Scene's from an Italian restaurant

Hi everyone!  It's been a few days since my last post...  Sadly my "old man" computer finally died.  "He" was over 10 years old so that's a long life for a laptop...but I was still sad.  Luckily my husband is the best guy on the planet and took money out of his savings to buy me a new one because he wanted me to keep going with my art.  He's the most amazing man alive.  I hit the husband lottery with him.

 

Anyway, enough with the mushy gooshy stuff! LOL!  Sort of...

 

My friend asked me to do a painting for her so she can give it to her husband as a gift on Valentine's Day.  She asked me to come up with a painting inspired by the lyrics to "Scenes from an Italian Restaurant" by Billy Joel.  It's their song.  In the song it mentions a bottle of red and white wine on a table...and she said it would be really neat if I could incorporate a sunset in the background, and also put the date they started dating on one label and the day they were married on the other. Soooo this is what I came up with!

 

Sorry for the poor cell phone pictures

 



 Here are a few progress pictures along the way..

I haven't painting still life in YEARS, so this was a little bit of a challenge for me.  I so used to doing portraits and painting in a different style that this was difficult for me.

New listings on my Etsy page!

I just listed 3 new paintings and lowered the prices a little on a few of the ones that were already there.  Check them out when you get a chance!

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For a direct link straight to my Etsy page click here

(Not so) Wordless Wednesday- Missing Summer

I have always been a big fan of warm weather and sunshine, so every year around this time of I start really missing flowers, and grass, and leaves... so I thought I would share this with you just in case you felt the same way.

photo taken by me from Phipps Conservatory in Pittsburgh

Pet Portraits- Ozzy

I somewhat recently started  pet portraits for friends who either lost their fur babies or just REALLY wanted portraits done.  

My friend had a kitty that had a lot of health problems his whole life but she gave him the best life imaginable.  He was a lucky guy!  Unfortunately he ended up losing his fight with cancer and she was/is devastated. She kept asking how she was going to get through the day without being able to look into his eyes and talk to him.  I decided I wanted to do something nice and give a little piece of him back to her and draw a portrait for her, so she can still look into those beautiful eyes and talk to him whenever she wants.  

Here is the photo and the drawing I did using colored pencils:

sorry for the terrible cell phone pic!

I created the look of a painting by pressing REALLY hard and blending over top.

The best part....She LOVES it!  <3

Sledding for the 1st time

I admit it. I am a HUGE grump when it comes to winter and the snow!  I'm a summer and hot beach kind of girl.  BUT, seeing my little girl's face light up when her dad took her out on the sled for the first time... best winter ever!  

I didn't even know they made infant/toddler sleds! My father in law found it for us. I'm so glad because she LOVES it!

 This was her, I'm not so sure about this face!^ hahaha

 Laughing and smiling!!!  And then we all went inside and snuggled under the blankets to warm up. 

I can't wait until next year when we can build snowmen and drink hot cocoa together <3

Marilyn Monroe painting

My younger sister is really obsessed with Marilyn Monroe so when she told me she was getting her own place I decided to make her an "apartment warming" gift. lol!  I made this for her about 2 years ago and she absolutely LOVED it.

Here are a couple progress pictures:

linked up at: Sunday Sketches

I GOT THE JOB!!!!

Hi everyone!  Sorry for the crazy caps lock "scream" in the title, but I am really excited! 

 I just got the call that I am officially hired at the hospital that I've been trying to get into for the past 2 or 3 years!!  I have been a stay at home mom for almost a year so it's going to be an interesting transition but it's only part time so hopefully it won't be too rough.

I am glad that I decided to take time off from working for Paige's first year, but in that first year I learned that I am the type of person that isn't so good at staring at the same four walls every day and I actually genuinely LIKE to work.  Crazy, huh?! haha!  I got to see a lot of her "firsts"....first time she crawled, first step, first word, etc.   So it's definitely time for me to get back out there now.

I do not promise that I won't cry the first time that I drop Paige off at daycare/baby watcher's house tho...

The Notebook - my painting

I've never been much of a girly girl but I  do like an occasional chick flick from time to time, and I have to say that this is one of my favorite movies; The Notebook.  It's such a great love story.

I really wanted to paint my favorite scene in the whole movie so here it is....the kiss in the rain scene <3

I have prints available in my Etsy shop but the original has already been sold.

What's your favorite love story/movie?

linked up with: Paint Party Friday  Creativity Unleashed  Follow Who?

Sin City - Jessica Alba

How many of you have seen the movie Sin City or read the comics??  If you have then you have heard of little Nancy Callahan.  Jessica Alba plays her in the movie.  

It's a really gritty type of movie that is not for everyone but I'm a comic book nerd so I loved it.  I loved that they kept the whole theme and look of the movie as if it came out of a comic.  

Anyway,  I decided to paint one of the scenes from the movie...  

for sale on my Etsy page

What do you think??

30 Before 35

I have seen a lot of bloggers doing these 30 things to do before you turn 30 lists and I figured I would give it a try....but I had to tweak it a little bit because I will be 30 in October (EEEK!!).  I figured I would give myself a little more time, so we are going to say 30 by 35.  Each time I complete one I will put a checkmark next to it.  So, here we go...

