Laura Gunn Studio

2008-08-07T14:48:00.000-07:00

You have found my old blog. Visit my new blog at www.paintinmyhair.com

Still Around

2007-07-19T10:40:00.000-07:00

Hey bloggers. I am still alive. Check out my new blog. Also, check out Apartment Therapy, this afternoon for my "nursery tour."

Come Over For a Visit!

2007-07-16T08:31:00.000-07:00

I just set up a new address for my new blog: www.paintinmyhair.com Come check it out. I posted a simple tutorial for these appliqued birds this morning. See you there.

What's This?????

2007-07-13T12:12:00.000-07:00

Hmmm.. a mystery. Any guesses? Is it killing you? Actually its just a trick to get you over to my new blog where you'll find the answer.

My Mom's a Genius!

2007-07-07T18:46:00.001-07:00

Shannon's turn! This week for Friday Group we went to Shannon's. And what fun, I dragged my mom along. Shannon's havin' a baby boy in 3 weeks and wants to get her nursery all gussied up. I know all about those nesting hormones so I was ready to help. You won't believe the job she gave us: "Here's $75, shop for my nursery." So there we were with her cash and a little inspiration from Heather Ross' gold fish fabric. This was a lot more fun than scrubbing Collette's Base boards the week before.

We found some killer deals at Hobby Lobby on unpainted wood. And some charming antique reproduction kitsch. I'll share all that as the nursery makeover unfolds, but I couldn't wait to tell you about my mom's hanger idea. We wanted some cute hangers for Shannon to hang some itty-bitty boy clothes on. There was nothing to buy with our budget so we got a pack of satin hangers at Target and my mom covered them with brown corduroy and ribbon. It took her a little over an hour to cover all three. Zoom in on the pics below and I think you'll see it's a simple project. Simple, but ingenious!

Collect Away, Mom!

2007-07-02T06:52:00.000-07:00

I think Depression Glass is a great misnomer. It should be called elation glass, or giddy glass. My mom has been collecting green depression glass for me for a few years. These are the most recent additions to my collection. Ooh-la-la. I'm happy to be the recipient of my mom's passion for collecting. Her home is just dripping with little pretties. And lucky for me, this sometimes overflows into the homes of her children. Now I really need to have someone over for lunch.

Speaking of food, I'm shooting for 7 servings of produce a day. That inspired this yummy salad with feta, roasted chicken, avacado, pear, and this awsome pear vinegrette from Trader Joe's. It just had to be photographed.

I'm off! My mom is here for 8 days and we are determined to do some serious crafting and serious shopping.

Do 2 Right Brains Make a Right?

2007-06-26T13:50:00.000-07:00

I've been wanting to post a close-up of this charming little painting my friend Michelle made for baby Luke. Oh, I do love orange. And could those little cars be any cuter. Simple genius.

Michelle and I have been divulging some of our short comings (as fellow right brainers.) First, as we were cleaning Kim's blinds on a Friday, we commiserated about how far from a to do list cleaning blinds was for the two us. Not even on the radar screen. Then yesterday we laughed about forgetting appointments. I'm so bad that my friends are learning to compensate for me. A few weeks ago a friend called to remind me that Lily needed to be at her daughter's birthday party in two hours. Thank heaven she called. I actually had forgotten. Both little girls wouldv'e been devastated. Michelle and I considered keeping one another's calenders. Would I be better at remembering what she needs to do???

On a completely unrelated topic, I am in love with these baby booties my mom sent. She found them at a boutique and they have my sister-in-law's fabric on the bottom. I'm finding they go with every outfit. I must say, dressing a boy is much more fun than I expected.

Been Busy

2007-06-17T20:14:00.000-07:00

Can you see why I have no time to blog lately. Seems like Luke is either fussing, eating, or being so cute that I can't put him down. Ah well.

We had a lovely Father's Day. I made a big breakfast. Lily cut out scraps of paper and wrote down things she liked to do with her dad or that remind her of her dad. Then he had to interpret her crazy spelling. My favorites were "croty" (karate), "kis," and I can't remember how she spelled Nacho Libre. It was Hilarious. But I guess the highlight of my Father's Day was when Dave mopped the kitchen floor. I know, I should've stopped him. What can I say, I'm weak.

Weeds

2007-06-04T06:15:00.000-07:00

Another Calla Lily and more to come. When I was a kid, white calla lilies grew like weeds in our front yard in CA. I remember one year my mom tried to dig them out. Thank heaven it didn't work. We also had rose bushes that were like 8 feet tall and 6 feet wide. No joke. Ahhhh California. There are a few things I miss: unnaturally large rose bushes, Mexican food, the ocean, the weather.

Back to calla lilies. Down the street from my childhood home there was a beautiful old mansion with a huge iron fence around it. The front yard was quite large and instead of grass they had calla lilies. A real playground for a little girl's imagination. We never saw anyone going in and out. I'm sure some Jane Austin novel was playing itself out there. Right?

Magnolias are out Again

2007-05-31T10:02:00.000-07:00

Did you know the Magnolia tree is a prehistoric plant. Cool, eh? Well, they are all over in St Louis, and so beautiful. They come out in early Spring. But, surprise, surprise the really giant ones wait around and come out later. I love this second wave, when all the other blooming trees have finished up.

I did these 3 tiny ink and acrylic pieces: Magnolias on different shades of green. My scanner changes the color a bit.

Things are a bit crazy here. Well, I'm typing with 1 hand (holding the baby with the other.) but thought I'd check in.

Don't Eat the Baby

2007-05-24T10:32:00.000-07:00

I know he's sweet, but don't eat the baby. Here's my super fun sister Moe, who did not eat the baby, but did introduce me to all sorts of wicked treats, like spicy chocolates from target. Have you tried those? We spent a few hours at Whole Foods. They have amazing little deserts, gelato, chocolates, and the best salad bar ever. Very fun place for a lunch date. I took her to World Fair Donuts. This time we learned that the "hand cut" donuts come out at 10:30 am. So that's the time to go.

Sisters are gone and now it's time for a reality check. Ugh. Well, it was nice to have my house clean and dinner made for a few weeks.

Antique Row

2007-05-19T13:23:00.000-07:00

I'm one lucky girl. My visit from Evie was followed by a visit from another sister, Maureen. Oh, the cleaning, organizing, diaper changing, and shopping. Moe left her 3 children and spent a week with me. We cleaned out my closet, moved out maternity clothes, and purchased a few replacements. We even painted my bedroom. With all the craziness at home I didn't have time to show her all the things in St. Louis I would have liked to, but we did make a stop at my favorite shopping venue. In down town St Louis, there's an area called Cherokee Row. My husband found it once while jogging. It's lined with old buildings converted into antique stores. It's not like the antique stores I grew up with in the west. There's so much old stuff out here and a lot of cool architectural findings.

Our find of the day was this little metal shovel. It'll look great in the kids room. And Moe got a deal on some nativity figures. She does hers all mismatched. What a great idea! We also discovered a new cafe (Mississsippi Mud House) with yummy Italian soda. Moe is the best at finding places like that.

Below are some finds from previous visits to Cherokee Row. Heather and I found the little cabinet with the depression glass in it. I painted the back of it to show off the glass. Heather helped me hang the darn thing. (Anyone else have plaster walls??) My mom got me the depression glass and the large cabinet below on another outing to Cherokee Row with my friend Collette.

I'm Adooring Doors

2007-05-11T13:01:00.000-07:00

They just added an Ottoman Garden at the Botanical Gardens. I was inspired by the beautiful entry doors. I can really get excited by textures on old buildings, signs, trains, shacks, whatever. These doors are new, of course. But they got me excited anyway.

