Mini Break to Lake Michigan

Hello!  I have returned from my weekend getaway!  I hope everyone had a lovely weekend:)  Here are some pictures from my mini break:

 I was first greeted by a lounging mermaid who lives at my aunt's cottage.

 My aunt has the most charming cottage, her interior decorating style inspires me so much!

 

We had a lovely meal on Friday at my aunt's.  Look at the beachy table setting!  I just love it!  For dinner we had chicken with mango salsa, vegetable terrain, potatoes and yummy farmer's market salad with fresh arugula, tomatoes and yellow beets:)  Heaven!

Here is where those lovely pink hydrangeas came from that were part of our table setting.

We also went to the beach Friday evening and all day Saturday

 

 

Heart rock found at the beach (good omen!)

Fun times at the beach!  The water was chilly but it was so hot it felt awesome!  

A wonderful THANK YOU goes out to my lovely aunts who let me hang out with them this weekend:)

Weekend Mini Break

Today I leave for a fun weekend mini break to Lake Michigan!  Yay:)  I am going to visit some family, indulge in some retail therapy and play on the sandy shores of Lake Michigan.  I will post pictures from my little vacation on Monday!  Happy Weekend:)

The lovely shores of Lake Michigan!

Cleveland Botanical Gardens 2

Yesterday I told you that the Husband and I were going to the Cleveland Botanical Gardens.  Well we went and had a lovely time despite it being overcast and VERY humid! 

I just love how these flowers are growing in these rocks!

 

The hydrangeas were my favorite!  I am planning on planting a ton in my backyard now:)

 

The husband also enjoyed the hydrangeas!

 Did I mention that I LOVE hydrangeas?!

I would love to have a gate like this in my garden!

 

We had a great day at the Botanical Gardens in Cleveland!

Anniversary

Today is the Husband and my 4th wedding anniversary!  Wow, the years sure have flown by!  Happy Anniversary Husband:)

Cleveland Botanical Gardens

Today the Husband and I are going to the Cleveland Botanical Gardens! Yay:) So excited! Here are some pictures from the last time I went there!

I will post more pictures from today later!  Have a great Wednesday!

Monday's Song for Cleaning: Diane Birch "Valentino"

Happy Monday! It is sunny and beautiful here in Ohio:) Hope you are having fantastic weather wherever you may be. Today I plan on doing some basic household chores (laundry, dusting, organizing...the list goes on!) I find that music helps these boring chores become a little more fun. Here is one song I plan on listening to today as I work! Enjoy!

Happy Father's Day!

Dear Dad,
Happy Father's Day!  Thanks for all that you do for all of us!

(Me, My Dad, and my little brother Mike)

And thanks for putting up with my silliness!


Love,
Michelle

New item in Etsy shop!

I just officially added "Tea for Two" into my etsy store!  Happy Friday!

LOVE TOO by Paul Smith

I was watching the first Sex in the City movie last night (I have to get myself ready for the second one!) and I noticed the cutest wall hanging in Carrie's refinished apartment.  It is a rug called Love Too by Paul Smith and is from The Rug Company.  I would LOVE to have this hanging in my house somewhere:)

 

Head in the Clouds

Here are some artworks I have been working on that are part of a new series called "Head in the Clouds."  I hope to put these in my etsy shop soon:)

                                               Head in the Clouds 1

                                                     Head in the Clouds 2

        Artist Trading Card:  Head in the Clouds Mini (2 1/2 x 3 1/2 inches)  Super cute and little:)

Sketchbook: Oil Pastel

Organic Leaf Collages

Here are two little collages I made by printing with a leaf stencil I created out of scrap paper.  This is a really simple way of printmaking!  Simply ink up your stencil with a paintbrush or brayer and print your stencil with different colored inks on paper.  Let the ink dry and then cut out your prints and reassemble onto a painted paper or canvas!  Simple and fun:)

Scenes from my Summer Studio

Summer Fruit!

Just another reason why I love summer....the amazing fruit that is in season!

Illustrations

Happy Weekend!  Today I worked more on cleaning out my summer studio and I might actually be able to start painting out there today!  We are supposed to get some wicked thunderstorms later today so that might actually be kind of cool painting out there in the stormy conditions.  If you would like to see an exterior shot of my summer studio, click here.  I actually included a picture of it in one of my VERY first posts back in good ol' 2008!

Well anyways, I wanted to post some crazy doodles and drawings I worked on yesterday.  I felt like a kid again using my illustration markers.  I just sat outside and drew things that inspired me.  No pencil drawings to make things look perfect, just pure marker drawing!  Excuse the messiness please:)

Here is the first doodle I did:

It was inspired by my LOVE for coffee (and caffeine!)  Sadly I am unable to drink it very much anymore:(

The next doodle is basically just a complete drawing of random objects that caught my eye.  My hanging basket, birdbath in my garden, a girl from a magazine, etc.  Sometimes inspiration comes from ordinary things don't you think?

The very strange thing is that I signed this 1/11/10 instead of 6/11/10!  Where or where is my brain lately?!


Well I am off to work in my summer studio.  I will probably post some pictures later on today of what it looks like inside and some of the work I am currently doing:)  Have a great Saturday!

Scenes from my day

Today I took these pictures as I was working in my garden and also cleaning out my summer studio.  I am so excited to get to work in my summer studio which is actually a summer kitchen.  Our house was built in 1949 and has all of these cool little things that a new house might not have like a summer kitchen:)

One thing I love about my summer studio is this cool door that links our garage to my studio.

Love this hinge also:

You know me...I just adore anything painted white:)


Here are some beautiful daises I just bought..so unique colors!

The husband and I are working on my garden also so hopefully I will show you some pictures from there soon!

Hope everyone had a great day:)  I just love summer!

Favorite new song!

The husband and I are very excited about Jack Johnson's new cd To The Sea. This is one of the songs from the album that is such a fun summery song:) Enjoy!

The best things are simple

I truly believe this..simplicity is key to beautiful things.  I took this picture today of one of my Begonia flowers in my favorite white bowl on a simple white plate.  White on white is so classic and clean don't you think?

This little white bird is pure simplicity.  I just love the contrast of the bird next to one of my background paintings.  I love, love, LOVE white and blue together:) 

Well I am off, hope your day is filled with simple, beautiful things!

Return to blogging!

Well...I am back!  I took a couple month hiatus from blogging because I honestly got sick of going on my computer!  I needed some time to just read, be outside and finish up school.  Has anyone gotten so sick of their computer and the thought of being online?  I just needed a break but now I feel more refreshed!  So here is some new art that I just finished!  I am on a lemon kick I think.  I just love how fresh lemons are (they smell amazing also!)  I can't stop drinking lemonade lately and just love the look of lemons in a bowl as a centerpiece.  So here are some lemon-inspired artworks:

And here is a painting inspired by just the idea of being able to eat and drink outside!  I just adore summer:)

I call this painting "Tea Alfresco"  Yay for outdoor tea (or coffee) parties!

Well all of this talk about outside is making me want to actually GO outside:)  I will leave you with two things.  1)  This lovely inspiration page I found in my "inspiration" file box. It is from Midwest Living magazing (2/2010) and the colors are just so fresh and summer-like.  I hope it inspires you as much as me:)

2)  I will leave you with this lovely song