Daisy's ABC Watercolors - A BOOK!!!!!

 
Ta - DAAAAAH
This is the cover of my ABC book.




And this is a quote I love and pretty much has inspired the 26 little paintings in this book.  I worked on it one little nap at a time and must say it was lots of fun.

Here are a few of my favorites.


D is for Dog.  
This dog is Max. He was my first dog. My "step" dog.  He came with John when we married. We had to put him down this past March because he had bone cancer.  It was very sad and Daisy probably won't remember him, but I will tell her all about Max, the sweetest dog ever when we talk about the letter D.


S is for seashells.  
I love saying, "Sally sold seashells by the sea shore."  Daisy looks at me like I'm magical when I say it.  



Z is for Zinnia.
I love many flowers but this flower is in my top ten and I have painted zinnias a bazillion times.  They are so easy to grow from seed and I love them in vases around the house.  Such cheerful flower too plus they come in so many bright colors and sizes.  I do believe life is better at the end of a hot summer because of zinnias.  

If you would like to have your own copy of this little 6"x6" book.  Click here to go to my Etsy shop.





Daisy's First Birthday


We celebrated Daisy's first birthday last weekend with friends and family and of course 
homemade chocolate and lemon cake! 


  All the flowers came from my garden.  Having your own garden really makes decorating a breeze.  The flowers seems to celebrate with us


 This little bit of joy had a great time and her Mama (me)  
really enjoyed decorating and planning this little shindig.


We had a puppet theater which I made from a large cardboard wardrobe box. (Thanks Bobbi for saving this for me and dragging it to my house.)


My nephew and niece... great puppeteers!

Bubble chasing

 Daddy helping Daisy catch some bubbles.

Ball eating contest, which Daisy won.



 
 And of course cake and kisses.

 

 
Daisy's "sister" cousin Shiloh who was born 6 months before Daisy is the 
sweetest little girl you might ever meet.

 
Daisy's friends and her oldest cousin.
 
 
Happy Birthday our sweet little girl and gift from God.  
 
 And a HUGE GIGANTIC  thanks to my lovely, talented friend Krissy who is a professional photographer. (Her website is here, MCK Designs.)  She snapped all these pictures while I was wiping up messes, pretending to be a rabbit at the puppet show and holding a crying Daisy.  She really captured the essence of this happy day. Thank you!

Rainy Days Make for Happy Flowers

 
This is the first painting I've completed in a series of botanical watercolors I plan on painting this summer. (Thanks to my mother for the fabulous suggestion).  My goal is 12.  But like anything, it's one step, one stroke, one leaf at a time. I hope to put prints of these on ETSY soon.  Perhaps tonight once the little one sleeps.
Today is a perfect day for painting -- a summer thunderstorm and showers.  My flowers love it!  Rainy days don't always seem pleasant, like rainy times in life. But, oh how important they are to the growth of a flower.

Thanksgiving

One act of thanksgiving made when things go wrong
is worth a thousand when things go well.
John of the Cross

Another disappointment has left me feeling more than a bit scared and uncertain.  I like security. I like knowing that everything will be okay - be it a big savings account, a good job, a good report, a promise... I don't think I'm any different than any human being on this planet.  So what do you do when things just aren't going your way, the safe, secure happy way?  Well, I can tell you one thing, I don't sit around being thankful.  It's hard to be thankful and easier to be fretful.  I worry and fret and worry and fret some more.  And quite frankly, I have found that that doesn't work AT ALL.  So I'm going to try to be thankful today.  I have SOOO much to be thankful for.  My guess is so do you.  Be thankful.  I'm trying it instead of being fearful.