A few days after we visited the gardens I had a morning all to myself and the baby was angelic. So I got to paint. Making things really keeps me sane. I love being a homemaker and mom, but so much of what I do is immediately undone or eaten. It's nice to make something that sticks around for a while.

Except when they don't stick around. I sold 3 paintings last week and they were a bit difficult to part with. But I celebrated by buying a bunch of canvases and sparkly new paints and brushes. What loveliness to be justified in such fun purchases.

Evie Love

2007-05-09T05:43:00.000-07:00

One of the Great side benefits of having a new baby is the visits from family. We are out here on our own in St Louis. Most of our family is in WA state. Our first visitor was my amazing sister Evie. Wow! I can't say how nice it is to have my house clean, my laundry done, and beautiful meals on the table every night. Evie says she wishes she lived in a commune where all she had to do was cook. Hmmm.... I wish I live in a commune where all I had to do was paint, decorate, and eat Evie's cooking. I thought I'd share a little "Evie Love" with this yummy recipe she made for us.

Fish Tacos with Lime-Cilantro Crema
crema:
1/4 cup thinly sliced green onions
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
3 tablespoons mayonnaise
3 tablespoons sour cream
1 teaspoon grated lime rind
1 1/2 teaspoons fresh lime juice
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 garlic clove, minced
Tacos:
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
1/4 teaspoon ground red pepper
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
1 1/2 tillapia fillets
olive oil
8 (6-inch) corn tortillas
2 cups shredded cabbage

Combine all ingredients for crema and set aside. For tacos combine spices. Coat fillets in olive oil and sprinkle spice mix on top. Bake at 425 until fish flakes easily. Heat tortillas. Top with fish, cabbage, and crema. Yummy!

A tip: I love to do Mexican food for company, but hate standing over a skillet heating tortillas. Evie coats her corn tortillas in olive oil, stacks up 10, wraps them in foil and bakes them with the fish. Sooooo smart.

We did give Evie a bit of a break on Saturday. We went to the Botanical Gardens and Soulard Market (our 2 favorite St Louis haunts.) On our way to the gardens we stopped at World Fair Donuts for some seriously greasy hand cut donuts (alas, they were sold out) when we saw TV cameras in front of our donut shop. The guy from the food network's "Unwrapped" was there! a bit of Hollywood here in the Midwest.

correction: You're right Atet (see comments.) That isn't the guy from Unwrapped. it's Alton Brown from Good Eats

2 2lips

2007-04-25T13:57:00.000-07:00

I know, I'm crazy, but I actually got the urge to paint. So while Luke slept I worked. I did the pink tulip a few weeks ago and liked it so much I wanted to do it in another color. So yesterday I finished the one in red.

Today Lily and I got our hair cut. That's like losing 5 pounds for me. I figured I needed a little pick me up. Then we had to go to Walmart for diapers and junk. Walmart sucks the life out of me on a normal day. Needless to say I'm exhausted. I refuse to do anything else productive today. I think I'll finish a movie.

Thank you for all the sweet comments last post. Isn't it neat to have friends all over the world.

Big News!!!

2007-04-23T05:13:00.000-07:00

It worked!!! There were moments when I wondered if aliens had invaded my body, but that's no alien. He's a real, bonafide baby and he's MINE! He was born April 15th, 6lb 5oz. Luke Alexander Gunn. So now the sleepless nights and the diaper changes begin. But as my Lily loves to say, he's worth it.

Today will be my first day on my own. Dave's had the week off. We're out of milk, so grocery shopping can't be ignored. I'll just keep it to the bare bones. I've got friends bringing meals over almost every night this week. Next week my sister Evie comes, followed by my sister Maureen. Then I'm hoping for visits from my mom and Dave's parents. What fun!

Color Addict

2007-04-11T09:54:00.000-07:00

This was just plain fun to paint. I love how the colors bleed into each other. I'm a sucker for bright colors. Growing up my mom painted our house in ultra bright colors. Standing in one hallway you could see bright orange, lemon yellow, turquoise, magenta, and chartreuse. And she had huge canvases she had painted in college all over the house. Color, color color. She made me an addict.

Flowers really feed this addiction for me. I'm amazed at the variety in color combinations. I love to examine how the colors change on a single petal. I suppose God could have made everything one color. But he didn't. And if he took all that time to make the world so interesting, I think there must be something valuable in creating beautiful things. Ah, but I'm waxing philosophical again.

Gunn Fun

2007-04-02T00:58:00.000-07:00

We finally got out on saturday for a little adventure, or as we say "Gunn Fun." (That sounds especially good when yelled out in public by our 6 year old.) Dave's been working a lot of Saturadays so this weekend was a real treat. And look at these beautiful pictures he took at our botanical gardens. Boy oh boy do these photos make me want to paint.

The Kids' Room is Finished!!!!

2007-03-29T08:28:00.000-07:00

Ahhhhh. Doesn't that sound nice. "Kids' Room," as in kids' plural. Dave and I still can't believe it and this little guy is due to come in less than 4 weeks. Well, I'm as ready as possible. Can't think of another thing to buy. The diaper bag is packed and so is my hospital bag. Of course, when Lily was born I did none of this. My sister had to run to the store after she was born for a nursing bra and who knows what else. But after over 5 years of wanting and working for this I am going to absolutely milk this lovely time of anticipation. Sooooooo....... Here's Miss Lily's side of the room. Plenty Girly. She loves waking up in a garden. She also loves arranging her bed just how she likes. Here's the boy side of the room.
This is a bit ridiculous. I know these burp rags won't stay rolled up like that for long, but for now, it's one of my favorite things in the room. Can you believe that darling little car painting Michelle did for me. I need to take a close up of it. Soooooo sweet. Thank you "Friday girls" for painting the dresser and making the curtains!
I found this blank sign at Wal-mart for a few bucks. Painted it with a G for Gunn (At least that's all I'm fessin' up to now).

baby clothes and branches

2007-03-24T10:25:00.000-07:00

What a nice morning! I actually got some sleep last night. I've got about a month left before the baby comes and I guess I'm preparing for the sleepless nights ahead by not sleeping now. Not sure how that works.

The night before last I woke up at 3:00am and sorted through baby clothes. Now that's just insanity. In the morning I was complaining to Dave about my rough night, at the same time I was ranting, "I can't find the Baby Bejorn." He's sure I have lost my mind. But I couldn't rest until I found it and washed it. ahhh, much better.

Well, with the baby's clothes and gear in order I could relax this morning and do some painting. I did a few more of these mixed media on water color paper. Boy, these are fun to do. I just love trying out different color combinations. And painting these blooming branches really adds to my enjoyment of spring. It is such a beautiful day today!! I'll post these originals and the one below on my Esty Shop. (Looks like the green and yellow guy already sold, but the other 2 are still there.)

Well, I'm off to Target to buy diaper wipes. I don't want to be up all night worrying that I don't have them.

Longing for Spring

2007-03-21T13:04:00.000-07:00

Oh, Oh, Oh how I long for a day at the pool. Yesterday was freezing and today is warm. St Louis is crazy! I'm just praying it stays warm enough not to kill the magnolias off.

This warm weather has put me in the mood for some spring blooms. So I made some that cold weather can't touch. This was such a fun way to avoid making dinner. I used water colors, acrylic, and ink.

