Fall decor

I have been hand picking and cleaning and painting .... Pine Cones.

They are such a staple to fall and winter decor. And of course, I just had to add a little spunk to them. :)

For my main color palette, I chose candy corn yellow and orange, red, white, and aqua.  I think the red, white and aqua will be perfect for the winter holidays.

I have also painted 1 set in more subtle yellows, oranges, and browns.

This set is available in the shop.

New Painting - What should I call it?

 
I'm so excited about this one! Would look great in a modern/retro home, cafe, office, or retail space.

 

I plan to make a few more in this style so I'm trying to keep that in mind when picking the name, but I'm having trouble coming up with one. What would you call it?

new painting: Thinking About Babies

I started this painting quite awhile ago, but just finished it this week.

It's called "Thinking About Babies". A subject that seems to spend more and more time occupying my thoughts these days... as I'm sure it does a lot of women.

Pretty sure I'm going to add it to the shop. Plus I finished another painting yesterday that I think is super cool. I'll be sharing it soon.

*update* I did end up adding this painting to the shop. Find it here.

Hungry Mother

Today, I volunteered at Hungry Mother, an organic nursery. They have a program where you can work a few hours a week in exchange for fresh organic produce. I've been wanting to learn to garden and thought it would be a good idea to get some hands on experience before starting my own...and, of course, score some yummy produce!!

Today was my first time at the nursery, but we got straight to work harvesting the tomato plants and then composting the plants and soil. I worked with 2 other girls doing this, one works there full time and the other has been volunteering for quite awhile it seemed. It was pretty easy to catch on. I definitely got the sampling part down. haha We worked for a little over 3 hours. And then we were shown what we were allowed to take home. Some of it was in a cooler and the rest we just went and picked ourselves.

Here's my loot. All of this is grown at the nursery.

Squash, tomatoes, edible flowers, strawberries, and even eggs!

I figured the flowers would quickly wilt so I had them for lunch. It reminded me of last summer when I ate my first edible flower at summer camp.

Life is beautiful.

another year older

Yesterday was my birthday, but I mostly celebrated on Saturday. I woke up early to make it to a store-wide 1/2 off sale at a local thrift store. As planned, I arrived at 8:59am (opened at 9) and although I was the 5th or so car there waiting, I was the first one in the door. haha. Unfortunately, they had already sold the yellow striped swivel chair and cute picnic basket I was wanting to get (from this outing). I did however have a nice stack of things that I took home.

 After that, I went to an outdoor flea market and picked up this somewhat  psychedelic sheet. Wouldn't it make a cute maxi dress?

I was on my way home when I saw a Green Living Festival so I stopped to check it out.

I met some interesting people. Taste tested a dozen different tomatoes (so so yummy. favorite one was called Yellow Pleated Hillbilly). Got an Arnold Palmer (tea and lemonade mix) and headed home.

Well, I have been wanting to stop and take pictures at a bunch of different spots along the road between the house and town. I was alone so I figured this was as good a time as any. However, it was around noon and very sunny out so not the best lighting conditions. I'll have to try it again sometime.

It was time to get home and get cute. I even painted my toes my favorite color for 'late summer, already have a nice tan' .... tangerine.

Then off to the train depot for Toast to the Canyon! It's a steam train ride to the canyon and back, including wine and appetizers on board.

The seat benches and old luggage made the interior very quaint. Even the tickets, were well designed. The staff was fun and encouraged us to climb up into the engine. I even pulled the very very loud whistle.

And on the ride back to the depot, they let us stand outside and feel the droplets from the steam engine. I highly recommend checking this out next summer (as this was the last one for this year).

I was then on the look out for chocolate cake and ice cream. Not as easy as it might sound, but I did finally find some at a little dive diner.

All and all, a pretty darn good day.

Thanks to everyone for the birthday wishes!!