Fuzzy But Cute

Disregard the fuzziness. Darn Camera... ahem.. could have been the operator (me).. but, ah well.. moving on..

We got Emily a guitar for her birthday! Allison and Emily love to watch Daddy play his, and Emily has long since expressed that she wants one too, in purple. Her wish came true. Doesn't she even hold it well? She will be 4 on Wednesday. 4. 4. Wow. Seriously, the older you get, the faster time flies. I can remember when I was a kid, time seemed to move sooo slowly.. but now, literally, blink and you will miss it. I don't know about you. But I don't ever want to blink again.

Facebook!!

Kristin (me) went ahead and did something CRAZY! I created a Facebook page for ArtByKristin!

I also put a link to it in my sidebar to the right. It is telling me that I need 25 people to like it before I can change my username? I am not really sure what that is all about...I mean, isn't my username my username?

Please like me, and if by some chance, I have not "liked" you on Facebook, please leave your link and I will. Thank you.. and Happy, Happy Friday!!

Tinkerbell Pinata

It's Emily's 4th birthday next week! She requested Mommy to make a Tinkerbell Pinata. So, I searched the web for something I could re-create.

Pinatas can be really pricey, but if you can make your own, then they can be really cheap. The total cost for this one was 2 dollars. A dollar for tissue paper and a dollar for the streamers. I already had party hats (used to make the cones) and I already had balloons.

The fun we had making it was priceless. The girls got a kick out of tearing up the newspaper and dipping it into the flour and water mixture - and I took it from there!

I will post better pictures on the day it gets destroyed!

:)

Question: Where does a 60 pound dog sleep?

Answer: Anywhere he wants to.

Oh, Jacky-boy (his nickname), you crack us up!

A New Listing and Tinkerbell.

My newest listing. I am trying to paint one new vase a day, sometimes that goal is even a stretch, depending on what is going on at the house, what activities we have on our agenda, etc. My goal is to reach 100 items in my shop. I would then like to create a pamphlet to which I could bring to local flower shops and see if anyone would like to carry my vases. It is a goal, maybe one day!

Emily is turning 4 next week, and she wants a Tinkerbell pinata. You might remember I made Allison a big flower pinata HERE, and now it is time for me to make Emily's. A Tinkerbell pinata! Can it get any harder? At first, I thought it would be easy. I can make a big round pinata, print out a picture of Tinkerbell, add a little bit of paint and boom, done. BUT, no. Emily wants a Tinkerbell with legs, arms, wings.. the whole body. I must tell you, it looks pretty awful right now. It might turn out to be something that kids might not mind putting out of its misery, ha ha!

Have a Great Day!

Creepy Crawlie

Tarantula

THIS is what my husband found outside near our patio in the backyard. He so graciously called to show me this, shortly before I went to bed. Which made for some terrific dreams that night. Not.

My Little Graduate

My little Allison, a Pre-K graduate!

Kindergarten, here we come!

Happy Birthday.

To Me. Tomorrow, May 18th.

And I am putting up yet another picture from the beach.
This is me sans make-up, first thing in the morning, waking up to the waves.

I am brave to put this picture up. But this is me. As I grow older, I am working on fully accepting me for what I am. I want to age gracefully. I don't want to put myself down for a wrinkle here, or a pudgy thigh there. Or the fact that I will only grow shorter over time, when I am already a shorty standing 5'1".
I just want to live a life where I love me. I think we all get down on ourselves. And when I have those days, I want to be able to lift myself up.
.... steps of the soap box....

Anyway, Emily is in my arms in this picture. She still clings to me, at times, like her life depends on it. And this picture captures one of those moments. I cherish them because all too soon, these times will be just a memory.

Tonight we go see Allison graduate from pre-k. She will be wearing a yellow cap and gown. And I will be in the front row with a camera, video camera, and tissue. Because I will be balling.

My 3 Kids

I never did talk about how much fun Jack had camping at the beach now, did I?

Let me tell you. SO MUCH FUN!