Help! I'm Dyeing! (plus a newborn shirt tutorial)

2007-03-17T12:27:00.000-07:00

So, my sister Rachel got me crazy dying baby stuff. I dyed diaper cloths for burp rags, old stained onesies, and newborn shirts. Sooooo fun. I just used the powder Rit dye in the washing machine, but mixed a little tan into eat color. My colors were:

tangerine with 1/3 package tan
teal with 1/3 package tan
golden yellow with 1/3 package tan

Then I had to embellish a few of the new born shirts. I know this boy is gonna want to look good when he comes home from the hospital. On the shirt above I just added a binding to the neck line. Below I made a stamp out of a potato and used acrylic paint.

I am especially excited about the binding on the neck line and thought I'd give a little tutorial on that. If someone wants to give a tutorial on how to do a tutorial it would be appreciated. In the meantime, I'm just slappin it in the middle of my post.

New Born Shirt Tutorial

Step 1: Cut a strip of fabric 2&1/2 inches by about 32 inches.
Step 2: Iron in half, longways

Step 3: Pin folded piece along the edge of the shirt so that the raw edges match up with the edge of the shirt. Be sure to turn a little bit under on the end before you pin it in place.
Step 4: Sew in place. You want your stitching to be right along the inside of the folded edge of the shirt. You'll have to feel for that. Mine was just over 1/4 of an inch into the shirt.

Step 5: As you're sewing, right before you get to the end, trim your fabric strip about1/2 inch from the end and fold it up. Stitch over that.
Step 6: fold fabric strip to inside of shirt and tack it on by hand.

Clear as mud? Good.

I love this Amy Butler fabric!! Speaking of which, did you guys see this fabulous quilt over at the Wooden Spool made from The Belle line. Ooh la la.

Hot Dog! We Have a Weiner!

2007-03-17T07:38:00.000-07:00

Oh my goodness. Do you all feel afraid to leave the house after reading those? Oh, oh, oh, the wardrobe malfunctions. The exposed underwear and slips (sometimes maybe it's good to keep an extra pair, eh Jen), the slippery swim suits and skirts, and we'll never forget that darling little knit dress, warn backwards.

What a hard choice to make! My husband and I have laughed ourselves silly. In fact, I am going to have to pick 3. These 3 made us laugh the most, but boy was it a close call. (Please, just expect me to spell your name wrong. It's what I do best.)

Carol smothering the wrong dad in kisses
Karen and the rolling poops
Cary trying to sound like a man going pee

So Carol, Karen, and Cary go to my etsy shop to pick a print and email me(lauragunnstudio@gmail.com) your addresses and print choice.

Choosing was a bit painful. The super man medallion, the car dragging incident, and the yarn wrapping around the cars were also favorites, and so many more. We really ought to do this again sometime ladies! Oh and I want to say to Pam that it is super ironic that it was my mom, seen below, that made a seen about her bright orange dress. Ha!

Share an Embarrassing Moment and Win a Free Print!

2007-03-13T20:05:00.000-07:00

Yep. That really is my mom. I just talked to my sister Maureen and she shared an amazing experience she and my mom had. You may think a woman like my mom isn't easily embarrassed. You're right! But here's something that may have pushed even her to the edge.

My mom recently broke her ankle. So when she and Maureen were at the grocery store, my mom had to ride around in one of those drivable carts. She was chatting with Maureen and not looking ahead when she crashed into a shelf of salsa. Countless jars of salsa came crashing down. Employees came rushing over. They politely assured her that it wasn't her fault. They said the jars must've been stacked badly. (They really need to make those salsa shelves ram proof.) The cherry on top was when 30 Japanese tourists rounded the corner and saw my mom and Maureen in all their glory! Boy, I wish I could've seen that.

This gives me an idea: I just love hearing embarrassing moments. (Like when my sister talked to a man at church for like 5 minutes before realizing her entire dress was pulled up, tucked into her bra.)

I'll tell you what. Tell me an embarrassing moment of yours. I'll pick the one that makes me laugh the most and send the winner a signed print of their choice. (See the print choices here)

Do you want to hear mine? I was in junior high. My best friend and I had been practicing some of the "cool" dances. You know, The Rodger Rabbit, Kit'n Play, etc. I decided to bust out in The Running Man, a brave move for me. This girl walked up to me and said, "We've been talking over there and we don't think you should do that dance." hmmm there's no cool way to respond to that.

Alright, the rules are: nothing dirty, and it has to be something that happened to you. Ready set go!

Here They Are!

2007-03-12T09:45:00.000-07:00

I did it!! My Etsy shop is stocked with prints and originals. There is something really neat about seeing my work in print for the first time. The best part is, parting with the originals will be a bit easier with a nice print for me to keep. Thanks again Trenna for all your help!

Friday Strikes Again!

2007-03-10T05:01:00.001-08:00

Friday strikes again! This was such a fun project that I had a hard time leaving Shannon's house. I've mentioned our Friday project days before. Well, this week Shannon had $75 to makeover her living room. Ooooooh, I live for challenges like that. In fact I've been thinking about it all week, I even barged in on their dinner with paint samples. So here's what we did:

Marc and Shannon found the curtain fabric at Urban Outfitters. (You may know I'm making everything out of their bedspreads these days) We started with the curtains for all other decisions.
They picked this fantastic orange for the wall.
We found the pillow fabric at Joann's. They do these prints on canvas now that are pretty cute and cheap.

On Friday:

Kim and Shannon painted the wall. (It's a lucky thing that Kim is a professional cliff jumper so she could face those vaulted ceilings)
Collete covered a cushion, sewed the curtains, and ingeniously repositioned the furniture. (She's amazing at laying out a room)
Michelle and I attacked an old print on Canvas Shannon had. She was tired of the Paris scene, so we painted over it. (That's it above the couch)

Have any of you ever done a collaborative painting? What fun. It was especially fun to do it with Michelle who doesn't have an ounce of caddy competitiveness. We just bounced back and forth with ideas. And I learned so much from her. I hope the other girls will forgive us. We were like a couple of zombies, hypnotized by our painting project.

Check out some of Michelle's paintings. I especially like this orchid, which looks nothing like a scary monster.

Speaking of paintings. My friend Trenna Lange helped me make prints of my paintings this week. I spent the whole day with her, at her beautiful home. She is doing some fantastic projects. My favorite: painting over her laminate floors. So gutsy! I love it. The whole day was so stimulating. I came home with so many ideas it about drove me crazy. Isn't that the best feeling?

Next on my agenda, get those prints on my Etsy shop. But today I am in charge of decorating for an upcoming formal for the youth at church. How does a 15 ft castle and 20 spray painted trees sound? Argh!!

Looking on the Bright Side

2007-03-03T11:44:00.000-08:00

Like everyone else who doesn't live in AZ, we are growing tired of cold days. Today there is just a bit of snow, but it seems to be falling vertically. But on the bright side, this does give me a bit more time to satisfy my newly acquired hat making obsession. Lily has been begging me to make her one. I happily obliged.

Last year my mom made Lily a skirt out of a tablecloth from Anthropology. (It matched the one she made for herself.) She wisely sent along a little scrap of the fabric. I used that for the flower, along with some felt. Super easy.

Invasion of the Orchids

2007-03-01T08:25:00.000-08:00

So I brought home a beautiful orchid to paint. I decided to paint a closeup, frontal view of it. But after hours of working at it, all I could think of was the freaky alien from the movie Predator. Is it just me, or is there a strong resemblance. Well, it ruined it for me and I had to completely give up on the painting. (This is probably more than I should reveal about myself.)

Well, I'm on to dalia buds. Please don't tell me if dalia buds elicit any scary images for you.

