With A Tear In My Eye....

This week I'm sure things will be moving at a rapid pace as we prepare to get ready for our daughter, Amber's, wedding. I should have shared this on Father's Day, but thought it would be more fitting for this week. Amber alway makes the greatest gifts; gifts that touch the heart and bring a tear to the eye. She is talented in so many ways. Here is what she made her Daddy:

Click on the images for a closer view.

I will share some of their engagement photos soon.

You'll always be our baby girl!

Aunti Mae's Tea Shop Painting

Recently someone commented on my blog asking me if I had any Tea Shop prints. I got busy this week and finished this little 8" x 10" painting. Please let me know if you have any requests or ideas of what you'd like for me to paint. That is how the previous painting came about too. They all eventually become prints. I listed this on eBay this evening:

"Auntie Mae's Tea Shop"

The aroma of fresh brewed tea and cakes guides customers through the door at Auntie Mae's Tea Shop which has been in business for over 30 years. Mae rises at 5am every morning to start baking her delicious cakes, cupcakes, and desserts to serve along with her lunch and dinner menu. Desserts are displayed on the counter before the first customer steps through the door and the bell jingles. Her niece Lydia works with her serving customers and cooking along side her auntie. Their customers often comment they come not only for the wonderful food and tea, but because they love these two sweet hard working women!

A Weekend of Baby And Wedding Showers

A dear friend of mine recently gave me a large black notebook full of old pattern packets that I designed over several years. She thought that I might like to sell them so I am listing them over the next few days on eBay. You can check them out here.

Friday evening my daughter, Amber, was given a wedding shower by a dear friend. This is what I made for their home. I learned to mosaic by purchasing directions from Penny's blog, Lavender Hill Studio. Her directions are very easy to follow. You can click on the photo for a closer view.

My daughter and her sweet fiance, Scott, will be getting married on July 11th in Eureka Spring, Arkansas. We are looking forward to this event and I will share some photos of the newly weds soon!

I also attended a baby shower for my niece. She and her hubby adopted this sweet little guy, Carter Ashton, and we are so excited to have another sweet angel in our family! Here he is pictured with my daughter. Don't you think she would make a great mother! Hint, hint!


Below is a photo of the lovely toes of my niece, Gabby. I asked her who did her nails and she said, "I went to the Toe Place." Kids are so cute!

The above toes belong to this little cutie pie.




My niece Amy opening one of her many cute baby gifts.

Congratulations on the new little one Amy and Ryan!

Harmony Cottage Folk Art Painting and Daylilies

Here is what's blooming in my garden this week. I transplanted these Stella de Oro Daylilies last year and this year they are amazing. It's been so hot lately (90-100) that I can't bring myself to go outside and deadhead them.

Click on the photo for a closer view.

I forgot to share this photo of the giant cinnamon roll that a friend of ours brought back from a trip. It was big enough for three people! Notice that it's bigger around than my teapot.
I was so inspired by my daylilies that I did this little painting of
"Harmony Cottage" and listed it on eBay last night.

The welcome mat is always out at Harmony Cottage for family and friends who stop by for coffee shared in the garden. Patsy and Lonnie bought their cozy little home two years after they were married. With a lot of hard work and sweat, their little cottage became a home. They learned gardening together by trial and error and now share cuttings and starts from their plants with other young couples just getting started.

Happy Father's Day!

The man of my dreams and the father of my children. Life couldn't get any better than that!

Happy Father's Day honey!

Mint Chocolate Chip Cupcake Painting

I'm experiencing a brain fog and the only thing I'm capable of painting this week have been cupcakes. Houses take a little more brain power which I hope to retrieve next week. I'll do my best to get a little house or village scene painted next. Here's my newest eBay auction:

"Mint Chocolate Chip Cupcake"

A rich dark chocolate cupcake is slathered with mint flavored butter cream frosting and sprinkled with semi-sweet chocolate chips. The cupcake is surrounded by a blue and white striped border and a tiny blue and whited checked bow is glued at the top.

It's a good thing I don't have any of these sitting around the kitchen or they'd all be gone!

Snickerdoodle Cupcake Painting

I would like to thank all of you for your sweet comments and prayers for my father in law who was in a motorcycle accident. He was able to get up and walk a little for the first time in almost two weeks. He is still in the hospital, but we are hoping that will change soon. Once again, your prayers are very much appreciated and I thank you for your concern.