This was the first time Jack ever played at the ocean. They have a leash law at the beach, but we knew we wanted to let Jack fetch in the water, and we didn't want his heavy leash weighing him down, or worse yet - getting snagged on something. So, Bobby put a lightweight rope on him. and it was long, long, probably a good 20 feet of this rope.

Jack LOVED the water. He would walk straight out until he couldn't touch the bottom anymore, then he would swim a few more feet, turn around, and ride the waves in. It was so so very fun to watch. Me and the girls were cheering for him - rooting him on. I could tell that Jack felt like a Rockstar. He is my third baby.

We are so lucky to have him. Sandy mess and all.

Go Promos!

I sure do love promotional pens! I have talked previously about how some of my favorite pens are promotional. Some are from the hospital where my Mom works, or my husband's company. My husband has yet to get any from his new job, but I am ready for them!

I don't know, maybe I need to get me some customized mugs, now that my Etsy shop is officially registered as a business. Yup! You read that right! Even though I have been registered with Texas to collect Sales Tax since 2009, I haven't officially registered my name as a business until now. That was finally made official last week! Yay! Maybe I need to order some mugs, with my face plastered across it. oooh, what a lovely way to drink your coffee!

After the Artfest....

...Ghost Story telling in the backyard.....

What a perfect shot. I could not have timed it better.. (ok, well, it was more an accidental shot, but it really captured the moment!)

My Mom stayed with the girls while my husband and I were at the Artfest. It was a great day. I met some really nice people, of whom I will tell you about in the near future. I received a lot of positive feedback on my work and even a few sales towards the end of the day!

Anyway, I have a LOT of blog visiting to do, so let me get to it!

Happy Monday.. and Tuesday.. and Wed... and the rest of your week!

blogging from the art show!

I hope this works! I have never ever tried to blog from my phone, but here is my set up! How does it look?

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.6

Camping at the Beach

We did bring a tent, but that was more to hold our stuff. I just knew that the girls and me would feel a bit better laying in the bed of the SUV, seats down, foam mattress pads and comforters kept it nice and soft. The wind is soo strong at the beach too, so, being shielded from the wind in the car, instead of listening to the flip flap of the tent all night, proved a much nicer sleep. In fact, we all slept so good, all through the night, until 7am!

Then, we played some more and left after lunch. There is really nothing like waking up at the beach. I felt really lucky, but I also felt really sandy and gross. But, the lucky feeling outweighed all of that. And I am telling you, it doesn't get much cheaper. A State Park pass and some food. And we were set. Ready to start planning the next trip!

In other news... My Art show is tomorrow! I am all ready, minus a few last minute preps, and I can't wait to tell you all about it! Wish me luck!!

: )

Etsy Finds!

We went to the Beach this weekend, where we spent one night camping. More about that later!

Seeing as how we were in the middle of nowhere, my phone remained off, and my access to the internet was nonexistent. So, imagine my surprise when I check my Etsy Stats last night and I find a bunch of new hearts and my views skyrocketed!

I was featured in Etsy Finds! My twitter buddy who has THIS SHOP on Etsy did some digging and found this out for me. I never would have known otherwise.

This feature has not amounted to a sale, obviously that would be wonderful. But, the fact that people like me even a little to go through the trouble of making me a favorite, is actually enough for me. It really makes me a happy little camper. (Get it? We just came back from camping!)

I will post again on Friday with pictures of our beach experience! We are leaving this afternoon to go stay at our house (that is not selling), so the girls can go to preschool! We will be sort of camping there too.. sleeping on an air mattress. Fun fun!

Got My License.

I was so relieved when we moved to Austin, that all I needed to do to get a new Drivers License was to submit a change of address and pay a small fee. I did that all online and I did not even need to take a DMV test. Something about the DMV test makes you question all that you know about the rules of the road. You are sure you are a good driver, but will the folks at the DMV deem you so?

There are practice exams available to those that think they need a little extra help. I would think that taking these tests would also be a confidence booster, so you can walk into the DMV and know that you know you stuff, instead of just think you do.