Girls, Girls, Girls

2007-02-26T10:01:00.000-08:00

I wanted to show off these charming vintage paper dolls that my mom found. They're too precious to be played with, but she framed one page for Lily's room. I love it so much I think I could have all the pages framed. Do you guys have any other ideas for them?

I think I need to make Lily a poofy slip like the paper dolls are wearing. They are so sweet. The Easter dresses are coming out. I'd like to buy 4 or 5 for her at T.J. max. It's hard to find cute dresses the rest of the year. So much of the little girl clothing is way too grown up.

My Etsy painting sold! Thank you, Cris from WA. And we'll see about my poppies on eBay tomorrow night. The suspense! This week I'm going to load up on canvases at Dick Blick. They have a big sale twice a year and it ends Wednesday. Ahhh! I better get going.

Poppies For Sale

2007-02-20T08:54:00.000-08:00

Poppies, poppies, poppies. What is it about poppies? They just make me smile. Well, two of my treasured poppies are going public. That's right. I decided while I am working on getting prints made I can part with a few of my beloved creations.

Now, in the past I've sold my work at a boutique, so selling on the Internet is a new experience for me. For that reason, I am experimenting with 2 ways of selling my paintings. The poppy painting above, Tall Poppies on Blue, is available on eBay. The painting below, Poppies on Blue, is available at my Etsy Shop. (Sold!)

I would love to hear your tips on selling your work, or hear how you prefer to buy others' work. Any feedback is appreciated.

I already made one near foible in selling on eBay. As I was proofreading my post I realized I had titled my painting Tall Poopies on Blue. Phew, close one.

FREE PATTERN (You get what you pay for)

2007-02-20T07:26:00.000-08:00

Alright, you asked for it. Click here for your free Scotty Dog Quilt Pattern. The instruction are underneath it. Good luck. Only tell me about it if it works.

At Last, a Nest!

2007-02-17T14:30:00.000-08:00

Hurray! I think I sat and starred at this crib for like 20 minutes after I got it all prettied up. I am so excited to finally be having another baby. Yesterday morning I found this crib at Baby's R Us and fell in love with it. Love the curves. Then my girl friends came over for our Friday project day and we sewed like crazy. They also assembled the crib for me and moved some furniture around. How did I live without those Fridays???? Someone asked what we do with the kids. They pretty much run wild. You should have seen the way Michelle can iron with a baby on her hip.

As you may have read, I've gone a little crazy with the scotty dogs. Heather fed the frenzy by emailing a photo of a vintage scotty dog pattern. Irresistible! So I made my own. I did 12 squares in this quilt. 3 of them are scotties. That way I get the point across, without all the work. Now it just needs to be quilted and bound.

I mentioned before the "lip" that Shannon showed us how to do. It's a great way to make a really skinny border. I did mine in turquoise. I cut four 1 1/2 inch strips and pressed them in half. Then I sewed them around my quilt with the raw edge of my strip lined up with the raw edge of the quilt. Then I just sewed the striped border around like I usually would. Does that make sense? Maybe the picture explains it better.

If you have a sense of humor, I can post my scotty quilt "pattern". It worked, but I am a terrible rule breaker when it comes to sewing. You may find it hard to believe, but I took a pattern making class with my sister-in-law, Heather Bailey (Heather got an A). And my mom, elinor peace bailey, makes patterns for a living. Ha!

Iris on Grey

2007-02-12T09:37:00.000-08:00

Today Lily is home sick. We had a rough night last night. But I confess, there is something nice about being stuck at home all day (every once in a while). So far today, I have finished this painting, sorted through baby clothes, listened to Lily read, and sat at the computer. And yes, I am still in my P.J.'s.

Thanks for all your lovely comments. It is so nice to get feedback about my work. In answer to some questions: Many of my paintings are for sale, but not quite yet. I just can't part with them until I get some nice prints made.

I've also had some questions about my process. I always start with the texture. You can do that with lots of things: gel mediums, joint compound. Then I start with a funky color that I want to show through later. Then the layering begins. Sometimes I'll water down the paint to make it more of a glaze. Sometimes I rub a lot of it off after I apply it. Most paintings have 4 to 7 layers of different colors on them before I am ready to paint a subject. I want the backgrounds to look like old walls with peeling paint, or the side of a rusty, painted shed. Some rotting synthetic thing. I think when I put a fresh botanical over that there's a yin and yang thing going on. Am I waxing too philosophical? Ah well.

Magnolia on Yellow

2007-02-07T10:18:00.000-08:00

My sister, Moe, called me because we have free mobile to mobile and she's about out of minutes. I chat with my sisters all the time. In fact it is difficult for me to clean without talking on the phone. I can almost forget I'm cleaning a toilet as I listen to Evie recite all the deals she got at TJ max, Maureen describe the appetizer she had at her latest Portland dive, or Rachel tell me the wonders of wool diaper covers. (Cindy is in Africa so we'll have to settle for email.) There are others I have recruited into my phone addiction. When I can catch Heather (which I am dying to do today to get the details of her trip) I love to talk with her. She's an avalanche of ideas.

But today, instead of cleaning while I talked with Moe, I finished a painting. I've been in love with the background of this painting for weeks, a bit scared to tackle the subject. I decided a few days ago on white magnolias and today I finally plunged in. A lot of you bloggers have asked if I use oil or acrylic. Acrylic! Wonderful, fast drying, comes off with a paper towel, mixes with water, acrylic. I can't tell you how many branches I painted on this canvas and quickly wiped off until I realized what it needed was another blossom, not a branch. I really thinned out the paint with water on this because I wanted all the textures and colors in the background to come through. Fun, fun, fun! I included I close up of one of my favorite parts of the painting. I just like that turquoise coming through.

Need a Shower?

2007-02-05T13:21:00.000-08:00

I have such crafty girlfriends. Thought I'd share some of their ideas for the next shower you throw. Look at all the cute stuff they did. The baby banner on the top is a ribbon with friends' baby photos clipped to it (also part of a game we played). The table cloth was made by Nikkol. Sooo cute. The flags are cut out with pinking shears (sorry about the blisters Patti) and zig-zagged onto bias tape. The food was scrumptious and the games were hysterical. We played a game where everyone had to pick a name for Baby Gunn (or BB Gunn) . We got some great Gunn puns. Some Dave had never even heard! Amazing. Lets see, there was

Whauter Gunn

Winchester Gunn

Naked Gunn

Tommy Gunn

The list went on. Lily's favorite was naked, of course. If you have anymore Gunn puns send them along. We will seriously consider them.

The Mad Hatter

2007-02-02T07:17:00.000-08:00

On Monday my sweet friend Haydee came over and showed me and another great friend, Kortney, how to crochet baby hats. Little did I know the obsession I was unleashing. What a fun little project! On Tuesday I had to register the car, which in MO means 4 different stops all over town, and lots of waiting. But before I began this all day affair I picked up some yarn. Who knew I could have so much fun waiting in line! I actually found myself hoping for longer waits.

Last night Dave was begging for his nightly orange julius or as he affectionately calls it OJJ (2 cups ice, 2 cups water, 1/3 can of frozen orange juice concentrate, and 2-3 Tbs vanilla pudding mix). The man is insatiable. But I use this to my advantage and got him to come downstairs and keep me company while I embellished these 2 hats. He sat at the computer listening to his language de jour CD's and I cut little bits of felt. I was even happy to listen to him explain grammar rules to me. There is simply nothing like having hand work to do.

I have so many friends having babies. I should be busy with this for a while. Emily, I know you're reading this. Pretend you never saw the little pink one. So much for surprises.

Irresistible Invitations

2007-01-29T06:22:00.000-08:00

I just wanted to show off these darling invitations my friend Patti made. She used fusible webbing between 2 layers of fabric to make it like paper. Soooo cute. Thought someone else might benefit from her genius.

