Wall Art

So about a month ago I decided to begin painting. It was always something I enjoyed when we had art classes and such, but I really wanted to try to do a good job with this piece. My original plan was to do the same scene in four different seasons, but after realizing that I would have to be really good to get the same looking scene four times.

After about 2 hours in Michaels (I love craft stores and crafty hobbies) I decided that I should splurge the most on the type of paint I bought. I bought a set of 18 different Reeves acrylic paints, a set of brushes from Artist's Loft, and a set of two 8x8 canvases from Artist's Loft. In total it cost about $30, and the paints definitely cost the most but they will last a while and I think that a quality paint is definitely the most important component when trying to paint moderately accurate details ;)

The picture isn't the best quality, but what I ended up doing was a scene of two Eastern Bluebirds (a male and female) on a Red Maple tree in the springtime. I wanted to (try) to accurately depict the plumage and buds of the tree but everything was done freehand while looking at numerous pictures.

What fun hobbies do you tend to return to or discover when you have down time?

Blogger Awards!

So last week I was so excited to see that Bri over at The Modern Parsonage nominated Tiger Lilies, Lovelies, and Laments for two awards! You should really check out her blog, she does amazing DIY, home-improvement projects that I do not have the time, space, or initiative to complete!

The two awards were the One Lovely Blog and the Very Inspiring Blog awards. It's very exciting to me because I really haven't been up to date on posting, but this is definitely what I needed to get the wind in my sails again, so thank you to The Modern Parsonage! I already have ideas for at least three or four more blog posts ;)

The rules require you to thank and link back to the award giver, share seven random facts about yourself, and to nominate fifteen other blogs for these awards...

Without further ado, these are the 15 blogs (in no particular order) that I would like to nominate for the

and

1. FleurdeForce

2. Fig+Sage

3. Bloom, Bake and Create

4. Fine and Feathered

5. In Lieu of Preschool

6. Future Girl

7. Taking Back my Twenties

8. Lana Red

9. Abernathy Crafts

10. The Crafty Crow

11. Allora Handmade 

12. Five Seed

13. Nikki Phillippi

14. Live Love Loft

15. Home Spun Sprout

As you can see, each of these blogs is fabulous in their own way!

Now, to the 7 "interesting" facts about me...

1. I am getting married on June 1st 2013 to a wonderful man who looks like Dave Grohl circa 1995. Seriously.

2. My biggest passion is for teaching children and adults about the environment and how to develop their relationship with nature

3. I love the comics Questionable Content, XKCD, and Girls with Slingshots

4. Instead of TV I watch YouTube videos

5. I love sharks, I have a tattoo of one on my back

6. Even though my graduate studies don't allow me to be girly on a regular basis, I love getting "fancified" sometimes and wish I had a reason to more often

7. There is nothing more important to me than my family

Thanks again to Bri over at The Modern Parsonage for bestowing my blog with these two amazing awards, I hope you are all having a fabulous day, and please if you feel inclined tell me a little about yourselves!