1. Get my driver's license.  (I have a HUGE driving phobia)
2. Get a career
3. Take a real vacation with just me and my hubby
4. Take Paige to Disney (She's only 11months old so we have time)
5. Sell my art online
6. Attend a craft/art show
7. Go white water rafting
8. Go skydiving
9. Plant and take care of some beautiful flowers
10. Start an exercise routine and stick to it
11. Create at least 2 pieces of art a month
12. Catch up on my scrapbook
13. Start a daily cleaning routine and stick to it
14. Force myself to change out of my pajamas every day
15. Cook my husband an entire meal from scratch just because
16. Read a new book every month
17. Go to a wine tasting
18. Re-read the Lord of the Rings series
19. Learn to ice skate
20. Go paragliding
21. Cook my own Thanksgiving/Christmas dinner
22. Learn how to use my camera
23. Learn to sew or crochet
24. Start new family traditions
25. Learn to play guitar
26. Visit the west coast
27. Go canoeing/kayaking
28. Get organized around the house
29. Set up a girl's night once a month.
30.Tell my husband and daughter that i love them every single day (I do this anyway but...ya know)

The Golden Globes - 2014

Did any of you watch the Golden Globes this past Sunday??  I didn't get to watch it but I read about it the next morning. LOL! I thought I would share my thoughts on the night..

HIGHS:
1. Amy Adams won Best Actress in a Motion Picture for "American Hustle".  I haven't seen the movie yet but I absolutely LOVE her!
2. Frozen won Best Animated Feature!  I'm a huge fan of Idina Menzel so, yayyyy!!
3. Breaking Bad won
4. Amy Poehler and Tina Fey are HILARIOUS!

BEST DRESSED:    My Favs

 top row, left to right: Kate Beckinsale, Kaley Cuoco, Leslie Mann

bottom row, left to right: Sosie Bacon, Jenna Dewan-Tatum, Mila Kunis

LOWS:
1. Zooey Deschanel didn't win best actress in a TV series.  Come on!!  She's awesome!! She cracks me up!
2. Jim Parsons lost to Andy Snadberg....really??? no....just no.
3. James Spader didn't win for The Blacklist...boooo!!!
4. Big Band Theory lost? what??  Blew my mind!

WORST DRESSED:

from left to right: Paula Patton, Caitlin Fitzgerald, and Drew Berrymore

What were your thoughts???

Another painting and a few Monday link ups!!

Happy Monday!!  I hope the start of you week is going a little bit better than mine...  I woke up with a migraine and a screaming, teething 11 month old.  Uggghhh!!

Anyway,  I thought I would share the progress of another one of my paintings with you...

Just starting out...

 Starting to add the little "fluffies" on the end of the dandelion seeds

 Done!!!

Blog hops of link up parties are a great way to meet people, so I thought I would join a couple.  Here they are if you would like to hop along with me!!

<a href="http://diyhshp.blogspot.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://i850.photobucket.com/albums/ab68/The_Hammonds/Jamies%20blog/Buttons/MMMbutton300.jpg" alt="More the Merrier Monday" border="0"/></a>




And also the Monday Funday Link-up!

<center><a href="http://www.linesacross.com/" title="Monday Funday Feature" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1140.photobucket.com/albums/n575/beuncommon/MondayFundayFeature150_zpscd6cc8a3.png" alt="craft blog" style="border:none;" /></a><center>




A little bit about myself...

 I just realized that I started this blog without really introducing myself...  Soooo here we go..

My name is Julie.  I have an absolutely amazing husband (Chris) and an almost one year old little girl named Paige.  They are what makes my whole world go round.

I have always wanted to be brave enough to start a webpage and try to sell my art but I never could get up the courage to try to sell it.  After I had Paige I was looking into her little eyes thinking, "how can I tell her to always chase her dreams when I haven't tried myself".  So here I am.  It may lead me no where but at least I know I tried and that I won't have all of those what ifs bouncing around in my head.... and I'm hoping to have a lot of fun trying in the process.

I also love anything crafty and am obsessed with clothes and fashion, so you may be seeing some of that here as well.

What next???

I am having a hard time deciding what to paint next...  

I have a few ideas but I was hoping you all could help me pick!

Here are my ideas: (from left to right)

 Daryl from The Walking Dead, The Notebook

Spiderman, Ironman

Khaleesi and Khal Drogo from Game of Thrones, Pride and Prejudice

So, what do you think??

Progress

Hello again everyone!!

I've been working hard to get my site up and running.  I've added a few tabs at the top to help people follow me easier.  I'm still working on getting the photos/scans that I need to use for Etsy.

I thought I would show you a few progression shots of my paintings, so you would be able to see the artwork slowly come to life.  If I would have thought ahead I would have taken more!

 Step one: I always do faces first....I'm not sure why.  And then the black..

Step two: I started working on adding some color for her hair

FINISHED!!!

I finally did it!!

For the past couple years I have had people telling me that I should start a website to try to sell my art.  I've made every excuse in the world not to try; no one has money for art, my stuff isn't good enough, i don't have time, etc.  Well,  I am FINALLY giving it a shot!

I am going to be using this site to update everyone on what I am working on.  I will also be posting progress pictures so you can see the paintings come to life step by step.  

There is also a link on the top bar that will take you straight to my Etsy page where I am selling my art.  I don't have too much up right now but I am in the process of taking good photos/scans of my work to share with everyone.  I will keep you posted as to when I will have more up.  For now it's a work in progress.

Here is a little teaser of some of the art I will have for sale in my shop....

Thank you to everyone for your support!  It means the world to me <3