Friday Frenzy

2007-01-26T21:01:00.000-08:00

Have I told you all about my Friday project group. Every Friday we get together and do a project at someone's house. There are 4 of us. (That's Shannon, Michelle, and Colette above.) We take turns doing something we can't face alone, can't get our husbands to do, or just sounds like fun. Let's see, we've cleaned out Michelle's basement, and mine. We've painted Shannon's cabinets, Colette's nursery, and my hallway. We've scrapbooked and cleaned and today we sewed. Probably the funnest Friday yet.

Colette is getting ready for Baby #5! That's right. She is such a super-mom, she'll do great. But baby needs a nest so we got to work. I think each of us learned something. I learned how to make a fitted crib sheet and border a quilt with a "lip." I'll try to give more details on that later. I know Michelle learned the magic of ripping fabric along the grain. (ahhh, is there a lovelier sound?) We slip covered a pillow with an old dish towel that Collete's grandma-in-law had embroidered (see above). We made a crib skirt, Curtains, and almost finished the quilt top. What a day!

Colette wanted a "crazy quilt" so we used a simple technique my sister showed me. I'll give you the process and measurements we used and maybe you'll be inspired.

cut 12 ten inch squares using at least 6 different fabrics
put squares in 2 stacks of 6, with no 2 fabrics the same in each stack
cut a random diagonal slice across each stack (I like each stack to be a bit different)
now that the stack is sliced in half, take the top fabric on one half and put it on the bottom of each stack, as shown in the top right photo.
sew the halves together (fabrics not matched).
press each newly sewn square (warning: your pieces won't match up exactly and your square will start to look unsquare. That's fine)
restack into the 2 stacks and slice across the other direction, as shown in the bottom right photo. (Ignore the extra piecing on those squares. My girls got a bit crazy.)
again, take the top fabric on one half and place it at the bottom of the stack. Sew halves together and press.
cut an 8 X 8 inch square out of paper. Use this as a pattern to resquare each square, as shown in the top left photo.
now sew'em together (3 squares by 4 squares)

Orange Calla Lily

2007-01-25T11:54:00.000-08:00

I'm really pleased with this one. I finally signed and glazed it today and thought I'd post it. Believe it or not, calla lilies really do come in this color. I say that because sometimes I make up my own flowers.

I have replenished my painting stock enough to take them down to a boutique or gallery. I just want to make prints of them before I let them go. It's such a final thing to sell a painting. I already regret not getting better photos of some of the ones I've sold. So, first things first.

I finally faced my giant pile-o-papers today. It's never fun, but I do feel a great sense of relief when I'm done. For a reward Lily and I had BATs (Bacon, avocado, and tomato sandwiches) on sour dough. Have you discovered this ready to serve bacon? 25 seconds in the microwave. I think it is positively evil for bacon to be that easy for me to eat. Bad bad bad.

Puppies and Flowers

2007-01-24T06:20:00.000-08:00

In case I haven't told you, I am putting Gunn Junior in with Lily. Lily has a super girly flower theme and baby will have a puppy theme. The trick is tying it all together. There's a little nook to put the crib in. The common theme is orange and brown.

Yesterday I did these flower appliques out of the same fabric I covered my chair in. I thought I'd share my favorite technique for appliqueing simple shapes. Old news to some I'm sure.

While cutting out each shape (example: petal) cut it's mirror image by cutting 2 on folded fabric.
Sew front side of shape to front side of mirror image.
Sew all the way around, leaving no opening. How the heck will I turn it, you ask:
Cut a slit in the back. (see photo above) This won't show when you applique it on.

Ahh no folding under raw edges as I stitch it on. And look at my monster stitches. Fast and fun.

I decorated the middle with yo yos. Of course the best place to find instructions for that is Heather's yo yo tutorial.

So I've been getting some comments from spammers. Yuck! I changed my settings so comments come to my email first and then I can catch the nasty pests before they reach my blog. Does anyone know how I can erase the ones already there with blogger. I just can't figure it out.

P.S. Becki is such a good sport. She did her 6 weird things and commented on my blog without ever pointing out that I spelled her name wrong. Typical me.

I need to run. We're doing a little quilt making at the church. The quilts will be donated to hospitals, etc. And I'm supposedly in charge. Ha. Pics to come.

Scotty-Dog Delirium

2007-01-23T06:59:00.000-08:00

Thank you Jenny B. Harris for an absolutely flawless pattern. This Scotty-Dog pattern is so simple and so sweet. I put a little mint box filled with beads inside mine so it will rattle for baby. Then I carried it around the house for 2 days dreaming of my little one shaking it around. Ridiculous, I know, but I took the obsession even further with this ode to scotty-dog throw pillow. Won't that be sweet in my nursery with that Heather Ross Dog fabric.

I am so relieved to be feeling well again. After 5 months of nausea and 2 months of IVF hormones, just feeling normal is the nicest thing in the world. I think I'm driving my husband crazy with all my projects and my insistence that the nursery must be ready NOW! He is so sweet to pretend to be interested in my fabric choices and lengthy descriptions of my plans.

I've decide to forget about all other home improvements and focus on the nursery. I have this nagging fear that I will crash any day and not have the baby's nest ready in time. And as we all know, it is very important to newborns that their room is completely color coordinated and stylish. They get very fussy otherwise.

So, along with the scotty-dog stuff I also slip covered my nursing chair with this brown floral "bed spread" from Urban outfitters ($27!). You may already know about my love for their inexpensive linens. My living room curtains and studio curtains are both made from Urban Outfitters linens.

Bla bla bla. I'm so chatty today. I wish all this nesting energy helped with the house cleaning and bills. Uh-oh, I think I feel my nausea returning.

Tagged

2007-01-22T11:53:00.000-08:00

I've been tagged, by Beth! Well, alright Beth, I'll play. But only because your illustrations are so dang cute.

I am supposed to share 6 weird things about me and then tag 6 other people who will do the same. Okay, Ginni, Becky, Leanne, Caroline, and Soie-belle you can either live with a cloud of guilt or pass the guilt on to someone else. Where will this madness end??!!

I used to play trumpet in a ska band
I like catsup on my tacos (only if they're greasy ground beef tacos like my mom use to make. Mmmmmm)
I love to sing along to "Up Town Girl." When my husband accompanies me on the guitar I'm sure I have achieved nirvana.
I am paralyzed by trivia games. (Once I said that the Eiffel Tower was in Italy)
I love really tragic books about exotic places. (Examples: Wild Swans, Stolen Lives, Cry the Beloved Country)
I hate white walls and am manic about color. This I attribute to my crazy mom.

Welcome Guests

2007-01-17T10:54:00.000-08:00

I can't believe I have a guest room. That'll last as long as we can handle having Lily and the baby together. She's thrilled about it now, but I suspect that won't last forever.

When Carrie was staying with us we painted the room her favorite color, lavender. I was planning on changing it when she left, because I wanted to put some funky bright colors in there. Then I threw this vintage quilt top over the bed and realized I can do the funky bright colors with the lavender. Now I can't imagine any other color on the walls.

The quilt top was gift from my mom from 10 or 15 years ago. When she gave it to me we patched it up a bit and put a border on it, but never made it into a quilt (though it has acted as a curtain and a table cloth). It is finally in it's proper place. I basically made a giant pillow case out of it and slipped it over a down bed spread. The bed skirt is just some lavender and gold fabric I had ruffled around an old sheet.

