging, I am going to share a picture of an art card I created, I call it "determination"...used a line from a vintage book that really struck me:

So, this has been like-well, like flying in a dream, without any bumps to wake me up.

I added some crystals to her crown and wings (of course)...a beaded fringe hangs from the bottom. I'm hoping the road ahead will be "bump" free...and this little card is my reminder to keep flying and remain determined, my dreams for the future will come true.