I listed another new cupcake painting on eBay this evening:

"Snickerdoole Cupcake"

This Snickerdoodle flavored cupcake is topped with fluffy butter cream frosting sprinkled with cinnamon. It is displayed on a decorative white cake plate and covered with a glass cloche. A tiny blue and whited checked bow is glued below the knob on the cloche. The banner at the top announces the flavor of this delightful dessert and is accented with green ivy.

Chocolate Cherry Chip Cupcake

I just listed this little 4" x 4" painting on eBay.

"Chocolate Cherry Chip Cupcake"

The secret to this delicious chocolate cupcake are the sweet cherry chips that give this cake a candy bar flavor of days gone by. It is topped with chocolate frosting, whipped cream, and a bright red cherry.

I need a chocolate fix now!

My Flower Garden and Another House Portrait

I truly wish I had more time to spend in my garden. It's one of my favorite pastimes, whether I'm working or just relaxing among all the wonderful fragrances. This is the first year for my thornless climbing rose bush. Also pictured are my pink knockout roses and my pink peonies. Do you think I like pink?

Click on any photo for a closer view.

I also love the tiny pink blooms on this perennial geranium.

Pink dianthus line the sidewalk and take over at times.




White campanula and purple columbine. I can't believe they aren't pink!

Another view through the campanula looking towards my weeping cherry tree. It bloomed so early this year that I didn't get photos of it. I had to keep covering it to keep the frost from killing it.

....and in the front we have red knockout roses surrounding a weeping mulberry tree.

I will share more of my garden as it progresses through summer.



Below is a house portrait I did for a family in Willington, CT. Check out their website for the family business "Millix Family Farm". They are such a lovely young family and you can order Tricia's award winning apple pie from their website.

Tyler and Tricia met in high school and became best friends. They eventually married and moved into the home where Tyler was raised. With a beautiful family of five children, three girls and two boys, the Millix family started their family business. Their small farm includes 45 laying hens, 6 Fancy Bantam chickens and the family dog Ruby. Millix Family Farm and Bakery sells the best fresh eggs, baked goods and their specialty award winning apple pie.

Click on the photos for a closer view.

House Portrait

This past Saturday we got a call that my father in law was in a motorcycle accident. Needless to say, we have been gone all week and just returned home last night. The poor man broke all his ribs on the right side and his right collar bone. One of his ribs also punctured his lung. He was in ICU until Wednesday and is now starting to show improvement. Just wanted to ask for your prayers and to let you know the reason why I may not be posting very often for a while.

I received the photo below from Devon who requested a "house portrait" as a present for her parents. Here they are standing in front of the house and holding their portrait in front of them. Aren't they cute!! It was a pleasure to do this painting of their lovely home.

John and Vicki Bushnell live in this cozy home surrounded by beautiful flowers and tall evergreens. They are a hardworking couple, but in his spare time John is a woodworker and dabbles in photography. Vicki loves to decorate cakes and their home always has the sweet scent of frosting. When she isn't busy in the kitchen, Vicki is creating something at her sewing machine. They've always worked well together as a couple doing various remodeling projects on their beautiful home.

Toffee Cake Cupcake Painting

In between gardening I did this little painting for eBay.

"Toffee Cake"

A toffee chip cupcake is decorated with fluffy butter cream frosting and sprinkled with more toffee chips. This yummy concoction sits on a black cake stand and is covered with a glass cloche. A turquoise banner at the top of the painting reveals the flavor of the cupcake. Woven through tiny slits in the canvas, a narrow black and white checked ribbon is tied in a bow on the edge of the cake plate. Black and white checked ribbon is also wrapped around the edges of the canvas.

I will share some photos of my garden with you soon. Right now part of our yard is dug up so that we can bury a line to run electricity to the shed we built. I love gardening about as much as I love painting. I just wish there were more hours in the day to accomplish a little of both.

Black Forest Pink Frosting Cupcake Painting

Just a quick reminder to let you know that I do still paint and below is a new cupcake painting to prove it. I've listed this one on eBay and it ends next week. You can check out my listing here.

"Black Forest Cupcake"

A delicious "Black Forest" cupcake with fluffy pink frosting is topped with white confetti sprinkles. A banner at the top reveals the flavor of the cupcake and branches of green foliage accents the background. A pink and brown grosgrain ribbon wraps around the edges of the canvas and is tied in a bow at the top.