I love old linens. I have boxes full of them, many of them stained or torn. So I'm always looking for ways to display them. Here I used a curtain rod above the bed to hang a few (Cheap art.) I also have a table runner attached to the rocking chair with some ribbon. Heather thought that one up when she came to visit this summer.

So bring on the visits! The guest bathroom is next.

A Nursery for a Son of a Gunn

2007-01-16T07:45:00.000-08:00

I am so excited about these fabrics. I've been stewing over what to do for my wee one's nursery colors. I'm putting him in a little nook in Lily's room. Her room is pink and orange and the nook is already orange. My sister Rachel pointed out this great website for fabric: http://www.purlsoho.com/purl/products/fabric And I was inspired.

The first 2 are from Amy Butler's Belle. The next 2 are my very own Heather Bailey's Free Spirit. The Last 2 are Heather Ross' Lightening bugs. Yum Yum Yummy. I think I want to do the crib skirt out of the pups and the bumper out of the stripe. And a crazy quilt out of a bit of everything. Lucky me, I already have the Fresh Cut prints and the Belle dots. Now to get my hands on the rest. Does anybody know of a good quilt shop in St Louis?

Our power was out for a day and 2 nights. We made a little adventure out of it for a few hours. We made a fire in the fireplace, threw a mattress on the living room fire, roasted marshmallows, and even considered toughing it out for the night. Luckily, the cold didn't completely numb our senses and we took up a friend's offer to crash at their house. Boy were we glad we did. We enjoyed serious comfort food (Chicken and noodles over mashed potatoes), entertainment from their adorable kids, great late night conversation, and a feast for our eyes in their beautiful 150 year old mansion. It's almost enough to make you want the power to go off. Despite the fun we were thrilled to find our power had turned back on when we got home. Saint Louis is crazy with power outages.

After: Lets Warm Things Up

2007-01-10T13:33:00.000-08:00

When Dave left to drive Carrie back home I wanted to surprise him with a complete basement makeover. I had 5 days and around $150. Until now, we've really avoided hanging out in the basement. It has just felt dirty, old, and cold (see the before pics below). So I went to battle. Here's some of the stuff I did:

Painted the room a nice warm yellow. (This also cleaned things up a lot)
Bought this Salmon throw at Walmart ($25)
Covered 2 large throw pillows with gold and salmon fabric I already had
Slip covered some storage stuff. (see below)
Got a nice shaggy gold rug at Walmart ($69) . The indoor/outdoor carpet really needed this.
Replaced the ugly ivy curtains with plain sheer white. (I wanted a lot of light to come through.)
Covered the opened doorways with canvas. (bye bye ugly storage.)
Spray painted an ugly brass floor lamp with silver and got a new lamp shade.
Painted out all the ugly red. (see below)
Hung a few paintings. Notice Lily's painting above the red stool. A side note: Lily worked on that for months. Every time I would paint she added to her canvas.
rearranged the furniture to open the room up more.

Well, that's most of what I did. I got a lot of help from friends, Collette, Michelle, and Shannon. (THANK YOU!!) Not bad for 4 days of work. Was Dave surprised? Shocked! I got him at the airport at 2AM. Gag! When we got home I casually said, "Will you lock up in the basement. I forgot to." This was a totally natural thing to say as I am completely paranoid about doors being unlocked at night. He went down stairs. "WHAT THE HECK! What have you been up too?" He was thrilled. It just makes our home feel so much more homey.

After: The Power of Paint

2007-01-10T13:12:00.000-08:00

I just love painting walls and furniture. It is so cheap and makes everything feel clean and new. A nice color on the walls makes your furniture, art work, everything look nicer. My friend Nikkol got me painting without tape. (Practice, practice girls. You can do it too.) And that has made it even faster and funner.

I wanted to share a trick I found in "Do It Yourself" magazine. I was worried that these shiny red shelves (see below) were painted with oil based paint. "Do It Yourself" said to test this you soak a cotton ball in ammonia and tape it to the painted surface for an hour. If it cracks it's water-based. Hallelujah, it cracked.

After: Toy Storage

2007-01-10T10:22:00.000-08:00

I wanted to have room that was comfy and casual, but not junky. I wanted the toys accessible, but not out. I also had a limited budget. So I slip covered a giant utility shelf, that I already had, with canvas. The side and back are completely covered. The front has 2 flaps. You may notice the red ribbons on each size. That was to make up for my imperfect measuring. This took about 4 yards of 60" wide canvas.

Next I slip covered 2 plastic storage bins I had. The covers are basically giant sacks with elastic on the rim. Really simple to make. Now they contain dress up and blankets. It took about 3 yards of 60" wide canvas for the 2 combined

Between these 2 projects and the 2 doors I made canvas curtains for (I wanted to cover my unsightly storage and laundry rooms) I used about 11 yards of canvas. With my 40% off coupon at Joann's it wasn't such a bad deal.

The Basement: Before

2007-01-10T09:58:00.000-08:00

Look at these beauties. These photos are actually from before we owned the house. But we certainly hadn't improved on it until last week. Notice the ruffley ivy curtains and shiny red shelves. The shelves looked much worse in person. I think a teenager must have painted them. There were drips everywhere, and they needed several more coats.

Road Trip

2007-01-10T08:46:00.000-08:00

Dave's sister Carrie has been staying with us for the past 6 month. She's a great cook, a sweet friend, and a wonderful aunt, so it was great to have her. But she got a job offer in WA state and was homesick (that's where all the Gunns are.) So She and Dave left St Louis last week and charged out there with 2 cats and all her possessions. 3 days later they made it safe and sound, but not without some adventures on the way.

They hit a crazy storm in Wyoming where it was sunny out, but snowing horizontally from the wind. They saw trees and even grass coated in ice. I thought these pics of the grass were amazing.

Meanwhile I was cleaning like a mad women (that nesting energy has finally kicked in and I'm rarely sick lately.) I can't say I loved Carrie's cats as much as I love her. (She's very forgiving of this.) I am on a hunt for cat hair. Boy howdy, that stuff gets into EVERYTHING.

My biggest nesting project was cleaning and painting the basement to surprise Dave on his return. Pics to come shortly.

Super Woman

2007-01-06T09:59:00.000-08:00

Lily has been running all over the house with a quilt cape declaring "Super Woman!" She also made a fort where only super heros are allowed. (She let me know that did not include me.) This picture was the result of the mornings activities. She tells me it is Super Woman flying over Seattle. I love it!

From Table Cloth to Curtains

2007-01-02T09:59:00.000-08:00

So I got this table cloth for $10 at Urban Out-fitters. My mom and I got 2 window valances and a curtain for my work table out of it. We had such a good time making them. I love sewing projects where you don't have to do much measuring. We just ripped that bad boy up and made each valance as wide as the table cloth. We only had one snare with a valance that was super crooked (if the grain isn't straight, ripping isn't the best method.) But we fudged it and made it work. It was so nice to have my mom here to do projects with. She says next time we work on her studio. I hope that's not too far away.

The Gunn Family Puppet Theater

2006-12-29T07:02:00.000-08:00

One of my favorite gifts to give this year was this puppet theater that my mom and I made. We used fabric I had around. So the only expense was 2 spring rods and a storage bin. I used a wrapping paper bin, which easily fits the theater and a lot of puppets. The bottom section is a single panel with a casing on top. The top section is 2 panels, embellished, also with a casing on top. Since the rods are adjustable it fits in any doorway. The best part is, once it's up your audience is trapped in the room!

