Kate's Name Art

I love painting names for babies' nurseries. I made them for my niece, nephew, and coworker's son. When it came time to make one for my own child I was stumped. I couldn't make it before Kate was born because we didn't know that she would be a she (and in all honesty- had I made it while I was pregnant I would have made "Alec". Yup we thought she was a boy.)
So after seeing something pretty simple on pinterest, I painted 4 canvases in yellow and green stripes. It would serve as the backdrop for either Alec or Kate. They turned out pretty well too; I was very happy with them.

Then Kate was born and I finally added her name to the canvases. The letters were white and didn't stand out that much, so I went for a deep pink/red. Kate loves the high contrast and will stare at the letters, but I wasn't happy. They didn't look like I wanted. I am a perfectionist in a lot of ways, and her name just looked sloppy.

So the weekend she was turning 3 months I finally figured out how I was going to fix it. I was reading her the book "Eric Carle's ABC" and thought how cute it would be to have the letters and picture of the animal to spell out Kate's name. So I scanned the pages (if I had another copy I would just cut the letters out of the book) and Adam cropped them and printed them on cardstock.

But when I started to mod podge the letter to the canvas board the ink started to smear.

I also realized the white background on the white canvas wasn't doing it for me. So I sprayed the letters with a clear coat sealer, and painted the canvas boards in the colors of the letters- Eric Carle style.

 So after Finally finishing this should-have-been-quick project Kate has a cute and animal/artsy name piece.

 I hope she likes looking at these letters and animals as much as she liked the high contrast pink on yellow.

Nursery Decorations

I love decorating for babies, especially decorating letters for their names. Unfortunately, since we don;t know what baby stybs is, I couldn't buy the letters and get them ready before baby is born. I don't think I would have the time after baby is born either.

So I painted some Canvases and hung them on the wall. All I will need to do after baby is born is add white letters on the canvases. It helps that we chose a boy's name and a girl's name that are both 4 letters long.

Oh, and I also hung the mobile over where the crib will be (it had been in the window).

sorry about the light, it was a very sunny day

So, since I'm full term tomorrow (how did that happen?!) and baby could come at any point (though  I hope it chooses to stay in for the last 3 weeks) I thought it would be fun to see what you think.

Will we be meeting

 or

?

Is baby Stybs a boy or a girl?
	Boy
	Girl
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Snarky Snark

Don't you just love people who are abrasive, combative, and argumentative accusatory (is that a better word?), even though they don't have all the facts? Yeah.... I looooooooove it....

I got a comment today on the nursery name wall hanging that I painted for a coworker. Said commenter decided to tell me it was not my work and I need to remove it. Um, hello?! I painted the darn thing, I should know if it was my work. No, the example my coworker gave me was not my creation, but that was clearly stated in the post (which the commenter must not have read before commenting).

So, while the inspiration for my work was not my own, the inspiration for the inspiration was a licensed/ manufactured bedding set. So should that person also stop making her nursery names?

Original Inspiration

Lambs and Ivy Baby Cocoa Bedding

Painting inspiration

Funky Letter Boutique

My original work

As seen here

And again I say, if you have any painting you would like done, nursery related or otherwise, let me know.

I'm  kind of upset that my first 'real' blog post in a long time has to do with defending my work, but that comment just fired me up I guess.

Pin-Spiration Fail

I think I probably spend way to much time on Pinterest. It is giving me lots of ideas, but the one that has stuck with me is this artwork:

I thought "I can do that". So I spent time trying to find the right graphic to use. Pinterest led me to this beautiful selection of fabric.

I spent some time fiddling with MS Paint (I don;t have photoshop or anything special like that) and made this print

And, after finding Adam's Exacto knife, everything was working smoothly. I liked the cut out effect, but questioned whether I could actually cut through the canvas.

The first cut was like buttah, and then the project took a nasty turn.

The canvas was too thin to support the thin lines of the pattern. It looked sloppy. And, even though the placement looked right from the back, once cut out, you could see the frame.

It looked nothing like the Pin-spiration..

I still like the pattern, but I will probably use it as a stencil instead. Have you tried/made/bought/DIY-ed anything you found on Pinterest?

Office Paintings

After completing the gallery wall in my office, I needed to turn my attention to the two canvases above the love seat. The have been hanging half- completed for months.

I hung them way back in December

the preliminary ideas

Well I finally finished them. Though I don't know if I will ever think of them as completely finished- I guess it is an artistic thing, always finding something wrong with it, thinking of ways to add to it or change it. But for now they are done.

The general pattern came from one of the pillows that I had, and I even used the wall paint as a little detail. I think they go well in my office and, for now, I am happy with them.

I really like painting and can sit for hours on one piece. I just need more inspiration... got any?

Baby Names

I finally got up to Laura's place this weekend and got a picture of K and JJ's names hanging on the wall.

(please excuse the wonky J)

I would love to be able to make these for more people and make a little money on them, but I only know a few pregnant people. If you know someone, send them my way ;)

Baby name preview

I have been working this week on getting the letters for JJ (James Jr.) painted. I did these for Kaelyn and Laura asked me to do them again for JJ. Since they will be sharing a room, Laura wanted coordinating colors. The room is yellow, Kaelyn's letters are green with pink details, and I suggested blue and green for JJ.

I think they turned out pretty cute. I'll have to get a picture of them (and K's letters) when they are hung on the wall.