I would like to thank all the people who have served in our military in the past and present. Thank you for your service to our country. We also want to remember and give gratitude to those who gave their lives for our freedom. I keep you in my prayers daily.

My Daughter's Mother's Day Gift

In the last post I mentioned that my lovely daughter, Amber, had embroidered a Mother's Day gift for me. I hung it in the dining room and here it is. Isn't it darling!

You can click on the photo for a closer view.
These little violas just seem to pop up everywhere and Annie loves to sniff them.

I received this sweet award from Kathie at My Net Finds. Check out her blog daily for fabulous internet deals. I'm passing this award on to all my devoted blog readers. Thanks Kathie!

I got an anonymous comment on my last post asking me if I'd taught my son to cook. Honestly, if I had cooked anything like that when he was young he wouldn't have touched it with a 10 foot pole! He was a very picky eater. When he went off to college and started traveling to Russia, Egypt, Germany.....etc. he had to learn to eat different types of food. He now searches the internet for recipes and has taught himself to cook. As a child he would make strange sandwiches like grilled cheese with pepperoni and I was impressed by that!

I just want to let everyone know that I haven't stopped painting. I've been very busy with commissioned pieces and will get back to doing some paintings for ebay soon.

I had a recent comment from Janine who lives in Germany and is also a folk artist. You can check out her blog and her artwork here. She is going to be having surgery on her foot soon and she ordered my book "Charming Village Scenes You Can Paint" so she could have something to read while she's laid up. Stop by and give her some encouragement. I never think to mention that this book is still available from Amazon.

Instead of sharing a painting, here is a new print that I listed on Etsy and Ebay today: "Cat Nap"

Miss Betty's cats lazily nap around her old farm house. Oreo naps on top of the clothes line pole where laundry flaps in the gentle breeze and Peppermint sleeps in the laundry basket. Sybil rests precariously on the upper balcony railing. The birds are a lot smarter than what Licorice gives them credit for. What a lively bunch of felines!

Sauteed Chicken with Olives, Capers and Roated Lemons Recipe

Eric was slaving away in the kitchen on Mother's Day making dinner for me. Rick (handsome hubby), Eric, and I loved it. I would definitely recommend this dish and have added it to my "internet" cookbook.You can find this recipe for Sauteed Chicken with Olives, Capers and Roasted Lemons here.

Eric even cleaned up the kitchen. I could get used to this!

My daughter Amber made me the cutest embroidered picture for Mother's Day which I will share as soon as I decide where I'm hanging it. I can't decide on the dining room or the bedroom.

Happy Mother's Day

My greatest accomplishment in life is being a mother. I've always wanted to be a stay at home mom. I tried working for about a week when Amber was young and just couldn't stand the thought of leaving her each day. Over the years I began giving art lessons in our home and the kids were my helpers. We would travel to decorative painting conventions throughout the US and they would help me set up my booth displays. They loved working for mom!

My kids always loved a bed time story and then would say their prayers before going to sleep. We read the "Little House on the Prairie" series through twice before passing them on to Grandma Chickie to enjoy.
When my sweet girl graduated from college, my sister and I took her to Hawaii. This was taken on the balcony of our hotel room.


Then, 7 years later this little one entered our lives. I never thought I could share this much love with another child. Now my heart is overflowing. There is nothing better then squeezing a sweet smelling clean toddler. Eric had those cute little curls even then. Instead of reading "Little House" books he had me reading him encyclopedias as bedtime stories.

I loved dancing with my little guy.




We were almost the same height when he got into middle school, then he passed me up pretty quickly.
Eric is making a special supper for us tonight. I can hear him cooking away as I type. I will share this with you later.

These two have blessed my life and still make my heart ache with joy!

Since they were 7 years apart, they always got along and never fought. Amber was like a little mommy to Eric.
Uhhh, I think someone has out grown their big sister by a mile!

You two have blessed and continue to bless my life in ways you'll never know, until of course you become parents and make your dad and I grandparents!

"Happy Mother's Day!"

He Graduated!!

Eric graduated with his Master's Degree this past Saturday, May 2nd. It was a beautiful spring day and a beautiful ceremony as well. His sister, Amber, is quite proud of him too and loved returning to the campus where she graduated from. We are so proud of both of them and know the Lord blessed us the day these two entered our lives and formed a family.