Egg Heads

2006-12-20T09:15:00.000-08:00

My "Aunt Muff" (not actually her Christian name) Came to visit for Christmas. I was trying to be super mom by having a favorite snack (hard boiled eggs) all ready for Lily in the fridge. She took it one step further. Why not decorate them?? So cute. I have a feeling Lily will be eating lots of hard boiled eggs this week!

Happies

2006-12-16T08:12:00.000-08:00

9 days until Christmas. Can you believe it? I still need to hand out goodies to my friends. They are mostly assembled. I just need to make the tour of the neighborhood. This year I gift wrapped fancy chocolate bars. I was inspired by some candy bars at Anthropology. It was such a fun project. I got some pretty paper at a stamping store, some vellum, and ribbon.

My sisters British friend calls the little Christmas goodies or trinkets you pass out to your friends "Happies." I love that. We've certainly gotten some delicious happies this year. I have eaten more than my share. Ah well. Tis' the season.

Home Sweet Home

2006-12-14T14:12:00.000-08:00

I don't know what it is about a fireplace mantel, but it really makes me feel at home. My parents had a beautiful mantel and I loved decorating it for Christmas, especially hanging the stockings. I have hung stockings in a lot of weird places over the years, but now we have our very own mantel!!

My sweet friend Cherie came over to help me decorate for Christmas. (My friends have all been so sweet and thoughtful with the passing of my father.) We put my nativities on the mantel and both agreed it needed something with a little height. A star seems pretty obvious now, but I couldn't think of a solution. Cherie suggested it. Then I found this funky mirror at Hobby Lobby. It's not a Christmas ornament, but may be my favorite star of Bethlehem ever. I am finally done with the decorating, a bit late with all the traveling, but done. I just love to sit in the dark with the Christmas lights on.

He-Man

2006-12-13T13:00:00.000-08:00

Do you guys remember He-Man. My little brother would watch that every afternoon. "By the Power of Grey Skull. I have the power!!!!" I would like to be at the meeting where they came up with the name "He-man." Someone had to present the problem: "We need a name that says ultimate man, strong, powerful, manly." There must have been other suggestions like muscle-man, male-man, or him-man before someone came up with that ingenious title. But... I ramble.

The tree trimming has begun. A friend came over and he and Dave climbed trees and buildings with a chain saw. What's more Him-Man than that. Here's Dave on the Garage.

Thanks for your little notes about the ice. Yes, it has thawed and my bum is safer for it.

Welcome Home!

2006-12-11T10:58:00.000-08:00

Well, after Heather's post about their day at the snow, I thought I'd better show what God "trucked" into our neighborhood. After 2 weeks in the NW for my dad's funeral and visiting family, this is what we came home to. YIKES! What a mess. 4 Trees lost LARGE branches. One fell on our garage. Thank heaven no damage to the garage or house. Just a huge mess to clean up.

It appears that our house is the North Pole of our neighborhood, because while all the other yards are thawing ours is still covered in a thick layer of ice. Saturday, while climbing out of the car, I slipped. It was like a slow motion blooper. I had my hand on the car, which helped me to slow it down, but I still landed flat on my back. Didn't hurt much, but I sure looked silly.

This week Dave will have to gather together enough man power and chain saws to put a dent in the mess. This is an area where I am fiercely old fashioned about gender roles. Hee hee.

Box Embellishments

2006-11-16T14:30:00.000-08:00

BEFORE:
AFTER: I must have a lot of house work to avoid, because I've been itching for crafty little projects. I was contemplating organizing my studio, when I was distracted by these two ugly boxes I keep supplies in. Then I remembered this much-drooled-over wrapping paper I picked up at Old Navy. One thing lead to another and PRESTO, two new boxes. In the end it was this little creative break through that inspired me to get to work on the hard stuff. I totally organized my studio closet and book case. Now I just need a fun little craft to inspire me to do laundry! Any ideas?

Lily's Garden

2006-11-08T08:47:00.000-08:00

My little Lily is so enthusiastic and so fun to do things for. Before we moved into this house I would get her excited about the move by talking about her new bedroom. She informed me that it had to be orange and pink with flowers on the wall. So I have tried to fulfill her little fantasy.

I remember when I was about her age I longed for red patent leather mary-janes. My mom, sister, and I looked everywhere for them. We never did find them, but even then I appreciated the effort. I also remember begging for a hair-do that looked like the top of a wedding cake. So, some little girl fantasies should definitely be ignored. But an orange and pink room with flowers on the wall I can handle.

Still Sick, But Feeling Better

2006-11-06T16:51:00.000-08:00

There is something to be said for the second trimester. I can't say I'm any less sick, but I am thinking more clearly and feeling more creative. I always know I'm in a rut if I'm not creating anything. But last week I finally finished a painting (I'll post that later) and today (miracle of miracles) I'm postin' stufff on my blog!

Lily's room is a work in progress, but I thought I'd post some pictures of what I've done so far. My grandfather made the doll house for my sister and me when we were little. It was pretty beat up when it reached Lily, but my mom and I refurbished it with some paint, carpet, wall paper, and fabric. Can you believe the "master bed" my mom made. Those little pillows drive me crazy. What is it about tiny stuff. I swear I spent half my childhood infront of this doll house. My brothers would bring GI Joe over (do you remember the big one's) and we'd take Barbie "camping". Lily doesn't play with it much, but I'll probably keep it up til' she's 19. All those tiny things make me giddy.

Thanks for all the well wishes during these barfy months. I think I'm through the worst worst of it.

Excuses, Excuses

2006-10-02T15:54:00.000-07:00

What Happened to Laura Gunn. Well, I have not been kidnapped by terrorists. I'm not traveling the far reaches of the Earth. However, something even more surprising and miraculous has occured. After five years of dissappointment, 2 failed adoptions, and countless fertility proceedures, I am pregnant. We thank our Heavenly Father everyday for this, but in between the thanking I am puking and moaning and grumbling and not blogging. I have so much painting to do and a few ready to sell, but it will have to wait. I'm 11 weeks and will hopefully feel better soon. Talk with you all then.

Kitchen Kitch

2006-09-09T12:50:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday to me. Some friends gave me a shopping spree at Anthropology for my b-day. (what could be better than that!!!!!) I went right away to see if they had these gorgeous plates I saw weeks before. Not only did they have them, but they were on clearance! Yee-ha!!

So, this is my kitchen cabinet, a gift from my mom. With a smaller cabinet above to display my depression glass. We are very short on space in the kitchen so this little area saves my life.

Water Lilies

2006-08-19T08:51:00.000-07:00

I really discovered lily pads in St Louis. We have the most beautiful botanical gardens here. It's free to residents on Saturday mornings and has become a favorite family activity. The lily pads get over 4 feet across, with rims 2 or 3 inches tall. And they have the most amazing giant flowers. I was shocked the first time I saw them. Here's a photo Dale Chihuly's glass orbs in the water lily pond.

Here's my own little Lily in front of the water lily pond. What a ham!

And here's my own version of a water Lily. I just finished it this morning.

More Poppies, hee hee hee

2006-08-15T16:30:00.000-07:00

More poppies and more to come. Aren't poppies the prettiest flowers. I just can't get over the centers of them. The centers look like they're from outer space. They're fuzzy and bulbous and weird.

So my friend Michelle just showed me a great website to search images. I always like to have several images on hand for a painting. Just for reference. I like this better than google images because they are screened. Some of them are amazing:

http://creative.gettyimages.com/source/frontdoor/DefaultRfLanding.aspx

Going to the Birds

2006-08-12T12:36:00.000-07:00

This was a seriously fun project. Heather and I found this vase at TJmax for $13. I spray painted a branch red and hung some little birdy Christmas ornaments on it. It just makes me giggle.

I have to add Happy Birthday Heather!!!!!!!!!!

Three Poppy Panels

2006-08-10T08:12:00.000-07:00

The Kitchen is a mess and bills still need to be paid, but I finished a painting yesterday. Can't say I regret it. Somehow I always eventually get to the dishes and the bills, but those creative surges come and go. Have you noticed that the inside of a red poppy is dark purple, not black. Poppies are definitely one of my favorite flowers. I think I'll do some yellow and orange ones next. Hmmmm.....Can those dishes wait a few more hours?

2006-08-09T08:47:00.000-07:00

Well, I was going to wait until the living room was completey finished before I put it up, but decided I can't wait. I love to show my mom and sisters. I had my mom and sisters, Maureen and Rachel, on the phone looking at my dining room and studio a few days ago. It was almost like having them here!

Check out the before pictures here.

My biggest concern with this room was to open up the big bay window. I wanted to do Roman shades, but Heather pointed out how hard those are to open and close. We found these bed spreads at Urban Outfitters, cut and hemmed'm into pannels, used those rings with clips, and instant curtains. I love how they squish nice and tight against the wall when I open them. Now I can see my window!!!!!!!!!!!

Watercolors in Bed

2006-08-07T09:42:00.000-07:00

I think the greatest advantage of watercolors over acrylics is that you can do them in bed. I discovered this during my 3 days bed rest . I'm up'n at'm now, but wouldn't mind doing some more watercolors. I love how gradually you can change the colors. That's especially great with flowers. The colors just bleed into each other. My mom taught me a few tips before I got started.

1. Mix the colors on the lid of the water colors.

2. A little goes a long way. You don't want it to be too thick. If you apply it to the page and it's too dense, simply spread it out with a wet brush. You can fill in a lot of area that way.

3. If your brush is too wet squeeze it out between your fingers.

4. If your not happy with an area you may be able to erase some of it with a wet brush. (I discovered I could also get the paper wet and dab it with a dry paper towel.) It won't erase it completely but enough to paint over it.

Does anyone else have watercolorin' tips?

Dave was so fascinated he wanted to join me. So last night we lay in bed painting away. He did a lemon, a Kermit, and lady with glasses like that blind guy on Star Trek. He said her eyes were too tricky. That was a fun date!

Jars and Junk

2006-08-04T07:56:00.000-07:00

Yee-ha!!!! I finally have a room I want to paint, sew, and create in. My own art studio. I found this cabinet at a garage sale for $15. My husband declared it junk (whenever we move he develops furniture phobia) but I painted it, hung it up, and he thinks it's snazzy now. I love how I can see all my tools and supplies. You can see my adorable pin cushion on top that heather made. And all my tools are in mason jars. I wanted to dress up the jars so I stuck beloved scrap- book papers in them with a little peek-a-boo slit so I can see what's inside.

Next I want to do some sort of bulletin board to hang papers, magazine pages, and photos that inspire me. I was thinking of getting a cork bulletin board and painting it. Has anyone done that?

After.....

2006-08-02T09:35:00.000-07:00

What fun! Heather and I rummaged through all my nick nacks, linens, paintings, etc. and chose our favorites. We made curtains out of Urban Outfitter bed spreads. We fussed over where to put things, how high to hang them, and on and on. Click here for a before picture.

Tracing Paper and Water Colors

2006-07-08T11:15:00.000-07:00

I worked on this project at my mom's. She has every supply imaginable so I'm bound to come away with something. I traced my 5 year old's animal drawings onto watercolor paper. (I used tracing paper and a carbon pencil to trace them and went over that with a permanent marker.) Then I watercolored them. I just love her crude drawings. Now I need to think up a fabulous way to display them. I thought about matting and framing each one individually. Any ideas?

Flowers in the Northwest

2006-07-05T21:45:00.000-07:00

I will never look at flowers the same since I started painting them. I just got back from the Northwest and was itching to paint every time I saw flowers. I found a little time at my sister Evie's house. The pink dogwood I did for my mom for her b-day, the mural I did in Evie's room her b-day, and the roses my niece Ellie and I did together.

Matching Skirts!

2006-06-08T21:03:00.000-07:00

"Crazy Grandma" made Lily a matching skirt. She bought a fabulous table cloth at anthropology to make herself a skirt and realized she had just enough scraps for a size 5T skirt. Perfect! She made the skirts by cutting pie shapes out of a circle. Every other pie slice was just the size for Lily's skirt. They are going to make quite a scene together in Washington when we go out next month. Lily loves it. She put it on and spun around forever watching it fan out. She made me promise to pack it for our trip to grandma's so they can match.

It's Huge!

2006-06-03T15:50:00.000-07:00

I set out to overcome my fear of large canvases. You can't tell from the photo, but this bad boy is 30"x40". I guess that's not huge, but it was a triumph for me. I think this one will look great above my new fireplace mantel (see below). Hmmmmm....something else to feed my imagination. When will I ever sleep again????????

Before...............

2006-06-03T10:45:00.000-07:00

Here's a before shot of my new house. Unfortunately, there are no after shots as I don't even live in it yet. But my mind is full of after shots. As the dream becomes a reality I'll keep you posted. For more pics of mi casa click here.

Hangin' with Heather

2006-06-03T05:01:00.000-07:00

Heather Bailey, my amazing sister in law and one of my best friends, is keeping me up at night with blogging ideas. I can't believe I can do any of this. I just got a digital camera in August! Anyways, here's a project we worked on together while our kids played at the McDonald play place. Now that's multi-tasking. First we shaped the hangers out of thick wire. then we wrapped beads around them with colored craft wire. I have little antique dresses hanging on them in Lily's room. Now Heather is in Phoenix and I'm in St.Louis. I've been missing our craft dates. Working on my blog with her has been almost as good!

My Debut

2006-06-02T21:15:00.000-07:00

I did it! I walked into a boutique with my paintings in a giant orange oil cloth bag. I showed them to the owner, Trenna Lange. I was so nervous. She was so enthusiastic. Before I knew it my paintings were priced, hanging, and I was scheduled for a "meet the artist" at her shop in a few days. The biggest crowd at my debut was my friends from church who came to cheer me on, but I soled 4 paintings! Altogether I have sold 10 at her shop. It's a bit weird, thinking about my work hanging in a stranger's home. It's also very validating. Honestly I am amazed. To see my paintings click here.

Pink Paradise

2006-06-01T13:04:00.000-07:00

I have been dreaming up my daughter Lily's room for over a year (along with every other room imaginable). We just signed a contract on a house and should be moving in July. Here's some of the inspiration for the room. I just finished the paintings. I've only started the pillows. I bought them plain pink at Urban Outfitters for $5 and will embellish them with yoyos. I also bought the pink and red table cloth for $10. I'm thinking of making curtains out of it. It's supposed to be a pink and orange room, but I keep getting sucked in by pink. HELP!

SOLD!

2006-04-29T08:57:00.000-07:00

Thanks to Trena and her lovely boutique, these paintings are hanging in someones home. It was a bit heart renching to let them go, but we took some of the money and resupplied my paints, canvases and I got my first easel! It'd be great to have a hobby that pays for itself.

Dogwoods and Red Buds

2006-04-29T08:52:00.000-07:00

Pollen Dust on the Table

2006-04-21T07:31:00.000-07:00

It's Spring Time in Saint Louis. I brought bundles of branches into my dining room. I finally took them out when the pollen started shedding all over my furniture. AWCHOO!!

My Sycamore Moon Debut

2006-04-19T19:54:00.000-07:00

Here's Trenna's beautiful shop with my paintings.